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Ep. 02 - Wildheart - Prologue: The Curse of Veilmere
24 Plays1 day ago
In the deep south of Wildheart, in the village of Veilmere, a witch has been causing the floods to rise with the Tidal Surge. A very professional group of witch hunters have been called in to deal with the evil and return Veilmere to its calm and insular ways.
Join Bastion Woodwing, Roheed Rumbell, Mimsy Whistle and Blackstone as they traverse the marshlands, befriend the locals, insult everyone and get to the bottom of the real problem facing Veilmere. Squire Mimsy looks to strengthen his resolve under the watchful guidance of Blackstone who has an 'old school' approach to training. Bastion looks to avoid Roheed at all costs as the 'journalist' for the 'Stormspire Bugel' gathers inspiration for 'jokes' for his 'readers'.
Can this ragtag group make it to the witch? Can they uncover the secrets in the marshes? Will Wildheart be the same after? Tune in to find out.
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Transcript
Mimsy's Proving Ground
00:00:00
Speaker
Now, what I want you to do is I want you to walk over to him, not say a word, and you are going to punch him as hard as you can in the face. you you You really think I can take him? I think...
Promotions and Introductions
00:01:09
Speaker
Welcome to Wild Heart, the Tide Surge Gambit, a world of water puns, a giant wall of water, and a DM with delusions of grandeur. Want to explore more? Head to the fellowshipofthetabletop.co.uk for maps, law, and our latest blog. Check out the Interregnums dropping every other Tuesday, and Bellum Draconis, our sister actual play podcast, releasing every other Friday. Now, let's dive in.
00:01:30
Speaker
The mist clings to the rooftops of Valemere, curling around the wooden walkways to the south of Wildheart. The stilted houses groan under their own weight, their warped beams slick with damp and mildew.
00:01:46
Speaker
Water kind of laps at the edges of the half-submerged pathways, and the air carries the scent of brine and decay Here and there you see the shadows of villagers trudging through the shallows, their eyes wary as they glance towards the newcomers.
00:02:08
Speaker
A bell tolls once from a leaning watchtower.
00:02:15
Speaker
And the camera turns to you, you four, you four mercenaries who have been tasked with one simple job. Visit Veilmere.
00:02:27
Speaker
Find the witch. Kill her. The first in our procession of four characters that appear out of the boggy, misty, dense thicket from the south of Valemere is Callum. Would you like to describe to us who we've got in front of us here?
00:02:49
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Thank you. We have. Thank you for the introduction, Mark. um We have a bold, skinny human. um He's still wearing chunky yeah that armor, chainmail type of stuff, but it's very, very worn. It's very, very old. It's rusted. um it often It looks like it doesn't even fit him that well.
00:03:19
Speaker
um you You might even be able to say that this armor has actually been hired over something that he actually owns for himself. He is decently well equipped with a mace and a spear, slight bit of stubble, and very raggedy clothes. Just down his side is a small pouch and little bits of paper that are just sticking out of it as well.
00:03:45
Speaker
Okay, very nice. Thank you very much. And just as you pass by our static camera, um we see the next figure trudging through the mud a couple of paces behind you. And brings me great pleasure to welcome back Casey to the podcast.
00:04:04
Speaker
Hell yeah! She is muted though, so we need to get our hands on that again. It's been a while. yeah Just for clarity, that was Callum going, oh yeah. It did get quite high pitched. I won't lie. I was hoping nobody else would mention it to me because it's all right. Actually, Casey's not here. It's just Callum pretending to be Casey.
00:04:25
Speaker
whole i should say Mark, quiet. No, don't tell them. We'll ruin the secret. God damn it. There is no Casey. Welcome, welcome, welcome Thank you, thank you. It's great to be back. um so Who do we see? You see ah very timid small boy um who is actually a dwarf he is um and he looks quite dishevelled in his demeanour very solemn in his emotions um but very and in contrast to Callum's character his armour is very shiny um and very much fresh um as if it's never been used at all
00:05:11
Speaker
ever. um okay hey scott um He's got nothing on his back. He carries nothing with him. He has a a bag full of coins in his pocket and he's sludging through the mud very distastefully.
00:05:27
Speaker
Distastefully. Thank you very much. Excellent. And then following your small pitter patter of footsteps, ah we see Charlie, would you like to describe who we see and just behind Casey's character, please?
00:05:40
Speaker
so Behind Casey's character is a large figure in the mist. um He is an old, old Goliath um with leather boots that rise up over white buckskin trousers, thick leather belt,
00:05:59
Speaker
um ah and naked midriff, still quite muscular for an old man. um And wrapped around his shoulders is a ah large shaggy bear fur, slightly heavier on one side than the other. And that heavier side is supporting a this the leather strap of a back sheath with which he is holding a great sword on his back.
00:06:24
Speaker
um Facially, he looks like kind of old man Hulk, nothing on top, but like long straggly white hair and a bit of a beard. um brilliant and just like a mean old face okay okay very nice and bringing up the rear no pun intended here uh i don't know how he's done it i think this must be at least your 20th character you'll have brought into the fellowship full stop how are you still creating them who fucking knows um will who do we see ah bringing up the vanguard
00:06:58
Speaker
So, other Vanguard is the plainest, most boring looking thing you could possibly imagine. Unarmed, unarmored, wearing these kind of plain grey clothes, a tunic adorned their shoulders. They look...
00:07:15
Speaker
to be a human, um but they've got kind of a hair that is flat to their head, glasses on, almost like an expressionless face.
00:07:26
Speaker
um It's like their clothes themselves are either incredibly... ah staunched insults so as that they don't actually move when he moves.
00:07:37
Speaker
He's kind of walking with his arms down by his sides, not even swinging them like some sort of broken NPC. um Around his neck, there is this very thick, what must be a scarf. It's just kind of this very thick and Again, grey, almost like woolen in texture, scarf that is just similar to his garb, to his outfit, just doesn't move as he does, just there adorned with him. But yeah, that that he's he is if you were to walk past him, other than the fact that he stands out by the fact that he doesn't stand out, you'd probably not remember this character at all.
00:08:16
Speaker
um This is Rohid Rumbel. Fantastic. Rohit Rumbel, lovely to meet you. didn't actually the other character's name. So Charlie, the old, bare-skinned, mean old man Hulk face. What's the name of your character?
00:08:31
Speaker
His name is a Blackstone. I'd like Madonna, just one word. Oh, you beat me to it. I always was going to go for Cher, but and fantastic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Prince, you know, any of the good ones. Britney?
00:08:44
Speaker
Britney? buttt i mitch ah but okay Casey is your character called Brittany then no she's not she's she's not called a she anyway she's not she he's a he and he is called Mimsy Whistle Mimsy Whistle fantastic and finally but um Callum what what name do we have leading up the rear no no I said Vanguard Vanguard's the front isn't it Vanguard's the front Vanguard's the front yeah what's the bot what's the botty then The rear guard?
00:09:14
Speaker
What's the body? No, I'm not sure it's the body. The vanguard, the flank, and the body. yeah The sphincter.
00:09:25
Speaker
Yeah, the thing that would fly in many action films these days. Callum, at the Vanguard then? um Bastion Woodwing. Bastion Woodwing. Wow. His parents had high hopes, I see. yes.
00:09:37
Speaker
but Fantastic. So, ah Bastion at the front. That's me fun to say, yeah, Bastion. ah Bastion at the front, followed by Mimsy, Whistle, Blackstone, and then Rahid Rumbel.
Valemere's Mystery and Mission
00:09:49
Speaker
um You find yourselves at the edge of an opening. Overlooking probably 50, 60 yards away, the quiet, small, sleepy, slightly sunken, drowning town of Valmere.
00:10:06
Speaker
You stand for a second, looking, overlooking. You see torch lights. It's dark. It's nighttime, by the way. I should have mentioned that. The sunset maybe maybe an hour, two hours ago.
00:10:18
Speaker
You've slept through the day. The night, you work in the night. That's the way it works for you, so deal with it. And you are at the edge of town. You stood there in a line, all-facing veil mare.
00:10:33
Speaker
would you like to do?
00:10:36
Speaker
It smells a bit like fish.
00:10:42
Speaker
But does anyone else like it?
00:10:49
Speaker
I'm going to be sick.
00:10:56
Speaker
I don't like the fish. It's not for me.
00:11:03
Speaker
It does smell a little bit fishy. Just a little bit. It's going to make it somewhat difficult to write a joke about this place.
00:11:14
Speaker
I wouldn't joke about anything over here. No, I don't think that you would, but obviously, as a writer, it's important that I write jokes for the Storm Spire Bugle.
00:11:29
Speaker
didn't know you were writer. What do you write about? Well, it's mainly jokes for the Storm Spire Bugle. Jokes such as... that Knock, knock.
00:11:41
Speaker
Who's there? Owl Bears Go. Owl Bears Go who? Yeah, they sometimes do, but they also sometimes roar. It's awful.
00:11:57
Speaker
I think that's made me even more scared.
00:12:02
Speaker
I'll try to think of a joke about fish, but I'll be honest, I don't think it'll be very good.
00:12:09
Speaker
Fair enough, no need to carp on about it. I see what you did there. I'm writing that one down. and Make sure you give me credit. Maraheid makes no motion whatsoever to move his arms.
00:12:25
Speaker
Can we get this done and dusted with? Blackstone, I think there's something on your shoe. ah Have you been sick on my shoe? Yes, I'm sorry.
00:12:39
Speaker
This has been... Oh, step away from me, please. This has been one hell of a journey.
00:12:50
Speaker
That could be a joke, actually. I might write that one, too. No, it is not a joke. It was ah it was a terrible journey. ah long one, arduous, especially with you and your quips.
00:13:05
Speaker
Mimsy's just going to get down and um get one of the reeds that is just on the floor, or a big dock leaf or something, to just try and ah shine the shoe of of Blackstone. That is quite unnecessary.
00:13:22
Speaker
Go ahead then. Yes, I made the mess. need to clear it up. Yeah, let me help. and No, I don't... No, no, that's quite unnecessary, please. I've got it, I've got it.
00:13:38
Speaker
I suppose... There you go. You're going to have to kill a witch, aren't you, with shiny shoes? I must kill the witch with shiny shoes?
00:13:50
Speaker
Well, I'm assuming that's why Mimsy's shined your shoes, because you... No, she's shining my shoes because she threw up on my shoes. I'm not a girl! He threw up on my shoes. I'm so sorry.
00:14:04
Speaker
I did not mean to begin the journey of misgendering you.
00:14:15
Speaker
I think we're going to die.
00:14:21
Speaker
My brothers always used to say that I was ah wasn't very manly. No, you are quite feminine. That's not what I'm after, though. I want to be a little bit more like you.
00:14:35
Speaker
Like me? No, don't be me. Be better. that's nice. Okay, I'll try. going to write that one down in in for my jokes as well. It was a good one.
00:14:47
Speaker
Well, go on then. No, I'm going to write that one down. Don't be me, be better. I think it's quite ah quite a good punchline. A punchline?
00:15:01
Speaker
ah Yes, it happens when you finish a joke. Now I know what a punchline is, boy. Right. but Can we please proceed into the fishy village?
00:15:19
Speaker
You go first, Bastion.
00:15:23
Speaker
i really want to, but I can't stop laughing at this.
00:15:31
Speaker
Very well. I'm not a fan of fish myself, but it's rather concerning that I don't see any.
00:15:38
Speaker
That's true. I didn't think about that.
00:15:46
Speaker
Right. well let' still shakes would yeah Let's go. all right let's say onwards true fishy You head down a slight incline towards the bowl-shaped earth which gives way to Velmere.
00:16:03
Speaker
And as I mentioned previously, you can make out the shadows of figures passing in front of torchlight.
Adventurer's Personal Stakes
00:16:11
Speaker
As you start to approach and encroach down into the moonlight, you notice one figure with a torch start to move out towards you.
00:16:20
Speaker
He's old, He is very old, a long, scraggy beard, a dark cap, and a thick it's like ah sea cloak, almost, you would imagine, ah wrapped around his shoulders and just this weathered face poking out.
00:16:39
Speaker
And he just looks at you through squinted eyes for a second. Who there? Who's out in the darkness? It is us.
00:16:50
Speaker
okay Who's us? That explains the smell. Why have you got children, it's dark? I'm not a child. Well, I am, but I'm one of the boys.
00:17:04
Speaker
State your business, please. but We have no money here. here to kill a witch. Oh, his demeanor changes almost instantly. His shoulders drop.
00:17:15
Speaker
oh You must be... ah What did they call you again?
00:17:21
Speaker
I am Bastion. I am Bastion. that's ah that was the yeah That was the name of the group. I am Bastion. And I'm glad you're here. i am Bastion. And he gestures to you all.
00:17:35
Speaker
am... the The leader of this village, my name is Edric Tilnia. I believe you received my my my message a long while ago.
00:17:47
Speaker
I'm afraid things have gotten much worse since then, as you can see. And gestures over his left shoulder. The town is sinking. We have always lived close to the water.
00:18:00
Speaker
But now... Ever since Eris made her home in the marshlands, the drowned marsh is taking on a life of its own, and we are sinking.
00:18:17
Speaker
I have measured, and he has a stick. Sorry, the torch he's holding has it. It's kind of like a staffed... And he kind of gestures down towards the bottom of it. And you can see a number of grooves that have been dug into it.
00:18:31
Speaker
I've been measuring the water at a certain point at the center of the market near the blacksmith's well. And as you can see, it's moving at an alarming rate over the last six months.
00:18:45
Speaker
By the surge and storm, I do wish you can rid us of this witch... And finally bring a semblance of of normality back into Velmar. How do you know it's ah it's a witch that's doing all of this, Mr. Tilya?
00:19:01
Speaker
And he's going to look at you, squint at you through the darkness, boy, in the shiny armour.
00:19:07
Speaker
It's simple. The day that Aerys Tal turned up, things started going wrong. whispers of voices in the marshlands, figures in the corner of your eyes, shuddered figures standing over you when you sleep, a melody played through reeds over the marsh, and laughter, always laughter.
00:19:38
Speaker
That happened the day she arrived, firstly introducing herself to the people of Aelmere. We ostracized her instantly like good villagers would. See a witch, cast it out.
00:19:51
Speaker
And so we did this. But then Brother Cadris not too long ago found her holed up in a shack not far from here. Many of us went to question her, to cast her further out.
00:20:04
Speaker
Go north. Go to the Hentis Empire. Go south to the Jade Heartlands. Go anywhere but here. Throw yourself in the ravine. but she stays. Fifteen surges. She stayed.
00:20:19
Speaker
And it's not getting any better. And that's why i asked for your help, you. I am Buston.
00:20:30
Speaker
I'm thanking you now for your time and efforts here. Please, I can point you in the direction now if you wish, or you or you can question the villagers further for more information, but as far as I'm aware, all I know is that she is yonder, and he points over his left side.
00:20:48
Speaker
You go straight by the moon, and you will find her in the marshlands. Or if you want to gather more information, please come in The villagers are wary of newcomers, but I have told them to answer your questions as best as they can, within reason.
00:21:10
Speaker
Come, you must be wary. Would you like to stay for a drink, or or are you about your business?
00:21:17
Speaker
Oh, a drink sounds lovely. Thanks.
00:21:22
Speaker
ah did Do you speak for the for the group, Iambustion?
Tavern Antics and Orc Punchline
00:21:27
Speaker
don't know, actually. I don't even think I got this message. I think my mum got it, and she didn't tell me about it, but I'm here now, so I'll just do it. Your mum must be a valiant person to be a member of Iambustion and pass on this information. She likes to think so, yeah.
00:21:44
Speaker
You come not a moment too late. What is your name, boy? Mimsy. name. good name The Valiant. Mimsy the Valiant?
00:21:56
Speaker
Mm-hmm. High hopes Mother did. Well, Mimsy the Valiant, I hope to make you Mimsy the Valiant Witch Hunter. um Maybe. Thanks.
00:22:10
Speaker
You're welcome. And who else? You haven't moved your arms in over ten minutes.
00:22:18
Speaker
Oh, no, i that's right, I haven't. I am Rohid Rumbell. ah My boss, Bob, sent me here from the Storm Spire Bugle.
00:22:32
Speaker
and I was hoping that I could talk to a few of the villagers and get more of the story, and maybe make a pun or two based on the witch, perhaps the homophone of witch saying something like, which witch is witch, if you get my drift.
00:22:48
Speaker
I unfortunately don't. If pun is something you witch hunters make in order to dispel a witch into the ninth level of hell, then be my guest. We will help you create this pun. Must you need a fire for this?
00:23:01
Speaker
ah Yes, my puns are usually fire. Excellent. Well, we will make sure a fire is burning in the... We'll make sure a fire is burning in the wavering flounder for you as soon as you make a rival. But please speak to the villagers. Find out what you need.
00:23:18
Speaker
I shall, thank you. And you, Sir Knight, stood before me with armor gleaming. What pray tell is your name?
00:23:29
Speaker
Callum. Callum's character. I... I'm Bastion. My armor does not clean. This is why I was confused. He was bigging you up. I'm bigging you up.
00:23:44
Speaker
Yes, and. That's how it works, Callum. um
00:23:54
Speaker
So, Sir Knight, what is your name? I am Bastion. Yes, you are. The group, I know. but what upon is your name?
00:24:07
Speaker
Bastion. ah The group is named after You you be the leader. the group.
00:24:13
Speaker
Yes. Here, have a pamphlet. Aegis passes you a pamphlet. Thank you. I will keep this as a souvenir of the great work you produce here tonight for Valemere.
00:24:25
Speaker
And finally, good sir, you look as you have seen many battles in your time. I am glad someone with experience is here to take Mimsy, the valiant witch hunter, through this endeavour.
00:24:38
Speaker
Is he talking to me? i Yes, apologies. My eyes are dark and sight is bad. it Mimsy, what language is he speaking? Is it common?
00:24:51
Speaker
I think so. Can you not understand him? I haven't understood a word he said. ah Welcome, and he's going to say, welcome to Vale Mare. Did he read that, Mimsy?
00:25:02
Speaker
Did you get that, Blackstone? Yes. Yes, yes, I got that. i Thank you for your welcome, sir. Would you like to visit the Wavering Flounder for a drink, or are you about your work, sir? Why is he speaking? Is he is he mentally impaired? Do you want a brew or anything?
00:25:23
Speaker
A brew? yeah Yes, I could take a brew, a strong brew. Yeah, or an whatever you fancy. Or an ale, yes, I'll take whatever they're offering. Yeah, this Mr. Tellier, that's fine. Yes, brew, drink, beverage, something will be lovely. Thank you. I will have one of your brews, sir.
00:25:43
Speaker
And Edric's going to look at Mimsy. What did he say? I didn't understand a word.
00:25:50
Speaker
Is he okay? as you' got a Did he get hit in the face in battle? ah Is that what you did? Are you damaged from war, veteran? War, yes, yes. i have I have seen much war, yes. I heard that. He saw me. I heard that. I heard that. Common ground. i hear common ground.
00:26:06
Speaker
We understood that. He wants to buy the first round. Is that it, Mimsy? Yes. Yes, that's what he said. Yep. Yep. Right. Yes. Brilliant. Well, on to the alehouse, sir.
00:26:17
Speaker
Oh, he's walking towards me. I assume that means we're going. Fantastic. ah He turns and starts walking in. And again, these are houses on stilts, wooden houses. Think kind of by you, wooden stilted houses.
00:26:28
Speaker
those well and With steps down. um And as we're walking, Bastion, you are just kind of clumped in behind where Edric is stood. there anything you wanted to do?
00:26:39
Speaker
Yeah, just as we are pushing forward, I'm going to secretly, not secretly rather, I'm just going to kind of do a little bit of meditation, move my hands around, and just while we're talking, king I'm going to be casting Detect Evil and Good.
00:26:52
Speaker
Not Good and Evil? Not Good and Evil. It specifically says Evil and Good. does it? Okay. It felt a bit weird to say it that way around, I'm not going to lie. Time upon a once. Ooh, okay.
00:27:05
Speaker
so just for the duration which is going to be for the next 10 minutes just as we're kind of walking through and everything else I can sense the location of any aberration celestial elemental fey fiend or undead within 30 feet of me and I can also sense whether the hallow spell is active Okay. and The spell is blocked by one foot of stone, dirt, or wood, or one inch of metal, or a thin sheet of lead.
00:27:30
Speaker
Everything is very... When you cast that quietly to yourself, I know other will be having a fit over casting spells quietly, because there's literally... I started to do it, but yeah. I get what you mean. You still have to make the movement, still have to do the voices and everything else. I get you.
