The Glass Cannon Podcast - Gatewalkers Episode 12 – So Help Me Gourd

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

The heroes encounter more strange denizens of the gnome stronghold. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/OmUbtjjtviI This episode was sponsored by Demiplane, Foundry VTT and Norse Foundry. Check out Demiplane's Pathfinder Nexus and character creation tools at https://bit.ly/GCNOfficialTools See why tabletop gamers everywhere have made the switch to Foundry Virtual Tabletop at https://foundryvtt.com/gcp Visit https://zbiotics.com/GCP to get 15% off your first order when you use GCP at checkout. Visit https://nordVPN.com/GCP and use code GCP to get 4 extra months on the 2-year plan. Visit https://trymiracle.com/GCP to get over 40% off, and use code GCP at checkout to get 3 free towels and save an extra 20%. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com and for hundreds of hours of exclusive shows and benefits, make your membership official and join Glass Cannon Nation today by becoming a subscriber at jointhenaish.com. Watch new episodes when they premiere every Thursday at 8PM ET on youtube.com/theglasscannon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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You are listening to the Glass Cannon Network, the premier source for role-playing game entertainment. Last week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. Can we move on? Okay, you sure you're ready? Oh, I'm ready. The heroes unlocked more rooms of the forest hideout. I also see a wooden ladder leading up to the ceiling to another room.

It's like a five foot wide hole. As the enemy reigned attacks from above. You see a figure up there, looks human, pulling the ladder up, but then next to him, a creature emerges with multiple legs and fires a web down at you. Pudge. But even after the oak steward and his beast were vanquished...

Ah! Is that a divine lance? That's right, motherfucker. That's a critical hit. All you do is crit on AOLs. All you do. The spider's venom still ran through Zephyr's veins. Zephyr do.

Or din. Oh, Zephyr do. Oh, no. Zephyr do. Zephyr do. More like Zephyr don't. Zepy do. 14. Oh, Zeffy do. Oh, no. Zeffy do. Zeffy do. More like Zeffy don't. Zeffy don't. Zeffy don't.

The adventure continues. Maximum six points of poison damage. Oh. Oh. Ow. No. Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but here in Glass Cannon Studios, it is so delightful because it's episode 12 of the Glass Cannon Podcast Campaign 2. Can you believe it?

A dozen. Solid dozen. I can't. I feel like it's flying by to me. I feel like we're making headway. We're figuring everything out. We're really good at the game. No more mystery. End of the rules. I feel like we're making headway. We're figuring everything out. We're really good at the game. No more mystery. End of the rules.

And, I don't know, I feel like we're about to win. It is a game you win or lose. There's no middle ground between winning and losing. Not to me. Not to me. What is the win condition of your TTRPG experience here at the Glass Cannon Network?

Win condition. Should I apply that? Cindy's like, I'm an American. I'm going to win. It's not about the journey. It's about winning. Yeah. Well said, Kate.

That's what they said. Who said that? Albert Einstein? Kate Lynn Stamis. Oh, okay. It sounded like you forgot your own name for a second. Kate Lynn Stamis. Guys? Is Lynn your middle name? Do we have a robot replace a second. Kate Lynn Stamets. Guys?

Is Lynn your middle name? Do we have a robot replace Kate? Kate Lynn Lynn Stamets. Oh, no, she's malfunctioning. Who are you, and what is your purpose? Kate Lynn. Kate Lynn? Kate Lynn?

Do you like movies? I did see a movie. It's not her. Kate Lynn! Kate Lynn! Wait, I want to know. How'd she get the sword? She saw a circle.

How would you take a dagger? What movie? I saw the Barbie movie. Oh. Oh, that's a movie. It was fine. Is it a film or a movie? What?

What? I think it's a very obvious question. Yeah. Is it a film or a movie? Or a movie. I don't think I know the difference. Friend of the show, who's appeared on the show several times, not this show, but other shows in the network, Rob Kirkovich, used to have a podcast called Film or Movie, where

they would have these debates. Huh. Was it a film or was it a movie? Hot take with Barbie? Yeah. Both. Top Gun. Movie.

Movie. The Godfather. Film. Movie. No. I didn't Movie. Movie. The Godfather. Film. Movie. No. I didn't get it yet. I'm not. I'm going to keep up.

Here's a tricky one. Keep working on it. Jaws. Ooh. Film. Movie. It's a film disguised as a movie. It's a classic summer blockbuster.

No one has said what the difference is yet. You're just saying movies. Everyone gets it. Right. But you have to have seen the movies we're talking're just saying movies. Everyone gets it. Right. You have to have seen the movies we're talking about to feel it. Or any movie. Besides Barbie. Film or movie? Jaws.

I said film. Film? Jaws? There is no right answer. Okay, film or movie? You have to say it. After you say that. You know what? I don't think Sidney understands the game either. I mean, it makes sense to me. You have to give an example.

Wait, wait, wait. My turn, my turn. Film or movie? Film. Did I get it right, Sydney? Sounds like three syllables. How does your grading system work? I love this game.

Choose your own charades. I was giving a pregnant pause for effect. Oh. Film or movie? Okay. Antichrist. I was giving a pregnant pause for effect. Oh. Film or movie. Okay. Antichrist. I don't know what that is. What?

Since I don't know what it is and it's probably garbage, I'll say film. Which of the options includes the reaction to it? That's a film. That's a film. Okay. Melancholia. Do you know that one? That's a film.

Okay. That's a film. According to Wikipedia know that one that's a film okay film uh according to wikipedia antichrist is a film but they don't understand the game i don't think i don't think wikipedia is playing the game live in real time it does say parentheses film i'm gonna start editing all the film is artsy yes like this person went to film school it can be i feel it can be. I feel insulted. It can be. Movie, I feel like, is something that, what, is made to...

For the masses. For the masses, general market, to generate massive income. Weekend at Bernie's. Film. Movie. I feel like you would have

a hot take. See, that is the ironic use of it, which is... Yeah. I feel like you would have a hot take, film and or movie. Oh, film or movie.

Oh, I mean, I know. Nope. Star Wars. Oh. Like that's, that is the good discussion. Yeah, that's a movie. Which one? A New Hope, Star Wars.

Yeah, that's a movie. Here's the thing. There's this undercurrent that you have to be careful of. Saying something is a movie doesn't mean it's less than. Yeah, that's a movie. Here's the thing. There's this undercurrent that you have to be careful of. Saying something is a movie doesn't mean it's less than. No, it's a different. But I think that's often confused. It's a different. American Beauty.

Film. Film. It was made to be a film. That's not a movie. I'm not saying it was. But it ended up. But see, now you're doing the undercurrent. You can't.

See, this is the thing about you. You can't speak about anything without undercurrent. No, I didn't say I have to follow the rules. It's my game. Shawshank Redemption. Rob's game. Oh, that's a great one. Shawshank Redemption.

That's a movie. Movie. That's a movie. But is it, was it, if we, if you were to take 30 years of relentless TNT broadcasting off the table. Yeah. Do you say the same thing? this TNT broadcasting off the table.

Yeah. Do you say the same thing? Are there a lot of films that are adaptations of novels? Or like are most adaptations than just movies because it was somebody else's idea anyway? I think that's not a criteria.

Yeah. That has nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with it. Does one become a movie when you are then broadcast on television? Hmm. Is it just a movie

because it's popular? No. The Godfather is incredibly popular. Is it just a movie because it's popular? No. The Godfather is incredibly popular. Is a mouse... It's a movie, as I said. When inside a house, is it a mouse? And when it goes outside, does it become a rat? And I've lost you.

It's also so subjective, too, because if you're in France, all of the Jerry Lewis movies are films. Over here, they're definitely movies. Okay, your thoughts on the entire discussion. I just wanted to stop. All we do every week is find a new topic one person hates at the table. That's what being friends is about.

I'm going to consider that a victory over what happened last. I agree. I agree. Matt, you were the one. You know what time of year a lot of films and movies are released? This time of year. Lord of the Rings came out around this time. Love Lord of the Rings.

Yeah. 20 years ago this year, it completed. You, Sydney, who is sitting here in a studio, recording yourself playing a role-playing game, enjoys Lord of the Rings? You like that movie? You are being so pedantic right now. And I won't stand for it.

