SPEAKER_10: 0:00

So, my estimate is approximately half of your estimate. So, whatever you thought the halfway point was going to be is probably where we're going to end up. So go ahead and change your plans because that's what I'm thinking is going to happen.

SPEAKER_03: 0:15

Two hours later. I uh I don't we're not gonna get to where I thought we were gonna get.

SPEAKER_00: 0:21

Shocker.

SPEAKER_03: 0:22

That's surprising. Welcome to Oathbreaker, a DD story. I am Brendan the Irish Wookiee, and with me today is Ray. Hi, I'm Ray.

SPEAKER_07: 0:31

I play Harleck, the Kenku Bard Warlock. And Maddie.

SPEAKER_04: 0:37

Yo, what's up, everybody? My name is Maddie. I play uh Voss Dane, the Half Elf Cleric.

SPEAKER_09: 0:44

And Andrew. Hey everyone, I'm Andrew. I play Xaniver, the Aladdrin Divine Soul Sorcerer. Justin. Hi, Brendan. Hello, Justin.

SPEAKER_06: 0:55

Hi, everybody. I'm Justin. I'm playing Nelvax, the human monk. And Bill.

SPEAKER_10: 1:02

Hello, I am Bill. I play Zayn Umbrellate, the half orc warlock.

SPEAKER_03: 1:08

I want to say thank you to everybody for following us like and it's giving us ideas. It means a lot to us. Uh make sure you check us out on all of our social medias at facebook.com slash ad story. Retweet us on Twitter or EX at ad story2. Follow us on Instagram, Instagram.com slash a ddstory, and check out our newest social media, bluesky at BSKY.app at a d story. Normally I would have us roll for some recap, but because our last two sessions were split up on with the group, uh, they kind of had their own adventures. We're going to try something a little different tonight, and we're going to do our uh recap in character as the two groups meet back up. So probably about a half hour into the story, we're going to get into that, those recaps. I'll add any pertinent details that we need to know in the middle, but we're going to we're going to try this in character for this session. So, where we are at is the Battle of Champions was going on. Zane, Voss, and Nelvax all have or sorry. Zane, Harleck, and Nelvax. Uh just finished some uh just finished some fights in the arena. Uh Harleck was carried out on a stretcher and healed by the clerics. And as the three of you are kind of getting back together on the side of the tournament, the semifinal uh champ or the semifinal fight is about to go on between uh the the semifinal fight between the king and uh a night that is only known as the Raven Knight is about to happen, and they have been announcing it and kind of uh really hyping it up for the last couple hours before this fight. And that is when Xanover and Voss walk up and rejoin your group. So that's where we're gonna start, where the five of you kind of get back together, and I'll let you guys say your highs and how you do's, and you guys look like shit, and uh then we'll start getting back into it. So, Xanover and Voss, you all you you the two of you find your your team members or your group, your adventuring party on the side of the arena.

SPEAKER_09: 3:24

I think as we're walking up, Xanover would be kind of mid-conversation with Voss and just be like, Look, I'm telling you, there's there's opportunity here, there's opportunity in the space. I mean, imagine a series called House Haunters, where we go in and in these houses of of these paranormal beings. Like, there's money to be had in the space, I'm thinking.

SPEAKER_04: 3:47

Well, I know, but where are we gonna find another haunted house like that one with a butler?

SPEAKER_09: 3:55

I mean, they don't all have to have butlers. Uh maybe Tassel knows a couple. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04: 4:00

I think it could be hard. But it's maybe worth a try.

SPEAKER_09: 4:04

And then I I think probably around this time we we turn and we see that you know our friends were just as unsuccessful with us about making it to the final.

SPEAKER_04: 4:13

What uh yes, what was what did they engage in? Was it the the only one way to find out, boys? You gotta talk to us. No, no, no. I'm saying like what what was the name of the event that like when we split off, they were taking off to go do the there was a name for it, I thought.

SPEAKER_03: 4:29

Uh they went to the uh go ahead, Phil.

SPEAKER_10: 4:32

I didn't mean to nope, go ahead, because I was gonna make something up.

SPEAKER_04: 4:37

The Kings games the Kings games, it was a section of the Teen Kings games that was exclusive to the and like we couldn't go to.

SPEAKER_03: 4:45

It was called the Battle of Champions, but beforehand they had to go to a ball where they met a bunch of nobles. So they went to the ball and forgot about that. Okay, how do they look? Like, do they look beat to shit or uh yeah, I it uh Nelvax and Zane both look a little worse for wear. Uh they haven't gotten I mean Nelvax looks a little less worse than wear, but uh Zane's a little dirty. He's been knocked around a little bit. Harleck looks great. Don't see any dirt on him. He's not he's not bleeding any anywhere.

SPEAKER_10: 5:20

Um describe myself. So uh so you you see Zane, because he didn't really get knocked around. Um so you see Zane, he's standing, he's kind of leaning on the the railing that's going around, because we're standing in front of the final fight, right? That's that's what you said. So um as you walk up, Zane is kind of leaning up against the wooden what I picture to be like a wooden railing around the sand pit that is the the championship fighter or whatever. Um so as you see, and as you're watching him, you can see like rivulets of blood just kind of dripping down his arm and his leg and off the side of his chest. It looks like he took a couple of shots, like through with a spear or an arrow or something, you can't really tell. Uh, but there's a couple of holes in his clothing, but blood is kind of just kind of dripping down him and pooling down at the bottom, and and he's kind of stoic about it as much as he can be, and uh just kind of sitting there not really paying attention to it. And then as as you walk up, I will well, actually, I will pause and let the uh let Justin describe what Nelvax looks like.

SPEAKER_06: 6:39

Of course. Uh yeah, Nelvax looks a little worse or where uh he's not bleeding anymore, but that's only because like the dirt got in there and caked up all the wounds. So like uh all like he's matted, he's covered. Anything that's not bloody dirt is just like regular dirt and grime. Um, but there's a good look on his face. Uh he's pretty cheery about it. It was a good fight, and uh he's feeling you know, he's he looks good. He looks bad, but he looks good while he does it.

SPEAKER_10: 7:07

So yeah, as you walk up, um Zayn kind of looks over his shoulder and makes eye contact with uh Xanifer and kind of shakes his head as as he probably can't see it because his cloak is probably hanging down over or his hood is probably hanging down a little bit over his face, but he kind of has a half smile and then kind of straightens up his face and says another business idea.

SPEAKER_09: 7:33

Yes, uh you know, uh Voss and I were just discussing. We uh we're looking for ways to make some gold, maybe ways that are a little bit less dangerous than how we have in the past.

SPEAKER_04: 7:45

Uh we just so happen to find out how good we are at haunted houses. As he's I mean, he's not uh Voss Voss does not look like he just woke up from a good night's rest. He he looks very tired, a little bit dirty. Um let Xanover describe himself, but it definitely doesn't look like we we we know what we're doing when it comes to haunted houses.

SPEAKER_09: 8:07

Uh so Xanover looks like he is he is covered in blood, right? And from the look of it, it looks like his it's his own blood. Um but even with that, he looks remarkably chipper and spry, uh, because he has at least healed himself if Dane or sorry, if Voss has not healed himself. Uh and so he's you know, though his his clothing is just like bloodied and you can see the remnants of paper cuts all over him, um, he's actually doing quite well.

SPEAKER_10: 8:40

Did you say remnants of paper cuts?

SPEAKER_09: 8:44

Paper cuts.

SPEAKER_10: 8:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_09: 8:45

Just making sure I understood what you said. And so Xanover would then kind of continue on and and just say, yeah, you know, we we sort of stumbled into this. Um see we were at the lucky leap, and then one thing led to another, and and we have a house now.

SPEAKER_02: 9:01

Is it haunted? So well it was. But it's not anymore.

SPEAKER_04: 9:07

We took care of that part. I still all we gotta do is uh we just had to stay there for one night. There's there's one guy that's hanging out. He's he's the he's the butler, but he's a nice enough guy. I don't think we have to worry about him too much.

SPEAKER_09: 9:22

Is it a ghost butler or uh some other you know he he stays with the house and uh sometimes he's there and sometimes he's not. We probably shouldn't get into semantics.

SPEAKER_10: 9:36

So this is the group's house or your house?

SPEAKER_09: 9:44

Hold on.

SPEAKER_10: 9:45

How did you get a house?

SPEAKER_09: 9:48

Well, that there is uh a bit of a story. So it all started at the lucky leap, like most of our adventures. Uh Voss and I were were lamenting over the our inability to make it to the contest of champions. And uh it just so happened that a uh older halfling sat down next to us, uh named Tassel, who's in the real estate game. And he was down on his luck and offered us uh a property and just said all we had to do was clear it out of all the ghosts and and spend the night. And it was ours. Kind of a bad deal on his part, but uh you know, it worked out remarkably well for us.

SPEAKER_03: 10:28

Well is the overstatement of the century. Xanover almost fucking died.

SPEAKER_10: 10:36

So you met somebody in the bar, they said if you clear out a house, you get to keep it.

SPEAKER_04: 10:44

And that's so that's what we did. We went in there, and they tried they tried throwing a bunch of books, books, and stuff at us, but at the end of the day we prevailed. No, they threw the book at us, but nothing. Yeah. Well we'll have to show it to you guys in uh in in a little while once uh once we finish up here. How did uh how did you guys fare at the ball?

SPEAKER_10: 11:09

So there were some people at the ball, and we talked to them.

SPEAKER_06: 11:17

Yeah, the ball wasn't much. The better part was the pregame. That was a lot of fun. And he looks he looks at Harleck and uh and Zayn to like look for confirmation that they also had a good time.

SPEAKER_10: 11:29

So uh Zane will nod and say that uh Nelvax uh I think he made a new fan. Somebody named Brandon, Brandona, Brandon, Brandon, Brand Brandina.

SPEAKER_06: 11:47

What a sweet girl.

SPEAKER_08: 11:50

I think Room's she had the best buns in town.

SPEAKER_06: 11:53

Yeah, that's that's they do have good buns. They're guns in the family, actually.

SPEAKER_10: 12:01

So yeah, before that ball, we did go to to the bar. We went to ship forgot the name of it.

SPEAKER_09: 12:13

Were were you also at the lucky leap?

SPEAKER_10: 12:15

No, we couldn't. I don't think we could get in that.

SPEAKER_06: 12:18

Oh yeah, it was so busy. We went to the wasted wavern. They let us right in. Uh everyone loved us. They were cheering, chanting our names. It was everything that you want to remember from a good night.

SPEAKER_10: 12:32

It it was it was really fun. With a completely straight face.

SPEAKER_09: 12:38

Uh Xanover will just kind of like wave his hand in front of um like Nelvax and and Zayn and just say, So did all this happen at the tavern or did this happen at the ball?

SPEAKER_06: 12:54

Oh, oh no, the ball. The ball was pretty quiet. Uh really nobody bothered us. They talked about the events for the Kings games. Um got a good look at the king. It looks it looks like this is gonna be either a one-sided match or a good match. I guess it depends on the other guy.

SPEAKER_10: 13:10

Um It'll definitely be interesting.

SPEAKER_06: 13:14

And uh yeah, that's that's pretty much it for me. The ball was a lot less fun than the than the pre-game.

SPEAKER_10: 13:20

The pre-game and post-game were significantly uh more interesting. We did the bar thing. Nelvax, of course, made a show of himself as is his want. And sorry, and Harlack and I kinda helped him out a little bit in his show. And then we went to the ball. They announced us and toasts and stuff.

SPEAKER_06: 13:44

Nelvax gestures down and says, But this was from fighting in the arena. He like like holds out his cloak so you can see how gory and bloody it is.

SPEAKER_09: 13:55

That's uh that's starting to make a bit more sense than showing up from a ball looking like that. Wait, so you guys didn't see us you didn't see us fight? No, we were spending the night in a haunted house of sorts.

SPEAKER_03: 14:10

The crowd starts cheering extremely loudly.

SPEAKER_06: 14:13

Well, you guys miss a good chance to bet. We made a ton of money. Yep.

SPEAKER_08: 14:17

Yeah, I almost died.

SPEAKER_04: 14:22

We're looking pretty good for being almost dead.

SPEAKER_08: 14:26

Oh yeah, the healers struggled me out. Uh at least that's what they told me.

SPEAKER_06: 14:32

You look good doing it, my friend.

SPEAKER_03: 14:34

So the crowd erupts even louder, and now you can't even hear one another speak.

SPEAKER_01: 14:39

So what happened? Why did you get knocked out?

SPEAKER_03: 14:43

Sure, roll perception.

SPEAKER_06: 14:46

Okay, and we'll move on. We start a riveting game of charades.

SPEAKER_04: 14:53

Yeah. Uh I have dark vision and I speak sign language. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03: 15:01

Do you actually speak sign language? Also, side note, as a DM, it's very strange to see Nelvex uh or Justin play a character in this that is kind of more outgoing, extroverted, really wants to be the center of attention, while Bill is playing a character that is kind of the opposite. And uh DMing for you guys for the last five years. This is kind of fucking with my psyche.

SPEAKER_06: 15:28

Uh just for the record, uh Vane or Vostein would know this probably, but Novak's also speaks common sign language.

SPEAKER_04: 15:36

Oh, I don't speak sign language.

SPEAKER_06: 15:38

You don't?

SPEAKER_04: 15:40

Is that an actual sign language? Like, is that a language? Yeah. Not thieves can't? Is the actual sign language?

SPEAKER_06: 15:46

No, no, thieves can't say common sign language now. Works really well as a non-thiefy thief, non-rogue thief. Alright.

SPEAKER_10: 15:56

So uh Zane will cast Minor Illusion with words in common.

SPEAKER_02: 16:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_10: 16:05

Say and start telling the story of the No, I'm just kidding. Go for it. He'll put up a sign that say uh we should probably watch the show.

