WEBVTT

00:00:02.129 --> 00:00:03.970
Hey guys, it's Steven. If you're enjoying the

00:00:03.970 --> 00:00:05.790
show, please consider leaving a podcast rating

00:00:05.790 --> 00:00:07.910
wherever you're listening. That's one of the

00:00:07.910 --> 00:00:10.330
best ways to help us grow. Also, please find

00:00:10.330 --> 00:00:13.109
us on Instagram at fantasypantspod and share

00:00:13.109 --> 00:01:20.909
it with your friends. Thank you so much. And

00:01:20.909 --> 00:01:24.510
Chester swung hammer, Jules moved to his side.

00:01:25.709 --> 00:01:38.209
And they fall. Oh, they fall. We're going to

00:01:38.209 --> 00:01:42.090
step back to just a few minutes ago. We see a

00:01:42.090 --> 00:01:44.969
busy thoroughfare in Promise, fully caught up

00:01:44.969 --> 00:01:47.310
in the fanfare and excitement of the Awakening

00:01:47.310 --> 00:01:51.329
Festival. We hear songs being exchanged, laughing

00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:55.920
crowds, and just over all this, the voice of

00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:01.219
a young girl. Y 'all want a dolly? We focus on

00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:04.579
Hannah, the little doll merchant, as she proffers

00:02:04.579 --> 00:02:07.659
one of her straw -made wares to a tall figure

00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:11.139
standing in front of her. And the camera pans

00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:14.680
slowly upwards until we see a familiar face.

00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.900
And now I have to ask the all -important question.

00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:26.539
Do you want a dolly? A dolly? A dolly? I can

00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:32.460
never say no to a dolly. Hell yeah. You see,

00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:38.539
welcome back, Stomp. You see this young girl

00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:42.479
hearing this, just beams, saving copper, please.

00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:46.360
And she reaches up with this doll. And as this

00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:50.319
exchange is about to be made, you feel a rough

00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:54.849
tug on your shoulder. And you turn to see Bink,

00:02:54.930 --> 00:02:57.169
your new sidekick, eyes narrowed and focused,

00:02:57.330 --> 00:03:01.289
down the street ahead. And before he has time

00:03:01.289 --> 00:03:05.330
to answer you, you begin to hear the screaming.

00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:10.530
In moments, a crowd of panicking, fleeing civilians

00:03:10.530 --> 00:03:14.229
fills the street, moving towards you. Yelled

00:03:14.229 --> 00:03:17.110
and panicked cries of, Snake! And Ratla! can

00:03:17.110 --> 00:03:21.689
be barely heard above the roaring chaos. And

00:03:21.689 --> 00:03:23.750
as these people are pushing past you, as Hannah,

00:03:23.770 --> 00:03:25.669
the little girl, vanishes, disappearing off to

00:03:25.669 --> 00:03:28.629
the side, joining in this screaming crowd, do

00:03:28.629 --> 00:03:31.270
you approach the area from whence they come?

00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:36.030
I do. Bink at your side. You begin to move. And

00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:38.789
so fighting through the crowd, we see two figures

00:03:38.789 --> 00:03:43.310
mad enough or brave enough to move towards a

00:03:43.310 --> 00:03:46.599
source of this danger. And as you charge down

00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:48.659
the road, start breaking free of the civilian

00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:51.240
mob, and quickly you gain speed. Just two sets

00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:53.819
of feet just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,

00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:55.460
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,

00:03:55.460 --> 00:04:00.360
boom. Fade out. And with that, hey, everybody,

00:04:00.460 --> 00:04:05.599
how you doing? Hey. I'm getting scared. Oh, to

00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.879
the rescue, to the rescue. Welcome back, M &Rack.

00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.439
Yeah. Oh, yeah. So glad to be back. This is cool.

00:04:14.290 --> 00:04:16.769
I'm getting scaled. A little celebratory crack.

00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:22.629
There it is. There it is. Oh, wow. We have one

00:04:22.629 --> 00:04:25.350
hell of an episode coming up tonight, guys. I

00:04:25.350 --> 00:04:28.110
mean, like, wow. Thing on thing on thing. We

00:04:28.110 --> 00:04:30.389
have a natural one to deal with, and we'll get

00:04:30.389 --> 00:04:33.329
to that. Jeremy. Shut up. I know you're excited.

00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.709
We'll get to it. We got a guest again. Yeah.

00:04:36.750 --> 00:04:39.250
Right in the nick of time to save our boys from

00:04:39.250 --> 00:04:41.170
the fire. Yeah, really good time. Eamon Rath

00:04:41.170 --> 00:04:43.689
is here with his partner, Bink. So glad we got

00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:45.389
you guys in for that cameo to really build into

00:04:45.389 --> 00:04:49.189
this moment. I am thrilled for this. Yeah. Before

00:04:49.189 --> 00:04:51.250
we get to all of that, there is something I want

00:04:51.250 --> 00:04:54.430
to start getting on top of here in Fantasy Pants.

00:04:54.829 --> 00:04:57.750
And that is discussing our itsy bitsy little

00:04:57.750 --> 00:05:00.930
mistakes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Because, let's be

00:05:00.930 --> 00:05:03.269
straight. There are a lot of them. And, hey.

00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:06.699
It can be tricky sometimes to balance speed and

00:05:06.699 --> 00:05:08.839
entertainment with running a game. So we want

00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:10.399
to really hammer down on trying to make sure

00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:12.839
these fights are cleaned up. We want to make

00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:15.319
these mistakes so you all listen to this. Don't

00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:17.279
have to, right? You'll hear what we do wrong.

00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:19.319
You'll hear how we correct it. And you'll know,

00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:21.319
hey, all right, I can do it right next time.

00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:24.819
So I got a list of what we're calling wedgies.

00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:29.689
Oh, nice. Whoops. Everybody loves a wedgie. Whenever

00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:31.949
I list one of these, you guys got to make a wedgie

00:05:31.949 --> 00:05:34.829
sound, whatever that means. I hate that. You

00:05:34.829 --> 00:05:38.110
got to make it as loud as it deserves to be for

00:05:38.110 --> 00:05:41.290
the mistake made. All right. So, boom. Wedgie

00:05:41.290 --> 00:05:45.329
one. I forgot. And this is actually my own fault

00:05:45.329 --> 00:05:47.350
because it's a homebrew created monster. But

00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:49.329
I was supposed to, based on my homebrew monster,

00:05:49.509 --> 00:05:52.810
give Jean Franklin half damage if he saved against

00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:54.850
the poison instead of nullifying it entirely.

00:05:55.689 --> 00:06:00.980
Oh! Oh! That was a good one. We're going to follow

00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:06.899
that one. My wedgie sound was going to be more

00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:11.000
like a... Save it, save it. We've got plenty

00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.759
more wedgies to go. That one was painful. It's

00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:16.680
painful for me, mostly. You guys made off great

00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.879
on that one. But hey, coin flip on that. We forgot

00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:22.480
to give half the fire damage from Zebulon's fire

00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.879
breath to the snake. Yep, that was my wedgie.

00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:30.959
Thank you. I was waiting. This one has no impact.

00:06:31.100 --> 00:06:33.139
It's more purely a scene thing. I said an arrow

00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:34.920
was poisoned at one point when I actually hadn't

00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:36.639
taken the action the previous round to poison

00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:38.899
it. It missed anyway, and the visual was cool.

00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:40.660
So whatever. They had a second poison arrow.

00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:42.259
I don't care. It looked cool. It didn't affect

00:06:42.259 --> 00:06:44.240
the fight. I liked it. That's a soft wedgie.

00:06:44.420 --> 00:06:45.899
That's a soft wedgie. Someone make a soft wedgie

00:06:45.899 --> 00:06:52.720
sound. I love it. Perfect. Big one. Kind of,

00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.199
sort of. So when we cast... dissonant whispers

00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.500
and the snake turned and ran away, Jean Franklin

00:06:57.500 --> 00:06:59.519
should have had an A -O -O on the fleeing snake

00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:02.660
as it left his area of attack. All right, turn

00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:05.339
around. I'll give you a real wedgie. Yes. Please.

00:07:05.620 --> 00:07:07.779
Oh, you think that's bad? You went to the big

00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:10.720
mama of all our mistakes and it's one that's

00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.339
going to make Stephen cry because Stephen rolled

00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:17.720
a crit after using his bonus action to, what's

00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:19.839
that called? Precision strike? Something. I didn't

00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:26.209
write that one down. Steady aim. Steady aim.

00:07:26.269 --> 00:07:27.750
Great. I'm glad we got that. Had it the whole

00:07:27.750 --> 00:07:29.870
time. If you use that bonus action, you get advantage

00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:32.189
on the following attack. Here's the thing. If

00:07:32.189 --> 00:07:34.490
you advantage on attack, you should get a sneak

00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:36.470
attack bonus. And when you crit, you should have

00:07:36.470 --> 00:07:38.649
crit with your sneak attack bonus as well, which

00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:41.149
would have made that a massive boost in damage.

00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:44.089
Yeah. So the way I'm seeing this is we had mistakes

00:07:44.089 --> 00:07:46.189
on both sides. Honestly, it kind of equals out.

00:07:46.250 --> 00:07:47.649
Jean -Francois would be practically at death's

00:07:47.649 --> 00:07:50.970
door if I had done that half poison damage. But

00:07:50.970 --> 00:07:52.389
the snake would have taken a lot more damage.

00:07:52.449 --> 00:07:53.970
Or no, actually, the guy would have taken a lot

00:07:53.970 --> 00:07:54.970
of damage. You would have taken that guy out

00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:57.310
in round one rather than two rounds. So it all

00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:01.129
kind of works out. And honestly, the theme, the

00:08:01.129 --> 00:08:03.290
scene, the thematics, all super, super cool.

00:08:03.629 --> 00:08:07.629
Loved it all. Yeah. We'll call it a wedgie wash.

00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:10.329
Call it a wedgie wash. I don't know what that

00:08:10.329 --> 00:08:14.449
means. No one knows what that means. Here we

00:08:14.449 --> 00:08:17.490
are. Now, one more quick thing to touch on before

00:08:17.490 --> 00:08:18.910
we just dive right back into this fight, because

00:08:18.910 --> 00:08:22.110
people have been waiting. Let's talk about fumbles

00:08:22.110 --> 00:08:24.310
for a quick, quick second. Because this is a

00:08:24.310 --> 00:08:25.870
big thing that a lot of people, a lot of DMs,

00:08:25.870 --> 00:08:27.610
I mentioned this last time, they don't care for

00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:29.769
the sort of fumble mechanic. You roll a one,

00:08:29.829 --> 00:08:32.669
you get punished. Now, I understand that it does

00:08:32.669 --> 00:08:34.830
suck as a player. And in my normal campaigns,

00:08:35.009 --> 00:08:38.169
I don't normally run it. But for radio, I...

00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:41.639
Love it because it just doubles the excitement

00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:43.059
of like, you know, you wouldn't even roll a 20

00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:44.980
on radio. It's so exciting to like have that

00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:48.879
big dramatic pass or, or crit moment. But like

00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:51.980
you get to have those on ones too. It's the dread

00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:53.639
and like just ending an episode on, Oh yeah,

00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:55.299
a bad thing happens and we know it's going to

00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:58.580
happen because of one. I love that. But I mean,

00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:01.399
I would argue that the fumble should happen to

00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.320
the person that rolled the one instead of their

00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:09.379
sidekick. But that's just me. I mean, In this

00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:11.519
case, don't worry. You're the one that's going

00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.440
to get hit with the fumble hammer. But here's

00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.320
the other thing with fumbles. Fumbles. Thumble

00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:23.500
-umbles. So when I craft these fumble punishments,

00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:24.940
I'm not just going to think of some random terrible

00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:26.679
thing to happen. I know horses has been a thing.

00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:28.759
It's funny. I enjoy that. It's going to keep

00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.220
happening because I love it. But there are situations

00:09:31.220 --> 00:09:33.809
where I'm going to really weigh the moment. And

00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:36.370
see what feels dramatic and exciting as a punishment

00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:38.870
for that moment, that action, that thing that

00:09:38.870 --> 00:09:42.289
happened. And I'm saying this because the way

00:09:42.289 --> 00:09:43.990
I'm resolving this fumble might seem a little

00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:47.789
out of left field. But I think it's pretty cool.