In fact, I'm going to sit the rest of the game. You look like a children's show host. Hey, kids. Hey, everybody. Today's letter is the letter M. It was so uncultured. It was really aggressive. I don't want to say that you juggle,

but I know you've taken juggling lessons. I can juggle. Would you flip me on on a YouTube for your kids? Would you plop them down and trust me with your whole heart and soul? There is money to be made in the business of being a child. Boy, you brought up, what's his face? The one with the dumb name. Oh, dude, Blippi?

Blippi, I was going to say bingo. You mean the film Blippi? Star of stage and screen, Blippi? Blippi, who helps on the Word document. I think I could do that. You look like you should have a puppet on both hands. Listen, I'm forever terrorized by all of you because we all sat here and individually we're like sydney we love your shirt every single one of us almost we're like we love it almost and you know what's gonna happen when that happens

it's gonna be banter you all turned on me so fast what i can like a shirt that is also a children's television host shirt. Do you know the child sheets it was made out of? Or did you? You're laughing the hardest thing I know. I know. It's so funny. He's so right. Which part of it was the pillowcase? The sheet was being used as a tent at the time.

A fort, I believe it was. Let's all gather under Sydney's fort to play today. That'd be a room for all of us. Yeah, I mean, film or movie is just a fun sort of nonsensical discussion. Well, I think, though, to me the most fun part about it is just coming up with the movie to debate about. Yeah. It's like trying to think, like, what is really on that fine line? That's fun.

Did they ever do one where it was like the original is a film, but the remake is a movie or vice versa? Oh, I'm sure they have. That's got it. They used to, like, pick two films that were sort of- Related? Yeah. Like, they would compare and contrast them and trying to determine which one was-

I like that we've just turned this banter into an ad for Rob's podcast. I know. Now defunct podcast. This is the shot in the arm it needed, unfortunately. One day we too shall be defunct and maybe someone will pay it forward. Let me ask you this. Glass Cannon podcast. Podcast or film?

Probably podcast. Probably podcast. I think it's a podcast. Okay. We'll talk about it internally and make a decision. The Reddit forums are going crazy about it.

We'll let you know right after this break. Guys, we all have busy lives these days, do we not? Cannot afford to waste a day stuck on the couch because you had a few drinks last night, LaVallee. I've never had more free time in my life.

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Yeah, and then I tried it, I was going out to meet a friend and I was like, all right, all right. And the next day I was like up with Mira and just like, you know, hanging out. Just like you hadn't gone out at all, which is phenomenal. Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's this byproduct, Troy, not dehydration. That's to blame for your rough next morning. Z-Biotics pre-alcohol probiotic produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down.

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Thank you, Zbiotics, for sponsoring this episode of the GCP and for our good times. Yeah, good times. Woo! Woo! Hello, my friends, and thank you for tuning into this ep of the old GCP, which is sponsored by NordVPN. And I am so juiced about that because I'm a NordVPN user myself and I recommend that you try it out using our promo code that they've given us because you'll get a sick deal and there's a

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It was a weird discussion that we had behind the scenes, but we've determined it's a film. I would go into why, but it would be boring. I want to thank our sponsors. Haven't talked about them in a hot second. Demi Plain, Foundry VTT, and Norse Foundry, who's been heavily featured lately with all these initiatives and dice

rolls. With all this dice rolling we're doing in this podcast. Film. Film. Right, right, right. in this film in this film excuse me the glass cannon film we should rename it i don't understand what they're doing over there put out a new logo like just in the podcast it's like the glass cannon film glass cannon film comma the audio experience yeah the. The glass cannon film, comma, a podcast. A podcast.

Make it really confusing. Make it confusing. Well, I'll tell you, last week's combat was pretty cinematic. Yeah. The great ladder fight. I could picture it all. I could picture Zephyr sealed to the ladder,

unable to move and creating this blockade it was awesome she's still there still there this day oh my gosh and like dying i'm not dying i don't want to overstate but gonna die we've got some saves to make yeah yeah yeah there's some poison coursing through various veins that we're gonna have to deal with more than one vein uh i think there's multiple people poison right or just Zephyr? No, me too. I saved once, but I was already down. Did you make a fresh antidote? No, it lasts for six hours.

Ah. Okay, and sadly... I could stuff one down Zephyr's throat if she wants it. Well, I can't move. You can still swallow. Well, let's jump back into initiative then. That would have been the... The dream spider was going to use a webbed attack. So we already rolled the checks, right?

What? Nobody listened. Everyone just stopped listening to Troy all of a sudden, including myself. And I don't really know why. I don't know why. I'm very sure. I wasn't listening to them either. Matthew said swallow, and we're just like really immature.

Swallow and shove down the throat. You said a lot of gross stuff. I was just trying to blow past it like an adult. Yeah, me too. The dream spider cast a web. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have done that. That range attack caused an AOL, which killed it.

So since the dream spider already went, the way I'm remembering is that we rolled the checks, and some of you are still poisoned. So you now have some time between what would be its next turn to give yourself buffs to roll against that poison, or your allies, if there's something they can do to give you a bonus to your save, you could do that. But you're at stage one, and you've now fallen to stage two, Zephyr.

So it would be Talitha's turn here. Is there anything you could, if there's nothing you can do to help, we'll just keep moving and run these checks out. I mean, I think with three actions, I could make a quick tincture, scramble up partway up the ladder and pour the antidote down Zephyr's throat. That's fine. And then that'll be my turn. Okay, Lucky, is there anything you can do to aid them in their poisonous situation? Not really.

I have a zero in medicine. Okay. I could look up here really quick to see if there is any antidote or anything else that would be... Oh, yeah, you can treat poison with medicine. Let's go. But I have a I have a plus zero in medicine. Yeah, it's a trained action. You have to be trained in medicine. All right, well, just looking here.

Roll a perception check. Okay. That's a 13. 13. I mean, there's so much shit going on up here. There might be something helpful here, but you don't even know up from down. And that's 13. 13. I mean, there's so much shit going on up here. There might be something helpful here, but you don't even know up from down. And that's fine. This is what I assume, that there wouldn't be anything really lucky could do in this, like, the speed with which this is happening.

So going back to the other map, it is going to be Brother Ramius' turn. Brother Ramius will attempt to treat poison on Zephyr. Okay. So, yeah, he's got his healer's tools with him, and he will attempt to just pull the webs off of you and use these tools to wipe the poison from your skin, from your flesh. And so it is a medicine check against the DC of the affliction. Okay.

Whatever its DC is, that's a 24, not going to be a crit. Okay. That is a success, though. Yeah. So plus two to your circumstance bonus. And you get a plus two for my antidote. Cool. That's an item bonus.

Oh, nice. So you have a plus four when it comes to you. All right. Now, it is your turn, Zephyr. I don't know if there's anything you can do to further help yourself, right? I feel like the poison is the thing I want to figure out first and then immobilization. Well, there's nothing you can do for the poison,

so you might as well try to escape because the poison's going to tick in about... Oh, I have to wait to do that, right? And you can treat poison on yourself and try for the crit, but you can only do it when you're trained. I'll wait for the save I make, and I'll have a plus four. Okay, and I'm not going to have you roll these checks. You're going to get out of there.

They're going to help you. That's fine. So then moving on to Buggles. Buggles, is there anything you can do to help this poison situation? I can't. I think just he's going to be trying to pluck the webs away from her and the ladder. He's just like, please, I'll try to get rid of it.

And his thing, he's stupefied too, because he's come out of his... Unleashing his psyche. He's kind of like little birds, like flying around his football head. His football head. Alright, so then we would

go to what would be the top of round four, and the stupefieds will go away, which may, I don't know if that'll help you in your check. Probably not, because these are fortitude saves. But go ahead and give me a fresh save here, and obviously you get a plus four as ever. A crit would get you from stage two right to cure it. 17.

17, all right. I also got a 17. That's going to take you to stage one, and that's going to cure you. Okay. Stage one leaves you stupefied, so as long as you don't fail again, you won't be poisoned. So coming back around, we'll just do this very quickly. Can you give her another boost? Yep.