SPEAKER_03: 16:14

Uh so the chair start to die down as two doors open up on opposite sides of the stadium. Two champions enter the ring. Uh the first not wearing a helm, uh everybody recognizes him. It's King Waldron, Shield of the Realm. Uh, and from the other side, or so so King Waldron, you know, he's he's got his sorry died a little bit. I'm back. So King Waldron enters, he's he's cloaked in his royal green and gold uh uh cloak, he raises a twist what looks to be a twisted wooden shield and a curved blade in his right hand. And uh you can see the shield is kind of is pulsing with power. And on from the other side, a knight clad in all black armor, with wings on on the tips of their helmet, uh, who has only been known as the Raven Knight up to now, enters without flourish. His their sword is down, drawing along the ground, causing sparks to light up as it's dragging across the stone. They don't salute, they don't hesitate, they're just intent staring at the king. The king raises a shield, spins around to the crowd, the crowd erupts and cheer once more, and then the rest of you see a pulsing uh a pulse from his his shield as roots surge outward and climb up his body, fusing with his the armor itself, and with a deep rumble, almost a roar, the king begins to grow until he's almost nine feet tall. He stands as a giant among the other warriors. Without hesitation, the Raven Knight charges, uh, and the king's falcon blade flares with a with gold, and he vanishes briefly and appears behind the Raven Knight mid-swing, as Mass's blade crashes to the ground. The Raven Knight at the last second darts sideways, slow and calculated. Um The long sword that that they were carrying suddenly lights up in flame and they slash upward in a wide arc and hits and they hit the side of the king's armor. Uh a little bit of blood splashes to the ground, but the king doesn't seem to slow. King Waldron bellows, slams a shield into the ground, and a wave of force explodes outward, and you see the stones cracking below where he slammed his shield, and the Raven Knight slides back. They plant their sword in the ground, and their head comes back up, and she rolls beneath the king's legs and slices at the back of his knee. The crowd hears one word from the king, cunning. And you can hear in his tone that he's he's not angry, he's not upset, he sounds almost proud of this knight. King Waldron channel or King Waldron goes to swing his blade again, and he flickers once more, and he blinks a short distance away in rapid port uh in rapid bursts, and he seems to blink in one spot and appear in another, and he lands a couple strikes on the Raven Knight before they block the third uh block the the third blow against them. The Raven Knight staggers and spins and then plunges her blade into the ground, sending a shockwave of flame upward that knocks the king off balance. The king regains his balance, leaps, with blade overhead, comes down on the Raven Knight. The Raven Knight rolls to the side once more, drops to a knee, and slashes her flate. Or flaming blade directly into the thigh of the king. Everybody goes quiet. Time seems to almost freeze. The blade the king drops his blade, and he stumbles and then collapses, one knee on the ground. The Raven Knight stands over the king, and you can see the sword physically trembling at the king's throat. The king looks up and smiles at her, and he goes back to normal size as he drops his shield, and he says loud enough for the crowd to hear around him Well done. You can tell he's in obvious pain, but he's he's he's gritting his teeth and he's kind of working his way through it. Well done. It's been a long time since anyone has bested me, especially one of such intricate skills. He then raises his hands and surrender w over his head, and he says Claim your prize, noble knight. I greatly anticipate our private audience. Show your face and be celebrated. The Raven Knight slowly lifts her sword, and with the sword still in hand, they remove they take both hands on the sides of their helmet and unlatches the helmet, and everybody sees them take it off and throw it to the ground. And standing there is a beautiful woman with black hair. And not only does the helm fall away, but also the armor around it around her, and these wings unfold behind her. You can see from where you're standing, a fire flickering in her eyes, and her voice is sounds sad, but also angry. Um roll me, all of you roll me a history check. We have any inspiration or anything.

SPEAKER_04: 21:51

These are all at an advantage, correct?

SPEAKER_03: 21:54

No.

SPEAKER_02: 21:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 21:58

Yeah, uh the save is 16 for this. Or not save, but DC is 16. So it's five for Xanover.

SPEAKER_04: 22:07

A four is not gonna make it, I don't think.

SPEAKER_03: 22:09

No, I'm sorry, buddy. So Zayn and Harlech, both of you have seen images of this individual, uh, though it was rumored that she was dead for a long time, and uh you recognize her as the first wife of King Aldrin, the queen. Um so as you recognize this and as you see this, uh you hear her her voice dropping low and it echoes and it seems to take a magical presence among itself and it reverbs around the stadium. And she says Waldrin, you are a kinslayer and traitor to your house. Not even death can avenge your deeds. I claim your soul is punishment. It's in hell where we'll meet again. And without any more hesitation, she takes her sword with a f was which was once f uh flaming with a bright orange flame, turning black, she plunges it into the king's chest. The king exhales and then is gone. He falls to the ground and crumples. The Raven Knight, the former queen, wreathed in the same black fire that was on her flame. That flame seems to take a vortex around her being, and she then vanishes, leaving silence behind. You could hear a pin drop in this in this Coliseum. Silence is choking the air, and then chaos. Panic screams, you hear rushing feet, you see the King's Guard running forward, medic's clerics running forward towards the king. What do you all do?

SPEAKER_10: 23:46

So Zayn will look back and try to recognize whether or not the the team recognized her, and I'm assuming that he figures out that they don't know who she is. Um and then he'll say that was the former queen that was supposedly dead. I don't understand how she could have just killed him.

SPEAKER_04: 24:10

And table talk for a second to make sure I'm caught up on the implications of all this, because I'm looking back at the the campaign intro notes trying to figure out when the heck's going on.

SPEAKER_03: 24:21

Yep. Uh so this was Queen Elisa. She fathered a son for the king.

SPEAKER_04: 24:27

Uh Waldron Aldazar. You know, what was the king that she just killed? What was his name again?

unknown: 24:34

Waldron.

SPEAKER_03: 24:34

King Waldron.

SPEAKER_04: 24:36

King Waldron.

SPEAKER_03: 24:37

The full name is Waldron Azenar.

SPEAKER_04: 24:39

Yeah. Oh, and that was his queen.

SPEAKER_02: 24:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 24:44

His first queen. That was his first wife.

SPEAKER_04: 24:46

Okay. Got it.

SPEAKER_10: 24:48

And she f or she birthed or bore the son that was supposedly killed. I don't know. What is the what do we know about how the son died?

SPEAKER_03: 24:59

Uh you just know that he went on a mission with the king and he was killed.

SPEAKER_04: 25:03

Okay. So the king knew nothing of the fate of his firstborn son. The king? He was with him.

SPEAKER_10: 25:12

He said that they went on a mission together.

SPEAKER_03: 25:14

Just knew that yeah. He thinks that he died.

SPEAKER_07: 25:17

And was this prior to the first wife going missing, or was this after? Was this uh afterwards?

SPEAKER_03: 25:24

The the the queen supposedly died before the son died.

SPEAKER_07: 25:30

And had he met the new queen around that time? Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 25:37

What's what's our group's uh alliance to King, the King Walder?

SPEAKER_03: 25:41

Uh so we established that in session one or zero or something like that. You guys are are local heroes to the king. Uh as far as the king knows, you're all compliant with the tower's rules. You're you're loyal to the crown. You've done plenty of favors for them.

SPEAKER_10: 26:00

So those things are technically true? Because you said we're compliant with the tower's rules and we're loyal to the king, which is kinda or the crown, which is mostly true.

SPEAKER_06: 26:14

He also said, as far as as far as the king knows.

SPEAKER_03: 26:17

I did say as far as the king knows.

SPEAKER_04: 26:19

Well, we don't we we don't it's not like we we feel like we owe a debt of loyalty or servitude to this king. We're just he is the king, and we're okay with that.

SPEAKER_03: 26:27

Up to you guys.

SPEAKER_06: 26:29

I like the system that's in place because I know how to work the system. So I'm a little upset that the king died because my infrastructure, right? As a thief in the area.

SPEAKER_10: 26:38

Yeah. So okay. I mean, I if we want to talk about internal thoughts and stuff like that, I think Zayn would be happy with this because chaos reads opportunity to do what he wants to do.

SPEAKER_03: 26:54

But what do you do immediately after the king gets stabbed?

SPEAKER_10: 26:57

So uh Zane will kind of try to motion the the party to back up. Because I'm assuming you said chaos erupts, and if we're up there near the front of the barrier, I would say that this is a bad place to be if the crowd is surging forward.

SPEAKER_03: 27:17

No, they're running away. The crowd the normal crowd is running away. Uh they're running away from the scene. The king's guards, the clerics, and medics are all running towards the king.

SPEAKER_10: 27:29

Oh. Then never mind. Disregard my last.

SPEAKER_06: 27:33

So Novak's will look around and say, Did you see where that lady went?

SPEAKER_09: 27:39

I bet there's a reward for her. I I don't think she stuck around to see what it is that happened after.

SPEAKER_10: 27:46

Well, I think the reward would depend on whether or not what she said is true, because even a king accused of kinslayer. What did you say? Kinslayer? Slaying? Is that what is that what she said? Kinslayer?

SPEAKER_03: 28:01

Yes. Accused her accused him of being a kinslayer and traitor to his.

SPEAKER_10: 28:05

Yeah, even a king accused of a kin being a kinslayer is not good. So there may be a rewards, but I don't know who would be delivering that reward. Who's who's inheriting the throne?

SPEAKER_08: 28:20

Oh, that did look like the original queen. I don't know if I remember her having wings, though.

SPEAKER_10: 28:26

Did she have wings before?

SPEAKER_08: 28:29

No. Okay.

SPEAKER_10: 28:33

I don't know. I don't I don't remember what her race was or if she had wings, but Zayn will look at Harleck and in and agree, yeah, she did not have wings before.

SPEAKER_04: 28:45

Do we know who will be the next king?

SPEAKER_10: 28:49

No. Because they don't have he didn't have a or he his only son died, right? And he never fathered another one?

SPEAKER_03: 28:55

He has a daughter and a queen.

SPEAKER_10: 28:57

And uh rights of succession? Do are daughters eligible for succession in this kingdom?

SPEAKER_03: 29:04

Uh there have been queen rulers in the past, yes.

SPEAKER_10: 29:07

Okay. Well then my assumption would be the the daughter.

SPEAKER_03: 29:12

So let's back up all this conversation. What are you guys doing immediately after the king gets stabbed?

SPEAKER_10: 29:18

Well, we're standing here having a conversation.

SPEAKER_04: 29:21

It's too loud. It's too loud, we can't do anything. Uh I don't think we uh Voss would not feel tempted to run away, nor would he feel tempted to run out onto the stadium. I think he'd probably be looking around to see if he noticed like any suspicious figures around the Coliseum, like people watching, or to see where this lady disappeared to. Okay.

SPEAKER_10: 29:44

Yeah, Zayn is going to be kind of watching as well. He's probably not as observant, well, most likely not observ as observant as Moss is, but he's if everybody if all the civilians are running away and all the support staff is running towards, he would probably stay where he's at and continue watching to see what's going on.

SPEAKER_09: 30:07

Xanabar has already had kind of a rough day, and so he's probably he's not gonna be running, but he's probably gonna be just like putting some distance between him and what just happened. Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 30:18

Novex. Yeah, like I said, looking around, he's kind of curious to see if that winged lady's still around, if she does have allies. So he's looking around for like danger, but he's happy to just kind of rubber neck for the most part. He's aware and alert, but pliable, like whatever he's he's not taking any specific action besides remaining alert and ready. Okay.

SPEAKER_07: 30:40

Yeah, same. I'm gonna be keeping an eye out for the uh the former queen, uh possible doppelganger, uh, and then seeing, you know, what I can do to help in the situation while not being trampled.

SPEAKER_03: 30:53

Okay. Yeah, so none of you like none of you see the the queen appear, none of you see any sign of black wings or a flaming black sword. Uh what you do see, and Nelvax, I'm gonna say you recognize her, but because of your class, uh Nelvax, you do see the head cleric of the city, uh, known for her ability to heal, known for her combat ability. She runs up to the king, and you see her place both of her hands on the king, um, and you see a small uh you see a small gem appear from her satchel, which you all recognize as a diamond, and you see it vanish, and then nothing. The king stays on the ground. And so, Nelvex, you were able to identify the spell that she was trying to cast as resurrection, and you notice that it did not have any effects.

SPEAKER_04: 31:54

Would Dane are you saying only Nelvax is that? Or would know?

SPEAKER_03: 31:57

Yeah, I'm gonna say yeah, Nelvax knows who she is. The rest of you saw the diamonds. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 32:03

Like would Dane know what spell she was trying to do? I don't think I have resurrection. No, I don't have resurrection. Oh, Avoss?

SPEAKER_03: 32:12

You probably have revivify. I have revivify. Yeah, you probably don't have resurrection at level five.

SPEAKER_06: 32:19

Uh so as we're watching, uh, the melt axle pointer at her that's the head cleric uh of the city. The whole city. Oh, that's a diamond! Oh I think he I think he's gone. Like gone, gone. I think she tried to bring him back and it did not work. What kind of a cleric can't heal people?

SPEAKER_04: 32:44

Well that sword is he kind of looks over to Xanafer, gives him a knowingly smile.

SPEAKER_09: 32:51

I mean to Xanover's knowledge, you brought him back. He was out cold, and when he came back too, Voss was there. So uh he's just gonna kind of nod and say, Oh, clearly a bad one. Uh luckily we have you around.

SPEAKER_06: 33:10

That sword looked different from what I would have uh well, normal swords, I guess. Um maybe that had something to do with it. I don't know that there's much else we can do around here. Uh do you guys want to Mosey?