00:09:48.210 --> 00:09:52.610
And with that, I would like to move into a little

00:09:52.610 --> 00:09:55.490
flashback scene. I'm going to say, in the moment

00:09:55.490 --> 00:09:58.769
we see Jules moving up, you're about to cast

00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:04.019
one of your innate spells. Inflict wounds. You

00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:06.480
know the magic. You feel it so familiar in your

00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:09.000
hand. You've used it a few times now. And as

00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:14.220
you reach out towards this scaly creature, we

00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:19.620
push back in time. Black screen. We hear stone

00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:26.659
grinding and stone just covering a constant energetic

00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:34.019
thrum. These two sounds intermingle as a circular

00:10:34.019 --> 00:10:39.480
stone platform is rising up a long shaft, surrounded

00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:44.500
by a blur of fine masonry. Up and up and up it

00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:49.080
goes. Jules? Yes? You stand on this platform,

00:10:49.179 --> 00:10:52.899
and you are being held tight by something very

00:10:52.899 --> 00:10:56.559
strong, made to stand in place as the platform

00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:02.679
slowly just... begins to settle into the floor

00:11:02.679 --> 00:11:07.500
of a large, circular room. It's a room that you've

00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:10.519
seen very little of and yet have always known.

00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:14.179
Your mother's private chamber resting at the

00:11:14.179 --> 00:11:18.519
very top of the Tower of Authority. The room

00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:20.580
from where she looks down at all the little people

00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:25.159
far beneath her feet and communicates with the

00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:28.539
horned lord she worships. The first thing that

00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:31.899
hits you is the smell. sickly sweet with tangs

00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:36.840
of metal. A gentle gust blows through from the

00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:39.340
far wall, which is lined with open windows where

00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:42.419
the room meets the edge of the tower. But this

00:11:42.419 --> 00:11:45.759
does nothing to drive out this stench. You see,

00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:48.399
this space is immaculately neat, yet filled with

00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:53.240
tools of a cult ritual. Candles and blades, chalks,

00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:55.919
other apparati, all lining the walls and various

00:11:55.919 --> 00:12:00.059
stands and pouches. A massive bookcase stuffed

00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:02.879
with old tomes dominates one end of this room.

00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:06.299
Now on the other stands a cabinet holding hundreds

00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:08.620
of tiny vials filled with a variety of strange

00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:11.480
things, from liquids to the husks of insects,

00:12:11.580 --> 00:12:16.000
to teeth still connected to their roots. There

00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:18.360
are comfortable furnishings all throughout and

00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:22.580
multiple ornate desks. See one desk sitting close

00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:26.460
to the chamber center. is holding a glass case

00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:29.179
that seems to be filled with a swirling black

00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:34.759
smoke trapped inside. There's also an enormous

00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:38.259
black bone jutting out from the center of the

00:12:38.259 --> 00:12:41.460
stone floor, looking like the tip of a finger

00:12:41.460 --> 00:12:45.840
or a claw, razor -sharpened. You've seen other

00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.360
pieces of this fossil before, built into the

00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:52.919
other rooms on every floor of this tower. And

00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:55.320
you know that rumors state that all the five

00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:58.860
towers that Sarul was built around have such

00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:03.100
creatures buried in their masonry. Rumors state

00:13:03.100 --> 00:13:05.200
that these fossils are the very reason for the

00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.460
tower's impossible structural integrity and the

00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:11.700
very magic that courses through their every stone.

00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:17.840
You hear a voice. Familiar. Bring him. And then

00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:19.940
you see your mother standing beside the fossil,

00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:23.190
polishing its point. with embroidered cloth.

00:13:24.090 --> 00:13:26.129
Then even as she waits alone in her chamber,

00:13:26.269 --> 00:13:30.330
her bearing is undeniably regal. Her hair perfectly

00:13:30.330 --> 00:13:33.190
woven into a complex braid, the purple gown she

00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:35.830
wears, its wide skirt, spreading out beneath

00:13:35.830 --> 00:13:40.049
her is one of the finest you have seen. All dressed

00:13:40.049 --> 00:13:43.690
up, but for what? That force behind you begins

00:13:43.690 --> 00:13:46.509
to push you forward towards the pointed fossil.

00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:53.570
That force, was it a person? Maybe. Maybe there

00:13:53.570 --> 00:13:55.070
wasn't a force. Maybe you just approached through

00:13:55.070 --> 00:13:59.470
your own will. Yeah, that must be the case. Your

00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:01.370
mother reaches for that glass case filled with

00:14:01.370 --> 00:14:04.389
that dark smoke as you are moved closer and closer

00:14:04.389 --> 00:14:07.590
towards her. And as she pulls the case open,

00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:11.009
the smell of burning meat strikes you, overpowering

00:14:11.009 --> 00:14:12.789
the other smells that fill this chamber. The

00:14:12.789 --> 00:14:15.049
smoke disperses throughout the room instantly,

00:14:15.370 --> 00:14:19.659
burning your eyes and filling your throat. From

00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:21.679
what you can see, your mother seems unaffected.

00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.139
And as it fades away, pouring out the open windows,

00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:28.100
the true contents of the glass case are revealed

00:14:28.100 --> 00:14:33.600
to you. A single candle, black wax and lit with

00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:37.399
a deep red flame. Your mother gently rests the

00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.299
case on a table, resting beside this great bone,

00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:44.279
and takes that simple candle in hand. There is

00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:46.419
an electricity to the air around you now, Jules,

00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:51.100
and a heaviness. And you are brought to her.

00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:54.080
And let me ask you now, Jules, this is, we'll

00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.059
say, scant months before you finally made your

00:14:57.059 --> 00:15:02.179
escape from this tower, from this family of yours.

00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:07.179
How old are you now? I'm about 15. These last

00:15:07.179 --> 00:15:10.460
few years have been particularly rough, ever

00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:13.600
since you've continued to refuse to give in to...

00:15:14.090 --> 00:15:16.289
To the future they want for you. To the rituals

00:15:16.289 --> 00:15:20.610
they force you through. All the joy that you've

00:15:20.610 --> 00:15:22.309
enjoyed in your life has been peeled away. Your

00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:26.129
loot, gone. Your old tutors are replaced by ones

00:15:26.129 --> 00:15:28.990
that belong to the same cult that your mother

00:15:28.990 --> 00:15:32.190
seems to operate, or at least be one of the heads

00:15:32.190 --> 00:15:38.110
of. What do you look like now? I think I've looked

00:15:38.110 --> 00:15:41.990
pretty similar my entire life. Okay. At least

00:15:41.990 --> 00:15:45.600
while I was with my family. A bit of a raggedy

00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:49.620
mop hairstyle. Hell yeah. Clothes are still all

00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:52.919
just kind of ripped and raggedy. Definitely not

00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:56.200
what they had hoped for me, but whatever they

00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:59.000
gave me, I just ripped to shreds. I love it.

00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:02.200
Just to spite them. Your very appearance is an

00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:05.779
act of defiance. Absolutely. I love it. You can

00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:07.659
see the distaste on your mother's face as you

00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:11.789
are brought before her. And she speaks. I have

00:16:11.789 --> 00:16:15.210
been preparing this for some time, child. Seems

00:16:15.210 --> 00:16:19.090
like a waste of your time. Now I cannot force

00:16:19.090 --> 00:16:21.250
you to embrace the role the horned lunge has

00:16:21.250 --> 00:16:24.169
set for you. But I can nudge you towards it.

00:16:24.950 --> 00:16:28.850
You can try. You actually hear a voice speaking

00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:32.049
from somewhere behind and above you. And there's

00:16:32.049 --> 00:16:33.789
no character to the voice. And if you try to

00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:36.210
focus on it, your mind simply just slips off

00:16:36.210 --> 00:16:40.830
in an oil -slicked thought. To think you would

00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:43.809
need to take such measures. The child's defiance

00:16:43.809 --> 00:16:47.330
is a testament to your incompetence. Your mother

00:16:47.330 --> 00:16:50.389
responds, and what of your own progeny? Calapsania

00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:52.590
seems to have no interest in moving her own plans

00:16:52.590 --> 00:16:57.429
forward. And then a phantom reply. My progeny

00:16:57.429 --> 00:17:00.909
serves more purpose unaltered. I would be wary

00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:03.389
of disparaging the very shield that protects

00:17:03.389 --> 00:17:06.890
you. And then there is no strange monotone voice.

00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:11.519
There never was. It's just you and your mother.

00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:15.059
Her hand snaps out in a blur of movement, taking

00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:17.640
hold of your wrist and the delicate fingers that

00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:21.720
mask a vicious grip. The force behind you holds

00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:23.599
your body tight, and you cannot fight as your

00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:25.859
mother yanks your hand just over the point of

00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:31.000
the bone. Let go. Right now. She smiles, your

00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:34.220
palm hovering just over the sharpened tip. Fucking

00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:38.440
let me go. You cling to this form with such fervor,

00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:42.720
child. Why? You were born and raised to sit a

00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.180
throne much larger than mine or your father's.

00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:48.839
You insult me and fight me at every turn. It's

00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.299
a throne of lies and a throne of death. You refuse

00:17:52.299 --> 00:17:55.240
to open your eyes to the possibilities, to the

00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:59.180
honors that await you. Arrogant and jealous boy,

00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:01.640
you have no appreciation for the future I have

00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:06.960
painstakingly forged for you. I'm arrogant. I'm

00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.000
arrogant. Take a look in the mirror, you bitch.

00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:13.680
Make an insight check. We'll use your current

00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:17.859
stats for this. A little flashback insight check.

00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.400
Nope. Okay. That's a two. You can never read

00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:27.920
your mother. She's so cold, always. Hmm. I have

00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.299
chosen to show you a tiny fragment of the freedom

00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:34.250
you deny yourself. And I know not what... form

00:18:34.250 --> 00:18:36.789
this ritual will take. Only that it will grant

00:18:36.789 --> 00:18:44.089
you power. Use it. Embrace it. Feel it. It's

00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:46.150
not freedom if you have to enslave everybody

00:18:46.150 --> 00:18:50.450
to get it. Use that hatred, Jules. That fear.

00:18:51.410 --> 00:18:54.849
Give thought and form to it. And they will give

00:18:54.849 --> 00:18:59.410
a new form to you. You know what I hate? I hate

00:18:59.410 --> 00:19:08.529
you. Good. And you will be free. And then, we

00:19:08.529 --> 00:19:13.549
all will be. And with that, with a force, she

00:19:13.549 --> 00:19:16.569
presses your palm into the point. No! And holds

00:19:16.569 --> 00:19:19.650
it there. No! Your hand screams with pain as

00:19:19.650 --> 00:19:22.250
red trickles begin to run down the side of the

00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:25.109
bone. Oh, fuck! She yanks your hand off the point

00:19:25.109 --> 00:19:28.349
and twists your palm upwards. And then very carefully,

00:19:28.529 --> 00:19:31.549
she pours the melting wax of the candle into

00:19:31.549 --> 00:19:35.210
the pooling blood. and your palm. And you watch

00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:38.069
in horror as the black wax spreads and bubbles.

00:19:38.309 --> 00:19:40.990
It mixes with the blood, and the swirling liquid

00:19:40.990 --> 00:19:43.529
is sucked back into the open wound with an audible

00:19:43.529 --> 00:19:48.950
slurp. The wound closes, and the pain hits. It

00:19:48.950 --> 00:19:51.769
is unbearable, Jules, like knives slicing through

00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:56.069
every inch of bone and muscle in your hand. And

00:19:56.069 --> 00:19:58.349
as you're... How do you take this? Do you just,

00:19:58.410 --> 00:20:02.569
like, grit? Yeah. Hell yeah. And as you just

00:20:02.569 --> 00:20:07.490
like hold this in, this pain, we pan away from

00:20:07.490 --> 00:20:11.130
the top floor of the Tower of Authority. And

00:20:11.130 --> 00:20:14.950
we fade to black again. Now Jules, it would take

00:20:14.950 --> 00:20:18.549
days for this pain to subside. And weeks for

00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:21.210
your new powers to manifest and be discovered.

00:20:22.250 --> 00:20:26.730
But we know now what these powers are. We've

00:20:26.730 --> 00:20:29.390
reflavored your shadow -touched feet for this.

