S2 Ep6 - Preparing for the Hunt

In our last episode the Adventurers enjoyed the evening’s festivities around the communal bonfire. One of the village elders explained that the people of the undying light were cursed to keep a candle burning for all time as a result of a terrible tragedy. This is season 2 Episode 6: preparing for the hunt. 

Music in this episode by: Sun Umbra and Sagey
Night Sound by: Marlo1981

Warning: Contains dark themes that may not be suitable for all audiences. Instagram @phantomnirvana
Email phantomnirvana@gmail.com 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Close your eyes and open your mind.

SPEAKER_01 0:03

This is Phantom Nirvana, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast. Be advised, this story contains dark themes that may not be suitable for some audiences. And now we present Phantom Nirvana. Phantom Nirvana

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Our last episode, the adventurers enjoyed the evening's

SPEAKER_01 0:52

festivities around the communal bonfire. One of the village elders explained that the people of the Undying Light were cursed to keep a candle burning for all time as a result of a terrible tragedy. This is Season 2, Episode 6, Preparing for the Hunt. Well, I was told if you are a stealthy, meet me after dark. I think once, you know, when everything's simmered down and people start to sort of bed down for the night, so Mal tried to stay awake and then sneak to this spot where we were having that conversation. Okay. Okay, so as you sort of head out, what do you think, Rehana?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

I think Rehana is... Extremely curious to know what it was that Mal was hinting at. It seemed like she had some major news to drop. And so she would stay up and basically be very attentive to any signs that somebody might be nearby. And perhaps, I don't know if she has a guard, but maybe excuse herself.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah, I think Hilroy or Mikael... Or one of the other two might tag along, but you could dismiss them, I suppose. So you end up meeting up with each other in the night there. How does that conversation go down? Is there any exchange that happens in information? Since it's night and we're trying to be stealthy, I'd like to send message. Okay, I like that. And I think I can just keep doing that so we can sort of call in response in our heads for this whole conversation. Okay, great. I would

SPEAKER_00 2:56

like to tell you the truth. As I've experienced it, my friends and I appeared in this place. We encountered you. We encountered your people. And the candle was knocked out. And this place was stampeded by a titan. And then we, I don't know how to describe it. reappeared outside of your oasis outside of the caravan as if time had rewritten itself when your storyteller mentioned a titan i just felt like you should know that we'd had a direct experience with that and i have no idea why you should believe me are you saying that we all died and yet here you are now i

SPEAKER_01 3:42

kind of think so i don't i don't really know but i think Something greater than us is moving us through this story, and I don't think it does me any good to keep that to myself, whether you believe me or not.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Let's say that I believe this incredibly wild tale. What good does it do me? Better question. How many times have we died?

SPEAKER_01 4:07

With us, once. Beyond that, I don't know. I don't know if we've gotten caught in a cycle that your people are experiencing, or if we are the source of this thing. But for us, this has happened

SPEAKER_00 4:23

once and once only so far. I can only see one way to move forward with this information. I will assume that we will all die again, and that you will seek me out again, and that you will probably try to tell me again. Okay.

UNKNOWN 4:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

So what I offer you is a memory I've never shared with a single soul. Nobody would know this detail of my life. Okay. Anything you want to tell me, I will do my best to return it to you if we go through

SPEAKER_01 4:55

this again. I

SPEAKER_00 4:57

have a glimpse of a memory. It is within the walls of Kalamesh. My hand is playing with fish inside of an indigo fountain with beautifully decorated small tiles. And I remember scooping up a dead fish before the guards came and pulled me away. And the rest is all blurry. I don't know why I remember this. I don't know if it's real. I've never shared it with a soul. And I don't really remember Kalamesh. I don't really know if that's what Kalamesh looks like. The color of the fish, the color of the mosaic tile, anything? It was a goldfish. It's really stood out sparkling against the dark blue tile. How can we best serve you for the hunt tomorrow? Would you like us to be with you or to remain here with the caravan or to divide our strength? The more hunters, the better. We have no idea how large the Urshion is. Great. I'll make sure we're with you. Rest up as we ride early.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

So I think maybe there's a nod. of acknowledgement between the two of you?