SPEAKER_10: 33:25

Would uh Zane have recognized did the sword mean anything to Zane? Was it like a spirit not a spirit weapon, but uh anything that he would have recognized?

SPEAKER_03: 33:37

Gimme an arcana roll. Uh thirteen. Uh so you didn't recognize the blade itself, but you have seen some rituals performed with a black flamed blade, and typically they're used to either give or steal souls. Alright.

SPEAKER_10: 33:58

So Zayn will say that that that blade looked similar to things I've read about. It looked like a stol stealing blade or something like that. Something to deal with souls.

SPEAKER_06: 34:15

That would explain why that he couldn't come back.

SPEAKER_10: 34:19

If you believe in souls. Very well established in the world of DD that there are souls.

SPEAKER_07: 34:26

Could explain a lot. Harleck's gonna start fidgeting with his uh his ring on his hand. The only thing I think's protecting my soul.

SPEAKER_08: 34:37

There's a lot of things that could stop stop somebody from coming back.

SPEAKER_03: 34:41

If you believe in souls while two of you have pledged your soul to another being. Clerics are only light warlocks, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 34:56

But they're good.

SPEAKER_02: 34:58

Full spell casting locks.

SPEAKER_10: 35:00

So Zayn will agree with whoever just said uh to leave.

SPEAKER_03: 35:06

Okay. Where would you guys like to go? Do you want to go to the pub? Do you want to go to your your new house?

SPEAKER_09: 35:13

Is there anything to drink at the house? So uh Voss and I can take you a place that we definitely could lay low, get out of the city for a little bit. Did uh do we need to lay low?

SPEAKER_06: 35:24

Are we in we're not in trouble? We didn't we're on the up and up here. We didn't do anything. For once, yeah, I don't think we did anything here. No, I'm actually innocent.

SPEAKER_10: 35:37

Innocent. Um in this case. Zane will say not necessarily anybody hunting us, but just get out of the chaos and let things settle down.

SPEAKER_09: 35:50

These things tend to cause riots, cause looting, cause mayhem. Uh a lot of nasty stuff to not be around.

SPEAKER_06: 36:00

Yeah, if you guys are not into that, then I guess we can go.

SPEAKER_04: 36:06

Uh yeah, I think we we should probably get out of town. Let's let's head back and show you our ghost house. Are we the bad guys? No, we didn't do anything.

SPEAKER_06: 36:16

The good guys. Not yet. Well, the very least, we're like the sideliners who just watch the shit happen.

SPEAKER_03: 36:23

Like Harlek is the only one that's arguably good in this party.

SPEAKER_06: 36:30

Look, there is no party without Novex, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_08: 36:35

Hey, no party in your Novex party because the Novex party don't stop.

SPEAKER_10: 36:41

Alright. So we'll go to the haunted house. Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 36:45

So you didn't answer me if there's anything to drink there. Is there anything to drink in our house?

SPEAKER_09: 36:51

We can stop on the way and get something, but I I think it's probably best we grab something on along the way. Uh the house has not been lived in for quite some time.

SPEAKER_04: 37:01

Uh I mean we have uh the the the butler, Mortain, he he might have something on tap, but it's likely to be quite old. So it's probably a good idea to bring something back.

SPEAKER_03: 37:12

It could be a good vintage. I'm gonna stop you for a second here. You guys did literally walk into a large room with a full bar, aging wine bottles, and whiskey bottles all over the wall. Like, and and Bob actually stopped to drink some of that wine.

SPEAKER_11: 37:30

Oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_06: 37:33

Yeah, there's lots, there's lots to drink in the house. Novax snaps the finger's like, oh, we can have a housewarming party. Let's go, boys. This will be a good time. We'll make the best of our worst time, you know? No need for us to feel down just because the king's dead.

SPEAKER_08: 37:48

It's what the people really need right now. Something to look forward to. Yeah, it's for morale.

SPEAKER_03: 37:54

I'm just imagining all these king guards and medics, and they're just seeing the five of you like, let's go have a housewarming party, guys. And just slowly walk away from the king being slain.

SPEAKER_06: 38:06

Yeah, it's interesting on it. This feels like the DD version of like always Sony in Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_10: 38:14

Alright, alright. So we're awful people, but not bad guys.

SPEAKER_02: 38:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 38:21

Uh you guys have just left town, like the center of town, and you're starting to walk towards the house as Xanifer and Voss guide you there. Is there anything specific you want to talk about or anything you want to grab on the way?

SPEAKER_01: 38:37

I think it's worth noting that Voss makes multiple like wrong turns that Xanopher has to like correct. Be like, no, it was this way.

SPEAKER_06: 38:48

Fair enough. The easiest thing to pick up on the way is probably just some like some wine flagons, you know, like toss a couple over each shoulder, drop a cup gold.

SPEAKER_03: 38:59

Uh yeah, subtract uh two silver and add six wine flagons. Oh yeah. Go for the cheap stuff. I like it.

SPEAKER_06: 39:07

It's uh house dormant party.

SPEAKER_03: 39:10

Listen, if boxed wine is good enough for Justin, then the cheap wine is good enough for Nelvax.

SPEAKER_09: 39:16

I was actually gonna ask are these are these flagons boxes?

SPEAKER_03: 39:20

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_10: 39:27

So uh Zay will pick up a couple of white claws. I'm just kidding. Perfect.

SPEAKER_09: 39:35

Xander will get some smear off ice.

SPEAKER_04: 39:39

You you guys are searching for some spell components I've never heard of.

SPEAKER_09: 39:43

White claws and smear ices? Yes, it uh it helps me do that frost spell that uh I enjoy so much.

SPEAKER_03: 39:52

Yeah. Alright, is there anything you guys want to talk about on your way to the house?

SPEAKER_10: 39:58

So Zayn will say that. There were th three different battles that were available and we'll briefly describe as in we had a Bloom of Blood, which was a brawl, uh King's Gamut, which was a two v2 match, and uh two two versus two match and a royal duel, which you saw the end of, um as well as seeing the end of the royal. Um in the bloom of blood, he'll say that uh Novak's won that in the King's Gamut, we won that, and the apparently the King's ex-wife won that.

SPEAKER_08: 40:43

And in fairness, Zayn kind of won ours. I was asleep. Oh, why were you sleeping in a time like that? Well, I got knocked out for poor spell choices. What do you mean? I buffed when I should have healed. It was it was a whole thing, but uh but I got smacked down pretty hard for it.

SPEAKER_09: 41:05

Yeah, I think uh I think I also got smacked down for poor spell choices as well. Uh there's a couple hours out of the last day that I just don't remember.

SPEAKER_04: 41:16

Uh don't you get yourself a hard time. You did great, buddy. We bested the haunted house like the best of them.

SPEAKER_09: 41:23

I always uh I figured a haunted house would be much gentler, kinder, you know, something even kids could enjoy, but uh this one was was not meeting those expectations.

SPEAKER_03: 41:36

Uh anything specific you guys want to talk about with the king being killed? Are you now's the time to talk about like secession plans if you're you're talking amongst yourselves or um how it's going to affect you directly, that kind of thing?

SPEAKER_06: 41:52

Uh Novak says, I think I would have beat that king in a one-on-one fight. I should I should have gone with that game. But aren't you typically supposed to let the king live? I mean, I wouldn't have killed him, I just would have beat him.

SPEAKER_10: 42:05

So do you think she would have killed you instead?

SPEAKER_06: 42:09

I don't see why.

SPEAKER_09: 42:11

Yeah, what whatever was going on between the two of them seemed personal. I think uh Nelvax would have been safe.

SPEAKER_04: 42:18

Hell has no wrath like a woman scorned.

SPEAKER_06: 42:21

I didn't scorn that woman. Are you sure?

SPEAKER_09: 42:25

But remember the wings. You know, with the with the black fire, hell might have wrathed her.

SPEAKER_08: 42:32

Oh, they always remember the wings. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 42:44

You got that feathery touch, you know. Besides, Nelvax is betrothed to Brandina.

SPEAKER_10: 42:49

That is not true.

SPEAKER_03: 42:50

Oh, that's what she thinks.

SPEAKER_10: 42:51

So do you think that the king dying will have any effect on the tower?

SPEAKER_06: 42:56

That probably depends on who replaces him.

SPEAKER_09: 42:59

Who do you think will replace him? I thought the tower was independent of the king.

SPEAKER_10: 43:04

But I think the king gives the tower a lot of leeway inside the kingdom. Just wonder if the successor.

SPEAKER_04: 43:11

Do you think maybe the tower was behind all this? That's possible. Why would they do that? Because they're and then Zayn quiets down. They've always been after a little more power than the day they had before.

SPEAKER_09: 43:25

But how does this get them more power? There's uh there's no fault with with chasing more power and being stronger each day.

SPEAKER_04: 43:32

I guess it depends who you take that power from.

SPEAKER_08: 43:35

Yeah, I think power always has some kind of price tag to it, and it depends on what you're willing to pay.

SPEAKER_06: 43:42

Well, I think you guys know the tower better. I'm just I don't know how does the tower benefit from this. Like I don't I feel like it's a gamble on their part, if it was them.

SPEAKER_10: 43:50

Anytime chaos happens, there's always an opportunity to gain more power.

SPEAKER_04: 43:55

I think a lot of it will depend on who takes the throne next. Will it be his daughter? No, what the in the tower can influence, who who knows?

SPEAKER_08: 44:06

Oh the the the timelines are also kinda weird. The new wife showing up before the sun passing away, and now we oh the the original wife is not even dead, maybe. So who knows even about the sun?

SPEAKER_04: 44:21

Well, and you you heard her say uh kinslayer call accuse him of being a kinslayer. Do you think she was talking about their son?

SPEAKER_10: 44:29

Or her? How did she die? I guess she wasn't kidding.

SPEAKER_09: 44:33

She uh she is not dead. She didn't look too dead to me.

SPEAKER_04: 44:39

I don't know, she didn't used to have wings. I wonder if we could find her. I'm not sure if she'd be somebody we would be interested in talking to the likes of us.

SPEAKER_08: 44:50

Oh, I bet she talked to Nelvax.

SPEAKER_04: 44:53

I talked to her.

SPEAKER_09: 44:56

I think uh only if she was planning on slumming it that night.

SPEAKER_06: 45:04

She knows where to find me.

SPEAKER_03: 45:07

As he's carrying these little flagons of wine and two silver around his neck. So, what you guys know about the uh the the princess, so the king's daughter, her name is is Princess Athena, and she's she's kind of a a horrid person, right? She's been known to uh what a a pretty horrid person, like a horrible person.

SPEAKER_10: 45:30

Oh, I thought you said a a whore of a person. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 45:34

Maybe no, that's Nelvax. That is also Nelvax, yes.

SPEAKER_06: 45:37

I don't think that's a fair assessment.

SPEAKER_03: 45:41

Uh she's been known to uh torture people for her pleasure. Uh not directly, not herself, but she's had others torture people for her pleasure. Um, she's been known to go out of her way to uh just find pleasure in the discomfort or uh pain of others. Pretty much imagine Joffrey from Game of Thrones, and that is this princess. Ooh. So masochist. Yeah, hardcore masochist.

SPEAKER_10: 46:11

Sadist, not masochist.

SPEAKER_03: 46:14

Oh.

SPEAKER_10: 46:14

Again, backwards.

SPEAKER_03: 46:15

I thought sadist was themselves.

SPEAKER_09: 46:17

Yeah, that's what I thought too.

SPEAKER_10: 46:19

Marquis de Sonic, that's how I remember it. Anyway.

SPEAKER_09: 46:24

So I I think as we're approaching the house, um Xanover will probably switch topics uh and just kind of say, uh, just as we approach, do keep an open mind. Uh like I said, it it hasn't been uh occupied in in quite some time, at least with the living. And he'll kind of like try and body block everyone from seeing the crumbling gatehouse and the overgrown paths, and and probably just kind of give up along the way. Uh that this thing is just a disheveled mess of, you know, it's got walls, and that's about all that's got.

SPEAKER_03: 47:00

As you're walking up, Xanover, and you're trying to body block and explain to everybody, like, give this place a chance, you know, it's what the rest of you what the rest of you see, and Voss is a surprise for you, uh, this manor, I mean, obviously it was once a a beautiful manor, but now you know, some of the walls are crumbling, some of the uh some of the walls are crumbling, some of the uh the the lands around it aren't the best. You you see some uh just some fountains crumbling, that it's not really the fountain isn't isn't spurting water anymore. But what both Voss and Daniver Xaniver notice as they're walking up is that the grounds seem to be better kept than they were when you first approach. The grass seems to be mowed, the vines are cut back, though the the stone itself for this building is still crumbling, it seems to have a bit of a sheen to it, like it's been cleaned recently or at least been scrubbed of moss. So it is is at least clean stone now.

SPEAKER_04: 48:04

I Vossel kind of taps Xander on the shoulder as he's trying to block the view, and he's like, I don't quite remember things looking this way when we left. I mean, it was in the middle of the morning when we did leave.

SPEAKER_09: 48:22

Xander will be like, oh uh uh uh it might be the concussion, but things did seem a bit darker when we left here. I mean there was there's more ivy growing up the walls and the paths weren't maintained, and it it definitely hadn't been cleaned in centuries, it felt like.

SPEAKER_04: 48:40

Let's see what the inside looks like.

SPEAKER_10: 48:42

So Zayn will say, Didn't you say there was a butler? Maybe he cleaned. That's what butlers do, right? I I think they butle.

SPEAKER_09: 48:53

Okay. And I mean he said he was a butler, but he may be more of a valet. It's something to keep an eye on. Just parks the carriages for you. Ah. The old valet?

SPEAKER_10: 49:08

Yeah. Or is it a valet?

SPEAKER_09: 49:11

I think it's a valet in Mountain Abbey. Yeah, but the English don't know how to speak English. That's true. We have some British listeners. Oh, we do.