00:20:29.829 --> 00:20:32.859
Your invisibility. your inflict wounds, your

00:20:32.859 --> 00:20:35.319
power to cast without a focus, little homebrew

00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:40.500
touch, these gifts or curses, however you may

00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:45.160
view them, that you gained that day. Well, your

00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.500
mother was right about one thing. They did indeed

00:20:48.500 --> 00:20:52.440
help to grant you freedom. Freedom from that

00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.660
tower. Freedom from her oppression. But that's

00:20:56.660 --> 00:21:00.910
a story for a different time. As we... Move back

00:21:00.910 --> 00:21:07.690
to promise. You step forward, Jules, to deliver

00:21:07.690 --> 00:21:12.069
this blow with this cursed magic given to you

00:21:12.069 --> 00:21:16.130
by dark rituals. And as you reach out, as you

00:21:16.130 --> 00:21:20.369
try to cast the spell, there is no spell. There

00:21:20.369 --> 00:21:28.000
is no wound, no pain. Not for the serpent. An

00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.420
excruciating and familiar pain strikes your hand,

00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:33.539
ripping through your flesh. You can see your

00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:37.019
veins moving, fingers cracking backwards. Your

00:21:37.019 --> 00:21:41.980
hand begins to swell up, and the skin rips open

00:21:41.980 --> 00:21:45.680
as dark smoke pours out of the wound, covering

00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.640
your hand and obscuring it. And as this smoke

00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:55.059
fades, what do we see? We see a hand that's been

00:21:55.059 --> 00:21:59.960
blackened. Almost necrotic. Long, sharp fingernails.

00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:03.140
And all over the tops of the hand and around

00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:09.200
the fingers are large, bulging, blood -red, glowing

00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:16.240
veins. Holy hell. As this hand, not infused with

00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:18.740
magic, reaches out for the serpent, touches it

00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:22.000
uselessly, you can see Chester's eyes, like,

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:28.109
wide and terrified. Staring towards you. And

00:22:28.109 --> 00:22:30.490
that's going to be the top of the round. Oh,

00:22:30.490 --> 00:22:37.170
boy. Just like that. Top of the round. Zebulon.

00:22:37.529 --> 00:22:40.450
Let's re -describe this situation for everybody.

00:22:40.609 --> 00:22:41.849
It's been a little while. We had a little bit

00:22:41.849 --> 00:22:45.269
of a scene there. We are looking at the entranceway

00:22:45.269 --> 00:22:47.230
to this sort of great plaza filled with these

00:22:47.230 --> 00:22:51.039
multicolored tents. We can see Zebulon is standing

00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:52.480
just at the edge of the plaza where the street

00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.220
opens up into it. He's kind of hiding under the

00:22:54.220 --> 00:22:57.880
cover of a building. He's got a bow and arrow

00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:00.900
in hand, and he's just dropped Michael Scimitar,

00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:03.259
we've called him, one of these two guys that's

00:23:03.259 --> 00:23:06.160
been going in with a weapon. You called him.

00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:07.759
You named him that. Steven called him that because

00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.319
he's a doofus. So we see another guy, bow at

00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:12.960
the ready, another one of these bloody -eyed

00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:17.210
poachers. These guys arrow train towards. Jean

00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:19.829
Franklin, who's about 10 feet ahead of Zebulon,

00:23:19.930 --> 00:23:22.769
just like guarding him. And we move further into

00:23:22.769 --> 00:23:25.109
the plaza. And let me tell you, this math, oh

00:23:25.109 --> 00:23:26.430
my goodness. I never really got to talk about

00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:28.069
this last time because I got so excited for the

00:23:28.069 --> 00:23:32.170
fight. But sound pukey girl, Rochelle, holy crap.

00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:35.269
I asked for the Awakening Festival map, and she

00:23:35.269 --> 00:23:36.890
gave me the perfect thing. We got a wagon in

00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:39.089
the top corner for the snake. We got sort of

00:23:39.089 --> 00:23:40.910
one side that's all these multicolored tents

00:23:40.910 --> 00:23:43.410
running up it with a little bit of brush here

00:23:43.410 --> 00:23:45.329
and there, some buildings around it, a big fountain

00:23:45.329 --> 00:23:47.849
in the middle of the plaza, a stage at the bottom

00:23:47.849 --> 00:23:50.769
for the choir all singing the Awakening song.

00:23:50.950 --> 00:23:54.950
It's, ooh, I'm very excited, very open. It's

00:23:54.950 --> 00:23:57.250
really lent itself well to this fight. We're

00:23:57.250 --> 00:23:59.650
going to zoom across the map from where Zebulon

00:23:59.650 --> 00:24:04.859
is, about 70 feet away. And we see a giant rattlesnake

00:24:04.859 --> 00:24:08.740
coiled up, head raised high, fangs dripping venom,

00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.200
ready to deliver them down towards one of the

00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:14.160
two below it. You see Chester, hammer in hand,

00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:17.519
and right by his side, Jules, who's just undergone

00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:22.859
a bit of an awakening himself. Zebulon, as you're

00:24:22.859 --> 00:24:26.240
standing there, you probably also see this happen

00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:28.500
as you're kind of like caught by surprise. You

00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:32.960
feel. A presence move up beside you. And you

00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:36.079
turn your gaze to see none other than Emonrath,

00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.160
the famed ranger of Moor and disciple of the

00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:47.380
Storm Eye. Oh my god, it's Emonrath. Oh, it's

00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:49.400
so good to be out. I can't believe you're here.

00:24:51.309 --> 00:24:53.430
Before you can truly celebrate this reunion,

00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:55.509
though, you see right next to Ebonrath, you see

00:24:55.509 --> 00:24:58.130
a nondescript man that you recognize only through

00:24:58.130 --> 00:24:59.990
seeing him on the Crystal Network earlier this

00:24:59.990 --> 00:25:03.349
day. You see Bink, knives in hand. And as you're

00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:05.490
kind of like, you're having this moment, down

00:25:05.490 --> 00:25:08.529
the street behind all of you, you hear a voice

00:25:08.529 --> 00:25:12.269
ringing out, Kali, Kali, Kali, Kali, Kali, Kali,

00:25:12.329 --> 00:25:14.869
Kali, Kali, Kali, Kali, Kali, Kali! You spin

00:25:14.869 --> 00:25:17.529
around and see two more blood -eyed figures clad

00:25:17.529 --> 00:25:20.230
in leather armor and hunting garb. sliding out

00:25:20.230 --> 00:25:22.089
of the space between buildings, and then charging

00:25:22.089 --> 00:25:24.829
towards you, bearing scimitars. Really? You see

00:25:24.829 --> 00:25:26.730
Bink whirls around, throwing a knife into the

00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:29.490
leg of one. And as this figure slows, Bink draws

00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:32.109
a second blade and dashes down the road to meet

00:25:32.109 --> 00:25:35.829
him in battle. He gives you, Aminrath, a reassuring

00:25:35.829 --> 00:25:38.390
nod as he goes, and you know that Bink can handle

00:25:38.390 --> 00:25:41.809
himself in this 1v1. The other figure, however,

00:25:41.970 --> 00:25:46.109
is fixed on you and moves up to both Aminrath

00:25:46.109 --> 00:25:49.230
and Zebulon. His raised scimitar dripping with

00:25:49.230 --> 00:25:51.670
a viscous yellow liquid. And you recognize it.

00:25:51.690 --> 00:25:54.490
And then wrath is a very venom used by the poachers

00:25:54.490 --> 00:25:58.349
on some Sunco that you've recently battled. You

00:25:58.349 --> 00:26:01.750
have only just arrived on God's breath. And yet

00:26:01.750 --> 00:26:07.269
you have already found your prey. And with that,

00:26:07.289 --> 00:26:10.670
we're going to hop right back into turn order.

00:26:11.329 --> 00:26:15.710
And the top of the round is him in wrath. Yes.

00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:18.740
I just add this guy to the map. He's about five

00:26:18.740 --> 00:26:20.519
feet away from you, Evelrath, and ten away from

00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:23.079
you, Zebulon, as he's moving towards you down

00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:26.240
the road. I need to feel the wind in my beard.

00:26:26.990 --> 00:26:30.210
Is it possible to do a Zephyr? Hell yeah, it

00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:32.809
is. Let's do it. Bonus action, Zephyr Strike.

00:26:32.890 --> 00:26:35.470
You cast the spell, and yeah, again, your body

00:26:35.470 --> 00:26:38.490
starts to move like the wind. Zebulon, you recognize

00:26:38.490 --> 00:26:42.609
this perfectly. Oh, hell yeah. Witnessed it on

00:26:42.609 --> 00:26:45.410
some Sunco. Let's do that. Now, to describe your

00:26:45.410 --> 00:26:48.190
situation, there's one injured -looking man,

00:26:48.349 --> 00:26:50.089
another one of these poachers who has an arrow

00:26:50.089 --> 00:26:54.029
and bow. He's about 30 feet away from you right

00:26:54.029 --> 00:26:56.740
now. About 70 feet away from you, you see the

00:26:56.740 --> 00:26:59.920
giant snake. And then about 5 feet behind you

00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:02.400
is this charging foe coming to meet you now.

00:27:02.579 --> 00:27:04.680
So you have 3 potential targets. Yeah, we go

00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:10.220
for the bow and arrow. Hell yeah! So you move

00:27:10.220 --> 00:27:12.039
your full movement and you can get right up in

00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:14.660
that guy's face. Deeper into the plaza, right

00:27:14.660 --> 00:27:16.319
by the fountain side. And then Rath charges,

00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:24.230
blurred like the wind. Yes! Sliding on my shield

00:27:24.230 --> 00:27:29.150
for speed. Hell yeah. Holy shit. This is where

00:27:29.150 --> 00:27:37.970
I buy. That's the coolest image. Holy shit. Shield

00:27:37.970 --> 00:27:42.470
slides up. Want to make an attack roll? Yes.

00:27:42.589 --> 00:27:45.009
Hell yeah. If this lands, you can add a D8 to

00:27:45.009 --> 00:27:50.069
it. So give me your D20 roll. Nine. That's going

00:27:50.069 --> 00:27:54.970
to be a plus four for a 13. Okay. 13 hits exactly.

00:27:55.190 --> 00:27:57.690
Yeah, it does. Nice. Through this leather armor.

00:27:58.230 --> 00:28:00.930
Right. Now, here's the thing. This guy's already

00:28:00.930 --> 00:28:03.509
injured. And because of your Colossus Slayer

00:28:03.509 --> 00:28:07.950
passive from being a Hunter Ranger, you can roll

00:28:07.950 --> 00:28:11.109
two D8 already against him. And you can add a

00:28:11.109 --> 00:28:13.890
third D8 if you want because of your Zephyr Strike.

00:28:13.970 --> 00:28:16.049
You're going to release some of that wind energy

00:28:16.049 --> 00:28:18.710
in this. Or you can hold it. Okay. Let's do two.

00:28:19.049 --> 00:28:20.269
That's a two. All right, cool. You're holding

00:28:20.269 --> 00:28:23.250
that wind energy. Roll that die twice. Add them

00:28:23.250 --> 00:28:31.549
up. We've got two and seven. So nine. Nine. A

00:28:31.549 --> 00:28:35.769
plus two on that. Eleven. Clinches it for the

00:28:35.769 --> 00:28:39.829
kill on this guy. This guy looking surprised,

00:28:40.029 --> 00:28:41.390
shocked. He's got his bow up, and all of a sudden

00:28:41.390 --> 00:28:43.849
this figure blurs up to him, skating on a shield,

00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:47.170
and just cuts him down. What's it look like?

00:28:47.930 --> 00:28:56.670
It looks like a wedgie from hell. I love that.

00:28:56.849 --> 00:29:00.869
And with that, old David Bowie drops down. Thank

00:29:00.869 --> 00:29:06.309
God. With a Y. With a Y! Sliced down on the field.

00:29:07.009 --> 00:29:09.910
And now there's only two foes to worry about.

00:29:09.990 --> 00:29:13.109
A man approaching from behind and the rattlesnake

00:29:13.109 --> 00:29:16.730
ahead. And that's going to be... Well, it was

00:29:16.730 --> 00:29:20.829
going to be that guy. So, good move. I lost my

00:29:20.829 --> 00:29:24.349
turn. Wow, another guy. I'm counting his moving

00:29:24.349 --> 00:29:27.349
up to you to be his turn. So, Zebulon, that's

00:29:27.349 --> 00:29:29.970
you. It's a little bit harder because I knew

00:29:29.970 --> 00:29:32.410
that my move was going to be to go towards the

00:29:32.410 --> 00:29:34.329
snake, but now there's this guy behind me. I'll

00:29:34.329 --> 00:29:37.329
remind you, you are still frightened. Only Jean

00:29:37.329 --> 00:29:39.950
-Franck will pass. Zebulon, you will never in

00:29:39.950 --> 00:29:41.890
your entire life as a character pass a wisdom

00:29:41.890 --> 00:29:43.829
saving throw. Great, yeah, thanks. Just so you

00:29:43.829 --> 00:29:47.319
know. I'm just curious. Bink is tied up. Yeah,

00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:49.279
you look over and see him. King, king, king,

00:29:49.299 --> 00:29:50.779
king. Like blades locking against each other.