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Well, not.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yeah, you sort of, you go your separate ways. You head back to the tent. So the night passes without further incident and you awaken. It is a quiet morning. You hear the sounds of the caravan around your tent sort of coming to life. clang of metalwork and people talking and maybe some cooking-type sounds, the sounds of a fire even. It's cold in the desert in the morning. And as you draw yourselves out, I was going to ask, is there anybody among you who's kind of an early riser, might wander out there early? Well, Axel definitely doesn't wake up early. No? Okay. Neither does Josh, I think. josh probably even has a little bit of a slight headache not a hangover but a little bit of a headache okay i think mal's slept pretty lightly since that conversation and is awake pretty early okay so let's just suppose that mal sort of exits the tent first pulling on your clothes or whatever and you step outside and you look outside and you can see that uh you can see that there's a large wagon that is being brought to the center of the um of the caravan, it's having items removed from it. Boxes, there's a couple of barrels that are being pulled down off, sacks of this or that. It's being emptied, basically. And then there are four people who are doing this. It is the guards, the usual suspects, Hilroy, Mikhail, Sonora, and Glenn. And they're emptying this cart It's a pretty good-sized cart. It's probably 15 feet long. As you kind of wander over in that direction, you can see that Rehana is directing them to do this. She's around the other side. She kind of comes around the side of the cart. She makes eye contact with you, gives you a nod, and they carry on emptying the cart. You can see that she is carrying three spears, three long spears, and is wearing some... some what looks like leather armor. It's got some shimmering metal-looking danglies on it at different places. It's got almost like a Mother of Pearl sort of look to it. It's really a beautiful armor set, almost royal-looking, befitting her title. And she comes over to you, and she extends one of the spears to you. Did you have any weapon with you, Mal, at all? I have my lady dagger. Oh, that's right, the lady dagger. Taken off of that bloodthirsty cannibal. And your biting wit, what was the other weapon that you had? I don't think I like the way you said that. What does thou mean? Yep, that's all Mal's got, frankly, because my strength ain't so high. Great, but Mal has learned since our first adventure, I think, at the very least, how to hold a spear from watching the boys. So Mal would like to reach out and at least competently take hold of this weapon. Okay, great. If the DM will allow it. Yeah, of course. She gives it to you. And about that time, a couple of the other gentlemen come out of the tent. Who might be next? Marcus walks in. Marcus walks out. Who else? Also, Sam walks out with Marcus. Okay. So you two head outside. You can see that there is a small group of people that are kind of gathering around where the cart is. They're kind of talking to each other, and there's some, I wouldn't say commotion, but there's some interest in what is happening. You know, you're not really clear what's happening, but you're standing pretty close to some other folks from the caravan if you want to interact with them. When Mal... sees Sam come out of the tent, can she fake out like she's going to throw this beer to him? Yeah, sure. I don't know how to do that. I want to fake it, but I can't guarantee that I'm great at that. Do a performance check. That's not athletics? What is that? Are you actually going to throw it? I want to fake it. So performance makes sense. Unless it's a one. Do performance. Let's have that. Okay, a 14. Yeah, it's a very, what's your, I don't know, insight, Ben? Insight, let's try.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