00:27:47
Speaker
And as you do that, everything, nothing, the air, there's no kind of pings in your vicinity. The way it normally works for you is it's ah it's ah it's a fizz.
00:27:58
Speaker
It's a sensation you can almost feel almost like you're touching popping candy. and That's how you can kind of feel the way it is. What you do notice is, though, that the the the ground is slightly spongy.
00:28:11
Speaker
so anything And it's not spongy before you turn it on, but it is now. That's all you really kind of noticed. There's a slight pitter in the ground. of Basically, you're detecting a little bit of... Do you know exactly which one it is?
00:28:27
Speaker
doesn't it doesn't tell me that I will know what it is. or You just detect it. I just detect something, and it's going to be one of those six options, I think.
00:28:38
Speaker
what What are you, by the way? I'm a cleric. clerk Okay. Could you give me, could you ah pop on, just do a religion check for me, please? First roll. I can do first roll. Please be good. Please be good. No, it's a 10.
00:28:52
Speaker
You're not sure. It's something, but you're not sure. but I was going to give you one way or the other good or evil, but um you you can't tell there's something else. There's something here, something in veil mail.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Can I, can I support him? Not really. and what what what are What are you? What we want in class are you? I'm also a cleric. and Oh.
00:29:16
Speaker
Double healer. Okay. Interesting. We're here for the witch hunt. um Okay. Yes. But first, could you give me a perception check, please, case a Mimsy, to see if you would recognize what Bastion is doing and then I might allow aid to take place for that.
00:29:36
Speaker
Oh, you little fucker. It's actually a lovely three. Okay. ah You're too enthralled in in the the fact that you still vomited on Blackstone's shoes. You're still trying to check every other step to see if you can still see any more vomit on it that you're going to go and buffer off in a little bit um ah to to notice that Bastion's doing at all. So unfortunately, and you're not going to be able to.
00:29:55
Speaker
And as you're walking towards the wavering flounder on these stilted houses, but It's quite a small settlement, but as you're walking, ah you do get told a couple of bits of information by Edric Killia.
00:30:09
Speaker
ah He mentions ah the waving wavering flounder is where you will go now, and a few other places. There's the Velma Watchtower, and he points to the large, slightly leaning tower the bell in it.
00:30:22
Speaker
The blacksmith's well, and he gestures in front of you to a bell, ah a bell, a well in the middle that's been sealed, shut, ah which is a large kind of open area. During the day, this is where the market will take place. But as you can see, and he kind of gestures down to his feet where they're slopping through maybe an inch or two of mud.
00:30:38
Speaker
It's not really conducive to economy, you see. There's a the elders hall at the top there. And he points to a kind of a large... a hall, well, it's a hall made of wood, again on stilts about two or three feet off the ground, one or two feet away from the the watery mush below it.
00:30:56
Speaker
It's an old meeting house, though aside from myself and one or two others, the others have all gone missing. And there's the ah sunken chapel over there. We didn't call it that, it's just sunk.
00:31:10
Speaker
and's It's always been sunk. It was here before we came here. Well, I've just noticed, Mr Chulia, that your buildings are all on stilts. That's very fortunate, considering that you're in a bit of ah a drowning situation. Well, we did build it in a marsh, so I think we kind of came to expect that, you know?
00:31:27
Speaker
okay. The water rises sometimes and sinks normally. It's part of the rising fall of the tidal surge. But this is different. It stays after each one, getting higher and higher and higher.
00:31:42
Speaker
and soon have we will be gone. have a question, and Yes, was it Mr. Rumbel? That's correct. It's Rohid Rumbel. I was wondering, do you have any families or any people within this settlement who appear to be more affected by the presence of the witch than others? Perhaps there is a single family that has been more targeted.
00:32:08
Speaker
or perhaps there has been, i don't know, ah significant trauma to an individual group. If so, could you point me in their direction so that I might ah find some excellent jokes and puns on their behalf? and He thinks for a minute and furrows his brow at the, what sounded like a very positive start to an investigation and then turned into a pun making exercise.
00:32:37
Speaker
um Brother Cadris might be best for that. He's not a family, but he's the one, but one of the few that remain that still, still feels strongly by this. We call him brother. He is, he is my brother. Uh, he'll, he'll be in the hall and he gestures towards the elders hall to the north of your location.
00:32:59
Speaker
i'm I'm going to go and find a pun I'll be back, I'll meet you in the in the drinks if you want and Rohit's going to once again arms directly at his side clothes unmoving stiff as you like ah make his way kind of directly towards that area whilst the group carries on Does he give anyone else the creeps?
00:33:22
Speaker
Yes absolutely Okay, I thought it was just me so I don't like how he looks so deep into your soul. It makes you think that you're invisible or maybe that you're dead.
00:33:34
Speaker
He makes me feel like I'm expiring my past, present and future all in one simultaneous moment and that any existence is nothing but a null, void emptiness in which I now resign. Oh, well, yeah, I think that's that's true for me too.
00:33:49
Speaker
You've got a very 3D way of thinking, Mr. Woodwing.
00:33:55
Speaker
I do have good perception.
00:34:01
Speaker
That's a 4D way of thinking. Yeah.
00:34:07
Speaker
Well, ah your friend, Ries. Should somebody go with him? ah I don't know. yourre nor the expert mu You're the expert witch hunters here. I look to you, and he bows his head slightly reverently, more so now towards Blackstone, who's been quite stoically quiet, but I look to you as my guides for this.
00:34:31
Speaker
Well, this is positive. What do you think, Blackstone? Do you want to go with Rohid to keep him protected? I mean, we're going for a drink.
00:34:42
Speaker
Hmm. I do think that someone should probably keep an eye on the oddball, but he did offer ale, and a man of his word should really deliver.
00:34:54
Speaker
If ale is close, ale is preferable. If not, then we'll keep an eye on on that thing. And he gestures to Rahid walking away with his arms by his side. Now, I don't usually disagree with you, Blackstone, but I think if ale is present, I probably might opt for juice.
00:35:13
Speaker
Juice, yes, yes, of course. Yes, yes, yes. You are, after all, miner.
00:35:22
Speaker
He just hangs his head quite solidly. One day, boy one day you will taste the nectar of the gods and then you will turn back. Only when Dad and Mum allow me, but that's for sure.
00:35:33
Speaker
You've never tasted ale or anything else before? No. No, the um ah family and Grandara, our god, he won't let us if we're underage. Oh, I did not know it was a religious thing,
00:35:51
Speaker
Not even in celebration for some kind of ceremony or victory? No, they just let us um pour a little bit more juice into the into the bowl. Ah, juice. Juice. After battle, you should be drinking the golden ale, boy. Perhaps after we hunt this witch and we make it back, then I might slip you a small glass. How about that, huh?
00:36:14
Speaker
I definitely wouldn't advise that. It's not really good on the religions. at least you're going to pass another pamphlet to Blackstone. what What's this? It's a pamphlet about the faith of the leader.
00:36:27
Speaker
Ah, I see. Very interesting, Bastion. There's a few rules in there that you can follow. It gets a little bit contradictory in some areas. Are there different levels? Do I have to pay to be part of this religion? No, no, no, no it's completely free.
00:36:44
Speaker
Completely free, it's fine. Completely free? Then how do you all make money? Well, we normally just hurt people. Ah, I see. Hurt or hurt?
00:36:55
Speaker
Hurt. Hurt, you know what? Hurt.
00:37:00
Speaker
This is all very interesting, but still the answer to me seems to be ale. I will go with Rahid Rumble, who's already probably quite far away now, just to make sure that he's okay. why don't Why don't you take Mimsy and go get ale?
00:37:18
Speaker
Yes, I will take the child, and we shall both go for a drink. LAUGHTER
00:37:27
Speaker
All right. um And first we'll ah swing over to Bastion catching up with Rahid as they make their way towards the Elders Hall. And Rahid, as you get there first, I'm stoically down by your side, three steps up, two double doors to a long, dark, empty room, ah creaking roof with holes in it.
00:37:50
Speaker
One single candle that sits at the far end of maybe a 30 foot room. At the end, you see a number of kind of pews lined up either side and a large set of, so large number of chairs set at the end. There seems to be a meeting house of some description.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yet it is empty here and has not been used for quite some time. Yet sat by the candle, staring into the light as a single, bold headed, quite, I say kind of late fifties tiefling
00:38:23
Speaker
sat ah with the kind of milky glassy eyes staring into it, ah into the candle with a large ah blue, dark blue coat wrapped around him.
00:38:34
Speaker
And he seemed, his lips just seemed to moving slightly as he stares into the candlelight. Does Rohit feel like he hasn't been noticed on his way in? ah Give me a perception check.
00:38:46
Speaker
Ooh, my first roll. Yeah. Okay, then let's just see. It's a six. Yeah, you haven't been noticed. You're sure. Cool. Absolutely positive. Excellent.
00:38:57
Speaker
In which case, he will just ah just stop for a second where he is. He'll bring his chin down a little bit and just say, stick to the shadows. and the scarf that he's wearing will just dissipate, and crawling out from underneath will be a pseudo-dragon that creeps off stealthily to ah ah to the side, if you like, um and is going to kind of try and stealthily make its way closer to this person as Rohid is also going to approach.
00:39:29
Speaker
Okay.
00:39:32
Speaker
I understand that you've got a witch problem in Veilmere. The tiefling isn't going to react to that first. The eyes don't move, but the head tilts slightly, almost allowing one ear ah better vision, if you will, of ah you in the darkness.
00:39:53
Speaker
Do you? Oh. Sorry, his mouth slowly opens.
00:40:00
Speaker
i
00:40:02
Speaker
i have little time left.
00:40:07
Speaker
It's probably best that you speak a bit quicker, then. ah Where is your witch?
00:40:14
Speaker
I'm sure Edric has told you already. To the north.
00:40:22
Speaker
What do you know of her? Nought. But that her arrival brought with it the song. The song... Oh, you were saying it. I'm sorry. I interrupted whilst you were telling me the question I was asking. Try again.
00:40:40
Speaker
It was a melody. Deep at the midnight hour and beyond we hear. I hear a melody.
00:40:51
Speaker
And his eyes start darting slightly through the candlelight. And does this melody make you feel special in a certain way? If by special...
00:41:04
Speaker
You mean tested by the gods themselves of the Surge? Then yes, I feel special. I would argue that falls under that category, yes. Does it compel you to do anything?
00:41:17
Speaker
Also make you feel like your world is ending and the singlest of your life in the universe is falling and dissipating through an ancient hole that will never end. Does that also feel special?
00:41:33
Speaker
And the eyes dart round to the darkness, searching you out.
00:41:41
Speaker
I would argue that that also falls under the category of what makes someone special, yes.
00:41:50
Speaker
One year that song has been playing, tonight. One year I've heard that melody.
00:42:00
Speaker
If you can make it stop.
00:42:04
Speaker
And the tide callers were right. And the surge wills it.
00:42:13
Speaker
Well, I have a troupe of people here who would like to make it stop. I certainly personally have a stake within the matter also. But if there's nothing more that you can offer other than there's some sort of singing and it makes you feel a bit special, then I feel like you're a little bit worthless to me, i but I'll be honest.
00:42:31
Speaker
The melody comes from the earth itself.
00:42:36
Speaker
Some say it's from the wind. Some say it's from the creatures that lurk in your vision. No. It comes from the ground.
00:42:50
Speaker
From the waters themselves.
00:42:55
Speaker
Right, that sounds a little bit more helpful, I'll be honest. Yes, that's some information that's actually going to point us in perhaps the right direction. Anything further?
00:43:08
Speaker
It's been a long year.
00:43:13
Speaker
I do not know else.
00:43:17
Speaker
When you say you don't have long left, is it that your mortal demise is on its way, or is it that you're feeling a bit snoozy?
00:43:27
Speaker
I feel something tugging at my very soul. Something that will tear me asunder. We all feel it.
00:43:39
Speaker
You look upon those in Velmer and they are broken. It will come for us all, whatever it is, it will come for us all and it will end here.
00:43:52
Speaker
Would you like someone to... I keep interrupting you, I'm so sorry. It's because you're speaking so slowly and your face is slightly pointed away from me. I can't actually see your mouth moving. Would you like someone to hasten your demise or are you good just to let it slowly wither?
00:44:11
Speaker
I do not know what you are offering, and I am not interested, but if you can rid us of this witch and put an end to this year of pain, then yes, we can talk further on whatever subject you require.
00:44:29
Speaker
and then he stiffens slightly, and his demeanor and his is is his um expression drops. What? What's that?
00:44:43
Speaker
And he looks off to the side towards nothing, to a wall. No. No. And he sends a smile again up to the darkness. He still can't, can't, you can give the impression he can't see you.
00:44:57
Speaker
All is well. All is well this night.
00:45:03
Speaker
I wish you luck. And if the tide callers still visited here, I would wish them to bless you. But as they have left, All I can offer is luck.
00:45:17
Speaker
Right. Well, that's not overly useful, for I have my own luck.
00:45:25
Speaker
Good. Well, whatever will help. Indeed. And if you did want a swift sending off to the afterlife, just let me know. I can make it relatively painless.
00:45:36
Speaker
ah Right. I'll be off. Okay. And ah Bastion, sorry, I totally forgot you were following. No, it's fine. I like the idea that I've obviously not seen any of this anyway.
00:45:47
Speaker
Well, no, you would have heard quite chunk of it if you'd have stood and watched that conversation take place because you weren't too far behind you chuntering along. Rahid, as you turn around, you notice Bastion stood in the doorway,
00:45:59
Speaker
um listening. I don't think you were aiming to stealthily follow Bastion. Is that right? Nope. No, no stealth whatsoever. yeah You would seen him just stood there in his, in his like a hand me down armor, stood just kind of listening away as you tried to make an exit and in the doorway.
00:46:15
Speaker
I see. Unfortunately, it seems that Brother Cadris didn't have many funny jokes. It's pretty traumatic, so there's nothing I can really add, unfortunately, to my writing within the Storm Spire Bugle.
00:46:28
Speaker
and I appear to have just dropped my scarf. Bear with me. And he'll turn around and kind of walk to the shadows, collect up his pseudo-dragon, ah and turn back around, and you will see him there again.
00:46:40
Speaker
just exactly the same. His hands are back down by his sides. He's there. There's an almost an expressionless look on his face. But he did tell me that perhaps there's something to do with the witch being underground. i suggest that that's the first place that we look. And if there's maybe a well in the middle of the village, if that connects to the underground and it has indeed been sealed, that might be a good part of Cole.
00:47:07
Speaker
Okay, that That seems very helpful. Any other reason why you were following me in particular? There is a ah witch and we are here to supposedly kill her.
00:47:20
Speaker
Purely safe to be cautious. I don't think anyone on the team should be left alone. ah Right. Did you find any funny jokes on the way over? I'm afraid not, no.
00:47:31
Speaker
Would you like a funny joke?
00:47:35
Speaker
kind of a dread that kind of comes across him as you ask the question it's like yeah why do driders make bad journalists i don't know because their stories are always spun too much
00:47:57
Speaker
so terrible and there's like a a fake
00:48:07
Speaker
can i make an insight check ah do it against deception you absolutely empty can my charisma is shit what i need to beat callum uh 10 11 ten eleven i can tell that you didn't quite find the joke as funny as perhaps I was intending.
00:48:30
Speaker
I'll try to improve it. Maybe the delivery. Oh, harsh. Did you say it was the delivery? I said maybe.
00:48:42
Speaker
He kind of lingers there. There's a little kind of twitch within his mouth that almost turns into ah into ah a weird smile for a second and then it falters back to just nothingness.
00:48:56
Speaker
I see. i'm I'm not a funny man. You know, could be anything. Here we go. think that would be best. And I'm going to kind of just take a few back steps out very slowly, just not taking my eyes off Rohit at this stage.
00:49:16
Speaker
All right. And are you guys? Where are you two heading? and Unless he overtakes me, I'm walking backwards to try and get back to the... um I didn't take my eyes off him at this stage. All the way the inn. Yep. I don't care if I have to make a dexterity check all the way case I fall over on my big fat arse.
00:49:39
Speaker
Rohit is going to match you pace for pace perfectly. Arms once again stuck down by his sides. Face now expressionless once more as he's just kind of following after you.
00:49:50
Speaker
if but If that's the case, as I take certain steps back, I'm going to stop and pause with like one leg in mid-air, and then to kind of move it forward again a little bit, and then back again, and to see if you're imitating it, be like for like at this stage.
00:50:04
Speaker
ah Yeah, he will, and he'll go... It appears that your dancing is a bit better than your joke telling or your reception of jokes, should we say, Bastion.
00:50:15
Speaker
i did say i I did say I'm not a funny man. but Perhaps I have golden feet. A smile will slowly creep across Rohit's face.
00:50:28
Speaker
That's the most terrifying character. It is.
00:50:34
Speaker
Bastion is shitting himself at this stage. Yes. I think that there is some comedy in you after all, Bastion.
00:50:45
Speaker
you You can have it all. You are the funny one.
00:50:50
Speaker
It surprises me that you say that because not 72 seconds ago you were merely describing that the delivery of my previous joke was perhaps the reason it fell flat upon your ears. Maybe I just didn't understand it correctly.
00:51:04
Speaker
That's probably right, isn't it, Bastion? And Rohid will walk past you and make his way back. i'm I'm giving real movement here. um mean if If I have to stand on like a pole with one leg just to give him space to walk past.
00:51:23
Speaker
Very nice. Okay, um we yeah we let that take place, but by that while that's all been happening, Blackstone and Mimsy have been making your way to the Wavering Flounder, the tavern, is that right? Led by our stoic leader, Edric.
00:51:35
Speaker
Is that correct? Yes, yes. Okay, Edric shows you in, opens the door, and ah leads you Leads you in and then kind of gestures to the person behind the bar, which happens to be ah a rather middle aged human, gestures to them about getting, buying you to a ah drink and then ah quickly makes an exit back out of the ah out out of the tavern.
00:52:00
Speaker
You enter into a a squat, small, warm space with two large round tables in the middle, set off, offset from each other, much like ah the roundness and the position of di the number two on dice, kind of diagonal set from one another.
00:52:15
Speaker
The far end is a relatively small, short bar with a relatively short, small man stood behind it. ah Very large, hairy arms um and very, very bushy ah hair kind of all the way around his face, beard, mutton chops, head.
00:52:30
Speaker
It kind of bursts out of him almost like a mane, almost, if you will. Yet his face is ashen. There are three other people in the bar ah area, many of which kind of shrouded in darkness, two of which in a conversation, one sat on his own, one behind the bar.
00:52:46
Speaker
One of them is a female who sat on her own, two males sat with each other, and then the bartender, whom is a very hairy man, apparently. I've just made a... You walk in, ah they turn, and almost like the minute where the record scratches and everyone looks silently for a second, there's a second of that.
00:53:05
Speaker
They take Mimsy, the child to begin with, then look up to Blackstone and there's almost a ah second of awe before the conversations start back up again.
00:53:17
Speaker
The bartender gets your attention and kind of waves you over towards him.
00:53:25
Speaker
um Can we have two drinks, please?
00:53:30
Speaker
You can. What two drinks would you like? And Mimsy just looks up almost neck-breakingly high to Blackstone to see what he'd like.
00:53:46
Speaker
You're muted, Blackstone.
00:53:51
Speaker
So awful. Sorry. I've been playing for so long.
00:53:58
Speaker
A large ale, please, sir. One large ale. Yes. Not a problem. And to yourself. A large fizzy orange, please.
00:54:09
Speaker
You don't have that round here. No, Mimsy, I don't think they have fizzy orange here. Don't have fizzy orange round here. Well, still orange then. Well, I just said we don't have fizzy orange round here.
00:54:21
Speaker
You don't have orange? No, we don't have fizzy orange round here. Well, said still orange. Yeah, we still don't have it.
00:54:29
Speaker
No, still, like flat, like not fizzy. Aye, orange juice. but From oranges. Yes. Aye, we ain't got that, no. Oh, for fuck's sake. Blackstone will slam his fist into the bar and say, the girl wanted the boy. Sorry, fuck. The boy wanted orange.
00:54:50
Speaker
Could you give me an intimidation check, please, Blackstone? course. How long have we been travelling together? It's been seven months, I think. LAUGHTER
00:55:03
Speaker
go through the whole of puberty in that time, Minzy. 17 for intimidation. probably get my dice out then as well, shouldn't I? Okay. Oops, that was loud. The... Man, the the... It's almost like the minute you slam the bar, his his whole body jumps a little bit.
00:55:21
Speaker
Everything, apart from his hair, doesn't move, so it looks like he just, whoop, kind of jumps up a little down. And he's still again for a second.