SPEAKER_03: 49:21

Well, we speak American.

SPEAKER_04: 49:23

We'll take care of that. It is different. Yeah, seriously. Had had British listeners from the UK. Had British listeners. So uh what what did you say Voss was gonna do, Maddie? Uh just he was heading up to the front door. He's gonna open the front door and look inside. Yeah, he'll knock. He won't he'll he not even though it's his house, he's still gonna knock before he opens the door.

SPEAKER_03: 49:44

Yeah, as soon as you knock, the doors swing wide open. And inside, uh, you can see that the the wood floors have been polished. There's a stone hearth that was there before um and is lit. They they've got bur it's uh some burning logs inside the hearth right now to keep the the room a comfortable temperature. And then the the rugs that were once disheveled, kind of broke and ripped, seem to have been mended, and they go up uh dual spiral staircases going away from the center of the the center door that you just opened. So it looks like somebody has been cleaning. There's no more cobwebs, um, but it is still very run down. You know, some of the cobblestones need to be replaced, some of the uh some of the doors seem to have had better days, there's still splinters in the doors. Um it looks like just the surface area has been clean, nothing, nothing deep, no major reconstruction renovation.

SPEAKER_09: 50:42

Did the uh the center set of doors get repaired from where Xanover successfully kicked them in? No, that door is still busted down.

SPEAKER_03: 50:54

Um and as the doors swing open, you uh you hear a voice Welcome back, Master.

SPEAKER_04: 51:02

Uh Vossel, look for the familiar voice of Mordain and introduce Mordain to the rest of the group.

SPEAKER_03: 51:10

Uh so the rest of you don't see him at first, and then he uh he shimmers into appearance and he's translucent. You can see almost clearly through him. Um he looks like an old-style butler, very handsomely dressed, neat-kept hair, uh uh thinning hair in the front, but the rest of it is very neat-kept, and uh he bows to you all very deeply and he says, Welcome to Blackthorn Manter.

SPEAKER_08: 51:34

Oh, thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_06: 51:37

I thought you were super excited about it. I thought you said it wasn't haunted.

SPEAKER_02: 51:42

It's not technically speaking.

SPEAKER_10: 51:47

Um so you said he's translucent. Can we tell what kind of apparition he is? He's a poltergeist.

SPEAKER_03: 51:59

Yeah, he throws a book at your head. Oh, the other one. What are you asking for, Bill? Like what are you what are you trying to figure out?

SPEAKER_10: 52:09

To try to figure out if it's yeah, what kind of creature it is. We're in DD, so there's like actual things. There are a lot of them.

SPEAKER_09: 52:19

He's an unseen servant. He is an unseen servant.

SPEAKER_04: 52:23

From the spell of Zayn, Zayn wants to know if he can take him in a fight.

SPEAKER_10: 52:31

No, Zayn is more worried about is it something he's gonna worry about?

unknown: 52:35

No.

SPEAKER_03: 52:35

No, he is an unseen servant. Uh the the house, so as you inspect it, Zayn, you can see that there are some inscriptions on the stone, and you can make out that they have this this servant attached to it. It is just an unseen servant, an enchantment that comes along with the house.

SPEAKER_04: 52:54

Uh Voss will look at Mordain and say, uh, Mordain, have you been cleaning the inside and outside of the house while we were gone?

SPEAKER_03: 53:04

Of course, Master. I assumed you wanted to move in as quickly as possible.

SPEAKER_04: 53:08

You're doing a phenomenal job. Please keep it up.

SPEAKER_03: 53:12

Of course. Would you uh like a drink? Of course, we have a a a a fully prepped bar if you are thirsty.

SPEAKER_04: 53:19

Oh, that's right. I had forgotten there was alcohol here. We brought our own, but please show us and our friends to the bar.

SPEAKER_03: 53:27

Oh, if you have brought your own, I will gladly pour them for you. Would you like me to take them from you, sir? And he he he walks towards Novax.

SPEAKER_06: 53:34

Novak books like Quirk in the one he's been sipping out of, says, uh I'd like to see your selection, please. Uh Novax, by the way, pleasure to meet you. And he puts his hand out to the unseen servant.

SPEAKER_10: 53:45

The unseen servant.

SPEAKER_03: 53:49

He grasps your hand and you feel a little bit of pressure, uh, and he stops just before your hand would go through his hand. So you could you get the sense that you could push your hand through his, but he stops and you feel a little bit of pressure there, and he moves it up and down with your arm, and he says, Sir, I'd be happy to take them for you.

SPEAKER_06: 54:07

These might age better in my pocket.

SPEAKER_03: 54:10

Oh, uh we do have a wine cellar, sir.

SPEAKER_06: 54:14

That's probably too good for these, but I'd love to see it.

SPEAKER_03: 54:20

Um he reaches his hands forward and he says, May I? Uh no as well. He seems to just want to sniff one of the flagons.

SPEAKER_06: 54:30

Oh, okay, yeah. I was like, have that, bro. But uh yeah, he'll uh uncap it again and uh lean it towards his nostril area.

SPEAKER_03: 54:39

Yeah, he grabs it from your hand, and so now it is floating. So he is able to grasp things in the physical realm, and he moves it in front of his nose, and you see his face just drop, and he says, Oh no. No, sir, no, no, no. I I'm sorry. And not many times will I tell you what you can and can't drink, but this swill will never be allowed in this house again.

SPEAKER_06: 55:00

Well, the pockets. That's I didn't say it was good. In fact, I thought I implied it was not.

SPEAKER_03: 55:07

No, this not good is an understatement for this, sir. This is awful. This is I would not serve this to the pigs outside.

SPEAKER_06: 55:15

Oh, you need to expand your pellet. This is far from the worst that I've ever drank.

SPEAKER_03: 55:19

Oh god. Please, let me give you a 30-year red.

SPEAKER_06: 55:23

That sounds immaculate. Let's do it. It is a housewarming party, after all.

SPEAKER_03: 55:29

Oh, I apologize. I did not know this was a housewarming party. I will uh I will gather decorations.

SPEAKER_06: 55:35

Was there any like real cheesy, Trotsky kind of decorations we could have picked up from the wine store? Like even like a balloon, like a celebratory balloon that doesn't have anything right now. Or something like happy first birthday or something.

SPEAKER_03: 55:52

Yeah, you you are able to find one cellophane balloon and it says hope you feel better.

SPEAKER_06: 55:57

Hell yeah. Uh before we go in, uh Novex will tie it to the doorknob. Front door.

SPEAKER_03: 56:04

Uh you see Mordain look at it and he kind of grimaces, but he moves on without saying anything.

SPEAKER_06: 56:10

Hell yeah. We're gonna be best of friends.

SPEAKER_03: 56:13

Yeah, so he leads you into the study. It is a large library uh filled with uh hundreds of books, and to the left of the door, as soon as you walk in, there is a uh there's a a bar there. And he goes behind the bar and he pulls a glass out and he wipes it with a rag that he pulls out from under the bar and then pours uh pours about three inches of a red wine into it, and then he hands it to you. And he says, Please, sir, try this. This will after what you just drank, this will explode your taste buds.

SPEAKER_06: 56:49

I believe I will. And he'll hold it up and he'll uh he'll sniff it. Like, it does smell way less better, and he'll uh have a good like not you won't down the whole thing because he's not a heathen, but he will have uh a healthy amount in his mouth and just 30 poison damage roll constitution check.

SPEAKER_03: 57:17

Um satisfied with that, he turns towards Voss and immediately starts making him a uh an old fashioned. Ah, you remember. I forgot.

SPEAKER_09: 57:33

I think while uh Mortain is making the old fashioned Xanover is gonna like slowly walk into the study and like just kind of push up against the books to make sure that none of them are gonna fly out.

SPEAKER_03: 57:49

Uh dude, I'm gonna make an assumption that the rest of you see Xanover walking around pushing on these books and the shelf. Any of you say anything?

SPEAKER_04: 57:58

Boss will say he had a bad run-in with uh a couple of flying books. Uh it it wasn't the other room, but you never know when it'll happen again in these haunted, I mean non-haunted mansions.

SPEAKER_09: 58:13

Or formerly haunted. Formerly haunted. What about you, Harleck?

SPEAKER_08: 58:20

What what kind of problems with the books? Uh was it with trying to read them or what set them off?

SPEAKER_04: 58:28

Well, it's quite hard to read a book flying at your face.

SPEAKER_09: 58:32

Yes, uh maybe we weren't exactly invited in by all of the spirits when we first came here. And uh one of them one of them took offense and might have thrown a book or sticks at me. Did you deserve it? I mean as much as the next guy, but it was still quite rude for a guest within your house.

SPEAKER_04: 58:57

For some reason, they just didn't want us to be in the room at that time. There was this whole amulet thing, we had we found it, it was no big deal. Come to find out this guy killed his wife.

SPEAKER_09: 59:09

Xander will like pull out the amulet, and you'll see a uh like gold amulet with a red gem set into it. Like it it it it turns out this was the key all along, and uh that's what we needed to be able to actually rid this house of ghosts.

SPEAKER_04: 59:29

The Lord had a whole thing with an affair with a servant girl and killed his wife, and she was trying to for be forced into silence, and but they're all gone now. That's so wow.

SPEAKER_06: 59:48

I feel like there's probably more to it, but uh if that's what you got, then that's should we all go pick out bedrooms now? How does how does Morgan fit in this fact? He just puddles.

SPEAKER_03: 1:00:02

Yeah, he just puddles. He's part of an unseen servant that is enchanted on the house. So not part of the old man. No. He's an old magic.

SPEAKER_04: 1:00:11

He wasn't part of the whole house before.

SPEAKER_03: 1:00:14

No, he was part of the house, but not part of the family. He was a he was an enchantment that was laid upon the house.

SPEAKER_06: 1:00:20

Hmm. Uh Novak will step back into the bar area and asked. Ask Mordain. He noticed as he was holding his wine glass that he's leaving smudges of dirt and blood on the glass with his with his mouth and with his hands.

SPEAKER_03: 1:00:37

Oh, yes, sir, of course. Let me take you to uh to to uh a spare room. Of course, the master room would be uh going to Master Voss, but I will take you to one of the nicer nicer servants' quarters.

SPEAKER_05: 1:00:50

Huh okay.

SPEAKER_06: 1:00:56

It's probably nicer than here. I think I haven't seen it in a while. That's I'm not upset.

SPEAKER_09: 1:01:01

Well, we might have to work on that name, Mordain. Did Voss get the master because he's the he got the killing blow?

SPEAKER_03: 1:01:09

Uh so Mordain sees Voss as the master because he's the only one that really really interacted with him. He saw that he not only had the killing book blow, but also revived you during that fight. So Voss is the hero in Mordain's eyes. Like and you're stabilized sidekick.

SPEAKER_10: 1:01:30

Xaniver's the sidekick. Alright. Comic book.

SPEAKER_04: 1:01:37

Well, I don't know if I quite deserve the master's suite, but uh I'm not gonna turn it down.

SPEAKER_03: 1:01:43

Of course, sir. I would you like me to draw you a bath?

SPEAKER_04: 1:01:46

Oh, that won't be necessary. I could really just use some sleep. But the night is still young. I could take one of those, though.

SPEAKER_03: 1:01:55

Of course, sir. There there is one in the quarters that I will bring you to.

SPEAKER_06: 1:01:59

Is the service quarters as its own bath?

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:03

Uh it's yes, of course. It's not like they had a bunch of servants, they only had three or four. They all had very nice rooms. I guarantee, based off the wine that you were drinking, that it is much nicer than any place you've ever stayed in.

SPEAKER_06: 1:02:17

I have stayed in some nice places, it's just not every day.

SPEAKER_09: 1:02:21

Oh, my apologies, sir. I did not mean to assume. Nelvax, I don't think you stayed in those places for long, though. I didn't say I did.

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:33

Uh so yeah. Mordain takes you guys up the stairs and leads you to several bedrooms. Each bedroom has a large queen or king bed um with a closet for hanging things or a wardrobe to hang things. Uh, each one has its own private bath, including shower or or bath. This place has running water. Good luck. Um, so congratulations. So you're able to get cleaned, you're able to take a long rest, and so each of you are able to sleep for the night. Uh so please give yourselves a long rest. Excellent. Um, while you guys are doing that, I would ask, I want to I want you guys to do some homework for me and build your bastion together. So follow the bastion rules. So at level five, uh, you each get I think it's one special room and two extra rooms on top of that. You get two look it up again.

SPEAKER_02: 1:03:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10: 1:03:33

Yeah, you get two specials.

SPEAKER_04: 1:03:35

Yeah, I'll upload the uh P. You start with uh the basket.

SPEAKER_09: 1:03:38

Yeah, two free basic facilities. Two free basic facilities. Uh one is cramped and the other is roomy. So it could be a bedroom, dining room, parlor, cart, courtyard, kitchen, or storage.

SPEAKER_06: 1:03:51

You want to do this now or offline?

SPEAKER_09: 1:03:53

No, no, no, offline.

SPEAKER_03: 1:03:55

And then at level five, we get two special facilities. So build your guys' bastion. I would like you to build it together. Um the two you can either do this theater of mine, but I also saw Dungeon Draft. Does you can build a bastion that way? And I've also seen a tool called Dungeon Scroll that some players use. But if you guys find another one, please do.

SPEAKER_09: 1:04:22

So as we settle on for the night, um are any of the other players like kind of freaked out by the fact that this Ace is quasi-haunted? Uh yeah. Novax is not.

SPEAKER_10: 1:04:34

Yes, Zane is not.

SPEAKER_07: 1:04:37

Harleck's seeing some weird stuff. Alright. Uh then Xanover will not fuck with you all night.

unknown: 1:04:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 1:04:47

Yeah, if you saw what I do in the darkness, maybe you wouldn't try to fuck with me.

