Hello, friends. We're gearing up for another
episode of Unzipped, our Q &A behind the scenes
show where we talk about the podcast, our characters,
the deep, dark secrets of our personal lives
and answer questions from all of you. If you've
got any burning questions for us, send them our
way in our Discord, Instagram, by owl, however
you get a hold of us. Thanks. The Magesmith has
sparked a vested public interest in the surviving
luminaries of Tithos. Though few in number, these
luminaries serve as some of our best, a fact
that stands for another amongst their number.
I'm talking, of course, about Lark Silverstep,
also known as Shrike. Now, Shrike's Rise as a
Luminary is fascinating, as she rolls up from
the gutter itself. Her origins lie in the streets
of Cerule's low city. Now, until recently, we
have believed that the royal family of Cerule
have been doing its utmost to cut down on crime
in the city and bring fortune to those with less.
And of course, that was all a lie. But that's
where Shry came in. The halfling girl had only
two things of worth. A strong sense of justice
and a penchant for psychic powers. wielding weapons
of pure psionic energy, usually punching daggers,
karambits, or stilettos. Shrek would protect
smaller folk from the criminal factions that
tended to bring violence into the streets. As
a smaller folk herself, Shrek would run dirty,
efficient battle tactics to use an opponent's
size against them, leading to a popular alias.
Though Shrike could be impossible to spot when
she didn't want to be, she also had a curious
quirk. Donning silver boots she had acquired
in her heroics, Shrike would strike fear into
her foes, letting her steps ring out as she came
to deliver her retribution. A signal for villains
to run and for the wounded to hold on. You see,
Shrek is also trained in the art of stabilization.
Trapped in a city where life was cheap, Shrek
prioritized the preservation of it, proving to
all that the biggest arts can come in the smallest
of packages. Thank you, Zila! Hey! For that and
for so much more. Holy shit. We've not talked
about this yet. Zila, Astropathic Art on Instagram,
on Blue Sky, has been... Lighting up the Discord
lately with, honestly, just unbelievable art
pieces. Oh, yeah. Remember the Golden Bay Manta?
We would love to see art of this. There's art
of that. There's art of that. There's two. There's
an early Jules LaRoche and a more recent Jules
LaRoche. There's a Blanche. There's a Zebulon.
There's a round stuff in the works. What else
is there? There's so many. Wild. She's working
through the whole cast. We got Sean and Chester.
It's all so fast, too. Dude. Dance macabre. There's
a dance macabre. Yes, there's a dance macabre.
It's honestly unreal. I'm terrified because I've
been doing this thing in Discord where I do like
these Discord emoji. I have a button emoji. And
for like years, I just kind of dropped this emoji
here and there without really thinking about
it. I'd just be like, ah, there's a button, there's
a button. And I noticed a very peculiar thing
that Zila's name, which is Astropathic Art in
the Discord, would just say like... One button.
Two button. And it was growing. And I was like,
oh my gosh. She's collecting the buttons. She's
keeping track. She's keeping track. And someday.
Zeal is bringing receipts. Someday, I'm going
to have to cash out on those buttons. I don't
know what that means. I don't know what that
means. But I'm scared. I'm scared. Well, I mean,
I'm hoping that it's good for us players. You
know, actually, it could be great. It could be
for me. But scared as I am. The buttons are so
worthwhile. I mean, the art is incredible. Please
check out Astropathic Art, Instagram, Blue Sky,
and hop in our Discord and say hello to, honestly,
the fastest and just as fantastic artist that,
like, oh my gosh. I could go on and on. And actually,
just a little side note here. When we go into
this next session of combat, we have done away
with buff, sexy Marge Simpson. Rip. for I now
have a Jules and Blanche actual token, which
is so exciting. I also have a new Ozanar. I just
had like a sort of shadowy samurai form before.
Kevin actually made up a new one in Hero Forge.
On Hero Forge, I saw that. Yeah, it's really
nice. I can't imagine how much. So I grabbed
that too. So yeah, we have all full updated tokens.
The whole map looks way cooler. I'm so psyched.
The pants people are showing up. They're showing
up. And like, this is, oh my gosh. It's, yeah.
Oh, yeah. I see the Blanche token. I saw the
art, but I haven't seen the token live. Oh, yeah,
buddy. That's really cool. It's really cool.
And honestly, hey, wait. I just realized something.
Isn't this just the best Christmas present from
our friends? Because this episode is coming out,
what, two days before Christmas? yes yes yeah
that's right christmas and happy holidays everybody
oh my gosh whether you're celebrating hope it's
a great one hope you guys are doing a great time
i think last year we mentioned uh uh we originally
we did like a happy skylights little intro oh
yeah it's so funny because we never actually
like like skylights is a holiday i designed in
this setting we're gonna do a zine on it and
i was gonna do episodes on it it's basically
just a celebration of miracles when atash came
and saved on current cigar blah blah all that
um And we just kind of dropped that and never
brought it up again because I'm always doing
something else. But someday we'll celebrate skylights
in our little show here and canonize it. Happy
skylights is what I'm saying. Happy skylights.
Happy skylights. And thank you so much for all
the art, really. Super incredible. And before
we're giving thanks, I want to thank you, gentlemen,
for what I think was my singular favorite round
of combat I've ever had the pleasure of running.
It was one round. Whole last session, one round
of this crazy combat, but oh my gosh, it was
- Wait, that was only one round. Dude, we got
to pick up the pace. One round. Oh yeah, we're
going to do this fight for 10 more episodes.
But oh my God, it was awesome. Like the whole
thing, we come into it, we had the happy little
beginning. We had this like overwhelming dread.