00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:52.839
He's battling one of these guys. Got it. Got

00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:58.460
it. Yeah, Zebulon's going to see Emin Rath fucking

00:29:58.460 --> 00:30:03.079
skate by, apparently, and make this excellent

00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:06.460
kill. And he's going to second guess himself.

00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:10.140
He's going to be like, I can't go into the fight

00:30:10.140 --> 00:30:15.750
here. I got to be the back line. And out of fear,

00:30:15.789 --> 00:30:20.529
he'll turn around and race towards this new combatant,

00:30:20.549 --> 00:30:27.130
dropping his bow, withdrawing both of his sabers.

00:30:27.130 --> 00:30:31.130
There it is. And going for some melee attacks

00:30:31.130 --> 00:30:34.430
here. Nice. Remember, this guy's got poison on

00:30:34.430 --> 00:30:37.029
his weapon. If he gets a turn off, it could be

00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:41.430
very bad. All right. And since... Now that Zebulon

00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:45.130
is a swashbuckling rogue out here all alone with

00:30:45.130 --> 00:30:49.029
nobody else beside him, he gets a sneak attack.

00:30:49.450 --> 00:30:58.769
Nice. Oh, yeah. That's a 23, I think. Yeah, that's

00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:00.569
going to hit. Oh, yeah. You're fine. You're all

00:31:00.569 --> 00:31:02.910
right, Zebulon. That's it, right? That first

00:31:02.910 --> 00:31:08.779
one's a D8 plus 3. All right, so that's... Ten

00:31:08.779 --> 00:31:14.380
on just the melee damage. Let me add my 2d6 sneak

00:31:14.380 --> 00:31:19.880
attack. That's another eight. Then I'm going

00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:22.500
to use two -weapon fighting. I mean, that's 18

00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:25.460
damage? Yeah. You don't need to use two -weapon

00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:27.579
fighting. Oh, excellent. You've just dropped

00:31:27.579 --> 00:31:32.319
this guy in one. My gosh. Nice. He just slided

00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:35.660
in and boom, boom. Immediately drop him. Excellent.

00:31:35.779 --> 00:31:39.700
Wow. 2d6, baby. then I'm going to roll my wisdom

00:31:39.700 --> 00:31:42.759
save to see if I can. Yeah. Because now I can't

00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:45.119
get any closer. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, you can't

00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:47.339
even see him now. You can't even shoot. Maybe

00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:49.680
I might just take himself out of the fight. Well,

00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:53.380
I can at least get within sight. But if the snake

00:31:53.380 --> 00:31:55.099
is in sight, I can't get any closer. That's true.

00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:57.980
Hey, good on you. Hey, right? Look at that wedgie

00:31:57.980 --> 00:31:59.640
we almost had. Look at that. Been doing a little

00:31:59.640 --> 00:32:03.220
bit of reading here. Wedgie avoided. All right,

00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:06.940
yeah, that's not a pass. Okay. I mean, of course

00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:10.779
not. Zebulon, you drop this guy and put a big

00:32:10.779 --> 00:32:13.400
old red X on him because it looks so cool. Never

00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:14.619
mind, he's too close to the edge of the screen.

00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:18.240
This became a process. So can I at least get

00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:21.759
back to the point where I can see the snake without

00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:22.880
moving any closer? Yeah, you can totally do that.

00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:25.000
You can drop right to here. Boom, you move back

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:28.000
down to the side of the building into the main

00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:29.799
plaza, right at the sort of edge of it, and you

00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:33.339
see the snake still looming over Jules. The exact

00:32:33.339 --> 00:32:36.630
spot where he dropped his bow. Yeah, step on

00:32:36.630 --> 00:32:38.250
your bow and break it. Hint, hint, wink, wink.

00:32:38.410 --> 00:32:41.970
It's gone now. And with that, that's going to

00:32:41.970 --> 00:32:46.890
be Chester. Chester's still wielding his warhammer.

00:32:47.190 --> 00:32:49.670
He is indeed. And he's going to go after the

00:32:49.670 --> 00:32:53.430
snake with his warhammer. Okay. I'm trying my

00:32:53.430 --> 00:32:55.789
original metal D20 that I haven't used in quite

00:32:55.789 --> 00:32:58.069
a while. Ooh, all right. Because the other D20s

00:32:58.069 --> 00:33:03.190
have been a little cold. So let's see. That one's

00:33:03.190 --> 00:33:05.390
cold too. That one's going in dice jail. That

00:33:05.390 --> 00:33:06.930
dice jail was looking a little empty. I was kind

00:33:06.930 --> 00:33:09.109
of thinking, like, we need somebody to... That's

00:33:09.109 --> 00:33:12.349
only a five to hit. Yeah, that's not going to

00:33:12.349 --> 00:33:15.690
do it. No, it's not. I know. Chester goes to

00:33:15.690 --> 00:33:20.769
strike snake. Sort of weaves back and goes wide

00:33:20.769 --> 00:33:23.390
of the mark. This isn't good. This thing can

00:33:23.390 --> 00:33:25.829
deal some serious damage if it can't pass those

00:33:25.829 --> 00:33:29.450
con saves for its poison. But there is one person

00:33:29.450 --> 00:33:31.490
that has a chance to act still before this thing

00:33:31.490 --> 00:33:35.500
goes. And that person... is Jean Franklin, now

00:33:35.500 --> 00:33:39.660
fully cured of his fear, eyes burning. What are

00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:41.299
you going to do, Steven? I don't like the fact

00:33:41.299 --> 00:33:44.420
that my life is in Jean Franklin's hands. Well,

00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:46.759
yeah, the shitty part is that Jean Franklin can't

00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:49.740
get there in 30 feet. He's within 30 feet, isn't

00:33:49.740 --> 00:33:54.460
he? You're all within 30 feet. No, he is 60 away.

00:33:54.700 --> 00:33:58.819
Yeah, I also have to go like 10 feet just to

00:33:58.819 --> 00:34:01.900
grab his spear. Yeah, about 45 to 50 feet away,

00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.839
so not quite able to get there within one movement.

00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:09.360
All right. I have one thing that I might, or

00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:12.360
Jaune has one thing he might be able to do. So

00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:18.099
Jaune will walk up, reach around or past Emon

00:34:18.099 --> 00:34:22.840
Rath to grab his spear out of David Bowie and

00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:25.800
continue the rest of his movement towards the

00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:28.900
snake. Okay. When he gets to the end of his movement,

00:34:29.530 --> 00:34:34.969
He's going to try to rebuke evil. Interesting.

00:34:36.309 --> 00:34:41.349
Interesting. Okay. So this, I mean, will only

00:34:41.349 --> 00:34:45.769
apply if the snake is aligned evil. I need to

00:34:45.769 --> 00:34:47.610
look at something. But if the snake is aligned

00:34:47.610 --> 00:34:53.110
evil, he'll have to succeed on a DC 11 save or

00:34:53.110 --> 00:34:55.969
be frightened for one minute. Oh. Or until it

00:34:55.969 --> 00:34:59.219
takes damage. Okay. This is a bonus action? On

00:34:59.219 --> 00:35:01.679
my sheet here on D &D Beyond, it doesn't say

00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.179
whether it is an action or a bonus action. Oh,

00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:06.400
no, it's, yeah, sorry. First sentence, Steven.

00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.139
The knight can use an action to frighten evil

00:35:10.139 --> 00:35:11.260
-aligned creatures. You've already used your

00:35:11.260 --> 00:35:13.659
action to double move. Oh, I said I wanted to

00:35:13.659 --> 00:35:15.679
use the rest of his movement. Oh, oh, you, okay,

00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:16.960
gotcha, gotcha. I thought you wanted to move

00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:19.059
up to the snake. It's each evil creature within

00:35:19.059 --> 00:35:22.440
30 feet. Okay. So you're a little ways away.

00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:26.010
Yeah, you get there. You go to cast this. And

00:35:26.010 --> 00:35:28.010
as Jean Franklin kind of like holds himself ready,

00:35:28.090 --> 00:35:31.849
like, all right, here we go. Move away, evil

00:35:31.849 --> 00:35:33.889
fiend. And he kind of like holds his spear out

00:35:33.889 --> 00:35:35.469
and just tries to like, like, like, like we see

00:35:35.469 --> 00:35:37.610
this almost magical aura just starts to pulsate

00:35:37.610 --> 00:35:40.789
off of him and blast towards it. And the snake

00:35:40.789 --> 00:35:45.989
in the wake of this aura looks up. It's a really

00:35:45.989 --> 00:35:49.750
low roll. But he's immune. Okay, yeah, sure.

00:35:49.829 --> 00:35:51.150
That's kind of what I thought. So he blinks.

00:35:51.230 --> 00:35:54.329
I was reading your cadence, and I was like, he's

00:35:54.329 --> 00:35:56.929
not evil -aligned. He blinks because he's a beast,

00:35:56.969 --> 00:35:58.909
and he's unaligned with any alignment at all.

00:35:59.110 --> 00:36:04.449
Oh, well, fuck me. Hey, you're learning. All

00:36:04.449 --> 00:36:06.449
right, but hey, you know, Jon Falken's halfway

00:36:06.449 --> 00:36:08.510
there. He tried something. He's just like, well,

00:36:08.610 --> 00:36:16.909
shit. Guess whose turn it is. The term we've

00:36:16.909 --> 00:36:21.510
all been waiting for. It's Mr. Snake. Fuck. And

00:36:21.510 --> 00:36:26.250
I've got two targets here. Two targets to strike

00:36:26.250 --> 00:36:29.449
at. Chester did some damage last round, but Jules

00:36:29.449 --> 00:36:31.949
did something real funky right there. This thing

00:36:31.949 --> 00:36:35.030
sees the smoke sort of clearing away, sort of

00:36:35.030 --> 00:36:37.570
billowing off your hand as it clears up. You

00:36:37.570 --> 00:36:39.829
see something strange happening and feels some

00:36:39.829 --> 00:36:43.469
threat from you. And I think he's going for you.

00:36:43.650 --> 00:36:48.530
Almost scared. predatory instinct, his eyes sharpen,

00:36:48.769 --> 00:36:53.269
and he rears back and dives down for a bite.

00:36:54.510 --> 00:37:00.269
All right, here we go. Definite hit. What? It

00:37:00.269 --> 00:37:04.489
was like a 23. It was a definite hit. Oh, yeah,

00:37:04.530 --> 00:37:09.909
here we go. Jules, that is 11 points of damage.

00:37:10.349 --> 00:37:14.449
Goddamn. As his fangs rip into you, sinking deep

00:37:14.449 --> 00:37:17.309
into your flesh. I'm still up. I'm afraid I need

00:37:17.309 --> 00:37:20.590
a constitution saving throw from you. As poison

00:37:20.590 --> 00:37:25.989
starts being pumped into your veins. What? Oh,

00:37:25.989 --> 00:37:33.949
yes. This is bad. It's bad. God. This is 16.

00:37:34.949 --> 00:37:37.969
That's a pass. Yeah, that's huge. You're going

00:37:37.969 --> 00:37:41.130
to take half damage still. What? I'll tell you

00:37:41.130 --> 00:37:42.590
what, full damage almost certainly would have

00:37:42.590 --> 00:37:45.639
dropped you. Half damage, we'll see. Not with

00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:48.380
two rolls. Three rolls? What the fuck? Honestly,

00:37:48.440 --> 00:37:50.719
I rolled really bad. It doesn't matter. Only

00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:52.480
three points of damage. It doesn't matter. I'm

00:37:52.480 --> 00:37:56.300
at zero. I'm unconscious. Really? Whoa. You know

00:37:56.300 --> 00:38:01.920
my HP. It's exactly 14, isn't it? Wow. So Jules,

00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:03.699
you hold against this thing and you see that

00:38:03.699 --> 00:38:06.480
same telltale defiance in your eyes as his poison

00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:09.079
sinks into you. I just imagine Jules glaring

00:38:09.079 --> 00:38:11.440
up at the serpent, almost not reacting as this

00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:15.130
is pumped into his body. And then we slowly see

00:38:15.130 --> 00:38:17.849
that defiance like fade as Jules' eyes begin

00:38:17.849 --> 00:38:21.650
to close and blur. And you fall unconscious.

00:38:22.670 --> 00:38:26.630
But you're not making death throws yet. But Chester's

00:38:26.630 --> 00:38:28.909
still up, still terrified. I think this just

00:38:28.909 --> 00:38:30.230
shook him out of his sort of fear of seeing what

00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:32.530
happened to you. You see that fear replaced instantly

00:38:32.530 --> 00:38:35.929
by rage at this creature that has just hurt you.

