Hello, greetings everyone, and welcome to my first ever Dungeons & Dragons stream. I will be the Dungeon Master for today. My name is Joe Kat, and I'm joined with some wonderful people. And, yeah, let us delay no further and begin. Welcome, one and all, to the Lustrous Expanse. Where magic and monsters, taverns and torasks, and yes, even Dungeons & Dragons, are a reality. Today, I bring to you a simple tale of such wonders. Where a small group of outstanding individuals use their might, their swiftness, their wits, and perhaps even their cunning to achieve amazing feats. Welcome to the Balcanus Necro Hunt. 80 years ago, a war was waged which ravaged the continent. Out of the ashes rose new peoples, lands, and laws. One specifically unique to the kingdom of Balcanus, all necromancy is illegal. For even a single powerful necromancer can raise an army and turn a city to ashes. Even the smallest incantation can be the seeds planted to grow a dangerous mage. Thus, it all must be cut at the roots. Unfortunately, some roots are too ingrained, and a fairly recent faction, a cult known as the Spine of Death, has become more and more of a presence in the kingdom. Once merely dismissed as innocent lunacy, followers of the Spine have grown in number and power, and as of today have been bringing terror, death, destruction, and indoctrination. Not the least of which was a mere three days before, when a devastating attack was made on the trade district of Balcanus proper. Many are dead, and many more are missing. In a hidden location known by very few high-ranking officials, the Vi account has hired a team of adventurers for a very secret mission. The circular room we find ourselves in is stuffy and dimly lit, with banners lining the seemingly endlessly tall stone walls, and a single large rug covers the tiled floor. In the center of the room, there is a variety of papers, maps and documents atop a round table, where four individuals sit, uncertain of how they arrive there, but completely aware of why. Not a moment after they all realize where they are, a fifth figure appears seemingly out of the darkness. A military-dressed elven woman. Vi account Chandrail Miharian. And this art was brought to you by my good friend Taktishan Kate. On Twitter you can find her at Taktishan Kate. She is wonderful. She stands proud, with a proud posture, and stepping with purpose. She arrives at the table and brings forward her hands, holding a small stack of documents. She flips through them until arriving at one, and looks to the heavily scarred woman, barring two swords.  Hello, my name is Shelby. I'm from the channel... Oh, excuse me, I'm so sorry. I'm from the channel Whistle While You Work. It's a channel where I tell stories of my D&D adventures and draw whatever fun fantasy stuff comes to mind. I'm playing Luna Icewood, a fairly tall dark tan-skinned woman with just a mess of wild blonde hair pulled up in a rough ponytail. As you said, I am covered in scars and I have two long swords strapped to my back. One very standard, and one made of a strange black metal with both skulls on the crossguard. And I'm just looking intrigued as to why I was summoned here. The Viscount flips through the papers and kind of like looking back and forth on the same page. I see here that your father fought in the war eight years ago. That's correct. Records show him defying incredible odds I would have liked to meet him. And though I believe little in blood being a factor in one's abilities, I would hope such a man would have a similarly resourceful offspring. And judging by your time in the peaks, I'd say you have some bragging rights of your own. Three yetis, she raises her eyebrows and tilts her head. I'd hope you had some help, otherwise I fear you may be undercharging me. Well, the first two I had some help, but the last one, that was me. Very good and very impressive nonetheless. She smiles and looks over to the man sitting beside Luna, dressed in a long trench coat, a curvy brimmed hat, and a strange and with strange gear like irises. Aaron, why don't you introduce yourself, what you do and describe your character? Hi, hello. My name is Aaron. I'm otherwise known as Yarshian. I am a voice actor and sound designer and creator of the online parody series known as how to be an adventurer. I am playing Enoch Solomon. I am a very skilled marksman and also engineer as well as a doctor. I'm also pretty keen on trying to help people in a lot of aspects while also using those exact same aspects to defend several different places using said equipment. How does your character look? He is pretty tall being an individual. He has straight blonde, dirty blonde hair and very copper color as well as two irises that look like gears and has very unique breastplate while also keeping his visage as simple as possible with this very nice blue, almost slightly gambeson like coat. All right. Oh, also my hat. Yes, you do have a hat. A very nice hat. Yeah. The Viscount looks over to Enoch and her smile fades a little bit. Howdy. She starts flipping through her papers. I'll be forward with you, Mr. Solomon. I am not very fond of vigilantism, but it's not every day we have an inventor so accustomed to magic and beaut technology such that they can make functional limbs and she looks over to your arm. Well, it's a very particular skill and I do understand vigilantism isn't well and appreciated. But when helps calling, you got to go. I guess I can respect some of that. And she leans in a little bit almost to whisper plus that stunt you pulled with Mayor Terrell in blend. I must admit I've always wanted to see you what his high house face sinking in like a scared tortoise would look like.  Yes. And looking at the other individuals around the table. I will certainly try. She sighs in disappointment.  Kami, introduce yourself, what you do and describe your character. Hey, you guys, what's up? This is Kami Kat and I am a, I guess, singer songwriter. I do some D&D original stuff. I also sing covers and parodies over on my YouTube channel. You can find it at Kami Kat. And, you know, just basically I do a little bit of everything over there and my character, this lovely half-elf woman basically dressed in what looks like if she could cover herself in all the colors of the rainbow. She seems to have succeeded in all these little bits and pieces and they all somehow remain cohesive as if it was a representation of her. Renee Bado is sitting very calmly and just nodding as she listens, making sure that she's keeping her contact and remaining attentive. Chandralle's expression when her eyes drop on you, Renee, goes from a neutral sternness to a squint and a frown. Speaking of vigilantism, Miss Bado, as much as I appreciate you now working under proper legal organization, I cannot ignore these black marks. There is no less than two new criminal factions in the capital city as a result of your espionage. She gently slaps the page with the back of her hand. Renee just continues to look at her, no response, keeping her face totally neutral. But I cannot argue with results. Perhaps you can use some of that on this mission under more restrictive measures. I will do what I can. I guess that won't have to be good enough. She flips through her documents and her expression turns to relief upon looking upon the final member, a man clad in a bright yellow garb and matching mage's hat. Davy, introduce yourself, what you do and your character. Howdy-has-going, my name is Davy Chappy and I teach people how to play Dungeons and Dragons on the internet. You can find me at Davy Chappy. I also stream on Twitch, but that is less important. This evening I am going to be playing Nathaniel Gainsby, a snake-like man wearing, as you said, a long overcoat and hat both matching in yellow. I have spent this time staring at the woman, not looking over at any of the other people in the room with me. I understand why I am here. I am here because of my reputation. It precedes me and I am going to respect it. She has a very gentle smile when she looks upon Nathaniel. I hadn't expected the witch-taker to accept my request himself. I'd assumed you would be too busy, but I thank you nonetheless. I am a fan of your work. On matters of magical importance, I find it pertinent to take a direct hand. Indeed, and your exposing of the corrupt business heads in the capital have paid enormous dividends in gathering more information on this case. She looks over back over to Renee. Her smile dips a bit. I do hope that you can keep an eye on your colleague. It is my hope. She is very valuable in the field, and I believe that she is reformed. Of course, I will ensure that she obeys the rules to the letter. As you wish. Hearing that, Renee has a bit of a cheeky smile. She can't help it. She cocks one eyebrow. I do not understand what you would require, one for that one of my knights could not also provide still. It is good to have your board. Viscount Chandrell tosses the papers into the air where they quickly vanish with a dim light. Her posture straightens and her shoulders lift an inch. Thank you all for coming. As a refresher, I have a very important quest for you. Three days previous, the trade district suffered a devastating attack by none other than a necrotic cult known as the Spine of Death. After a moment, a map on the table gently floats atop of the other piles of paper. And let me just pull that up right quick. Here we go. And this is the map of Belkanis. And you may notice the hexagon pattern grid on the map. You guys will be using this map to travel, and each hexagon designates a single day's worth of traveling. Oh. Good to know. Their leader, which they refer to as the Black Vein Queen, is located outside of Belkanis borders, here in the town of Cloveway, and she pokes over in a little small drawing of a few housings in the top right corner. Your mission is to travel there, capture her, and return her to the capital, and to me personally. I'm giving you 14 days to do this. I wish we had more time, but the longer we wait, the stronger the cult grows, and the more likely another attack will be made. She breathes in uneasily and lets out a long sigh. You may have heard rumors amongst the people that this Black Vein Queen is a particular person of interest, though this conversation does not leave this room I can confirm. She is indeed my dear sister, Kara Miharian. The council and I have tried our best to hush these rumors for the sake of keeping the peace. I don't want mobs at my door making ridiculous claims that I'm in league with the spine, nor do I want any overzealous patriot stomping over to Cloveway and sparking another war. So once you begin your journey, I do not know you. You have not spoken to me, and this quest does not exist. I don't want any breadcrumbs tracing this underhanded tactic back to me. Do I make myself clear? Crystal. Absolument. If you wouldn't mind spelling out the name of the person for me. Here we go. I want to put it. Kara Miharian. There we go. Throw it in the check. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm going to pull out a note and I will write that down. She nods at everyone's confirmation. Good. And be careful. She has a way with her words. There's a reason the spine has accumulated such a large following. How so? Well, as you may have guessed, necromancy being legal may have sparked a few people to feel as though they have to fight against the system. Some people feel as though it is their right to use necromancy with no worry about the cost to other people around them. You just say, well, am I getting visibly more pissed off? Now then, I have for each of you one banishing crystal. She lifts her hand and you can see four diamond-like crystals that seem to glow with a deep, dark blackness. And they gently float to each of you. You may add banishing crystal into your inventory. Ooh, shiny. I will do that. If you can strike the target with it, it will withhold even the strongest of creatures, and it is an extremely potent recreation of the banishment spell perhaps some of you are familiar. If by chance you capture the wrong target, merely crush the crystal with a significant amount of force and the captor will be released.  Her eyebrows start to narrow and she takes turns giving a piercing stare at each person. These were not cheap. I would assume not. And we'll make sure that they aren't wasted, yes? Very good. Renee is just admiring how it looks in the light. It seems as though it sucks in all light.  There's gears in my head turning about this magical item. You've given us four of these things. I understand that we're only hunting down one person, but is there something else that we might use them for? Perhaps. She takes a few steps forward and looks down. There is one more thing. As if the spine itself was not enough to deal with on their own, there is an escaped prisoner, a powerful warrior by the name of Thorn. That's T-H-O-R-N-E. They don an unmistakable suit of armor and bear a large axe. They are extremely dangerous and have been hunting down necromancers, and though I normally would appreciate such an act, they do not have the authoritative approval and are causing collateral damage in their wake. You may cross paths. If you do, do not engage. But in the worst case scenario, perhaps the banishing crystals may help. We have been running tests. Unfortunately, for some reason, this Thorn seems not immune, but less affected by it. It may buy you some time. To be clear, you're not looking for us to capture Thorn. If we see them, we ought to ignore them. Indeed. But you have reason to believe that they are going to try to get into our way. Yes. I think it might be the other way around that we might be in their way. I assure you, it is not. This person might try to hijack our own investigation. Perhaps. I trust your judgment in dealing with that. Let's say that they do try to do such a thing. Are we to bring them to you, or...? Do you want us to bring them down? No. I will handle it. I have knights on duty, of which their mission is to take care of Thorn. Yours is not. Any intervention you make may hinder our progress in bringing him in. I thank you for the clarification. To be fair, it would also waste our 14-day curfew. Yes. She tilt her head a bit. Yes. You do have a limited amount of time to do this, and although all I can do is recommend you don't pursue this Thorn, if you do, that is at your own cost. Well, I hope you understand, ma'am. If he approaches us and engages, well, we're only going to have to defend ourselves. As you wish. He sees us as in way of his mission, you know. I think that's a matter completely different than the current one on the table, though. I think that we will cross that bridge when it comes to it. It's good to know at least that there's a wild card. Lady Viacount, if I may be so bold. Go on. You've given us 14 days with the possibility of at least 10 to, per say, 12-day travel. At least two days being the most amount of time that we can do this, but some curious about the matter. Why only 14 days? I told you, the longer we wait, the stronger the spine becomes, and the black vein queen. Would you rather dilly-dally and wait for another attack to happen? I'd rather not. Curiously enough, it does kind of irk me a bit, because not only are we having to drag ourselves there, but we also have to drag another person back. I understand with crystals that could potentially be very helpful, but it could cause a scene on the way back. How can we assure that anybody might not be keeping a close eye on their so-called black vein queen? I mean, if the crystals work the way that I... It sounds like they do. It seems like once it's used, you just hold on to it. It doesn't sound like we'll be carrying a body through the streets or anything. Indeed. And Mr. Enoch, that is exactly why I have hired you and not one of my knights. I apologize for this, but you are taking the fall for the betterment of the kingdom. No one will suspect much if some four random individuals are coming together, going on an adventure, causing a havoc.  