I was on you guys. And I just, that play, dispelled
magic into the full aggressive push, cutting
me down the 20 HP that you needed to hit the
threshold. to remove the helmet and mask. Yeah,
it's one turd you got there. Very cool. Yeah,
that was my plan. If you got to 20 HP, if you
got a good enough blow, I was going to reveal
information that would not be revealed otherwise.
And you did it. Yeah, I was going to say, imagine
if we just went that whole episode with just
the one round and didn't get that. Right. How
boring that ending would have been. Oh, man.
That's going to be this episode. Oh, but yeah,
I mean, I, yeah, it was incredible. You guys
are awesome. I wish I hadn't already said, I
can't give out buttons because otherwise I'd
give you a button maybe, but you know, it's too
late. I said last episode, I can't, I'm too busy.
I'm driving a Ferrari over here. I can't, there's
no, there's no mental space to give out buttons.
Yeah. Well, thankfully Abby came along to give
you guys some buttons. Much needed. But unfortunately
Abby's not here tonight. And so the button well
has run dry. Yeah. Better caller. Fuck. Jeremy.
Get over here. Get him. Yeah. They're getting
me. I'm getting you, David. You got. Speaking
of getting, someone else got us a present. Fail
time. Fail time. It's fail time. That was a transition.
Yeah. Yeah. That was good. We got another present.
We got more mail. More mail. How is this possible?
It's Christmas. And also Stephen's birthday.
And I realized earlier... Holy shit, I forgot
about that. I realized Stephen... Well, I realized
earlier I was like, oh man, you know, at some
point tonight I'm going to be like, hey, it's
my birthday tomorrow. And then I was like, we
recorded last week the day before David's birthday
and didn't mention a fucking thing. Oh, you're
going to pay for that. You'll pay for that tonight.
I'm going to upcast a spell because of it. I
don't know. But we got a box from Mike. Oh, Mike.
Hammer in the Discord. Oh, Mike. And I'm so excited.
So excited. We haven't seen a lot of Mike lately.
We were playing World of Warcraft together and
it's been a lot of fun and very distracting.
Hear that, pants people? This show is almost
over now because David is not playing WoW. Once
I hit rating level, we're done. Oh, no. And it's
all Mike's fault. I saw him mention that in the
Discord and I was like... Oh, God. It's over.
Let's see if Mike redeemed himself to you guys
right now. He gave us one last gift before the
show is over. It's easy to open, so don't need
to murder. You ready for this? You ready for
this? What is this? What the fuck is that? Whoa,
that looks like dice. What is that? That looks
like dice. Dice? I see puzzle pieces. Wait, is
this like a... Oh, it's an advent calendar. It
is. What? I should have opened this a long time
ago. We're on 19. Oh, my God. It's the 19th.
Whoops. Oh, man. He probably gave this to me
like on the first and I was like, we'll open
it eventually. Then we skipped the week. Dude.
Oh, my God. Because we couldn't last week do
two. Mike said that in the Discord and like eight
other people were like, you guys need new dice.
Oh, man. Well, who wants the honors of doing
one through 19? Open them. Come on, give them
to us. All of them? Should we do all? I mean,
it is the 19th day. Okay, you know what? That's
how advent calendars work, right? I mean... Whoa,
okay. I feel like it's supposed to be easier
than that. It's a badass. Wait, hang on. David,
do you want me to try? Oh, he's cheating. He's
just going to rip it open. No, I got this. Okay.
This is really bad. Hang on. David, we want to
save the boxes at keepsake. One down. It's a
really cool. That's pretty cool. That's a D.
Oh, that's a really fancy D8, I believe. Yes.
No, it's a D10. What? It's a 10? No, it's not.
It's an 8. But there's a zero on it. What? What
a fascinating dice. Let me see. Well, that's
going to be it. Wait, what number is that? There
are eight sides. But it's not like equal sided.
Let me see. What are you? Strange, strange. This
one doesn't have a number. This one doesn't have
a number. Is this like a... This is very strange.
I'm going to put this in the Discord. I need
help figuring this one out. Okay, yes. These
perforations do not work. So we're just going
to fold it down this way. All right. Should we
do all of them, or should we do one this week,
one next week? Did you pull out two? We're doing
two tonight. David, did you pull out two? No,
one. There's one missing. There's bubble wrap
in the two, but not... It's an invisible dice.
Guys, there's minis in here. Invisidice. There's
minis in here. What's that? Ooh, look at that
beast. Holy shit, what is it? That's so cool.
Oh, I thought you meant miniature dice. No, minis.
Like mini figs. Oh, also, I found the number
two die. Scaly stone. What are these? What is
going on? Take a picture of this, too. These
are so... I need some of this to move monster,
this is. It's so cool. It's like a weird three
-crowned stone demon. Whoa, check this out. Should
I just keep folding these down and opening them
up? Ooh, a tiny, tiny, like, halfling knight.
I love that. I love that. Hold on. Hold on. This
is going to take forever. Yes! Yes. Let's do
the rest later. Let's do one. Let's do the first
four, and then let's do the next four. Okay,
cool. Yeah. Like, we are going to have a boatload
of fun with this. But I think the pants people
are just going to want to see pictures of the
end result. True, true. Good point, good point.
Oh, it's so cool, though. That was awesome. Thank
you, Mike. Thank you so much, Mike. That was
so cool. Oh, man. Okay. All right. Well. Now
that we've got all the happiness and celebration
out of the way. Thank you, by the way. Are we
going to fight? Let's fight. I think we're going
to fight. I mean. 109 episodes into our show.
And finally. This is 110. 110. Oh, no, no, no.
