The Mechanics Guild Ep. 5: "Die! Atla!"

The Guild is under attack and our pledges are thrown into the thick of it. What mysteries can the trio uncover while also rolling death saves? 

Content Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence, blood, body horror, and death.

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This chapter of The Mechanics Guild is run using Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (2014) rules. 

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The Mechanics Guild is written and played by Sarah Davis Reynolds, Carlina Parker, Attilio Rigotti, and Clay Westman. 

Music is by Clay Westman. 

Additional writing is by Taylor Fagins. 

Theme song is by Arcane Anthems. 

Editing is by Taylor Fagins, Attilio Rigotti, and Clay Westman. 

Album art and logo is by Dan Pindell. 

Character Illustrations are by LaserLazuli.

Produced by Ian Prince. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Oh, hi everyone. This is Sarah Davis Reynolds, your game master for the Mechanics Guild. And I just wanted to hop on before this episode and say thank you all so much for listening to the Mechanics Guild thus far. This is a really exciting experiment that we're all embarking on together, and it means so much to know that there are others out there who are enjoying the story that we are telling here. So thank you all for being here. I also wanted to give everyone a heads up that this episode in particular is very combat heavy and gets pretty intense and deals with some severe themes and topics. And so we have put some trigger warnings in the content description of the podcast below. So if these are things that you like to keep an eye out for or be warned about in advance, we have listed those all out in the episode description. I also wanted to say that this is our first very heavy combat episode. And uh we got some things wrong, y'all. Uh it's very funny, even playing a system that all of us know really, really well, how frequently there can be misplays and how we uh do things incorrectly or forget triggers. And so we have recorded an extra episode, a bonus episode behind the scenes, breaking down this combat and what it is like to do DD on this podcast a little bit, uh, and specifically flagging some of the errors that we made in this combat. Um, so that's going to be dropping in two weeks from now, on April 15th, as a little bonus episode for you. So I hope you enjoy this combat episode and then listen to that one and uh laugh along with us as we talk about how things didn't always go as planned. So again, thank you all so much for being here and enjoy the episode. Oh, hi everyone! I hate us and I love us. Um, welcome back to the Mechanics Guild. I am Sarah Davis Reynolds, your game master.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

Uh I'm Attilio Rigotti, I'll be playing Darius.

SPEAKER_05 2:18

I am Carlina Parker, I am playing Lavenia.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

And I'm Clay Westman, I am playing Argo Hull.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Three weeks. 21 days, 504 hours, give or take a few seconds. A simple task, a written test, yet it looms above you like a weighted shadow, obscuring your days and haunting every moment of thought. The topic? Unknown. All you know is that this could make or break your various futures. Lavinia, you know you must be here. You must succeed, or your family suffers. Argo, the creeping anxiety of having access to such knowledge, only to possibly have it be ripped away from you as a consequence of your own failure. Darius, who knows the guild better than anyone, while perhaps also not at all, knowing these trips are your last chance at clarity, at revival, at something. Three weeks to keep proving you belong here. One trial down, and after that maze, you split to the corners of preparation you know best. Argo to the tomes and the scrolls, passing notes with Errol by candlelight. Lavinia to the Hall of Records, identifying those who came before you and may offer you inside knowledge. Darius to the training grounds, polishing strength and limberness, knowing a strong body is necessary to house a strong mind. Three weeks. How do you want to spend it?

SPEAKER_03 3:43

Okay, so great. Argo feels very, very much at home in the library? What's it called? Livwoldium? Livwaldium!

SPEAKER_02 3:53

I'm gonna need all of you to write that down.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Yeah, for sure. Argo feels right at home in the Livwoldium.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Yeah, so just spending your days and nights there researching. Is there anything particular that Argo like gravitates towards studying, or is it just consuming everything he can possibly get his hands on?

SPEAKER_03 4:10

I think the thing that's especially interesting to him is how the interdimensional travel was discovered in the first place, and how the ooh, how uh the those wizards navigate, um, just like everything about that is exceptionally interesting.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Cool. So we had to check here. Why don't you either roll me investigation or um your preference of intelligence, so whether that be arcana or history.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Uh let's do history. So 17.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Great. You learn a lot about the history of the circle, those six original, the founders of the guild and the way that they discovered the first element that, you know, here in what is now the guild, deep in the Fieri Mountains. And and it is important to note in all of this that this is all official guild writing. This is not any different than stories you've heard before. Um, there might be more details because it's sort of internal, but it's consistent with the history you have heard of the guild in the past.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

Um Well, if it's everything that he's already heard before, I can't help but imagine that that's a bit disappointing. He's gone through all these tests, he's climbed this Fieri mountain, and now he's just presented with all of the tales that were already, you know, commonplace to him. Yeah. He's looking for he's looking for the scoop, while also, you know, trying to use this as a way of anticipating what will be on these written tests.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Yeah. Um, what is really interesting is that this original founding group uh was a group of six. And now they send out trios. So they have half the manpower that they send out.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

Is there any reasoning behind that in what I read?

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Not that you can tell from what you've read, but that is pretty consistent. That the circle is the only group of six that was ever sent. Post that it was only ever three.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

I kinda wanna pursue this. Sure. So I'm gonna say that I'm gonna bring that up to Errol while we're like leafing through books. Um, is she as engaged in all of this reading as I am?

SPEAKER_02 6:11

I think it depends. I think Errol is a little bit less focused on history and more focused on future.

SPEAKER_06 6:18

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Also present. So she is reading a lot of log books. Um, there is basically a world guide for every verse that has been discovered. The, you know, flo foliage, the society, the politics, the anything that you might find there. Um and she's going through a little bit more of that to prepare for what it might be like to be someone discovering a new verse and the sort of communication that you would need to have to like document the process.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Got it. That feels that's it's very practical. It's a good approach. Smart.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Well, I mean, we don't have no idea what the, you know, what we're gonna have to do on these tests. What if they what if they like make us roleplay? What if they say, here's a new verse that you've discovered, now you have to write an entire essay of how you're gonna deal with this.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Oh god, I'm terrible at roleplay scenarios.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Oh, well, I can help you learn. Oh. Thank you. Like, like I'm someone brand new. You've never met me before.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Well, that's true.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Well, no, we have, but I mean, like, say that you never met me before.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

You're relatively new. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

So brand new. I I've got like uh purple eyes and and like horns growing out of my shoulders.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

Okay, hi, I'm Marg.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Uh blur blur blur blur blur.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Um okay. I think I'm I I got this. I'm sorry, I'm starting to freak out a little bit. You got this.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Um, how would you communicate with somebody that you like don't speak the same language as?

SPEAKER_03 7:39

I food? Do you food? Yeah. Do you uh I I like a motion to my mouth. Wait, no, I don't need to tell you what I'm doing. I but he starts motioning to his mouth and being like, food, what do you eat? Like trying to find a common ground.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

And Errol goes, you just reminded me I have not eaten today.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

He should do that. I have not either.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna go grab I'm gonna grab a sandwich. Do you want me to grab you something?