00:38:36.469 --> 00:38:39.829
And now, Jules, it is your turn. I want to see

00:38:39.829 --> 00:38:42.719
a death save. I don't remember the last time

00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:45.019
I made a death saving throw. Pick a good die.

00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:50.960
I passed, 19. 19, okay. Almost a crit. That would

00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:54.659
have been huge. That's one pass. Crit would have

00:38:54.659 --> 00:38:58.639
been amazing. I do want to say, I didn't want

00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:00.719
to do it this round because it's kind of like

00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:04.420
I don't want to backseat help too much, but do

00:39:04.420 --> 00:39:06.480
you remember Jean Franklin's reaction? It is

00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:08.059
probably the best thing he has. I know, I know.

00:39:08.139 --> 00:39:10.059
That's what I should have done instead of tried

00:39:10.059 --> 00:39:13.280
to evil rebuke. I just want to make sure you're

00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:14.880
aware. I know there's a lot of stuff to keep

00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:15.940
track of on these sheets. I want to make sure

00:39:15.940 --> 00:39:18.099
it's clear there, but always remember that reaction

00:39:18.099 --> 00:39:20.820
might be literally his best quality. Yeah, appreciate

00:39:20.820 --> 00:39:26.539
it. Cool. So, Jules is down, but he's slowly

00:39:26.539 --> 00:39:28.119
kind of coming back. I think at that moment in

00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:31.199
that darkness, Jules, you're lying there. You

00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:34.969
feel this pain emanating from your hand. You

00:39:34.969 --> 00:39:39.690
can hear a phantom voice just by your ear. Look

00:39:39.690 --> 00:39:45.590
at me. I think in my head, I'm saying, not a

00:39:45.590 --> 00:39:48.889
fucking chance. Holy shit. You're going to have

00:39:48.889 --> 00:39:51.769
to kill me first. Oh, and as you're having this

00:39:51.769 --> 00:39:53.389
thought, we pan away from Jules' mind to the

00:39:53.389 --> 00:39:59.210
snake hanging overhead. Top of the round. And

00:39:59.210 --> 00:40:02.050
that's going to be Eamon Roth. Now, halfway through

00:40:02.050 --> 00:40:06.210
this... This plaza. What do you want to do? I

00:40:06.210 --> 00:40:08.909
think I need to go for that snake. Okay. To help

00:40:08.909 --> 00:40:13.829
out. That's my first instinct. Okay. Yeah. Yeah,

00:40:13.889 --> 00:40:16.469
Everett, you barely manage. Still blurring. You

00:40:16.469 --> 00:40:18.949
kick up your shield. And with that wind aura

00:40:18.949 --> 00:40:21.570
around you, you just blow, sliding across the

00:40:21.570 --> 00:40:24.949
plaza, blurring past Jean -Franek. Hey! And you

00:40:24.949 --> 00:40:28.869
right up. There's like a sort of stand in front

00:40:28.869 --> 00:40:30.389
of this thing. I just like to imagine you essentially

00:40:30.389 --> 00:40:33.550
like... Jump off the shield, sliding onto the

00:40:33.550 --> 00:40:35.650
table. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Right

00:40:35.650 --> 00:40:38.150
before this thing, sword in hand, you're there

00:40:38.150 --> 00:40:41.130
and you can attack. Right on. So I look at the

00:40:41.130 --> 00:40:45.769
snake and I go, you don't rattle me. Oh, shoot.

00:40:47.349 --> 00:40:51.250
Oh, my gosh. Nice. So what do I have left here?

00:40:51.269 --> 00:40:56.000
I can do a hundred's mark? Yeah, bonus action.

00:40:56.099 --> 00:40:58.460
You still have it. I do. I was thinking of doing

00:40:58.460 --> 00:41:00.119
that, yeah. Casting Hunter's Mark as well. So

00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:01.940
you look at this thing, you cast Hunter's Mark,

00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:03.739
and you mark this thing as your prey. You say

00:41:03.739 --> 00:41:06.500
that as you mark it. And this snake, again, this

00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:09.179
tinge of fear enters its eyes as it feels the

00:41:09.179 --> 00:41:11.519
gaze of a predator upon it. Something it has

00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:14.000
probably never felt because it's so huge. It's

00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:18.539
the apex predator. Until it met Aminara. Holy

00:41:18.539 --> 00:41:23.530
shit. You have Wind Active. So you can do a bonus

00:41:23.530 --> 00:41:25.849
D8 to this thing as well. So you can roll an

00:41:25.849 --> 00:41:28.110
attack. If this lands, you're going to get a

00:41:28.110 --> 00:41:30.449
bonus D8 from Colossus Slayer. You could get

00:41:30.449 --> 00:41:32.989
a bonus D8 from Zephyr Strike and a bonus D6

00:41:32.989 --> 00:41:36.170
from your Hunter's Mark. This is going to be

00:41:36.170 --> 00:41:38.989
a big damage hit if you land the attack. All

00:41:38.989 --> 00:41:41.309
right, so D8. It's a D20 first. Let's see if

00:41:41.309 --> 00:41:45.670
you can hit this guy. Okay, plus four. Four.

00:41:46.599 --> 00:41:49.000
Just a four? It was a four. Four. There's going

00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.659
to be an eight. Does not hit. This thing weaves

00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:53.860
out of the way. Not quite able to land that strike

00:41:53.860 --> 00:41:57.619
on it. But you still have those buffs active.

00:41:58.340 --> 00:42:01.139
And this thing is looking scared of you. Oh,

00:42:01.139 --> 00:42:05.699
hell yeah. We'll add extra die next turn. All

00:42:05.699 --> 00:42:12.340
right. So that is going to be Zebulon. Yeah.

00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:14.699
I mean, everyone's on the other side of the...

00:42:15.279 --> 00:42:18.000
and Zebulon's standing there, and he's trying

00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:20.400
to psych himself up, and he's just not in it,

00:42:20.420 --> 00:42:23.340
and he reaches down. Come on, Zebulon. Come on.

00:42:23.699 --> 00:42:28.500
Come on. He grabs his bow, and bonus action steady

00:42:28.500 --> 00:42:31.880
aim to give himself advantage, which from this

00:42:31.880 --> 00:42:34.760
distance is going to give him sneak attack. So

00:42:34.760 --> 00:42:38.079
I hate to do this. I am going to give this snake

00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:41.360
a plus two to AC. from this attack because it's

00:42:41.360 --> 00:42:44.340
pretty well crowded by your allies. No, you know

00:42:44.340 --> 00:42:46.739
what? I'm not going to. I'll tell you why. Because

00:42:46.739 --> 00:42:49.000
Jules is down. And that creates an opening right

00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:51.820
there. If Jules was not down, I would give him

00:42:51.820 --> 00:42:55.820
plus two. I'm not going to. That's more than

00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:59.860
fair. Alright, so I'm going to roll it just straight

00:42:59.860 --> 00:43:04.219
up plus five. Shortbow roll twice for steady

00:43:04.219 --> 00:43:09.860
aim. First one's only a twelve. Second one's

00:43:09.860 --> 00:43:15.079
even worse. 12 will not hit. So the arrow goes

00:43:15.079 --> 00:43:22.260
wide. Come on, Jebula. What are you? He's got

00:43:22.260 --> 00:43:24.539
to look cool. Julie's on the ground. My friends

00:43:24.539 --> 00:43:29.199
are dying. And that's all he's got. He's just

00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:31.659
going to make his wisdom save. God, it's so sad.

00:43:31.739 --> 00:43:34.280
For this character in particular, what a moment

00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:36.400
to just not be able to make that move. Yeah,

00:43:36.420 --> 00:43:41.730
for real. Wow. That's a 12 on the die minus three.

00:43:42.489 --> 00:43:47.429
Oh, Zebulon. It's heartbreaking. Yeah, it's really

00:43:47.429 --> 00:43:51.510
not good. It's really not good. Wow. Make me

00:43:51.510 --> 00:43:56.949
a perception check. Seven on the die minus one.

00:43:57.409 --> 00:43:59.650
Don't worry about it. I'm going to put this in

00:43:59.650 --> 00:44:07.210
jail. All right. Man, two turns, bunch of misses.

00:44:07.429 --> 00:44:09.210
Try to throw you a bone and you can't roll a

00:44:09.210 --> 00:44:12.769
perception check. Jeremy, I'm so sorry. Holy

00:44:12.769 --> 00:44:17.170
shit. Holy shit. But there's more heroes than

00:44:17.170 --> 00:44:20.610
just Zebulon in this field. For instance, there's

00:44:20.610 --> 00:44:23.610
Chester. Chester's going to go in with his Warhammer.

00:44:24.170 --> 00:44:26.510
And he's going to use his Boat of Potential from

00:44:26.510 --> 00:44:29.730
the Bardic Inspiration. Oh, shit. On this attack

00:44:29.730 --> 00:44:34.050
roll. That is cool as hell. For this attack roll,

00:44:34.190 --> 00:44:37.349
you have to succeed on a con saving throw or

00:44:37.349 --> 00:44:40.190
take thunder damage equal to the die that I roll

00:44:40.190 --> 00:44:42.730
for the bardic inspiration. Okay. All right,

00:44:42.750 --> 00:44:46.050
so roll the attack. Roll the d20 first with the

00:44:46.050 --> 00:44:48.949
bardic die. And if you land the attack, I'll

00:44:48.949 --> 00:44:51.369
make that save. Oh, it doesn't say if I land

00:44:51.369 --> 00:44:53.789
the attack. Oh, really? It just says you have

00:44:53.789 --> 00:44:56.389
to make a con save. Okay. For any creature that

00:44:56.389 --> 00:44:59.730
I attack. Okay. Does it say successfully attack?

00:45:00.360 --> 00:45:02.400
Nope. All right, then I think that means... Well,

00:45:02.480 --> 00:45:04.480
just for the listeners here, let me read the

00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:06.840
entire thing. The target and each creature of

00:45:06.840 --> 00:45:08.980
your choice that you can see within five feet

00:45:08.980 --> 00:45:12.019
of it must succeed on a con saving throw or take

00:45:12.019 --> 00:45:14.039
thunder damage equal to the number rolled on

00:45:14.039 --> 00:45:16.519
the bardic inspiration die. Oh, yeah, so you're

00:45:16.519 --> 00:45:18.719
the target whether or not it hits. Yeah, that

00:45:18.719 --> 00:45:22.280
makes sense to me. That is really good. It was

00:45:22.280 --> 00:45:24.780
already really good, and now it's even more really

00:45:24.780 --> 00:45:28.909
good. Yeah, you're going to have to get... Now

00:45:28.909 --> 00:45:30.630
let me give this guy a plus two to AC because

00:45:30.630 --> 00:45:34.929
I feel like it. I'm just kidding. Jerry had a

00:45:34.929 --> 00:45:39.030
low sound to kill you face. Oh my goodness. 13

00:45:39.030 --> 00:45:43.989
to hit. 13 just barely misses. Just barely. Well,

00:45:43.989 --> 00:45:45.949
you still take four. You still take four thunder

00:45:45.949 --> 00:45:49.110
damage. Can we save? Save. That is a six on the

00:45:49.110 --> 00:45:51.050
die. Failed that save for sure. Yeah, you did.

00:45:51.389 --> 00:45:53.550
Okay. You know what? That's not up. This thing

00:45:53.550 --> 00:45:55.130
has already been. I will reiterate. This thing

00:45:55.130 --> 00:45:58.170
has been hurt a lot. We have John Franklin before

00:45:58.170 --> 00:46:01.469
this, right? Yeah. I mean, that's three misses

00:46:01.469 --> 00:46:03.710
in a row. Come on. It's rough. This has been

00:46:03.710 --> 00:46:06.050
a stinker. This is it or Jules is dead. Stinker

00:46:06.050 --> 00:46:08.929
of a round. Well, at least there are other combatants.

00:46:09.010 --> 00:46:11.469
Not before the snake. Right. But the snake could

00:46:11.469 --> 00:46:14.250
hit somebody else. John Franklin. It's David.

00:46:14.730 --> 00:46:19.929
It's David. All right. So, David, if John steps

00:46:19.929 --> 00:46:22.730
into that space between Emin Rath and Chester.

00:46:22.789 --> 00:46:26.880
Excuse me. Emin Rath and Chester. Yeah. That's

00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:29.500
five feet away, right? Because the snake is taking

00:46:29.500 --> 00:46:32.659
up part of that space? At least the... Yes, yeah,

00:46:32.699 --> 00:46:33.940
of course. Yeah, as long as he's diagonal to

00:46:33.940 --> 00:46:35.519
the snake, he's fine. Okay, perfect. He slides

00:46:35.519 --> 00:46:38.800
up right beside Jules' downed body, right next

00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:40.619
to Evanrath, standing on a desk just above him.