I can do it between her saves. So that is a failure. You sure? Is that a critical failure? Yeah. It is a nine, so it's not a critical. Just sure? Is it a critical failure? Yeah, it is a nine. So it's not a critical. Just a regular fail. And can you make another antidote?

Antidote won't stack. Six hours. But the antidote still is in effect. Okay. I'm going to try to treat poison. Okay, great. And I get it with a 19. Nice.

So I get a plus four again. Yep. And so again, give me that fresh roll. You make this and you're fine. Oh yeah, that's a pass. That's like 18. 24. 24, yeah. You are fine. The poison has run

its course. Nice. Nice, everybody. Nice teamwork. So how much damage did you take? I'm at 11 now. 11. So I took 8 points of damage. Okay. But I was also healed at one point. Yeah. Okay. I'm at 14. Just checking I took eight points of damage. Okay. But I was also healed at one point. Yeah. Okay.

I'm at 14. Just checking in with everybody. Oh, well then I would have healed you. I would have kept my aura active then for one more round and healed you, Sydney, for four. Oh. Lucky for four more hit points. Thank you. Okay, dope.

So maybe that happened just at the end after the spider died. Yeah. Okay, dope. Yeah, so maybe that happened just at the end after the spider died. Yeah. I can try to do medicine as well while we search the room. We love to search the room, the lower level room and the upper level room, Joy. I would love to search the pockets of Bolan.

Is that Bolan? Bolan. I don't know. Bolan went down in like 30 total hits Bolan is a human, this was a dwarf I don't know who this guy is, but I'd like to All right, so just to go over again You guys came into this room that looks like a textiles room There's stuff all over the place

There was a ladder leading up There's still a door leading to at least one more room On this level That was the room that connects to the bridge Where the guards were watching When you guys did your Wookiee prisoner trick. Now you, Lucky, are on another level that is this library that's been turned into a laboratory. And there are several exits from this room.

There's a staircase leading up to a door to the east as well that you would assume leads out to that bridge that connects to the area leading to the stairs in the first room that you went to. You guys took a peek. It looks quiet up here, perhaps a little too quiet. You think that maybe that leads over there. So you've got a lot of different options. Where do you want me to start? The bodies, you said.

Yeah, I think I would immediately check the bodies before everybody comes up, and then we'll check the room together. The dream spider has nothing on it. The dwarf oak steward has two lesser acid flasks. It's wearing leather armor, has this oak leaf mask, and a staff that is slowly turned back into its original form. No longer shillelied.

That's what you see on their bodies. All right. No indications of his name. No wallet. Name tag. ID. No license. Wallet.

Medical or prison. No license. No license. A druid wearing leather. For real. He's not a good druid. What? And also, they can wear leather. They wear leather?'s not a good druid. What? And also, they can wear leather.

They wear leather? They can wear leather? Yeah. They can wear hide. They're not vegans. Yeah. Druids. In my mind, they are.

They're vegans. You thought they were vegans. I thought this was a vegan druid. They're druids. They would never... They only make armor out of dead leshies. They string together the corpses of dead leshies. String together the corpses of dead leshies. Is it not canon in our games that all druids are vegans?

The certitude of which you said it is. You're like, disgusted. Leather armor on a druid? You can do that. Blasphemy. Oh, Sydney, I think not. Why is it Sydney? Clearly it's Plevin. Troy, Sydney, I think not. Why is it Sydney? Clearly it's pleather.

Troy, I was reacting to. Look how fast your mind went to denigrating Sydney. No, I thought she just said. She wasn't even involved. Don't turn this on me. You're the dumb one. It's the shirt. It's the shirt.

She found the leather. Come on, kids. I might be the dumb one, but you're the rude one. Let's have, hey, no fighting, kids. Let's have a good time. Oh, no. Is that your TV host? I mean, it's just ridiculous.

I would like to take the mask off of him. Okay. Ba-ba-bum. Dwarf. Steve. Yeah, I was just going to say, on the inside of the mask, does it say Steve? It does, but it could be borrowed. Steve's mask.

Steve's mask. He could have stolen it from Steve, we don't know! I just take the mask off. That dwarf that ran the carnival. I just take it off. And I look at him. He's just a dead dwarf. I don't recognize him.

Okay. I'm going to... Could I go up the ladder and use my crafting skill to identify some of these components that are in the laboratory sure is anybody else going up there I think I call everybody after you search downstairs I say come on downstairs we can search downstairs first

all right well I'll just take Talitha brother Ramius will go up to if he yeah hearing from lucky that there that there's a library up there, he'll immediately go up there. There was a library. All right, Talitha, you're now up there. I'll get everybody up there eventually if you all want to come up, but for now, you want to do a search of this area. Sydney, you want to do a search of downstairs first.

Okay. I'm staying downstairs for a minute. I need to cool off, and i'll search down here you look downstairs there's nothing down there it's washboards basins used laundry looks like it's mostly the gnomes laundry um and nothing of interest beyond that upstairs a little bit different um you notice that on the table where most of the uh the vials and liquids are that look like they've been currently used there's like a book that's open and you see a picture of a unicorn and uh there's like these uh scraps of paper with like formulas written on them that look like they're mostly destroyed, like ripped up. But there's little chunks of the...

What is your relevant skill you want to roll here? Crafting. Crafting? If anything's alchemical, otherwise just perception. Yeah, let's do a crafting. See if you can kind of figure out what's going on here. There's actually a rule for identify alchemical items. But if you want to just...

I actually like test them using my alchemy. Oh, that's interesting. We'll just do that quick. Natural one. Natural one. You have no idea. Yeah, some sort of formulas and something to do with the unicorn. So maybe they were trying to do something. You see a picture of the

dream spider as well. It says there's like a whole entry on the dream spider, but everything has been ripped up. Looks like it's purposefully been destroyed so that people wouldn't find it. But you can kind of piece it together. With the natural one, you don't know what they were trying to do. There's notes everywhere. And you do find, if you spend some time, a couple different alchemical things that may be of help to you.

But normally I would just tell you what they are. Like ingredients? Yeah, no, they're like vials and doses of things that could be helpful for you. Normally I would just tell you if it was basic treasure, but I think this would be something you'd need to have some knowledge about to know what they are. We'll just take them. Okay, yeah.

I mean, these are things that you can roll on. I just did. He rolled a nine. I thought you were rolling on the book of the unicorn. Can I roll it? Oh, okay. Yeah, you can re-roll. Yeah, this is on the alchemical items.

Twelve. Twelve. You do, well, you know the three of them pretty simple. They're three vials of lesser antidote. Oh. Would have come in handy. Fuck. I wish I found those earlier.

Then there's, like like two doses of something and one dose of something else that looks like ready to use, whereas everything else looks like they're ingredients to make something else. You can tell that these three other vials, two being the same and one being different, may be important. So if that's a failure, I can try again

with Identify Alchemy. Okay. So with critical failure, I misidentify. Ah, so I shouldidentify. Ah. So I should roll it. What's your... Plus seven. Plus seven. It looks like they are two doses of shiver and one dose of cytoleche oil.

Cytoleche. Have you ever come across... No. ...either of those? Well, shiver is... A drug, right? a drug, right? I was thinking, like, with the spider, they were trying to make some... Yeah, the dream spider, yeah.

Yeah, hallucinogenic. Yeah, right from its innate... What was the second thing? Just so I can spell it. Scytolish. C-Y-T-I-L-L-E-S-H oil. It's a poison. Go again? C-Y? Shiver is a potent hallucinogenic drug made from the processed venom of a dream spider. There you go.

There you go. C-Y-T-I-L-L-E-S-H. It's a poison. It's distilled from the mind-robbing Cytolish fungus, though it lacks memory-altering capabilities. Saving throw, DC DC 19 Fortitude. It's a four round poison that starts with 1d10 poison damage goes to 1d12 poison

damage. Stage 3 is 2d10 poison damage. Oh my gosh. Tawitha will take that. Yeah, I bet she will. Put that on your... In the grand tradition of the Glass Cannon podcast, I was going to try to extract some spider venom. But it seems like they've already done that. It's a grand tradition of the Glass Cannon podcast. I was going to try to extract some spider venom. Spider venom.