If we complete the mission. That is a very likely possibility. Oh, there's not going to be an if. There is no possibility of failure, but in the interest of professionalism, say that we do overpass our time. You do not want them to get stronger, but this sounds more like a soft cap and not something that is a tent amount to the mission. I assume you're not telling us that after two weeks of pass to just abandon everything? Of course not, that would be ridiculous. If you do not make it in time, I will simply cut your pay. Oh, fate worse than death then. Well, I do not intend to fail this. If I may be bold once more, even if we do manage to come back a little late, I need some sort of insurance policy. Very well. What do you propose? On my end, I can't speak for anybody else here, but on my end, I have two requests that I would like to have done in advance. And if I don't come back as a return for this policy, I will give you something I know this kingdom could definitely use. My weapons designs. And what about them? I will release them to your hand should I not come back within 14 days. In return, my two requests get fulfilled. Speak them. First, I need a certain magical item that can hold a great capacity within itself, a bag of holding, if that is doable. And the second? Materials. Lots and lots of materials. May you specify? Steel, silver, gunpowder. Roll a persuasion check. First roll of the game. Here we go. Come on. You certainly are bold, Mr. Enoch. Come on. Give me that. What is that? With that, it will be a three. We love to see it. All right. First roll of the game is a three. Nice. She narrows her eyes a bit. I can provide you with some supplies, but not the ones that you seek. Those are some very important items. And I mean no offense by this. You are still strangers to me. But this is still a very important task. And after all, it is your sister. If anything, it might do to maybe throw him my bone. You may also roll a persuasion check. And this will be the last one on this topic. That's fair. I was just sitting with someone. Hmm. Maybe I can help. Oh, 21. Her face scrunches a bit at the mention of her sister. Very well. I will provide you with some of the material in exchange for your blueprints, which I very much appreciate, Mr. Enoch. However, I cannot provide to you with a bag of holding. What I can is an enchanted bag instead. I can hold twice the normal weight of a normal bag. I hope that is enough to suffice. That'll do. Very well. She snaps her fingers and both immediately appear on the table. A bag just kind of flumps down and sinks into itself. And let's see, three silver bars and two steel bars. Perfect. What can I say except you welcome. Thank you. So that bag can hold up to twice your character's weight. However, it only it only it basically halves the it halves the have to load of that of any piece of equipment put into it. Okay. However, it still needs to fit in there. So you can't bring like a keg of ale, obviously.  Nope. It's a bag of holding a little bit better. Seeing that appear, Renee probably like leans back a little bit with her hands folded and like looks over with the curious eye and Nathaniel like. You you may put you may put lightweight bag in your inventory Enoch. My face betrays no emotion.  Well, if we're going after this black themed queen, do you have any more information about her besides the fact she's your sister? She puts a hand up to her chin. She has been performing some rituals around the kingdom every now and then. If you could, I would like those stopped. I don't want any voodoo magic happening under my nose. She just kind of like like leans a hand back and like you can hear the jingling of chainmail and her swords. I think I'm perfectly equipped to take care of it if I'm given time. Very good. There are remnants of the cult roaming around amongst the people hiding. So if you could, either turn them in or cut them down. It does not matter to me. A smaller force is easier to deal with. If I take care of this, may I make a request and return then? Very well. My father's tomb was desecrated and I'd like to see that it is rebuilt properly. She closes her eyes and looks down a bit and she thinks for a moment a noble request. I will do so. Gave everything for this country. And he will be remembered. He should be. And I like lean back with like a satisfied look. Any further questions? Or requests, as it were? Are we going to have any provisions or escort, not in the personal nature but more horses or carriage on our journey to the next town? Unfortunately, there's none that I can provide. Recovering from the attack has made my supplies and forces spread too thin. I'm currently trying to take care of my people as best I can. Sure. We'll think of something. If that's all, Chandra makes two quick claps with her hands and a bright light starts to cover all your vision. The Viscount gathers the rest of her pages and seems to vanish back into the darkness. Just as you are teleported to Belkinis proper. Ah!  Yeah, it does. In the destructive sense, right? Yeah, in the destructive sense. We're like, aw. Yeah, didn't I? Time looks great. Oh, jeez. It's like beautiful art. The town looks awful. So this was made by a good pal artist angel. Let me find her Twitter at real quick. By the way, this art is sick so far. I'm already loving it. Isn't it? Yeah, it's all been very good. Yes! We love it. So, Half Heart XI is her Twitter at, and she is a fantastic artist.  You should check her out. Thank you.  No! Out of context. Everything I say is terrible. Out of context. Anyway. This is true. So, you, the flash of light recedes from your vision and you find yourselves in a very dusty and worn down wooden building. There are shelves and display cases and wall mounts all over, all of them empty. The corner of the ceiling has been blown off and has sunlight seeping in, illuminating the dust within the building and littered all around the floor is debris. You are free to play. Well, this is all nice and fine, but I have to make a quick stop at the church. What's for? I need to get my tools. You've left your tools at a church. Which one? I might think it'd be fancier just to show. Anybody want to come? Is there anywhere else that people need to go before we leave? No, I don't think so. I think that it would be wise for us to get supplies, food. I don't think that we're going to be able to afford a carriage, but if we have anything that could assist us as we travel through the woods, it would be helpful. Other than that, we can go to this church and let you left your things at. Can I look around and see if there's anybody with a carriage that needs help with something? Yeah, you can... If they're doing chores and stuff and I happen to see if they have a carriage next to them, I can finagle something. You can give me a perception check if you would like. I'm down. Let's try. I'll take your passive perception into account as well. Okay. My passive is 13. Oh, wow. When you open the door and look outside, you see various medium-sized buildings decorating a fairly open kind of road, presumably open so that carts and carriages and people can walk around while they do trade. They're up in the sky. You can see that there's some smoke and parked airships, as well as flying mounted creatures resting on rooftops with their reins tied down. It doesn't seem like anybody's going anywhere. There's a small amount of traffic on the ground. You, as you may guess, are in the trade district where creatures of all kinds and cultures come to sail their wares, stories, and whatever else they may have to offer to the other sides of the continent. You can see that there are various people kind of in your area.  There are people kind of going around talking with each other, trying to ignore the destruction that is trying to recover around them. There are guards picking up things. You see a few people desperately like running back and forth, asking questions that you can't quite hear from afar. You also see a griffin on the ground, kind of ground level, that is being tended to by a Tabaxi, and yeah. I need to immediately dress to the griffin. I want to go talk to the goblin. Goblin? Yeah. Okay, and then after that... Well, you have your church thing, yeah? Well, I... Oh, you're doing that and then the church, okay. Yeah. And I think, Renee, you wanted to go look at the griffin? Meet myself and I as the player, absolutely. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Listen, we're going to travel in style. We can do goblin, and then we can do griffin afterwards. And then church. Sure. Sound good? Cool. Okay, you guys head over to the goblin merchant. You can see that it is a man.  You see a broken sword. You see just like a tree branch that has lost all of its leaves. No. You see like a rock with googly eyes on it. Oh, it's got that rock. But as you approach, as you approach the goblin, like picks up his attitude, and he steps up, and he starts to have a lot of energy. Hello. Welcome to Grick Yak shop. Grick Yak come and sell things to tall folk just like in trade district like other tall folk. You like wares? Yes. Yes. Oh, well, nice to meet you, Brick Yak. I'm just interested in what you probably might be having here. I like that broken sword. It's a... What kind of steel you got in that? Ah, yes, this broken sword. Not broken, actually. It soared from great legend from long ago of man so strong he not need full sword. So he forged broken sword. Grick Yak found it in very deep dungeon, and it have magical properties, and he holds it up to the sky with a great prowess. And a piece of its hilt kind of crumbles down. Oh, no. Very powerful, very powerful trinket, that sort. Yes, good. Would I make an insight check to see if he's just lying to me? You may. Can I just let it be known that Shelby the player will die for this goblin right now? Oh, I'm about ready to as well, but you know, I just need to make sure he ain't trying to swindle me. He absolutely is. All right. With a five, you can tell that this goblin really wants, this goblin really wants you to have not only his sword, but all of his stocky. He is trying to sell you. He is excited that he has customers. So from my jacket, I'll pull out three gold pieces. Well, you see him. He looks taken aback in his eyes go wide. Oh, you will buy sword from Crickiac. Think that we could have a very interesting business proposition, my friend. And I kind of like pass one of the coins into my robot arm and begin to clink it along the metal. I'm just like, now I'm relatively sure I enjoy some good old fashioned bargaining. I have three coins here. And fortunately, I can't use them all right now, but I can assure you and under my hand, I have the other two coins. I can give you these two for that there, Blake. His hand starts to shake a little bit. Make me a persuasion check.  Oh my god. Renee meanwhile, it's just like has her arms crossed like watching this whole thing. Dirty 20. Dirty 20. At this proposal, Crickiac's hand starts to shake and tears start to form in his eyes and he throws the broken sword to the ground. Crickiac cannot accept. Crickiac stock is junk. Necromancer took everything and destroyed it. Crickiac does not deserve coin. Nicole months as you see. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.  I put the two coins in his hand. Listen, I understand things are a little tough right now. I believe in you, Crickiac. It's a little difficult. I get it, but I can assure you little coin can go a long way, my friend. You take care of yourself. He rubs the snot and tears from his face. Really? Really? Can I, like, kneel down to him, please? Yes, you may. I want to, like, kneel down and, like, take a couple coins out of my bag. This ain't much. I know, but, uh... Listen, we've all been hit by the Necromancer's pretty hard. So take this, get yourself back on your feet. All right, I'm gonna give him three gold. Aw, he hesitantly takes it and you see his hands are shaking with all the coins as they jingle and he clasps it shut. Thank you. Thank... Crickiac, thanks you very much, tall folk. Here, you must at least make purchase. Here, take this. And he hands you the tree branch. Used to be branch of powerful magic stick, but Necromancers use blight.  Very useful, but maybe strong wizard can use. I'm gonna take it and put it on my belt. I'm sure this will be very useful for me in my future. Thank you. Crickiac now starts to, like, shake the jingly gold pieces in his hand before putting it in his apron. Crickiac will invest, make smart investments, find good business that is rising up in balconies. Thank you, thank you, tall folk. Stay away from Necrocoin, it's a scam. Crickiac knows! Crickiac, not fall for that swindle again. Someone tries to sell you the rights to an image. Do not buy it. It's probably stolen. You don't want that on your hand. Crickiac commissioned true artist for work. Oh, and then that's perfectly fine. That's perfectly fine. I'm loving Crickiac.  Thank you again, tall folk.  Did he leave the rock with the googly eyes? He most certainly did. I want it. I want it. Oh my god! I'm taking it. You may add rock with googly eyes in your interior inventory. Listen, it can be thrown as a bludgeoning weapon. I can make it a bludgeoning weapon. Have you seen these guns? Watch this rock have like magic missile inside of it. This rock is going to be what solves all of our problems, guys. You're gonna throw it at the main villain and then they'll be knocked out. Oh god. We're gonna get advantage on deception check when we put it up and just like put a hat on top of it. It's like, yes, perfect. They'll all fall for it. Just all of us in a trench coat with the rock on our head. All right, with that, you guys have helped a little goblin merchant and you start to head towards the Gryphon. You can see a Tabaxi dressed in some very light piloting wear, what seems like with air goggles kind of lifted above on his forehead. And he seems to be tending to a Gryphon. You can see that one of its wings is very damaged. Oh no. Oh. Baby. So. Oh, I was gonna walk up. No, it's you. It's you. Yeah. Renee will walk up to the Tabaxi and just say, hello. I could not tell but notice you look like you've been through something terrible. As you come close, it startles him a bit. Oh, good. Please, if you could help my Gryphon. He's losing a lot of blood. I sent for the guards. They say they are going to get supplies but I worry it may be too slow. Please, is there anything you could do? She will take a look at the Gryphon and sort of like look over at Nathaniel and just say, oh, well, I can see what I can do but I make no immediate promises just yet. Please, anything at all, even just another hand so that I may tend to the wound. Of course, of course. And so, she will help. How many spells do I got? I got a decent amount of those. Those aren't too bad. Nothing too flashy. Hearing that, she will nod. First things first, I'm just going to try and see if I can help like bandage the wound at all. Okay, you can roll me a medicine check. Yeah. All right. The Tabaxi kind of like holds pressure onto the wound while you wrap it up and while you do, the Gryphon kind of screeches out in pain a bit and kicking some of its hind legs and the Tabaxi goes to shoo, shoo, shoo. Yeah, would you like to assist? Yeah, yeah, I want to help just keep the beast stationary. Yeah, you can give me an animal handling for that. Easy, beastie. Okay, oh, well, let's say two. Oh, no! All right. It starts to... That was more meaning I would hold it down. Oh, hold it down. Okay, sorry. My bad. She was trying to be nice. She was trying to be nice. If you would like, we can replace that with a athletics instead, just like kind of keeping it firm and steady. Suplex the bird. Do you just want to re-roll it? You may, yes. That is my mistake. It's all good. It's all good. I didn't say clearly what I wanted. That's an 11. All right. You try to hold the beast down, but it is strong. It's large. It's like four times your size and it kind of lifts you up in the air, kind of with you around its neck, kind of like just squawking. And the Tabaxi Griffin tamer just shouts out, Casey, Casey, down. Calm down. It's okay. It's okay. They're come to help. And after watching all of this, I'm going to just walk up and I'm going to try and screech it in its special spot. Okay. That sounds like an animal handling. Yeah. I was going to use a lay on hands. Oh, lay on hands. That works. Yeah. So our healing hands. Healing hands or lay on hands? Healing hands. Once per rest as an action, touch a creature and restore three hit points. Aw. Yeah. Go ahead. I'm going to do it as subtle. Feel the bird. It's a diet, lay on hands. That's what it is. Yeah. I'm going to do it as subtly as I possibly can because I don't want people to see me do it. So you can give me a sleight of hand if you would like just to make sure. Okay. All right. Damn. You just a swift motion as if you kind of like foe a dodge out of the way, but close enough to where you can brush your hand against its feathers. And a very dim light briefly appears. And the the griffin stops and like tilts its head a little bit. Like cocks it and then slumps to the ground. And then looks at its wing kind of pecks at it a little bit and then nudges its head at you, Renee. Oh. And it starts to chirp a little bit and kind of play at your hair a bit. Renee will pet, pet, pet, pet, pet, pet. You pet so many pets. And it's clearly getting a little bit aggressive and give me a strength saving throw.  