Ooh, 13.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Oh, you did not exceed. I'm still shaking the sleepies out of my eyes and I flinch at the sight of the spear maybe hitting in my direction. Yeah. Mal feels terrible because this was in fact a bad joke. Okay, great. Good morning. We've got spears for the hunt. Oh, good. That's right. We didn't keep everything from before. So who else is in need of a weapon? I've got my bow, so I think I'm okay. I still have this foil that is a little concerning to me, but I suppose I'll hold on to it. Okay. So you have the spear to give or to whomever wants it. Who comes out of the tent next? I'll say Axel comes out. Axel comes out, okay. So when Axel emerges, what body part is he scratching? I was going to say his form. His stomach for sure, dude. As you come out, you can see that there's some people now who are offering food to the guards and they take it in small wrapped up packages. of food you know it's like some fruit that kind of thing like a like a like a day pack sort of deal some water skins are being given and as you sort of wander towards the cart uh getting the sense that that's what the group is doing uh led by mal mikhail uh approaches you and he says um so i understand from rehana that you will be joining us on the hunt that's right i think i think that we all agreed to do that Excellent. And do you have any experience hunting these sorts of creatures? Probably not this creature, but I spent my fair share around animals. Don't you worry about me, man. Are you armed? And he kind of looks around your person as you continue to scratch your belly. Nope. Usually I just make friends with them, but you know. You will need something to defend yourself. This creature is nothing that you'll want to tangle with or try to befriend. I've, how do you say it, got some abilities that I can manifest at any given time. I don't think a weapon is going to be my choice here. Very well, very well. Where is the rest of your group here? Is this woman here and who else? Yeah, we got, well, he points over at them. I think that's everybody. We're definitely not forgetting someone. And about that time, that's when Michael, your character, comes out, Joshua. And what's he look like when he comes out from the tent? Josh tries to walk, clear out the door, but ends up running into the post on the side of it. And it's just squinting at the sun, is having a rough time waking up. Did I miss the hunt? And a few people look over and chuckle as your tent sort of wobbles. You bonk into one of the things. Anyway, yeah, so you kind of come out and the spear is still being passed around. So who is, now that you're gathering now around the cart, Mikael bringing you close and showing you some of the food that you've been given here, who's taking the spear that's been handed? I would happily replace this busted-ass spear I've been fighting with with this new one. Yeah. I'll hand it off to Josh then, but that leaves me weaponless, only magical. Are we all pretty okay with that? What kind of weapon do you think that Mal would like? Look around. You're seeing at the hip of the guard some crooked swords. And on Rehana's hip, she's got like a curved scimitar type blade. We don't have any like explosives, do we? They don't have grenades. Is that what you're, are you asking around or are you just thinking out loud kind of a thing? If you, DM, are asking me, character manifester, what I think my character would like as a weapon, that's what I've got as an answer. Not like Mal thinks that exists in this caravan, but I, character creator, do. Let's have you make a history check, just for fun. Hey, DM, I'm only denying a weapon because of Axel's inability to use one. He has some proficiencies, but I don't know if the caravan would have him. Could he look around too? Yeah, what's he seeking exactly? What kind of proficiency might be? Because I mean, this is like a situation where the caravan is coming together to arm the hunters, right? So if you wanted to ask for something, there would be opportunity for you to do so. And so what did you roll now?

SPEAKER_00 16:11

I rolled a 15 history.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Okay, so you're able to get three bottles of something called Alchemist's Fire. Really? Yeah, you can look that up in the handbook or you can look it up on your D&D Beyond. This episode brought to you by D&D Beyond. Axel, what did you think you were maybe asking around about? Like slings? A sling? Yeah. I think that would be easy to acquire, a sling, if you were to ask about that. You think so? Sure. I think that's probably Axel's style. Yeah, okay, good. Go for that. That's great. You've got the sling now, and you're going to be using the ammunition. Well, let's give you 20 or so ammunition for that. It's just small, smooth stones. What about Sam? He's got this... massive three-headed flail sort of slung across his back or something. What do you think he is doing to prepare himself for potentially battling a giant sand crab? Well, the first thing is trying to work out the three or four knots along his spine from sleeping in this tent last night. Beyond that, I think Sam is feeling fairly prepared and is looking to see who else he can help get ready even if it's just loading, unloading gear. Okay, so you are approached by Glenn and she hands you a length of sausage, this dried sausage, and she says, breakfast. Ooh, excellent. I am suddenly realizing how hungry I am and how hungry I suspect that my friends are as well. Do you have a knife or something to cut this up? Oh, you can just tear it. Just tear it. If you're still hungry, there's more food here in the wagon.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

And she gestures

SPEAKER_01 18:07

to the pouches of the... Is anybody else going to eat prior to... I will make some rounds and apparently tearing off a piece of sausage for everybody. Yeah. It's like a big, long one. Josh doesn't even use his hands, just lets Sam feed it to him. Okay, so around that time, Nicole comes over, leading two of the ugliest Gorok that you have yet seen, with all their jingly janglies, which match the sort of Mother of Pearl shimmery armor that Rehana is wearing. Nicole brings them up. She coughs. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Nicole, is your cough getting any better?