SPEAKER_03 8:05

Um, yes, please do. I have more reading that I wanna do now.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Okay, I'll see what's in the hall and I'll come back with some sandwiches.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

As soon as she darts off, he's gonna start pouring through the books she's reading, pulling out his hair, freaking out about like, what will I do when I don't know what to do?

SPEAKER_02 8:22

That's called life, baby. Livendarius, what are y'all doing?

SPEAKER_05 8:28

I think that there are two ways to go about this, and I think I'm obviously we don't know what this next test is going to be, but that there have been other tests of its kind in the past. So I think going to the library to look up previous iterations of this written test to see what kind of things are on there. The other way to go about it is I am sure there's a copy of this test in someone's office. Oh so I think Liv is talking to uh Jackson Kaelin and being like, so here are the options to get the information that we need. You guys have always been sneakier than me, so I think it's easier if I try to get someone to give me the answers legitimately, and if you guys maybe find where the test might be held.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

I see. You want the easy way out, is that it, Slick?

SPEAKER_05 9:21

Neither of these are easier than the other, but I do think that I am better at sifting through information and knowing what's important.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Sure, fine. Whatever you think. We'll just disappear into the shadows, no problem.

SPEAKER_05 9:31

You know that's not what I'm trying to make you.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Literally want us to sneak.

SPEAKER_05 9:34

I literally want to divide and conquer so that we can find what we need here. Or do you not want to pass?

SPEAKER_01 9:39

I don't want to be here, Liv.

SPEAKER_05 9:44

None of us do. But we have to. We are doing what we have to do, and if this works, we will all get exactly what we need out of it. Fine.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Come on, Kaylin. Jax puts a arm around Kaylin's shoulders in a very older brother protective way. Caitlin was sort of watching this spat between you, simply saying, like, not my circuits, not my monkeys.

SPEAKER_05 10:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

So they go off. Uh Kaylin sort of looks over her shoulder at you with her eyes checking in, of like, you good?

SPEAKER_05 10:19

Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

You both huff off in separate directions. Uh great. So then you're gonna be specifically looking for the like record of the of past tests.

SPEAKER_05 10:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Okay, can you go ahead and roll me an investigation?

SPEAKER_05 10:35

Oh, this is still a game.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

This is still a game. I am gonna make you roll dice. We're not just improving.

SPEAKER_05 10:43

Oh, that is a 19 on the dice, and that's just a 19.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Um, yeah, you find a firsthand account, a journal of someone who went through the trials um a while ago. And a reminder that in the past, trials were not open to just anybody. There's never been this like cattle call um like there is now. And so you find a journal from someone who was selected for mechanical trials um about seven years ago, and they very meticulously documented their entire experience. This is someone who is a mechanic now, they did pass. And you see that the written test that they talk about, it was about social interactions. There are things about survival, identifying what what is this that exists here, and what can I infer from this, and therefore how do I act based on that? And then there was an essay portion that was elaborating on that same sort of thought of here is something that you've never seen before, what do you do with it?

SPEAKER_05 11:47

Incredible. Second part of going into the library, so I have that note, that handwritten note by who knows who. Can I can I just like start comparing it to handwritings I come across as well?

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Sure, yeah. Um, in in just any of the books that you're looking at.

SPEAKER_05 12:06

Well, no, I imagine it's like an instructor. And if I come across any books written by any instructors here.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

Yeah. Uh yeah, we'll do this as a continuing luck check until you find something. So go ahead and just roll me a straight D20.

SPEAKER_05 12:20

11.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Okay. Uh you know that um this journal that you're looking for through that is a mechanic, it is not this person's writing.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

Great.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Darius.

SPEAKER_04 12:30

So Darius will he has sort of uh understanding that a lot can be learned from how place is built or murals or history or stuff like that, right? So he does a lot of sort of walking quietly around and taking in everything. Um and I suspect that probably in the Levoldium, there probably is a massive uh uh mural record something, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Yeah, yeah. In the Levoldium, um, there's the wall of the past, which is this massive carved wall that is imbued with a lot of illusory magic, that it basically is like a continuously running projection of history. And some I think really important things that Darius would care about are the arrival of the first ambassador, um, the first verse that was established.

SPEAKER_04 13:23

Yeah. I also think he's watching people. I think, you know, knowing what the note said, he's carefully watching people as he does this, right? So he's there's two, there's a double function here. Not only is he learning and absorbing, and but also what are the other what is everybody doing?

SPEAKER_02 13:38

I also didn't describe the Livodium, uh, which I feel like I should do, um, if we're all here. It is massive. It again, the guild is built deep into this mountain, uh, but the the guild values many things, you know, it values diplomacy and exploration and preservation and expansion, but all of those really flow back to knowledge. And so the heart of what a lot of that they do is get knowledge, maintain knowledge. And so they have this massive curated levoldium that is sprawling um underground. There are you know wide staircases going to multiple floors, the walls are stacked with tomes and scrolls and field journals and notes and just literally any sort of knowledge you can possibly think of is stored here. And it is a variety of here are public tomes that are also published above ground in Solari. And these are internal documents. Do not share these with anybody outside of the guild. And ones that are like there are books that look like they have come from other verses. There are stained glass windows that reach from the floor to the ceiling, even though you are underground. There is illusory magic that is sort of casting pastoral scenes outside. Um, the docents are these little two to three foot-tall clockwork contraptions that skitter about. Um cataloging super cups. Um cataloging.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Argo probably spends a good deal of time at first just following them and like looking at them whenever they're still taking a book off a shelf.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you see them like they are cataloging, they are reshelving, they are dodging, they are like singularly focused. They don't speak. You and cups have a back and forth. If you try to speak to these, they like do not even register that you have spoken to them. They are singularly minded on their tasks. And then uh there are a lot of um, there are eerie blue crystals that float in all of the corners, like up in the top in the corners, that do provide light. And I think all of you sense this um aura of divination from them.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

Can I I don't know if I would need to roll any of this, but if that's the sense that Argo gets pretty quickly, I'm sure he's very invested in figuring out if he's being scried upon.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Sure. Uh yeah, you can roll me a Arcana.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

Uh, that is 14.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Yeah, you're being scried on.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

Yeah, okay, great. Makes perfect sense.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Both both by these crystals and also by the many like established guild members that are in here.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Is there a way to trace a scrying crystal to its source?

SPEAKER_02 16:14

Um, if you had access to the crystal and to to track it, yes, I would say like that would require you taking it down and running either a like a detect magic or um really breaking it apart and trying to find the magical signature on it, you would not be able to just do it from where you are.

SPEAKER_03 16:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Turn off the CCTV.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Probably not the same. I'm not I'm not remotely, I'm not remotely hacking into that security footage.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

No, no. Okay, great. Not in the guild.

SPEAKER_03 16:45

That makes perfect.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

These mages are better than you.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

Yeah. As big as his as big as his head is, he's he's certainly not top dog.