I was just trying to talk friendly. Am I still like arm around the griffin? Can I help her? You most certainly can if you'd like. I don't know. I have squished. Would that help just be giving her advantage? Yeah. Sure. Yeah, you're using the help action. So yeah, you may roll again, Renee. Yay. Hopefully it'll be better. It's better. It's technically better. It's a little better. I'll take it. The griffin starts to rub its head against you so aggressively and happily that it pushes you to the ground and rests its chin on your torso and starts licking you. No. Just like that. Just like that. Sharpish like ah. And the griffin tamer goes bad, bad Casey. Down, down, away. Bye. Large oversized bird.  She will take it very gently. Thank you. Thank you so much for helping my bird. We were unfortunately hit by one of the necromancers the other day and though the wound has been fine up until now, I fear I don't want to think about what would have happened for a moment longer. Are you from Belkanis? I am not. I am from the northern region. My name is Tahsin. It is nice to meet you. It's fairly nice to meet you. Tahsin. This wouldn't by chance happen to be a riding animal that could carry a group, would it? Oh, no. Casey is a mere, a mere little bird from the nest. Isn't that right? And he kind of brushes the griffin's neck a little bit and it squawks. How old is she? Merely two winters. How young is she, baby? Yes. But she is becoming big and strong now and so, so strong. He grabs her like by both cheeks and just rubs his head on the top of its beak. You are a strong girl for lasting this long. Again, I thank you. You know, I hear, I hear cauliflower is a very good, a very good feed for, for griffins. Oh, cauliflower, you say. Perhaps I can get that in the market. Thank you. Here. And he hands over a little pouch. Oh. These over there will gladly take it. Those are some of her favorite berries. Now, of course, they are tasty in their own right. The humanoid's find it very delicious. They can only be found up in the north. I don't have much coin to spare, but at least I can bring in some of the things from my culture. No, but that means I very much appreciate it. You may add Tassine's berries to your inventory. Tassine's berries. He said they were from, he said they were berries that were in the north. Yeah. Could you, could you see them through the bag? Like, were there like the bag open like C? I mean, I'll open it if you want to see the bag. I want to see if I can identify the berries. Here they are. I want to see if I can identify the berries. Yeah, you can give me a nature check if you would like. I don't know. I open the bag for you. Oh, I'm not great at this. We'll try 16. Yay. Good roll. Hey. Hey. You've heard of these berries. There are Kenshire berries, native to a kingdom right above Belkanis. And it's found in the plains. And if concocted with and heated in a, in kind of a stew to a very high temperature, they can provide some very nice kind of coordination properties, kind of like strengthening your, your mind and senses. Hmm. Okay. Interesting. And I'll just like keeping that to myself right now. And there are one dozen, there are one dozen berries. Nice. I'm keeping that information to myself right now, but I just kind of like nod as I look in the bag and lean back a bit. After you guys are finished. Oh, no, go on. I was just going to ask, are you planning to try and return how many times soon? Oh, unfortunately I can't. The guards, they are keeping the city on lockdown, trying to take account of how many were killed and how many are left, how many are missing. Really fair. You may see he points up and you can see all the airships and mounts parked. None of us are allowed to leave just yet. Hmm. Very... Sounds about fair. Just hang in there. It won't be much longer. Thank you again for the berries. Thank you. I owe you more than I could possibly imagine. Oh please, don't even, don't do not start with that because then you will have to keep on owing people everything. She just pats his hands very gently like a very soft smile. At this, you can hear some distant clapping. Well done, well done adventurers. You can kind of see a tiefling just like leaning against one of the already burned buildings. And you can see he's dressed in rags and at this, Tassin just scoffs and shakes his head. I hope to see you again soon and just kind of walks away with his griffin who just kind of continues to peck at its beak a little bit gently. Aw, baby. I'm just staring at the tiefling dude. I pay him no mind. You must be so happy to finally have some work. Bet you're glad that such a disaster could happen in the big city. If I didn't know any better, you might have wanted something like this to happen. Can I approach him? You may. Just fucking. Don't bother with him. No, no. No, hold on. You want to say that again? Oh, I do. I do. I do want to say it very much so that you lot benefit out of the conflict and pain of the people, don't you? He's like against a wall, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I just want to, like, grab his collar and lift him up like two inches off the ground. Oh, it takes no effort whatsoever. This guy's scrawny. Very, very much like, Renakete is just over to the sea. Five cupbells, she starts to fight. I would not take that bet. And he is grasping. He starts to skitter and grasp at the wall trying to find any leverage, but he's not making any headway. I'll have you know. I'll have you know. That's not why I'm here. And I simply was just trying to do a good deed. Now, if you're so sad about your situation, I suggest you actually do something about it instead of sitting there crying at other people who are trying to help. And then I'm going to drop him and walk away.  My boy, sore puller could take you all on. I bet he's chased after those necromancers. I reckon he made them piss their pants more than you could ever. Oh, do you want to try it then? Yeah, he flinches. That's what I thought. And I just walk back. You don't think I'm foolish enough to actually start to fight in the middle of the city, do you? Listen, I've only just met you. And everything you have said is that you will start fighting someone, if necessary. I also just tend to like making people like that squirm. People angry at their own situation taking it out on everyone else. As far as I'm aware, I'd rather not be interacting with this sad people right now. They all got their own problems. As far as I'm aware, he can complain all he likes, but it ain't going to change none of this if we don't do anything quick. So my recommendation, maybe we should move fast before he starts calling his so-called buddies over. I'm not worried about his buddies coming over. The poor guy always pissed his pants as soon as I grabbed him. Oh, me neither. I'd just rather not get into no trouble. I think it would be pertinent for us to move quickly. I apologize for not pushing us along further. There was a strange white noise for the last two minutes. Buzzing around in my head as I glance over at the... the vagabond. What? You're right. Let's get going. Okay. I make my way. You guys start to head, according to Enoch's directions, to a church. Enoch, what is the religion that you practice? I practice Arithas's religion in which a lot of the themes are very gear-based and innovation, law, as well as just basically understanding knowledge. Alright. How far we can go with it? Yep.  Ah! Enoch, praise the builders! What brings you in today? Samuel. Good to see you. Well, I'm just here to pick up some stuff from the gearbox. Ah, what you need? Well, I need to get my tongs, the crucible, various other little tools, as well as my bullet formers. It's a bit of a list, but luckily I got some stuff to carry with me. By Arithas's name, that's a big order. You're taking a long trip. Say that? Not too far away from here. See, you got yourself some new friends, too. You gotta introduce me. I look towards the father here and look back at everyone. Friends is a strong word. Working buddies. Ah, gotcha. He winks. Yeah. Anyways, this here is Father Samuel Braxton. He is the head of the church around here. He's relatively good for the community. He's also very helpful. He's gotten me off my feet on several different occasions. So, please excuse me while I go grab some equipment. I'll be right back. Yeah. So, what exactly are the pieces of equipment that you're looking for? So, pretty much anything that helps me form my bullets, which is my crucible, and pretty much the little shop formers that pretty much make the start as well as however much black powder I still have in the workshop. Okay. You may roll me just a straight up D20 for that. Straight up D20. Favorable outcomes, please. 13. Okay. All right.  You do find that a lot of supplies are missing as of recently there has been a surge in, you know, machinery, weapons, and all of that. And it has eaten into a lot of Samuel's kind of blessings and stock and stuff. Yeah. And also replacing people's limbs is not an easy task. Nope, nope. But yeah, you managed to find a few supplies. Yes. As he's off finding supplies, I'm going to look at this priest and considering we're currently standing in the middle of an empty room, I will hold my hand out. Nathaniel Gainsby, witch taker wizard of Belknos. Ah, Erythus bless you, Samuel. It's nice to meet you. I heard of you, you know. You appear in the paper sometimes. A witch grabber, yeah? Witch taker, but yes. Now what exactly is taking witches? Well, doing my actual profession is that of a thief taker. People come to me because the things have been stolen and I am set to find them. More importantly, sometimes those cases become magical in nature and that is my specialty. Ergo, the witch taker. Interesting. So does that mean, ah, nah, I'm not going to make that proposal. I'm sorry. If there is anything that you would need, you are free to bring it up. Well, he leans in and whispers, between you and me, I feel like a couple of folk here in the neighborhood are doing some uneasy practice if you get my drift. And I speak no ill of nobody, but perhaps I could use a little bit of looking into Mr. Witch Taker. If you are interested in proposing a job to me, then I am going to need the proper information and I am going to need it written down so that I can keep it formulated. If someone official were to come by, I need records. Hmm. No unofficial, unfortunately, but there's a... I've been doing some scouring about on my usual days, just walking the grounds. There's an old abandoned passageway underneath the city. Not many know about it, and I prefer to keep it that way. But, I've been seeing a few suspicious folk walking through it. It's by the inner wall of the city. And what exactly makes them suspicious? I don't know. Whispers, making sure, looking around, making sure that they're not being followed. The usual activity, possibly just some hooligans, but can never be too sure. Right, well, if I'm still in the city, then I can investigate it, but otherwise I'm going to have to pass it down the chain. Of course, if this were an official business, then I could make it a priority, but that would require the necessary paperwork. Unfortunately, it's not, but I understand. And he kind of like taps on the wall a little bit. Hey, you good in there, Enoch? Yeah, yeah, just grabbing the last of everything, of one sec. Oh, that boy. You know, I used to see him when he was a little rascal. He was running around that hat barely fit him. Was he still just as bold as he apparently is now? Maybe a little bit squeakier. Hmm.  Oh, hey, Enoch. Oh, no, you did shh. Um. Um. Just look so feathery up. Um. We're nature's like raises our hands up like surrendering like, listen. May the good builder bless you, Enoch. Tell them one story behind my back as usual. I hope the blessings of the builder were upon you and finding some of your supplies. Unfortunately, we had to use a few to, you know, pay a lot of the officials were asking for more things to help with the recovering. Yeah, I mean, after a couple of surgeries as well, stocks getting real low, but make do. Of course. Any hoodle. We should be moseying on and me trying to avoid eye contact because I very much I try to avoid looking at Braxton's face. You can see various reasons.  You take care and may Arithas bless your builds. Yep. Leaves. Leaves as quickly as he could possibly get in. I guess we're following suit unless after Enoch leaves, I am going to turn back to the priest and I'll say Enoch, his demeanor. How would you say that he behaves in a group? Does he play well with others? Oh, yeah, all the time. Well, maybe not all the time. You know, that boy sometimes he could get quite stubborn when he wants to get something done for the betterment of others and sometimes at the cost of his own life. I've had to pull him out of some tough situations every now and then. He means a good heart for better or for worse. And is that how he lost his arm? I think that's better. You ask him. I don't like to speak much of personal matter such as that. Very well. All right. We should get supplies and leave as soon as possible. Of course. Now, can you keep that boy out of trouble? I will do my best and I will turn and leave the church. Okay. Yeah, Nathaniel, you now know that there is a shady goings-on and perhaps some... Yeah, shady goings-on in the... in Balcony's proper. Some mysterious figures kind of roaming the inside of the inner wall. Just to... Okay, right. Is there anything else anyone wants to do before they leave the trade district? She might just... make a small apology and just be like I just don't think she might be able to actually take us somewhere. Just like a small snap of fingers like, damn. Mainly to Nathaniel, but basically everyone could probably hear or say this because she's just like saying it out loud. She's like, ah! Oh, I imagine Luda's not paying any attention to you. She's looking around the shrine. I was looking back in as I forgot that I was supposed to leave a note. Wait, you're going back inside. Did you not get everything that you needed? No, I forgot to give the father something once I... Walk back in. It's a little skittish. When you do, you can hear him in the other room just like reading off some teachings to some other folk. I am going to make a go back inside. Okay. Alright, I'll wait out here then. I'll wait with Luna. Alright, the boys are going in and out. It ain't much of nothing. It ain't much of nothing. I walk up to Samuel. Listen, under the circumstances that I do not return within the next two weeks and I hand him a letter. This is under the circumstances that I don't return. Follow those to the exact order. All my designs are to be handed to the Viscount. Understand? Are you sure about this boy? If I don't make it back this is going to be a very, very important letter. You can see a frown on Samuel's face. Very well. But I'm not going to be happy. His hands are too good. I'm not happy about it either. It's for the better of the king. Alright, now get on out of here. Can't you see I'm trying to read these passages?   