It's the last one. Finally, we've revealed the
main villain. We have an antagonist. We didn't
have an antagonist until now. Isn't that crazy?
It was kind of crazy. At least not a main one.
That's wild. Now we have one that's pulling the
strings. So let's hear a little more about how
things ended up the way they have. Time for gifts
and blessings is over. A secret tragedy. Hidden
beneath a veil woven of misconception. But the
veil has been lifted. The misconception has been
cleared. And so we see puzzle pieces. Puzzle
pieces floating in an infinite void. We see them
falling, falling, and finally, to doom, landing
into place. Connecting into a cohesive whole.
A truth that forms the basis of our story. Puzzle
piece. Ozen meeting with Kejau Kamal. This is
a man we've seen before, on Tythos, on Sanction.
An old man, near as old as Ozen himself. Brown
skin, harsh, speckled facial features. Ornate,
gold -trimmed purple robes and a long, thick
braid. White at the crown and chipped into a
deep brown as it falls. We see them within the
court of beauty. Two men in their 80s, speaking
casually, friendly. A letter handed harmlessly
from the Crystal Network's founder to the Storm
Eye. But there is a darkness in Kejau's eyes.
A desire. And deep within Ozen's, a fear. Puzzle
piece. Ozen in the Soul Sanctum, resting upon
his mat, lit by the constant flashing of lightning.
Ozen writes nervously to Blanche. His back to
the roaring wind. He tells all, initially, writing
the name of the one who commands this great conspiracy.
The Sapphire Wyvern, Dawn and Corner of Tythos
S .W. But then, Ozen thinks better. To say too
much would be dangerous should the letter be
discovered by those involved. And apart from
that, there is a deeper concern. Ozen has always
stood firm on one ideal. that his teachings are
freely given in his hand to never push his students
down a path they did not wholly choose. But this
information given to Blanche would force her
path. It could put a target on her shell, could
alter her life. And she is doing so well. She's
so happy as the master of defense. And so we
see the initial letter crackle and blacken as
lightning runs through Rosen's bare fingers.
And he writes another, far more vague, in hopes
that Blanche will choose to come. to hear the
full truth, to stand by his side in the coming
fight. But of course, she does not come. For
this letter finds its way into DiPiero's pocket,
the king of the turtles, unwilling to let the
invaluable Blanche Trudeau go. And so, puzzle
piece. A ten day after the letter is sent, Ozen
leaves the Shrine of Storms. We see him, hand
resting on the head of Akio, a sad smile hidden
behind his mask. There is a hesitance in him
as he turns to move away, leaving Akio with the
order to wait. Blanche did not answer the call,
but perhaps... No, no, looking into the eyes
of his last pupil, seeing the sorrow plastered
over the old dog's features, Ozen dismisses the
thought. Too much sweetness in those eyes, too
little guile. It would have to be the storm eye,
alone. By the time he reaches the Concord Jewel,
he has magically disguised himself and travels
in secret to the Citadel. Puzzle piece. We see
Ozen a short while later. He stands upon a mountain
peak within a large crater far to the north in
the preserve. We see him facing the Sapphire
Wyvern, a monstrous draconic entity made of shimmering,
glowing sapphire gemstones. It flies over the
crater and we see its sharp gemstone teeth part
as it releases a great and terrible roar. A sound
both bestial and alien. A surge of power seems
to follow it. A gravity that slams down upon
the lone samurai. But, even facing down a wrathful
god, the stormite does not drop to his knees.
Rather, he turns his head upwards, forcing every
ounce of his own rage and fear into his staring
eye, and he draws his blade. And... Puzzle piece.
Surrounded by scorch -marked earth, Ozen lies
in a pool of blood. His helmet has been thrown
off, his blade protrudes from the earth nearby,
his limbs twisted and broken. He is defeated.
Yet sapphire stones lay all around, fragments
of this creature sliced off. The wyvern that
looms above him bears its own scorch marks. It
is earthbound now. One full wing lays off to
the side. Its stones lay dark and lifeless. The
battle, it seems, was close. But the wyvern looms
over Ozen, its jaws opening wide above Ozen's
broken body. The old man coughs and chuckles.
So, the battle is lost. But my quest is not.
You've undone yourself, villain. For your actions
have led to the rise of the luminaries. I may
die here, but my generation has passed. New flowers
are blooming. You will be stopped. I don't need
two eyes to see that our worlds are full of heroes.
I was merely the first raindrop of the storm.
Ozen closes his eye and accepts. And something
flashes out from the throat of the incarnate,
a small projectile blasting downwards in a beam
of blue light, a single stone driving into Ozen's
empty right socket with a sickening squelch.
The incarnate's heart stone, bearing its very
soul. And Ozen's eye opens again, the light brown
color fading to a bright sapphire blue. The pieces
are together. The tragic story of the storm I
give in form. Yet we are missing pieces still.
For we don't know how this story ends. So let's
all find out. Together. We move back to the Shrine
of Storms. Back to the moment of revelation.
Those last words ring out across to all of you.
Crispin, you are reading the letter out loud
still. And I should note, because we didn't talk
about it last time, Jules, you did draw, you
had your turn, which means you would have freely
actioned, pulled out the, yes. You find in that
moment, as you look down towards it, the diamond
does not work. Just as it does not work in the
presence of the other incarnates. While it was
muted before, you can all feel it now, an oppressive
gravity, the sound of a far -off storm mingled
with a melody. And this melody is harsh. But
your words still ring out, Crispin, as you're
reading down this letter. And Ozen has to return
towards you. Kajokamal is an arrogant fool. He
should have moved outside my guidance. But at
least he could accept my wisdom and my love.