00:55:30
Speaker
All right, I'll... I'll see what I can find. cannae make any promises though. But, er, er, er, o-or-orange juice was it, young lass, lad?
00:55:46
Speaker
Yeah, I'm a boy, and yes, orange juice. Boy, sorry, of yeah and he looks up to Blackstine. Sorry, my mistake. Er, boy, you wanted an orange juice, juice of an orange, right?
00:56:01
Speaker
I'm going to get it. I'm going to get it. And he looks up again to Blackstone. Don't you worry. I'll find it by the drowned gods. I will. Stay here. well let me let me start Let me get you they ah the ale first. The large ale, you see.
00:56:15
Speaker
And he's going to pull that big, big flag and It's our biggest cup we've got. I hope it's big enough, sir. And he sends a toothy grin towards you, Blackstone.
00:56:27
Speaker
It comes in pints? i It's bigger than that, i think. It's a large, a large one for a large... A mega pint. what If that's the name you want to call it, then so be it. yeah a Mega pint. Mega pint of ale for me.
00:56:44
Speaker
and that orange juice is coming quickly, isn't it? It's coming quickly. I'm just going to go get it now. I'm going go find some ah oranges and some juices and put together a special handmade bespoke, one of a kind orange juice for the boy. Make sure it's nice and cold as well.
00:57:02
Speaker
Oh, yes, please. Thank you. Cold. Yep. um Okay. Yep. I can make it cold. Yep. Okay. Okay, and he's going to um make yourself comfortable and he's going to scuttle off behind the bar and start um um um kind of dragging things out, looking at things, tinky tinkles of glasses behind it.
00:57:22
Speaker
ah it bleeds make us I'll bring the drink over to you when when it's complete. when i get I put the orange juice together, I'll bring you the drink, eh? Is that okay? Yes, yes. Very good. Good service here.
00:57:37
Speaker
How many people are are in the the tavern, Mark? There's three other people apart from the man behind the bar who you've put the fear of God into the moment. Yeah, you said a female on her own, two males together, right? Correct, yeah. Okay.
00:57:49
Speaker
okay And all all the while as well, sorry, all the while as well, Mimsy's going to just be kind of looking to and from Blackstone to see his body language and kind of seeing if she, ah sorry, if he can mimic, I'm getting confused, see if he can mimic that sort of body language.
00:58:07
Speaker
um So that, yeah, he's kind of just um trying to make himself look more manly.
00:58:15
Speaker
In that vein, after the barkeep starts rummaging around for some orange juice, which isn't going to happen, he's going to turn around, lean back up against the bar and slump his elbows back, looking around at the three other patrons that are in there.
00:58:35
Speaker
I mean, Mimsy will try to do the same, but I know that he is ah more than half your size. So he his elbows don't go on anything. They just kind of um slide down the wooden bar bit.
00:58:47
Speaker
And then he ends up just putting his hands by his side and sighing a little bit to try and make himself look like that was natural. And as you look around the bar, those three people, the two males that are in conversation, you now realize one is an orc, one is human, deep in a conversation, a solemn conversation.
00:59:06
Speaker
ah Yet there is a dwarf, a dwarven female, sat on her own, nursing a drink, a single drink in her hand, and she is just staring back at you, not in an aggressive way, but just staring back at at you both.
00:59:20
Speaker
how How old does she look? Give me a perception check, please. Hmm.
00:59:30
Speaker
See if you can work that out. Layer of smoke in the high part of the ceiling. It's warm. Smells good. Inviting space. 13. Okay. Roughly 30s.
00:59:45
Speaker
From that.
00:59:48
Speaker
You'd make out. But she's yeah looking back towards yourself and towards Blackstone. um And Mimsy's going to mouth, do I know you? Over to her.
00:59:59
Speaker
She's going to shake her head. It's a no. Okay.
01:00:06
Speaker
So, what do you think of the place? It's a little small. Not as many exotic drinks as I would like. What what would you normally have?
01:00:19
Speaker
Well, perhaps an umbrella, something colourful. Oh, what do you mean? Well, when you grow up, I'll show you all about it, Mimsy. Mimsy, I have to ask you, what are you hoping to get out of this?
01:00:37
Speaker
Well, I don't know, really. my my mum and my dad, they... um my whole family, really, they're... A bunch of fighters themselves, you know, long line of them.
01:00:50
Speaker
Yes, good, good. I've just, it's never really been my bag, you know. and never really liked it. You don't like fighting or you don't like the violence of it?
01:01:00
Speaker
but A bit of both. I'm a bit shit at it, if I'm honest. Oh, come now, you've got plenty of years to improve. Well, my coach never said that. He said I was shit. Well, that's not a particularly good coach, is it? No, one I don't think so, but my mum and dad also said the same thing, and my brothers and sisters, they used to just laugh at me.
01:01:20
Speaker
They all said that you were shit? At fighting? Yeah. Why, were you beaten up a lot? Yeah, a little bit, yeah. Oh, Nimsy, we can't have that, otherwise you're pretty useless to us.
01:01:33
Speaker
well I don't want to be pretty useless. You know, my god is about strength and war, and I don't really care for the war bit, but I care for the duty, you know, I care ah for healing and and for for being there for people who need me.
01:01:51
Speaker
and Strength and war, well, that is a god I can finally get on board with. but that's That's good, I just don't know how how to make him proud, you know, because my mum and dad, they they must signed me up for this and ah don't know how how to make him proud.
01:02:09
Speaker
Well, Mimsy, I don't expect you to enjoy violence. That a certain breed of person. But I'm more than happy to give you some tips. I am and quite long in the tooth and I've learned a thing or two.
01:02:25
Speaker
Okay. What would be the first thing? Because I don't even have anything to fight with. Oh no, you don't need anything. I mean, and I know I carry this sword, but really the strength comes from inside and then, you know, you can tear people apart with your bare fingers if you try hard enough.
01:02:41
Speaker
Oh, well, I don't want to tear anyone apart, but but I like the way you're you're you're speaking. I i ah think I can relate to that. Right, okay. Well, look, here's something that I've learned. When you come to a new place, you have to establish yourself.
01:02:56
Speaker
Wherever it might be. a city, a small town, even just a roadside inn. Now here we have three people, three people that don't know us, in a place that is alien to us and they might expect that we are just merely passers-by, travellers.
01:03:12
Speaker
What I would do in this situation and what I suggest you do right now, you see that orc over there? yeah He is by no means, or he's not a ah champion fighter by any means, but he is a bit of a brute and probably one of the larger people in this village.
01:03:30
Speaker
Okay. Now, what I want you to do is I want you to walk over to him, not say a word, and you are going to punch him as hard as you can in the face. you you You really think I can take him?
01:03:40
Speaker
I think
01:03:44
Speaker
so I went a little bit Australian there. A little bit.
01:03:52
Speaker
Death is just another path on which I'm going to say. Damn it. I knew it.
01:03:59
Speaker
It's very good. It's very good, Charlie. Fantastic. Here we go.
01:04:08
Speaker
I think you can take it. Action, wizard. Sorry.
01:04:13
Speaker
action widow candles used
01:04:18
Speaker
I thought about that so much. I love it. I love it much. Yes, Memzi, I think if you go up to that orc and punch he'll fall to the ground, wounded, and then you can take his companion.
01:04:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, you're right. No more whimsy mimsy. I've got this. I've got this. And he's just going to roll his shoulders back and and like dust off, no dust really, on his armour.
01:04:42
Speaker
And he's going to walk up with a real frown on his face um to this orc who sat on on a chair drinking. All right. He's sat, doesn't pay you any attention. he's He's deep in conversation with this other human, both adults to you from your current location.
01:04:59
Speaker
He's got some studded armor on his chest, but his arms are bare. ah He's not paying any attention. how how like Give me the size difference here, because as i'm as I'm walking up to him, am I even going to be able to reach his face from the ground?
01:05:15
Speaker
yeah Yeah, he sat down at a table and so was his mate. ah If he was stood up, it'd be like your eye line would be his belly button.
01:05:25
Speaker
No, bit higher. You'd be a little bit higher. Maybe below nipple height. i think I think to give myself some some some more height, I'm going to try to get up on the table.
01:05:40
Speaker
I'm going to get up on the table and I'm going to stand and then and then I'm going to knee him in the face as opposed to punching him in the face. Yes. Okay. love it Roll to hit, roll to hit. And as you do this, as you're doing this action, whatever you're successful or not, Bastion and Rohit, you walk in to seeing Mimsy, the tiny little relatively calm, very feeling sorry for himself, squire for all intents and purposes, stood on a table attempting to knee a fully grown orc man in the face.
01:06:15
Speaker
That's a lovely 10. It hits his face. It does zero damage. It just like, it's like the equivalent of a slap.
01:06:28
Speaker
He just, he sees you step on the table. He looks concerned. He feels that. And then he just looks up to you. Can I ask what you're doing? And then Mimsy's going to just look over at Blackstone in that split second to see what he says to me.
01:06:43
Speaker
what do be I'll be like physically miming, drive your hips forward. I'm going to, without even a pause, I'm going to go again with the other leg. Okay, roll to hit again. At this, the humanist stood up, but the orc is still sat down flabbergasted.
01:07:00
Speaker
at This boy on the table trying to to knee him. It's a lovely 12th.
01:07:09
Speaker
It hits again, same kind of thing. At this, the orc stands up and now, even with you on the table, he is a head taller than you. ah recommend you get down off my table. No. Very good.
01:07:28
Speaker
And without, I'm going to try and headbutt him. Okay. I love this. Welcome to help with the beating of villagers.
01:07:41
Speaker
but yeah Eight. oh Yes, Mimsy. Mimsy living up to the name. She, ah he, he, again, he just kind of just puts a hand out and stops your head going forward like you would a child.
01:08:00
Speaker
And he's going to, his hands are so big, he literally holds your head and he manages to swivel his hand on the top, but grab you by the head single-handedly, lift you off the table and plop you, plop you back down on the floor.
01:08:12
Speaker
That might, that might have hurt me, little one. Yeah, but I need to get better at this. So I'm, I'm trying Aye. You should listen to your mate.
01:08:24
Speaker
Put your hips into it. Come on. And he's going to lift a palm up for you to punch. Come on. And he's going to lean down like a child and put his palm might for you to punch it Great. I'm going to do that.
01:08:35
Speaker
Okay. Roll to hip. Yeah. With my strong arm. With advantage. With advantage because he's setting this up for you.
01:08:44
Speaker
Seventeen. It hits in. And actually, that's quite a bit of force. and You see the hand kind of move back a little bit and a little bit of surprise on his face. That's better. That's more like it, you see.
01:08:56
Speaker
Why are you still up on my table? You could have asked me and I would have sparred with you. Well, I didn't know. I just wanted to kind of get you out of the blue, really. Why are you here, boy?
01:09:09
Speaker
um I'm going to take down a witch with my mates.
01:09:15
Speaker
His face drops. And he looks to his friend with long, that has a human, very pale skin, long, straight black hair, must be in his early twenties, and his face pales further.
01:09:30
Speaker
ah don't think this is for you. um what do you know of, uh... We know that you should leave. well that... And never return to Hailmere.
01:09:45
Speaker
What about my mates? They should also leave. She's evil.
01:09:54
Speaker
Okay, I think you might have to talk to him about that one, and he's just going to point to Blackstone, who has obviously stood behind him at the bar. Ail approach.
01:10:05
Speaker
Well met, traveller. Yes, and you? un na The name is Railton. Railton. Yes, I hear you're here to kill a witch.
01:10:18
Speaker
Yes, we're here too yes to... Yes, to kill a witch.
01:10:28
Speaker
As I said to your squire, i think it best you turn about and head home. ah Not that you couldn't handle yourself, but she's beyond comprehension.
01:10:40
Speaker
I'm a boy! Not you, the witch, dammit.
01:10:47
Speaker
Here in Valemare, we don't misgender. It's on the sign out front. That's what I like to hear.
01:10:57
Speaker
yeah Well, you see, we we would turn back, but the the journey here was was rather tough. We um encountered numerous terrible puns and a constant running commentary of...
01:11:14
Speaker
doesn't bear thinking about her. I'm pleased to inform you that I might have another one to add into the mix there, Bastard. No, no, no, that's okay. How about you by yourself? It's not problem, really. I don't mind. It's genuinely for the Stormspire bugle. I was going to ask you, what did the bard say after getting hit by the tidal surge?
01:11:34
Speaker
I don't know what did the bard say after getting hitched by the tidal surge. He said that that performance really brought to the house down, and the town, and the coastline.
01:11:47
Speaker
I see, because the storm is so violent that it takes down buildings around it. I understood that reference. I think it's a bit long. You're going to have Bastion. Bastion is stood behind Rohit going, laugh, just miming, laugh, laugh.
01:12:05
Speaker
At last, cultured folk.
01:12:09
Speaker
You are the gang that are tasked with killing the witch.
01:12:16
Speaker
Yes. I believe that is correct, yes. And I have a bit more information, but if you have any more to add to it, and perhaps a pun or two, I have an open ear.
01:12:27
Speaker
I don't know what you strangers are up to, and I don't know what a pun is, but I know this. Edric Tilya is a lying bastard. oh Excuse me, sorry, lady.
01:12:39
Speaker
I'm a boy! Oh, shit, I broke my rule.
01:12:45
Speaker
It's rather disappointing considering the sign out front. I made the sign. I made the It was carved very deeply into the wood. But that doesn't change the fact that Edric Tillyer is a lying bastard.
01:13:00
Speaker
Bastion. How so? No, that's me. I thought that was the same name. No, bastard. Liar.
01:13:10
Speaker
I know, and we all know the flooding started before Aerys even showed up here.
01:13:18
Speaker
The Witch. Before the Witch showed up. Hmm. The flooding was already getting worse. Oh, he says it's the tidal surge, it's the rise of water, it's the drowned vale, it's the marshes.
01:13:29
Speaker
It's happening everywhere, but I don't believe it. He's hiding something. I asked that too, didn't I, in the beginning when we met him. I said, how do you know it's the witch? And he said, because it wasn't there before she was here.
01:13:41
Speaker
I've heard in some cultures what they do is they weigh witches amongst other kind of birds and things like that and test their weight against them. And sometimes they test if things float on water because apparently witches can float on water and the tide will surge.
01:13:57
Speaker
You are? It's just something that I've read. You hear that wasn't a joke, Bastion. Oh. um Yes, he's right.
01:14:08
Speaker
blank look. He doesn't know when to laugh anymore and when to be serious. There's a look of fear you can constantly see in Bastion's eyes at this stage and you just kind of see the odd eye glance swing over towards Rahid.
01:14:23
Speaker
When Rahid turns as well, he does it with his whole body, not his neck. So his whole body is twisting around to Bastion. Amazing. So the... Ork takes another look at you all and kind of confused as the half laughter teeters out
01:14:38
Speaker
I understand, though. The whole town, myself not included, but the whole town would feel better Ferris Tal was not in these parts.
01:14:50
Speaker
But i stand by something feels wrong. She's to the north. i ah I was one of the first that visited her. We were turned away. ah We set up a series of ah large fires around the edge of the marshes.
01:15:09
Speaker
where her area was, and the last of the Tidecaller's blessed them with eternal flame. They are constantly burning night and day, holding back whatever she is releasing into the marshlands.
01:15:21
Speaker
That's where you'll find her. Follow the light. And then enter the darkness.
01:15:33
Speaker
I believe that now is probably as good a time as any to make a move and be able to finish writing the story that I'm about a third of the way through completing.
01:15:45
Speaker
He'll say with his arms again, straight to his sides. Well, I'm just going to finish my orange juice first and then I'll be with you. Of course. and of that, the large bushy haired man, you hear just jump hoping that you'd forgotten and he wanders over and you can just hear the shaking of a glass. did do do do do't Get put down almost like overly noisy as it goes down, drink spilling.
01:16:07
Speaker
And all you have there is an ale. with a small piece of something called Glow Moss Fruit. And this Glow Moss Fruit is used all over Wild Heart as a mode of lighting. um It glows and lets a very slight tangy flavour.
01:16:23
Speaker
It's normally used for lighting because it gives such and an interesting bioluminescent glow. And he's just plopped one of these in the bottom of the ale, which makes it turn... orange or look orange and also because it's an ale it bubbles slightly but he's put it in a fancy glass by fancy glass it's just a tumbler but it's not a large flagon made for ale and he kind of puts it on the table and stands next to you with like ah a closed mouthed open gripped smile looking high eyebrows at you not looking at blackstone very much not looking at blackstone but the sweat dripping off his face speaks otherwise and he looks to you mimsy whistle
01:16:59
Speaker
ah So, sorry, where's my orange juice? Because this is just the ale, isn't it? Oh! ah ah ah What?
01:17:16
Speaker
I thought you were getting me orange juice. Oh, this is this is ah ah the Veilmere orange juice. Right, as an ale?
01:17:27
Speaker
With glomous fruit and a... So it's not unintroduced. Listen, my religion and and my mum and dad said I can't drink ale yet. so Well, in some places, the religion is mum and dad, if you know what I mean if yeah yeah oh mean. No, and he's going to hold up the this holy symbol around his neck and say, look, it is what it is, okay?
01:17:51
Speaker
I ain't drinking what you've just given me. That looks like my piss this morning.
01:17:57
Speaker
think you should consult a tide caller if you're... ah It's fine. No, worry. I'll, uh, I will... Please apologise to the Goliath. I will, um, endeavour in the future to grow orange plants and bring the fruit of the orange tree, which I believe only grows and in in parts of the Haral Empire far to the west, uh,
01:18:18
Speaker
Over to these parts of our town where obviously everything can grow if you look at the barren marshlands we have around here. I will endeavour in the future, my master ah Master Boy.
01:18:29
Speaker
ah Well, um and he's just going to turn to Blackstone and say, have you got a hip flask or anything?
01:18:36
Speaker
I do, um but it is full of adult liquid. Well, okay, I just want some water or something, but really quickly, because we've got to go.
01:18:49
Speaker
Get the boy a water. Water coming coming right up. He turns and but but quickly fills up a large flagon of just water. nothing else Nothing else in it. Water, plain and simple.
01:19:02
Speaker
Straight from the well. Thank you. but but He's just going to knock it back. And it's slightly salty. It's a bit briny.
01:19:16
Speaker
What? Well, you know, like bit fishy. Salt, I think. The boy, the orc, sorry, the boy, the bartender, the orc, the human, the dwarf, all fall silent at this.
01:19:30
Speaker
you What do you mean? What do you mean? What do mean? Taste that. And he just offers the the glass or flagon to ah to the barkeep.
01:19:41
Speaker
No, and he slaps it out your hand. She goes flying and smashes against the wall.
01:19:47
Speaker
It's happened again, hasn't it? What, have you just given me?
01:19:53
Speaker
It's her. She's turned the water. My accent fell apart a bit there, but he turned the but water.
01:20:05
Speaker
She's ruining this town, driving us out. you four killer killer and rid us of this
01:20:18
Speaker
no okie dokie oh sorry I feel like it's gonna come back up alright Bimsy let it out ah just gonna kind of tap you on the back a little bit is is he alright he'll be fine it's just salty she made it salty that's all Why? To what end?
01:20:41
Speaker
I don't know. to To drive us out. You can't drink salty water. It parches you further. Yeah, Mimsy, i I have some fresh water in my skin here.
01:20:52
Speaker
fucking hell, wouldn't you say so? do believe that sounded a bit like blasphemy, if you're a person of the cloth and you've just said that you wanted to fuck hell. That's ah I didn't want to bring it up, but you did just protest to the barkeep about your holiness.
01:21:12
Speaker
I don't think I asked for your opinion.
01:21:15
Speaker
No, you didn't, but I thought I would give it regardless because of the hypocrisy present within your language. I don't think you have any right to tell me how I should be, Mr Man.
01:21:29
Speaker
I see. It appears that perhaps within the drink it's... maybe bolstered your testosterone levels. Very impressive. I was going to, however, make a joke about how the salt within said drink seems to have made the town salty.
01:21:47
Speaker
Yes, I will put that within my report to the bugle. And he's just, Mimsy's just kind of taking his breaths and trying his hardest not to just stamp on Rohid's toe.
01:22:02
Speaker
Very good. And the, the, the, the orc, the, the ah bartender has gone off to clean up what he has spilt and he's muttering to himself and the orc continues to look at the four of you.
Warnings and Wit: Navigating Humor and Danger
01:22:14
Speaker
She's birthed to us all dead.
01:22:19
Speaker
ah might disagree with our esteemed leader, Jilya, but if you can kill her, we would all be much obliged. Won't you join us, Raylton?
01:22:33
Speaker
No, no. I've experienced too much from her. I feel her grasp too strongly on my soul. I would turn. ah know it in my very being.