Alright, problem solved. Very good. Shall we be getting going then? I would think so. Your priest friend offered me an unofficial job but I don't know if I'm going to be following that lead considering it wasn't an official inquiry. Well, we do have a greater matter at hand so if you feel like doubling up, that's on you. Clevres also a fair distance away. Exactly. Maybe something fair when we get back? Yes. I am going to um Renee, if you would lead everyone else to the exit of this city so that we can get on our journey I'm going to make my way back to the office so that I can pass this down to a junior member of the business. She gives him like a very slight nod and says, be careful on your way to meet this. Of course. I have nothing to worry about. No one would dare target someone so brightly dressed. I know. Sometimes I trust even my eyes.  My face betrays no emotion.  All right. I will say that after this one you guys will be heading out so in the meantime while you three kind of start to head towards the exit of the inner wall and wait for Nathaniel. Nathaniel you head to your office building. Right. This doesn't need to be a whole scene. I'm just going back so that I can write a note so that the next person that comes in here because this is a business like it can be passed down to one of the not heads of the business that somebody needs to investigate around there. Yes. And in the meantime you guys start to head towards the gate of the inner wall and you can see right over here is your little marker to show where you are and you guys start to head outwards as the day starts to the sun starts to dip and with that we're going to take a little bit of a break we're going to take a ten minute break refill on your drinks, your snacks use the bathroom and we will be back Don't go away. Another moon pie. All right. There was an old farmer who lived on a dock so you guys start to head towards the inner part of the inner wall you can see that dotted line that is the inner wall protecting kind of the capital from outside attack and you start to travel and the sun begins to set buildings become less and less dense as you approach the wall but you do see the odd camping group or station caravan here and there along and along the road there are patrolling cavarys of guards bearing the same sigil as chandrel that you saw on the banners some guards breaking off from their group you bring supplies and support to the civilians currently stuck in the city and taking refuge as you approach the wall gate you're halted by a very young looking human man and a tree folk both guards dressed in, you know, guard uniforms the human holds his spear very shakily I'm sorry folks since the swine of death attack gates closed council wants to take census of everyone in case some of the necromancy tries to escape until then nobody in or out looking at the party I don't find myself in a diplomatic advantage I will take a step forward I am the witch-taker wizard on an official business I need to find someone's lost dog outside of these walls please step aside give me a persuasion roll I am lying to this man that's a straight up lie that is true that is a lie we are looking for this dog no we're not oh yes oh god yes we love to see it puppy he looks over to his tree folk partner who shakes his head and looks down at you but the puppy could be all alone and lost and cold and hungry the thing it is not even dark yet it's only going to get colder for the poor little thing can you imagine there's all manner of beasts out there that could take the poor thing just let us outside to find it come on it's for a little girl and most importantly this is official business so you would not want to be in trouble please step aside yeah sure of course perhaps in front of you instead official business from whom as I said I am the witch taker wizard this is a private inquiry I am not at liberty to tell you information I am not at liberty to tell information to a god the tree folk squints his eyes this will require a persuasion I would say nice we love to see it the tree folk squints his eyes you can see the bark skin kind of like malformed and he steps aside I am watching you not for very long I hope you have to watch the gate please find that puppy now we will we will darling as we all walk by as we all walk by I'm just doing finger guns my face betrays no emotion as I walk by them nice I am on business they are not my business it is always a pleasure to watch you with Nathaniel I have to admit that was very clever awkward finger gunning out of sight you leave the wall but as you do you see people outside who are also camping around and a small uproar starts to happen amongst them they are allowed to go through the gate but we are not what makes them so special oh great and another another pipes up you see a woman yeah how come you let them through what are you some kind of special royalty or something keep walking this is the gods business keep walking this is the gods business to deal with one of them kind of throws a rock I am talking to you and you may make a dexterity saving throw if you wish to dodge out of the way was it towards Nathaniel all of you because it was in your general direction oh okay okay I was going to say my name I purposely step behind Nathaniel just in case just to make sure it doesn't hit him I will continue walking I have someone protecting me that makes sense okay Rene the small rock actually doesn't hit Rene but hits Luna kind of in the back of the shoulder I stop and I turn to see who threw it you may make a perception check uh huh I'm not good at that so let's see Rene there is a crowd of angry people shouting at you shouting at the gatekeepers and just like almost causing a riot it seems like it could rise at any moment Rene will actually take Luna's hand and try and like pull her gently along yeah she'll move but she's just glaring daggers at that crowd and in this really low light her incredibly intense amber eyes kind of seem to glow how can I make a perception check to I want to know who threw the rock at me how densely populated is this crowd this will be the uh last perception check for this instance yeah well it is a large crowd and it is kind of hard to see it seems like they're all like about to pick up things to throw at you and like some of them threw things but didn't kind of make the distance so it's hard to tell who exactly threw because a few of them are throwing things just not all of them are getting it I want them to watch as I crush the rock in my metallic hand make an intimidation make an intimidation at disadvantage 5 people are very confident that I do not have fireball one guy flips you off can I just like grab like shoulder and like kind of push them along I really want to go down there and beat some ass but I can't so let's go before they actually start a riot but not because of this much trouble if you both if you both feel your skin curl at every single angry thing said at you it kind of worries me oh no it's it's less about the angry things being said at me it's the throwing things when I'm simply a person who walked down a path there's very little difference to someone who is desperate unfortunately well they're breaking the law it's a soul Renee that's why I'm not going back there and hurting someone I know these people are desperate I know the man back there was desperate that doesn't mean they have the right to treat others like this and I can express that I'm angry doesn't mean I'm going to act on it she is correct well I think that it is a waste of energy you are at liberty to do what you would like so long as it does not interrupt our investigation and it won't let's go let's go before these people start following us just then someone starts following you I was going to say I expect that to happen anyway you hear footsteps approaching you and a drow woman is running towards you and stumbles a little bit but she doesn't look angry she kind of starts waving her arms adventurers please you are inside the wall yes briefly did you see a kenku with grey feathers and a scar on his beak he goes by sharp dust he is my husband he went in there during the trade three days ago and he has not come back I wanted to go inside to check on him I'm not letting me in please tell me you saw him please no such a person I'm sorry they did not cross our path I'm sorry her eyes alright you may insight that that's a good answer I didn't even think to do that 17 damn her eyes are seeping out of her head and her legs they are barely holding her up as soon as you say that as if she had lost a piece of herself and she falls to the ground and starts to weep I walk over and I get down on a knee I'm going to let you she bats your hand away just leave me be no no no please you know try and talk to the guards and ask if you can go see a Samuel Brex he's the head of the church in Arithas give me a persuasion at disadvantage once again she's a very upsetty woman eight she pushes you with all her might it doesn't manage to push you down but she's using her entire weight get away from me what people say about you is right adventurers don't care and she gets up and kind of just walks off seems that she has settled that for herself let's go I get up and I just start walking in the direction you're supposed to go no words alright you guys start to walk away from the inner wall and night begins to fall do you guys want to make camp or do you continue I recommend we make camp I would recommend that however we do that we find a place that is more secluded undoubtedly someone is going to try to follow us and perhaps they aren't going to be looking for a husband I would agree with Natanya let's try to find somewhere where we can safely rest right if you so wish you all may make me a survival perception or nature check to find a safe spot oh my god my roles today I'll do it Percepti hey look at us both Rene and Nathaniel you think like twins and are able to find a nice secluded spot away from the main road making sure that there's enough kind of line of sight so that you can catch anybody who tries to sneak up on you we have it's a very common occurrence you also spot while you are looking and setting up camp you spot something which Nathaniel you would recognize with your studies something illusory can't quite make it out but something's fake what am I looking what appears to be fake to me some kind of bits of flora in the distance maybe it's a tree maybe it's a bush maybe it's just some tall grass I'm going to not point but I'm going to look over like I'm going to be staring directly at the thing that is apparently illusory illusory to me and I'm going to say attack she just does a small nod and she will start sneaking over there okay you may make me a stealth check if you would like oh boy nice it's like all of a sudden you see her like crouch down like an animal just you dash from bush to bush and hide in the tallest grass that you can find and making sure that the moonlight doesn't catch you too much it's still not quite nighttime but the moon is rising a bit and you know, rather not the moonlight but the orange hue of the setting sun doesn't catch you and upon further investigation as you approach these illusory bushes you hear two voices bickering about something stop your winging and keep picking I just don't understand why berries are so important to raising the dead it seemed like a lot of horror to me oh no if you want to get in good favor with the black rain queen or not oh just those two that I hear or is there more you do hear two okay I hear two and when you get closer I'm gonna keep your 17 from your perception you can tell that these bushes grasses and small trees are clearly fake like you've seen this trick before cool so but I still can't see through the illusion myself I can see that it is illusionary and you can hear that you're able to get close enough that you can hear them okay do I know if I stick my head through the illusion if it'll break it or if they'll know that I've gone through I guess you can make an arcana check to know if that's how that works just to see worst case I have a horribly amazing horrible plan you know that the illusion will keep going unless they break concentration I want to look in and see how many exactly there are you poke your head and you can see two you see a tiefling and a human and they're both dressed in rags and they see you poke your head in and the tiefling goes and I'm gonna cast shatter show me the shatter listen I did do that oh my god a sad shatter I'm tiny level right now that's my second level I tiny level here's the series of events that happens you poke your head in the tiefling looks at you and notices just your head and he goes shit and boom a large explosion crackles and launches them out their illusion is broken so people appear on the ground now beside you Julius grab your stuff can I like half draw one of my swords and we are going to let's see I'm gonna bring us to a map little battle map does anybody have a map does anybody happen to know how the hell to do this do this every time I hear a map now so this is very nice I'm gonna grab you guys sorry I'm supposed to I have a reputation to keep up this map looks like shit you wouldn't be wrong because these assets I made back in 2017 they're very cool they look nice at the sound of that loud gun was already drawn I am like I have calmly stood up and I am striding towards where the issue is I kind of want to draw my swords and you may roll for initiative oh I'm excited okay so who is casting sleep here me because I'm at the top of the order oh god these poor fuckers they just got shattered and now they're just gonna go to bed you may roll your sleep you can click on the 5d8 in the chat and that should roll it for you is that how that works 24 oh it is that's cool I didn't realize with a 24 the human falls over he falls mid-sentence he goes come on Julius we got a he is asleep I love this spell oh it's such a good spell now are the spine of death members this one was there anything else you wanted to do can I give bonus action bar inspiration you most certainly can yeah I'm giving inspiration to Daniel because he's next in the order Nathaniel you are inspired just seeing everyone just like hello hello what do we have here I've got a little flag but how do you inspire him is my question she basically just goes well well well look at the little what are you doing here collecting these little things of yours I think we might need a little bit of help over here to try and determine what it is exactly they're trying to do am I right mon ami looking over at Nathaniel she's being very playful about it I'm just like a ha ha ha I am gently walking over and I raise my arm up I pull my glove down to tighten it I give no response but I am staring at the one that is still awake alright and she will just step out of the way like she will