SPEAKER_05 16:53

Yet. Yet. Aw, the optimism.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah, anything else that y'all are doing specifically here in the Lipoldium. So we're we're researching over here. Errol wants to go get sandwiches. Liv, you are looking at these past tests.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

Argo's currently obsessed with trying to figure out what to figure out.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

He knows that he knows a lot of stuff, but he doesn't know what he doesn't know. So he's going to um put some place a lot of stock at least at first in following the little clockwork, what did you call them? Docents. Docents. The little clockwork dosins. Um and no pun intended, clocking the books that they put away and immediately taking those like right back off the shelf in their wake until he's got a hefty stack that he can start to pour pour through.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Okay, great. Yeah, so you get a stack of eight books. Um and then yeah, Darnus, you are you are almost like meditative in front of this wall while also watching. Like it looks like you're meditating, but you're really eyes everywhere. It's probably. Yeah. Real quick, roll me a wisdom save.

SPEAKER_04 17:53

Who? You. Me?

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yeah, I just want to check it on your mental state.

SPEAKER_04 17:58

Oh no, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

Uh-oh. Are we gonna have to fight him in the middle of the day?

SPEAKER_05 18:04

Nightmare check in the middle of the day. Day mare, day. Day mare.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Day mare. Um that's just a d20, and then I add the same throw, right? Yeah. I mean, I'm totally saying this loud for our listeners to know what's happening. Not because I don't know what's going on.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

Who doesn't know how to play DD?

SPEAKER_02 18:20

By the time we're done with this, you will know these wisdom saves like nobody's business.

SPEAKER_04 18:24

12 plus 1, 13.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

Okay. You don't have a day mirror. Don't worry about it. Um, but as you are watching this wall, you begin to feel the hairs in the back of your neck like prick up, and you feel a sense of deja vu um that begins to like run through your entire body. It's very quick, but it almost feels like your cells are dying. And then you know, you like you shake it off and you're fine, but it it feels like this like atrophy just ran through you.

SPEAKER_05 19:05

It feels like your cells are dying is an insane feeling.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

Well, what's worse is your cells are dying, and that's deja vu. You've had that feeling before. Oof. That's really crazy.

SPEAKER_05 19:17

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

And as you as you do that, I don't even necessarily need your passes, but um, all of you feel the ground begin to tremble.

SPEAKER_04 19:25

Not this tremble again. We had this tremble before. It was doing the features.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

You think back to the first night here in the Rumble of the Party. And this feels very much the same, but worse.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

Uh, worse. Okay, that's concerning.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Um, getting louder and more consistent.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

So, this is one of the few things I think that can pull Argo from a good tome. Um, he's gonna lift his head up from his book and look around and see if anybody else has clocked this shaking, or if it's again just him.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Yeah, um, Darius and Liv, you clock this. What are you doing with it?

SPEAKER_03 19:59

Do we have LOS?

SPEAKER_02 20:02

Let us say. Yeah, probably. I think you're all, yeah, you know, the the wall of history is on the first floor. Um, and that's also where a lot of the tables, the reading tables are. Um, also any of the floors, like, it is very much an open air thing, so even if you were on, if you wanted to like go to the edge of your floor, you would be able to see other folks, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

I'm gonna I'm gonna Argus gonna do a quick darting eye movement between like anybody that he can see, also noticing in this, and just do the like pointing at the ground being like, sis, we feel this. You see this?

SPEAKER_05 20:32

Can I look and see if anyone in uniform who works here is clocking it as something irregular or if this is something normal?

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Yeah, you you look around and and the archivists that sort of at that main desk, they are also you clock that they feel it, and they look up at one of the scrying crystals. Um, and you see as they do that, you see the scrying crystal begin to flicker and then bursts, and there are slivers of gem that cascade down to the floor.

SPEAKER_05 21:00

Then first things first, I get away from all of these barracks into a more like probably an open area because I know earthquake things are gonna start falling, and I start like ushering anyone I pass to do the same just in case.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Yeah, okay. Yeah, so you sort of uh heard people towards the center a little bit. Um, and as you do, the rumbling is growing louder and more intense. Uh, and with a giant crack, all three of your vision splinters. Suddenly, like the floor beneath you splits as a ripple of energy is tearing its way. It's like it's not actually opening, but there is a ripple of energy under it that is sort of cracking it as it's going. The this energy that is tearing through the floor is ripping up stone and plank as it is searching for purchase, and the debris whips through the air, sort of magnetized to a specific point, and is shrouding a pillar of dark wind that is materializing into this looming. Like almost humanoid form, three grasping claw-like fingers, this like gaping mouth, and two solid eyes, no pupils, that are glowing red like a dying star. And I need the sales roll initiative.

SPEAKER_05 22:16

Fuck. Oh my goodness. Chill, chill.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

Alright. Uh, Darius, what's your initiative?

SPEAKER_05 22:20

15.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

Alright, uh, Liv, what was yours?

SPEAKER_05 22:22

3020.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Wait. Argo?

SPEAKER_03 22:24

I too got a 15.

SPEAKER_05 22:26

I guess you guys just have to kiss.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Best kisser goes first. Best kisser. When all of this starts, Argo drops the book onto the table and goes, we are supposed to have three more weeks. No.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

Panicking is a free action. Um, all right, uh, so uh Liv is on the second floor, Darius is on the first floor. Argo, where do you think you are?

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Uh, I think first floor for sure. He's not one to really think about vantage points. He just wants to be closer to books.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Okay. And the Wraith is going first, it lunges at you all as it is shrieking, and you see it moving through all of the tables, all of the bookshelves. It is not stopped by anything tangible whatsoever. It is going to come up to one of the other pledges that you see here. A couple daggers on them, they look very roguelike. It looks like it is solely focused on anything in its path, it is going to destroy. Um live. You are up on the second floor. So down a level, and then probably 30 feet over is this creature.

SPEAKER_05 23:30

Gorgeous. I am a bit nervous with its intangibleness. Can I take out my short bow and just attempt to shoot it from here and see if it sticks or if it goes straight through him? Sure. Can I use my steady aim bonus action to give myself advantage? Sure can. Great.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

Hell yeah. The rules.

SPEAKER_05 23:47

Hell yeah. So 18 plus 4. That'll it. Three points of damage. Three.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

Alright, so you shoot your arrow at it. It does fine purchase in the smoke, but it does not seem to do a lot of damage.

SPEAKER_05 24:02

Carlina, is that with your sneak attack? Oh no, you're right. Sorry. So that's an extra 10 points. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

So so how much total?

SPEAKER_05 24:09

Because I had advantage. That was 13 points of damage total.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Great. Uh so still halved.

SPEAKER_05 24:15

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Great, Darnis, here go.

SPEAKER_04 24:18

I I would have seen him attack the pledge. I have a protective instinct, so my instincts is to try and like make it over there and like fucking push him out of the way, be like, into the bookshelves, buddy. Right.

SPEAKER_06 24:31

Ha ha! Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:32

I make my way over. Basically, sort of grab him by the arm or the hilt and just like slide him down the floor out of the way.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

Uh, let's do a strength check.