01:22:47
Speaker
don't.
01:22:51
Speaker
I don't. Well, is there any parting advice that you could give us?
01:22:58
Speaker
he leans in close, grabs the side of your head like an un embrace almost and says quite closely to you, don't listen to the melody.
01:23:12
Speaker
Tune it out. However you can, don't hear it.
01:23:21
Speaker
And he has a haunted look in his eye. It sounds like one of my story books my mummy used to say about the harpies. Right. Yeah, about them singing and that.
01:23:34
Speaker
You don't listen, do you?
01:23:38
Speaker
I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, it's a nice story. This isn't a nice story. This is like real life. In real life shit goes wrong.
01:23:50
Speaker
You keep your mate near you and he gestures to Blackstone, keep him nearby if you want to see him a morning, okay? Promise me that. Mimsy's not going to say anything, he's just going to nod his head.
01:24:02
Speaker
Remember that right hook.
01:24:06
Speaker
Power, like he said, from the hips. Sorry to interrupt, I was going to say I've got a pretty good joke about a harpy. Oh, yeah, Goat, your last one was fantastic. us another one before you go. Thank you. Why don't harpies ever wing win singing competitions?
01:24:23
Speaker
I don't know. Why do harpies never sing winging winning singing competitions? I'll ask it again, I believe I slipped over as part of my expression of the original joke.
01:24:34
Speaker
Why don't harpies ever win singing competitions? I don't know, why do harpies never win singing competitions? Because their songs always end on a sour note, to usually someone's last.
01:24:49
Speaker
Because of their propensity to eat a death, I love it. Makes perfect sense. That's correct. Fantastic. See, and Bastion, again, perhaps you could take tutorage under the Orc for a sense of humour.
01:25:01
Speaker
I am an advocate follower of the Storm Spire Bugle, actually. I've got lots of copies of them. Big fan, big fan, big fan.
01:25:09
Speaker
Rohit kind of stops and stares at you with that. Good. Yes, it's a very, it's a good one. And he'll turn and walk out the door.
01:25:21
Speaker
But beware the marshes. Beware the song. You hear as Rahid exits. Is anyone following? Or is the as as has Railton just shouted out the door ominously for no reason?
01:25:37
Speaker
As you all stand there like, well...
01:25:40
Speaker
ah I'll stand around for a moment. Yeah, stand around for a minute. I'll catch Bastion by the arm. And where did he wander off to
01:25:52
Speaker
Off to the old meeting place. Just ah but they yeah up to the town. And did he do anything more creepy than usual?
01:26:04
Speaker
And as you ask that, it's almost like a PTSD moment where he completely blanks out and he's just replaying the events in his head.
01:26:16
Speaker
The Bastion?
01:26:20
Speaker
The Well. i I think we should go to the Well. Right. Right. Well, um I imagine that's where he's just awkwardly walked off to.
01:26:33
Speaker
Do you call that walking? i don't really know. It's a strange, strange form of movement. um Perhaps we can rectify it.
01:26:45
Speaker
If he does continue his puns, I'm more than happy to remove his arms entirely.
01:26:54
Speaker
would keep that as a backup plan. There's definitely something about him that...
01:27:00
Speaker
Well, makes me feel all empty inside. Yeah, it makes you skim crawl. I'll lean in close to Bastion to say, and keep an eye on him around the child.
01:27:14
Speaker
but With that, just going saddle on over to Mimsy a little bit. I think you should take this, perhaps, as well.
01:27:26
Speaker
i was going to take off um the side of my waist. Sorry, I'm trying to get the words out and they're not coming. I'm taking a light crossbow that's off ah my belt and i'm just passing it ah to mimsy with um about a hundred bolt as well Sorry, what does this do?
01:27:54
Speaker
What does it do? Load it, point it, shoot. Yes, look at the orc over there, Mimsy. Yeah.
01:28:04
Speaker
No, we've just made friends with him. ah Friends can take a hit occasionally. Okay.
01:28:12
Speaker
And he's just going to shoot it. Chaos incarnate. Yeah, point pointed at the orc. ah roll to hit with disadvantage because you're in melee range he stood right next to you looking towards the exit one hand lifted high towards Rahid about gesturing about the marsh now because I actually don't have um an attack ah sorry am a weapon what am I adding to this You won't be able to add your proficiency bonus unless you're proficient with crossbows. Fine.
01:28:44
Speaker
Then I won't. Take a three off of whatever you just roll ah roll whatever your normal weapon dex-based weapon, if you've got one equipped. No, it's an unarmed strike for it's it's an unarmed ah strike for me Okay, like in which case it would be a just a d20 add to your dexterity score and nothing else. So whatever your plus dex is.
01:29:05
Speaker
Okay. um that's ah With disadvantage, you said? Yes, with disadvantage. That's fine. That would be a lovely eight. um The crossbow goes off too early and just fires a bolt into the floor between his legs.
01:29:18
Speaker
He looks at that, looks at you, looks at Blackstone. ah was just practicing! Oh, very good, Mimsy.
01:29:29
Speaker
I think you should make your way into the washes now. Yeah, thanks. Thank you. Head north. Look for the light. Then enter the darkness. yeah
01:29:44
Speaker
He'll get into you.
01:29:49
Speaker
Why are you still stood here? I'm sorry, sorry. We need to get going. Stop reloading it. Stop reloading it. Just start, Wimsy. Come on. Let's go. Like soon?
Into the Marsh: Challenges and Enchantments
01:29:59
Speaker
Yeah. but we We'll walk.
01:30:01
Speaker
Yes. Thank you for the ale, Barkeep. And um yes, goodbye. Goodbye. i wouldn't The orange trees will be here next time. i promise you that. Right. Believe it, I see it.
01:30:15
Speaker
Rohit is standing there, like five feet from the door, just staring in towards as the door opens up and you come out to him. I was waiting by the well with ah another well-placed pun, something about all's well that ends well, but you did not follow.
01:30:33
Speaker
Shall we make our way towards the lights to perhaps purge this witch from these lands?
01:30:42
Speaker
i said Yes, but Rohit... No, I
01:30:49
Speaker
no i have nothing. Bastion?
01:30:55
Speaker
It's like, again, blank expression as he's talking to Rohit. Yes, i let's go towards the lights. What about the well? Are we ignoring the well for now? We did seem to think that was a thing. well Well, well.
01:31:08
Speaker
ah We could... Bastion, you have been taking training, I take it, from the orc. That was an excellent joke. That is well exactly why i was a bit delayed in there.
01:31:20
Speaker
was talking to him. see. believe you wholeheartedly. Shall we make a move on to the north and follow the lights? And, Mimsy, I would like a word, if possible, on the journey.
01:31:33
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Blackstone, can you just protect me, please? I will be keeping an eye on you, Mimsy. Don't worry, just don't stray out of eyesight for me. Okay.
01:31:46
Speaker
Okay, and we're starting to make our way towards the lights, is that right? You can't see them to begin with, but you've had a couple of people tell you about moving towards the moon, which is in the north, moving to the north, which is the north, and moving towards light, which you cannot see.
01:32:01
Speaker
ah But as you press deeper into the marsh, the land starts vanish beneath your feet. The boardwalks that are mushed into the kind of loamy soil beneath your feet ah is replaced by a narrow trail of kind of packed mud.
01:32:17
Speaker
The ground shifts like something. It's almost breathing beneath the surface, the odd bubble coming up through the mud. A thick mist coils between the twisted reeds, muffles sound and steals your sense of distance.
01:32:33
Speaker
The only light comes from flickering marsh flies, ah pale light outlining strange shapes in the water. This journey will take you ostensibly about an hour to find the lights.
01:32:49
Speaker
And in that time, going a skill challenge with a slight difference. I've got an overall for the four of you. I've got an overall score. I'll need you to get to basically, and no matter what your score is for it it, adds towards it. And so as a group, you have to reach this number.
01:33:08
Speaker
Now on the way there, a couple of things might happen that might affect the journey slightly, but I'll get to those in just a second. So to begin with though, all we're looking for is a very basic skill challenge of travel, travel song stuff, fast travel stuff.
01:33:25
Speaker
And so anything you think that might help aid the party in moving towards or finding their goal in the night, in the dark, through a marshlands, you can use and roll your, let's say, nature, do a nature check to help you locate the best route through the marshes or whatever you want.
01:33:44
Speaker
you can use to reach this overall ah mythical score that I have written down. definitely have written down and I will add each four of your scores to it. And if you beat the score, less of these things will happen to you afterwards, basically. Okay. it's how well the journey goes or not. Okay. um So we'll, Rahid, as I imagine, you're probably into the front of this panel. I also imagine you don't float, but you look like you walk, but you look like you're floating.
01:34:10
Speaker
ah Yeah, again, it's weird. It's weird. If there is wind or anything like that, it is not affecting him, or it doesn't seem to be affecting him at all. Much like those kind of, I don't know whether it's, don't know what country it's from, think it's like Belarus, like those dancers, like you say, that that least seem like they're gliding.
01:34:29
Speaker
ah He's definitely, you can hear the footfalls, but... his clothes seem to glide with him as well. Um, ah I don't have much in the way of, of useful things here. Does it have to be something we're proficient in or can it be literally any kind of role as we go?
01:34:45
Speaker
It could be anything because you're, you know, I often think that when people have the argument about it needs to be proficient, well, sometimes you're put in situations where you aren't proficient, but you've got to deal with anyway. And so I think whatever you have, if you can wing it or you can convince me, which normally you can, but you know, Okay. um I think with the knowledge that there's potentially some witch and with nefarious things and we're kind of following the lights and I imagine we're going to be well noticed, what I'd like to do is...
01:35:17
Speaker
um relatively subtly, he's going to try to take the routes that require the least noise. So he's going to be where there's perhaps marshland. You might see him kind of lead across if there's any kind of rocky outcroppings or if there's any kind of hardened mud or anything like that, something that would reduce the level of noise um to kind of lead the group here.
01:35:42
Speaker
The aim, Mark, if I've described it well enough, hopefully is a stealth check, but obviously it's entirely up to you how that plays out.
01:35:49
Speaker
Yeah, i can I can give you that in terms of you being the leader of the group. you can pick You're picking the route. And by picking the stealthiest route, you will walk quietly. And as a result, the group behind you are more likely to tread on the same things and therefore be quieter. So yes, i will give you I'll give you the opportunity to roll stealth.
01:36:07
Speaker
Awesome. That's a 20 overall. Thank you. 20 overall. Very good start. ah Following up behind, i imagine it's probably Bastion. I'm pulling out names here of a bag pretty much.
01:36:20
Speaker
Yeah, I can go. um In all a sudden, because we are navigating through ah marshes and such things, I would, if you permit the time limit, um I want to cast Water Walk as a ritual spell. Okay.
01:36:41
Speaker
and So basically, it takes about 10 minutes to get done. Obviously, going through marshlands anyway makes a logical sense to get it done, but I can have up to 10 willing creatures of my choice gain the ability to walk on water for an hour.
01:36:58
Speaker
Okay. So are you giving that to your colleagues? Yes, absolutely. want everybody in the party and even Rohit for some kind of training. It's going to be very apprehensive where it's like, Rohit, I've got something that's going to make this entire thing work so much better. now but i'm I'm just going to do it. I'm going to give you the capability to walk on water.
01:37:23
Speaker
Is everybody okay with that? Blackstone, Mimsy, all good? Yes? Yeah, yeah. yeah is Yeah, thanks. Okay, okay. and Yeah, I'll continue with the practice of just making Water Walk as a ritual spell.
01:37:39
Speaker
Okay, nice. I mean, I'll give you that as something you've done on on the beginning of the journey. can do it. I can roll something for it if you want. No, no, no. I don't need to roll for that because you're good at that. What that can mean, though, is that...
01:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, I might be able to add something onto the next two roles if it's directly affected by it for that. I still need you to make a skill check. I allow you to do that almost this as a free pre-action to to what you're setting off.
01:38:07
Speaker
But I'll need the description. Well, tell you what then... seeing it is a spell um obviously the cleric thing i'll do a religion check for it just to try and have bollocks nice try that's done that's done worth a go now i forget now you're all floating now traversing the marshes what can you bring to the but what can you bring bastion woodwing hmm let's go with uh survival then i'm second behind it he's navigating a route for it anyway but i'm keeping a lookout for any dangers or whatnot that may interfere with um the the spell to a certain extent i suppose so anything that where water walk might not walk so if we're going across rocky terrain or something like that it's like you may as well stay away from that it's going to be easy to actually literally walk on water
01:38:59
Speaker
It's tenuous, but I'll give you a call. I was really good at ideas. 18. You also notice as you find that route, it starts to snow. It feels like snowing. It's dark ash.
01:39:12
Speaker
can do ash starts to fall just flecks of it from the sky like from a large bonfire that you might have seen back in your hometown but there's no fires around here just something you notice uh thank you very much for that um i imagine and again correct me if i'm wrong mimsy you'd be nestled in between bastion and blackstone yeah you wouldn't be at the you wouldn't be at the body of this train i would not be at the body no no that's not me i No, so Mimsy, nestled in the center of this little train, and could you give me a skill ah check of some description which might aid the group in making it to the witch's hut?
01:39:53
Speaker
Okay. Yes. I would like to do nature, please. So I would like to see whether or not, um you know, there's certain plants that might be reaching up, like the movement of the the earth and that sort of thing that we were talking about or we were hearing that was happening before.
01:40:07
Speaker
You know, is it going to be that something's going to come and grab us from underneath the water or anything like that I'm kind of looking out for? Okay. Yeah. Give us a roll for that then, please. See, that's how you do it, Callum.
01:40:18
Speaker
That's how you buy it. I mean, that was a wank. Sorry. and That's a lovely four. Okay. Do you know what it did? It rolled onto natural 20 and then it just rolled back off again.
01:40:29
Speaker
ah yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Such a problem. ah Thank you for that, Mimsy. you Yeah. yeah youre Oh, be careful there. And that's it's kind of obvious things like there's a tree in the way. Don't walk into it. Thank you, Mimsy. And you know everyone's kind around it.
01:40:48
Speaker
and Thank you for that. And then finally, Blackstone at the Botty. At the bottom. I'd like to make an investigation check. I just want to see if there's any um any signs of any human activity or any... any oh no, there would be tracks in a marsh, but... um Any broken brush, any signs of lost belongings, anything like that that might hint that we're following a path that's been trodden before.
01:41:16
Speaker
Okay, yeah, sure. Give me investigation check, please. Seven. Okey-dokey.
01:41:23
Speaker
Thank you very much. You notice as you're looking, Blackstone, out at the the rear of the party and looking over the shoulders and trying to take that whole situation in, looking for that. I swear you keep seeing just in the horizon through the trees where you can see sky.
01:41:41
Speaker
And usually, you know, when the in the dark, the very close, the foreground darkness is very, very dark, but the sky darkness is a little bit lighter. it You think you can see figures, right?
01:41:52
Speaker
Maybe it's the tree branches moving in the wind, but every now and then your, your eyes is naturally drawn to what you feel is dark movement on the, on the horizon. Never hear anything. It happens quite a few times through your journey.
01:42:07
Speaker
Nothing ever approaches, nothing ever comes of it, but you just see them out of almost out of the peripheral of your vision, uh, three or four times take place just as a, as a, as a reference there. Okay.
01:42:18
Speaker
Um, you meet a total of 49. So close. so close so close. Could I ask that these are just so I don't have to roll it this many times, uh, that
01:42:33
Speaker
Blackstone, Mimsy and Bastion all just roll a d20 and just tell me the outcome of the d20. No modifiers, no nothing. Just what numbers did you get between one and 20, please?
01:42:44
Speaker
Uh, Mimsy got an Thank you. Blackstone? Uh, 13. 13. Thank you. And Bastion? Plicklein. Thank you very much. Some of these might affect you now, some of them might not
01:42:59
Speaker
ah The first one actually works really well, but Mimsy, for you. okay You actually mentioned you're looking down for things coming out of the ground. And strangely, even though you're older four, you physically stand on something and you hear a crunch. and as you move your foot, you just see the skeletal remains of a hand kind of reaching up.
01:43:16
Speaker
And as you remove your boot from it, the foot just kind of like crumples down back into the mud. And you can just just the hand falling back into the mud. It doesn't do anything. It's not not alive or anything, but that happens.
01:43:27
Speaker
Did you just see what I just saw?
01:43:33
Speaker
No? Evidently not. No. There was a hand. A fucking hand. Skeleton. No skin. Nothing. Hand. It grabbed my boot. Look, I don't even have a shoe on.
01:43:44
Speaker
And he puts his foot up in the air. It took my boot. That's a rather flexible stretch you have there, Mimsy. I used to do um acrobatics lessons. That was when I was about four.
01:43:58
Speaker
Doesn't matter. um What the fuck?
01:44:04
Speaker
yeah I'm afraid I didn't see anything at all, Mindy. Are you sure it's not just this marsh playing tricks on you? No, no, that's really, really scary. It scared me. um Did your god not protect you from this?
01:44:16
Speaker
Well, yes, it did, because I'm still here. My boot isn't, though. I see. The god does not protect the boot. No. Evidently not.
01:44:30
Speaker
i'm just so Just watch your steps, okay? ah That's all I'm saying. Stay close to Blackstone. You'll be fine. Mimsy is now taken to hopping his way through.
01:44:42
Speaker
Smartest giant in town style. The... and The train, the procession continues and you feel the oppressiveness of the the closeness of the marsh descend upon you.
01:44:55
Speaker
This next stage, you can see just on the off in the distance, a train of lights quite spaced out. And yet there are obviously fires burning. You're at 30 or 40 feet away from them at this point.
01:45:09
Speaker
And then separately, This happens almost simultaneously. Not that you'd know it happened at the same time, but each in your heads, you hear something.
01:45:21
Speaker
And it's your voice, or someone that sounds like you, whisper something to you. Bastion. You just hear your own voice repeating back the word, fraud.
01:45:38
Speaker
Mimsy. You hear a single question. You left us both behind. back Blackstone,
01:45:51
Speaker
come closer. We're waiting, my love. And Rohid, that was the best joke you ever made.
01:46:05
Speaker
And you didn't even tell it.
01:46:09
Speaker
Could you all make a wisdom saving throw, please? and
01:46:19
Speaker
it's like a a slight high-pitched kind whistle almost in your ear you know like i don't know what it is is it when you lose part of your hearing or you says yeah and then it just fades out like that happens all at the same time and you will catch that frequency in your in your ear almost at the same time i think it's tinnitus Well, I'm um'm having tinnitus then. Well, that makes sense. and but You'll get a little ringing of that, and then it but it dissipates. it doesn't stick with you, though. um Blackstone, what did you roll?
01:46:48
Speaker
18. 18, thank you. This does not affect you. Bastion? 17. This doesn't affect you. Mimsy? 18. This does not affect you. Rahid? 9.
01:47:02
Speaker
This does affect you.
01:47:05
Speaker
you watch this is brilliant You watch as this, all three of you hear that and, and you realize as you look at each other, you've all seen that. and I imagine though, but but correct me if I'm wrong here, well, that we wouldn't even almost react to that.
01:47:18
Speaker
But what you do happens is you, um, you become, you are entranced andia and chant and enchanted and trant and tranced. And basically your body stops becoming your own. And the other three, you see him, if it's possible, where he stiffened, even, even taller,
01:47:35
Speaker
his arms even straighter, and then he just twists a full 90 degrees, so he's facing 90 degrees away, and starts wading into the deeper parts of the marsh, down to his knees. And then he keeps going.
01:47:50
Speaker
Up. Up. So they want to do anything. up to What are you doing, boy? Rahid, Rahid, you need to come back. It is dangerous. What are you doing?
01:48:02
Speaker
Am I able to respond, or am I... Yes, but you're still under the enchantment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's not possible that I didn't tell it. It's quite clear that my jokes have been fully on point up until this point.
01:48:19
Speaker
Bastian, what would you like to do? It's not what I would like to do. um it's a and It's a thing of water walk. So, obviously, I put it on everybody when we started traversing through the marshes. Yeah.
01:48:33
Speaker
And Rahid being one of the people who I and put it on as well. An affected target must take a bonus action to pass from the liquid surface into the liquid itself. Yeah.
01:48:46
Speaker
If the target falls into the liquid, the target just goes straight down. So, he you there's no... He would have used any action, and any mode possible to himself in order to pass through the water. His whole being has switched towards wanting to be in the water.
01:49:03
Speaker
So any any kind of action necessary to do it, even if it involves him no longer being a willing creature, if that's part of the the spell act the spell description, he would have he would have done that as he's enchanted.