But it seems like they've already done that. Yeah. But this is pretty nasty stuff. How do you spell it? It's C-Y-T-I-L-L-E-S-H. And I wrote it in my notes. Oh. But yeah, Shiver's been around.

This isn't like a 2E thing. Shiver was around in 1E. It is made from spiders, sold in the black markets, has the virulent trait. DC 19 Fortitude. Stage 1, whenever you become frightened, reduce that condition's value by 1. Stage 2, clumsy 2. Stage 3, asleep. So it's, yeah, it's a straight up drug.

So Lethal will take that too. Yeah. So as in Cytilipede? Cytilish? Cytilish? Cytilish. Cytilish. May I, may I have one of those?

I was going to say, keep that away from Remius. Perhaps save it for the weekend, Remius. Talitha, would you mind if I held on to one? For what? For what? In case I become frightened. You would like this dose of a hallucinogenic drug? I'd like to keep a clear mind should the situation arise.

This is a hallucinogenic drug, Brother Ramius. You ever try to add a little bit of shiver in your day? Shiver, no. I haven't, but I have some experience with hallucinogens and think that I could handle it. Well, well, well. Go on. Brother Ramius,

I didn't know you liked to party. It's not that kind of hallucinogen, I'm afraid. Oh, it is, I think. Oh, hi, Buggles. Yeah. Yeah, what's the fun... I don't know who's used for that.

Talitha, what's the fun level on shiver? You're emboldened for about six seconds, and then you become clumsy and fall asleep. Oh. Yeah. Yes, and that is another factor. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping, and it could help in that situation where rest is urgent.

Do whatever you want. I have no use for it. Of course, Brother Remy. Far be it for us to stand in the way of your sleep. Thank you. Deletha says, making eyes at the rest of the party. And Lucky is smiling. Her toothy smile.

Thank you. And then he runs away. He takes off. That's what he came here for. He did the whole mission He jumps out the window Just to get a single dose of shit Takes off

Passes out Has already taken it Passes God damn it That sends Brother Ramius' part of this We're gonna roll up a sprite real quick There was one shiver and two side-a-lesh Or two side-a-lesh

Two side-a-lesh, one shiver Three No, wait By the way, the side-a-lesh You said two Oh, sorry, two shiver One side. By the way, the Sidelish... Oh, sorry, two Shiver, one Sidelish. And three Antidotes. Three Lesser Antidotes.

Lesser Antidotes. Sidelish is giving me very Last of Us vibes. Yes. Extracted from a fungus with mind-altering properties. And it just kills you. Now knowing this, I'm also wondering if there is like a fungal space here. Like if they've been harvesting and took over like a room or something with fungus. Yeah, we might like walk into a room that has like dangerously poisonous fungus.

Spores. Is there any way to protect against that? Let me see if they have any masks or anything around. Do they have any N95? Wait, is that why they were wearing the masks? I put the mask on. It just covers your eyes. I put it, I lower it over.

I pull it down over my nose. You look ridiculous. You, Lucky, you look ridiculous. Street value of a Dutch shiver is ten gold pieces. Oh. Yeah, that's why he was, like, trying to play it cool. That shit. So valuable.

Do I see any masks here, like things they would use to protect while mixing chemicals? No. No? Okay. Yeah, nothing of the sort. This is a makeshift lab that was created perhaps by the new inhabitants. It looks like the gnomes use this as a nice library. But it's been taken over for whatever purpose. Something to do with a unicorn, something to do with a spider.

You each should take the antidotes because I can make one myself. Okay. I'll take one. I'll take one. I have a feeling this isn't the first. The only venomous creature we'll find. We only have three antidotes.

Yeah, Buggles, you want to take one? Sure. All right. Are there any books in here besides the one that mentioned the unicorn ritual? Also, could I take a look at that book, the unicorn ritual book? Sure. What language is it? There's no ritual.

It's just a book about a unicorn. What do you mean about? It's a book about lots of different. It's like the last unicorn. It's a book of about a unicorn. What do you mean about? It's a book about lots of different... It's like the last unicorn. It's a book of fey creatures, right? And this particular... It's opened up to... Like a bestiary?

Yeah, like a bestiary. And it's opened up to an entry on unicorn and has all this information about a unicorn. And then there was another book that was open to the dream spider and then all these formulas. It looks like they were trying to do something that connected all of these things.

Got it. No other books? I mean, there are books all of these things. Got it. No other books. I mean, there are books all over the place. If you take a second to look at them, I mean, they're mostly like gnome fairy tales and like, uh,

he's going to take a couple books on history. Um, yeah. No, it's a very inclusive look through. And so he's going to try to narrow it out. Yeah. What he's seen,

things are the, just the most interesting. He can only carry a few, but he's going to take a few and put them into some pockets of his robe. Since this kind of all seems to have to do with, like, animals, magical beasts, can I maybe roll nature to try to piece this together? Yeah, for sure. Okay.

What do I got there? Okay. That's a seven. Definitely has something to do with nature Is that something to do with nature you guys? What? Something to do with nature, all of this Yes, I was wondering if all these druids were concerned with nature No, it makes sense

I'm starting to piece it together now It makes sense Now it's starting to make sense Bugles, you know what I just realized? What's that? We've been in a tree this whole time. That's major clue. Are you making fun of me?

Major clue. No. Oh, shit. It's fine. Wow. It's fine. And Brother Ramius is thinking, like, she has told us how she's been bullied in the past. Yeah, it worked.

How others have mocked her. And he's thinking, is Lucky an asshole? Flashback to Zephyr being hip-checked by that fellow pupil. And everyone laughing, including the sensei. Lucky. Lucky's a cat, though. Yeah, I'm a cat. If a cat could talk, it would say shit like that all the time

Absolutely and then Lucky just kind of like Sees you get upset and she's like And then she knocks something off the table Like a vial Rolls it off the table The room catches up to her And it stares at her And walks towards one of the doors

Are we all wrapped up in here Yeah so you've got some options Everyone good on HP Yes and walks towards one of the doors. Are we all wrapped up in here? Yeah, so you've got some options. We just let you out. Everyone good on HP? Yes. Yeah, good enough. You've got the room to the north. You've got the room leading to the...

the door leading to the bridge. You've also got that other room, at least one room downstairs. Wait, what? Right now you're on the second level, but there was still one explored area. Should we go back downstairs and check that room? Yeah.

Wait, we already did, and there was nothing in there. No, no, no. There's one other door. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so there's one door to the east. You still have immobilized and stupefied on my character. Can you get rid of that yourself? Yeah, if you right-click it, John.

I didn't know that. That's convenient. Convenient. All right. For a second, I thought both Kate's hands were in the pocket of her hoodie, and I just imagined that she was like, I don't touch buttons on my computer. You've got to show me what I got to do next.

You're going to have to remove the conditions on me. I love that. You're going to have to. My hands are tied. My hands are tied. I will say something that I didn't mention before. Go on. The door to the east here

is all boarded up. Oh. Lucky takes pause at the door noticing it's boarded up. Hold on, hold on. In my mind, pause, you said,

was P-A-W-N. She's got four of them. Her takes pause at the door all boarded up. And she also pauses for a moment. Remember when we came in and the Oaksteads were saying they don't go that way? Why?

Why would they board up a door from the inside of an adjacent room unless something absolutely terrible was inside? It does make sense. Why would it be boarded up from this side i don't understand we just for a second we think this door is the door no no no we think that it leads into an area right that they are avoiding and it is boarded up from this side so what why wouldn't it be doesn't that make perfect sense on this side and boarded on the other side. That's what I'm saying, but I'm saying what are they containing?

Should we open this door up? They avoid it at all costs. It is certainly a risk, but they could also be keeping... Spider away. Or they could be keeping something... They could be keeping prisoners in there. I say, why don't we go upstairs, open up that door to the east upstairs,

and see if there's a way to gain access to this room without charging in through a boarded-up door. We can knock on the door. All right, Zephyr, you knock on the door, and Lucky backs out of the way. Fine, okay. She walks in front of the door, and she knocks on it. It's all boarded up from this side, but you find a little space. Roll

a perception check, everybody. Ooh! Hee hee hee! Seventeen for Buggles. Eleven. Thirteen for Brother Ramius. Eight. Eleven. Twelve.