SPEAKER_04 24:41

Ah, love me, a strength check. 10 plus 2 is 12.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

I think you are able to grab him and sort of like push him back, but you're not able to slide him away. You can like get him behind you.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Great. Argo.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Alright, so Argo's not that hardy, but he sees this guy sprint through the Livoldium and like push this kid who almost fucking got killed out of the way. He's gonna stand up from his chair, pull cups from uh an inside pocket on his coat, and go, cups, shield, and chuck cups to have it land uh over close to who he does not yet know is is Darius. The fact that every cup action is throw cups at something and it will do something. So after landing on the ground, cups rolls a little bit, bumping into Darius's foot, and then sprouts like a little BINK shield uh off of its tiny body that at first does not appear to do anything, and then a pulse of energy issues out of him that covers an area within 10 feet, radius centered on him, and everything within that zone, uh they will each get seven temporary HP. So a little bit of a crush. Come on. That's hot. Thank you. I agree. I likewise think it is hot.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

It is the rogue's turn. He does step to like shoulder with you, Darius, um, because he's also trying to prove himself. He clearly is like a little rusty, uh, and neither of them are able to make purchase in this. So none of these pledges uh make any tangible effect on this um thing that is now we are now at the top of initiative order, and it's time for I need everyone to make a wisdom saving throw. And Lavinia, uh-huh, you have disadvantage on this because of the maze.

SPEAKER_05 26:31

Oh boo. Fine. I got a 21. Oh well that was gonna be an 18, but instead it is a three.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

It's a seven plus one, baby. It's an eight.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

For those of you who failed, which is everybody but Argo, and one of the other pledges, you're gonna take 23 points of psychic.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

As this creature again lets out a shriek, and you hear repeated over and over in your mind die and appla.

SPEAKER_05 27:02

Um, that's so interesting. 23 you said? Yeah. Wild. Uh Liv has exactly 23 hit points.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

So Liv drops.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

Whoa. Wait, I totally missed it. He hit us for 23 and like talked into our brains?

SPEAKER_02 27:16

I mean, yeah, it was a psychic attack that you heard that that did 23 points of damage. Oh god. Liv drops. The rogue drops, the druid drops. Oh my god. And the rogue next to you, Darius, slumps against you as it just slides down to the ground.

SPEAKER_03 27:33

This this rogue took that much damage even with the extra temp HP.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

You know what? No. They're alive! It this still happens, but it's not dead. So it's still it still slumps down, but it's not dead. The Drew it is, though.

SPEAKER_04 27:47

Oh the Drew's gone. The Drew is gone.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

You're right, you're so right. You just saved the rogue.

unknown 27:51

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:52

Oh wait, I also have extra health points. Yes!

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Uh all right, we're back to live. Your turn. Roll me into the saving throw, baby. Cool. Do I get anything on any of this? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 28:03

Just a flat D20 and a hope for the best.

SPEAKER_05 28:06

Okay. So that was a nine.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

That is a failure.

SPEAKER_05 28:10

However, I can manipulate the forces of chance and chaos to get advantage on one attack, roll ability check, or saving throw.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

Ooh!

SPEAKER_05 28:18

Technically, I think this is one of those.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yes, I will let you do that. Describe to me what that looks like.

SPEAKER_05 28:26

Um, I think Liv is felled. I think blood seeping from her ears, her eyes, her mouth. Um, and as something fate feels that she is losing her grasp on this plane, the stone that she wears gets a little bit warmer, and there's a slight, like a heartbeat almost imperceptible to anyone around. And on that she gets to roll again.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

Um, and I will say this is a guaranteed wild magic surge to use this here.

SPEAKER_05 29:00

Great, I'll do it. Okay, it was a 20, but it was a cocked 20 because I it landed in the middle. It's a 12 though.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

That's a success. We'll take that. Um, so yeah, you all see that happen. You also then see what color is Liv's magic?

SPEAKER_05 29:16

Um, I think it kind of ombrays as it as you use it. So it like starts as like a deep purple and then just melts into like a lavender and like cerulean blue as it like emanates from her.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

So you see this pulse of purple emanate from this fallen fawnling up on the second floor. So one success for Live Darius.

SPEAKER_04 29:42

I pull my sword out and I flunge it inside its mouth. Oh, it was so close. Fuck me. Four. So six. You know what? I'm very worried about this thing. Can I use my action surge and try and attack again?

SPEAKER_03 29:57

Oh, oh why? Why are you worried about it? I wouldn't worry about it.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

This seems fine. Yeah, I don't know. It shouldn't just wipe out half of the people in this room with one level.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

A rogue's worth of hit points damage as a land.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

So I'm gonna use my action surge and try and attack again. So let's say I plugged in and then I'm swiping up to try and see if I can like dash it over. Guys, you're not gonna believe this. Oh god, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_05 30:21

Cool. Yeah, cool. I knew we'd die here today. Crazy.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Listen, times are hard right now, but if we all just hold on! Argo. Oh god. Um, I've never been so disappointed to hear my name. This is things are tense. Things are not great. I want Argo to run over so that he is directly behind Darius. Argo's gonna give him notes as he's swinging his sword around saying, you just have to just block him out, block him out with your mind! Cold stare, icy stare! Yeah, just like that. That's obviously gonna have zero effect uh mechanically, but I want him to be in the zone of Cups' shield when it goes out right now. So bonus action, uh roll nice. That's a seven on the die, plus my three, ten, temp HP for Argo and for Darius and for the fighter. And then Argo's going to cast, I hope this is okay. Yeah, fuck it. Argo's gonna cast Tasha's hideous laughter on the creature. So I am going to need from it a wisdom saving throw. Argo pulls out a little cylinder, kind of looks like the pen from um Men in Black, and he presses it while he points it at this elemental wraith beast, and this gas issues out of it, flying over uh and and hopefully will affect this this thing.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

Great. What's the DC?

SPEAKER_03 31:43

It is a 13, because we're still little guys.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

Uh with a 19, it is going to save. It is also immune to being prone.

SPEAKER_03 31:52

Of course it is. Well, we all got that temp HP, and that's a turn.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Yeah, and it's it is sort of whipping at you.

SPEAKER_03 31:58

At least you didn't get a one.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Didn't get a one. Alright. We're gonna go down the line. The rogue is gonna roll a death save. 16, that is a success. Bolstered by the temp HP, the melee fighter is going to come at this thing again. Uh, that is 14 damage half, so.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

How does this Cretan look?

SPEAKER_02 32:18

Fine.

SPEAKER_03 32:18

Damn it, fucking shit. This is so bad. This game sucks. I demand a new one.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Great. Well, wait until the next arc. We're back at the top of the order. It's got two fighters wailing on it a little bit right in front of it. It is going to move to the druid. Begin to sort of circle on top of the druid and tendrils of the dark smoke um entered the chest. Uh you see it like rays up above the ground as it translucent, very dark, necrotic, um, very like plague-like, spreads over its entire Zombie Druid!

SPEAKER_03 33:06

Zombie Druid! Oh god, help me. What's the fucking solution here?