It's too late for Ozen Yoshikatsu. But it's not
too late for all of you. But because you dropped
haste, that monologue... was my turn. No movement,
no action. And so in this moment, you hear a
quiet response. Wait. Master taught me to wait.
But Master is gone! And I'm done waiting! Ruff!
And it's Akio's turn! Finally! Active! On the
field! Wow, I gotta open his sheet. I think you
just see, like, in this moment, very quickly,
he just turns, uh, draws his word, going to draw
his one, turns to you, Blanche, and says, If
you are truly the Blanche Trudeau, his favorite
friend, then it is an honor to battle at your
side. Command me! Ruff! Oh, damn, cool. Yeah.
He'd know about you. Of course he'd know about
you. And your name was just dropped. Ooh, I can
actually see my bonus actions now. But he already
used second wind, right? Yes, it is gone. Okay.
Then... So it's... Yeah, you're up. Akio will
take his two katana strikes. And he is, again,
barely standing. I know. One HP, just like...
He can't really help himself, so... Oh, man.
No, that is just a 15 for the first. Oh, my God.
Two eights in a row. 15, 15. Oh. No hit. So that's...
Yikes. That's it. Hey, do you want to move? Anything
like that? No, out of range and take an A -O
-O. He'll be dead. Okay. Okay, then. Akio just
tries. Swings out twice. Blade goes, but easily
in his weakened state. Ping, ping, parry twice.
The poor dog just can't help himself, like you
said, but he's attacking in rage. His temperance
gone, Blanche. There's a spark of kinship there
between the two of you, a spark that you worry.
May soon vanish. Oh, but do I want to? No, haste
is gone. So I will not take a legendary action
here. We shall move on. No. Oh, that's evil.
Stop being evil. But I've been stressing about
this fight. This is a true chess game now. Oh,
isn't this brilliant? A tactician, but so is
Blanche, or all of you. We are fighting on a
higher level, and so I cannot afford to hold
back. Stop being evil! Ozen parries the blade.
So Gigi easily parries to the side, crouches
a little, and energy builds up once again in
his stance. I'm using Thunder Step as a legendary
action. Oh, fuck. And I'm going to appear. Just
behind, Crispin and Jules. Son of a bitch. Right
there behind the two of you, suddenly Ozen stands,
blade proffered up threateningly. But for those
of you he left behind, a shockwave rolls out
from the ground. I'll tell you right now, Akio,
no matter what, is down. The echo, no matter
what, is gone. What's going to happen to Blanche?
I do need a save for Akio and for Blanche because
this could kill him. Holy fuck. Akio, remind
me of the save again. This is going to be a constitution
saving throw. Okie dokie. Con save, you say.
I will roll Akio's first because it's going to
be dramatic. Oh, that is not even close. Single
digits for Akio's con save. 22 for Blanche. And
then plus four for, oh no, sorry. 22? 22 for
Blanche. Blanche actually passes. Holy shit.
That's great. Okay. Nakio, has it failed? Yes.
Let's do this then. Upcasting one. Okay. That
is going to be 17 points of damage halved for
Blanche. Okay. So, I mean, Nakio had one hit
point. Nakio's down. Yeah. Nakio is... full down,
the echo obliterated, and Blanche feeling some
scars of this rock, you slide back just a little
bit, you see Akio behind you, just gets like,
boom, body start crumples, folding, falling,
just alongside all the others. Had this last
stand, staring defiantly at the one who killed
his master. And he too has fallen. But as Ozen
suddenly shifts through space as he suddenly
appears behind Jules and Crispin. Crispin Dubois
is ready. You're up, turning to meet the Storm
Eye and whatever lies within him now. Oh, goodness
gracious. Okay. Children, nuts, all of you. In
my benevolence, I will save you still. Crispin's
gonna crumple up the letter, put it away. And
take a swing with his great club. I really hope
this one hits. Haste is gone. And I can't use
it anymore because that hurt. Losing a whole
turn hurt. With the spell magic on the field,
I'm scared of that again. So I am. Needs to be
a really high hit. So Jeremy, let me tell you
why I'm thinking about using my button. Okay.
Crispin with his great club has a plus seven
to hit. Uh -huh. Damage with the gray club isn't
fantastic. It's 1d8 plus 4, but he still has
2d6 from absorb elements. I'm just not sure how
many more chances I'll get to make this attack.
You absorbed the last thunder step. Oh, shit.
Your weapon's quaking with Ozen's own magic.
That's so cool. That makes sense to me. I guess
you're reasoning. I'm going to use it, and I'm
going to have... a better reason to use it the
next round. Sure. I'm sure. Sure. But for now,
this seems like a smart move to me. This hits.
It's gotta. I mean, otherwise, Crispin just doesn't
have as much use in this battle. My reaction,
I should say, is back. Oh, shit. If that changes
your mind, you can have this. But my turn did
pass. I didn't get to move, but I did refresh
my reaction and legendaries. Yeah, so even if
I hit, he's going to just delete it. But, I mean.
Well, he might. How many spell slots does he
have? A bazillion. I'm going to take the button
back for now. Okay. It's a hard one. You need
to get two clean hits to get damage on him. But
you got a lot of people on the field. No, see,
that's 19. 19 will not hit. 19 doesn't hit. Bladesong
still active. That humming, metal ringing. You
try to strike out and boom, parried to the side.
That thunderous magic. Not striking true. Then
as a bonus action, take hot Jules, something,
something, aura of vitality. Truer words have
never been spoken. Sorry, I'm nervous. So as
a bonus action, the aura of vitality is going
to activate. And since Jules is within 30 feet
of him, of Crispin, Jeremy, why don't you roll
2d6 for Jules? Ladies and gentlefolk. Crispin
Dubois' last words. Yeah, I know, right? You
said 2D6? 2D6. Put it on his gravestone. Near
max each time. 5 and a 6. So 11's going back
on. I've got to get rid of this guy. Oh, man.