Buggles, you hear movement on the other side. There's something moving in there. Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum. You hear movement. Speak, my darling. Buggles, speak to it. I don't hear anything. Hello?

Who is it? It's me, Buggles. No, Buggles. Hello? Buggles? Buggles? No, Buggles. Hello? Buggles? Buggles? Buggles who? Hello?

Buggles. What's your name? My name? Wisteria. Wisteria? In that Desperate Housewives. Who are you and why are you here? I'm Buggles.

You've said that. Yes, still true. Are you trapped in there? No. Are you trapped out there? Well, the door's sort of boarded over. Do you know why? Boarded over?

What are you talking about? It's nailed shut. Well, there must be a reason for that. Are you with Bolan? No, we're actually sort of opposed to him at the moment. Oh, really? Yes. Well, then you should turn right around and get out of here.

Oh, I meant to say we're opposed to the people he doesn't like. So we're in full agreement with him on his side. A hundred percent, sir. You're with Bola. Of course. Why else would we be here unless we were invited and welcomed? Someone else is speaking. Someone else is talking in there.

Many voices. He's using his alien voice. It's weird. Well, if you're with Bolan, what do you want with us? Well, we were just curious about your lifestyle. What you do all day in there. Lifestyle? We're keepers of the greenhouse. Oh, keepers of the greenhouse. Oh, keepers of the greenhouse.

Yes, we're just keeping it until the gnomes return. Bolan was quite clear. If anyone came in, they were here to do harm. So we're here to just wait until the gnomes return. Bolan said they went to Seven Arches for trading and they will return soon. Are you gnomes? No, we're not gnomes! Are you a gnome?

Are you oak stewards? No, we are not oak stewards. Are you called Wisteria or are you a Wisteria? What a foolish question! I am Wisteria. That's your given name. Yes. What's your middle name? Who else is speaking back there?

Hello. Hello. This is Lucky. I'm Talitha. How many are you? 25. We're five. And you are with Bolan?

Not at the moment. He's not here in the room. We are searching for Bolan. Is he in there? We've come to find him. We must speak with him. He did not come back from the city. He did not return to the city.

The city? What are you talking about? You said he was headed to Seven Arches. No, the gnomes are headed to Seven Arches. This is very confusing through the door. Can you just open the door so we can talk to you? No. If you want to come

in, you come in. What if we were to tell you that Bolan, the gnomes are not in the city. Bolan drove them out. Permanently. Permanently. We just came from from the city There's no gnomes What? How do you know this? We just came from the city

They're absolutely all gone Bolan said that our gnome friends Went to Seven Archers and they would be back soon And that we were to guard the greenhouse And not to let anyone in That if anyone came that was not with Bolan, that they meant to do us harm, to do this place harm. We believe he deceived

you. I thought you said you were with Bolan. What is the truth of the matter? We were just trying to gauge your alignments. The truth is Can we try to remember if there were gnomes in the city? No gnomes at the Seven Arches.

We were just... Yeah. Yeah. Try a diplomacy check here. Okay. They're telling you that Bolan said the gnomes went to Seven Arches. The information that you have is that he came here and displaced the gnomes. Right.

So it appears that Bolan has lied to whoever is beyond this door. I'm going to try to convince them of that lie. But they've also caught you in a lie because at first you said you were with Bolan, now you said you don't, and that was a good answer. You're trying to play them, so let's see if they believe. I'll try to aid Talitha. That is a 19. I'm going to give you a plus one, because he had a good answer.

I got a 15. Plus one. Plus one total. Yeah, to your diplomacy So this is against their will DC 15 15 16 total

Something isn't right here Might work You're right We should have been more honest The truth is Bolan has been a Has had a deleterious effect On the forest

What is that word you used? He's had a harmful effect No the first a deleterious effect on the forest. What is that word you used? He's had a harmful effect. No, the first word. Deleterious. Does that mean harmful? Yes. Deleterious. Yes.

I like that. Well, he's... Do you mean to be deleterious to us? Anything but. Go on. Bolan is engaged in some dark magic, dark rituals, perhaps designed to give him additional power we know not yet his full intentions. He did not tell us this.

No. He said he was a friend of nature. He prized nature above all else, and that our people especially were praised by him. Bolan does prize nature, but Bolan has been corrupted by his philosophy, and he means to end the world. End the world? Yes. End all living life, all life on the world,

except for perhaps the plants. He seemed so kind when he came with the other vegans. How... I want to be there. Matthew was here. They spoke so highly of nature. How long ago did Bolan come? A week. A week ago.

And you haven't left this room because he told you not to. Yes, we heard some some loud noises here and there But he assured us that the gnomes were just going away and they would come back Is this not true? We were at Seven Arches Bolan plans to use the Ayadara to hurt people I don't understand any of what you've just said

I think it is time we remove this barricade and speak face to face. I'm going to open the door. Bolan has deceived you. And as a gesture of goodwill, we will tear down the barricade that he has set up and reveal ourselves. Miss Talitha, tear down that wall. Yes, of course. You're a really good teacher. Go ahead, Talitha.

I feel like you're a teacher. Breaking down the walls between us, building new ones. All right, so you start taking down... No funny business! No funny business. And then you haven't seen Parva or any of the gnomes. No, we have not seen... In fact, we're looking for the gnomes.

We're looking for gnomes. They have destroyed the gnomes' library. They've destroyed the great library? Turned it into some sort of alchemical research. So you're not with Bolan, nor with Parva? No, they're making drugs. Yes, but they are making hard drugs. Well, there's nothing wrong with that.

No, but it's wrong to disturb an entire library. Not to schoolchildren, not if you're planning to sell them to schoolchildren. Depends on the child. That's true. That's true, I mean... All right, you may come in, but if there's any funnybasses... What?

What? Funny what? Would you repeat that, please? I'm not familiar with that creature. Please. If there's any funnybasses, let me tell you. I promise you,

there's no funnybasses down here at all. If I see a single funnybass... I swear, you won't find a single one. It will be your last day in this world No blunderbusses, no funnybusses You see funny baskets?

Who are you talking to? Business No, no, none of that I am sheathing my weapon Alright, be prepared Or we will be deleterious To you Understood And we open the door All right, be prepared, or we will be deleterious to you. Understood.

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I'm going to open the door. I'm going to describe it, then we're going to talk. So we open the door. Kisses, then we talk. Whoa! And the first thing you see is a creature that looks like that. Oh, wow! Let me guess, that's the... That's Wisteria.

That's Wisteria! I love it! It's a squash person. It's a squash, that's not Wisteria That's Wisteria I loved it It's a squash person It's a squash That's not Wisteria It's a gold And then behind that Is another one That looks

Like twigs And squash heads Have we seen A creature like this before? Not in this adventure As far as I know It is a greenhouse in here There are large windows

In elaborately positioned mirrors Filling this warm greenhouse. Like, warmth comes out at you as you open the door. There's bright light coming in from everywhere. Potted plants choking the room, which can only be described as an indoor jungle. Like, floor to ceiling, you don't even see the wood. It's all plants. You know that there is a door to the east, which leads back to the platform that you first came up on.

And then doors leading to the room where you fought Beaufoot and Chibi, and a door that you just walked through. And there are two pumpkin-headed, gourd-like creatures holding watering cans, like, defensively as you come in.

And they say the hyacinth, or was it Wisteria? Wisteria. Yeah, the other one's name is Hyacinth. Wisteria. That's funny. Wisteria says, you better pray to your non-gord gods that you do not mean to deceive us. No, I swear to god

we are not here to deceive you. I swear to god. Alright, so you say Bolan is the one that's up to no good. Were you here? Were you here when Bolan arrived? Yes. Yes, he came in here and explained to us that he was visiting,

that he was friends to the gnomes, and that we were meant to guard the greenhouse while the gnomes went away. He has shown you true mercy. Everyone else in this place has been dispatched or displaced. He must have feared us. He walks up to you and he's like three feet tall and so squashed. Clearly he feared us. See for yourself what he's done.

Look at the library. They've turned it into a laboratory in an attempt to discover how best to sacrifice a unicorn. Gods! Dangerous spider in there. A spider! A dream spider. They were using its venom. Now, the green leaf gnomes would be so upset.