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Darius, here you go. You now have the main necrotic boy and the smaller a baby necrotic boy.

SPEAKER_04 33:17

I'm gonna touch the runes embedded on my sword to activate the fire rune power of it.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 33:24

Um It does depend on me hitting it. So we'll see how this goes. And remember, it's a giant black blade, so it glistens ever so slightly. Like almost like it has a fire burning inside of it. And I swipe at the big guy. Stab it in the eyes.

SPEAKER_06 33:41

17 damage.

SPEAKER_04 33:45

That's a six and a five, eleven. I'm gonna roll extra 2d6 fire damage. Do you have cool shit? Four plus one. So eleven plus five is 16 points of damage.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Okay. Okay. Tell me what happens as you like split into this.

SPEAKER_04 34:04

Well, it is I ran and I swung it upwards and just slice across that energy eye.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

As you do, I think you hear this like just mournful shriek. Fellow.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

Oh, fellow. I will not.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

Well, you will, because you're tired, Argo.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

Oh, okay, that's right. Argo's going to take a series of oh, I can't do that. Rules is written.

SPEAKER_06 34:29

Shit!

SPEAKER_03 34:31

Shit! I am alright. Okay. Okay. Okay. Alright. Okay. I am. Okay. Argo is Faye Touched, um, which gives him access to uh a very, very handy second-level spell that he can cast once a day for free, and it's also a spell known. I'm going to run from where I am directly, uh like just underneath the second floor, below where these two figures I saw went down, and I'm gonna use Misty Step to blink up onto that second floor right next to these two downed folks.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

At this point, there's only one down folk because the other has been turned into this baby, baby necrotic boy.

SPEAKER_03 35:17

That's right. The druid is now baby boy.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

The druid is now baby necrotic boy, but you can you can definitely blink up to live.

SPEAKER_03 35:23

I'm I'm grabbing uh I'm grabbing cups as well. I'm bringing him along with me. This is the one bit of like natural magic that Argo can cast that isn't dependent upon one of his creations. There's just a couple of things he can actually cast. The most frustrating part about being able to cast things like Misty's Depth is that he doesn't actually know how he knows what to do and what to say. So he's just running uh from where he is over toward that balcony, thinking about how great it would be if he were up there, and he starts muttering a phrase that he doesn't even know, and the next thing he knows he blinks his eyes and he's landing on the balcony, second floor. Uh without being able to take a second and analyze how he did it, because he can only really seem to do it in the heat of the moment. But let's I'm gonna cast Ooh. Sarah, is there any way I can determine immunities or resistances? Clearly they don't seem to take a lot from normal weapons.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Yeah. Um, I will let you make a arcana check.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

My argument is I was just reading a whole lot of books uh about all these other verses with an 18 on the arcana.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

Yeah, this is not something that you recognize as native to Atla. Very important. In fact, this seems to not be organic at all. Almost like a sickness. This is otherworldly.

SPEAKER_03 36:46

Yeah, a layer beyond explanation, because decay should not take form. Correct. While Argo grapples with that on Existentialism. On a yeah, on a metaphysical level, um, he is going to then cast Mind Sliver. So intelligence saving throw, DC 13.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

Right. Are you going for the big one or the little one?

SPEAKER_03 37:06

Let's stick with the big one, I think. That's a nine. Fucking hell yeah. Okay. Um, alright. It's gonna take it's not a lot, but it's gonna take three points of psychic damage, and uh it will subtract a d4 from the next saving throw it makes before the end of my next turn.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

Right.

SPEAKER_03 37:24

So Mind Sliver is not on the artificer spell list. So this must be another one of his wizard things. So I think it's his like Argo's eyes start to dance and sort of shake around as his focus intensifies, and he feels himself burrowing into the mind of this thing. And he feels it land and he just lets out a little grin.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

And as you feel it land, you see the remaining scarlet eye pulse out a little uh uh intensely, and you know that it has felt the full damage.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

Fuck yeah, psychic. Let's go. Thank you, chef.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Uh, and I think you, now that you are in his mind, hear the die and the isla as well.

SPEAKER_06 38:06

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Great. The rogue is Roll of Death saves down here. That's a 19, that is another success. Melee, one is going to run up and follow Darius' lead here and keep hacking away at it. That will hit. And it is now the what are we calling this? The Necroboy. The Necroboy's turn. The Necruid.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

The Necruid!

SPEAKER_05 38:33

That hats.

SPEAKER_02 38:34

There it is, Necruid. Um Rolling Desaves and coming up with puns.

SPEAKER_05 38:38

That's all I listen, gotta do something.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Uh the Necrodruid is gonna go at the uh the melee pledge. Um so they're gonna be sort of locked in a tussle here. You see it go up to it, sort of take its clawed fingers and come around the back of the melee fighter's head almost like an embrace, and then begin to burrow its way into the melee pledge's skull. It doesn't down him, but you see life literally drain from his eyes permanently. So mechanically, his hit point maximum has been reduced by the damage that he has taken permanently. That means it's the big guy's turn.

SPEAKER_04 39:26

Don't shriek. He has no eyes, he has missing an eye, remember?

SPEAKER_02 39:30

One eye, he has one eye. He has one eye, and his brain was just burrowed into by this little nuisance.

SPEAKER_05 39:40

That's what we're calling it. This little guy?

SPEAKER_02 39:43

This little nuisance?

SPEAKER_05 39:44

Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

As you burrow into his its brain, you feel this wash of confusion and desperation. It is desperately trying to cling to what it can, which is why you keep hearing those two words over and over again. It's like it's repeating it to itself. So as you burrow into the brain, it is going to whip around to you, flies up to you, and it begins to wrap its dark, shadowy matter around you, and it is going to make an attack against you. That is probably not going to hit with an eight.

SPEAKER_03 40:18

No. Hell yeah. Thank God.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

It does touch you though. Like the you do get some of that material, the that smoke on you, and you feel that chill a little bit that Darius did. It snaps right back. It doesn't last, but it's like someone has shocked you, but with atrophy. And it is now Darius' turn. No, it's Liv's turn.

SPEAKER_05 40:42

Yeah, calm down. One last Save.

SPEAKER_02 40:44

One last death save. Unless you fail.

SPEAKER_05 40:46

Save, save, save. Well it's a 13. So that's.

SPEAKER_02 40:48

Hey, alright. So you stabilize at zero. Uh now it is Darius' turn.

SPEAKER_04 40:55

Great. Clearly this thing phased through the walls preceding anger is whatever.

SPEAKER_03 41:01

Oh, did it provoke attacks of opportunity from the two fighters when it floated over to me?

SPEAKER_02 41:06

Uh yeah, it would have, actually, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

Ah, I love a rule person here, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

Uh, it will not not from the melee, because the melee is currently locked with the the scepter the other one, the decrovoid. The decroid.

SPEAKER_04 41:20

But yes from me! Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Thirteen plus four.