No, stop. Oh, no. And that's your turn? Holy
shit. That is the end of Crispin Dubois' turn
and potentially life. Dresden Kelly, the echo
is gone. But you still stand. Yeah. And Ozen
is closer to you than before, hovering around
both of your closest friends. What are you going
to do about it, soldier boy? He's going to manifest
his echo again, right behind and half -flanking.
Ooh, okay. And Dresden is fucking tapped out,
so all he has are his two attacks. Wait. I want
to address one thing real fast, just so you know.
Yeah. If you had, you wouldn't still hit. You're
probably thinking if you flanked with that attack.
Oh. I wouldn't have still. Yeah, I should have
done that. Just so you feel good about when you
realize later on, when you're lying in bed tonight
at midnight, and you're like, oh, no! I should
have flanked. Wouldn't have hit. Anyway. You
said that you wanted Dresden to be in flanking,
though, right? Yes. So that's not... Well, his
Echo. The Echo, yeah. Oh, right, right. I thought
you were going to move two to be also... Yeah,
so Echo's just flanking with Jace? Yep, exactly.
Hell yeah. And he's just going to go in for attacks,
I guess. That's all he can do. Hell yeah. Okay.
Ooh. First attack is a 26. That'll actually hit.
Oh no. Okay. I'm going to roll the second attack.
Okay. And then I'll roll damage. Or do you want
me to do the other way around? Roll damage as
you go. Because I think I get to absorb it. So
I hear the damage and then I can decide to absorb
it. Okay. So I choose which spell slot to use.
12. I'll take the 12. That hurts, but I'll take
the 12. Oh, you took it. Okay. No, I'm going
to take the hit. Okay. Take the damage. Okay.
And that one is not going to hit with an 11.
Okay. Oof, rough, but you still got through.
A little gash goes across, just breaking off
a piece of the armor, cutting into the bloodless
flesh beneath. I had to take it. I had to take
it. Okay. Okay. And that's Dresden's turn? That
is... Stand by. That is Dresden's turn. Yeah.
Damn. You see Ozen's eye turns to you now. That
bright sapphire sort of pulsing looks at you.
Jules, you feel weight sort of pushing down on
you, trying to, like, restrict your breathing.
You hear, Jules, I felt your corrupted touch
upon my body. I know who prowls outside of your
flesh awaiting vacancy. I will not kill you.
No. But there are other ways to keep you out
of my way. And a voice booms out from above.
You will need to go through me. Yes. A figure
comes smashing down hard into the battlefield.
A warrior armored in scales of shining brass
and wielding an unsheathed great sword. Where
does he land, Jeremy Wolf? Holy shit. Where's
Arlan coming in? I fucking hate this is happening
to me. I think, is it possible for him to land
like directly? next to them, but then simultaneously
kind of push Jules out of the way? Would that
incur an AOO? Or is that just like the action
of pushing them away? It would take an action
to shove Jules. What if he landed so fucking
hard that it knocked Jules back? I can't. I can't
do it. I can't do it. I can't make allowances.
It's too rough. It's too crazy. It's too close.
Okay, so he's just going to go then on the other
side of him. Oh, it's right there. Okay, hell
yeah. Yeah, I have control. He slams down right
beside Crispin. Kind of looks at Crispin, nods.
Blade drawn. I think you actually just hear,
like, as Ozen sort of blades sort of up as everyone
kind of has a frozen moment. Ha, ha, ha. You
haven't died, though. Must I cut you down again?
You can try, but I've since learned a few things
from my luminary brother. What do you want to
do? You're going into strike. Oh, my God. I have
not used Arhalon. This is so terrifying. This
is so terrifying. You have a corvette of your
own over there. Arhalon is strong. Before, when
he was armless, he was oathless, or at least
his arm didn't work. We have the full power to
Arhalon now. Full smites. All his power and abilities
are back. Full use of his weapon. This is horrifying
to me. I think for this... Okay. I think for
the... You know what? Okay. I think for this
first one, he's just going to go in with his
greatsword. Hell yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh, if you
hit, I'm so scared. Oh no. He did not hit with
an 11. He gets multi -attack. That's right. He
gets two. So first one parried to the side. Second
one comes swinging in. Cracked. I thought you
said quit, and I almost died. Okay, I want to
be totally honest here. Don't touch the table
so it doesn't block it. It is cracked between
a one and a seven. It's kind of wild. But I just
want you to make sure that this is cracked. Yeah,
it's definitely a skew. Okay. All right, I'll
allow it. Just being honest. I'll allow it. Just
being honest. Yeah, I mean, I think we'd do that
no matter the number. And Steven's totally impartial
in this, so. 13 is not going to hit. Oh, my gosh.
Whoa, he's rolling low, trying so hard. Perhaps
there's something part of him that still feels
fear. He's got to fight his legs. Sapphire turns
to him. That same power pulls him through, and
Arhalon looks a little shaken. The weapon goes
a little wide. He kind of takes a step back,
but he's there now beside you, Jules. Oh, yeah,
it was so low -flanking, it wasn't even going
to help either. Yeah. We're going to slide across
the Court of Beauty over to the now lone Blanche,
sitting beside the crumpled form of Ozen's other
final pupil. Blanche, what are you going to do?