Please, come in. Come into our warm greenhouse. Would you like water? Supposedly their cult greenhouse. Come into my cold greenhouse. Would you like a cup of water? We have plenty of it. Yes.

Indeed I would. Thank you. That's very kind. Buggles has a big smile on his face. He's so happy to see other people that are his size. Aww. Like, oh, yes. He feels very happy right now as he comes in.

They hand you these hollowed out little gourds full of water. Here! What an honor it is. I'm wary of the water. We have made this ourselves. I drink it. What an honor it is to drink from your head. Yes, drink of our water. Thank you. Thank you so much. I thank Gord for this mercy.

And he thanks you. So, um, Bolan, bad business The gnomes, are they, are they safe? We know not We haven't seen any No trace, so perhaps they are okay Perhaps

Perhaps We're hoping so We hope to restore this place to its original inhabitants And how do you mean to do that? And what is your name? Hyacinth! How do you mean to restore this place? Well, first we must

have an audience with Bolan. And question, just to clarify, when you met Bolan, Yes! was he a human man? Yes, he appeared to be a human man. Not a dwarf. Not a dwarf, no.

There was a dwarf with him. And what was his name? Do you remember? Delfon, I believe his name was. Delfon, the little squash head. I don't think Delfon will be a problem anymore. I didn't know he was a problem to begin with. Very big problem.

And you murdered him. Yes. No. No. Very big problem. And you murdered him. Yes. No. No. Self-defense. Drug-fueled melee. I hit him very hard. He did try to throw a flask of acid into our face.

Yeah, look. He did. Threw that flask of acid at me. Well, we are not safe here. We shall leave. No. I don't think you should. We shall leave. No. I don't think you should. We haven't met Bolon yet.

He could be still here. Well, we will not take our chances. Yes. Now that... Lucky, I think it is safe for them to flee this area. They could be caught in some crossfire. We wouldn't want that to happen. Wait.

Now that we know the truth, he could come for us. We will flee into the forest and return when the gnomes return. But wait. Yes. What grows in this greenhouse? Why did Bolon wish you to seal it off from the rest of his men? I know not. They came in, weapons raised, and saw us and showed us mercy.

Perhaps he respected us. and saw us and showed us mercy. Perhaps he respected us. Perhaps. His enemy, it seems, are the humans, the dwarves, the elves of the world. Not so much creatures such as yourself. I believe he holds you in high esteem.

But he is waging war on nearly everyone else. Well, then he is a good liar, because we believed every word he said. He admired all of the plants that we work on here. The gnomes are experts at growing out-of-season plants. Look at this. What are these? Oh, I don't know the names of any of them. I just grow them.

Oh. What are the gnomes really? What are they used for? We're their assistants. Some you can use to eat. Some you can use to build. Some you can use to eat. Some you can use to build. Some you can use to smoke. And he points over at one, and you see, like, a flayleaf bush.

Oh, no. So were the gnomes maybe into drugs? They're just drug dealers. Drug dealers? You go too far down any sort of herbalist road, you just end up with drugs. Always. We thought they had taken some of our drugs to, you just end up with drugs. Always. We thought they had taken some of our drugs to sell at Seven Arches. The schoolyards at Seven Arches.

He had us fooled. He thought he was a good man. He was selling drugs at schools at Seven Arches. Do any of these wisteria have healing capabilities? I'm sure that some do, but I'm not an expert in their practical use. We only assist in the growing

and harvesting of them. Were there any in particular that they were, like, interested in? The drugs. They love the drugs. They sit up there and play music and smoke this stuff all night long. Okay. The flayleaf. Yes, the flayleaf. Interesting. When Bolan came

to you, was he in possession of some sort of item? A key, perhaps? Key? I did not see a key. He did not present a key. Like cocaine. Like a key of cocaine could come with it. He was sniffing something off of a key. Now that you mention it. No. That's why he stole

the key from Seven Arches. Yeah. It was the easiest way. It was just anything that No. That's why he stole the key from Seven Arches. Yeah. It was just anything that size. He's like, oh, this will work, Coke. Doing bumps of Coke off the Shade Wither key. The Shade Wither key. Now that you mention it, he was inhaling a white compound off of this ornate key. It's like a giant.

I imagine it's like a huge ornate key. What does that, where does that door lead? There's another door on the other side, right? Yes, that leads to the bridge that we'll be taking right now to go home. And that leads, you can see, it leads right out to where you guys Back to where we started First tricked those oak stewards And then the winding staircase, the only way up into this compound And we will be taking our leave Take as much plants and drugs as you like

And we will return when it is safe Where is home for you and what are your people called? We are known as Leshies You are Leshies? Yes. We are a dumb ancestry that only idiots like to play. Hey! That's so rude.

I won't comment on it. I know what I'm making if my character is Leshies. Ruka makes five Leshies. We are very silly. This is an adult game. I remember. Do you remember my druid? My first druid I played

on Echo Quest and my Leshy, Newt. Yes. I had a Leshy named Newt. Yep. That was my first companion. Michelle played a Leshy in one of our Gen Con shows.

Leshies are adorable. Yes, hopefully we will never appear in this adventure again because I hate them. Mike, I mean, if you, we can send word once we know it's safe that you can return, if you'd like. You would do that? Of course.

All right. Send word through the birds and the worms to the Eternal Grove, for there we shall head to see our brothers and sisters, fellow pumpkin-headed people such as us. And we will pray to God for your safe return. We will do this. Yep. We'll try. And to reverse engineer more interactions into this adventure.

He unzips a leaf near his groin and a substance comes out. What? What? What? And he like puts it into a hollowed out gourd. Would you like more of our water before you leave? We can make as much as you like. I'm leaving this room now.

Hyacinth, you too. All right. Here you are. Goodbye. They pee pure mineral water? Yes. We will be at the Eternal Grove. That water was delicious.

It was nice and bubbly, wasn't it? Really good. It's like infused, like a flower. Thank you, friends. Power of nature. We honor you, fellow people. Yes, you are very brave. Thank you!

Dead left. Let's take a do a perception check around this room. The perception check around. And harvest a little flailies. Looking around, looking, looking around. Right, brother? Harvest a little drugs. Right, brother?

Yeah. I wouldn't mind survival checks here, too. This is like... I did a 26 perception. Okay. Wow. I feel like that's... Do you have any survival skill?

Ooh. I do. 26 survival. Natural 20 survival. It's the same bonus. Wow. Natural 20 survival. 19 survival.

All right, so you think that there's probably about 10 doses of Flayleaf poison. Wow. But Zephyr actually finds another 10, so you have 20 doses of Flayleaf poison. Flayleaf poison? Yes. It's always a poison. It is a poison. All drugs are poison.

All drugs are poison. All drugs are poison. Don't Flayleaf give you a bonus to, like, saves against mental effects or something? Onset is 10 minutes. Stage one, plus one item bonus to saving throws against mental effects. Stage two, fatigued and plus one item bonus to saving throws against mental effects. Lasts for an hour. Stage three, fatigue, stupefied one, and you don't get the bonuses anymore.

So it's like it comes on quick and then you lose it. Stage four, fatigued, frightened two, stupefied two. Like it gets bad fast. All right, so we've got 20 doses. 20 doses of Flav. Those are 10. I don't want to suggest a different career path. We have enough to start one, though.

That's 10 gold pieces of dose. Whoa. I got one gold piece here on 2E. Yeah. Oh. Maybe that's 1E that I was looking at. It's definitely not 10 a piece. Well, actually, 2E says 1. Street value. Street value. Yeah, we could sell them for whatever. Really? Yeah. Oh. Maybe that's one E that I was looking at. It's definitely not 10 apiece.

Well, actually, two E's is one. Street value. Street value. Yeah, we could sell them for whatever. Yeah, I mean, you could find the right. It's worth whatever someone will pay. Exactly. You find a kid who's really hard up. That's right.

You find some rich kids. I don't want any schools. A school child, as you said. I want any schools. I would like to. Maybe one gold piece. I'd like to take these I'll take the doses

No I found ten So you're going to take ten I'll hold on to ten I mean you'll have to come up to me And be like hey Zephyr can I have some Can I just hold on to all of it Can I get one of those flay leaf poisons I just want to hold it

We'll just like tape them to her body I've got it No problem Flaming poisons? Just want to hold it. I want to see it. We'll just like tape them to her body. Yeah. While you sleep. I've got it. Brother Ramius. No problem. I'll just hold on to these 10.