SPEAKER_01 18:55

No. No. No, still not better. It's this air. It's just so dry out here. I

SPEAKER_00 19:01

see you've brought us beauty and beast here, eh? I

SPEAKER_01 19:06

have, I have. I've brought them beauty and beast they are indeed. When she hands you the reins for these things, they start chewing some kind of cud. And they're taller than you. To climb up onto them, there's like a little ladder on the side, a little rope sort of stirrups up to the saddle on top. Each of the saddles could hold probably three people.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

So Rihanna will do the clasp at the wrist kind of handshake and say, thank you, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Okay. She shakes your hand. And then when you release your hand, she immediately coughs into her own hand and walks off. You can tie the Gorox off to the wagon, I guess. Mal, did you get yourself a weapon? I can't remember. The Alchemist's Fire. Alchemist's Fire. Mal is stoked. That's right. She's ready. Did you look it up? Yes. Okay, good. Okay, fun. Can I get like a bandolier sort of situation with these? Yeah, right? It's got to be a bandolier. Got to be. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, what else? What else is necessary? I mean, this is your time to stock up, people. What are you going to need to hunt a giant crab that this caravan might have? I think I have a scenic question. Is this the sort of... Is this... Are we leaving the caravan behind and this is a hunt that could take weeks? Or is this a sort of day trip? This is a day trip because it is your understanding that this crab is believed to be right there on the big rock outcropping that's like a quarter of a mile away. Groovy.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Okay, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Is there any way Axel could get some armor? He's had 13 armor classes this whole time and just gets beat up. Why don't you make a history check since that's what I've decided is the check. Mal could get on board the armor train too if there's any light armor hanging around. Yeah, light armor. Okay, go ahead and both make a history check. So 19 plus 1. Okay, Mal? 18. Axel, let's give you a set of leather armor. And Mal, let's give you a set of padded armor. That's going to give you disadvantage on stealth checks, Mal.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Why?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

The pads. I guess so. Let's see. What does it actually say about that? Okay. Padded armor consists of quilted layers of cloth and batting. It must be like making a shush. So it goes like shush, shush. That's exactly what

SPEAKER_00 21:31

I was thinking. Really, DM? I sneak out at night one time.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

I have one nighttime conversation finally after I just get message and now you're taking it away. Padded armor it is. Headed Armored is. Headed Armored is. I don't think it rules here, okay? If it makes you feel better, Axel has plus five stealth and has never used it. Ever. You did and no one noticed. It could have been a deal where you sort of were so stealthy that no one noticed. What about Marcus Birkhead? What's he asking around for? Anything? Are you getting on that train of stocking up? Marcus is looking for any kind of... It's a specific kind of weapon. It's... It's two long metal poles, if you will, that are connected at the top of one end with like a hinge. And then there's like kind of spiky, there's like a spiky part on the inside. that like maybe you could grab a crab claw maybe and like crush it in between the two. Okay. Is there anything like that laying around? Anything available? Some butter. Yeah, yeah, sure. Is there any drawn butter? Clarified gore or milk or something? No. No, as usual, Marcus is just kind of looking around at everything, not really understanding anything. What should be done? Marcus would like to talk to, was it Mikael? That was Mikael? Mikael, yeah. I was asking, have you ever fought this kind of creature before? Yeah, you kind of get over to where they're talking. Yeah, and I just want to know, Mikael, how many times have you attempted to fight this creature? How much experience do you have? And what do you know about this creature? The Urshion is about a 15 to 20 foot tall creature. crab that moves around on six legs. And I have personally hunted three of them. Only one was successful. The other two times we were able to bring back the eggs, and he looks over at Sonora and she gives him a nod like, yeah, we got the eggs. We got the eggs, but we weren't able to actually slay the Urshion itself. In the past, we have used ropes or nets to try to hold it down. It is most vulnerable with When it is laying its eggs, which we believe it is doing now because there's some sand being thrown up into the air on the other side of the rocks. And that is an indication that it is burrowing down to create a sort of nest to lay its eggs. So what we're thinking is we're going to go and try to sneak upon it and surprise it. while it is laying its eggs and either try to subdue it or kill it, or I don't know what we're going to do exactly at this point. We have to survey when we get there. But in general, it becomes a fight to the death, basically, is what happens. Okay. That is helpful. Thank you. Oh, the other thing I should mention is that it can disguise itself. So you've got to be very careful as we approach because it can look just like the sand or like a rock. Yeah. So how do you know where it is? We believe it's over there. You can tell by the shimmer that it has. You can see that Rehana has some of the shells of one of the past ones that the tribe has been able to kill successfully in her armor there. And on the Gorok, some of their jingly janglies here. These are made from the shells of these Urshion. So you can see the shimmer. That's an indication that that is not a, you know, just a rock that that's actually what we're going after here. Okay. Yeah. So we got lots of ropes and he gestures to the, to the cart, big empty cart. And he says, and this cart, if it wasn't obvious is for us to bring the thing back or at least the eggs, if we can get them optimistic. I like it. Yeah. Okay. What was your name again? I am Marcus. Marcus, I'm so glad to meet you. I'm Mikael. I'm glad you're with us. Hi, Mikael. Glad to be here. Hope we can help. Oh, I'm sure you will. I mean, we may want to come up with some kind of plan when we get closer, start thinking about something, but it's likely it's going to be down in a hole of some depth if it's laying its eggs. If you look out just over there, come around the side of this tent. If you look out there, you can actually watch for a moment. You could see sand everywhere. puff up into the sky. That is the digging that is occurring, right? And that's why it's vital that we head off here shortly. Okay, let's do it. Giddy up. Would anyone else like to do anything? Rehana, is there anything she would bring specifically for this purpose?