I'm guessing that if Blanche were to use the
Ring of Spellstoring for a concentration spell,
would that kill her haste? I don't really know
much about how. The ring of spell storing works
in that regard. Shit, that's a good one. It says,
while wearing this ring, you can cast any spell
stored in it. The spell uses the slot level,
spell save DC, spell attack bonus, and spell
casting ability of the original caster, but is
otherwise treated as if you cast the spell. I
think where it says is otherwise treated as if
you cast the spell means that you can't double
up on concentration spells. Yes, it would. Okay,
that's kind of what I thought. Okay. Okay. Then
one more question. Can you remind us what our
homebrew potion rules are? If you take it yourself,
bonus action. Give it to somebody else, full
action. It's actually a pretty popular homebrew
rule. Yeah. Okay. It's a tough choice. It's a
tough choice. Save the one that's fallen. Or
while you have this opening, this chance, strike
at this monster. So the Sapphire Wyvern starts
to, you know, run across the field and Blanche
gets enraged. I'll kill you for... She squelches
the anger and rage that she's feeling because
she's got to remember her training. She's got
to remember what Master Oz and Yoshikatsu taught
her. There will be time for emotion. It's not
now. She'll look down to... Akio saw y 'all the
new shrine dog and uses an action to administer
her superior potion of healing. Is that the Andrew
Hooli Forge given superior potion of healing?
That is the one. Oh my God. Where's the jar?
Where's the jar? Wait, was it the... Oh. There
it is. Red jar. Look at that beautiful thing.
I love this. Oh yeah. I love this. If I could
only give you a button, but I can't. I'm too
busy. Okay. Hands are tied. 8d4 plus 8 hit points.
Oh my gosh. So Akio's already up with 8. Give
me like 8 hours to count this up. Hold on. I'm
going to re -roll that one there in the corner.
Can you guys see that? It's not even like close
to being straight upright. Wow. Okay. 8d8. Sorry,
8d4 plus 8 comes out to 29 hit points for Akio.
Nice. Nice. Wow. Hey, Steven, remember what we
talked about earlier about positioning? No, I
literally don't. Oh, yes. I think I know what
you're talking about. Yeah. I know, but it's
going to be hard for me. Okay. Akio is at 29
hit points. And with all of her movement left
against her better judgment, Blanche is going
to shoot over on the other side. of Ozen completely
surrounding him, which is both good and bad because
almost everybody is right there on Ozen. Blanche
has haste cast, which means she has another attack
action. You just hear as you go one last master
as you move away, sliding across the field, sliding
past the broken down apparatus, the crab, moving
in behind Ozen, fully boxed in, five figures
surrounding. Holy shit. Oh my gosh. I'm glad
I saved. Glad I saved my reaction. So do I only
get, do I get one or two swings with this? Because
now Blanche has her. Oh, one. Okay. Because.
So the first action. Right. Yep. Haste gives
you a second action, but can only be used for
one singular attack. Right. Yep. Unless you.
Wait. Right, it's like, which way do you want
to use? Well, I think she would need to use that
action first, the, like, first action. I don't
think that's necessarily true. Hang on. That's...
Oh, wait a second. Yeah, because what is it that
gives her that two attacks? Okay. Use an object
action is allowed for haste. Your haste, you
just very quickly pour the potion in. Oh, okay.
You have two attacks. Great, yeah. The level
six Bladesinger extra attack feature. Yep. Okay,
sweet. So two swings for Blanche. That's great.
With the flanking. And I still have Blanche has
Bardic here. So let's see what we can make happen.
Yeah, that's going to do it. That's just going
to do it. That's 22. That's 22. That hits. Holy
smokes. Oh, your singing blade, his singing blade.
They meet. You get just past. You cut in four?
The next one I'm going to use my bardic on. Wait,
how much damage? I didn't roll damage yet. Oh,
sorry. Okay. Just tell me the damage separately
afterwards so I know if I should absorb something.
Okay. Actually, don't roll yet. Because if you
do it twice and you miss the second one, that
gives me incentive to roll. You know what I mean?
Like, it's better for you if you tell me the
damage and I choose to absorb. Okay. And then
you do the next one. Well, I... Okay. Yeah, I
am going to hit both of them. Okay. Because I
rolled a 21 before the Bardic. Gotcha. So if
I use the Bardic. Gotcha. What? Sorry, go ahead.
Say it again. If I use the Bardic die, I can't
roll less than a one, so. Okay. And also on the
attack roll, he would have to make a con save
or take thunder damage equal to the Bardic as
well. Oh, yeah. That's gross. Okay. Nice. Yeah.
Okay. So I'm now going to roll my d8s if I can
find my d8. There it is. 11 damage for the first.
Oh, man. And the second one is the one that gets
the... Wait, don't tell me yet. I'll take the
11. I'll take the 11. I see that golden moat
shooting towards me. I know I got to hold off
with that one. That's more damage. Ooh, it was
a lower die roll. Gosh darn it. So six for the
sword damage, long sword damage. Now you got
to roll the con save. Oh, I goofed. Oh, no. My
con is low. Natural 18. So I pass the con save.
Okay. So I'm going to absorb the six damage.
Oh, no. I mean, you can take that, too. No, my
turn's coming up. What, are Jules stabbing me
over here? Speaking of Jules, it's Jules' turn.
So this is a really shitty spot right now for
Jules. Jules, get out of here. Well, that's the
thing. I can get out of there, but I can't do
shit after that, really. I mean, you could just
use your action to withdraw. I could. Hey. I
could. Card to the table, I just used my reaction.
Oh, that's true. You can run away for free. I
can run away for free. Yeah. Fuck yeah. Okay.
Oh, man. Okay, I didn't envision this scenario,
but we're here. Shit. All right, so as a bonus
action, he's going to cast Bardic Inspiration
again onto Blanche. Oh! Oh, blue loot light.