When you sleep at night, yeah, you like tape it to your chest. Thanks for offering though. I got it. Great. She's got it. Understood. Do you want me to hold on to those 10 also? No. You also already have that other stuff

I have plenty of pockets Plenty of what? Pockets Like P.U. Pockets Plenty of pocket Rookie cards Zoom out here

It seems as if you've explored Every room on this first level. There is a second level, and you have seen some of it. Some of it you have not seen. There are closed doors and there are open spaces. You have several ways now of getting up to the second level, depending on how you want to attack this. You can go up that ladder, and then you can either go north or go across the bridge. I'll show you the second story here again so you can kind of decide what you want to do. So the ladder is one option, and then from the ladder you can go to this door to the north or across the rope bridge.

The rope bridge leads back to that winding staircase that you came up when you first went into that room with those flying creatures. And you see over there, there's like a, there's like a, I don't know what you would call it, like a platform that goes around a big tree that leads to the staircase

and then leads to another rope bridge that leads to the north where the windmill is and that water tower, the room that was trapped. And yeah, those are basically your options. You can either go up, up into the north, up into the bridge, or you could go back up through the bucket.

You could go around the staircase. You've got some options here. You tell me which one. Go up to the north. The door to the north? The door to the north. To the north. So everyone climb up the ladder.

Yeah. Back into the laboratory. And then the door to the north. Door to the north. Door to the north. The door to the north. Door to the north. There was also, if you remember, that rope from the trapped steam room in the windmill.

There was that rope that went to a window that somebody could climb across. I don't know if we want to split the party, but... I mean, always a good idea, especially dangling from a rope. That's where we're going right now. I know, I'm just saying for two points of entry, but... Definitely, that's a good idea. Matthew, it's fine.

Let's go through the door. It's also higher on... Like, you'd be climbing up that rope. Yeah, that's true, it's fine. It's also... Let's go through the door. It's also higher on... Like, you'd be climbing up that rope. Yeah, that's true. That's true. As you approach the door to the north, Zephyr, you hear a noise to the door here to the northeast that leads out to that bridge.

Kind of like a... Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. Wait, wait, wait. That other door, Did you hear that? There might be something on the bridge on the other side. Should I open the door? Can I roll a perception to see if I heard it? Heard it any better even than identify it maybe?

17. Bad. I heard something. You didn't hear it initially, but you listen now and you hear like... Sounds like footsteps moving on wood. That could be a creature. I hear a growl of some kind. Should we spread out?

Does it sound like it's approaching the door? No, it sounds like it's further away. Oh. We should disarm ourselves. We can always chop up the severed bridge. Perhaps your bow. Chop the severed bridge. Chop the rope bridge and sever the connection.

Could do that. Yes. I'll open the door, but those of you with ranged attacks, be ready. All right. I step back behind Talitha here, so I have some range at the door. I'm going to ready an action. If she opens the door and I see within range a creature that I know is threatening, I'm going to...

Never mind. I was going to say I'm going to cast Divine Lancet. I'm going to kill it. It's two actions, so I guess you can't do that. Okay. But you're opening the door. Who's opening the door? I am.

And you're opening it stealthily? Yeah. Okay. I'll have my hand crossbow my other hand. What's your stealth? Plus four. Okay. I'm peeking out from behind a table with my bow,

so hopefully they don't see me immediately when we open the door. You open the door very quietly. You know where it leads, but you don't know what's over there. You open it, and you can see a single oak steward on the other side, sort of patrolling along that platform to the south of the tree.

Okay, I'll signal to Zephyr. Does anyone else have any kind of weapons that can hit at that range? May I have the hand crossbow. No. I could cut the bridge, though. It's 60 feet. He's not on the bridge. No, he's not on the bridge.

Well, then he just can't get over to us, but... Yeah, I can hit him with the hand crossbow. So maybe I'll stay, I'll have open the door. I'll be like, I'll look around, everyone ready? I'm going to shoot. Ready. Shoot this guy. I'm readying my bow to go right after you. Great. So if we were in an issue, I would open to shoot. Ready. Shoot this guy. I'm readying my bow to go right after you.

Great. So if we were in initiative, I would open the door, shoot, and then step out of the way so that Zephyr can get some shots off. Okay. Roll for initiative. Woo, woo, woo. I'm sorry.

I thought we were going to the door in the north. Is that not what we're doing? We were, and then we heard the sound. That was from the other door. Got it. Oh, this roll for initiative is brought to you by North Foundry. 24. 24.

24. 24 for Brother Ramius. Always good to go whenever you want to go. Okay. Talitha. 19. No, I'm sorry. go whenever you want to go. Okay. Talitha. 19. No, I'm sorry. With Perception, 21.

21, okay. What about Buggles? 13. 13. Okay. And Lucky? Nat, 20, 25. Nice.

Useless. Okay. And Zephyr? 17. 17 for Zephyr? 17. 17 for Zephyr. Okay. Let's do this. What's going on over there?

Don't worry about it. What's going on back there? What's going on back there? It is... All right, so this is how it works. It would technically be Lucky's turn, but it would go Lucky, Brother Ramius, Talitha But you're the one taking the action here

So if you guys want to hold and just let him go, you can Yeah, we'll delay We don't have surprise rounds, stuff like that Like you are the one that wanted to hack So I would say have you guys hold You do whatever you want I will delay Well, delay

Delay Okay Alright, so do you want to say first action was opening the door? No, no. Oh, it was like a three action. Yeah, yeah. All right, so Talitha is going to get a fire off with her hand crossbow. But why don't you devise?

Oh, I can do that. That's a smarter way to do it. Devise a shot. Devise a shot. Yeah, I will devise a stratagem. Okay. And you've checked your distance here. Natural one.

Natural 20. Natural 20. Natural 20! Open the door, Dan! Critical threat! Critical threat! Critical threat! Critical threat! Are you going to use that for the attack roll?

I think I'm going to use that for the attack. Why don't you get a recall knowledge on this oakster? I do get a recall knowledge on the oakster, but I don't think it's going to get it. Oh, that's right. You get a freebie, right? I get a free one. Oh, that is amazing. You get the sense he may or may not be a vegan.

Such an asshole. I love it. No, actually, the leshies weren't, because one of them was wearing, like, a fox skin. That's true. Even the leshies aren't vegans. You do notice that his staff has not been transformed into a shillelagh yet. That's obviously huge. With a nat 20.

Yeah, I want to give you something a little extra. Well, it's a nat 20 on the hit. The recall knowledge would be a separate role. Okay, great. Then I've told you enough. Okay. Alright, so I will use that to... I will use that as a strike.

A ranged strike. And hit. So it's a... It's a critical hit with a hit. So it's a critical hit with a name John. It's a critical hit with a name John. We got Oliver from Malmo. Hi, Oliver. Malmo. It's Sweden. Yeah, Skåne County.

I'm not sure how to pronounce the A. It has one of those. Skåne. Skåne County, Sweden. Thank you, Oliver. Dirty Harry. This one uses a rule we don't really use basically but it says in the intense fray

you and everyone around you including the GM have lost track of how much ammunition you actually have left you deal double damage and you gain 10 ammunition you can spend but this is what I like here because we don't really do ammunition that much but you can spend up to your level in ammunition to

deal two extra hit points of damage after doubling. So, being first level, like, basically the way I read it is... An extra two points. Yeah, double damage plus two. Double damage plus two. Nice. Dirty Harry from Oliver. Thank you, Oliver. I do not double precision damage on a crit, right?

You do. You do? Yes. Yes. Double everything. Alright. I'm gonna roll. Yeah, you just don't double deadly. Deadly. Right. All right, so I'm going to roll 4d6 then. Ooh, baby. Oh, no, you roll 2d6, add any bonuses, and then double it. 2d6, well, all right, so I have a strategic strike.