01:49:16
Speaker
ah That's fine. I just want to see if it was him voluntarily doing it. It's different, but if he kind of... falls into it, then he just goes straight underwater. He stops. Well, it's not deep enough for that anyway, but he stops at about chest height, his arms still stiff by it down by his side, and he lifts his head up high, high, staring up at the crescent moon, and then just thrusts his face under the water.
01:49:43
Speaker
His arms now, I imagine, kind of stick up slightly as his head goes down, but his... his bum up in the air and his head's just in the water and you just see him. Nope, this is weird. We've got to get him out of there now. And then just before you even get a chance to respond, Rohit, you are back in control of yourself. You find yourself butt up, head down in the marsh.
01:50:03
Speaker
I'm going to put my head up, butt down, and with the Water Walk spell, I'm assuming that i can use bonus action to just suddenly be walking on the water again. basic So he's going to pop up like a spring-loaded child's toy, up on top of the water.
01:50:18
Speaker
And a couple of weird things. ah He's there. He's kind of standing upright, arms still by his side. ah He is dripping. You can see water dripping off marsh, water dripping off him.
01:50:30
Speaker
He's bone dry. And he's going to turn back to the group.
01:50:36
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure what came over me. I was informed that my jokes that I'd been telling were pretty good, but the best joke I had told was not one that I had told, and I refuse to believe that.
01:50:51
Speaker
Right.
01:50:54
Speaker
Bear with me. ah He's going to bend forward, scoop his hands into the water, kind of Can I grab some mud, some kind of moss, some anything from there?
01:51:05
Speaker
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, no problem. There's loads of it
01:51:10
Speaker
around. So he's going to get, yeah, that clumped into his hands. You'll see it in his hands. He's going to, you'll see him kind of stuff and poke his fingers into his ears and just stuff really, really hard. He's going to deafen himself ah effectively from this point.
01:51:25
Speaker
But his... There is no mud anywhere upon his body as he's kind of stuffed his ears full of marshland ah moss and mud and whatnot.
01:51:40
Speaker
He's still dripping, bone dry, dripping wet, ah clean as a whistle. Okay. Shall we continue? Sorry, what did you just do? are you dry?
01:51:52
Speaker
Why did you stuff mud in your ears? You'll see him squint a little bit. I'm assuming from the look upon your lips and the sound that they were making, you were confused as about my actions.
01:52:05
Speaker
Quite simply, I am stuffing my ears with mud to avoid being talked to in such a manner again. I did not find it very comforting.
01:52:16
Speaker
Oh, actually, that's quite clever. ah But I'm not going to do the same.
01:52:23
Speaker
I cannot hear what you are trying to retort, so I'll assume that you are going to follow me as we continue making our way towards the lights. Mimsy's just going to smile and nod.
01:52:36
Speaker
Very well. Mimsy will well, but it's just like a really eyes wide type of thing. This will make it troublesome to have the word that I wished to have with you, Mimsy. However, it requires a lot of talking on my part and some listening upon your part.
01:52:53
Speaker
And then Mimsy will go, okay, really quite over-dramatized.
01:53:00
Speaker
and That sounded like it was some sort of affirmative response. However, it could also have been you sounding out some part of a song, perhaps. I'm not quite sure.
The Witch's Proposal
01:53:09
Speaker
But join me at the front, if you will, and he'll carry on walking away.
01:53:12
Speaker
And Mimsy's just going to give Blackstone a little bit of a nod to be like, ah just keep your eye out. And then Mimsy's going to slowly saddle up to Rohid, who absolutely terrifies him.
01:53:30
Speaker
Okay, he's walking, he's carrying walking in the same direction. He's still kind of dripping water down, bone dry, clean as a whistle as he's going along. um ah He's got his passive perception. It's probably good enough to realise that you're by his side. It's not like it's 11, but he's probably realised that you're by his side and he'll notice that and he'll turn his entire body towards you whilst his legs are still walking in the same direction. on This upper torso is facing towards you.
01:53:55
Speaker
and he'll say, I could not help noticing that you have a bit of a crisis of faith with your Lord and Saviour, according to that which you wear about your neck.
01:54:06
Speaker
I was wondering if perhaps that was still the case. You would want to have a word with me and I could put in perhaps a good word with you, of with Bob, ah my employer.
01:54:20
Speaker
How do you know my God? How can you speak to them? I don't understand. I can't. But then again, I did previously hear you use the word hells within an argument, almost in some form of blasphemous manner, and therefore assumed that you were perhaps not fully of the cloth with which you were.
01:54:42
Speaker
Well... You might be right, actually, because I'm i'm not. i said to, well, I was talking to Blackstone earlier ah about it, and and it's something that my my mum and dad have always been very um a faithful in in our in, our God, and something that I always wanted to to join in with the family and to have something in common with the family, but they, they see things the way I, I don't. And, and they believe in, in fighting and, and, and hurting other people and smiting people and, and doing wrong. And, and I don't believe that that's the case. And, and apparently Grundar, our God, to he, he believes in war, but, but he also believes in strength too. And I think the strength in a lot of other things that are not fighty.
01:55:38
Speaker
I have not heard a word of your response because you've not been facing my direction and I've been relying on reading your lips as my ears are stuffed with mud and marsh. However, I will assume that you said yes at some point within that.
01:55:52
Speaker
and That is absolutely fine. Have a word with me when we've slain the witch and I will put in a good word with you and I believe that greatness could be yours. Shall we go? And the top part of his torso will turn forwards again and carry on walking.
01:56:05
Speaker
So freaky. And Mimsy's just going to run as quickly as he can within the wading waters or marshland back in between Blackstone and Bastion. All right.
01:56:22
Speaker
um So you continue to make your way awkwardly through the marshlands. and it's about another 30 or 40 minutes before you're close enough to the... It's hard going at this point. It's deep marsh, mud and water.
01:56:38
Speaker
And it takes you some time to get through it. And then you see it. ah The closely now a line of large
01:56:48
Speaker
torches of lights set up on small islands, split up between the waters of the marshes. And you notice also a distinct difference in the colour, the pallor of the water and the colour of the silt below is darker beyond, beyond these torches that hold it back perhaps.
01:57:08
Speaker
And in and amongst this, you can see quite obviously laid out a small island and upon that a solid piece of land and what that within that, and almost in a miracle of stability in this shifting bog is this hut, a weathered wooden beamed hut reinforced with what looks like kind of strange symbols deep carved into the wood.
01:57:34
Speaker
The air feels charged here. You're about 40, 50 feet away from the hut at this point. There's no sign of anyone in your location at the moment. What would you like to do?
01:57:50
Speaker
I suppose we press on unless someone gets in front of me and directs me otherwise.
01:57:59
Speaker
find if okay, let him go. Yes. Maybe we should take the first step together, Rohid?
01:58:09
Speaker
Damn that I'll follow
01:58:15
Speaker
damn that man and i just start so good profile for him Okay. And Rohit, as you kind of are taking the lead and you are deafened at this point, and what is your ultimate goal at this at this at this moment? You're about 40 feet away from the hut at this point.
01:58:30
Speaker
From the hut, did you say? Yes, from the hut, yeah. Excellent. Okay, ah then Rahid will kind of just turn back to the group and go, I assume that there is some sort of ah unsightly being within here, perhaps the witch themself, who we are here to slay.
01:58:51
Speaker
I suggest those with weaponry withdraw it now and be ready ah for the fight. And he will um kind of... turned back and you'll see him kind of mutter something because hopefully he'll be far enough away from you at this point.
01:59:06
Speaker
And you'll see his arms kind of for the first time, almost released from his side and perform this, uh, somatic component. And, uh, Then his hands will drop once again to his side.
01:59:20
Speaker
Nothing about his appearance in any way, shape or form has changed apart from that where he stands now, you swear you can just about make out that the water that he's standing on is almost freezing at his feet.
01:59:42
Speaker
Constant enigma, this Rohid. What the hell are you? Absolute enigma. And as you press on towards the hut, you get to the door and finally you step on dry land.
01:59:54
Speaker
Well, know you've been water walking, all of you. Thanks, Bastion, for that. But you step on to dry land for the first time in about an hour. and finally there's some solid ground beneath your boots and you can feel the ground beneath your boots instead of this arcanic or celestial force holding you up.
02:00:11
Speaker
As you get closer, you do notice charms of driftwood were driftward and stone hanging from the eaves of the doorway. The windows glow with dim candlelight.
02:00:22
Speaker
this A trail of smoke out of the roof. It's clear someone or something is inside. The party of Iambastin.
02:00:33
Speaker
What would you like to do? LAUGHTER Rahid's going to be pulling down, literally ripping down these ah charms, these kind of things. Again, a hand just kind of, a single hand going up, grabbing it and just like and almost with anger, something you've not seen necessarily from him, just tear it down and just drop it to the floor.
02:00:57
Speaker
Rahid, I was going to just knock. We don't want to go in like that straight away. ah It is not a problem. If I'm assuming because you have moved your hand in a knocking motion, that is your intention.
02:01:09
Speaker
ah Still, and he's going to point to his beautifully clean ears, ah cannot hear you. They are stuffed with mud. and These, however, do offend me. And ah perhaps they might offend those who I work for at the Storm Spire Bugle, of course.
02:01:25
Speaker
And he's going to carry on. Inside check. Go for it, go for it, go for Blackstone. Go, man, go. My God. I thought someone might have decked him by now. 17 in sight.
02:01:41
Speaker
Doesn't beat my 26, I'm afraid. Are you sick? Wow. whoa For all intents and purposes, he is a journalist. That is one hell of a journalist.
02:01:52
Speaker
Mimsy, are you knocking? Is that your intention here? I am. I'm going to knock, yeah. As you knock on the door, the door opens. Not like in a creepy way, but like just from the pressure of you knocking, the door just naturally swings open.
02:02:05
Speaker
Oh. It's dark inside. Hello? Hello? Nimsy, be careful. but it's just opened the door.
02:02:19
Speaker
Do you want to go in?
02:02:22
Speaker
Not particularly. prefer to fight in the open. I'll start stretching. ah Listen, we've not come to fight. um We just want to get to know you, really.
02:02:38
Speaker
Hello? um There's people saying that you're a bad person, but but I don't believe that. I think there's something good in everyone. If you want to come out, we can have a talk about it, maybe.
02:02:54
Speaker
You hear a clutter deep in the hut, a flash of a shadow against the windows to the rear of the property, and then stood in front of you, not at a demean domineering distance, but just 15 feet away from you within, you see the figure of a cloaked woman.
02:03:17
Speaker
Aeris stands before you. She's almost framed by the dim candlelight of her hut. But expression's not ah hostile. It's not desperate either.
02:03:31
Speaker
She looks tired. You can really see this, Mimsy. She looks tired.
02:03:38
Speaker
She studies you, Mimsy, for quite a long moment. She looks over your shoulder to the old Goliath doing stretches or Pilates in the background.
02:03:51
Speaker
Come in. I know why you're here. And she turns her back to you and starts walking over towards a table which is strewn with papers. Mimsy's going to follow.
02:04:07
Speaker
Is anyone else going to follow? Bastian has basically that's been kind of hiding behind his shield this entire time. Just while Mimsy, ah the child, has gone in directly, knocked on the door. and it so Okay, yes.
02:04:25
Speaker
but's Let's discuss. Let's discuss. And I'm going to very cautiously and slowly follow Mimsy in. Okay. Anyone else?
02:04:36
Speaker
Yep. Rahid will look around. I cannot help but feel like other people have not also plugged their ears with mud, and now I'm so somewhat at a disadvantage because I cannot hear what the small child has perhaps said.
02:04:50
Speaker
so And he's going to dig in his ears and just... Mud is just going to drop down from his pristine, clean hands and ears as he throws it to the floor, and he is going to follow.
02:05:03
Speaker
Okay, and finally, Blackstone. Yeah, um if if the door is big enough, then I'll crouch it's just so I can see into the room. how How enclosed is this space? is it quite I don't know why I'm picturing Shrek's hut in my head. Yeah, I guess it's in a swamp.
02:05:22
Speaker
It's a little bit larger than that and more human-based. Consider it more what would like a a human walking into it. this would be a far-fetched for Blackstone to imagine it, but imagine like an old wizard going into a hobbit home it's that kind of you're you're slightly hunched down uh given the the height of the ceiling slightly for you but you know manageable right you can move around the space it's just slightly uncomfortable yeah okay yeah i'll have
02:05:53
Speaker
it's um it's eris isn't it and she looks at you I'm Mimsy, and this is Rohid and and Bastion and Blackstone.
02:06:06
Speaker
She takes each of you in one at a time, piercing dark, but with a twinkle, dark, dark black eyes. And she sits, her shoulders sag.
02:06:17
Speaker
She looks to the ground. I know why you're here. The villagers sent you, didn't they? A bounty, I imagine, a tidy sum for my head.
02:06:31
Speaker
I won't fault you if you take it. She sits at her desk with her kind of back almost half to you, the four of you.
02:06:42
Speaker
She exhales and kind of pours through some notes. You see her hands tremble slightly as the papers move. They think I brought the flood.
02:06:54
Speaker
That i cursed these lands. That I called the tides. but the truth is I've been holding it back.
02:07:06
Speaker
She looks towards you, Rohit.
02:07:11
Speaker
The villagers don't understand what sleeps beneath their feet. They hear songs, they hear whispers of curses, but they do not see the truth. The water is only the surface.
02:07:26
Speaker
Beneath it, something waits. Something that has been locked away for longer than any of us have lived. It's waking. It's not a monster, not a demon, not something you can kill with a sword. And she looks to Blackstone.
02:07:44
Speaker
The calling veil stirs. And when it rises... It will not care for names or boundaries. Wildheart, jade lands, Hentis.
02:07:59
Speaker
It will not stop at Valemere. It will drown the land.
02:08:06
Speaker
And yet here you stand. She stands at this point too. Carrying the weight of a choice you never knew you'd have to make.
02:08:17
Speaker
You could end this now. Cut me down. Take the bounty. Tell the villagers the witch is dead. But if you do, the tide will come.
02:08:31
Speaker
Or you can help me. You can stand at the edge of this flood and fight against something greater than all of us.
02:08:43
Speaker
You can try to push back against the calling veil. if only for a little longer. But I won't lie to you.
02:08:55
Speaker
This will not be easy. And it won't come without cost.
02:09:04
Speaker
The choice is yours. Do whatever you decide. But the tide is coming. And it does not care who stands in its way.
02:09:18
Speaker
And she kind of slumps back in the chair at that, visibly knackered by that monologue and kind of sits down panting slightly as she looks up towards you all expectantly.
02:09:32
Speaker
Listen, ah can't swim. So I don't really like the thought of the tide coming and I'm not a fighter, but if I'm helping somebody and and fighting against something worse,
02:09:49
Speaker
then I would choose that personally. You're right, Eris. We were brought here on your doorstep to do something that no one's done before.
02:10:03
Speaker
But i I want to say on our behalf, all of our behalf, that we we don't want to kill you if you're not the problem. I don't believe in that, and I don't think my mates do either.
02:10:18
Speaker
She'll look at you, Mimsy, and a small smile will break out across her face, just very faint through the exhaustion. And she'll say, even the smallest stone can change tide.
02:10:36
Speaker
Thank you.
02:10:40
Speaker
I'll be honest, I don't think she does speak for me. She said that she did, but that wasn't a prearranged agreement on my part. And I'm not entirely sure it is for Blackstone or Bastion, my other companions here.
02:10:53
Speaker
ah You make some very interesting points, but at the same time, I am... led to believe with my work through the Storm Spire Bugle and as a journalist, which I am, I have to take both sides of the story and I have been told one side and now your side and so we must do some form of analysis to work out who indeed is telling the truth.
02:11:16
Speaker
However, you mentioned that you are holding back the tides, the surge. That implies, I would argue, that you personally have great power.
02:11:26
Speaker
Do you deny it?
02:11:29
Speaker
I do not deny i have some power, but what I hold back isn't necessarily the tidal surge. I spoke more metaphorically that I hold back the tide that comes from below.
02:11:43
Speaker
ah So you are saying ah metaphorically that you are like some sort of locked door, if you like, and if we were to metaphorically open said door, we would metaphorically have access to what is behind, or in this case, beneath said door, which is a greater power. Is this correct?
02:12:03
Speaker
That is, and if that would happen, it will not stop for any being. It will supersede even the power of the tidal surge. There is no contemplation here.
02:12:16
Speaker
This thing is beyond us all. In your opinion, that is something that you should probably state at the end of such a point. No, Rohid, you know what happened when on on on our way here.
02:12:30
Speaker
My foot, my boot, look, my boot got taken by that skeletal hand. Something bigger is beneath us and she's telling the truth. Or perhaps she is the one whom has claimed your boot, and if so, I might point out that it would be polite to hand said boot back.
02:12:47
Speaker
And also, Mimsy, I will be honest in saying that perhaps you are not the pinnacle, perhaps, of morality, having tried to knee and then shoot an orc in a tavern not two hours prior.
02:13:01
Speaker
Fair point.
02:13:04
Speaker
Bastion Blackstone, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this matter. Do we open the door and search for what is beneath, if you catch my merit metaphorical drift?
02:13:15
Speaker
And I say drift with emphasis, because obviously when talking about the surge and the tides, things that go upon it do indeed drift. I will be honest. I ah kind of hear just...
02:13:30
Speaker
for community service requirements. um But I... yeah i ah Whatever the better option that's going to pay my debt more, I'm i'm all for it. I'd rather not be unleashing any greater beehives or such not. But you you you want truth. There is something I can actually do about that, if you wish. I have the capacity um to It's a little bit of magic, but I will know if she lies about what she says.
02:14:05
Speaker
But would you believe that if I said that? ah Well, I have heard it told before that people do indeed have the ability to cast such a spell. In fact, I believe that I had a joke on the matter, but I must currently search back through my my own mind for this joke. It does not come to the forefront.
02:14:25
Speaker
ah Bear with me. And ah he will bow his head for the next 10 seconds or so. During that time, Blackstone, you're peering in through the low doorway of this hutch, ah listening to this conversation take place, Mimsy be brought in by this haggard, exhausted woman, human woman, sat at ah but at a desk. Is there anything you'd like to say or ask her?
02:14:51
Speaker
um
02:14:55
Speaker
ill ill I'll fully enter the the hut. um Stand up as as tall as I can, rolling my shoulders against the ceiling.
02:15:06
Speaker
One thing I will say in my years is that I have encountered many people that have pleaded for their life with endless babble.
02:15:18
Speaker
And if you are lying to us, perhaps we should just face it. I care not for this land. Do any of you, if it is to be overrun with whatever she says it will be,
02:15:33
Speaker
well, all the worse for them. I think you make a very valid point there, Blackstone, and I have now recalled the joke on which I was talking about. What is a journalist's favourite spell? Zone of Truth.
02:15:47
Speaker
Unless they are writing for the Daily Mimic.
02:15:54
Speaker
Goliath,
02:15:58
Speaker
you speak of this land falling and you're not minding. I care not for the marshes either.
02:16:06
Speaker
May I remind you that this will spread across the whole kingdoms. Something is forming in the east already.
02:16:17
Speaker
It will subsume Sleetgard.
02:16:21
Speaker
This is Wild Heart's version.
02:16:26
Speaker
It will come.
02:16:29
Speaker
It already is here.
02:16:32
Speaker
And the one that smiles his white teeth black skin,
02:16:39
Speaker
it will come again.
02:16:45
Speaker
and she's going to kind of slowly push herself up to her feet at this point.
02:16:53
Speaker
Time lessons. I can release some. And you can see for yourself, and she's looking at Raheet at this point, you can see for yourself what I hold back.
02:17:07
Speaker
What I form myself as a vessel to hold against the realm. Do you wish that of me?
02:17:18
Speaker
And that way you will know if I am lying or telling the truth, for I will not have the power to form what will appear. but you will learn that it has been held back like a caged beast beneath the marshes.
02:17:35
Speaker
Do you wish that...
02:17:39
Speaker
Allegedly. Allegedly. I just... I do apologise. I have a knack for speaking over people when I believe they have finished. It's something to do with the the folk of Valemere opening and closing their mouths, I do believe. I do apologise. However, you do speak allegedly.
02:17:57
Speaker
Do you wish it of me or not?
Trust and Battle: The Siltborn Encounter
02:18:01
Speaker
Are you, just for clarity, ah willing to release some sort of, ah inverted commas, beasties upon the land? I will, to use your own metaphor.
02:18:14
Speaker
You will not need to open the door. I will open it for you. But with enough power to shut it again. You will, to use your metaphor, release some of the pressure behind the door and maybe keep the calling veil away for a while.
02:18:36
Speaker
And in doing so, perhaps I will prove my honesty. Allegedly.