SPEAKER_00 26:30

You see her fully adorned crown and all.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

I think that she might wear a smaller version of the crown, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

No, it's like a circlet with a big sun in the middle.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

Yeah, there you go. Yeah, yeah, great. I guess this might be a good time as I attempt every single episode so far this season. Can I figure out what the fuck this druid cloak does? Can I talk to somebody about it? Yeah, you can talk to somebody. Are you going to talk to anyone in particular? Are you just going to find the oldest ass person that you can find? Do you want to talk to one of the guards? I feel like at this point he's been around the camp enough that he might know somebody. He's got a sense for somebody to speak to. Yeah, someone who might be proficient in magical items. Okay, so you approach. Let me see here. Like a pawn shop. Can you tell me what this is? I can only give you $5 for this. I'll give you $2 for it. I've seen better. Okay, you approach a middle-aged gentleman. He's got kind of a beard. And as you come over, he says, hello. Hi, how's it going? You seem like the fella, and I've heard from around the camp here, who could tell me what this does. I found it on a post-adventure with my comrades, and I have a feeling that there is some kind of positive property to this, if you could help me out. Specifically, you're talking about this little cape you're wearing? Yeah, yeah. I call it a druid cloak. A druid cloak? You're thinking that I'm going to be able to, well, take it off. Let me have a look at it. And he says, hmm, this is interesting. What I want you to do is to put this thing on. Put it around your shoulders now. And he helps you put it back on. Now, I want you to imagine that you're not standing where you're standing. I want you to imagine that you're standing over there. And he points about five feet to your right. Axel closes his eyes and tries his hardest. And immediately an illusion of yourself appears to be standing in that spot next to your location. Holy shit. And as you respond and your mouth moves, its mouth moves just like yours. It is mirroring. Oh my God. That's so sick. You kind of move your hands and it moves the hands exactly like you. As you turn your head, it turns with you. This is a cloak of displacement. So you can add that to your inventory. Cloak of displacement. This is a wondrous item. While you wear this cloak, it projects an illusion that makes you appear to be standing in a place near your actual location, causing any creature to have disadvantage on attack rolls against you. If you take damage, the property ceases to function until the start of your next turn. This property is suppressed while you are incapacitated, restrained, or otherwise unable to move. Oh, my God. I can Doctor Strange, motherfuckers. Let's go. Yeah. That's sick. Cloak of Displacement. So I like that you can sort of activate this sort of as a bonus action. Yeah, that's cool. Thanks, man. Nice. This is sure. Yeah. This is a very special item. glad to help okay friends anything else let's go kill this crab let's do it okay they start to blow some horns and everybody kind of gathers and they start to pull the cart along with you and it the the the party of uh the hunting party consists of just to remind you um It is Rehana. It is the five of you. It is Mikael, Sonora, Glenn, and Hilroy, the four guards. And then you also see trotting up on one of the Goroks, Rodrigo Whelan, the Fletcher. And he looks down at Rehana and he says, no, now is the time. We have to go.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Then Rehana would immediately climb onto the Gorok and gesture for everybody to follow suit.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Okay. Okay. Who's getting on the Gorok? I think Hilroy hops up. Is it three per Gorok? Yeah, three per Gorok. So who's riding with Rihanna and who's riding with Hilroy? And who's riding with Rodrigo? You've got room for six. Is everybody getting up? I want to ride with Rihanna. Josh is going to get up with Rodrigo. Marcus says, after our experience... wrangling these back, I don't wish to ride one again. That's exactly what Axel was feeling. Is Axel going to turn into a dragon or whatever? He almost prefers to just walk as a horse than to ride one of them. Are you going to get on top? Are you going to ride him again, Marcus? Can we just kind of nod? Let's do this. What about Sam? What's Sam doing? Now to clarify, you said pulling the cart. Is the cart being called Pulled by rocks? Yeah. Yeah, I think you could walk alongside. I was going to say Sam sits on the back of the cart. Okay. Oh, I like that. As long as it's not an imposition. No, no, it's no problem. There's nothing on there. You're fine. Okay, so people start to wave as you leave the confines of the caravan. You head out into the sands. It's much more windy. You're traveling along. You know exactly where you're going. You're seeing this outcropping of rocks. It is larger as you approach it. they are orange rocks the sand is gray so the rocks really stand out they are they are a unique feature of the landscape there are no trees there were some uh some palm-esque trees back where the caravan was there is nothing now it is you are purely in the desert um you're seeing some of those strange dead like root structures sticking out of the sand in a couple places And Rodrigo says, the digging has intensified. I believe that if we come around this side of the rock, we will be able to see, get a good view of exactly what is going on on the other side.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

