The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 62 - General Admission

Episode Date: August 2, 2016

On the advice of the half-orc oracle Droja, the heroes lay down their weapons and attempt to negotiate a deal with her orc tormenter - General Kargukk! For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com. To become an official member of the Naish, subscribe today at http://www.jointhenaish.com. Want to be a part of Glass Cannon Nation? Follow us at twitter.com/glasscannonpod instagram.com/theglasscannon facebook.com/glasscannonnetwork tiktok.com/@glasscannonnetwork Get the best apparel and gaming accessories in the biz at https://glasscannonnetwork.com/store If you enjoyed this, we have several other series featuring Call of Cthulhu - Time For Chaos Delta Green - Get in the Trunk Pathfinder 2E - Glass Cannon Live! Strange Aeons Pathfinder 1E - Legacy of the Ancients Traveller - Voyagers of the Jump and so much more! Join us every Thursday night for Campaign Two of The Glass Cannon Podcast – a playthrough of the Pathfinder 2E Gatewalkers Adventure Path! Videos premiere on YouTube Thursday nights at 8PM ET with a companion podcast available at midnight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Glass Cannon Podcast, the heroes must parlay with a deadly enemy. Because it's not your fort. And if you want to get in, and you want to hold it, you're gonna need us. And put their trust in orcs. For nobodies. That's what I need to take over the fort? Tell me why I shouldn't have my men kill you right now hand me my cemetery i'll show you it all wouldn't you rather have some five kings mountain whiskey comes down i'm humblo The adventure continues now. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to episode 62 of the Glass Cannon Podcast.

It's your boy, Grant Berger, a.k.a. Baron Redheart. I want to say thanks to everyone for sending in requests for Baron haikus. I've sent them out. Some of them have made their international destinations, but not their local ones. I had trouble getting one to Washington, D.C., but some ended up in Canada and elsewhere. So let us know. Email us at glasscanonpodcast at gmail.com. And at the very least, I will email you the haiku I wrote for you. I would love to send it to you in postcard form, but if you don't want to wait and you just want to know the sage wisdom and advice of an old dwarf, a young dwarf, I'm only 50, let us know.

And guys, I want to let you know that you should keep sending in entries to our contest from the last two weeks. And be sure to follow us at Glass Cannon Pod on Twitter to find out how to enter and win each contest ends. I also want to give another big thank you to our friends at NerdsOnEarth.com. ends. I also want to give another big thank you to our friends at nerdsonearth.com. They post about our new episodes every week with a great write-up for everyone and their website is full of great content for any kind of nerd you may be. Also, please keep spreading the word about us to your friends, your gaming groups, total strangers on the street. You know that word of mouth can go a long way in keeping us moving up the charts to the moon. Anyway, this is a pretty big episode, so I don't want to keep you all waiting.

Without further ado, here's episode 62, General Admission. I feel like we learned a lot about each other last week. Yeah. Maybe too much. Character-wise. Things that you yourselves didn't know. Yeah. Yeah, that woman knew a lot about us.

That was freaky. Blame the mists. Yeah. Yeah. Are the mists, have we ever heard of that before? Is that like a thing that a lot of soothsayers say? Or is that like, have we never heard that as characters? The only other oracle, at least in this adventure that you've come across, is Catrezor, and he had like weeping sores because when he was.

Exposure to the. Yeah, I think he was a thrall for a while. Yeah, he was. Similar to her. She's been tossed around. He was. And he got his powers by like sort of, I think it was volcanic bursts.

Yeah. Burned his skin. And that's what gave him these powers of sight. Vapors, yeah. The vapors. So it's not too uncommon, you would think, for her to, in this case. But did Catrezza ever use the term the mists? No, no.

Okay, so it might be kind of unique to her. Yeah. The only type of magic I'm familiar with is. Your magic handbanger? That and we tried this in another game. Scrying to find out my son in another game's location. Is that similar to that? Or does it have its own mechanic?

Or is it made up? Is it arcane, I think is basically what he's asking. Right. No, I think it's more... Divine? Divine, yeah. If she's an oracle, it would be divine. It is, right?

Yeah, it's definitely divine. So the power comes from the god rather than from magical energies themselves. But the mystery is, the oracle's mystery is tied to that. Right, right. It's like the curse they bear in exchange for the sight. They have these things called an oracle's curse. Some oracles have curses that mean X, Y, and Z, and then they have revelations.

Talk about a fun advanced class. An oracle. I was thinking about playing one in another game. Certain people were saying we needed a cleric to heal it. You always need a cleric.

An oracle, what know, it's a, what would you call it? A support? Buffer? Buffer, debuffer? It's kind of like, it's along the lines of a witch.

It's a cleric offshoot though. It can channel. Yeah. Yeah. It's also very customizable. Yeah. You make it, your oracle is your own oracle

in every way. They're so weird and different from each other. That's a, I think I could get into playing an Oracle. Just reading her stuff. You have to be super weird. You've got to be weird, yeah.

I thought about it, too. I thought about it for this, like if the worst should happen. Hopefully we'll inspire legions of Oracles to come in the Pathfinder world for our listeners. So that was an episode and a half. We learned, I mean, it was all role-playing. You guys rolled, Lork rolled a couple failed perception checks.

I think there was a sense motive check, but I barely heard any dice rolls. Wouldn't be an episode without Lork failing a few rolls. We give them what they want, Joe. What they come to expect. So, you know, you guys came here, you fought the patrol outside of the fort.