SPEAKER_06 41:27

That's it.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

Hello! But I don't do fire rule anymore, so I'm just gonna do my two D6. Ah, I got a five and a two, but I can reroll my two with great weapon fighting. Four. Nine points of damage plus two, eleven points of damage.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

Halved, okay. Have it's resistance to a lot of shit.

SPEAKER_04 41:45

What dick. Okay, so now it's my turn. So remind me, I can shoot and then move, correct?

SPEAKER_02 41:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

Alright, I'm going to shoot and aim for that other eye.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Hey.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Crossbow. Come on, crossbow.

SPEAKER_02 41:59

Crossbows. Is that a one again? Why are you gonna be able to do that? I am gonna burn those dice for you. He only has the one set.

SPEAKER_04 42:11

I got a one, folks, in the house.

SPEAKER_05 42:15

Those aren't the ones I bought you, are they? They are! You cursed me! You just gotta break them in first. No, you just have to remember to cleanse them before you use them. Yeah, you gotta shake off the working great. You gotta leave them in the moonlight or something.

SPEAKER_04 42:28

So I gotta one, so what? My crossbow explodes? Like, you gotta penalize me at some point.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

I feel like I've killed so many things already in this combat. I feel like I've penalized you enough.

SPEAKER_03 42:40

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 42:41

No, I'm I'm not gonna it's rules is written, things don't happen on a crit one. I just do that sometimes.

SPEAKER_04 42:46

Wait, pinkstone, crit one is not punishment?

SPEAKER_02 42:49

No, crit ones do not have a penalty, rules is written. I just think it's more interesting.

SPEAKER_03 42:53

Interesting parentheses harder. You should always do something in a way.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

I I believe that failure should have a consequence, but technically rules is written, it doesn't have to happen. So in this moment, I am not going to make it happen.

SPEAKER_04 43:03

Well, a crossbow bolt flies off somewhere. I'm but I'm but I'm gonna move closer to the thing.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Argo. Okay, yeah. The thing is in your face.

SPEAKER_03 43:12

It sure is, isn't it? Um It's about to F my ass. I'm gonna do these things in this order. Argo's mind starts racing as he's staring into the one eye of this decrepit beast of decay itself. Hardly a beast, more of an idea. Argo is gonna dart back and forth between this creature, uh, the woman on the ground, uh, and like the stairs behind him, thinking about what's the thing that is gonna keep him alive and what's the thing that a hero would do. And so he's gonna touch this uh this fawnling on the shoulder and cast cure wounds. Six on the die plus uh my spellcasting mod, which is three, uh, you're going to get nine hit points per. Back, which ain't much, but it's more than zero. Wow. Listen, that's almost a third of my hit point. Incredible.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Um, really Oh, we're levels.

SPEAKER_03 44:10

Yeah, really upsetting.

SPEAKER_05 44:11

Uh and then I think Sarah forgot I was a rogue.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

Everyone rolled that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:19

Uh after that, with his knees shaking, uh, he's gonna interpose himself between this thing and the uh the fawnling he just revived. Cups is going to use his bonus action to give us the uh uh the shielding ability. Um so that's nine temp HP. I still have my ten. Temp HP does not stack, so I'll keep my ten, but live, you get nine temp HP. Oh my god. And that's an action and a bonus action, so as much as I would like to dodge, I simply cannot. Let's fucking have at it. I'm not wearing armor.

SPEAKER_02 44:59

Alright. The rogue, who is now the only one down there, everyone has abandoned him, uh, is gonna do another death save. That is a third success. Great. Oh yeah. So they stabilize down there. The melee pledge is gonna uh continue its duel with Necro Druid uh and fail spectacularly. The necro druid is going to continue this duel with the Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 45:25

Oh, don't say that. Yes, say that. Kill everybody.

SPEAKER_02 45:28

The duality of man. Necrodruid continues to sink its claws deeper into the melee pledge's skull, and you see it lift it up into the air a little bit, and the melee um pledge goes lamp. Oh god damn it.

SPEAKER_04 45:45

I shouldn't have abandoned that dude. We should have named him. No.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

No, then you get attached. He's only unconscious, he's not dead. Yeah, oh god. His hit point maximum is reduced to zero, but he can be a I'm not a cleric.

SPEAKER_03 46:03

I can't keep picking these people up.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

There's still the the the rogue saved his things. He's stable, he's fine.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

Great, great, yeah. Silver lining for the race.

SPEAKER_02 46:12

We do the right the decays turn again. It now has Darius at its back and Argo in front of it, and Liv on the ground.

SPEAKER_03 46:22

Argo is interposing himself between it and Liv.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

Shaking in his boots.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

It's one eye roiling like a storm on Jupiter. You see these tendrils of a particle begin to like emit out of it and sink in a um in a 30 foot radius. And I do need everyone to make a con save. I love me a con save. Not a shriek.

SPEAKER_05 46:53

So well that's cool.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

I love a con save. Con is actually it is one of the better ones. It's good. 15 plus 5, 20. Total 16.

SPEAKER_05 47:02

Hell yeah. Total is five. Or six, actually. Thanks.

SPEAKER_04 47:06

Back to the ground, you go.

SPEAKER_02 47:10

Liv, when you were making death saves, I saw your life flash before your eyes. What happened?

SPEAKER_05 47:17

Ooh. Um, I think the first thing her first thought before hitting the ground and darkness overtook her was thank god Jax and Calen were not here.

SPEAKER_02 47:31

As these spores, mist, whatever it is, begins to settle upon you all. Um feel in the pit of your stomach this sense of emanating dread that one day they won't be around. Or maybe you won't be around. But what you have now is dying. And you're going to take six points of poison damage. And those of you who saved are only gonna take three.

SPEAKER_03 48:06

What? I still take three. And you have temp HP.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Oh temp High. It's three damage, you're fine. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 48:15

Oh, we all have temp HP. Oh fuck, I love Cups.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

Cups is great.

SPEAKER_03 48:20

Support classes rule, dude. Where where is Cups? Is Cups just chilling down there because he's in my like back pocket. He's back inside my coat. Oh, he made it back.

SPEAKER_04 48:28

He made it back.

SPEAKER_03 48:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 48:29

Alright. Liv, that's your go and you're up.

SPEAKER_05 48:32

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 48:33

On your feet.

SPEAKER_05 48:33

Okay, so I didn't know anything about Alta. Die Alta doesn't mean anything to me. Um, can I gauge at all from this you said wraith-like creature's face what he's actually after? Like, does it just look like a vengeance situation?

SPEAKER_02 48:50

Do uh I think you catch the same thing. I think you catch the same thing that Argo did that, like it it is not being guided by strategy at all. It can barely hold on to thought for more than a second. So it doesn't want anything, it is only feeling.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

Great. I really like the impulse though, because there's such a big part.

SPEAKER_05 49:06

I mean, it's like if if we can convince it that this is not Atla, it doesn't have to do this, but like I part of me was like, if he's looking for Atla, if I knew what that was, I could minor illusion it somewhere, but I don't see any of that. If something cannot hold out a thought, it cannot be reasoned with. So I think here's what I'm gonna do. I think I'm going to cast magic missiles. Since that doesn't use a roll, and those will just hit. So that's three missiles.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

Force, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 49:35

So one, two, three. I'm going for its eyes and it's well, it does not his knees. It flies.