purposely just like go over this way just be out of the way of what's going on just the tiefling seeing that everything has gone to shit is going to disengage and run away he starts to run this way and leaps into the little pond and vanishes oh shit I blink oh well we still have one of them this is the first thing that has caused me any amount of emotional or physical confusion I blink for a moment in surprise I didn't expect that and the human is asleep Nathaniel your turn they went into a pond they did I was expecting that number 5, 6 I walk up let me check the range of one small thing sleep is a spell that's so good you might as well use it twice I can't sleep I will raise my hand forward and I will wave it across the pond and if I can catch the mind of this tiefling I will induce it into I will drift it calmly to sleep and hopefully I will arrive afterwards it drowns it will start drowning I am pretty sure it will take it out of sleep does anyone have a passive perception of 13 or more I have 13 I have 14 you would have noticed that when he jumped into the lake there was no splash oh it's a portal oh motherfucker in that case can I rescind my sleep if I would have seen that I will spoil it for you it will work because when you cast the sleep you hear a thud and a tumble oh my god the pond was fake it was fake water guys I don't trust this entire I don't trust anything anymore the initiative is over both of your targets are asleep can I just throw a rope start tying up please so what exactly I trust that this was for a good reason because you have let us know what you were doing I'm sorry well one the path was illusionary and two when I decided to walk up a little bit more they were having to have a wonderful conversation about necromancy oh is that so yes please tie these criminals up Renee I don't know what is underneath this water but I know that it is not more liquid please fetch the last one and she will do so walking right in no hesitation just into the water you walk in and you your leg falls into a hole and catches on something hard and firm like metal oh when you kind of dip your head into the water you can see there is a ladder heading downwards and you can see the tiefling at the bottom about 10 feet down snoring she will pick him up and walk him back up climb back up can I just check my head through the water because I'm curious yep you may I'm a little curious how far was that fall 10 feet I would still have taken damage if he had fallen asleep that's right he would have woken up if you take damage while under the sleep spell it wakes you up that is you know what that is true to give you an out if he had gone down the thing in the first place and this is only a 10 foot drop then he would be anywhere below 10 feet and therefore would not have taken damage yeah there we go do I see this weird hatch when I stick my head through the water yeah not exactly hatch but a vertical tunnel I want to go on it yeah a vertical tunnel with a ladder leading down and when you stick your head in Renee you would notice this as well when you were down there that it smells awful yeah I want to go down there well I'll throw the rope at you guys and I'm going down there Luna I would not look him in immediately and then she goes as I am manhandling these two I having them tied behind their having their arms tied behind them rather good knots in a way they don't get out very easily and I will wait for them to wake up okay what's anybody else doing in the meantime well apparently Luna is going down the ladder Luna's got her swords out and she's going down the hole you're going down the hole and when you release off of the ladder and you step in something wet and smelly on a hard stone floor and we will catch up with you later meantime the rest of you three what are you doing are you also waiting for these two to wake up well luckily for you this is the main part of our job mine specifically is interrogation so I raise my eyebrows at the click of the gun it's a good cop bad cop action I holster it for now I don't think I'm going to be needing something so physical oh no I don't think physicality is the best way to perform any form of interrogation the moment that you start hurting them they'll say anything to make it stop absolutely I just want them to talk like we were all friends yes if you leave this to the professional and I like lower my hand onto the one that I cast on and I will pull their consciousness back out into the forefront as I end the sleep spell howdy alright get it over with right it seems that you've had a nasty fall I wonder what you were doing out here in such a an open plane picking berries ah yes of course and what else he he just holds his lips tight can I physically look for the berries that he's been picking yeah you can easily see them where Renee kind of just like found them they're just on the ground okay I put them in a pile next to him these are some mighty fine berries I can't imagine what you might be using them for soup and my foot hovers over one of the berries and I stomp on it no reaction talk or I'll break your berries he cocks one eyebrow and looks at you in confusion you want to you want to go carve on the tree too it's just a I can imagine how definitely useful if you were picking them all off for necromancy step on another one he narrows his eyebrows and looks to another bush with another bunch of berries attached to it Enoch I can handle this a bit more simply my friend and I look back to the tiefling my friend I understand that you have done nothing wrong you are in the wrong place at the wrong time and we've heard things that are unfortunately incriminative incriminating I want to help you but I can't do that if you do not help me please what what are you actually doing here you can give me a persuasion a lot of those being rolled he sighs a bit well I guess there's no reason not to tell you say if I tell you this information you let me go of course for the very first time instead of having a blank expression I give him a very warm smile that's no skin off my back we're supposed to be picking some berries see for a ritual for the spine of death you heard of them yeah of course see I don't really know why some weird ritual that they have I don't see why they couldn't just summon an undead people do it all the time people don't need to lay down a big old chalkboard in order to cast magic missile do they chalkboard and where in the world would that be he tilts his head over to where Luna went down the abandoned sewers there's a ritual being performed there yeah by who well, who you guess you're much smarter than I am I wouldn't know flattery will get you nowhere it's the spine of death you know guys who came here blast the whole place I was hoping more specifically I crush all the berries under my butt under my boot under your butt just sitting on the berries oh no not the berries wherever shall I find more I don't think that you're going to get very far with the berry angle that is very good information it means that now there is cause to be concerned for our friends disappearance Enoch could you do a very important favor and find Luna make sure that she isn't harmed sure I wiped the bottom of my boot on the pant leg of this dude and walk away come on man that's new you're crushing my berries my friend you're crushing my berries just as this as you do walk off Enoch the human starts to wake up as the minute has passed Julius they're gonna oh I see alright well I knew this would happen ah you're finally awake don't say it hahahaha no you're so young to finish it damn it no hey you you're finally awake hahahaha I'm going to hey you were gonna go find Luna right right right I'm gonna go find Luna hahahaha for they just saw Luna go down by herself it was like debating on whether or not to go but then Enoch goes in she's like oh okay Enoch make sure she doesn't do anything stupid down there no certainties ah merde right so we'll just walk back over here you're trying to cross the border right hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha any other scenario I would just like I would give you a disadvantage but honestly the fact that that is true I'll let you off the hook this time ah right unfortunately unfortunately my friend it seems that your ally has already given up everything that all of the information that could be given he ah wait the tiefling is a man right okay he is off the hook he will be set free but I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you in for necromancy and the charge might be quite severe ah you see the tiefling pipe up a little bit whoa whoa whoa whoa hey come on he's my buddy he's my partner prime can't take him gotta be gotta be together but he has no information to give me and I look at him like so so like sincerely he kind of the tiefling kind of elbows the human ah tell me about the thing ah ah well they're performing a ritual and um they found a body yes a body of an ogre from the city they've been using the the sewers as travel yes the sewers are abandoned and they use illusions to cover them so that they can go in and out of the city whenever they want oh rene did you get all of that yes this is very good you've both done a very good thing here thank you so much for telling us is there anything else ah can you just make sure to never see us again and never mention us to plot and he's about to finish and then the tiefling elbows him again oh there's more the tiefling stairs daggers gotta tell him man my friend I am doing everything that I can for you but I cannot help you if you do not help yourself it's really the only way to save yourselves at this point because unfortunately you had the witness there's a guy the human continues and the tiefling is like he goes by bloodstride bloodstride just tell me more about this bloodstride he's kinda the boss around he goes around recruiting people to join in making sure that he grabbed us up we're down on our luck trade's been hard man money's been hard to get by and he offered us a job to join in and he's got this weird freaky skull helmet too oh fuck and neither of you have performed in the actual necromancy tiefling pipes up first day of course they promise to teach us but you know give and take that really practice you want to study practice anything that puts food on the table I'm going to like look at Renee for a moment I won't turn my head away from the tiefling she looks absolutely disgusted Renee do these people offend your sensibilities what do you think they decided that bringing back the dead is something that they are willing to do the tiefling shrugs they ain't using their bodies no more I would suggest that you stop speaking for a moment what's she gonna do slap me in the next week she pulls out a single silver coin and Nathaniel has seen her do this enough and he knows what she's got up her sleeve and she's just like I'm going to put this down his back I swear to all the gods I will do it oh no a shiny coin what's it gonna give me the chills I believe that these two have given us all of the information that we can get for now the best thing to do would be set them free as they asked and I'm going to like very calmly take my hand take the palm of my hand and put it up to the cheek of the tiefling you have done a very good thing and I appreciate your help you will be rewarded I cast mind sliver mind sliver is not a very powerful cantrip but it does there's nothing they can do to stop it because I'll just keep doing it until my intention is to knock them out but if I can't knock them out then I'm just going to keep doing this until it seems like they can't take anymore and then hit them over the head you consistently mind sliver them until they're knocked unconscious specifically the first one this one while he's still awake I want to do something with just very quickly so that we don't take up too much time the human is kind of a little shaky actually it was because you spoke up that I am not as I didn't have to resort to such matters you see the tiefling was tight-lipped there's nothing else that we need from you right? he looks down for a bit there's a child part of the ritual required a child and I didn't much like that but the boss bloodstride he insisted that we needed one she's down there my my like initially like when I talked to this guy my demeanor is trying to be very comforting and on their side but when he says this I immediately revert back to the to my normal state of betraying absolutely no emotion a blank stare at him I'm going to have to knock you out for now we will come back for you and decide what must be done thank you for your help I say as I reach over in mind sliver yeah anytime and then he falls over unconscious as well they're tied up in unconscious we will deal with their bodies later let's go find our friends and save this child yep, Renee is like immediately as soon as hearing like let's go okay how far are me and Luna we're about to get to this you guys have as much fun as you would like I know we just took up a bunch of time we did, we're good we're going to go in order so Luna you're the first one down you drop down and immediately step into some sewage water it smells god awful in here the pungent stench kind of fills your lungs as you climb down and you can see that there are drains there are remains of old dead humanoids down here as well and there are several paths that you can take following moments behind you Enoch drops down a few moments later when he drops down he'd see that I have both sewage drawn and I am very carefully stepping sheee ho ho ho that is so nasty shh you don't know how how many of them are down here I'm not threatening but I'm pointing the tip of one of my swords in his general direction you don't know how many people are down here and you come here like that I'm not like that we haven't been making noise before you know after you did you hear the echoing of sheee sheee all the halls yes my point exactly um and I would like to start see if I can find a path that's been traversed recently before we do I wanted to say the music here is courtesy of Music Reborn who is also the composer for the crap guide theme hey and yeah I'm glad to have them aboard to recreate the soundtrack that I originally made for this game but could use some remastering therefore they were able to help me with this so yes if you would like you can give me a little perception let's see if there's any perhaps remnants of paths I wish I was good at perception but let's go ten ten the place is kind of really run down rusted you can tell that this place has not been used there's no flowing water at all uh and any possible footsteps would have probably just been covered up in all of the grime of the area well is it dark down here it is very dimly lit okay well uh dark vision is an awesome thing it is I want to start looking down hallways then I'm not paying any attention to the fact that you knock is there I'm in um I'm in like a I look like a predator on the prowl okay just kind of slinking around I will say to the north you can see very very distantly some figures can't really tell what they are to the left you see the same uh kind of distant figures and to the right you see close by figures something something of kind of knee height large and kind of crawling around the ground you also hear rushing water to the right I want to start going north I guess alright and once you do the other two finally catch up with you draw out the gun and you guys arrive and the same stench fills your noses Renee and Nathaniel so you're gonna start going north Luna yep I'm creeping along sneaking okay you head north and you can see those little lined squares by the way those are drains and the kind of blue spots I'm gonna let you guys know now if combat starts in here those blue spots are difficult to reign however so they do take twice your movement however if you