00:46:41.079 --> 00:46:42.500
Gosh, he's just going to go in for an attack

00:46:42.500 --> 00:46:48.400
here. Okay. Holy shit, this is... Close. All

00:46:48.400 --> 00:46:51.280
right, Jean's got a plus three to hit. The only

00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:56.199
foe in the field. That's a 16 to hit. 16 will

00:46:56.199 --> 00:46:59.780
hit. All right, so that's a D6 plus one because

00:46:59.780 --> 00:47:04.760
he's got his shield. That's max damage. That's

00:47:04.760 --> 00:47:08.760
seven damage. Holy shit. Okay. Nice. Just comes

00:47:08.760 --> 00:47:10.760
in with that spear and seven damage, huh? Yeah.

00:47:10.960 --> 00:47:13.280
That is solid. So this thing, actually, before

00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:16.340
I describe this, what kind of damage does your

00:47:16.340 --> 00:47:18.440
bardic inspiration do? Is it thunder, you said?

00:47:18.940 --> 00:47:20.900
It's thunder damage. So, like, Chester on his

00:47:20.900 --> 00:47:23.199
turn whirls out. Just barely a snake managed

00:47:23.199 --> 00:47:25.179
to move back from it. And just kind of looking

00:47:25.179 --> 00:47:28.139
a little snake cocky. You see this blur of sonic

00:47:28.139 --> 00:47:30.300
energy blast out from the hammer swing and smash

00:47:30.300 --> 00:47:32.420
the snake. And it kind of, its head gets turned

00:47:32.420 --> 00:47:34.260
upright. And as it's kind of, like, dazed from

00:47:34.260 --> 00:47:36.639
this, John Franklin slides in with a spear and

00:47:36.639 --> 00:47:39.340
shoves it right through the snake. Right through,

00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:43.619
like, part of its long coil. And it just hisses

00:47:43.619 --> 00:47:49.329
out in pain. And now it has four targets. four

00:47:49.329 --> 00:47:52.889
targets to strike at. One of them down. And honestly,

00:47:53.050 --> 00:47:55.550
I know what you think, but I got to play to the

00:47:55.550 --> 00:47:58.389
snake. And the snake, while it's hungry, while

00:47:58.389 --> 00:48:01.150
it wants to eat, it can't go for down prey while

00:48:01.150 --> 00:48:04.269
it's surrounded by threats. So here's what I'm

00:48:04.269 --> 00:48:07.369
going to do. I'm going to roll a D4. One is Chester.

00:48:07.670 --> 00:48:09.989
Two is Jean Franklin. Three and four, I'm going

00:48:09.989 --> 00:48:11.889
to laugh because he's shown himself to be the

00:48:11.889 --> 00:48:14.550
biggest threat right now. This thing like that,

00:48:14.570 --> 00:48:16.730
that hunter's mark scared the shit out of this

00:48:16.730 --> 00:48:21.980
thing. So that's what we're going to do. It's

00:48:21.980 --> 00:48:26.739
a one. Oh, no. God fucking damn it. That Hunter's

00:48:26.739 --> 00:48:29.539
Mark was scary, but that sonic damage, that blur

00:48:29.539 --> 00:48:32.440
of force, that's the unknown, and there's nothing

00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:36.380
scarier than that. As the snake coils back, it

00:48:36.380 --> 00:48:39.440
dives down for Chester. I think at this point,

00:48:39.519 --> 00:48:43.179
for me, Chester dying is worse than Jules dying.

00:48:43.460 --> 00:48:46.599
This is potentially very, very bad, but Chester's

00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:48.699
still tough. He hasn't taken a hit yet, right?

00:48:49.039 --> 00:48:52.739
No. All right, then. Is Chester within five feet

00:48:52.739 --> 00:48:55.940
of John Franklin? He's not. What? Yeah. Jules

00:48:55.940 --> 00:48:57.639
is next to John. Chester's just beyond him. Okay,

00:48:57.639 --> 00:49:00.119
yeah, he's a space away. Unfortunately, the one

00:49:00.119 --> 00:49:02.219
person John can't protect. John sees this, and

00:49:02.219 --> 00:49:04.880
I think he's like, his hands go out like, no,

00:49:05.099 --> 00:49:07.239
sort of, because he realized he can't quite get

00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:11.639
there in time as this thing bites down. That's

00:49:11.639 --> 00:49:16.320
iffy. It's actually only a 14 to hit. That just

00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:22.440
hits. Oh, get out. Holy sh... Okay. Chester's

00:49:22.440 --> 00:49:25.619
going down. I need a con save from Chester. What's

00:49:25.619 --> 00:49:27.840
Chester's HP? What's his bonus? Okay, there.

00:49:28.119 --> 00:49:31.480
First he takes nine points of damage from the

00:49:31.480 --> 00:49:35.940
fangs. That's eight. Where's Bink when you need

00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:40.219
him? Where is Bink? Damn it. Down in Massachusetts.

00:49:41.019 --> 00:49:43.639
Might be okay. Classic. Seven more points of

00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:46.119
damage on Chester. Chester's still up. Holy shit.

00:49:46.699 --> 00:49:48.639
Chester takes the full run. You see his vein

00:49:48.639 --> 00:49:50.719
bites in, and you see his veins popping, his

00:49:50.719 --> 00:49:53.039
body swelling, and he's barely standing, his

00:49:53.039 --> 00:49:56.440
legs trembling. He's just standing there. Jules,

00:49:56.579 --> 00:50:01.760
not going to let you hurt. Jules. He's just,

00:50:01.800 --> 00:50:04.300
like, gritting himself and just everything it

00:50:04.300 --> 00:50:07.119
takes to stand tall. Just so the listeners can

00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:09.320
get a visual here, I am, like, on the verge of

00:50:09.320 --> 00:50:13.989
passing out. Serious. This is so fucking intense.

00:50:14.289 --> 00:50:16.550
You got another round. Before that other round

00:50:16.550 --> 00:50:18.989
to stop this snake, before it gets another potential

00:50:18.989 --> 00:50:22.110
killing blow on somebody here, I need a death

00:50:22.110 --> 00:50:28.010
save, Jules. It's a fail. It's an eight. Your

00:50:28.010 --> 00:50:31.889
hand throbs, and that darkness closes in on you.

00:50:31.949 --> 00:50:36.449
So thick, so heavy, so all -encompassing, and

00:50:36.449 --> 00:50:42.619
so, so, so, so vast. Zebulon. No, sorry. Amen.

00:50:42.639 --> 00:50:46.039
Top of the round. That's going to be you. This

00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:50.239
thing dodged your attacks before. You might be

00:50:50.239 --> 00:50:52.699
the one that can save us here. This is a great

00:50:52.699 --> 00:50:55.119
episode for you to come back. Oh, my God. Could

00:50:55.119 --> 00:50:58.199
you imagine? Yeah. One last minute cancellation

00:50:58.199 --> 00:51:03.559
from Stomp and it's fucking over. Oh, my God.

00:51:03.579 --> 00:51:06.820
This was a necessity. All right. What other podcasts

00:51:06.820 --> 00:51:08.820
do you go on where it's like, oh, you can't make

00:51:08.820 --> 00:51:11.869
it? Okay, I guess we'll just die. That's a lot

00:51:11.869 --> 00:51:17.809
of pressure. Oh, my God. All right. So I'm curious.

00:51:18.010 --> 00:51:22.429
Can I move as a distraction? Can I move out of

00:51:22.429 --> 00:51:25.630
the way? Will this snake follow me as a distraction

00:51:25.630 --> 00:51:28.269
to give time for the others? That is interesting.

00:51:28.869 --> 00:51:30.710
If you move out of the way, you're going to take

00:51:30.710 --> 00:51:33.710
an AOL. But if you take the AOL, I'm going to

00:51:33.710 --> 00:51:35.570
get a free attack on you that's not even on my

00:51:35.570 --> 00:51:38.789
turn. Right. But if you do that, I'm going to

00:51:38.789 --> 00:51:43.139
let you do this. Two attacks on this thing might

00:51:43.139 --> 00:51:45.639
drop you. A crit on this thing will likely drop

00:51:45.639 --> 00:51:47.800
you. This is still very dangerous. What you're

00:51:47.800 --> 00:51:51.380
doing is a madman thing. I have faith. All right.

00:51:51.519 --> 00:51:55.239
I like this. I think we should do this. Okay.

00:51:55.400 --> 00:51:57.920
All right. Yes. So what do you do? First, I need

00:51:57.920 --> 00:51:59.659
you to describe to me how you're provoking this

00:51:59.659 --> 00:52:04.039
attention. Well, I'm on top of the boxes, correct?

00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:07.739
Yes. Yes. What I do is I take my top knot and

00:52:07.739 --> 00:52:11.000
I start swinging it wildly. Like a lasso. And

00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:15.059
I say, yoo -hoo, yoo -hoo. And I jump out of

00:52:15.059 --> 00:52:18.719
the way, hoping to lure the beast away from my

00:52:18.719 --> 00:52:21.440
friends. Wow. That I've grown accustomed to on

00:52:21.440 --> 00:52:26.599
Subsonico. Wow. It's like rearing up over Chester.

00:52:26.900 --> 00:52:33.159
It's head whirls. Its eyes focused on you. And

00:52:33.159 --> 00:52:36.000
you start to move. Mm -hmm. Yeah. You jump out

00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:37.800
of the way, and you're looking, how might I say,

00:52:37.880 --> 00:52:42.159
rather tasty. Hey. I'm going to take an attack

00:52:42.159 --> 00:52:46.300
on you as you try to jump. That's iffy. That

00:52:46.300 --> 00:52:51.639
is only going to be a 13 to hit. And your AC

00:52:51.639 --> 00:52:56.159
is 15. Sacrifice. You drive out of the way. The

00:52:56.159 --> 00:52:59.360
table you're standing on, it just breaks in two

00:52:59.360 --> 00:53:03.199
as a snake bites through, hissing. How far do

00:53:03.199 --> 00:53:04.420
you want to move? You can move 30 feet if you

00:53:04.420 --> 00:53:07.239
want or less. Just like 10. Okay, 10 feet away?

00:53:07.400 --> 00:53:09.559
Great. You drop down. You move right under the

00:53:09.559 --> 00:53:12.820
cover of this yellow canopy above you where you

00:53:12.820 --> 00:53:15.179
can lure this thing in. Yeah, that's perfect.

00:53:15.380 --> 00:53:20.039
I like that. I like that. I do. All right, all

00:53:20.039 --> 00:53:22.880
right. That is going to be Zebulon. Zebulon,

00:53:22.880 --> 00:53:24.420
you can't move, and you're watching Emonrath

00:53:24.420 --> 00:53:27.260
make himself into live bait ahead of you. A real

00:53:27.260 --> 00:53:31.239
luminary. Well, right. And the snake starts coming

00:53:31.239 --> 00:53:35.260
closer to Zebulon, and he's... Even more afraid.

00:53:35.320 --> 00:53:38.000
Oh, boy. He's even more afraid. Oh, shit. Oh,

00:53:38.019 --> 00:53:42.679
shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. And, I mean, I hate

00:53:42.679 --> 00:53:45.619
to be one note, but I'm going to play the same

00:53:45.619 --> 00:53:51.940
tactic here. I'm going to do steady aim and shoot

00:53:51.940 --> 00:53:55.360
a couple of shots off. All right. Maybe you'll

00:53:55.360 --> 00:54:00.800
actually hit once. Yeah, so with advantage. If

00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:03.099
I use a button now, does that mean I get plus

00:54:03.099 --> 00:54:07.039
two on both of those advantage rolls? Yes. I'm

00:54:07.039 --> 00:54:11.019
going to do it. Okay. I need to hit. Okay. You're

00:54:11.019 --> 00:54:13.320
cashing in a button. Double advantage is advantage

00:54:13.320 --> 00:54:15.059
and a bonus by my house rules. So that's going

00:54:15.059 --> 00:54:17.679
to be advantage and a plus two. Thank you, sir.

00:54:18.019 --> 00:54:26.500
I need a good die, though. Oh, my God. It's a

00:54:26.500 --> 00:54:30.550
crit. It's a crit? Dude. I just crit with advantage.

00:54:30.670 --> 00:54:33.369
I smell something. I smell something. Stop it!

00:54:33.630 --> 00:54:37.750
It stank like crit. It stank like crit in here.

00:54:37.750 --> 00:54:42.309
Every time! We just messed it up last episode,

00:54:42.530 --> 00:54:45.590
so this is, like, so righteous. That's true!