SPEAKER_06 49:41

It doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_05 49:42

Four through Oh my god, that's two fours and a three. So that's uh uh eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen points of damage, force damage to his eyes.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

It takes that full damage.

SPEAKER_05 49:55

Nice! Fuck yeah, let's go force. I said, oh, and there's my one spell slot for the I have done my job. I've done my job. Then I'm going to use my master of tactics to give help as a bonus action to Darius, and I can do that within 30 feet with this feature, and then I'm going to back the fuck up.

SPEAKER_02 50:20

So fair. Alright, Darius, here we go. This thing is looking like lived in a number on it.

SPEAKER_04 50:26

I'm gonna swipe up against his other eye. I'm gonna fucking finish it off. Come on, motherfucker.

SPEAKER_05 50:31

You have advantage from my health action.

SPEAKER_04 50:34

I have advantage, which means I d roll two E20s.

SPEAKER_05 50:37

It better. It better.

SPEAKER_06 50:45

Let's go!

SPEAKER_04 50:46

I get uh I have rolled a 20! Um because I have great weapon mastery, I get an extra attack after melee critical. So let's go.

SPEAKER_05 50:55

Fuck them up! Oh my god. Synergy is happening! It's happening right now.

SPEAKER_04 51:00

I have to roll 40. Wait no extra attacks, so 46 is plus four. Um, I got a one, but I'm gonna re-roll it because of great weapon fighting.

SPEAKER_06 51:10

That's that's cool shit.

SPEAKER_04 51:11

So seven. Oh god, oh god. Uh 11 plus 7, 18 plus 4, 22 points of damage.

SPEAKER_03 51:18

That's on the first attack.

SPEAKER_04 51:19

No, in total, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 51:20

So wait, wait, wait. You haven't rolled your second attack. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 51:24

Oh, understood.

SPEAKER_02 51:25

It doesn't matter. I'll show you how much health is left. If exactly it had exactly 22 health.

SPEAKER_04 51:29

Oh, I'm very good with my great weapon master it. I slide forward as I'm washing up, and I go. Literally, it's like a dash swipe.

SPEAKER_03 51:41

Oh, wait, is this an anime samurai like you slice through, you skid to a halt, and then the creature falls apart after you?

SPEAKER_04 51:48

Correct. I literally, I think, if I could, I swipe, I try yes, exactly that, and it dissipates around me. And I come face to face with the floor.

SPEAKER_02 51:56

Yeah, you're like landing, you you like land in a lunge, you've got your sword and the necrotic energy, the decaying mist, as it begins to settle around you, and I think you lock eyes with Argo, um, who was standing there, like ready to be a hero.

SPEAKER_03 52:12

Yeah. Uh that that sword is then pretty close to Argo, and he's gonna say, Okay, cool. Uh, can you do that again?

SPEAKER_02 52:21

So I will let you take your second attack on the.

SPEAKER_04 52:24

Can I attack the other thing? But it's really far, no.

SPEAKER_02 52:27

Uh, it's 30 feet, so I'll let you basically split your action and movement.

SPEAKER_04 52:33

Okay, fine, fine. Or my sword's very big, so maybe I'll poke it still. Alright, bracking.

SPEAKER_02 52:37

I think technically this isn't rules as written, but we're having a cinematic moment, so I'll let you do it.

SPEAKER_04 52:41

There we go. I just turn around and I swipe up. Yes, this one I do.

SPEAKER_02 52:47

And you don't have advantage on this one.

SPEAKER_04 52:49

It's fine. Come on, don't get me another 20. No, I got 20.

SPEAKER_05 52:53

Okay, well. Damn. It was really cool about that.

SPEAKER_04 52:57

It was very cool, guys. It was very cool. So I swipe up a miss. Argo, do not make a little sigh you hear 30 feet away from you. And so begins our the terrible tarot relationship.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

The give and take. And Argo with your turn.

SPEAKER_03 53:15

I uh let's see here. I I'm I'm still so impressed by um Liv's move there. Using force damage to get around the uh was like a super good call.

SPEAKER_04 53:29

Did you not see me swipe and destroy a thing in front of you?

SPEAKER_03 53:32

What are you still thinking about the blue little lightning?

SPEAKER_05 53:35

Wizard boy likes magic.

SPEAKER_03 53:36

I'm gonna I'm gonna get back to narrating my inner monologue. Okay, sorry. I can ideally tee up uh Darius for another good attack uh while finding out a little bit more information about this thing. So I am going to uh I'm going to cast a minor illusion.

SPEAKER_06 53:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 53:55

Covering of of a like a wall, uh uh uh like a static wall appearing in front of it between uh Darius and this creature. Now with minor illusion, uh the the creature can um if it thinks it's illusory, they can spin an action to make an intelligence roll to see through it, or if they just you know come into contact with it, determine that it's uh illusory. Um What I'm really curious about is if this thing actually relies on sight or if it uses some other sense to see things. So this illusory wall appears between Darius and this creature. Um that means Darius cannot see it either right now. I know Darius is already attacked. I'm gonna drop control of this, because you can drop that as a free action between its attack and Darius's next attack. That's the whole plan. So that's the action there. Uh bonus action. Everybody's got temp HP, right? Does anybody need a top-off?

SPEAKER_05 54:52

I'm okay for now. I got four left, I think.

SPEAKER_03 54:55

Cool. Okay. Uh then bonus action. Argo's gonna catch his breath.

SPEAKER_02 55:01

Alright, is this a check for it to see if this wall is real?

SPEAKER_03 55:06

So that's the thing. Minor illusion is all illusions in DD are a little tricky and maybe even poorly uh written. If you touch the thing, it phases and you can clearly see through. It's really a question of DM, do you think this thing would be able to determine just by seeing it appear that it is an illusion and knows how to interact with it in order to see right through it. But otherwise, as an action, it can perceive the thing and make a check in order to determine whether it is an illusion or not.

SPEAKER_02 55:41

Okay, I'm here's uh we'll we'll play cards on the table for a second. Um so these things have incorporeal movement, they can move through walls. Um, but they can move through them. So I'm gonna roll an intelligence check to see if it like clocked, like remembers that there is something on the other side of this wall that just went up.

SPEAKER_03 56:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 56:03

Because if so, it'll just move through the wall because it doesn't need to go around.

SPEAKER_05 56:09

Sure. Um we're not here.

SPEAKER_02 56:12

That's a nat one.

SPEAKER_05 56:12

Hey, that's a nat one. Hey, that's an at one.

SPEAKER_02 56:15

It is not it is not using anything other than vision uh to see things. So without realizing that there is something on the other side, it is not encouraged to um it doesn't have object permanence.

SPEAKER_05 56:28

It's like a dog. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:30

Or a baby.

SPEAKER_05 56:31

The baby druid.

SPEAKER_02 56:32

Turns his attention to the rogue that is laying stabilized but unconscious in the down on the first floor and heads towards it.