wish to use your full movement for each square you need to make a dexterity throw or fall prone from slipping how you can tell if the square is covered in this water is if it takes a majority of the square so if it's like halfway like this one it's not covered if it's like this one where you know if it's in the corner it's not covered if it has to cover a majority of the square gotcha so yep you head up north I'm sneaking specifically I am being quiet can you give me a stealth check if you would like okay well I have disadvantage on these but I have proficiency because chain mail nice you are handily able to move fairly quietly softening the jingles of your chain mail cool I'm gonna keep my back to the walls in every room just kind of using each and every advantage I can yeah you may roll stealth as well if you're trying to be stealthy I would gesture to kind of stay a couple feet back from me so we don't have a bunch of heads poking around the corner as you approach over there you do see down this hallway this hallway and this hallway oh great you can see that there are a few sewer rats kind of it's Marshall gnawing at some bones and some little bits of meat they are malformed and overgrown and horribly diseased this one just kind of hisses at you guys at approaching but kind of like backing away I put the gun away I pull out the rapier instead I want to kind of shimmy along this wall your footsteps you try to muffle they're very gently splashing into the water yeah and I know that this has this is you know slippery territory but you're moving carefully and as you approach over there you get to see down this hallway and Renee and Nathaniel are you guys doing anything right I wanted to give them as much opportunity to do stuff outside of us cause we took our sweet time interrogating with that what can I see along these sides so along these sides let me see what are behind those you see that down to the left path very very distantly there are two figures and down to the right a lot closer very similar sized figures and two paths kind of going upwards figures can I roll perception to see what kind they are you most certainly can shapes yep you see they're low to the ground they seem to be quadrupedal and they don't seem to pay you much in fact you know what I'm just going to reveal this one cause it's close enough with that perception you see that down here oh where's the other there's supposed to be another rat there's a rat over here rat that's what I was going to give I didn't know what to do you see you also see a dead sewer rat kind of laying with its stomach like up to the ceiling and its ribs malformally extended out as if they burst it from the inside you also see a pipe that is rushing just some really gooey thick water down and it is slowly draining as well I am going to cautiously step over here and I'm going to look at this crime scene the rat backs away and kisses at you I'm uninterested in the rat so I look at this crime scene I've seen many different crime scenes in my time I'd like to roll investigation to see if I can't discern I have a theory my current theory that I will relay to Renee unless I come up with something better as I step forward that rat appears to have been killed from the inside out not that something has eaten it but that something burst from it do you think it does a test? I believe that the water here is not as clean as you might think I perhaps it is an ooze of some sort drank by the rat and then burst out can I roll investigation to see if I might be right? you almost certainly can we only roll 20s in this house take a closer look at the water and although it is nothing anything should ever drink there's no further properties from it but knowing what you know with that hive of perception this was a failed raising oh I was right oh fuck the skeletal form inside the rat tried to form into something but something went horribly wrong and it burst instead oh no I hate being right those are some fucked visuals as much as I enjoy covering as much ground as possible we should meet with the others there's too much information that we know that they need to Renee will not say I agree especially from the look in one of the fact that the fact that I want to just land down here I don't understand I'm gonna start making moves up towards the the northwest here yeah I wanted to go to the southwest let's pause here imagine me and you have to just kind of look at each other look at the paths give a nod and pick one as you do I'm gonna need everybody to roll some initiative because when you knock and Luna when you take step into that room the two piles of bones start to form oh no oh no I only got eight they turn into this was not my initiative this time skeleton warriors appear why do I keep rolling so low oh my god fine skeleton warriors Luna you are up first you are approached by a skeleton who wields some casted and worn down scimitar what do you do it's a beautiful day outside so I already had my sword drawn and I was just kind of watching so as walking like carefully so as this thing raised up I just imagine I was like oh hello there and I'm just immediately going at it hello there absolution let's go that's a nine that is a nine so you go to take a swipe and it parries your blow with the scimitar you chip away some of the rusted blade but don't make any headway oh you're gonna be like that huh hey you know you wanna see why they call me a ghost and I want to use my bonus action to call forth my echo so I don't have a token for this unfortunately it's okay I would like to describe my echo though yes go ahead as I kind of give you that cheekier mark if you look back you will see my shadow elongating and appearing right about here so it can appear within 15 feet of me is a hulking figure of a humanoid man wearing a breastplate wielding the same interesting sword with the bird skulls on the cross guard and a cloak of black feathers his face is in shadows and I think I want to unleash incarnation on this guy and take and have my echo make an attack alright show me the attack absolution once more do better 23 bitches oh yeah first blow it leaves it completely open to the second and crack show me the damage you cut off a big chunk of bone that falls to the ground and rattles any further movement you would like to make nope I should know though that my sheet is lying because when I don't have my swords out my AC is a 16 but because I have both out it's a 17 so nice remember that alright I'll try to keep that in mind Nathaniel you hear this racket happening not knowing exactly what the problem is I'm going to like pick up the pace and start running towards them so when you start to run over this great I need you to make a dex save understood it was slimes the whole time it was slimes oh god what happens Jesus you run over the great and immediately your leg is snagged by something soft and gelatinous I knew it was slimes you all laughed at me but it was slimes the whole time your movement has been halted but you still have both your actions okay so I look down and I see that doesn't seem to be a slime wrapping itself around my leg not only does it seem to be a slime it seems to be a gelatinous cube coming out from the floor oh Jesus I'm so I was running forward currently I believe that the other two are in danger so I don't have time to maintain any composure I will lower my like I'll lower my glasses and look at this giant mess that's coming out from the great and I will point my hand to add it outstretched return back to the deaths and I will cast disnit whispers I'm gonna do an accurate size there we go oh god I hate it oh god that's a huge cube too I hate it I cast disnit whispers real sad disnit whispers damage and must immediately use a reaction to move far away oh okay see go back down the hall go back down the hall oh god that the end is the scariest person here I love it it's a cube they don't have high wisdom right I don't know they don't even have brains they don't have high wisdom you're right because it failed and it seeks back into the great understood I'm just gonna make it vanish for now however your movement still has been halted but you are able to fend off the cube I'm going to look back at Renee I'm going to hold my my thumb and forefinger out to her as I reach into her mind and give her the inspiration she needs go fine alright Renee you are inspired yes I'm inspired thank you alright next are the skeleton warriors da da da da da da da this skeleton warrior is going to just take a straight slash at you Luna yep ooh it just yeah it just breaks that and it takes a slice out of you you take four slashing damage as it starts to rattle cool that's not too bad and this one is going to leap at you Enoch and is going to attempt to grapple you I'm gonna need you to make a opposing athletics check or acrobatics or acrobatics that's true yes you're right in order to dodge out of the way 17 let's see yep it's enough you manage to get out of the way and it just kind of bashes into the wall and continues to rattle but you do not get grappled as this dude hits the wall after taking a side step I pull out objection and I put it towards the base of the skull I'm going to use my grit point for a dead eye shot which pretty much doesn't give me disadvantage because of the range but it doesn't give me advantage because of the range okay so it's a straight roll alright show me the gun hurt oh boy oh my god 22 22 let me scroll up to show the chat that's a 22 yeah that's good we don't need to see all of that that's just rules of let's see hold on you're just doing a normal fire right yeah it just has all that information just in case there's different types of attacks yeah as they say there's a problem as they say in underwatch it's midnight you fire your pistol and a loud bang rings and echoes throughout all the halls and smoke kind of covers your face a little bit at the firing of your your flintlock and into the skeleton it is a pistol pistol which means after that round after that round it turns the cylinder to its next shot that's pretty much it alright hello I have a speed of 30 feet so I am going to listen to what I have been told and I'm going to 15, 20, 25 so that was my 30 feet so I'm imagining I can see this thing now oh yeah you can see it you can see that Luna duplicated herself and it's fighting a skeleton so she just goes oh alright rather not duplicated herself but has a shadowy figure and it's next to her yeah I will cast true strike nice and yeah this is the homebrew true strike this is the homebrew yeah would you like to gain the bonus of true strike I mean I see Luna right in front of me I don't know if I can see Enoch because of the wall you would not okay so I only see Luna so I probably am just pointing at the skeleton and just being like oh so I see you well fighting a so he also snaps and points like the way she casts the spell like she's trying to recall something in her brain but yeah no tell me those defenses my guy defenses okay it tells me the magic grants you a brief insight into the targets defenses next turn whoever I've told this to gets the advantage on your attack roll okay you know that this skeleton is weak to bludgeoning damage so any bludgeoning will deal double damage cool and so she just says punch it yes Luna on your turn you will have advantage on your first let's see your first attack roll against that skeleton nice thank you Renee you're welcome now punch it alright Luna your turn I guess that's what I'm doing I'm dropping a sword and I'm trying to punch this show me an unarmed strike I think that's a strength roll yeah yeah yeah well I have a macro for it cool I got a 20 let's see if you crit let's see if you crit oh oh right right right okay let's take the 20 that's fine my unarmed strike is a flat 3 damage but I guess since it's weak to it that's 6 oh you just get a flat amount yeah because it's to your strength modifier I believe that's what D&D Beyond says I'm willing to believe D&D Beyond so yes that deals a 6 damage just you crack several bones and it's about to fall apart I'm going to send my echo to Enoch because my echo I believe can take the help action the skeleton will get an attack of opportunity I believe I just want to make sure real quick before I go sending this thing off because this is my first time bringing the echo out and the echo has the same AC as you yep so attacks against a melee attacks rather against the skeleton now have a plus 2 to hit yep and that is my turn Nathaniel you have warded off the gelatinous cube alright alright with the gelatinous cube gone I am going to quickly move over here that's 3 steps that's 25 because I had to actually the step on is not difficult terrain so that is 20 and then this would be 30 because I'm stepping in difficult terrain looking around let's see who can I see I can see I cannot half way see Enoch but I can't see what he's fighting so he seems fine but I see this monster here undead undead necromancy hmm I raise my hand and I point it at this skeleton whether your own or someone else's a mind still controls you and I will sus it out and I pull back and I am going to cast vicious mockery did not mean to roll it twice okay we'll take the first one okay dc14 yeah oh that's enough the skull of this skeleton just crushes and kind of fumbles in and the skeleton falls to the ground hmm Enoch are you alright sorry about that I guess the answer I end my turn I have nothing else I would like to alright word next is the skeleton warrior the skeleton warrior is going to is going to take its sword and pierce into itself and it starts to rattle and shake and it's going to explode the sword and its ribs which it pierced with it starts to glow briefly and oh no I need you to make a con save and I guess do echoes need to make savings for us yeah but they make it with my modifier alright both of you make a con save but I will say if this is not a save and take no damage the echoes gone it only has one hit point yes that is right it is a con huh 23 hey oh there we go hit the dick your echo is just fine and Enoch you are able to hold her ground as it lets out an explosive noxious gas that although the force of the impact is not much to push you the just the stench of it almost makes you gag but Enoch you are fine you take one poison damage and it explodes oh you are right there that smells of something fierce oh are we all okay I think so at the commotion you see that he took you all long enough the rats kind of skitter away just didn't panic are we out of initiative are we out of initiative there is much to worry about huh gelatinous cubes infest the sewers the necromancers are using a child in a ritual somewhere inside of these catacombs and as you have just experienced some of their experiments have already begun to move I like to look at my my shadow alright lets find them then I stare at the shadow for a moment a strange trick if you look down you'll notice that it's connected to my shadow no matter which way the light moves wherever that thing moves my shadow stretches to it I take a step to the side it's not we need to find a way except if we're going we need to find this thing quickly there are children at stake and the ritual is going to get more powerful let's go I didn't see any traps you seem to be more perceptive than I am this is the perfect time to use one of my feets you know listen I have a spell that is inherent with my person because of the race that I have decided on find traps you set the precedent of any trap within ring that is within line of sight and see it's not a spell slot either because of my nice there is one down there no that's not a trap you see a lock oh I'm going to lay out I'm going to draw the traps I have marked all the traps in the area that you would see from where you are or kind of generally would know so glad I didn't go north because I almost did you almost