00:54:46.769 --> 00:54:51.170
That's true! Dude, this is excellent. Cool. All

00:54:51.170 --> 00:54:53.429
right, let's walk through it here. There is hope.

00:54:53.710 --> 00:54:58.659
Yeah, so it's 2d6 plus 3. For the crit. Yeah.

00:54:58.980 --> 00:55:03.679
And then my sneak attack is 2d6. 4d6. Oh my god.

00:55:03.699 --> 00:55:05.920
Are you serious? Is that for real? Yep. You double

00:55:05.920 --> 00:55:08.260
any die you roll that's not behind a save, basically.

00:55:08.260 --> 00:55:11.420
Are you telling me I roll 66 plus 3? You roll

00:55:11.420 --> 00:55:15.179
66 plus 3. Dude, I'm cringing my pants over here

00:55:15.179 --> 00:55:17.260
now. This is rogues. That's what they do. I mean,

00:55:17.300 --> 00:55:20.079
give me like 6 minutes to count out 6. Actually,

00:55:20.079 --> 00:55:22.360
we have so many fucking die here. We have 66.

00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:25.000
Oh my god. You can roll 66 at once if you want

00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:26.920
to. No, the thing that's going to take me 6 minutes

00:55:26.920 --> 00:55:28.900
is doing the fast math. Actually, while you're

00:55:28.900 --> 00:55:30.380
doing that, let me rectify one thing before I

00:55:30.380 --> 00:55:32.719
have a wedgie to make out of it. you have your

00:55:32.719 --> 00:55:34.480
ability. You actually can't be A -O -O'd. So

00:55:34.480 --> 00:55:36.480
you blur away from this thing, and it tries to

00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:37.980
chomp, and it literally can't. You're the wind.

00:55:38.420 --> 00:55:40.980
Got it. Got it. Yeah, so you make a fool of this

00:55:40.980 --> 00:55:42.239
thing. I'm glad I missed, because I would have

00:55:42.239 --> 00:55:46.340
anyway. Wow, yeah. David, I think I need to...

00:55:46.340 --> 00:55:48.960
What's it called when, like, a police officer

00:55:48.960 --> 00:55:52.059
comes up to your car? Inspect? No, where they,

00:55:52.099 --> 00:55:53.719
like, can, like, just, like, jump in and drive

00:55:53.719 --> 00:55:56.800
away in it. What? Commandeer? Commandeer. I need

00:55:56.800 --> 00:55:59.719
to commandeer your dice tower. You may have my

00:55:59.719 --> 00:56:04.760
dice tower, sir. Really? Yeah. Really? This is

00:56:04.760 --> 00:56:08.420
either going to be fantastic or awful. All ones.

00:56:08.440 --> 00:56:10.539
One of the two. There's no middle ground here.

00:56:10.539 --> 00:56:12.679
How can 66 plus three go wrong? You're going

00:56:12.679 --> 00:56:14.920
to drop the dice in my tower and only two dice

00:56:14.920 --> 00:56:17.500
are going to come out the bottom. The other ones

00:56:17.500 --> 00:56:20.039
are going to be gone forever. I'm going to guess

00:56:20.039 --> 00:56:23.940
that 66 plus three can drop this thing. Maybe.

00:56:24.039 --> 00:56:25.579
Is that within the realm of possibility, you

00:56:25.579 --> 00:56:28.320
think? Maybe. All right. Great. He ain't going

00:56:28.320 --> 00:56:36.559
to give you shit. A poker face. Holy shit. Is

00:56:36.559 --> 00:56:38.059
it the biggest damage we've seen in this game

00:56:38.059 --> 00:56:41.739
so far? Oh, yeah. I think so. Absolutely. Give

00:56:41.739 --> 00:56:44.420
me some math. I'm working on it, but now I'm

00:56:44.420 --> 00:56:49.420
nervous. Did you say 24? 24. 24. Is that the

00:56:49.420 --> 00:56:55.619
plus three? Wow. 27. 27. 27 damage. 6, 6, 5,

00:56:55.800 --> 00:57:00.860
1, 2, 3. Plus three. No, 26. Sorry. 26. We got

00:57:00.860 --> 00:57:03.260
it. 26 damage. Only 26? Oh, well, never mind.

00:57:05.480 --> 00:57:09.559
This giant rattlesnake whirls its head towards

00:57:09.559 --> 00:57:12.760
Eminem. And as it kind of begins to, like, move

00:57:12.760 --> 00:57:15.480
its way towards there, as its head sort of rises

00:57:15.480 --> 00:57:18.400
up after it smashed down to the table, you see

00:57:18.400 --> 00:57:21.880
an opening. Perfect opening as it sort of moves

00:57:21.880 --> 00:57:23.760
away from your allies that are sort of gathered

00:57:23.760 --> 00:57:25.980
around it. This is what you've been waiting for,

00:57:26.019 --> 00:57:28.940
Zebulon. Come on. Hands firm. No longer shaking.

00:57:29.420 --> 00:57:33.719
Legs stop shaking. Zebulon, it's fucking hero

00:57:33.719 --> 00:57:38.519
time. Steady aim. Arrow launches. Where do you

00:57:38.519 --> 00:57:42.039
hit the snake when you kill it? Right in the

00:57:42.039 --> 00:57:45.599
eye. Right in the eye. Holy snake eyes. This

00:57:45.599 --> 00:57:49.659
arrow slides right under Chester's arrowhead

00:57:49.659 --> 00:57:51.440
sticking out from earlier from his head. You

00:57:51.440 --> 00:57:53.679
snap it right in the eye and this thing with

00:57:53.679 --> 00:57:58.539
one last hiss and a rattle drops down into the

00:57:58.539 --> 00:58:03.159
dirt of the plaza, dead. Wow. Cool. Everything

00:58:03.159 --> 00:58:06.900
goes quiet. I just breathed for the first time

00:58:06.900 --> 00:58:10.719
in an hour. Everything is very, very quiet. You

00:58:10.719 --> 00:58:13.360
see the area around you is still quite cleared

00:58:13.360 --> 00:58:17.840
out. And Jules, you're still on the ground. You're

00:58:17.840 --> 00:58:19.900
still unconscious. Anyone going to do something

00:58:19.900 --> 00:58:21.519
about that? Or do you just want to let him bleed

00:58:21.519 --> 00:58:24.239
out? No. We're just going to let him bleed out,

00:58:24.300 --> 00:58:26.380
actually. Make a few more death saves for me.

00:58:26.440 --> 00:58:28.679
We're going to start shopping around the plaza

00:58:28.679 --> 00:58:32.019
here. A few minutes pass. No. John will run over.

00:58:32.159 --> 00:58:35.940
That was a pass. John will run over. Nat 20.

00:58:36.139 --> 00:58:39.599
I'm up. Hey, you're up. John reaches down to

00:58:39.599 --> 00:58:42.099
lay on hands, but Jules just pops up in his face.

00:58:43.279 --> 00:58:45.639
Jean will give him the last point. Oh, yeah.

00:58:46.079 --> 00:58:47.800
So what does that mean? I got one? The wound

00:58:47.800 --> 00:58:51.679
closes just a bit. The sort of wound around the

00:58:51.679 --> 00:58:54.659
fang starts to close. Maybe that wound isn't

00:58:54.659 --> 00:58:56.619
so bad, but the poison's still in you, and it

00:58:56.619 --> 00:58:59.519
still hurts, still aches. Okay, so I think in

00:58:59.519 --> 00:59:03.119
Jules' fashion, he's going to open his eyes,

00:59:03.219 --> 00:59:06.079
and immediately, without hesitation, he's going

00:59:06.079 --> 00:59:09.760
to cast Cure Wounds on himself. Okay. Very aware

00:59:09.760 --> 00:59:14.719
of the situation. It's Jules. You go to cast

00:59:14.719 --> 00:59:18.280
this Jules, and as you're casting it, you almost

00:59:18.280 --> 00:59:21.840
don't get a chance to get the spell off as a

00:59:21.840 --> 00:59:26.079
Chester just drops down on top of you, just grabbing

00:59:26.079 --> 00:59:28.840
you in this big hug. Oh, that's great, because

00:59:28.840 --> 00:59:32.460
it's max. Hell yeah. So it's 1d8 plus 3, so that's

00:59:32.460 --> 00:59:35.000
11. Hell yeah. That's 11, so that brings me up

00:59:35.000 --> 00:59:38.309
to 13 out of 14. Jules, Jules, you're up. Jules,

00:59:38.389 --> 00:59:41.190
holy shit. I thought I got you. Just, I'm fine.

00:59:41.289 --> 00:59:44.110
I'm fine. I'm fine. All right. I'm fine. All

00:59:44.110 --> 00:59:46.409
right, yeah. We're good. We're good. Did you

00:59:46.409 --> 00:59:48.909
see the size of that thing, Jules? Holy shit.

00:59:48.949 --> 00:59:51.329
No, I didn't. I didn't. I hit it with my hammer.

00:59:51.630 --> 00:59:55.869
Holy shit. You did good fucking work. You did

00:59:55.869 --> 00:59:58.889
good work, Justin. He kind of lingers on you

00:59:58.889 --> 01:00:01.250
for a second, and then he sort of moves back

01:00:01.250 --> 01:00:05.659
and just, like, collapses down. onto his butt

01:00:05.659 --> 01:00:08.000
just like with a oof and you could see his like

01:00:08.000 --> 01:00:10.239
body is still his veins like popping out all

01:00:10.239 --> 01:00:12.380
over his body as his poison still running its

01:00:12.380 --> 01:00:14.219
course in him like it's not damaging him anymore

01:00:14.219 --> 01:00:19.099
but he's just like hurt and winded he's just

01:00:19.099 --> 01:00:22.940
Chester Chester you're hurt you're hurt here

01:00:22.940 --> 01:00:25.139
here here and they cast Cure Wounds on Chester

01:00:25.139 --> 01:00:28.219
you reach out your hand to do that and you realize

01:00:28.219 --> 01:00:32.920
something very interesting as you go to reach

01:00:32.920 --> 01:00:35.420
out your hand you see that Suddenly there's like

01:00:35.420 --> 01:00:39.820
a cloth tied over it. And you realize that Chester

01:00:39.820 --> 01:00:41.300
was doing more than just hugging you right there.

01:00:42.539 --> 01:00:46.000
He's always got your back. Thanks, buddy. And

01:00:46.000 --> 01:00:47.940
you cast through it. Yeah, give me that roll.

01:00:50.019 --> 01:00:52.719
And that's five. So Chester, just exhausted,

01:00:52.760 --> 01:00:55.239
gives you a wink and a smile. And you touch him

01:00:55.239 --> 01:01:00.659
and the veins of poison begin to recede. And

01:01:00.659 --> 01:01:04.889
he just smiles even deeper like, oh, hell. Oh,

01:01:04.909 --> 01:01:08.510
that feels good. That was awful. It wasn't so

01:01:08.510 --> 01:01:13.750
good, buddy. That was close. John Franklin just,

01:01:13.949 --> 01:01:18.469
I'll say. It's a good thing I was here to help

01:01:18.469 --> 01:01:23.070
deal with the opponent. And who are you? He looks

01:01:23.070 --> 01:01:26.510
over and a rat is standing under this tent nearby.

01:01:27.070 --> 01:01:32.130
Just a tourist. Yes, you do look like the sort.

01:01:34.269 --> 01:01:38.389
Zebulon, what are you doing? I think Zebulon's

01:01:38.389 --> 01:01:40.949
still afraid. I know that mechanically that's

01:01:40.949 --> 01:01:44.230
done and over with, but he's still standing over

01:01:44.230 --> 01:01:51.389
by the corner of the building. Is it dead? Guys?

01:01:55.650 --> 01:02:04.320
Yes, dead. You did it. Are you sure? Zeb, you're

01:02:04.320 --> 01:02:09.239
the hero. You're the hero. It's dead. I want

01:02:09.239 --> 01:02:13.219
to hear it from Emon Rath. He's dead already.

01:02:15.519 --> 01:02:22.300
Come on out, son. Okay. And Zebulon will start

01:02:22.300 --> 01:02:28.320
to really slowly walk over. All right. As you're

01:02:28.320 --> 01:02:30.400
moving and walking over, I'll say around the

01:02:30.400 --> 01:02:32.960
corner you see Bink comes out. He's storing his

01:02:32.960 --> 01:02:38.460
knives. He looks satisfied, unhurt. You actually

01:02:38.460 --> 01:02:40.119
see him. He looks over you, gives you a nod,

01:02:40.199 --> 01:02:42.639
and then looks around both sides, sees that no

01:02:42.639 --> 01:02:45.219
one's really moving in yet, and just immediately

01:02:45.219 --> 01:02:47.159
moves over to the downed bodies and just kind

01:02:47.159 --> 01:02:53.429
of starts like... Checking their pockets. Nice.