Rodrigo, take the lead. Go around the side and tell us what you can see.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Okay, so you guys continue to pull the wagon with your two Goroks and Rodrigo clunkity clunkity clunkity clunky kind of goes ahead on this pig like. I love to imagine. I'm going to draw one sometime. But yeah, I just imagine they're like eight feet tall. They got these triple saddles on them, these big jingly janglies and these like some short stubby tusks. And so he goes running off around the side, giving a wide berth to the stones. And he waves to you with his hand like this way, this way. And what happens is he brings you around and you can see as you look at the rocks, you're probably like, 80 feet away from where the rocks are now. And you can see that there is a hole in the ground, a big 20-foot-wide cavern down into the sand that is right next to the rock outcropping. And you can see that every so often as you watch it there, all standing together, you can see that sand flies up out of the cavern. How would you like to proceed?

SPEAKER_00 33:57

I think that my soldiers... would take the ropes and kind of start spreading them out before approaching to kind of, you know, get in position with ropes and net in hand.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Okay. Are they off the Gorox? Are they, are they

SPEAKER_00 34:12

keeping? We've dismounted the Gorox.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

Okay. You've dismounted the Gorox. You're, you're, you're spreading out these lengths of long hemp and rope. What else is happening? I think it's time for Axel to transform back, but without giving Marcus any warning. So I'm just on your back. Yeah. That's great. On his shoulders. Is it possible from where we are to take any kind of cover with the rocks? Like it can now be in fight and distance, but tucked away a little bit? Yeah, you could sort of... scamper around to, to the other side of the rocks from where the, from where this opening in the earth is roughly between 20 and 60 feet away. Sure. Yeah. Who else is doing something? Josh is gonna try to sort of like circle around to like keeping some distance from the hole, but kind of getting on the other side of it to kind of cover all sides. Okay. There's been talk of nets and rope being used in the past. Is there any net and rope action going on that's helping help with? Absolutely, yeah. I think they've got these long ropes. They're spreading out. There's also some big nets, almost like fishing nets. Yeah. What are you thinking? Are you going to spread those out to be able to throw them or something? Yeah, I'm going to be following the lead of people who've done this before. Rehana, you're the... You're the leader in this situation. What's the plan? I

SPEAKER_00 35:47

think I'm going to climb back up on the Gorak and stand on its back to have a really elevated view from above to see if I can see the Urshion from above.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Let's have you make a perception check.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:01

14. As you look peering into the hole, you can see just a glimmer of this crustacean shell. down in the ground.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

Okay, so then I start to wave Mikael and Sonora into, I start to wave them into position. Can

SPEAKER_01 36:22

you describe your special ops hand wave signals to the team?