ate it okay cool she basically just says everything so far it looks like this path has something that is fairly large we probably highly encourage people not to go that way unless the large trap was meant to keep people from getting somewhere exactly what my thought was so I have an idea yes I need fire I need fire like a torch or fire do you not have any tinder boxes or anything in your equipment oh I do I'm just trying not to use mine I pull out one of my torches and I start lighting it yep you're able to my feeling is in on what you're doing oh I have a great idea I'm going to toss one of the torches over at one of the pile of bones the one to the northeast of you or northwest rather this one yeah okay and toss it on top of that set of bones you can give me a dexterity check because you are throwing something in a very specific area it's essentially a ranged attack you throw it never mind you throw it and it lands just short of the skeleton into the gloopy water which lights a flame hmm the water is flammable yep for the third time today good news good news I made a scientific discovery that this water is in fact flammable second time today I raise my eyebrows you know you know that's wonderful I'm glad you made it the discovery but does that help us find the kid no is it cooking the skeleton next to that water because please if the skeleton could feel it would feel very hot right now why perhaps roll survival to find tracks like the most walked paths you may I believe in you it's not that good but I died it's better than my check you did your best it's kind of hard to see any tracks aside from the ones in this thick viscous water that you guys have made you do in fact see footsteps in this little water over here of course we do of course it's the one with the big old trap if I had to take a guess I would say it is this way but as you said there is something in the way well there's a way that we can set off a trap without you know getting ourselves hurt and I just kind of gesture to the shadow man following me will they not talk to you um no that's not how this works despite what my HP may say uh on our tokens it's not supposed to do that we'll figure that out later yeah don't pay attention to the hit points on this thing this thing only has one hit point it's either there or it's not I think this is a much easier way of dealing with this I'm gonna walk up to that to the flaming goo by the way does this flaming goo like at all dissipate over time like it shrinks like after a little while but like you guys it's only been like a few seconds after you toss the torch you know I'm gonna let another torch with the current fire going on yeah you're able to light the torch handily it does not arise because you are not close enough but alright then I'm gonna walk over here and I'm gonna toss that torch on top of that grate alright that grate you toss the torch no roll required and that grate fires out a bright beam of arcane energy upwards oh wow look at that another scientific discovery so uh right you gotta know where all the plans are if you don't know what they do you gotta poke it with a stick I wish that I didn't agree with him but he's right I'm making the active effort to assure our safety so that way we know what we're getting ourselves into in any case this is a time sensitive mission I'm moving forward I'm going to I know that's there I I think I have an idea oh shit torch on top of it there was not what I wanted as I walk forward I'm going to reach into my coat and I'm going to toss the dagger into the muck alright you toss the dagger into the muck and it a little bit you have just stabbed a gelatinous cube fantastic can I do something really quickly that will end this it does not arise but you can see that it's a lot thicker and it's holding not a magical illusion but you know like an optical illusion to make itself look flatter than it is fantastic I'm going to solve this very quickly I'm going to cast sleep at second level and then I'm going to walk over it show me the sleep oh yeah that's enough as soon as I see that it is in fact alive I wave my hand and then I will walk over it and I will pick up my knife and I continue on you put the jelly cube to sleep I put the water to sleep I put the water to sleep ah there's nothing there is a chest but there's also a skeleton a skeleton now notice the skeleton is trapped but the chest is not I take a step back I toss my knife at the chest the chest is not slapped it stabs into the chest's hard wood fantastic alright I'm going to try to open the chest open the chest hold on sorry chat I forgot about the transformation I can show chat sorry chat I'm trying to work with two computers at once you're totally good so this is the chest that they found they're not going by the skeleton and the chest opens and inside you find a necromancer's starter learning book some burn it burn it burn it it contains a few spells and at any time you may look in to see what spells are there maybe we shouldn't burn the maybe we shouldn't burn the evidence of what's going on down here let the authorities deal with it I thumb through it inside I pull out my gun and I point it at Nathaniel what the fuck I can do I don't react to you I've already doing it alright you open and breathe through you see the the instructions on casting false life sapping sting inflict wounds and blindness deafness and it gives a few rundowns of the research done by Kara Miharian few field notes and stuff does the name Kara Miharian mean anything to you all? wasn't that the name of the stranger? yeah that's the queen making sure I'm going to blow that book out of his hand are you going to shoot at me? Rene's been like stepping out of the gun I'm going to shoot at the book hold up Davey does he shoot at the book? he is allowed to do whatever he would like to my character okay Enoch?  I know who I'm shooting at I'm shooting at the goddamn book it is dangerous magic I will and you are very much breaking a law right now and as you can be very aware the kind of person I am put it down so Nathaniel is not going to look at Enoch because I am busy looking at the book but I will close the book and rise as I bring up as I like nudge up my glasses I I am the authority this is evidence of necromancy I am breaking no loss I'm going to turn it in so that I this as I take a step forward mission may be documented as well as possible so that we are not implicated in it of course we wouldn't be implicated into it but my point is is that you're looking into it yes we would be implemented into it because if you don't remember we aren't supposed to be telling anyone what we're doing here now lower your gun before I take your hand off I raise the blade a little closer towards it and I put the book down put it away put it down why do you not want this to be turned in I think he has a personal reason to distrust necromancy we all have personal reason to distrust necromancy I understand this is going to the proper authorities I am not going to be using this myself but now I do know what our enemy is equipped with and I remind you there is a child at least one that is in danger we can settle this later and I'm going to slide the book into my cope do not train off of that book lower your weapon now you hear the pin fall back and I put the gun down I continue walking I don't look at Enoch I will relay the spells like from the book to the group so that they know to be like wary of them can I get a list of them perfect you alright of course I am I have you here she smiles my face betrays no emotion she can't help a smile this seems like a way to go let's go and I'm not just saying that because I am intensely curious about this metagaming thing you would have seen that there is a very clear lock over here before if I can I'm so sorry I just as you guys are walking and I see Enoch walking down I want to grab his arm for a minute hey listen to me completely ignoring alright where are you going where are you going Enoch I have a quandary back the other direction that I'm going to inspect on okay well in the meantime before you do that try not to get yourself killed please Nathaniel and Renee you wanted to go inspect this lock that you can see sure you can see that there's a rat that kind of backs into the corner and hisses at you and you can see behind the lock there is a great behind the great there is a stairway I think we just found the next level everyone I think that I have found the entrance to their ritual room I think Enoch's gone the other direction if you would like to accompany him you may I'm going to stay here and work on this lock do you know how to pick a lock if do you have the tools I should actually I do approach the rat just skitters and tries to snake between your legs um hold on wait I want to try and catch it you most certainly can yes he's our new pet no I just want to see I want to see it it is the size of a medium sized dog it's named oh my god it's a giant rat it's a dark souls rat yeah it's like a dark souls rat it's a dark souls rat he has a gun you grab it and it's screeches I'm just trying to see if there's anything unusual about it you can see just looking it over it's very easy to see this thing has probably got at least 20 diseases oh let's go oh god why he's the giant rat that makes all of the rules she looks over back at Luna and just says we saw another rat down a different path and it was an experiment I wanted to be sure it wasn't undead that context would have been lovely beforehand apologies it slipped my mind it's alright it's alright Nathaniel do you know how to pick a lock because if you don't I do I do I need the proper tools for it I'll give him my thieves tools okay I'm going to pull off my gloves for a moment and neatly fold them into my pocket as I get to work on this lock as I get to work on this lock I'm going to say to Renee we have to forgive us we work together very often and as such we tend not to say things they go unspoken because we trust each other I will endeavor to speak more to you be helpful I'll also try not to run off on my own I realised that probably wasn't the smartest decision of mine I assume that you are powerful enough to keep track of yourself I ran after you because there was knowledge you didn't have three yetis so yes I'm plenty strong but admittedly magic isn't really my strong suit I just hate necromancers that seems to be the running theme and with that yeah this lock is child's play whoever made this must have thought they were real clever and that you would have to go find the key but no this is amateur shit you unlock it it falls to the ground with a thud I take the lock it's mine now alright you may add amateur lock to your inventory amateur lock and you can see when you guys go in here now this thing will be revealed you can see this right here is a 40 foot drop oh god let's give enock sometimes yes meanwhile I was just meanwhile enock where you go I am I'm gonna take a look over here in this specific area in there okay you can see once again the same thing that the other saw this rat whose ribs have been opened up from the inside and also passing this path you can see inside there's a bunch of bones and a chest let me just move so the chat can see there we go in there you see a load of bones a drain in the center and a chest at the very very back I ain't gonna bother I wanna see what's up over here okay when you look up over there just give me a moment you might as well have just put a sign here that says not a trap totally not a trap totally not a trap so as you approach over there a long hallway leading to the same end that your party members can see as well however you also see a different drop about 20 feet down in a pit and in that pit you see a bunch of skeletons and another dead rat I get as close as I can I do approach however do a flip I'm gonna use Radiant Soul how high up is the ceiling the ceiling is about I'd say maybe 10 feet up it's pretty low yeah they can't get to me so since they can't see it I burst with copper golden light in two mechanical like wings sprout from my back and I just float over the pit ooh and I make it to the other side as safe as possible what holy shit that's great holy god what did he even do he flew before I even around the corner letting that light shed I bring it back in look normal again and I'm going to try and approach this chest alright yes you may and you guys see Enoch approach his chest from the other side did you have fun over there howdy how in on earth did she we don't know what's over there she's like she saw him go down south in a direction so she's like how how did she instead of wondering how why don't you start working on that lock while I work on this I am already doing that before you do in the meantime while you're working on the lock and Enoch while you're looking at this chest you hear some clacking clattering happening to the south as the skeletons seeing you fly over them start to pile up onto each other this is fine I'm going to need you guys to roll initiative now I have to roll under pressure I'm going to say yes and make a dex save oh shit oh no we didn't learn from our last adventure guys Renee and I only go together Enoch you open it up and a row of teeth appear and snap at her hand this is why we throw daggers at chests this is why we don't play nice as kids it takes a chunk out of your hand and you take 3 piercing damage fuck if you get bit by a mimic oh no little motherfucker wait what I'm going to fill this thing with fucking lead Enoch your turn is up first trying to keep my distance I will take I will have that thing make it an opportunity attack however I am going to just try and back up a bit it bites you in the ass as you turn and run it kind of makes like I don't ever face away from it I'm just oh so you're letting it bite your forwards not your backside it tears into your trousers a bit and you take 4 piercing damage so you're going to shoot at the mimic chest unfortunately an 8 is not enough there's wide pings against the wall and a little bit of sparks come out alright action surge action surge action surge action surge I'm going to fire again oh god oh my god no fires you guys hear a and I go oh no you expend my feature and I am going to use my reaction to try and fix it well no I have to roll to fix it oh it has to be higher than it's fire yeah it has to be higher than it's fire I'm not familiar with firearms in this game plus 2 for proficiency which is a 10 which it fixes renaise magic Enoch's face is our new trap finder honestly I'm down I see that the cylinder is slightly misaligned and I just gimme it back to place with a few tools and it's right to fire again that being my reaction I'm going to bonus action second wind oh you don't think I'm using everything how injured are you everything oh my god oh my god why am I rolling it's because you were mean to the dice earlier you didn't praise the dice gods are you are moving any further do you want to get killed by a chest or by some skelly boys I'm just gonna death by box or bone it's your pick I'm so sorry oh my god this is crazy I'm still within a minute so I'm just going to let the wings bamf out and just start flying over and I'm all like grabbing onto the bars gimme out gimme out gimme out gimme out why are you flying it's a mimic turn it's a mimic it's a drop it's a 40 foot drop but I'm not going down I wonder if the mimic has wings the mimic is going to run please tell me the mimic does not have wings now the mimic is not moving carefully so it runs and it's fine it runs and it slips oh no please tell me it falls down the hole it goes and falls down the hole but tries to nip at you on the way down okay and it just catches your leg and you take another two damage and it falls and you can see when it falls and when you assume that it's going to hit the ground it passes through the ground and you hear it echoing further