SPEAKER_03 56:41

Do I see it turn away from Darius?

SPEAKER_02 56:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:45

So then I would like to, because this is a free action, I'd like to drop the minor illusion as soon as I see it turn away from Darius.

unknown 56:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 56:54

I'd love to give Darius an opportunity attack.

SPEAKER_02 56:56

Yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_03 56:57

Let's go! Oh give it to me.

SPEAKER_02 57:00

In response.

SPEAKER_03 57:01

Before the end of your turn.

SPEAKER_02 57:03

In your end step. Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_05 57:04

Uh-uh. Keep that out of here. Keep that out of here.

SPEAKER_04 57:08

Uh- I got a six plus four ten.

SPEAKER_02 57:12

That will not hit.

SPEAKER_04 57:13

Oh. That's alright.

SPEAKER_02 57:15

Alright, it is now Liv's turn.

SPEAKER_05 57:19

Incredible. I think I will limp over to the ledge. We're gonna hit him with my short bowl right in the face. Okay, that's a 13 plus four, seventeen.

SPEAKER_06 57:30

That's it.

SPEAKER_05 57:31

Incredible. Four, seven, eight, nine, ten.

SPEAKER_02 57:36

Yeah, you shoot this with an arrow, and he's not up here to like whip around. Gorgeous. Darius, your turn.

SPEAKER_04 57:42

So I rush and I swipe. Rush and swipe. Russian swipe.

SPEAKER_02 57:45

Okay. And as you rush and swipe, um, all three of you do start to notice, because again, remember that like reality sort of began to split in all of this. You start to see it begin to do that again, and you start to almost see like it's beginning to split back.

SPEAKER_04 58:01

Oh, we're phasing back, ladies and gentlemen.

SPEAKER_05 58:03

Are my wounds disappearing too? Lord have mercy. Got a black eye.

SPEAKER_04 58:07

I impale. So I'm gonna impale the thing from the back. You better. Oh no, we'll see. Ladies and folks and human beings.

SPEAKER_02 58:16

Hey! I couldn't tell you.

SPEAKER_03 58:19

It's a 20, it's a 20.

SPEAKER_02 58:21

I thought it was a two, and I was like, listen, baby steps.

SPEAKER_04 58:24

It's a 20, it's a 20. It's a 20. You doubled your previous one. So I doubled the first one, correct?

SPEAKER_05 58:31

No, that showing me the 20 kind of means nothing because I could you could literally pick it up and show it to me.

SPEAKER_04 58:37

No, no, no, no. It was a 20, I promise. I am not faking it. I would not pick all the fucking ones. I know.

SPEAKER_05 58:41

I'm just letting you know you don't have to pick the die up every time because I'm like.

SPEAKER_04 58:45

Well, I think it's cool. 10 plus 2 times 2.

SPEAKER_05 58:49

Oh thank god. Let's go!

SPEAKER_04 58:52

Oh, I literally I am like I do another sort of like lunge, but this time instead of swiping, I impale from the back.

SPEAKER_02 58:58

And similar but but less impressive, you see the decay, you know, splinter and and settle as it dissipates. Um you see like it doesn't fully disappear. There is this almost ashy dust that is left in its place. Thin film of this black, ashy dust.

SPEAKER_04 59:20

Don't don't touch the dust, Argo. Oh, I'm scooping it.

SPEAKER_03 59:22

I'm scooping it right up. I'm I'm putting out shit right in a beaker and I'm putting a little stopper on, I'm swishing it around, I'm going, hmm.

SPEAKER_02 59:30

And as you yeah, as you do, like I said, the that splintering begins to sort of shift and you are back. I think mentally Argo probably catches up on this. And so you see archivists and other pledges who did not see any of this happen, but suddenly see the bodies. An archivist runs to the rogue and begins to stabilize them, picks them up and whisk them away to the medical ward. The pledges that are in the Livoldium are spooked because all of a sudden there were just two bodies. They did not see this splintering, they remained here, and so they do not know what time-wise, is it like a fraction of a second?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:20

Is it like a blink of an eye and that we were selling somewhere else? Or do you go like, where do these guys go? Where are they?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

I don't know if anyone was really paying attention to you, but no, it was not a blink, it was not a fraction of a second, it was the amount of time that it took. Yeah, if you want to scoop up some of the dust you can, you see that an archivist runs up to there as well and pushes you away from it and sort of snaps at you and then begins to scoop up the dust themselves.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:44

I I have more of it. Is is this safe? I I thought it would be helpful for figuring out what what just happened.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:52

We can take care of that. Sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:54

Sure. Uh yeah, he's gonna hand it over and shakily uh almost drop it as he as he does it.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:00

The archivist sort of like sees that you are are shaken and puts a hand on your shoulder that you feel if you would fight this or not. Um they're gonna try and cast calm emotions on you. Is this something that you would fight or no?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:12

Given the level of respect that Argo has for these these archivists, he's gonna just fully trust.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:18

Yeah. So they just give you this nice little warm cup of tea feeling that calms you down a little, uh, and they look at you and they go, What did happen?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

There was um there were uh there were six of us. I was downstairs, I was I was in the middle of reading and um uh everything started to the walls, everything was like broken glass. It just sort of shattered away and and fractured. Um and then there was nothing uh out beyond that we were just drifting in space and there was this thing, and this is all that's left, and he's gonna point back downstairs at the body of the druid and say it killed them and then it and then it brought them back, it had eyes like a fire, and it just it I don't know what that was.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:04

Alright, uh, you need to come with me. You two as well, and the archivist she points at Darius and Liv as well, because she can tell that you're sort of we're there as well. Um, and she whisks you all away.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:16

Um, while while Argo was recounting our battle, did I see any flicker of recognition over the archivist's face? As if this has happened before.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:30

Um based on what they're saying, it doesn't seem like they really recognize any of the details that Argo is saying, but it seems like they are used to things happening to you and and sort of dealing with them as they come.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:45

As we're being uh hauled away, I'm gonna quickly look at the other two the other two pledges with me, and say, I think I'm starting to get an idea of why they opened up the enrollment.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:06

The Mechanics Guild is lovingly created, produced, and played by Sarah Davis Reynolds, Taylor Fagan, Carlina Parker, Ian Prince, Atelio Rivotti, and Clay West. The theme song is composed by Arcade Anthony. Follow the Mechanics Guild on social media and listen to our podcast, wherever podcast can be found.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:36

I will say this at the beginning of the recording, and we can believe it in the episode. I am very stuffed up today, which is noticeable in my voice quality.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:44

Wait, stuff um stuffed up. What does that mean? You got a definite ghost. Um that's not what I'm gonna meant. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:51

What did you think? What the fuck did you think I meant?

SPEAKER_04 1:03:55

I'm not pressing record yet, so we're fine.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:58

Oh no, we're never recording! We're recording!

SPEAKER_04 1:04:00

Yeah, I am absolutely recording. Yeah, I'm just like recording.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:05

That was ridiculous. That was insane.