SPEAKER_00 36:26

They're high in the air so that they can see, and they're just very slow movements, like proceed forward, proceed forward. And I think once they're in the position, ready to start roping the thing down, We want to surprise attack it.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

What exactly are you trying to orchestrate here? Does Rihanna know that Mal has explosives? Yeah, let's assume that you guys all did a show and tell. Cool. Is that an appropriate way to provoke this creature? Okay, I like that. I like this discussion about what the plan is. This is good.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

Okay, I think we would have spoken about the plan upon approaching.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

And... I think that getting everybody to basically encircle the Urshion and then on the signal, once everybody's ready, Mal could throw one of the fire potions in there to not only attack it, but cause it to rise above ground where we can all attack it.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

What's the situation with the net and or ropes? What was discussed about that?

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Once the... ursian is above ground we would attempt to net it and rope it down

SPEAKER_01 37:43

mal do you have a limited number of these explosives what is the deal

SPEAKER_00 37:47

yes

SPEAKER_01 37:48

i do i have three of them and i believe mal would like to make them last as long as can be very conservative with the usage of these things but if a single one of these can is if that's the kind of thing that rihanna would say yes that would provoke the creature if that's like why they had them in the caravan maybe in the first place and i can be the one to launch that i figure i'm curious kevin was your thought like what's the difference between that and just blasting it um marcus has earth tremor that he can cast and so i didn't know i think the explosive is a cool idea that's great But if it's, you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

But it also, to me, it seems like it might damage the shell and the shell

SPEAKER_01 38:31

is the valuable, is part of the value of the thing. So maybe shaking it, giving it an earthquake is a slyer way to get it out of its little cavern.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Would earth tremor potentially harm or cause anybody else to lose their footing? Oh, yeah. Or is it very focused?

SPEAKER_01 38:50

It causes a tremor in the ground within range. Each creature other than you in that area must make a dexterity saving throw, and the range is 10 feet, so I would have to get pretty close.

SPEAKER_00 39:00

Yeah, I don't think Rihanna would like that plan.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Not

SPEAKER_00 39:06

if everybody needs to make a dexterity saving throw in order to start. Oh, because

SPEAKER_01 39:09

we're all around it? Yeah, you're right. Okay. To establish it before we start, after helping out with the nets and ropes, Sam is going to help start to maneuver around closer to Mal. Okay.

UNKNOWN 39:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

Reagan, are you a human again? Or a tiny man? Yes, I'm a tiny normal axle. Are you a tiny man? Are you a tiny man? Yes, I've been imagining this whole time that Marcus has just been on my back still while everybody's doing their stealthy maneuver. Stroking your hair. His toes would have to be dragging in the sand, even on your shoulders. Yes. I guess I think what Axel would want to do after Marcus gets off him is just kind of help with the surrounding area. Because it seems like everybody's trying to surround it. So he wants to keep his distance while maintaining a power position, if that makes sense. Sure. The

SPEAKER_00 40:12

weak points of the Urshion be like the joints. Imagine it's hard to break through the hard shell.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

I don't think the joints... offer that much more opportunity. I'm trying not to give you too much information. The underside has got to be the weak point. Like a shell. I think a shell and the joints are maybe not, but the underside might be I was assuming a standard boss fight, the joints would be like glowing. Yeah, they'll have circles is what it is. Pulsing yellow circles. Yeah, that's it. And then he'll go into a phase where he's sort of on one knee. And that's when you'll really unload on him. But then he goes into rage mode and then it's like the next level of this attack. Yeah, that's right. and you'll have to spend a period of time just rolling out of the way he's going to do a bunch of attacks that you just need to dodge don't worry about it don't try to attack during that stuff he's just going to do it's a full

SPEAKER_00 41:08

all right just remember to keep z targeting on oh my

SPEAKER_01 41:11

god we've been playing so much breath of the wild this weekend yeah exactly okay Okay. you know Thank you for listening to this episode of Phantom Nirvana, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast. Our cast is Regan as Axel Johnson, Michael as Joshua Ames, Ben as Sam Campbell, Kevin as Marcus Burkhead, Yvette as Rayanna, Phil as the Dungeon Master, and myself, Courtney, as Mallory Reed. Our music is by Seiji, Sun Umbra, Gypsy Vision, Gang Colors, and Turn Try.