SPEAKER_03: 1:04:53

Uh so morning comes, and you guys have taken a long rest. Um, you wake up and come downstairs, there is a large breakfast prepared for you, like a classic English breakfast, right? You've got beans, toast, uh blood sausage, white sausage, um the the full eggs, the full English breakfast. Trying to bring those British listeners back after you guys insulted them.

SPEAKER_04: 1:05:20

Uh and uh I'm I'm pretty sure they have Vegemite in the breakfast time.

SPEAKER_07: 1:05:28

Do they? I think that's the Aussie. Yeah, yeah. That's for losing because there's no way again. I see that. One has Vegemite, right? And we just lost them again.

SPEAKER_09: 1:05:38

I'll say marmite's a big thing there, though. Yeah. Uh so Brandon, since I only need four hours to do a long rest, I think uh could I use the other four hours to get half a day in towards uh the creation I Lux Stone.

SPEAKER_02: 1:05:54

Creation of what? The Lux Stone? Yeah. Uh how many hours do you need towards that? Uh I need like 80. Uh, sure. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 1:06:08

You'll get that first 79 really easily. That last one's gonna be really hard. Yeah, last one's never gonna happen.

SPEAKER_09: 1:06:13

We're we're gonna be done with the campaign by the time I finish this thing.

SPEAKER_03: 1:06:17

So, yeah, breakfast comes and uh Mordain is making sure that the table is set, and as you all uh approach, he he looks towards Zane and he says, Ah, welcome back, Master Zane. I I I hope your midnight walk was uh was was pleasant. Zane looks at him.

SPEAKER_10: 1:06:36

Um midnight walk. I so you saw me.

SPEAKER_03: 1:06:42

Um I think you're mistaken. Oh, my apologies, sir. I did not mean to uh uh offend you whatsoever. I I I thought I saw something, apparently I did not.

SPEAKER_02: 1:06:53

And he continues to prepare the breakfast. Alright.

SPEAKER_04: 1:06:57

So um how knowledgeable is this servant? I'm sorry? Like, does this does this unseen servant know like can we ask them questions of history or what's their like depth of knowledge or uh their breadth of knowledge?

SPEAKER_03: 1:07:15

His his breath of knowledge is is pretty limited to the house itself.

SPEAKER_04: 1:07:20

Would he would it be fair to assume he's read all the books in the house?

SPEAKER_03: 1:07:24

No. He has he is he's an observer, he doesn't really learn, right? He's not he while he acts like an intelligent being, he is not an intelligent being.

SPEAKER_10: 1:07:32

So Zayn will um Zane will ask Mordain if he had stuff delivered here later, if he would be able to store it for him.

SPEAKER_03: 1:07:44

Of course, sir. Uh is it something that we needed to sign for?

SPEAKER_02: 1:07:48

No. Wonderful. I will move it up to your quarters. Thank you. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:07:55

So, um I don't know what you guys want to do, but uh I'm gonna after a few hours you guys get word through messengers and couriers, um, and a somebody comes by and just inform you, because they knew that you were coming out to this location, that uh the city of uh the city is in mourning, and that black banners are being flown everywhere to uh signify the king's death and and to grieve with the the the royal family. And uh Lord Sign Monder is requesting your is is requesting the party's audience within the next twenty four to forty-eight hours.

SPEAKER_09: 1:08:38

Wouldn't we know it's morning because we just had breakfast? Fair assessment.

SPEAKER_03: 1:08:55

You guys ever watched the community? Yeah, yeah, a little bit. So there's uh there's a group of characters in there called Troy and Abed, and they're like best friends, and they do this TV show, this fake TV show called called uh Troy and Morning, and they go to a friend's death, they go to a friend's funeral, and Abed comes back and he says, Troy and Abed are in mourning. You get it with a you, and Troy turns in and says, You were saying it with a you.

SPEAKER_10: 1:09:33

Oh boy. Great show. All right, so we're in the city is in mourning. Morning.

SPEAKER_03: 1:09:42

Morning, yes. And Lord Seinmonder is requesting an audience with you all uh within the next 24 to 48 hours. He's requesting you all to come to his estate.

SPEAKER_02: 1:09:52

Um okay.

SPEAKER_10: 1:09:55

So uh when the messenger comes by, Zayn asks him to send another messenger. I'm assuming that the messenger that Lord what Seinmonder. Sent has other things to do. So he asks, when you go back to the messenger's hall, can you send a messenger this way?

SPEAKER_03: 1:10:17

Uh he bows deeply to you and says, Yes, of course, and he runs off.

SPEAKER_09: 1:10:24

So Xaniver, who's already been up for four hours or maybe eight at this time, we'll just say I mean uh we we don't have anything planned for right now, should we just head on and over?

SPEAKER_10: 1:10:38

Um Yeah, I I think we should go over once you know we finish getting ready and cleaned up and finish eating and all that. I think we should head over there.

SPEAKER_06: 1:10:50

How long of a walk is it into town from our manor out here?

SPEAKER_03: 1:10:53

It is about a two-hour walk.

SPEAKER_06: 1:10:55

So we might be able to practice on the get a little snack on the way.

SPEAKER_02: 1:10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 1:10:59

Or you could ask more day, and he would make something for you.

SPEAKER_06: 1:11:03

No, no. Uh yeah, I think sooner than later, why not? Um find out what he needs, get a jump on it. Uh, you guys want to get a snack on the way? I know a place that sells hot buns. Oh, I don't mind stopping.

SPEAKER_09: 1:11:19

Sure. I I uh I didn't realize it was that type of snack.

SPEAKER_06: 1:11:25

I mean, I haven't I haven't been myself, but I've heard that we've got all kinds of different buns. We've got sweet buns and savory buns, sticky buns with icing on there.

SPEAKER_03: 1:11:35

They only make those at night though. You gotta be special customers only.

SPEAKER_06: 1:11:40

Yeah. But I heard the glazing is worth the wait. Gross.

SPEAKER_02: 1:11:49

Oh boy. Alright.

SPEAKER_06: 1:11:52

So uh all my stuff's cleaned, I imagine. I uh had a nice bath and everything, so I'm ready to go. Um gather up my normal gear and I'm ready to ready to mosey when you guys are. So uh is there like a stables on this manner? What what only is included? What's if is that part of us figuring the shit out, or is there stuff that we're part of you figuring it out?

SPEAKER_03: 1:12:12

Yeah, the rooms that you add will be the the base rooms, and then as the bastion levels up, as you level up, you'll be you'll have access to more rooms. Um so at level five, you're you only have access to a certain number of rooms, a certain number and certain types of rooms as you level up, those kind of expand.

SPEAKER_06: 1:12:32

So as we walk into town, I try to I get Xanafer's attention. I'm like, hey, I got a I got a business idea. I think it'll be great. And actually, great's a good name for it. What if we had like a carriage service that like on demand would take you places? Right? Maybe we hand out these coins I could contact, like a central agencies, like no one would have come pick you up and drop you off. Just call the whole thing great. Do you think you think it'd work?

SPEAKER_09: 1:12:58

I mean, I I feel like the ones that pay the best probably already have their own carriages on standby.

SPEAKER_06: 1:13:09

Oh, I'm not worried about I'm thought I'm talking about the common man, the common someone who's gonna get someplace, you know. Like here we are, hoping in two hours. What if we just had a horse ready and waiting for us? You know, on demand.

SPEAKER_09: 1:13:20

I mean, with we have a manor, we should have somebody on standby for us.

SPEAKER_10: 1:13:25

And yet and yet we're walking. Don't we have those horses? Oh, we returned them. Yeah, we did return them, didn't we?

SPEAKER_03: 1:13:37

You returned some of them, some of them are still tied to the well. Uh, I was gonna say some of them were left for dead, thanks to me.

SPEAKER_07: 1:13:44

All right, all right.

SPEAKER_06: 1:13:46

The guy of the in the water barrel guy would have saved those horses, probably, right?

SPEAKER_09: 1:13:50

Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Uh it's it's definitely something to think on. Um I feel like there's not a wide moat for this business. Once we do it, others could see it. And unless we have really great branding, people will start to call it like uh uh ubernakin or a lift me there or something like that. And maybe we use the market once there's competition.

SPEAKER_06: 1:14:20

Well, for first though, it might have the better shape or share of the profits. Anyway, I don't think you guys got a chance to hear about my my fight last night. Did you get the details of the did Zane and Harley give you all the details of their fight and how they flew through the air? Well, I guess only Zayn threw through the air. But it was pretty good to watch. You should have been there.

SPEAKER_09: 1:14:39

Yeah, we were uh we were otherwise occupied. Otherwise we would have loved to have been there. I it sounds like betting on you would have been quite profitable.

SPEAKER_06: 1:14:49

Certainly it would have. My fight, I was it was me versus five other guys. Well, not guys. People. They weren't even all yeah, one of them was like a red crystal thing. There was even a sheep at some point. There was a sheep.

SPEAKER_09: 1:15:08

I'm not sure I I'm not sure I want to hear about you and the sheep. He was inside the sheep.

SPEAKER_03: 1:15:13

Novak puts his gloves away.

SPEAKER_09: 1:15:16

That's what I was worried about.

SPEAKER_10: 1:15:18

His Velcro gloves.

SPEAKER_03: 1:15:21

So you guys approach a city and you come up to the uh the estate of Lord Seinmander. Um as you're walking through the the city, you can see that uh there's black flags draped everywhere with the royal emblem on it. There are the the flags that are flying are at half mast over the capital, and the majority of the population is wearing black garb to show solidarity of grief with the royal family. Um and Lord Seinmander is right through the gates as as you all enter, and uh he sees you and walks up. Zane.

SPEAKER_10: 1:16:03

Um Zane is wearing black as well.

SPEAKER_09: 1:16:07

Doesn't Zane always wear black? Yes. Okay. Do any of Bill's characters not wear black? Yeah, I just assume they all wear black.

SPEAKER_10: 1:16:16

Glenn doesn't wear black? Glenn is all kinds of colors.

SPEAKER_05: 1:16:20

He was vibrant.

SPEAKER_10: 1:16:24

Uh my other character was wearing shining plate mail. So noisy shit. He's my only character that wears black.

SPEAKER_03: 1:16:34

So Lord Siminder walks up to you all and uh he says, Welcome friends. I I thank you for meeting me. I uh would like to ask for your help, and uh and because you are champions of the realm, uh to to stand with us as as the funeral proceeds.

SPEAKER_04: 1:16:55

Uh what exactly did you have in mind?

SPEAKER_03: 1:16:59

Uh you know, as as some of the king's champions, we would like you to walk in the funeral procession. You don't need to carry anything, but we would ask you to to clean up a little bit, and obviously we can help you with that. We have some some people here who can shine your armor and and clean you up and put on some nicer cloaks for you. And uh he glances over, um he glances at all of you, and just uh he looks you up and down, he says, I can see that you're all pretty well rested, you've cleaned up from the events of the last few days, and uh the funeral procession is meant to be held this afternoon, and I would I would love for you all to be part of it.

SPEAKER_04: 1:17:38

Uh boss will kind of turn around and look to the group, and then say, I don't see any harm of that, but give us one moment, please. Of course. Does anybody object to a funeral procession?

SPEAKER_09: 1:17:55

No, I would think Yeah, Brandon, nobody knows this is this fast for a funeral?

SPEAKER_03: 1:18:02

Like the body's barely cold and No, it's while the mourning will last for one to two weeks after a royal has died, especially a king, the funeral procession or the a funeral is normally held within two to three days. Zane.

SPEAKER_10: 1:18:19

So um Zane, we've been quote unquote heroes for the city for a while and for the king, so I would assume that we're probably used to affairs of you know being asked to probably not this prominently previously, but have probably we're probably used to being part of funerals, I would think. So Zay does not have any problem with it.

SPEAKER_06: 1:18:46

Okay. Uh Nelvax is a little hung up. Um, so he asked the guys, didn't the messenger this morning say in the next day or two, 12 to 24 to 1230 hours? The funerals this afternoon. There must be something else.

SPEAKER_04: 1:19:01

What if we showed up yet tomorrow?

SPEAKER_09: 1:19:06

I I have a feeling that we were not really needed, but now that we're here, they are planning on using us.

SPEAKER_06: 1:19:14

I have no problem with it, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

SPEAKER_10: 1:19:18

I am kind of worried both of your shoes on.

SPEAKER_09: 1:19:22

Xander will just like wave his hand and use minor illusion to cause a shoe to drop.

SPEAKER_08: 1:19:30

I am a little worried that we're gonna get, I don't know, maybe pinned or seen as associated with this the murder of the queen. I don't know. I'm a little bit on the doomsday side of this. I just think that our affiliations with things and going and finding the king's stuff recently may not look so good.

SPEAKER_03: 1:19:50

I don't know if I can handle Harleck being a pessimist, because right now you're giving Barney with the drinking problem vibes.

SPEAKER_07: 1:19:57

I'm trying to think like we we we just did Like the errands for the king, so like like looking back on all this stuff right now, we just got the the part the party invitation, you know. Like, how did Harlek get in the fight? Yeah, yeah, so that type of thing. So, you know, just Harlech's kind of like, huh, things things don't seem to be looking great for us right now.

unknown: 1:20:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_08: 1:20:24

Well I could be wrong.

SPEAKER_10: 1:20:26

Yeah. Zayn is leaning towards and trying to he would be, you know, leaning toward the party towards being part of the procession because it would help find out more information about what's going on if we're actually there.

SPEAKER_06: 1:20:43

Yeah, definitely Novex is not opposed. He's just suspicious of like w what else is going on that we don't know about. Because now this thing that seems very innocuous is not in line with what was originally sent to us by a message.