Shoot him, golden moat. Once again, ringing her.
Oh, I'm so stressed. And then he is going to
move over to Dresden. And he is going to cast
level one cure wounds. Okay. Give him a little
bump right now. So that is one D8 plus four.
Fuck, that was only a two on the die. So that's
only six. Even six hit points can make a difference.
Yes. And that is it for Jules' turn, I guess.
It's my turn. Ozen, Sapphire, looks around, takes
in all of you, surrounded. This flesh is so limited.
The awesome magical power Ozen could have wielded,
yet he chooses instead to augment himself, to
let her swing around a sharpened metal stick.
You see that sharp metal stick, that black katana
begins to light up again. I'm going to use, once
again, the green flame blade cantrip. First attack.
I'm going to attack Crispin. Oh, boy. That could
be iffy. Probably not, though. Actually, never
mind. My ridiculous. His AC is fairly low. 19
damage. Oh, yeah. Damn. Okay. You're going to
take 15 points of slashing damage. Okie dokie.
But he halved. That didn't sound like the end
of the sentence. Oh, there's more. Wait, you
didn't say halved, did you? It would be halved
for you. 15 would be halved. He's not raging
anymore. He's not raging anymore. 15 full. Oh,
my God. That's right. That's right. Okay. Oh,
my God. This is going to hurt. Yeah, he's down.
I can see. I mean, I don't know what you're rolling,
but... 12 points of lightning damage. Holy shit.
On top of that... Arhalon's going to take 17
points of lightning damage. Oh, my God. As the
bolts of lightning that come off the sword blast
through Crispin, tearing into Arhalon as well.
Oh, my God. Okay, that was my first attack, so
I guess I got one now. Oh, that's great. Wait
a minute. What? You said it was lightning damage?
Yes. Crispin can... Never mind. I keep forgetting
that Absorb Elements just uses it. It doesn't
take damage away. You can resist. You gain resistance.
Oh, right. Yeah, so he's resistant to... You
could half it if you want to use Absorb Elements.
It won't matter. Okay. Whew, good, because I
was so close to catching Shotgun Grass to try
to stop to shut that down, and I was like, no,
I'll try bursting through it. Okay, that's you
down, so I do need to hit somebody else here,
and I will... Oh, wait, hold on, hold on. Sentinel.
Oh, right. So what does that do? Within five
feet, we got Guardian, which immediately after
I can just hit within five feet, I can make an
AOL. Oh, right, use your reaction. Yeah, okay.
And if I hit with the AOL, it's halted. That's
really bad for me. Okay. Okay. Sorry, I was shifting
my gears. I'm a badass. 24. That will actually
hit. Oh, my gosh. Okay. That's bad. That's real
bad. So halted, no movement, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, that's great for us. There's no save, right?
It just happens? Yep. Okay. Max. There we go.
So that is going to be 14. I'm going to absorb
it. Burn the slot. Then it doesn't go through.
I've got to be careful with those, but... Okay.
Wait, were those two separate attacks you did?
No, that was one. It was just one. I have one
more attack. Okay. Trying to decide how I want
to best use it, because that halt was actually
unbelievably good for you guys. Yeah, for real.
That sets us up. You don't know what I was going
to do there, but it was really bad. Really, really
bad. Checking an obscure rule thing real fast.
Okay. Ozen strikes out, lightning covering the
blade, slashes into Crispin, takes him down,
the bolts shooting from him into Arhalon, damaging
him, but as his guard is dropped for this moment,
here comes the Echo, driving in with that magical
war pick. It goes through Catching Ocean just
right beneath the arm, but with a quick wave,
boom, spell slot used. The damage of it, it like
touches in, but it's blasted backwards, absorbed,
but touches just enough. This thunderous force
wraps around Ocean. He tries to step and cannot.
So instead, he just alters his stance a little
bit, lowers down, strikes out, and then go a
second attack on Arhalon. Okay, that is 20 to
hit. Fuck. Okay. What's Arholon's AC? 16. Whoa
-wee. Oh, he doesn't have a shield, right? He
has a two -handed sword. He takes 18 points of
slashing damage. Holy fuck. Good. Deep. Cut.
In. Okay. Now the big one. Wow. Bonus action.
Dude, somebody's dying. Yeah. Somebody's dying.
Fucking hell. Ozen's memories do hold some useful
magic yet, though. This one in particular feels
quite fitting for me. What? Wait a second. What?
I get another AOO. Use your reaction. I did.
Fuck. You watch as Ozen's throat seems to inflate.
What? A glowing blue light shines behind the
skin. backlighting the shadows of veins. His
mouth seems to grow. It opens wide and you can
see blue scales lie the inside now and crackling
energy fills the back of the throat. I'm going
to burn a very high level spell slot for this
one. I have to. Okay. Yeah. I like to save my
high spell slots, but this time around, I've
got to burn a big one. Here it comes. I'm going
to burn a seventh level on this. Holy shit. To
upcast dragon's breath. And as he sort of breathes
in as his throat elongates, grows, pulsing, and
then shrinks down, a blast surge of electrical
energy rips out through Arhalon and Crispin.
Oh, no. You're sick. Are you fucking kidding
me, David? I have to. I'm in a bad spot. This
is sick. Stop rolling. Somebody die. What are
you doing? That was really, really high. 39 points
of damage. What's wrong with you? But you do
get a save. No, you don't. You're dead. What's
he going to say? Crispin gets no save. Crispin
gets two death fails. Arhalon gets a save. Dexterity.
Holy shit. Dude. Dude. He's got a plus zero on
dex. Sorry, I'm not worried about our hold on
right now. I'm worried about Chris. I got to
say. Yeah for two fails I can't go down, dude.