01:02:53.789 --> 01:02:57.670
I think he'll appreciate that. He's doing his

01:02:57.670 --> 01:03:01.750
quick survey. Yeah, check it out. He's just pocketing

01:03:01.750 --> 01:03:05.389
a couple things real fast as Zebulon moves towards

01:03:05.389 --> 01:03:07.750
the group here, and you all kind of come together

01:03:07.750 --> 01:03:11.170
around the body of this serpent. Wow, what are

01:03:11.170 --> 01:03:17.679
the odds that you show up now at this time? I'm

01:03:17.679 --> 01:03:20.400
on a mission. I mean, I've been, I've been ever,

01:03:20.460 --> 01:03:23.880
ever so close to you, but so far away. I've kept

01:03:23.880 --> 01:03:26.039
my eye on all of you. If it wasn't for you, I'm

01:03:26.039 --> 01:03:27.860
in wrath. We, we could have been dead. All of

01:03:27.860 --> 01:03:30.880
us. We're all here together. And sometimes self

01:03:30.880 --> 01:03:34.280
-sacrifice is the key. I saw that. I saw the

01:03:34.280 --> 01:03:37.039
way you, you like moved in, then you moved out.

01:03:37.079 --> 01:03:39.119
And that was like, that was perfect because then

01:03:39.119 --> 01:03:43.559
I had just, Oh, the best shot. Yes. Yes. Miraculous.

01:03:44.019 --> 01:03:51.219
Miraculous. Miraculous. Miraculous. It's a rollercoaster.

01:03:52.340 --> 01:03:57.059
A rollercoaster. What have you been doing here?

01:03:57.380 --> 01:04:00.739
Well, after I left you on Sopsanko, the night

01:04:00.739 --> 01:04:03.039
market, I had a mission because the poachers

01:04:03.039 --> 01:04:07.239
gave me the clues I needed to discover who was

01:04:07.239 --> 01:04:11.480
spreading this deadly venom. And to find you

01:04:11.480 --> 01:04:17.619
here at this time was just fate. So... The journey

01:04:17.619 --> 01:04:21.960
continues, and we will find the poachers and

01:04:21.960 --> 01:04:28.539
come closer to eliminating this scourge. So are

01:04:28.539 --> 01:04:31.840
these guys... And Zebulon points back to the

01:04:31.840 --> 01:04:35.820
downed combatants. Are these guys poachers? I'm

01:04:35.820 --> 01:04:41.139
in wrath. Go ahead and roll me. I'm going to

01:04:41.139 --> 01:04:45.159
call it a history check with advantage. So that's

01:04:45.159 --> 01:04:50.119
going to be two d20s. So roll that twice. Eight.

01:04:50.900 --> 01:04:53.880
Actually, I'll give you investigation two. Thirteen.

01:04:54.099 --> 01:04:55.739
Thirteen, plus two investigation, so fifteen.

01:04:57.199 --> 01:04:59.739
You kind of look at these figures, and maybe

01:04:59.739 --> 01:05:02.900
Bink also, like he pulls up maybe a certain insignia.

01:05:03.480 --> 01:05:05.400
You know what happens? Bink is over there, and

01:05:05.400 --> 01:05:06.900
actually he comes down to one of these bodies,

01:05:07.039 --> 01:05:09.360
and he feels the body, and it's already passed.

01:05:10.260 --> 01:05:11.840
And you see he takes out his knife real fast,

01:05:12.000 --> 01:05:14.579
and just a quick clean cut looks both ways on

01:05:14.579 --> 01:05:16.960
somewhere on its arm. And he looks at you, and

01:05:16.960 --> 01:05:18.639
he kind of barely holds up a little piece of

01:05:18.639 --> 01:05:23.139
skin with this image on it. It looks like a serpent

01:05:23.139 --> 01:05:25.800
eating its own tail. A little tattoo. And he

01:05:25.800 --> 01:05:27.559
kind of gives you a nod, and you know, these

01:05:27.559 --> 01:05:29.960
are snake eaters. This is the group you were

01:05:29.960 --> 01:05:31.900
here to hunt. Why they're in the middle of town?

01:05:32.579 --> 01:05:34.539
Why they're releasing the, you would assume,

01:05:34.639 --> 01:05:36.019
the rattlesnake they've been milking for its

01:05:36.019 --> 01:05:37.739
poison? Why they're releasing it in the middle

01:05:37.739 --> 01:05:39.440
of this town, the middle of a festival? It makes

01:05:39.440 --> 01:05:42.789
no sense. There's no profit here. And as you

01:05:42.789 --> 01:05:44.829
guys see these bodies, I will say another weird

01:05:44.829 --> 01:05:46.730
thing that makes kind of noting, and you note

01:05:46.730 --> 01:05:52.170
as well, as they die, the blood in their eyes

01:05:52.170 --> 01:05:55.530
suddenly starts to fall out the sides, leaking

01:05:55.530 --> 01:05:58.829
out the sides like a slow drip of oil until their

01:05:58.829 --> 01:06:03.429
eyes are clear and sightless in death. Well,

01:06:03.489 --> 01:06:05.849
Jean Franklin kind of picked up on something

01:06:05.849 --> 01:06:08.429
like that, right? He did. He saw they were being

01:06:08.429 --> 01:06:11.739
controlled. But you do know that they are the

01:06:11.739 --> 01:06:13.960
very criminals you were looking for. That's pretty

01:06:13.960 --> 01:06:15.960
gross, by the way, what you did with that skin.

01:06:18.559 --> 01:06:21.980
Mink ignores you. He's got nothing to say to

01:06:21.980 --> 01:06:27.699
you. We're getting warmer. Well, what's the next

01:06:27.699 --> 01:06:30.320
step to tracking these guys down? I mean, because

01:06:30.320 --> 01:06:33.119
there's got to be more than just these three.

01:06:33.820 --> 01:06:36.409
I'll say right now, I'm in wrath. the trail is

01:06:36.409 --> 01:06:38.130
pretty cold. You'll want to examine the scene.

01:06:38.369 --> 01:06:40.150
Uh, once things die down here, you'll probably

01:06:40.150 --> 01:06:41.869
want to check things out, investigate, see if

01:06:41.869 --> 01:06:43.289
you can find any more clues. And maybe there's

01:06:43.289 --> 01:06:45.849
other worlds where, uh, there might be more to

01:06:45.849 --> 01:06:49.550
find. Yeah. That makes sense. But you know, these

01:06:49.550 --> 01:06:51.849
groups often travel like, like the group you

01:06:51.849 --> 01:06:53.510
fought on to Sunco was, was smaller like this.

01:06:53.530 --> 01:06:55.389
And you'd think more than four people here is

01:06:55.389 --> 01:06:56.929
unlikely because it would garner too much attention.

01:06:57.949 --> 01:07:01.869
So, well, what about a bank? Did he find anything

01:07:01.869 --> 01:07:06.179
of value in the pockets? Uh, You definitely see

01:07:06.179 --> 01:07:09.460
his pockets are a little bulging. Or clues. You

01:07:09.460 --> 01:07:10.820
don't necessarily know if it's clues. He's definitely

01:07:10.820 --> 01:07:12.800
looking for clues, but you know Bank. He's looking

01:07:12.800 --> 01:07:14.639
for gold as well, and he's probably finding some.

01:07:17.880 --> 01:07:24.760
Man. What a rapscallion. Oh, yeah. I'm not quite

01:07:24.760 --> 01:07:29.780
sure, to be honest with you. I'm at a loss. I

01:07:29.780 --> 01:07:32.360
mean, I think I would have to... spend more time

01:07:32.360 --> 01:07:34.300
in the area. Yeah. We'll say basically following

01:07:34.300 --> 01:07:36.559
this, uh, and then the wrath himself will cordon

01:07:36.559 --> 01:07:39.400
off the area and he will perform his investigation

01:07:39.400 --> 01:07:41.699
as a luminary and you'll, you'll be fine with

01:07:41.699 --> 01:07:44.980
that. Um, it's going to be hard because you actually

01:07:44.980 --> 01:07:47.400
look over and see like a crowd of people is slowly

01:07:47.400 --> 01:07:49.219
starting to accumulate and like see what's going

01:07:49.219 --> 01:07:51.460
on and starting to move towards you. So, uh,

01:07:51.619 --> 01:07:53.000
the time you have right now is gonna be limited

01:07:53.000 --> 01:07:56.460
because well, you're heroes and you might just

01:07:56.460 --> 01:08:00.440
get heralded as such now. Hmm. Um, Maybe Zebulon

01:08:00.440 --> 01:08:02.300
will try to make a little space as people start

01:08:02.300 --> 01:08:06.420
to come in closer. He'll, excuse me, stay back,

01:08:06.559 --> 01:08:10.400
please. Emon Rath is here. We got to keep this

01:08:10.400 --> 01:08:16.439
scene sterile. And so just if you, this is the

01:08:16.439 --> 01:08:20.000
line right here. This is the line. Please don't

01:08:20.000 --> 01:08:23.220
pass. One little thing, though, actually, I will

01:08:23.220 --> 01:08:25.930
say. uh, Zebulon and all of you, as you're kind

01:08:25.930 --> 01:08:27.510
of like trying to, as a crowd's moving in, all

01:08:27.510 --> 01:08:29.270
these people are just like, like they're very

01:08:29.270 --> 01:08:31.210
quiet. There's more murmurs right now. Not a

01:08:31.210 --> 01:08:33.210
lot of like cheering yet, but they're just looking

01:08:33.210 --> 01:08:35.750
at the snake and like eyes wide. But as they

01:08:35.750 --> 01:08:38.149
start to move in, you see one figure resolve

01:08:38.149 --> 01:08:40.350
itself from like around the side of the, of the

01:08:40.350 --> 01:08:43.810
fountain. You see, um, this figure stood out

01:08:43.810 --> 01:08:46.310
to you before. They're like an androgynous God's

01:08:46.310 --> 01:08:49.189
folk, uh, clad in sort of purple looks like maybe

01:08:49.189 --> 01:08:50.550
like almost like a religious guard with a big

01:08:50.550 --> 01:08:54.359
sash down the front. And. You see they have the

01:08:54.359 --> 01:08:56.260
slight smile on their face as they're holding

01:08:56.260 --> 01:08:59.819
a diamond to their eyes. But before you can really

01:08:59.819 --> 01:09:03.560
move on that, the crowd overtakes them and they're

01:09:03.560 --> 01:09:06.819
gone. And a little bit louder. Yes, I was the

01:09:06.819 --> 01:09:09.420
one who killed it. I was the one who fired the

01:09:09.420 --> 01:09:12.600
last shot. That's not important right now. There's

01:09:12.600 --> 01:09:20.180
an investigation, an active investigation. Self

01:09:20.180 --> 01:09:23.600
-promotion. And finally, I almost hear one guy

01:09:23.600 --> 01:09:27.439
like, I'm going to sick. Hey, that's Ebonrath.

01:09:28.600 --> 01:09:31.319
Ebonrath, Ebonrath, Ebonrath, Ebonrath. And people

01:09:31.319 --> 01:09:33.119
were just starting to go wild. You see hats thrown

01:09:33.119 --> 01:09:38.039
in the air and cheering begins then. Hey, roll

01:09:38.039 --> 01:09:40.260
me a persuade or intimidate check, Zebulon, because

01:09:40.260 --> 01:09:46.159
they're fucking coming. Oh, wow. Yeah, I think

01:09:46.159 --> 01:09:48.970
I'd rather roll. Persuasion than intimidation.

01:09:49.010 --> 01:09:50.649
One, because I don't think Zebulon would try

01:09:50.649 --> 01:09:52.890
to intimidate a crowd, but also because my stat

01:09:52.890 --> 01:09:54.489
is better for persuade. All right, go ahead.

01:09:55.449 --> 01:09:56.970
It's going to be good because these guys are

01:09:56.970 --> 01:09:59.310
hype. Yeah, it doesn't matter. That was a three

01:09:59.310 --> 01:10:01.869
on the die, so six total. Zebulon, you're trying

01:10:01.869 --> 01:10:04.090
to hang on, hang on. And you guys all just see

01:10:04.090 --> 01:10:07.529
like this sea of God's folk just plowing through

01:10:07.529 --> 01:10:10.970
you. The festival continues. You guys are swarmed

01:10:10.970 --> 01:10:14.949
by excited people. And we'll call it there.