SPEAKER_04: 1:20:57

Let's see, who's the character that has a a past with Seinmonger? It's me, right? Me. I think it was Nelvax. Novax? Okay. Yeah, boss will kind of turn Nelvax a well you you you think maybe we could get some additional information from Seinmonger on what's really going on in the area?

SPEAKER_06: 1:21:20

Maybe it doesn't hurt to ask.

SPEAKER_04: 1:21:22

You might you might be the right man for the job.

SPEAKER_06: 1:21:26

Worst thing he says is uh none of our business, right? Well he could say worse things.

SPEAKER_03: 1:21:31

Yeah, off with his head.

SPEAKER_02: 1:21:34

Kill us all, but yeah.

SPEAKER_06: 1:21:39

Um okay, so I think we turn back to Lord Simoner and say, uh Novak's will hold his hand out again because it's you know to Kramaray and all that. Yeah, of course we'll help out, but uh, I do gotta ask. Um the messenger you sent asked us to be here between tomorrow and the day after. Certainly that wasn't for this.

SPEAKER_03: 1:22:01

No, uh this it was for this. Uh we are we have recalled all the Knights of the Crown uh from our stations around the the city that were controlling traffic, but they have not arrived yet. The the queen is the queen and princess are very adamant about getting the king buried as soon as we have enough protection. Uh and with you all here, we are we can be rest assured that we'll have enough protection and the right kind of vanguard for the king's body and the royal family.

SPEAKER_09: 1:22:35

So if we disappear for a day, there won't be enough protection and everything will be delayed?

SPEAKER_03: 1:22:42

Uh in 24 hours we'll have the rest of the King's Guard or the Knights of the Crown back, and uh we'll be able to proceed with or without you.

SPEAKER_04: 1:22:50

Uh boss kind of is trying to get a read on this guy. I didn't feel like is he on on the level?

SPEAKER_03: 1:22:56

Sure, give me an inside check. DC is 17.

SPEAKER_04: 1:23:01

I'll do an inside check and I'll also give myself guidance. Great. I think guidance is really gonna help. Uh that gives me a what, a d4? If I get a four, boys, we're no no no, that's a total of fifteen.

SPEAKER_03: 1:23:16

So uh from what you can tell, Lord Sinamondra seems to be on the up and up.

SPEAKER_02: 1:23:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:23:22

He is mourning the death of his king. He is mourning uh he he seems to be saddened and upset that he wasn't able to protect his king because that is his primary role. And now the only thing he can do to honor his his oath is to bury his king with as much honor and pride as possible.

SPEAKER_06: 1:23:43

Are you expecting any kind of attack? You mentioned making sure that the kingdom is safe. Is there are there people in league with that winged lady?

SPEAKER_03: 1:23:52

That I'm not sure of, but I do know that somebody attacked the king, and now the royal secession and his wife will be amongst us, and we must protect them at all costs. So are you asking more precautionary?

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:08

Are you asking us to stand with the body or to actually protect the queen and the princess?

SPEAKER_03: 1:24:13

You will be part of the procession, but you will I everybody there will be there to protect the queen and the princess.

SPEAKER_06: 1:24:20

We go way back. Why didn't you just say that up front?

SPEAKER_03: 1:24:23

Uh Well, uh when we're in the city, this is there are many ears around, as you know, my friend. Information information can be deadly.

SPEAKER_04: 1:24:34

So can a black sword, if you know what I mean. Oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_03: 1:24:39

Too soon. Too soon. Lord Seinmonger will remember this.

SPEAKER_04: 1:24:50

Uh Voss Voss uh cracks a smile and then he'll uh kind of go over to Xaniver and give him an elbow and chuckle, but then realize that Lord Seinmonger is not really seeing the joke, so he that's the smile fades from his face rather quickly.

SPEAKER_09: 1:25:07

I I think as uh Xaniver realizes that Lord Seinmonger is not realizing the joke, he will cast disguise self on himself and appear as Lord Seinmonger and laugh alongside Boss. That'll help. Lord Signmon Dur.

SPEAKER_03: 1:25:29

Lord Seinmonder Dur. Dur. He almost looks like a disappointed dad look, and he looks towards uh Nelvax and he says, This is really the kind of company you wish to keep.

SPEAKER_06: 1:25:49

Does that surprise you?

SPEAKER_03: 1:25:52

Uh this is the first time he has smiled all the during this entire conversation. He smirks a little bit and he says, No, though, I did expect a uh a a large woman amongst your party.

SPEAKER_06: 1:26:07

Well, there's always room for more if you know one.

SPEAKER_03: 1:26:09

Of course. Have you been to the uh the the the the dragon across the street from the leaping uh Lucky Leap? The Lucky Leap? There is a a beautiful waitress there.

SPEAKER_06: 1:26:22

Yeah, well, of course, but that's not exactly the kind of person we want around for the kind of things we're doing. Unless I mean I don't make assumptions, but I don't have her does she handle a knife or a sword or some of her uh some of the patrons there do call her a muscle mommy. Interesting. What's her name? I'll have to have to inquire further. Oh, Brandina. Ina. Interesting.

SPEAKER_10: 1:26:49

I thought she was a baker.

SPEAKER_06: 1:26:52

Yeah, she's working at the she is a baker. It's a big city. I'm sure there's more than one.

SPEAKER_03: 1:27:01

It's like it's like uh nurse joy from Pokemon. There's just like a bunch of Brandinas everywhere. Uh they all look the same.

SPEAKER_06: 1:27:08

Is there a chance Nurse Joy was actually a Pokemon though?

SPEAKER_03: 1:27:11

100%. There's no way Nurse Joy was not a Pokemon. Right. Because she's always, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_10: 1:27:16

Anyway, we're gonna get sued by Nintendo.

SPEAKER_03: 1:27:19

No way. That never happens.

SPEAKER_04: 1:27:22

If they listen to our podcast and consider it a win.

SPEAKER_03: 1:27:25

Yeah, that's right. If if a small podcast full of veterans get sued by Nintendo, we're gonna make more money than we lose. Come on now.

SPEAKER_04: 1:27:34

We will actually get more listeners. You're like, oh, I gotta go check this out. There's no such thing as negative publicity. All right. They can take all of our all what we're worth. They can have our sponsorship.

SPEAKER_00: 1:27:49

You can take our nurse joys, but you'll never take our brandinas.

SPEAKER_09: 1:27:57

We probably should form an LLC before we air all this. Just in case.

SPEAKER_03: 1:28:06

Alright. So uh you guys want to be part of the funeral procession? Sure.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28:11

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 1:28:12

Yes. I believe so. Alright. So a couple hours pass. Is there anything you guys want to do while they're setting up for the funeral before you have to be there? Anything you need to get in the city or anything you want to accomplish? Uh start with you, Harleck.

SPEAKER_07: 1:28:28

Uh I mean, other than just making sure I'm dressed for the funeral uh stuff properly so that I'm not like looking like a clown at the funeral, um, I think uh that's that's really about it. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:28:40

Yeah, there there are a couple uh of the royal uh call them decorators that come up and kind of clean you up and use some small precipitation spells on you to kind of get the dust and dirt off you from your travels, and they garb you in a long cloak that is gold and black to go along with the royal colors. That's with all of you.

SPEAKER_10: 1:29:05

What they do what what colors? I'm sorry, what did you say?

SPEAKER_03: 1:29:08

Gold and black. Uh Zayn, anything you want to do before the funeral? No. Okay. Novaks?

SPEAKER_05: 1:29:15

Yeah, I gotta go check out that uh the Buns place. But I can be offline.

SPEAKER_03: 1:29:20

You can go to the Buns Place, are you bringing her along the rest of the party?

SPEAKER_05: 1:29:23

That's up to them.

SPEAKER_03: 1:29:25

Okay. Uh Voss, are you doing anything?

SPEAKER_04: 1:29:28

Nothing. Just he'll put on the new clothes he's given and be ready.

SPEAKER_09: 1:29:32

Wonderful. Xanover? Uh I think if Nelvax is kind of peeling off to go check out some hot buns, um, Xanover would also peel off and uh don the disguise of one of his alter egos to go see if anyone's heard anything about this assassination of the king, and you know, if if there's any rumors that are circulating um regarding this very public assassination. Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 1:30:06

I won't go talk to my mom or send off a message or somehow uh attempt to communicate with my mother at the in the tower to see if she knows anything.

SPEAKER_03: 1:30:15

Okay. Are you sending a a courier, a messenger? How are you doing that?

SPEAKER_04: 1:30:21

I I think with with my mother we'd have some pre-arranged uh back channel forms of quick communication that we can get a message and reply to very quickly. Uh okay. Or a place where I could just go meet her. And if we got a couple hours and it's in the town, I could go meet her and then talk and then come back to the group.

SPEAKER_03: 1:30:40

Sure. Yeah, let's let's handle this from left to right then. So Xaniver, you get a message saying uh you get as you're asking questions and you get responses, basically what you find out is that there are rumors going around the city that the king has uh because the person that assassinated him called him a kinslayer, and it looks so closely to the king the queen, there are conspiracy theories going around that that was the queen, and that the king buried her before she was dead. Uh, and that she was dug up and she has come to seek her revenge. Okay, thank you. Boss, you get uh you get word back from your mother in the tower that that was the queen, but uh it was a transformed queen, uh some sort of uh devil that was brought back. Though the tower is yet to identify what kind of devil.

unknown: 1:31:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:31:42

And Nelveck, now the most important thing.

SPEAKER_06: 1:31:45

Can I add or change uh mine actually? Sure, what's up? I think it is important that I go to the Buns place, but it's also uh I think now that we're actually reasonably expecting to be attacked during this procession, uh, he would have dropped in to see his brother Thomas all to see if his brotherhood or anything. He's also got like a whole conspiracy against the tower. So if he's got anything on this, he'd like to at least touch base with him.

SPEAKER_03: 1:32:09

And can you remind me what your brother does?

SPEAKER_06: 1:32:11

He's uh elemental monk. Um he's convinced that the destruction of our monastery was at the whim of the tower, so he spends all of his life uh strengthening himself and trying to do different things to undermine the tower.

SPEAKER_03: 1:32:27

Okay, so he's not part of the tower.

SPEAKER_06: 1:32:29

He's not part of the tower. No, he almost got in, and he is a monk with elemental powers, but they didn't accept him through his uh through the entry tests. Okay, yeah, which convinced him further that they're up to no good.

SPEAKER_03: 1:32:41

Yeah. So um you you get word from your brother that it it is the the same kind of information that Voss was getting, that it was a devil of some sort, but your brother seems to think that uh the queen was resurrected by a necromancer. Noise. Uh Zane.

SPEAKER_10: 1:33:02

I didn't know we were actually gonna be doing a lot of stuff. So Zayn will reach out to his contacts too and find out anything he would find out.

SPEAKER_03: 1:33:10

Okay, what what contacts are you reaching out to?

SPEAKER_10: 1:33:12

So he works for the tower, but he also has other contacts to find out the uh shady stuff that the tower does that the tower doesn't tell other people about. Can you elaborate? What do you mean? So he works for the tower.

SPEAKER_02: 1:33:28

Who is it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_10: 1:33:31

Oh, just shady contacts. That I don't have it, that I don't have that fleshed out. But but in the stuff that he does, well, just okay, it's not fine. He just goes to the tower or talks to his contacts at the tower that he gets jobs from. Because that would probably be the easiest to get a hold of in a short amount of time. He's part of the tower and hunts people down for the tower.

SPEAKER_03: 1:33:52

Yep. I know that. But when you say shady contacts, I need I need some kind of information on it.

SPEAKER_10: 1:33:58

Yeah, I'll have to flesh something out for you.

unknown: 1:34:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:34:01

Um yeah, you hear similar things to what uh Xanover and Voss heard, that it is some sort of devil, but you heard you you do hear that you heard a you hear a few whispers of an Aaron Yase.

SPEAKER_02: 1:34:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:34:18

Harleck, you want to do anything? I never already asked you, but some people have retrograded that answer, so uh no, I think I'm still sticking along with the thing.

SPEAKER_07: 1:34:28

I I don't have anything planned out aside from sticking with the party trying to yeah. Perfect.

SPEAKER_03: 1:34:36

Okay, so as you all gather for the funeral procession, um this is a public ceremony. It's meant to go through the streets so that the public can can mourn with the crown. Um, King Waldron was a beloved ruler, so a lot of people show up to that. That's why most of the uh citizens are garbed in black. It's not only public, but it's also religious, right? You see the tower there as well, representatives from the tower, uh uh besides from yourselves, right? So you see a few of the high clerics, a few of the high paladins there, and it's political theater, right? The city of uh Onadbear uh uh Onadbeer mourns, but below the surface, you you kind of feel this tension in the city. Everybody's kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. So the bells toll in a slow, measured cadence. Um it's very sorrowful. Um, and you can see the the citizens of the city around you crying as you're walking through the streets. Uh black banners ripple from the rooftops, windows are draped in dark cloth, any cloth that the citizens of the city can get, from towels or bed sheets to just rapidly dyed shirts are hanging from the the their windows to kind of mourn with the crown and show their their their uh unity with it. At the forefront of the procession where the knights of the crown, uh they're once where they're normally extremely polished armor, you see that they're covered in ash, and so you saw Lord Seinmander and his fellow knights kind of rub ash all over their armor to uh so that it's not as shiny to to as a sign of mourning for their order. So as they get as they go through the city, they go through the market square, they go through the they go across the bridge of mourning, which is a tradition. Uh whenever a ruler dies or any part of the royal family dies, they go across the bridge of mourning, and then they finally go through the palace gates and go down to the mausoleum. So as you approach the mausoleum, there's a massive double door. Um torches line the stairs going down, and as you start heading down, you see these shadows cast across. Um the shadows cast across, cast across statues of long-dead monarchs, and you hear uh uh Lord Sign Mondr at the front of the procession say, Here lies the resting place of kings. Here ends the walk of a man who ruled in power. And so the rest of the crowd, the rest of the public kind of remains behind. And as the royal procession goes forward, only the knights of the crown go forward, all of you, and then the queen and princess. So it what are you guys thinking as you're going through this? How do you guys are reacting to this? Anything special? Do you kind of just go somberly through it?