I Mean it's either that or use a button. We talked
about my buttons earlier Holy shit. Yeah, man
your call just so you know if you hadn't stopped
me Blanche would have gotten that too Wow. Yeah.
Yeah, right would have moved and got everybody
You saved Blanche with that. That was a clutch
stomp on me, Dresden. I feel like I have to use
a button. 39 does not overkill Crispin, right?
Let me double check what his HP is. I think it's
like 60 -something. You're fine. 64. You're just
super fine. I'm using a button that I didn't
want to fucking use. You'll never get it back.
Nope. No, I can't. Hands are tied. Too busy.
You said it's dex? Dex. First roll was a 6. Second
roll is an 18. On the die? On the die. No modifier.
That's total? Yes. That's a fail. Dude, it's
going to be a TPK. Maybe not, but... 39 points
of damage. Yeah, going to be some serious...
Archelon's down. Oh my god, are you serious?
Archelon's down. Oh my god. He had 27 left. Oh
man. Fuck. I mean... Who's up? That is wild.
I mean, looking into it, yeah, I think I did
like 75 damage just now in this turn. In this
turn. I will say, this walking course before
you is not looking great, though. You can sense
a desperate energy emanating from the sapphire.
Maybe we've got to kill the vessel. This is closer
than you think, but I'm getting aggressive now.
Two figures down. The potion, Superior Healing,
has been used. I realize that Blanche took damage
earlier from that Thunder Step, so she has to
roll a con save to hold haste. Oh, hell yeah,
right. Isn't it against, like, the spell or something?
The con save you're going to use is half. How
much damage did I do to you? Let me see. I don't
believe it was over 20, so you're going to do
DC 10. Right, I'm at... Okay, yeah, because she's
at 36 now, so it wasn't much damage. And you
have advantage. And she's got advantage for Bladesong.
Okay, so that first one already passes. Okay.
So I just wanted to make sure we didn't skip
over that. That is my turn, though. I have used
action, bonus action, and for this turn, at least,
I have zero movement. That's going to be Akio.
Oh, yeah. What's Akio's movement? He's got 40
feet. So I guess he's just going to, I think
it would have to be a double move. Let me double
check. Yeah, Akio's going to double move, stand
over Arhalon's body, flanking with Blanche. Hell
yeah, just slides up the two disciples of Ozen,
once again fighting together. Storm, I stand
between you. That's his whole turn, correct?
Correct. It's not him anymore. We must do him
right. Stop. I'm sorry, man. Stop. I'm sorry,
man. Stop. I'm sorry. I have to. Stop. I'd be
stupid if I don't. What are you going to do?
I'm going to legendary action cast Thunderstep.
God damn it. What the fuck? I have to, man. I
have to. You grouped up all around me. There's
only two of us. We're almost all down. I have
to aim to kill. There's three of you. There's
that two. I have to use understep here. This
is desperate for me, too. And it's the only right
move. If I don't do this, I'm not treating this
fight seriously. All right. Fuck. Go ahead and
kill me. Okay. Ozen kneels down again, surrounded.
Tiny match. You will learn! and vanishes. A force
of thunder, terrible thunder, rips through all
of you. Crispin. Where do your thoughts linger,
Crispin? God's breath. At home, in the swamps.
You think of home as in your state of semi -consciousness.
You hear those last words ring out and... This
force rips through your body, tearing your bones
apart. But there is no pain. You are beyond pain.
Crispin, you... You don't go to the fugue plane.
You find yourself shifting somewhere else, somewhere
outside of all the planes. Somewhere beyond where
you can look out and see the grand tapestry that
makes up this universe. And you hear something
ringing out. As you look between the planes,
as you look at the fragments of your world, you
hear the lost Dracon. You hear them singing.
A song that tells of every event that has ever
occurred, every story that has ever intertwined,
every person that has ever loved and laughed,
lived and died in these worlds. It's not unlike
the awakening song from your world. And there's
something so warm and inviting about it. You
feel yourself pulled. pulled somewhere so fast,
surging forward. And then you kind of open your
eyes. You are somewhere else. You are hovering
above a small village in God's breath, in the
nightwater marsh. It's your village, Crispin.
It's your home. What do you see? The few... Residents
are always busy, always bustling, some tending
crops, some bringing back the daily catch, and
some are still constructing or fortifying walls,
small defenses, bridges, with the money that
Crispin always sent back, so that nothing like...
The destruction that happened to his Warren would
ever happen again. And he sees them safe for
now. Those he knows and loves and some who he's
related to and some that he doesn't really know
at all. But they're all safe. The Incarnate put
it great when he said that your life has been
defined by sacrifice. But in your case, Crispin,
your sacrifice has yielded one last reward. Knowledge.
You get to know three things. First, as you look
down upon your ward and see perhaps the better
armaments they've bought, bits of armor and weaponry
they have, in the case they need two guards that
are standing at posts, you know they will be
safe. It's true. They will be safe. And more
than that, you know with the money you've sent
back, they are... Bolstered theirs for farming,
their trading, and you know they will be prosperous.
You see luxuries, flower gardens, and maybe like
nice furniture as you peer through windows. And
third, they will be happy. You know they will.
Even though their hero, their neighbor, their
brother and son, Crispin Dubois, will never come
home. They will be happy. And you feel pulled
away from this world. Do you have any departing
words or thoughts as you look down upon your
people? No, I think even if Crispin's words could
reach them, I think it's kind of better to go
silently. It's just your style. He's always been
a man of few words. And with that, Crispin Dubois
leaves home for the last time. And we'll call
it there.