02:18:48
Speaker
Do you wish that of me?
02:18:52
Speaker
Say we were to pass your test, and you were to do this, what is to stop your villagers the beyond just hiring more mercenaries to come and hunt you down? Eventually one will get you.
02:19:08
Speaker
And eventually I will die. And then they will face what I've been holding back this time.
02:19:16
Speaker
Allegedly. Allegedly. She says as she closes her eyes.
02:19:23
Speaker
I didn't come here to make friends. I came here to stop, to plug a hole that was siphoning energy and souls.
02:19:37
Speaker
It isn't a test, Goliath.
02:19:43
Speaker
It is a scream that will escape from the maw of something larger.
02:19:49
Speaker
ah cannot say how strong it will be. but you must kill it, whatever it is.
02:20:02
Speaker
Mimsy?
02:20:04
Speaker
Yes?
02:20:08
Speaker
You have the choice now of what path you want to tread.
02:20:15
Speaker
Is it a path of violence, of a fighter, or one of compassion?
02:20:26
Speaker
I might be letting you down here, Blackstone, but it's always going to be compassion for me.
02:20:35
Speaker
Then we take her at her word.
02:20:39
Speaker
For now. Okay.
02:20:46
Speaker
To prove to some of you that this is not something that I will summon, even though once you see it I'm sure you'll understand. I will help you where I can.
02:21:01
Speaker
It will be as one, but it will call to others from the marshes. Focus on it and leave me to the others.
02:21:14
Speaker
Do you understand? Not really. Okay, just focus on a big the big thing and anything else that appears i will handle.
02:21:28
Speaker
okay Does that make more sense? mims Is it Mimsy? Mimsy? It's Mimsy, yeah. Will my crossbow do it?
02:21:35
Speaker
I cannot tell if your piercing weapon will affect this beast. All I will say is ain't true. And I will pray for you.
02:21:48
Speaker
Thank you. I will pray to the tidal surge as I always have.
02:21:56
Speaker
And she'll bow her head and she'll turn to her papers and you'll see she just grips the table.
02:22:05
Speaker
And you'll see her long and hands on the table and her fingers almost seem like they extend. the nails suddenly blacken and stretch down into the table itself, digging crack.
02:22:19
Speaker
through the wood itself as she seems to grip and crush part of the table. Her whole body tenses and convulses and then it stops.
02:22:30
Speaker
Her body rescinds and she slumps down onto the table and outside you hear ah bubbling and splashing and what feels like something running over water.
02:22:45
Speaker
What you want to do?
02:22:51
Speaker
I don't think that sounds like a good thing. Hey, Mimsy, do you want to go check on that? ah what The bubbles? ah Okay. Yeah. um And then Mimsy's just going to run for the door to open the door to see what the the bubbles are about.
02:23:06
Speaker
And what you see is the water probably about 40 or 50 feet away from you. The water's not like ah rippling. It's recoiling. It's like it's scared. It's moving away.
02:23:21
Speaker
and the area the land around The air around it seems to be vibrating and quivering as something vast and almost unseen in the shadows almost exhales from beneath the surface. Then and the song begins.
02:23:40
Speaker
A low, discordant three notes that seem to repeat in a melodic symphony again and again, Mimsy, in your mind. It starts as a single note and blends into a voice, a groan of a single voice. And then as this as this mass starts to press out of the water, more voices, as more join it, a hundred, a thousand, cacophony, a harmony of voices, these three notes out of sync. It's neither welcoming or or ah hostile at this point, but it's hungry.
02:24:20
Speaker
The silt itself rises into a a a tower of mud and and twisting, writhing moss. And you see faces, features, half-formed, stretching, melting out of the wet clay.
02:24:38
Speaker
Limbs emerge, 18, 15, long, elongated arms, fingers disjointed, almost like if you imagine someone who's never seen a human flashed an image of a human, then you told them to draw that human, that's what you get. Or a child trying to draw a horse or ah the the limbs, everything's just wrong in the size and dimensions of these things itself.
02:25:02
Speaker
the melody shifts and echoes ah across the marshes.
02:25:12
Speaker
The longer you listen, Mimsy, the harder it is to tell if the voices are singing to you or in fact, it's you singing as well.
02:25:26
Speaker
yeah I say Mimsy, but this has affected, sorry, each of you as you've kind of stepped out into this, this and seeing this this choir in almost a like ah an anthill style shaped thing that pulses and convulses and these limbs seem to hang out of it and a smell.
02:25:51
Speaker
It's intensely fishy. It's intensely soily and warm, yet cold. Your fingers are numb with the cold, yet you're sweating profusely as in your throat. You can just, you can just sing it.
02:26:08
Speaker
You can just sing it. It's as easy as those three notes, one, two, three, and you're singing with it if you wanted. And would it be so sweet? Would it be perfect? It feels like if any of you and any of you listeners have ever been addicted to something and then quit to that something, the thought of retaking that thing again, whatever it is, having a cigarette, having a drink, having that morning coffee, whatever it is,
02:26:30
Speaker
that feeling of elation it gets in you, all four of you feel that, oh, if only I could just do that, that would be, that would be, that would be it. That's what I need. That's the whole, the puzzle piece filled.
02:26:43
Speaker
sounds so beautiful.
02:26:47
Speaker
Don't you think, Blackstone?
02:26:51
Speaker
I wouldn't listen too closely, Mimsy. it probably contains dark magic, At that, it shifts and moves slowly towards you all, towards the huts, and you just hear maybe Bastion or Rahid, who's remained slightly back in the huts.
02:27:12
Speaker
You hear the mutterings from Aerys. You must kill it. You must kill it.
02:27:23
Speaker
Could ask you all to roll initiative, please? don't give up.
02:27:30
Speaker
intense. And ah chop yourselves on roll 20. I'm sure you're all waiting. ah yeah. Let's go. Now this map is rather large because there were some other things that could have happened, but you, just despite the earlier rolls, didn't roll as badly as you could have rolled.
02:27:51
Speaker
And there were some pretty horrific shit to happen in other parts of the map that you have for now, uh, avoided, which is why the map is massive. Your bottom left corner of the roll 20 map. If you, and if you get it lost, um,
02:28:02
Speaker
andm
02:28:05
Speaker
The large yellow gloop on the board is the silk one. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it mud-colored because it kind of blends in with background and you can't actually it. I want to give you sense of size. This would fit more than large, a giant space. This is 15, 20 foot. Huge? Yeah, huge. Thank you. 20 foot by 20 foot. Cool.
02:28:25
Speaker
That would be gargantuan then, I think. Or gargantuan. Apologies. think it is, yeah. ah Spreads. It's because you mainly don't know where it ends in the water. kind of spreads down and beyond. So where it kind of ends, you know, tricky sometimes.
02:28:38
Speaker
and So could I have anyone roll 20 or more? Actually, there's only four of you. don't have to do it this way. Mimsy, what did you roll? I rolled an 18. 18. Very good. Rohid in Cambria?
02:28:50
Speaker
17. Peace, I'm 45. seventeen
02:28:56
Speaker
Thank you very much. ah Bastion? Seven. Nice, where you belong. um Bastion and Blackstone?
02:29:07
Speaker
A big old three. Oh, wow. Okay, right. I'm just going to pop those in order. Bastion, anything you want to do before we get started? ah There is, to a certain degree, I have a feat.
02:29:19
Speaker
You have the two. That's my character has. No, that...
02:29:24
Speaker
I took the alert, which basically lets me ah swap the initiative with ah another body and somebody else if they are willing to swap the initiative. Okay. um I think Mimsy got the highest one in there.
02:29:39
Speaker
Mimsy, would you be down for swapping initiative? And I just want to cast Bless on everybody as my first turn. Funnily enough, I was going to do just the same, but i you are well i wouldn't know that. You wouldn't know that. So I will happily swap.
02:29:52
Speaker
It's fine. I was going to say entirely your choice. No, let's do it. It's fine. That works nicely. Yeah, because you can you can drop yourself in initiative anyway, can't you? That's free of charge, isn't it? but um Yeah, I was just looking through what I could do and I thought, yeah I'm going to bless everybody.
02:30:07
Speaker
Oh, in terms of that, right. thought meant terms of dropping your initiative. No. It's based on ah kind of off um concentration anyway, so if it drops, you might need to pop it back on anyway. So... That's given us our order. And Bastion, with your alert feet, you see this thing, you hear the noises, you're ready out the door, you're ready to rock and roll. and Top of the round, you are the top of the round. First turn against the Siltborn.
02:30:30
Speaker
What would you like to do, Bastion? ah believe it or not, I'm going to cast bless what on everybody. um so Shut the de front door, man.
02:30:40
Speaker
I know, I know. I'm crazy. you know I'm actually doing things that will ah help. um It's because you said it like two minutes ago that you were going to do yeah that. one Okay, no matter what. I can bless up to three creatures, so <unk>m I'm going to exclude myself, but Blackstone, Mimsy, and Rohid, you can all have ah bless, and you can add a 1d4 to attack rolls or saves or whatever.
02:31:07
Speaker
um Very nice. Thank you very much. Anything else for the turn? Any movement? I've kind of got you just outside the hut, ah Which one am I? Am the golden boy? You are the one that says bastion would wing upon it. i Okay. I can't see that on my screen, ah but cool. Yes, I am going, but that's fine. No, I'm happy where I am.
02:31:27
Speaker
I'm going to stay there. I'm pinging you now. That helps. I've seen the pink. So thank you very much. Cool. No problem. Thank you very much. Rohid. I've got you just inside the hut as you felt the least likely to leave straight away. Sorry for taking an initiative on your move there, but and what would to do?
02:31:42
Speaker
i her Where is the witch? but She slumped over a desk about 5, 10, 15, 20, about 20 feet away from you. Cool.
02:31:54
Speaker
Rahid will kind of bow his chin once more and just whisper to his scarf.
02:32:00
Speaker
I think it best you stay with her just in case. And the scarf will disappear and a pseudo dragon will kind of crawl out and along the floor.
02:32:11
Speaker
ah It's got 40 feet of movement speed, so it will be able to get itself directly to her. It's relatively stealthy as well. Mm-hmm. It probably won't be trying to drag its attention necessarily to her, but it's going to just position itself next to ah said witchy witch.
02:32:29
Speaker
Then Rohid is going to push his way past or out of the door. So he is going to take 10 feet out of the door, 15.20 to get past Mimsy. 25.30 is all his movement speed currently will allow to get himself to the front of the pack.
02:32:50
Speaker
um And what he's going to do is he is going to just quickly kind of say over his shoulder, I know that there's six seconds here. i'm going to take a little bit of liberty with it, but he's going to quickly say ah apologies for this.
02:33:11
Speaker
And This plain grey suited person in front of you is no longer plain grey suited in front of you. The illusion, the disguise self, drops.
02:33:27
Speaker
And as a bonus action, he's going to use his racial feature to sprout these wings. that give him a fly speed and he's going to use them to fly 10 feet further forwards towards this creature.
02:33:43
Speaker
As he does so, he's going to hold one hand out to the side, but this person that you now see in front of you is
02:33:56
Speaker
Horrific. Bald. Grey. Scale-like skin. Diseased. Ragged. kind of Drenched wet as well.
02:34:08
Speaker
um They are... technically glowing a little bit, um but their hand is outstretched and they are now flying directly towards this a silt-born creature that you have just mentioned there. Hand outstretched to the side, nothing's there yet because my bonus action is already used.
02:34:29
Speaker
ah And I am going two for my action, just I'm not going to take the dodge action, actually. No, I am going to use my action to dodge.
02:34:43
Speaker
Not dodge, dodge. I literally said I wasn't going to do that. Dash, dash, dash, dash, and fly with the remaining speed that have directly up into this thing's face. You will see that glistening around Rohid, this horrific gray, kind of scaly, diseased form, ah you will see this shining...
02:35:03
Speaker
kind of blue icy aura that's my turn wow amazing we always knew something was going to happen fantastic thank you very much roheed for that uh revert reveal i think we had there it's the silkborns turn and it's going to sludge through around you, under you as you fly.
02:35:29
Speaker
It's still within your range. You don't get Attack of Opportunity or anything like that, but move so Rohid, you're on one side of it, and Mimsy, Blackstone, and Bastion, you're on the other side of it.
02:35:40
Speaker
It's then going to attack. It has these weird, had long, distended arms that are going to whip out and try and hit you, of like a tentacle grasp kind of thing.
02:35:52
Speaker
And it's going to get an attack. First, it's going to attack against Rohid. That is a... I've got the modifier on. That's annoying. plus four ah twelve 12 against your armor class.
02:36:06
Speaker
Just misses. Second one is going to be against Mimsy. That's a 15 against your AC.
02:36:14
Speaker
Hits. Yep, okay. so that's going to be 8 points of bludgeoning damage against Mimsy. And the other one is a 16 against ah Blackstone as the next closest.
02:36:31
Speaker
Who is muted? A 16, sorry. That's correct, yeah, 16. Yeah, that would hit. Okay. And that is ah night another eight points of ah bludgeoning damage. cool And as a bonus action, it's going to, i like the name here, it's called Drown the Light. And you'll just feel this gust of wind push out from it.
02:36:52
Speaker
And all the little torches, the plinths of light that are set up around and inside the hut, every form of light magic, non-magical light within 60 feet is suddenly extinguished. And the marsh feels a slightly bit darker as this three tones continue to play. Three tones continue.
02:37:11
Speaker
That's the end of the s Silkborn's turn. Mimsy. You've just been boshed on the head by mud. I'm just going to feel, i think Mimsy's going to feel really confused as to what's really happening, not quite knowing if this is something from a storybook of what his mum used to speak to him and read to him or whether this is really happening.
02:37:37
Speaker
um So it's going to take him just a couple of seconds to... figure out really what he's going to do. um And in kind of a a reaction, he's going to channel divinity, um divine spark.
02:37:52
Speaker
So I'm going to be pointing my holy symbol at this silk creature um and i'm going to focus my divine energy into it um okay and i would like to with that um because i get the choice of one or another ah would like to force the creature to make a constitution saving throw please not a problem that's 22 twenty two Okay. um So then um I think nothing happens.
02:38:25
Speaker
Sorry. No, that's okay. was a great roll. 18, yeah. Okay, never mind. Just as a thing, because I have the same thing there, Katie. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage rounded down.
02:38:38
Speaker
So you still all the damage. So you do still do damage. So how much damage? so and What am i rolling? D8?
02:38:48
Speaker
D8. Yeah, 1D8. My bad.
02:38:53
Speaker
and Get some damage on the thing. it was 6, so it's going to be a 3, right? 3. Yep, 3 points of damage. And do you want that necrotic or radiant? Sorry, let's go with radiant, please.
02:39:05
Speaker
Okay, yeah. Make sure you clarify that. Thank you. Thank you.
02:39:10
Speaker
Lovely. Anything else with turn, Mimsy? ah No. um In fact, shall i where am I in terms of the doorway? I might edge out. You're stood directly front of the door. Yeah, I'm going to edge out.
02:39:21
Speaker
So um I don't think I can move myself on here, but I'm going to go to the left of the doorway. um Oh, I can. There we go. but I'm not going to move any any closer to the silk born.
02:39:33
Speaker
I'm going to stay quite close to the the the trees, the plants, the the stonework of the hut. Okay. Okay. Lovely. Thank you very much. And finally, Blackstone, bottom of the round, what would you like to do? um I would like to, as I draw my greatsword, I'll say to Mimsy,
02:39:48
Speaker
um I applaud your choice, Mimsy, but I walk the other path and I'll charge towards the big monster. And as I go, i would like to rage.
02:40:06
Speaker
Yes! um and entering my rage, I'll make it a great sword attack. Excellent. Roll to hit. Nothing better than a raging Goliath. Fuck yeah. Oh, sorry, I should clarify. This is um great weapon fighting as well. I assume, yeah.
02:40:24
Speaker
So many tabs. So many tabs.
02:40:29
Speaker
Did it roll?
02:40:32
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It says an 18 on roll 20. Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's an 18 to hit with the with minus five penalty for um for great weapon fighting.
02:40:46
Speaker
So 15 to That's the legacy great weapon fighting. just The 2024 no longer does the minus five with a plus 10 on damage. Oh, yeah. if that's way you've set that one up, to be honest, he's Blackstone. So old, maybe he does run legacy. Yeah.
02:41:04
Speaker
So how about, I love it. How about we, too old to learn a new yeah I'm not learning the new rule book. Fuck you. and Keep it as legacy, mate. I don't want to do to adjust things down. We'll keep it as it is and for now, but at least you know for the future, but it works for your character that he's just stuck in his ways.
02:41:20
Speaker
ru That does, that does hit, that does hit the Silkborne. It does hit. Awesome. So it's 10 points of slashing damage plus an additional 10 for great weapon fighting. So 20 points of of damage.
02:41:34
Speaker
Ouchie, sawbomb, nice. Okay, this massive hit comes in across the creature you just see a spray of this brown, black, oozing, icker, mud splash against the nearby rock formation as you take, almost hew one of these heads or arms or limbs off from this creature. But as you do it, more reforms, more mud is drawn from the marsh.
02:41:58
Speaker
Is that the end of your turn there, Blackstone? Yes. and bad Thank like you very much. Bastion, top of the round. You've just seen Blackstone go in like a boss. ah What would you like to do? I am... do do do I'm going to keep it simple. I am going to cantrip, and I'm going to grab my holy symbol and cast Sacred Flame upon the Siltborn. All right. What do you need for that? um Dexterity saving throw.
02:42:28
Speaker
It's not very dexterous, as you can imagine. That's 12. I was hoping so. Yay! You fail. um And you take 12 points of radiant damage.
Desperate Measures
02:42:40
Speaker
Okay. Very nice. Thank you. 12 points. Not bad. Yep, and I'm just going to use a little bit of movement on my character, probably just about 15 feet or so. I'm just going to move and shimmy down um the side of the hut where this witch is. yes I should just mention that either side of the Silkborne, there's two kind of what looks like kind squarish rocks from our top-down position.
02:43:09
Speaker
They're quite relatively high, about 20 feet high ah kind of rock forms. Almost imagine like a uh shit what they're called the stonehenge those kind of style rocks kind of been stuck in the ground um there's one of those either side between the where the silk born is just for reference i know that um rahid you're flying just didn't want you flying splat into one of these oh god was gonna make a really inappropriate joke but i will not um let's i'll do that off off camera um so speaking which read at your turn do you have to do
02:43:41
Speaker
So he's going to look at this ah this silk-born. He obviously doesn't know that that's what it's called, but it's kind of glided beneath him, I'm assuming, to get towards the rest of the party. That's right. And ah he he's going to just kind of say down, you dare go beneath me And then he's going to, with his hand held out to the side, ah he is going to summon his packed weapon.
02:44:07
Speaker
It is a great axe, but it looks like this massive harbinger, executioner-style axe, and it is coated in ah brine and kind of not coral per se, but moss.
02:44:23
Speaker
It's dripping, but it looks like it's a light at the same time. And he will say, In the name of Zalkorin Brinelord, scalding maw of the ember wave, drown the flame of the burning abyss.
02:44:37
Speaker
I'll annihilate you for crossing the path of Rohi Rumbel. And he's going to come in with a slash towards this creature. Fantastic. Roll to hit. Okay. You've holding that line back for a while, haven't you, Will?
02:44:50
Speaker
For a very long time. Fantastic. he's a lock point to re-roll. And fucked it. Does 12 hit? It does not hit, no. Okay, then I will take my second... Don't your pulse.
02:45:03
Speaker
With a pulse. Hold on, hold on. Yep, yeah yep, you're right, you're right. I'll roll that now. That's a four, so 16. Hits. Amazing. In which case, it will take a measly six points of slashing damage to the first strike kind of comes down with this axe.
02:45:19
Speaker
Very nice. The second strike, he is... go Oh, wait, dove have I already rolled that one? I can't remember. ah Yes, the second strike, I'll get Bless on as well, because that was a shit roll to hit. That's another 16. Diets, yep.
02:45:34
Speaker
Amazing. ah In which case, the second strike is going to come down and deal. Come on. That's not that great, but it's better. 10 points of slashing damage with this brand new kind of great axe that's just slashing away at the back of this creature.
02:45:52
Speaker
ah He's still hovering in the air there. his um familiar who takes its turn kind of ah technically it says it's role rolled its own initiative but it's up to you whether you want me to do that or take its turn directly afterwards either way it's just going taking the hide action wherever it is within the building sure not a problem thank you very much all right it's the sub one's turn and it's going to it's You can hear the tune each time it gets hit. it like You can hear the tune falter ever so slightly at each of these moments of damage it comes in, but the melody continues and it is oh so glorious.