SPEAKER_04: 1:37:45

Clarification on this one. Uh we're we're continuing with the knights of the crown.

SPEAKER_06: 1:37:54

Yes. Okay. Uh I don't think Nelvax would be doing anything specific besides hyper alert. Um, he's thinking about like choke points, and if he was making an attack on this procession, where would he be doing it from? Uh so he's trying to just be aware of the surroundings and anybody who doesn't look like they're part of the crowd, like anybody who's moving quickly or rapidly, you know, uh anything that draws his attention, just real kind of relying on his instincts to point out any threats in the area. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:38:24

Yeah. So you don't see any unique threats or or new threats, but you do know, all of you know, that this is where the monarchs of the Aglian family, uh uh that the monarchs of the Aglarian and their families have been laid to rest since the founding of this kingdom and this dynasty for the last 600 years. Uh, this is a tall chamber about about 15 feet high. It's illuminated with torches, and it's been these torches have been lit for this occasion. Uh there are there are alcoves along this mausoleum as you're walking forward, and they depict the statues of dead monarchs and their family members that stand around them in various poses. King Waldron's statue and sarcophagus have been commissioned by King were commissioned by the king well before his death, and it shows him in a glorious dance with his shield and his falcon blade in his hand. On the right side of the king uh stands uh uh a silvered statue of Queen Elisa, who shows a striking resemblance to the individual that killed the king. And on the left of the of his iron statue, you see the king's firstborn and only son, uh the young knight of the count uh young knight of the crown Krasnor holding his glaive. And both uh and the king Sarkof guy is directly in front of it. Any questions?

SPEAKER_06: 1:39:48

All looks normal. Nothing's been tankered with. Nothing yet. Nope.

SPEAKER_04: 1:39:54

Yet. Uh I think Voss through this entire time. Well, what he would have liked. Telling the group as he found the opportunity while they're they're you know walking to pass on the relay the information that from his mother that the queen was in fact the person that killed the king was in fact a resurrected form of the king of the queen. Um but through this whole like internally he's thinking to himself like he didn't care much for this king. He didn't he didn't hate him, he didn't like him, but he's wondering if maybe he should have liked him more seeing the outpouring from the rest of these people. Okay. So he's just questioning his you know lack of care towards the king. Kind of the indifference that he showed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 1:40:38

Yep.

SPEAKER_03: 1:40:40

Perfect. Alright. So the procession enters the mausoleum through the wide gates, and as the king is about to be deposited in the sarcophagus, along with his uh his shield and his sword, all of you feel a significant drop in temperature, and the flames of the torches around you seem to dim, and the double gates of the mausoleum slam shut with a tremendous clamor. Uh the knights of the crown surround the queen and the princess, and where you're standing, to the left of the statue of the king, his son Krasnor, holding his glaive, it starts to glow a sickly green color, and a ghostly emanation in the shape of a glaive separates from that and kind of flies through the air menacingly. And as it as it flies through, it strikes down three knights of the crown and they fall to the ground. And it starts trying to cut anybody that's close to it. Uh panic erupts, and they're starting to bang at the gates trying to get out of this of this mausoleum, but none of the knights can get out of it, and uh the queen and princess are pushed up against it, surrounded by the knights in a semicircle around them, trying to protect them with their shields. So, what I would like you all to do is join the combat. Starting maps, and you'll see that the token I'm using is a ghost because I don't have a glaive token. But I would like you all to roll some initiative.

SPEAKER_04: 1:42:19

So that is the statue of the sun. Correct. And where is the the sarcophagus of the king?

SPEAKER_03: 1:42:29

Uh directly in front of you all.

SPEAKER_04: 1:42:31

And that's that's the one that he he they just put his body and stuff down in there. Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 1:42:36

Alright, what should y'all get?

SPEAKER_04: 1:42:39

Zane got a nine. Nine? Love it. Novex has a twelve. Twelve? Well, these are all bad rules. I'm glad we're getting them out of the way. I got a ten for Voss. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:42:52

What did Harlec get?

SPEAKER_07: 1:42:54

I got hold on, where'd it go?

SPEAKER_02: 1:42:56

Twelve.

SPEAKER_03: 1:42:58

Ooh, two twelves. Which one of you has higher decks? I have ax or harlec.

SPEAKER_07: 1:43:04

My decks is fourteen. Alright, so I'm gonna put you at eleven, Harleck.

SPEAKER_03: 1:43:09

And then what about Xaniver? Uh fourteen. Nice. Alright, so the the glaive is gonna go first. So you you all hear a sad, melancholy music kind of being played around you, and it seems to be emanating from the glaive itself, and it's filling the air around you, and you hear a deep voice, um, and it it says, Murderer! Your line will end here, and your deed will be avenged.

SPEAKER_02: 1:43:45

And the glaive strikes forward and goes right towards Nelvax and is going to take an attack. Helps to have dice, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_03: 1:43:59

It does help to have dice.

SPEAKER_04: 1:44:00

I thought you said you prepare for these things. He just makes up the numbers. He just makes up the numbers anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

SPEAKER_03: 1:44:08

I mean, if I didn't, some of you would be dead by now. Does a 17 hit?

SPEAKER_05: 1:44:14

It does.

SPEAKER_03: 1:44:16

Okay. You are going to take uh 13 points of necrotic damage.

SPEAKER_06: 1:44:24

Does this damage include buzzening, piercing, or slashing?

SPEAKER_02: 1:44:28

No. Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 1:44:30

Then I take 13 damage.

SPEAKER_02: 1:44:32

Super.

SPEAKER_03: 1:44:33

And Xanover, you're up. So as you guys are seeing this, the glaive from the statue is uh is still glowing a slightly sickly green color, and this glaive is flying around.

SPEAKER_09: 1:44:45

So uh Xanover questions his life choices and spell selection at this. Um he is going to uh go ahead at third level cast spiritual guardians, and so you will see um just these uh radiant uh foxes chasing hares and um I gotta try and remember my my own lore at this, but we'll just stick with foxes chasing hares, kind of split around him in a 15-foot emanation, and then he is going to just kind of move up slightly to get within 15 feet of the glaive, uh, so that it is now impeded by the um the spiritual guardians, and so that will be a uh D16 with some save for the glaive if the glaive even saves. Uh actually, can I can I retcon it a little bit and first initiate my um innate sorcery as a bonus act? Uh so that raises my DC to 17. 17, got it. Uh 14 is what he rolled. Okay. Uh so that will be uh terrible. Eight points of radiant damage. Okay. And his speed is halved while uh inside of my radiant aura. Okay. So that'll be my turn. Are you moving up to him, Xanover? Uh I moved within 15 feet. So not all the way to him, just where there's still plenty of bodies between me and him. It has a 15 foot radius? Yes. That is wild. But uh I do not like to get into scraps, and so I'm gonna stay a little bit away. So that's it for my turn.

SPEAKER_02: 1:46:39

Okay. Nelvax, you're up. That's me.

SPEAKER_06: 1:46:44

Uh so this hauntingly green uh weapon, Glaive, uh, just slashed at me. So I'm gonna uh do quick two quick hand strikes out at it, just chop chop. Uh unarmed strikes, there we go. First one's uh 26 to hit. Okay. And the second one, second one's a nine to hit. Oh, the 26 does hit.

unknown: 1:47:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 1:47:11

So I'll do a D8 plus four. So that's seven total bludgeoning damage against it. Um I would like to use a key point to try to stun it. Uh once per turn, when I hit with a monk weapon or unarmed strike and expend a focus to attempt a stunning strike, it must make a con save. And if it fails, then it's stunned until the start of my next turn. If it saves, then its speed is halved until the start of my next turn. And the next attack against it uh before then has advantage.

SPEAKER_03: 1:47:40

Uh 14.

SPEAKER_06: 1:47:42

14, 14, 14. Let me just look here. It was a 13 save, so you done it. Perfect. Love it. Uh so that was a key point, and I'm gonna use my bonus action to do a flurry of blows. Okay. Uh, which is gonna be, I think, two more attacks me right now. Yeah, two more unarmed strikes. Great. First hit is a 19 to hit, and the second one's uh 17 to hit. It does hit both of them.

SPEAKER_11: 1:48:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 1:48:14

First one's an 11, and the second one's also an eleven.

SPEAKER_11: 1:48:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:48:21

Yeah, as you're as you're punching this glaive, it doesn't seem to be slowing down as you're punching it. Seems to be continuing to zip around. Uh zip around you. It's it seems to get more agitated the more you try to strike at it.

SPEAKER_05: 1:48:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:48:36

Anything else, Novex?

SPEAKER_02: 1:48:38

No, that's good for me. Alright.

SPEAKER_07: 1:48:40

Harleck. Has anything we've done looked like it's been like very effective with it? Or not really? Like it's it's just like a glaive, almost like a spiritual weapon, right?

SPEAKER_03: 1:48:51

It is a spiritual weapon, yes. Alright. Uh the radiant damage that Xanover has dealt to it uh seemed to have slowed it down a little bit, but nothing has seemed to really affect it.

SPEAKER_07: 1:49:05

Alright, I'm gonna try uh I'm gonna try just doing uh Eldric Blast at it. Or you know what? No, I'm gonna try. Yeah, I'm gonna do uh Eldric Blast for now. Do we see it came off of the statue though?

SPEAKER_03: 1:49:20

Yes. If you look at the uh the map, the green glow, it still does show a slight green glow on the axe or the on the glaive itself that the statue is holding. Okay.

SPEAKER_07: 1:49:33

I'm gonna try to hit the thing that says ghost.

unknown: 1:49:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_06: 1:49:37

Justin was thinking we should attack the statue piece, but Nelvax was like, this thing attacks me. Shouldn't attack this thing. Glowing spot equals weakness, but I don't think D Nelvax would know that.

SPEAKER_07: 1:49:50

Uh 23 and a 15. Uh 23 does hit. For the six force damage. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:49:59

Yeah, it doesn't uh your elders blast doesn't seem to slow down as it goes through this uh glaive. And it goes right through it.

SPEAKER_07: 1:50:07

Goes right through. Yeah. Okay. And then Harle's gonna move up to a little bit to back where the other statues are, and then cool it for now and then give bone uh uh Bardic inspiration over to Zane. Alright.

SPEAKER_04: 1:50:25

Voss. Alright. So Voss is staying at the ready with his mace in his right hand, and he noticed his left hand is empty, and he looks down at the king's sarcophagus and seals sees a shield, a shield that he remembers did quite some fancy stuff just the other night, so he reaches out and picks it up. Okay. Uh so while he has the king's shield in hand, he approaches the attacker and is going to I just close the wrong tab. Uh he's gonna close his distance and then cast his bonus action uh invoke duplicity. So he's gonna make a copy of himself uh once I get back to the actual game board. I'll do that. And is there a way I can copy my token? Be able to.

SPEAKER_09: 1:51:19

Brandon be able to just add it a second time.

SPEAKER_04: 1:51:21

Yeah. We'll put another one right next to me. Just up in the ghost face. How many are there?

SPEAKER_02: 1:51:29

Three.

SPEAKER_04: 1:51:30

I made one.

unknown: 1:51:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 1:51:32

And then you deleted yours too. I'm creating one. Alright. There we go. Uh so there's two copies of Dane uh all up in the glaive's face. Trying to take some heat off of Novax.

SPEAKER_02: 1:51:46

Anything else?

SPEAKER_04: 1:51:47

That's it for me.

SPEAKER_02: 1:51:48

Alright, Zayn, you're up.

SPEAKER_10: 1:51:50

So I noticed that the Elder Splash just passed right through this Glaive.

SPEAKER_02: 1:51:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_10: 1:51:57

Okay. And now I have two bosses between me and the Glaive.

SPEAKER_02: 1:52:02

Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_10: 1:52:04

That doesn't make things easy. So what else is in this room?

SPEAKER_03: 1:52:10

A bunch of statues depicting dead rulers or royal family members. The princess and queen, uh surrounded by the Knights of the Crown and your companions.

SPEAKER_10: 1:52:24

So are the things are these things around the room? Like, how would they withstand fire?

SPEAKER_03: 1:52:32

Everything is stone with the exception of the living things in here and the torches.

SPEAKER_10: 1:52:37

Okay, where are the living things?

SPEAKER_03: 1:52:40

By the door south of you.

SPEAKER_10: 1:52:43

Okay. Are there any And Sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03: 1:52:48

And your companions.

SPEAKER_10: 1:52:51

Are there any living things in that red circle?

SPEAKER_03: 1:52:54

So you're trying to position a fireball so it just hits the ghost and not any of your companions.

SPEAKER_10: 1:53:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_03: 1:53:02

Do you have careful whatchamacallit?

SPEAKER_10: 1:53:06

No. I'm not a sorcerer. Why would I not be able to drop a fireball where I want it to go?

SPEAKER_03: 1:53:12

Well, what I'm thinking is, in the midst of combat, if you're able to hit it exactly where you want it so it only hits your a ghost with all of your friends around it, that is that's like magic user's job. Yeah, but it's also like some you gotta be know some geometry in that shit.

SPEAKER_10: 1:53:33

I mean you chuck a fireball so that it's gonna barely hit. I mean, I don't know. Are you saying that I can't do it?

SPEAKER_03: 1:53:42

I'm saying you can do it, but I'm also saying it might hit Voss.