Yeah. So it would be 1d6 for the crossbow, 1d6 for the strategic strike. So you roll 2d6 and double it. That's the way we've been doing it. We don't do double dice. That is the way we've been doing it. We don't do double dice. Okay. So that's going to be 16 points of damage. Nice! And you take him out

in one hit. Yes! Awesome! We're so sneaky! Strike team delta! Talitha opening the door and then just taking the shot. Amazing. That's amazing.

All right, so this is interesting. You take him up. You still have two actions left, right? One action. One action left. What would you like to do with that final action? Do our favorite thing. Do I see anybody?

Just do this. Shut the door. How many actions is this? That's two. That's two. One, two. At this moment, you do not. I kind of want to shut the door.

I know, I know. I love that we can't see. I know, I love shutting the door. I'm going to close the door, but leave it ajar, so maybe we can peek out a little bit. Okay, so you're, I'm not going to change anything. You're closing the door, but not actually closing the door. You're leaving it so you can still see. Okay, that's fair. Maybe you can see the door but not actually closing the door. You're leaving it so you can still see. Okay.

So maybe you can see someone but they can't see you. Like if there's a patrol and they come on this spot and see a dead guy, we'd hear them. And we can hear better too, for sure. Alright. You're still peeking out there. This is what you and whoever else is like right next to you, maybe Buggles, maybe even Zephyr who's behind you I was ready to go. I don't know what people can see

and what they can't. You see, out of the shadows, like out of the thick brush that surrounds this platform, a small fox appear. And the fox, like, runs right up to where the corpse is. Oh, Matthew! And smells it and then like looks around and fades back into the brush and disappears. Oh. This is companion. Do you think that was a companion or a wild-shaped

truant? Oh, it could be a wild-shaped truant. It would technically now be Lucky's turn. You tell me what you want to do. If you want to be like, we don't want to do anything, we want to just move on, you can. You tell me what you want. I'm going to stay in initiative order until you tell me otherwise.

I think she looks at Talitha. Could go either way. Could be a wild shape. Could be nothing. Could be a fox that will return to the forest. Well, the only way is to use the bridge, too. And we'd kind of be like bottlenecked right there. Well, no, you don't have to take the bridge.

We can go the door to the north. Yeah, if we go around. We don't know what's up there, though. Maybe we'd better close the door and move on. One fewer oak steward to contend with down the road. Perhaps, and it doesn't seem like the fox was any the wiser. Unless. Unless.

Unless it is a wild-shaped steward who's loading the fellow oak stewards that they have some sort of incursion. I'm sure they know we are here. Oh, I'm sure they know. This place seems in such chaos to me. It does. The oak stewards can access some areas but not others. It's Bolan. He's a leader that's kind of all over the place.

Maybe the fox was Bolan. He's distraught. I say we go north. Let's shut this door completely and go north. Yep. We the fox was. He's distraught. I say, we go north. Let's shut this door completely and go north? Yep. We could bar it. What if we need to get back out? We unbar it.

Well, from the other side is... Unbar it. You said, what if we need to get back out? Asked and answered. What? Answered the question. Unbar it. What if we need to get back out in a hurry? I don't see that being, okay. Oh no, let's fire the door.

All right, so you push. I flip a table. You push one of these laboratory tables up. Tink shoes and liquids go everywhere, start burning a hole in the floor. Yeah. And you push the table up against the door and close it and head to the north.

Yep. Just barge in, open the door. Sneaky open door. Who's opening? Very quietly. Can we do a perception check at the door to the north first? Sure. Who's doing it?

Holly? I'll do it with you if we're both there. Lucky and Zephyr. I'll do it too. I'm right behind them. Oh. Nope. It's a nine. It's a fifteen. Eight. Ooh.

It's real. Ooh. It's real close at the door. You hear something on the other side. But you don't know what it is. Hold on. It's the most Troy LaValle description ever. It's close.

You hear something. I just want to check this thing. I don't know what. What does it sound like? Scratching? Brushing? A monster truck? Are these undetected?

Like an engine? Is that an engine of a monster truck? Are these undetected? Is that a diesel Is that an engine of a monster truck? Are these undetected? Is that a diesel engine? Is that Bigfoot versus Gravedigger? They gotta get through that. They gotta do that. Are these undetected? We're trying to play a game here. Is that a film or a movie?

Trying to read rules. What was the question? Are these undetected creatures? Very good. Yes, they are. Who? The ones that we can't quite understand. I don't even know if it's a creature.

You don't know if it's a creature. But you do have this cat-like hearing. Yeah, you're listening very intently. It sounds like there are living things beyond that door. Okay. That narrows it down. But you can't, there's no like, you don't hear sounds of talking,

you don't hear sounds of movement per se. So I have... You can walk up to a door and listen and be like, there's people on the other side of this door. I don't know what they're doing, but there's someone on the other side of this door. So I never know how to use this, but basically I get a plus two circumstance bonus to locate undetected creatures that I

could hear within 30 feet with a seek action. So can I re-roll this seek action and use my plus two circumstance bonus to locate undetected creatures that I could hear within 30 feet with a seek action. So can I reroll the seek action and use my plus two? That's what you just did. Oh, okay. Basically. So just add the plus two. 17.

Yeah. Oh, it was bad. That's why I was asking if I could reroll. Yeah. It's really meant for like invisible or hidden creatures. Okay. Here. No, I think that this is the exact situation it's meant for.

I just don't think she rolled high enough. I really didn't roll high enough. Yeah. But she's very good at hearing and the creatures are undetected. Yeah, I think that's why I want you to know that it sounds like there are living creatures beyond this tour. Several. Okay. But that's all you know.

Talitha is going to draw her rip here. Yep, I take my Kopesh and Wakizashi. Bo? We'll still open it. Actually, you know what? I'm going to stick with the hand crossbow for now. Ooh. Because we had the one

that we were... Gotcha! We were talking strategically. Gotcha! Because... All right, Francis, get going. Got him!

We were talking about how a lot of these creatures here, a lot of status effects, a lot of conditions. Yeah. Not a lot of hit points. Yes. So attacking from range

is always going to be to our advantage. Yeah. Do you want me to... Except for me. Staying away from Shillelagh's. But even if it started with a bow... Well, I'm trying to... So since we can kind of know the shape of this structure,

does this seem like a big room on the other side? Going back to your... Decent size. Decent size. I mean, I also think that you should just Step 20 feet back from the door You know that gives you so I'll have my bow out in one hand

I can open the door No no no I'm saying you step 20 feet behind us Yeah I'll step in between these bookcases here You have like a long lead time To get your 30 feet Yeah Exactly and you won't take that You might take a cover penalty but that would only be minus one lead time to get your 30 feet. Yeah, exactly. And then you won't take that volley.

You might take a cover penalty, but that'll only be minus one as opposed to, or plus one to their AC as opposed to the volley penalty. Talitha will step back kind of near Zephyr, not blocking her shot, but to also get maybe. I ready my bow. I lower my hand crossbow. Yeah, Brother Ramius will step,

oh yeah, no, I can't step in front of Talitha He'll step off to the side in front of Buggles Just to try to create clearer lanes for the bow shooters And as soon as I get in, I'm going to try to move out of the way Alright, we have a plan I open the door Explain to you what you see First what you smell.

Because you open the door and, like, you're immediately hit by the stench of death and decay. Oh! And, like, feces. Like, horrible, horrible death smells. Whereas when you open the door to the greenhouse just moments ago, it was like nature and warmth and just like good smells. This is the exact opposite. Horrible smells. It looks like a dormitory in here.

It's a pretty large room. There are several small beds, wooden cabinets, dressers, no two of them alike. All unique and different small beds for the gnomes. You see to the north, a little short staircase leading to a door, another door to the west. Lying on each of the beds are half a dozen or so gnomes. I know. I was wondering.

You are horrible. He murdered them. They are all bound and blindfolded and gagged. However, in a pile in front of the door leading to the north are like four or five gnome bodies in various states of decay. Oh, my God.

And we will see you next week. Oh, my God. I mean, well, there went diplomacy. Out the window. Oh, I did not expect that. I didn't either. I thought they fled. I thought he actually would have let them leave.

What are you going to tell Wisteria? I'm so glad Wisteria didn't see that. I'm so glad Wisteria's not here to see that. You wanted to bring them along. Come on, this way. Hyacinth comes up. I forgot my keys. Oh, God.

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