02:46:29
Speaker
It's going to take three more attacks and they're going to shift ever so slightly. The first one, Bastion, is going to be against you. That is going to be an 11 to hit. myths And then Mimsy, sorry, yeah, Mimsy, it's going to be 6 to hit.
02:46:45
Speaker
That's going to be a miss, I assume. this And Rohit, that's going to be a 14 to hit. A 14 meats and beats, baby. Ooh, donkey. Okay. Then...
02:47:00
Speaker
10 points of bludgeoning damage. Ooh, that was good roll. He takes 15 points of cold damage as armor of Agathis kicks in. Oh, that's the, that's the cold thing you had.
02:47:11
Speaker
Very good. Yeah, baby. Okay. Thank you very much for that. Um... Part of one of his other, at the that was the third tentacle grasp it has on it. and It's going to then use its other action, the kind of bonus action, the Veil's Drone.
02:47:25
Speaker
um and as a bonus action, any creature that's taking damage from the Swordborn Quire can be targeted. Rohit, could you make a wisdom saving throw, please? I will gladly fail that for you. Let's see how this goes. That's a tasty 18.
02:47:39
Speaker
You pass. But for a couple of seconds, the pull of your patron, the power of your God is somewhat subsumed slightly. And you have the urge. You just hear the word again, return to your mind, drown.
02:47:55
Speaker
And then it just, it's just a, it's just a word. It's just a voice and it disappears. It has no effect on you. Okay, that'll just simply say, You dared drown out the Brine Lord's word!
02:48:06
Speaker
and it'll enrage him. Fantastic. and That is all the Silborne is going to do and can do this turn. We've returned to Nimsy. You've just dodged one of these tentacle attacks as it comes in as you cower away in a corner. What would you like to do? Yeah, flip. So, Nimsy is going to hold onto the holy symbol around his neck and close his eyes and say, Grundar, show me the way.
02:48:29
Speaker
And then he's going to turn around to to look inside the hut to see if there's anything out there. like, I don't know, magically, potion-y, weapon-y something, but but maybe not, depends what weapon he might have seen, but just something that might help him.
02:48:46
Speaker
He's probably going to look more for the for the you know the the compassionate route as opposed to the violent route. So something that's going to help his party and with something, whether it's in forms of powder, stone, something. um Yeah, I just want to so look in and see if i find anything.
02:49:04
Speaker
Okay, give me an investigation check. Okay.
02:49:08
Speaker
And don't forget your bless. I will not forget my bless. right This guy plays cleric. Nice. You get a bless and you get a bless.
02:49:19
Speaker
That's 13. i see winfrey that's thirteen
02:49:27
Speaker
yeah Okay, you notice off to the right a series of small tables with large glass vials upon them of powder. You can't make out what any of them mean.
02:49:39
Speaker
ah But they don't look medicinal. You ain't look like no cowpole you've been taking, Milmsy. Don't like any of that shit, okay? in a lot of that It doesn't look particularly pleasant.
02:49:56
Speaker
It doesn't look like it might do no good. Okay. And where is the witch at this point? She's still slumped over the table, but she's starting to kind of come to and trying to draw herself up to join you.
02:50:08
Speaker
Okay. I will use my turn for looking through these potions or powders, whatever they're called. And by audibly saying, ah thought you said you were going to help us speaking to the witch.
02:50:23
Speaker
Hopefully within that timeframe, within a round, she might have told me something. Okay, lovely. pop her on. and yeah Brilliant. and Thank you very much for that. And I'll get to what you find it just ah ah once you've established this tone as well. Thanks, Mimsy. Blackstone, you are toe-to-toe with this multi-headed beast of doom. What would you like to Hack and slash. Yeah!
02:50:48
Speaker
Another great sword attack with... I'll always do it with great weapon fighting. Yeah, I assume, yeah. That is currently a 15 to hit, but I'm going to just throw my bless. Oh, no, sorry. That's not a d20.
02:51:00
Speaker
If only. That would be 13 to hit. ah That misses 13. Damn. It still takes five points of damage.
02:51:12
Speaker
Will, you're ruling on this. It's two for my graze. And then, can oh no, sorry. It's three for my graze. But then can I add my rage damage to that? If it's a graze, I don't think so. Because if you look at the rage, look at the um ruling for rage, it might say on a hit. if it If it says something like when you hit a creature, you can.
02:51:34
Speaker
Technically, the graze isn't a hit. it yeah yeah It's a miss that has a... yeah That's a cool i idea, then. If it says when you deal damage with, then then... Yeah, in that case, I'd like to use my bonus action to give myself advantage on that weapon attack. I've got fighting spirit.
02:51:49
Speaker
um and it also give me five temporary hp so i'd roll again if that's okay yep are you still including the greys then are you negating that no sorry i don't negate that completely i just i thought it might do a little bit more never
02:52:05
Speaker
That's a bit better. So that's 19 to hit without Bless. 10 points of damage, but then another 10 for great weapon fighting, plus 2 for my rage damage, so 22 points of damage.
02:52:20
Speaker
Flipping heck. Very nice. And you just see the three of you just see this Goliath roar and just absolutely smash into this creature. i miss I'm innna with advantage. Maybe you do miss that first one, but just come in with that second ear across your left shoulder.
02:52:36
Speaker
And just again, this... ah huge mini wave of silts and moss just explodes out of the other side of this creature, splatting against one of these 15 high stones that sits out in the marshlands near Valmere.
02:52:50
Speaker
Anything else you want to do with your turn, Blackstone? will shout to Bastion. um Bastion, you see the demon?
02:53:01
Speaker
And my turn. Okay, thank you very much. and Mimsy, you see the witch start to stumble and make her way to the door and you can see her in her right hand starting to form this this red mist around her hand as you see her slowly start chanting to herself, her eyes flickering as she kind of tries to cast a spell and you just see her suddenly stand straighter.
02:53:24
Speaker
and then move with haste, with speed. And she's out the door. And as she does, she points to a single vial on the side. It's the one on the far left.
02:53:36
Speaker
Right. With the red label. Thank you. and And she's out the door.
02:53:46
Speaker
And where she goes after that, she so she manages to pull herself round far past Blackstone, where Blackstone is engaged with the creature, and and almost hidden behind one of the rocks and out of view of some of you, and that's her turn.
02:53:59
Speaker
Top of the round, Bastion. Blackstone's just made the call to arms to you. What would you like to I'm going to hold my holy symbol.
02:54:12
Speaker
Go to encant. With all glorious power that I can muster, I'm going to cast... but Let's go for um second level Guiding Bolt against the Siltborn.
02:54:30
Speaker
Okay. Let's roll that. For a 21 to hit. Yeah, that hits. yeah i hit so Yeah, that's what we like.
02:54:41
Speaker
That is also what we like. I rolled shite on that damage. Jesus Christ. ah Nine points of radiant damage. That's all like ones and twos. That was five I mean, it could be... It could be worth it. could be where It was a nine points, did you say?
02:54:57
Speaker
Nine points of radiant damage. That was for 5d6. Wow, that is That is really, really shit. You're really shit, Callum. I am. I'm a terrible cleric. That's a lot of ones. That's a lot There was three ones in there.
02:55:12
Speaker
Wow. um The... ah thing i'm going to so The other effect of that is that the next attack roll made against it before the end of my next turn has advantage.
02:55:26
Speaker
this yeah So, Rohid, destroy! What violence, what violence. Alright. ah Is everything you want to do with your turn then, Bastion?
02:55:40
Speaker
Yep, yep. I'm still hanging out just in the corner of this little hut, just surveying the environment. All right, very nice. Rohid, you angry bastard, it's your turn. Mm-hmm.
02:55:52
Speaker
The bringer of the blackened surge compels me. And he's going to go ahead and take another strike ah with advantage. 17 plus lots.
02:56:05
Speaker
Yeah. I'm assuming I didn't even put the bless on that. I'm assuming hits, which means I don't know why didn't do it through the thing. I rolled that dice. Hence the noise of that dice rolling. So, Uh, but the damage for that one is maximum damage. 16 points, 16 points of slash and damage.
02:56:23
Speaker
Okay. Uh, maths, maths, maths. Uh, uh, why can't I do maths? Okay. That's there. goes there. That goes there.
02:56:35
Speaker
Okay. Cool. Um, okay. Can I pause you? Your turn is going to continue. You may, but something happens.
Climactic Struggles and Consequences
02:56:41
Speaker
There's a, there's a, you've reached a threshold. Ooh. And something changes. There's a little bit, and then we will continue with you, Rohit. We'll jump straight back into where you are.
02:56:52
Speaker
Uh, the creature convulses and shifts and we enter into phase two. Now a few things change. Firstly, everyone notices the water level starts to shoot up.
02:57:05
Speaker
All ground movement, full stop. is halved unless you have your water walking thing, which don't you have to be concentrating for that? No.
02:57:17
Speaker
Fuck you. Okay. I double checked before I did the blast. All non-magical light sources are extinguished, but the water is rising.
02:57:29
Speaker
The water is rising visibly. You can see it now. And then something happens in the very center.
02:57:37
Speaker
The siltborn choir disappears. It just almost convulses and then slops down into the water.
02:57:47
Speaker
And there is a stillness. Save the water slowly rising as a whole, not just in one area. the and You look around the marsh, the entire marshland water level rises, rising slowly, not from any one point, but just rising
02:58:07
Speaker
Could Rohit, as you're the one that triggered this, just for this turn, this isn't directly implicating you, but just as you're the one that triggered it, could you just roll me ah as just a standard D6 just to choose which of this next stage happens because now the tide is against you. Number five, thank you. There's the unnatural cold, the air drops in temperature.
02:58:29
Speaker
Could you all make a constitution saving throw, please?
02:58:35
Speaker
So right now, a constitution saving Add your bless, people. Add your bless. If we've already added bless once, we can't add it again, can we? You can't keep adding it now. that's That would break the game, Casey.
02:58:47
Speaker
um I'm going to use a luck point to re-roll that. Okay. ah Let's start with Bastion. What did you get? ah Five. Okay.
02:58:58
Speaker
You have disadvantage on your next attack roll. whatever it is due to being shivery. ah Blackstone. eighteen 18. Perfect. Not a problem.
02:59:12
Speaker
You're Goliath. Of course it doesn't affect you. ah Mimsy. ah Natural one, but my constitution is actually minus one. So literally zero. ah Yeah. go die no You If you would try to attack next round, you do it at a disadvantage. And Rahid.
02:59:30
Speaker
Thanks to the luck and the bless, 18. Okay, yeah, it doesn't affect you either there. Thank you very much. At the start of each new round, Sebastian, before you, there'll be a new role on that as the the environment itself now turns against you.
02:59:45
Speaker
The creature's disappeared.
02:59:48
Speaker
Rahid, the rest of your turn. There is no visible threat? No.
02:59:58
Speaker
Bonus action. Pseudo dragon is going to stealthily, in use its action to ah make a stealth check, is going to fly 40 feet after and near to witch.
03:00:14
Speaker
and So I can reroll the stealth check if you would like. The first stealth check was a
03:00:21
Speaker
With stealth, I like that one to be the one we just use for the entire thing, unless and let's a major action changes. Yeah, it's not changing its action. Exactly. Unless it was like trying to, yeah, steal something from it or do something else, then yeah, no, it's not going to change.
03:00:34
Speaker
um Because I've used my action to attack, and I get two attack actions per turn, I can't hold an action. I've technically already used my action. If this creature has... disappeared, there is literally nothing i think I can do with my second ah attack. So he will sweep it blindly through the air at where this creature was.
03:00:59
Speaker
Through the air? And you'll just see rohied rumble ah grey-scaled, disease-ridden, flight-filled, winged humanoid glowing somewhat with dripping brine halberd in hand, furiously screeching nothings into the air.
03:01:27
Speaker
Okay. Do want to roll hit? I mean, if I'm i'm slashing at where the creature was, if the creature isn't there, then oh I mean, I don't see the point, but I can roll regardless.
03:01:39
Speaker
I mean, a natural 20 wouldn't do anything different. So yeah, i don't know I'm making you roll. That's just mean, isn't it? It's just mean brutal. Fuck you, Mark. Fuck you. Still misses. 26. I'll add bless. I'll add bless.
03:01:52
Speaker
Still misses. right. Go for 30. Go for 30. It's the Silborn's turn technically in the order here. And so the actual, the actual figure that you're fighting no longer exists.
03:02:04
Speaker
And, but what you notice is Rohit from behind you, about 10 feet behind you, this tentacle forms out of the water, similar to one of the arms, and it's going to swing and it's going to try and hit you for a nine.
03:02:17
Speaker
No, fuck you. Mimsy, just to your left, so a good 30 feet away from the other one, out of the water and mud again, this single tentacle comes out and whips towards you to hit you.
03:02:28
Speaker
That's a natural one for five. No. mr blackstone to your right so again in a totally different place here these dots are sparking up all over the place adds a 19 to hit yeah that'll do it you take seven points of bludgeoning damage and you have stuff for rage don't you so half down um for that as well and You're also then going to please make a wisdom saving throw, if you'd be so kind, my good sir.
03:02:59
Speaker
As it tries the veils drone upon you. Oh, that is a two. Okay. You are charmed. And you are compelled to drown. ah At the start of your turn, you can re ah Retake the ah the the wisdom save.
03:03:19
Speaker
The compulsion is to drown. Or to be one with the marsh is probably more what you're being told. Become one with me. Okay. ah It just checks. Things have changed. No, that's... the um That's everything it's going to do for its turn now.
03:03:40
Speaker
Mimsy. The creature's disappeared, and yet it still attacks. okay What would you like to do? um Having seen the witch swiftly float on by me, telling me to reach for the far left red labelled bottle.
03:03:58
Speaker
I'm naturally going to go for the far right green labelled one. No, I'm joking. I'm not. I'm goingnna i'm definitely going to go for it. I'm going to roll. Oh, I love this. role I love this.
03:04:12
Speaker
in a pan If it's evens, she's gonna he's going to go for the one that she told me to go for. If it's odds, I'll go for the opposite. So it's a D4. It's odds. Minzy's gone for the opposite.
03:04:24
Speaker
but in in a panic yes In a panic, just like, fuck, which one did she just tell me to go for? i don't know. And really trying hard to remember.
03:04:36
Speaker
He's going to go for the the far right green labelled bottle of something, whatever, vial of something. you've picked it up. What do you want to now? Yeah, I'm going to give it a good old shake, um run out of the hut and um
03:04:52
Speaker
sprinkle it like confetti everywhere. Okay. out On the land, on the water, are you doing? Where are putting it um Probably where the silk-borne was. Okay, okay, right.
03:05:06
Speaker
Okay.
03:05:11
Speaker
ah Okay. Fucking hell, Mimsy. I love this. Bear with, bear with, bear with.
03:05:19
Speaker
Two, three. ah Could you roll a D4 for me, please, Casey? Just decide what you picked up from the one that you you didn't pick up. What for? Okay. Number four.
03:05:29
Speaker
Okay, okay. Not that you'd know this, but you've picked up Brian Bane Elixir. When shattered into the water, the elixir creates a 30-foot radius of dead water or an area where the choir's song cannot reach and its influence is weakened. Ooh.
03:05:48
Speaker
ah So the area around you, 30-foot radius around the point that you are stood, which I imagine would be directly outside the hotway way where you put yourself, actually. Yes, yes, yeah. um Which you should now be able to move yourself, by the way. I've adjusted it there.
03:06:02
Speaker
um That 30 feet around there is lessened. It's... saying its capacity to ah influence quite as much. Basically what that means is the DC for the the wisdom saving throw will be lowered by five.
03:06:20
Speaker
So the attacks won't be affected by it, but if the Dershing, the thing that Blackstone's under at the moment, next time he has to roll for it, the DC is five lower because of that you've just done.
03:06:30
Speaker
Okay, amazing. But you've pissed it off.
03:06:39
Speaker
The choir recoils violently from this effect, immediately unleashing a desperate, chaotic attack on anything nearby. So it's going to take basically a reaction and it's going to hit all four of you.
03:06:50
Speaker
ah One at a time. you know So the first one is going to be against you, Mimzi, for a 10. Misses. Next one against Rohid for a 14. In meats and beats.
03:07:03
Speaker
Eight points of bludgeoning damage. Takes 15 points of cold damage. Fuck's sake, I forget. My temporary HP is gone, though. yeah So my spell, Armor of Agathys, has dropped.
03:07:16
Speaker
Does being charmed affect being attacked?
03:07:22
Speaker
ah If you attack a charmed creature, yes I think depending on on normal charm, whatever charm is, if you attack them, you technically end the charm. But if it's a monster, I have no idea. It's going to be the regular charm anyway. I haven't got to you yet, Blackstone. Sorry. The thing is, you can't attack the charmer or target the charmer with damaging a better term. No, he can't attack it back. Yeah, it mentions nothing about the other way around. Yeah, but... Oh, is the new the new spell doesn't say if you deal damage to it, if one of your allies deals damage to it. Because that was definitely in the wording of 2014. I'm looking at the condition.
03:07:52
Speaker
We'll get to that. Maybe I'll just get you. yeah If there's nothing there, then maybe I'll just get Charlie to roll another wisdom saving throw then to see if he's... like You know how you still roll one for for um seeing if you still get your concentration up. Maybe it could be that whether or not it's still... Maybe. I'll let Callum look it up. But Callum, here's an attack coming your way. but Oh, wait. It's a um six.
03:08:11
Speaker
So I'm assuming it doesn't hit. Blackstone, a natural one that does not hit you. But Mimsy, could you roll a wisdom saving throw, please?
03:08:22
Speaker
yeah You were struck by this and Rohit is coming for you next, by the way. So we'd like to roll a wisdom saving throw as well. That would be much obliged. 19? But do i do i do I have to lessen it? Or no, is that you? the d No, i I lessen the DC ah for you to beat.
03:08:42
Speaker
It is one score and now it's five less than that score. So you just keep yours as it is. Rohit?
03:08:50
Speaker
I am so sorry. What what role am trying to make? I was looking up the charm. Not a problem. Which is indeed, just ah so we're aware, it does say explicitly. um it It mentions that the condition ends until ah you or your allies damage it, basically.
03:09:05
Speaker
Yeah, so and um and he didn't hit. The stilt bone choir didn't hit that time. and I was asking you to make a ah wisdom saving throw, please, because the that you were hit by it. But the DC is lowered given the elixir that Mimsy has released.
03:09:20
Speaker
It's a 10 with the bliss. Meets it beats. Fuck Thank you for that four on the bless and my six natural roll. And you're minus five from the DC 15. Thanks, Mimsy.
03:09:31
Speaker
Pretty fucking useful, Mimsy. Yeah. Okay. i That's his kind of reaction to that that event that's just taking place, Mimsy. Sorry, it's taking these kind of legendary actions the middle stuff, but fuck it, why not? um That is, Mimsy, was there anything else from your turn you wanted to do? You've kind of used your action to pick up and throw. I've kind of given you a bit of benefit the doubt there.
03:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, no, i'm not going to I'm not going to do anything with that. I'm probably, yeah yeah i'm I'm going to just stay and and observe my my comrades at this stage. I'm i'm there for them now. Okay.
03:10:04
Speaker
Then Blackstone. It's over to you when the spell engine target was charmed. ah Could you make another wisdom saving throw, please? DC 10? Of course. I've switched this for more fun reasons, but...
03:10:18
Speaker
I think it's normal at the end of the turn, isn't it? Six, but I can put my bliss on it, right? Put your bliss. Come on. Four on you. Maybe? no Eight.
03:10:28
Speaker
Come to me. Come to the water. I will flap back the water. Just, like, arms out. Crucifixion style. Yeah. And you are, yeah, you're drowning. You've got quite a high constitution. I think it's based off constitution. Maybe to look up how long you can breathe underwater. Yeah. It's minutes.
03:10:49
Speaker
Uh, I think it's one plus your con modifier. So whatever your con modifier is, that's how many minutes you can order. Four minutes. Unless it's changed. Yeah. Fuck me. Um, so you're under there for whole while, uh, but you'll have a new role at the start of each time, each turn, obviously. Um, let's take a while to drown you, Blackstone.
03:11:07
Speaker
An old dog that won't die. Um, ah But hey, that's what it's doing. and Thanks for that, Blackstone. And the witch is just going to... You're going to hear it almost, this visceral scream come up.
03:11:24
Speaker
And just, it's kind of in you. I'm not to do it cause I'll break the fucking microphone on my throat in the process, but it's just a voice that comes from all around you. It's visceral, it's screechy, but it just says it's the water.
03:11:36
Speaker
It is the water. Kill the water. That's the message the witch gives you. And Mimsy, you being the only one that's kind of upright as well, you do notice from where she is, you see her firing off these dark purple shots off into the distance.