SPEAKER_10: 1:53:47

I don't have a lot of Z checks. I don't know. I've never had a question about where you can drop a fireball as a person who casts fireballs before.

SPEAKER_04: 1:53:57

I think you do have options to to cast fireball or to not.

SPEAKER_03: 1:54:04

You guys understand what I'm saying here, though, is like when you cast a fireball, no? In a massively small room? In a massively small room, being able to drop it exactly where you want it, so it only hits one character when like four are grouped up right there.

SPEAKER_06: 1:54:20

So this is where you draw the line with magic, Brando?

SPEAKER_07: 1:54:23

So you want to just play physics in this magical world.

SPEAKER_09: 1:54:27

You know, for for five years he had a wizard that didn't cast fireball, so this is true of the first time that it popped up.

SPEAKER_06: 1:54:37

Never mind the floating glaive we're trying to attack.

SPEAKER_03: 1:54:41

Well, I mean, it's I'll let you guys get away with a lot of shit. I question one thing and you guys all jump on me. Fuck all of you.

SPEAKER_10: 1:54:48

No, I'm just okay, so here's here's what I would say. If I was trying to weave it in and dodge multiple things, but there is nothing in that circle except for But what I'm saying is you have to hit it exactly where you want it. So if I was trying to do something like this and hit just Nelvax, I could see that being questionable.

SPEAKER_09: 1:55:10

That's the same thing. No, it's not because that's the same exact thing that you were just doing.

SPEAKER_10: 1:55:16

No, it's not because this is away from everybody except for this, right? You're just trying to get distance. This is trying to exactly match and not hit Xanafer or the ghost or whatever.

SPEAKER_03: 1:55:28

But what I'm saying is you have to cast it exactly at this spot, this spot right here, to hit just the ghost. If you hit here, it hits everybody. If you hit here, it hits nobody.

SPEAKER_10: 1:55:42

I got a good five foot range that I can hit. And it's still gonna hit him. But if you're saying that I can't do it, then I can't do it, and I don't have anything fucking new.

SPEAKER_03: 1:55:51

So I say you can roll for it. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_10: 1:55:55

What am I rolling for?

SPEAKER_03: 1:55:58

Uh straight d20, above ten, it hits, above below ten, it might hit Voss.

SPEAKER_09: 1:56:03

Spell check spell uh casting check, maybe? Yeah. How he can weave his magic using his charisma?

SPEAKER_04: 1:56:10

Question about a fireball, does a fireball have to maintain its size, or can its size be changed?

SPEAKER_10: 1:56:17

No, if you have the if you there's things you can do to do it, but I don't have any of that.

SPEAKER_04: 1:56:21

If you're casting a fireball inside a room and its radius is exceeding the rooms, wouldn't the room naturally push it back inside of the room?

SPEAKER_09: 1:56:32

He didn't ask how big the room was, he said he cast fireball.

SPEAKER_04: 1:56:37

Good point. But I'm just saying, even in even in like the a small room like this, wouldn't the edges of the fireball naturally push it to not only hit me but the rest of the room?

SPEAKER_10: 1:56:46

Rules as written, it's a diameter spell. It is a diameter spell. So it's not a volume spell.

SPEAKER_03: 1:56:53

Another reason I'm saying this is because you don't have any careful spells or anything like that. And it's like you're trying to craft it exactly like that.

unknown: 1:57:04

I agree.

SPEAKER_10: 1:57:05

Do you know how common this is for anybody that casts fireball? They're always trying to exactly place it where it's gonna do the right damage. And damage to right there, that's just what wizards and uh warlocks and anybody that casts a fireball, that's what they do. But if you want me to roll a die, I'll roll a die for it, but it'll kill Voss.

SPEAKER_09: 1:57:28

Well, that's also his duplicate. That's not even Voss. That is his duplicate.

SPEAKER_06: 1:57:33

I don't see where I would hit that Voss and not Novex.

SPEAKER_04: 1:57:37

You can uh have him roll a d4 and it chooses if he if he gets under 10 it and then it moves one block in a d4 direction away from where he was aiming. Like a well, it's a grenade.

SPEAKER_09: 1:57:52

Yeah, I I I think from a time perspective, Brandon, maybe just we do a ruling for now and then you come back and retcon it if you read something that says otherwise, but we could sit here and debate this for the next 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_04: 1:58:07

Trust me, there'll be more fireballs.

SPEAKER_02: 1:58:11

I I just whatever.

SPEAKER_03: 1:58:13

Yeah, put it where you want it, Bill.

SPEAKER_10: 1:58:16

No, I'm I'm perfectly willing to do whatever you tell me to do. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03: 1:58:20

I just what is uh roll of deck save?

SPEAKER_10: 1:58:23

Yeah, it's roll a deck save. Uh nine. That did not save. Give me some damage. I'm gonna roll my d20 that you said. 16.

SPEAKER_02: 1:58:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_10: 1:58:36

So oh I gotta find it. There it is. 32.

SPEAKER_02: 1:58:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:58:41

Uh yeah, so the rest of you see this glaive kind of light up, and uh the glaive on the statue light up and it explodes, and the spectral glaive disappears. And you guys are now out of combat. Well, that was weird. Almost like the glowing thing is the weak spot. I did say that.

SPEAKER_04: 1:59:05

I was expecting that.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:06

You did say that.

SPEAKER_04: 1:59:08

But you played it off well, Justin.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:10

Alright.

SPEAKER_04: 1:59:12

So is there like a residual like heat inside the room that we have to do? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:17

This room is hot, right? Uh fireball just went off.

SPEAKER_04: 1:59:20

Fireball's still there. Is the fireball still there, like burning us alive in this tiny room?

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:26

No, it's it's not burning you guys alive, right? But it it is definitely heated up the room. It's like if you have you're in a bathroom and you have a personal space heater in there, it heats up the room pretty quickly. This is a small space.

unknown: 1:59:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:39

Right? It's only it's a what a 14 by 14 room.

SPEAKER_05: 1:59:43

No way.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:44

Well, times five.

SPEAKER_10: 1:59:45

14 by 4. I was gonna say it's 65 feet across.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10: 1:59:52

If it was 14 by 14, I would not have cast a fireball. Just just saying.

SPEAKER_03: 1:59:56

I didn't ask how big the room was.

SPEAKER_11: 2:00:00

So that's fireball.

SPEAKER_03: 2:00:04

Alright. So uh everybody seems to calm down a little bit and Lord Seinmander relaxes and he walks up to uh he walks up to Voss and he motions he he reaches his hand out and touches the shield that Voss is holding.

SPEAKER_04: 2:00:23

Well it appears as though there's enemies still after the king. This shield might still have some use left in it.

SPEAKER_03: 2:00:32

As is traditional, the king is buried with his with his armaments.

SPEAKER_04: 2:00:37

And when the king enemies are truly vanquished, I promise I will return his shield.

SPEAKER_03: 2:00:43

Give me a persuasion roll. I'm telling you the DC is 21.

SPEAKER_04: 2:00:48

Alright, that's fine. You said persuasion?

SPEAKER_03: 2:00:51

Uh yes, persuasion.

SPEAKER_04: 2:00:54

Alright, if I'm gonna get it, this is what'd you get?

SPEAKER_01: 2:00:58

25 natural 20.

SPEAKER_03: 2:01:02

Add a spriggin shield to your inventory. Yeah, good. Thank you, Ray.

SPEAKER_04: 2:01:07

I did not actually expect I I was gonna give it up.

SPEAKER_03: 2:01:10

Like I figured that was a worthwhile roll, but Lord Signminder says to you, you know, with the king in danger, and you all put yourselves out, you protected the queen and the princess. Take this and use it. Protect the realm, and when the time comes, make sure it lays to rest with the king.

SPEAKER_04: 2:01:31

Oh, of course, that I will do. Alright, I'll take it.

SPEAKER_02: 2:01:35

Nice. Alright. Uh so fuck me.

SPEAKER_03: 2:01:42

Okay. So that melody that you all were hearing before kinda ended. Uh it didn't kinda end, it did end. And you no longer hear any music or anything like that. Uh the doors are able to be opened again by the queen and the princess. And Lord Seinmander is looking around, it looks very solemn, and he's he's deep in his own thoughts. And uh he turns to you all and says, Thank you for protecting the queen and the king, or the queen and the princess, and you stood between royalty and wrath, and you didn't falter. And this mausoleum, everything that you've seen, you shouldn't have seen it, but you did, and you act it, which is something that I am eternally grateful for. And for that, you not only have my gratitude, but you also have my trust. If there's anything I can do for you, please let me know. So go ahead, Harleck. I was just gonna say why you know why.

SPEAKER_08: 2:02:39

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03: 2:02:42

Uh Lord Signmonder reaches his hand out and uh goes to shake your hand, Harleck. I hold out my tiny little wingy hand. Tiny little wingy hand. Awesome. Okay. So uh the rest of the funeral goes without a hitch. They bury the king, and then Lord Signmoner, uh as you are all about to leave the mausoleum, Lord Seinmonder says to Nelvax, please come see me at my estate tomorrow morning.

SPEAKER_06: 2:03:16

I hope this isn't about the uh the cloak. It's got some blood on it. That's not my fault.

SPEAKER_03: 2:03:20

No, I don't I don't care about the cloak. You can keep the cloak.

SPEAKER_06: 2:03:25

I don't want it, it's got a big cut in the front where my chest is bleeding.

SPEAKER_01: 2:03:31

Well played, Justin. Well played.

SPEAKER_03: 2:03:34

I can just have that fixed for you. You can drop it off at a uh you can drop it off and get it fixed immediately. I'm sure one of you knows somebody to fix this or mend it.

SPEAKER_04: 2:03:43

Voss Voss looks over at it and he kind of waves his hand and casts mending as a game trip. Oh good.

SPEAKER_06: 2:03:50

Now my in-tech cloak is being bled on. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03: 2:03:58

Uh you see Mondor uh look at you, Nelvex, and then look up at the sky, and he mutters a silent prayer and then walks out of the mausoleum.

SPEAKER_06: 2:04:07

Yeah, I'll be there.

SPEAKER_03: 2:04:10

And that is where we are going to end the night. So our next session, uh, you're going to be uh meeting Lord Seinmander at his estate. And we're gonna we're gonna start off on uh the the the coronation. Ooh. We're uh we're level seven.

SPEAKER_04: 2:04:32

One of what it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03: 2:04:35

No, no, fuck that. You guys do make a level though, you're at level six.

SPEAKER_04: 2:04:40

Do we make it to the end of where you wanted to get to? Okay, we at least do that for you.

SPEAKER_03: 2:04:43

No, okay. No, you didn't. But you are at level six.

SPEAKER_10: 2:04:47

Do we make it past halfway?

SPEAKER_02: 2:04:49

You are past halfway, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 2:04:51

Huh? Yeah. It's the small things.

SPEAKER_07: 2:04:54

It's how disappointed in us are you so far? I'm not disappointed in any of you. Good, good, good, good.

SPEAKER_03: 2:05:03

Uh I want to say thank you to everybody for following us liking us, giving us ideas. It means a lot to us. Make sure you follow us on our social media at facebook.com slash a dd story, retweet us on Twitter or ex at ad story2. Follow us on Instagram and Instagram.com slash a dd story, and make sure you check out Blue Sky, B S K Y dot app. If you like all the sound effects you've been hearing, check out Sirenscape at sirenscape.com. I use for my in-person games as well. I just started a new one, and uh, I gotta tell you, my players are loving it. Uh check out a new in-person game, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 2:05:34

Pretty good. People that actually like you.

SPEAKER_03: 2:05:37

They're not as critical as you all appreciate you for your skills.

SPEAKER_06: 2:05:41

Uh you should know we held back. We collectively looked at each other and held back at least once.

SPEAKER_03: 2:05:46

Oh, this was held back.

SPEAKER_06: 2:05:48

It was. It was just the tip, Brandon.

SPEAKER_03: 2:05:51

Just what did you hold back on? Did I say something wrong?

SPEAKER_06: 2:05:55

Uh yeah, what did you say? Uh I actually I googled it. Hold on, because I was like, that's not the right word. Oh, damn. That's a whole new level of hate. Retrograde, brother?

SPEAKER_03: 2:06:06

Yeah, retrograde. As soon as I said it. As soon as I said it, I was like, that's not right.

SPEAKER_06: 2:06:13

But we didn't. Like, we were like, we know You should have.

SPEAKER_03: 2:06:16

You should have. No, no, you're in a role. We're weird. I've had I've had two or more whiskeys than I should have. It happened.

SPEAKER_04: 2:06:23

We were we were in the story that you were weaving for us, and we were tracked.

SPEAKER_03: 2:06:27

Yeah, let's retrograde that shit.

SPEAKER_06: 2:06:28

Dude, sometimes Mercury's in retrograde. You guys got a lot of it.

SPEAKER_03: 2:06:31

Mercury's in retrograde, it happens.

SPEAKER_07: 2:06:32

There's a reason I play low-end characters.

SPEAKER_03: 2:06:38

Um so if you uh if you're like me and you like to procrastinate as a DM, make sure you check out worldsmith.io. Uh it's great for those uh random encounters, uh, gives you quests real quick uh really quickly, gives you new NPCs, gives you shops, which I use them for mostly, um, and even traps and puzzles. So it's a very good, very, very, very good website. And finally, dungeon draft.com for all of my battle maps that I've been using. I really like it. It's very quick to put together. I can put together a battle map in less than uh less than 10 minutes, which is huge. And Ray, if you want to take us out tonight.

SPEAKER_07: 2:07:19

Thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_03: 2:07:20

It's been nerdy.

SPEAKER_04: 2:07:22

It has been nerdy, it's been nerdy, and that's a wrap.