and further and further and further oh it's a lot oh no you don't even hear when it hits the ground I got like 30 seconds come on I look up at Enoch and I look down at the lock I steal my resolve and I make peace with the fact that the only thing that I am going to get this done without the pressure rising in my stomach is if I just don't care if Enoch lives or dies so I don't care if Enoch lives or dies as I start to pick this lock I like I don't take my gloves off but I just start going to work at it completely calm there isn't a person that's about to die in front of me and even if there was I did not care alright show me that lock oh my god this is the second nat 20 on your fucking these two you pick the lock as casually as if you were locked outside of your house and it's in the middle of the day and you're not in any rush you book chunk very similar mechanism you find another amateur lock and the greats are now open I take a step back alright Renee is there anything you would like to do on your turn? looks over at Enoch's wings I feel like that's something that's going to be discussed later no we will not be discussing them at all and I kick open the door she just has a very like wait wait wait initiative is still going she's very disappointed but she will look down here and probably give a nod to Nathaniel and start sneaking down taking a little bit of a look taking a little look see let's go let's go going down you can hear whispers which we will look at some other we will listen to after this is over ooh fun next are the skeletons turn and they start to climb above each other like a pile like in world war z or whatever just like piling on top climbing climbing climbing and six of them make their way up and are able to move about this much inwards oh I hate that heading towards Enoch bearing swords clacking oh I hate that you know that horror movie sound that's just happening that's just ringing in his head oh hey ho ho all right Luna your turn I just I see this happening and I'm staring at your wings and I just kind of I saunter over grab your color and I'd like to pull you over the threshold opens the door just climbs down yep uh if you allow this to happen to Enoch then Luna you can play somewhere you wish uh she's just gonna put him right here um she doesn't know about the threat that's over there she can't see there but she is gonna say to you Enoch and she's a very serious look on her face I would really like to have a discussion with you nope not about what you think it is I'd like to have a discussion with you nope you're going to have a discussion with me whether you like it or not and uh I start to hit the wings that's not what I'm talking about that I don't care and I'm going to uh I'll use like the last 10 feet of my movement to start making my way towards this I don't know what's going on over here so I'm just gonna act like nothing's there um yeah it's not like my eyes my eyes have not gone off on that direction I don't know what's there I have a tendon perception dude you know what's coming oh yeah I definitely know what's coming uh I'm gonna stay here hold my action if anything tries to jump across it's getting shot if anything just tries to jump across yeah okay Nathaniel your turn what in the world are you looking at and I'm gonna walk right here yep and you can see very very a problem like subtly a kind of shadows of things approaching shadows and clacking very familiar clacking skeletons how many I look at you knock how many hmm a lot like functionably a small battalion a lot I look down at your like around your waist all of your equipment you have a torch oh yeah of course pull out a torch and I'm gonna like reach over and take the torch from your person if that's alright I nearly pull it away from him I'm asking if that's like I'm not doing it like grabbing Lee I'm like no like I before I handed off to you I pull it away for a second I pause because I'm waiting for the for the reason why you know what I have absolutely no idea why I extend a hand oh my god you know really hmm well that's unfortunate I'm going to instead turn close the gate and pull out one of my locks alright you lock the gate you know phone I toss the torch down wasn't locked I'd be throwing you down the pit I'm gonna say with that initiative will be over because by that by the time it would come back to the skeletons they would see that it's locked and they just sit there clattering shaking just like staring across the pit at Enoch Enki scallies Enki scallies alright Enoch come on alright and so Renee you're the first one to head down the stairs and let me reveal that everyone was going to be just chilling and coming behind me you arrive over here you may place your token right here oh delightful wait where am I let me zoom out so I can see okay that's a thing I see I'm in danger I see you should be able to if you look yeah oh no are we there now you see a ritual happening and they no one takes notice of you because you're a little bit further up so in this room you see several humanoids dressed in uniform robes and wearing masks fashioned out of bones you recognize the marks on their chests and backs it's the same ones that the people the two men above were wearing these are members of the spine of death fuck in the center of the room lies a dead ogre of its skin is almost completely drained and not a hint of fat on him just totally gone you can easily count his ribs from afar and a few feet beside him you can see a young elvish girl in a small cramped cage she's huddled and barely any room to move or adjust for comfort her skin and clothes are covered in dirt and filth of the sewers she's crying and there's a long cut down her right and blood is pulling beneath her and the blood is slowly approaching the ogre's body as if it had a mind of its own you can hear the necromancers are chanting something low and you can see a man fitting the description that the human and the tiefling told you above wearing a skull a strange skull with grubies bloodstride bloodstride thank you i will be your resident note taker i love you thank you i love you too so yes rene how do you act oh for the love of pain i'm gonna give you a thing that you can do before everybody else first things first i'm gonna fucking hide you may roll me a stealth check i'm gonna try to anyway they haven't noticed you immediately yet okay so can i like let's say with advantage cause they're not looking for you okay it's just how the dice rolls but that's okay i will take it what do you do there's too many of them down here for one little barty to take don't worry the strong is coming don't worry she coming is he wearing he seems to be wearing similar robes although a different color from everybody else everybody is wearing green he's wearing violet and his robes are covered and littered with various different pieces that look like plated armor but they're made of bones damn it why do they have to be bones you just really want to keep metal someone in a form of life i remember a very particular ranger that used bones for their arrows hey hey hey this is totally different scenario that character is cool i miss those characters right okay well i'm just gonna go ahead and do my best to hide like it's probably not going to work but i don't know that yet so hide hide hide hide hide okay it's not gonna work but hide so you go and hide behind that pipe the rest of the party arrives soon after you you may put your tokens into the room and you all see the same i like to say i'm going to dismiss my shadow here and then i'll step up um given everyone's attitude i am going to take off my hat put it under my jacket pull the hood over and i'm going to try and stealth okay everybody who wishes to stealth may uh maybe you i was about to say maybe i don't want to stealth i don't want to stealth at all actually i want to just go up to this fucker stealth is first yeah go on i'm sorry am i allowed to just describe how i come down or what i do go ahead you seem to have an idea and i'd rather you what i was gonna say you are allowed since you guys are not stealthing you are allowed to do one thing before encounter starts nice i upon seeing this big room am going to smile at the man and at the ritual i'm going to pull out the book of necromancy and i'm going to open it on the circular page just open it so that it looks official and i'm going to say out loud bloodstride your work here is very impressive he takes notice of you but doesn't turn his head that he seems to maintain his pose while everybody else is chanting yes yes are you recruits not not as such i'll take just one more step forward i didn't think so you weren't wearing your official robes i am what you may call a liaison from kara meharian i am here to investigate and oversee the work that you are doing here ensure that it is going smoothly because right now things are bubbling over and too many people are taking too much notice i hear that belkinis is already sending people your way and i wanted to ensure that there was no problem as it seems most of your workers are working you have the child you have the sacrifice i however am a bit confused i was under the impression that something more impressive than a simple resurrection would be taking place not to say that your resurrection wasn't only that i wanted to see more as of now i believe i should take control of this sect of this cell i think that with my overseeing much more could get done more simple matter this seems like something that would require a deception check don't you think under normal under normal circumstances i will still roll deception if you would like but that is not my goal here i am going to slam my i am going to close my book to pronounce the end of that and i would like to use one of my abilities go ahead show me that ability first because if you were planning on using that ability and i cast enthralling performance i would like to target these four workers these four like cult members and i would like all of them to make a wisdom save or be charmed by me they will become infatuated with me and they will impede anybody that tries to stop me they will hinder anyone who opposes me they will not automatically fight unless they were already inclined to which is where the deception would come in right so you will still need to roll deception to deceive bloodstride that's fine however let me roll for them oh my god yes oh my god almost an actual 20 oh my god oh my god i love this happy but enok is about to burst the fucking vessel oh my god go banana man go banana man go banana man um i have an idea of what he's doing i've seen him do this a lot before yeah i am not gonna hide anymore just walk up right next to him i wanted to ask if the one thing i did could be to start dashing but you know i apologize for taking up all of your terms i'm so sorry this is Nathaniel's one thing that he's doing so we'll see how this goes go oh my god banana man don't get me wrong i fucking love this i love this it's very clever okay so you succeed on this orc this tiefling and this halfling the dragonborn which is a which is a bronze dragonborn by the way these tokens they're generic race tokens just to show what they are this is a bronze dragonborn she is unaffected this is an elf this is a half elf so you can see i know you're not targeting them but i'm informing what the tokens mean this black and yellow that is a half elf so you know half human half elf you say this bloodstry turns to you the smile goes away Cara sent you and she knows what she we're doing you're not as secretive as you would like to be and as i say that this entire time i've had a non-expressive face but as i say that i'm going to look annoyed as if this has inconvenienced me somehow alright with that what is everybody else doing your one thing that you're doing i just wanted to use my movement in dash to start running at bloodstry yeah but because i thought i thought that we were entering combat but now i'm rethinking this because it looks like he's believing this so i'm going to come up behind Nathaniel like i'm his muscle like i'm his muscle and just cross my arms and lean back a little bit you can see confusion cross bloodstry's face i am still unsure of why you are not in your proper uniforms that's too easy to be seen yeah something about dressing up for the part makes it very easy to recognize you very well but this is my task and i will speak with Cara myself as Nathaniel moves will i be able to move up behind him keeping up the act i'm gonna go wide i'm gonna look down into the pit minions move yourself from this place i am going to speak with your leader now yes of course the charmed minions step away and you see more surprise on bloodstry's face what? you know this? i've not heard of this man maybe you're not as high up the ladder as you might think you are they all just like step aside and you can see that the contouring stops and the rest of the necromancers are confused as well does the pool of blood stop moving no it has continued to move and it is now rising up and like slowly kind of bordering around the outline of the ogre the outline of the ogre's body kind of like those crime scene drawings renegiel kind of like step out and give like a bow to Nathaniel like really playing the shit up and just say would you like me to see what they have decided to collect for this because to be perfectly honest she kind of like looks at the girl with a bit of disdain she doesn't look like she'll be nice as if it's like not she's just not she's just like it's rather small you can see the girl shaking as she looks at you when you make that comment tears are running down her cheeks handle the child i'll say to reneg and i'll look back at luna the man has been instrumental the man has done good work as misguided as it would seem give him his reward well uh sure i will start stroiding my happy little way down tell me to stop whenever uh you may keep going you can see that his head turns to you like an owl and does not stop until you reach that third pipe and he holds up a hand no you stop right there and he smiles cara didn't send you and he has figured it out fuck everyone roll for initiative alright thank you good spot good spot that was so good i can roll good in everything but initiative enok you are up first what do you do shot at this guy that guy alright you fire your pistol and as that would hit immediately this half elf cast shield ping casting things well we're gonna have to fix that yeah we are alright anything else you would like to do i gotta do nothing else that's all i got for right now alright next is a spine of death turn this person's shield will dissipate and blood stride will walk up to the lead orc conjurer and pat him on the shoulder and give him a little smile i was hoping we could proceed with the ritual without any annoyances today oh well you can take care of them and return to the ritual when you're finished i've got business to attend to in the meantime and the orc doing the primary conjuring flinches a little bit at the comet but master blood stride blessing of the fallen be upon my pupils remember the black vain queen is watching and a portal appears behind him he steps in and he vanishes god damn it i was going for him alright i guess this buddy will have to do the orc grunts and cries out get them and you will simply start to run outwards to try and get you while the orc continues to condor and this dragonborn is going to get over here and it's going to use it's lightning breath in a beam oh no so you two both need to make do do do do deck saves i'm sure you're good at those yeah don't say that i'm not jinxing anything you jinxed him you jinxed him and you two take eight lightning damage as a beam zaps through you but i'm so squishy as this dragonborn zaps i'm going to reach out and i'm going to pull this dragonborn's memories it's thoughts all of it's in