03:11:59
Speaker
um You don't know where or what, the her eyeline is away from you all and she is firing off these shots towards something in the distance. and It's an eldritch blast, but you maybe wouldn't know that, but maybe you would. Maybe you read some books on it. Anyway, that's the end of The Witch's Turn. ah Bastion, background to you. Flop goes Blackstone. Pop goes to the weasel. What would you want to do?
03:12:25
Speaker
Oh, this going to something I'm going to regret. i can't see the the creature that we're fighting at all. um see Blackstone just crucifying himself on the water.
03:12:36
Speaker
i'm going to try I'm going to go and give him a hand. I've got to move. So i am I'm going to venture into the water ah nearby to him and just... I'm at least trying to s flip him over, maybe.
03:12:47
Speaker
Try and him to stop drinking the marshland. um whatever you want for that kind of stuff. ah Give me an athletics check. I take an action to try and do it. Yeah. Yeah.
03:13:01
Speaker
13 yeah you can flip him well least you can flip his torso his legs don't quite go over but you can almost like a lifeguard you can get his head over and his shoulders to kind of get the air into his mouth again so he's no longer drowning but whether or not he resists it or not on the next turn that's that's up to blackstone well that'll be a contested thing then but yeah just kind of stop him from drowning in the general uh thing but yeah that's what i'm gonna it's like blackstone what are you doing okay but yeah yeah
03:13:35
Speaker
Rohid, your turn. and Upon your hit, the creature has disappeared and you yet these tentacles remain. Yeah. And have I been, have I heard as well? Everyone heard it. say Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
03:13:47
Speaker
And there's, there's one more thing as well. I can see that she's Eldritch blasting. I know that spell. Would I recognize what that is?
03:13:59
Speaker
Yeah.
03:14:11
Speaker
Bonus action. Pseudo dragon attack on the witch. Okay. Roll to hit.
03:14:24
Speaker
ah It's going for a sting attack. It needs... Oh, wait. it a con save now? Or is it just... Let me see. Yeah, it's a con save. It's a con save.
03:14:36
Speaker
It's a spell. it's a It's a feature. So it's it's kind of like an attack roll, but without the actual attack roll, it's a constituting saving throw that she needs to make. She needs to make a con save 15 saving and throw.
03:14:50
Speaker
It's a 22, natural 22. twenty two Amazing, amazing. In which case this pseudo dragon, its tail, which is barbed like a, almost like a scorpion tail itself, will just try to dig in to her back, but it will have absolutely no effect. Maybe it won't find purchase or anything like that.
03:15:12
Speaker
ah And Rahid is going to dive down towards the water screeching in ah his ah kind of newfound, not his voice hasn't necessarily changed, it just become fervent and aggressive in some way, but you'll probably make out the occasional word of things like ah drowned flame or steam tyrant or whatever it is, but he's he's charging down, he's slashing at the water down below with that.
03:15:43
Speaker
Okay, roll to hit. Do I roll to hit the water below me? Mm-hmm. Okay, here's my roll to hit. It's you with a bless... 16.
03:15:57
Speaker
and Even with a natural 20, it does a hit. i hit the water. I try to do damage to the water. I deal 13 points of slashing damage to the water below me.
03:16:08
Speaker
ah Does it make any discernible effect whatsoever? You feel the whole area of the marsh around you kind of vibrate at this hit and you can hear blubbles through bubble, blubbles?
03:16:21
Speaker
Blubs of the core, almost like, you know, like if you did open a door while someone was singing, you get oh um like that kind of, I'm trying to, do you know, the Ace Ventura. Oh, One of those, it's like that, but through a discordant bubble. And you just hear these blips of of the of the choir, the sound, the discordant three notes, the harmony, the gorgeous harmony in these bubbles. And it the the bubbles come more when the violence is inflicted upon it. I mean, it's not just water. It's kind of silt and mud, thick, oozy mud. You can't go over it.
03:16:57
Speaker
You can't go under it. Yeah. ah You're going to have to go through it. That's my third kids book reference today. And if you didn't realize the Silbon Choir is a bit like all the creatures in Room on the Broom all put together.
03:17:09
Speaker
Yes. Amazing. im um I'm here for it. Me too. That's first attack. That's your first attack. You've got another one. It feels like it's done something. From your perspective, yes. You hit it. You get a response that sounds like the thing you were trying to kill and bubbling and the ground shimmers and shakes.
03:17:27
Speaker
Is there a tentacle nearby as well? The tentacles have instantly retracted. They've instantly disappeared as well. So they're not there. In which case, he will take another strike at the floor because fuck you, ground and marsh.
03:17:41
Speaker
Gaia. Floor. and Yeah, yeah, yeah. Eat shit, Gaia. ah That is a 17 and then I can bless on top of it if needs be. ah That hits anyway. Cool. Never mind. ah In which case it will take another 11 points of slity slashing damage. 11. Lovely. 11 points slashing damage.
03:18:01
Speaker
And he will use 20 feet to fly back up into the sky. Okay. Thank you very much. It's the Silkborns. 20 feet. So you've flown 20 feet up? Yes, I'm 20 feet up. So I've gone down, slash, slash, drop 20 feet, slash, slash, up 20 feet because got 40 foot flying.
03:18:21
Speaker
Okay. You shitter. Okay, that's fine. It's not. Okay. um So it's get three attacks are going to go against. First one is going to be against Bastion. That is a 23 to hit.
03:18:36
Speaker
I suppose, yeah. 10 points of bludgeoning damage on you. Blackstone, you're prone but he's going to hit you anyway. That's going to 13.
03:18:48
Speaker
Misses. 16. Yeah, that'll hit. 28. That is eight points of bludgeoning damage.
03:19:01
Speaker
The charm is broken, though. And I don't... I know you're you working out halving it. I think the rage might have dropped as you've been around out of... yeah i've tried to hit you though the parameters i've tried to hit you but i've missed i think it's out of combat i feel will you're not if he's not taken damage or he's not dealt damage or given a saving throw yeah in a round and he's not used a bonus action on his round to maintain it it will drop
03:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, so it has dropped. You'll take the eight points of damage, but the it's broken its own spell. It wants to it wants you to read it wants to draw you down. It's going to take too long. 40 turns it' just too long for the Silkborn Quiet. It will not wait. It is impatient.
03:19:45
Speaker
and It wants to drown your you would kill you and drown you, drag your corpse down. is much too long. You're too athletic. um So it's hit you and broken the curse on you. You're face up and Bastion is holding you up. Mimsy, the last attack is going to come in on you.
03:20:01
Speaker
And rightly so, given what you've just done to it, it's a natural 20. Fuck. 15 points of bludgeoning damage. 15? 15 points of bludgeoning damage. yeah And could...
03:20:18
Speaker
black blasttion but Blackstone, Bastion and Mimsy make ah wisdom saving throws, please. The DC is 10. Name of our child. There you go. The DC is 10 now. I'll tell you. So you can just tell me if you pass or you fail. take Oh, no.
03:20:34
Speaker
Blackstone, what'd you get Three. Oh, mate. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Charmed, I'm sure. Isn't that it led out a thing where if you've been charmed, can get charmed again sometimes? When the spell ends, the target knows you've been charmed, not necessarily that you haven't been.
03:20:52
Speaker
depends on what version. Darn. Some creatures frightened works like that. but Hang on a minute, hang on a minute. Cancel that for all three of you. Cancel that for all three of you.
03:21:05
Speaker
ah hasn't read me yeah I rolled really good. Let me just recharge. It hasn't done the recharge for this one. Cancel it totally. Cancel it totally. Doesn't get the recharge. yeah Doesn't get the recharge. I just read that. Apologies.
03:21:16
Speaker
umg Ignore me. I've done it for the others and forgotten for that one. So ignore me. You're still at Blackstone for that one. at a Tax, tax, tax. Well, just just so everyone's aware, um you all saw that Mimsy was hit into the hut and is kind of slumped down onto the floor, holding his tummy.
03:21:36
Speaker
Is he down? Not down. but he's Does he need a poo? he's He's very close to being down, let me tell you. He's very close to needing a poo.
03:21:47
Speaker
Bastion, could you roll a d6 for me, please? I forgot to this at the start the round. we'll do it now. Yes, I can do. We have four.
03:22:01
Speaker
It doesn't affect you, but mist. It doesn't affect your combat. it affects what happens here. Mist um curls around all of you outside of your area of kind of influence that you're in, this 30, 40-foot range.
03:22:13
Speaker
Everything past that is now absolute dark mist. Basically, it's just brought in the fog of war straight in now, and your field of vision is massively reduced, okay?
03:22:25
Speaker
um Mimsy, I believe it's your turn. ah Yes, so with taking that hit, um he's going to um get up really slowly and clutching at his tummy.
03:22:43
Speaker
help us. And then he is going to... um He's going to do a mass healing word, which is 60 feet.
03:22:56
Speaker
um Ooh. So if I do... Two of these, four. Whoa, that's good. So it's eight plus six. Fourteen.
03:23:08
Speaker
Fourteen, there we go. Now I'm doing really shit mass. So is that 14...
03:23:15
Speaker
like to everyone yeah it's it's not it's not 14 to every single person is it it's 14 yeah I'm pretty sure it is with mass healing word for yeah yeah mass healing word is that to everybody everybody gets 14 points of healing they've buffed healing massively with yes then that's it brilliant amazing take your 14 points of healing everyone is that to me as well by the way
03:23:38
Speaker
Do I do it? Yeah, it's up to six creatures. So, yeah, you can include yourself in that. And you can involve the Silkborne Choir as well if you want. Just saying. No? Okay. And maybe the witch.
03:23:49
Speaker
No, I won't do the witch ship. No. Oh, passive aggressive match. Okay. ah Lovely. Anything else with your turn, Mimsy?
03:23:59
Speaker
Yes, I'm going to go back into the hut. Okay. Oh, no. Don't it. Not like this. Okay. ah Blackstone. Blackstone, could you roll another wisdom saving throw, please? DC 10. Come on.
03:24:15
Speaker
Oh, 17. There you go The whispers subside. The thought seems to leave you. It doesn't make sense. that why Why were you doing that anyway?
03:24:26
Speaker
And you return to your senses. The turn is yours. What would you like to do? So there's no other, there's no physical targets that we can see. There are no physical targets you can see. No, but you distinctly remember as you kind of came to for a second and then was dragged back down by the feeling for a second, you saw Rohit attacking the water, but that could just be because he's crazy.
03:24:46
Speaker
Hmm.
03:24:49
Speaker
Given your experience of him over the last couple of days of travel. that Makes sense. yeah makes so i think I think as a Goliath, I would be angry at the water, given what happened recently. Yeah, that makes sense. I'll take a great sword attack at the water. I like the logic. yeah I'm angry at the water. It tried to drown it Stupid water.
03:25:11
Speaker
um That is...
03:25:15
Speaker
I'm just going to add my bless to it just in case. I'm i'm sure it's fine. But that is 13 to hit. Hits. 21 points of slashing damage. Fucking
03:25:29
Speaker
hell. Okay. Barbarians, man. Nice. Have you got anything else you want to do with your turn? Yeah. Action, sir. Do it again. ah Can I pause you there? Can I pause you there? because i thought, okay, we're going to come back to you. But again, we've hit another marker and they in the... This happens now.
03:25:43
Speaker
and this happens now You've hit the final phase, the drowning verse, the water suddenly chills. And then without warning, ah final full force scream emanates and pushes out from the central point where the creature had disappeared in its first place.
03:26:05
Speaker
Could everyone, and Mimsy yours is going to be with advantage because you're behind a wall. Could everyone make a wisdom saving throw, please?
03:26:18
Speaker
So, a Mimsy, you can roll it twice and takes obviously take the highest one for that. Let me just get some dice together for the fun that will come next. As always, don't forget your bless.
03:26:32
Speaker
How do you know he's a cleric? He'll tell you.
03:26:37
Speaker
Okay, Mimsy, what did get? 18. Okay, thank you. Rohid? 14. Thank you. Blackstone? 14. fourteen thank you blackstone I've got a nine, but if if you'll let me, I'll use my tactical nine ah taxable mind ability, which lets me add a Sure, yeah. and Because i I'm not failing anymore. That's too much. So 15. Sorry, 14.
03:26:59
Speaker
Thank you. Bastion? 16. Mimsy, what did you get again? 18. Everyone apart from Mimsy fails. Yeah. eighteen yeah everyone apart from mimsey fails yeah so no So strangely, this has kind of two parts to it.
03:27:22
Speaker
Firstly, if you succeed, you resist, but you still take half damage. o
03:27:32
Speaker
You take 16 points of psychic damage, Mimsy.
03:27:39
Speaker
Sorry, sorry, you take 18 points of psychic damage. eight Sorry, no, 16, 8, you take 8 fucking hell. Get it, Mark. i Simple maths. oh donate I've done 8. 18,000 points of death damage. I was doubling thinking. It's over 9,000. I was thinking, I've got 32 points. What's going on?
03:27:56
Speaker
no, no. We're going to die. The total is You take points of psychic damage Those that have failed, you take 8,000 death points. No, you you take 16 points of psychic damage.
03:28:18
Speaker
And you begin...
03:28:22
Speaker
You're not charmed.
03:28:26
Speaker
Well, your legs are.
03:28:29
Speaker
You're walking into the water. So, Rahid, you know how you turned midway through and your legs continued moving and you were on your side? It's kind of like that, that your legs are compelled to move towards the water, to the deepest part of the water, yet your mind is clear.
03:28:46
Speaker
I'm flying... if you' If you're flying, okay, then you are compelled you're compelled to land. ah So part of your turn, next turn, your action, your movement will be to land as quickly as you can, safely, obviously, and then start lowering, your your but legs will start walking you towards the water. Yet your mind, your voice, everything else can continues to be yours.
03:29:09
Speaker
But you know that if you don't stop this soon, you will enter the marshes. And after 40 turns, Blackstone drowns.
03:29:19
Speaker
But it will take a while. ah It was still your turn, Blackstone. I bet you I've described all this and you'll kill it in a single fucking one shot now, won't you?
03:29:29
Speaker
I'd highly doubt We action surged, didn't we? Sorry. I'd like to use my action surge and I will um i make another great sword attack against this fucking water.
03:29:41
Speaker
ah That is a 17 to hit. That hits. 21 points of slashing damage. You hear this scream come from the water bubbling through like a voice echoing through beneath.
03:29:57
Speaker
You're still compelled towards the water. Anything want to do with your turn, Blackstone? Uh, I will.
03:30:07
Speaker
Um, um It doesn't seem to be helping. I'd like to use second wind and I'm just going to heal a little bit. Okay, nice. The witch is going to continue to fire off some bolts off to the side. Not that anyone, Bastion might have noticed this.
03:30:22
Speaker
What do you roll for your health anyway? 14. ah fourteen Very nice. and Rohit, actually, as you circle, sir I've been circling round up higher, you would have noticed a number far to the south of these shadowy silhouettes, the ones that you'd been seeing out the corner of your eyes on your ways across the marsh, being absolutely pummeled by these purple eldritch shots as they fly out from the witch's position.
03:30:47
Speaker
Something else was going to attack and hasn't because of the choices you made. Bastion, top of the round. Bort Jacques Tilly. um I'm making any kind of ah saving throw at the start of this because i I'm assuming i feel compelled to walk towards all three of you bar mimsy and no there's no saving throw for this it will end with your drone
03:31:16
Speaker
okay unless you stop it and unless you kill it kill it callum right kill it good I'm trying to see if I've got anything powerful. It's the only thing we are surrounded by water and I'm compelled to go into the water. you um You are in control of your like waist and upwards and everything that's attached to it. Face, mouth, nose, eyes.
03:31:40
Speaker
You can talk. You're not charmed. Your, your legs are just compelled to go.
03:31:47
Speaker
Okay. So I'm telling we're going to be losing bless just as my legs feel like they have a mind of their own. I'm just trying to wade out into the water. holding the holy symbol and clutching it. I'm going to just cast spirit guardians on myself.
03:32:02
Speaker
And it's obviously 15-foot emanation area of basically, there's going to be very tiny Mies with Maces that's going to be flying around and swinging, like three different little figures of Mies with Maces swinging around. um They are spectral. So let me just do some damage. Are they like life-size or are they mini?
03:32:27
Speaker
Oh, they're they're very, very tiny. Very, very tiny. Are they all fake laughing at Rohit's jokes as well? no they are. They see him and then they kind of stop just for a brief moment and then ah carry on.
03:32:41
Speaker
um i When I cast a spell, I can desonate creatures that will be unaffected by it. So basically all four of my compadres will be unaffected by this if they come into the area.
03:32:52
Speaker
um But other than that, it's just all about... ah damage show anything around me in a 15 foot area will be taking...
03:33:04
Speaker
19 points of radiant damage. 19 points. 19 points of radiant damage. I can keep this going for up to 10 minutes. I'll be dead long before then.
03:33:16
Speaker
But just as a thing, there's a load of other things I don't think are going to matter. So any other creature's speed is halved when they come into this 15-foot area that's around me. yeah But i it's it's all water.
03:33:29
Speaker
So it it just... 19 points of radiant damage. And I think I do that every time ah have a turn. The final notes of the choir's song bubbles through the water.
03:33:44
Speaker
There's a stillness in the marsh for a second.
03:33:50
Speaker
And then from the position where it had retracted itself into the silt and to the ground below, this explosion out of the water, 20 foot by 20 foot, bursts out with scream, literal scream out.
03:34:08
Speaker
And you just see this plume of ash and the melody shouts, not hum, not sing, not... and not chorally into the air, just scream those three notes into the air and ash, slow falling black ash falls like snow across the ground.
03:34:29
Speaker
But there is silence again.
03:34:34
Speaker
And just for a moment before the waters settle, you each hear a whisper, not from the choir, but from something deeper.
03:34:47
Speaker
A name. At least you think it's a name. Somewhere just in the edge of your, on the tip of your tongue, if it was in your ear. Not your tongue in your ear, but it's just on the edge of, was that a name? Was that a word? I think that was. Aeris staggers back, bracing herself against one of the half-sonken pillars she's positioned herself around as the last echoes of the scream fade over the veil there.
03:35:14
Speaker
The marsh is eerily silent now. but a gaze remains distant, fixed on something to the north, far to the north.
03:35:28
Speaker
You think this is over? You think Veilmere was the only place drowning? No.
Foreboding Conclusions
03:35:36
Speaker
It was the first verse, the first ripple in a tide that has already begun to rise.
03:35:46
Speaker
The calling veil stirs. The walls between between what was and what is grow thin. The storm that shattered the world before.
03:36:00
Speaker
The one the old gods feared. It's It's returning.
03:36:06
Speaker
You don't understand. None of us do, but we will know. We all know that there are those that move unseen, whispers in the ears of kings and warlocks so alike, and Rohid, she clocks eyes with you.
03:36:21
Speaker
The one that smiles and pulls the strings, his charm as deadly as his claws.
03:36:31
Speaker
As a wind that pushes through the marsh, cool air, refreshing.
03:36:38
Speaker
She breathes it in.
03:36:41
Speaker
I need to find the others.
03:36:45
Speaker
Yes, the ones that know the truth. You, she looks at you each. You all need to be ready.
03:36:55
Speaker
Because when the storm comes again, when the surge next rises and the sky splits, when the veil is finally torn wide,
03:37:10
Speaker
We will, all of us, drown.
03:37:17
Speaker
She releases her grip, her tensed fists, which she's held that entire speech, glancing one more once more towards the horizon, the north.
03:37:31
Speaker
Then, without another word, she turns and vanishes into the mist.
03:37:42
Speaker
And that's a wrap on this week's episode of Wild Heart. But yeah I've got a little sign off now, but the adventure doesn't stop there. Dive deeper into the world of Wild Heart over at fellowshipwithetabletop.co.uk.
03:37:56
Speaker
ah There you can find expanded lore, detailed maps of Aerith and a brand new blog covering both Wild Heart and Bellum Draconis. And Callum, that excellent blog you've done on Alpha is up there to read as well. I'm sure he's going to pop loads of stuff on about Bastion as well very soon. course. I've got theories, questions, wild predictions. We'd love to hear them drop us a message on fellowshipofthetabletop at gmail.com.
03:38:15
Speaker
ah Check a theory on the blog or join the conversation on our socials. Your input might just shape the stories that come next. And if you're craving even more stories from Wild Art, don't forget to check out the Interregnums, our short fiction podcast bringing the hidden corners of this world to life.
03:38:28
Speaker
This drops every other Tuesday. Until next time, subscribe to keep up to date, stay curious, and as always, watch the Tide.