Then you really got a sense of how the fort matched up to the map by Galabras flying invisible and doing a swoop over. Then, really cool moment. I still love listening back to it. You guys go climb over the wall, land, go up to the sewer grate.

Lork just rips it off. You guys go through there fight this ooze situation luckily nobody gets sick uh because there was some filth fever in that oh that's what it was that stuff yeah it was a disease uh that you all saved on you climb upstairs doors everywhere right left left right you guys go left you go down a long hallway you find an empty bunk room that looks like it hasn't been used in a while, but footprints going back and forth. Sentries.

People on a watch. You climb the stairs. Surprise, two ogre can. You have a plan. This is what we're gonna do. We're gonna hold them, and the plan goes awry within seconds because they did like 30 damage to Lorik.

Almost killed. Brutal. 40. 40, sorry. You guys take them out, and then Ingrihild, who had abandoned you to go after Umlau, after hearing him in the distance, sensing his presence, tells you, Droja, this woman, she doesn't say Droja,

but she tells you, you have to follow me. Let's loose a secret from Lorik's past. You go down there, and then then talk about Oracle Revelations. Yeah. It's the Mirror of Galadriel. And now you're being brought for a parlay with the, quote unquote, self-styled general of this orc tribe, General Kargik. He peeks his head out.

He looks like this. I'll put that on the tumblr that's a stat block that's uh well that's not right at all he's too calm let me see it closer he looks like this oh oh wow oh so tough and he's yeah he's one of those tough orcs he's played by he's played by ronlman. Oh, nice. Perfect. Hell boy. But you see that Skyrim helmet?

That's horns. Yeah. I mean, badass armor, a big-ass sword. He peeks his head out, says some words. He's like, all right, let him in. Turns around, says, take their weapons. Goes back in the tent. Eight orcs layering at you.

They say, all right, you heard the general. Hand over your weapons, boy, girl, old man, dwarf. Their hands are out, and Drogia is just silent. Lork will take the lead. He'll unbuckle Gorim's thorn in its sheath off his back and hand it over and just look at the orc who takes it and be like I'm coming back for that and then he'll

take the he's got a his bow obviously hands it over and then unclips he's got a light flail on his belt and he hands it over okay what he doesn't hand over is Brynja's love tucked inside his armor.

Which we've still never used. That's like around his neck, right? Yeah. Okay. I hand over my crossbow and then if they're still looking at the hammer, it's like,

you wouldn't deny a carpenter a simple stone hammer, would you? Nice try. Hand over the war hammer, or we'll use it on your face and the three of them will go in alone. Calabrus, hand it over. All right. I'm so reluctant to do this, like I hand it to him

and if he takes it he has to like tug at it to like I just finally I like force my hand like off Calabra's hands over

what could possibly be one of the strongest magical items in the known universe to this dumb orc guard and the orc is like looks at it

doesn't pay too much he has no idea exactly they don't know yeah they don't know I mean it looks it doesn't pay too much he has no idea exactly they don't know yeah they don't know I mean it looks it doesn't look like anything

no because it looks like a stone like a stone age tool he kind of like he raises it like he's going to hit you like psych doesn't do anything

does Glamorous flinch no I do not roll a not flinch check okay 40 what's your flinch skill 40

yeah I didn't hear the die hit the table. I used the app. They're looking now at Della and Baron. Della hands over her longbow, and then she unstraps both scimitars. What's a little girl like you doing with such fine forged steel?

Not killing you right now, I suppose. Oh, we got a feisty one, don't we? Come on, dwarf, hand it over. So Baron undoes the knuckle duster on his knuckles. Knuckle duster sounds like a weird sex act. After the vasectomy, that's all that comes out. Oh, and so. Color pull. After the vasectomy, that's all that comes out. And so... Color pull.

He reaches over his shoulder and kind of removes his hat so he doesn't take it off a little bit and pulls over his dwarven war axe and hands it to him. Okay. Della is also holding her dagger beneath her armor. Roll a sleight of hand to have them not notice something that they have most likely never

seen before. Or bluff. Or bluff. I think sleight of hand is more like you're just... That's characteristically and I'm trained in it and... Oh no! You don't automatically fail though on skill check

it was a natural one no you don't a nine what's that thing oh shit what's that is that where you hide your your potions

what is that thing yes it's where I hide my potions. I'm Umlo. Go with the Umlo thing. Tell them who you are. Do you know who I am? I'm Um umlaut.

I don't know what that is, but you seem loath to let it go. Hand it over. I say, all right. Baron hands over. Perhaps the only gun in Galarian. But wouldn't you rather have some Five Kings Mountain

whiskey? What's that? I got some of the finest whiskey ever distilled on this earth. He's got the gun in his hand. He's turning it over, looking in. He's got the gun pointed. He has no idea what it does.

Put a hand on the trigger like he's going to pull it. What is this? Whiskey, you say? Mm-hmm. I'll do a trade for you. Let me see this whiskey. I pull out. I still have it, actually.

You've tossed it to me. I'm assuming in the 20 minutes that went by afterwards. Let me see that whiskey. He grabs it out of your hand. Takes a swig. All right, you got yourself a deal. I don't even know what this stupid thing is. He throws it on the ground.

It goes off. So he hands you the gun back. I calmly take it. I don't like the rush for it. And they all start fighting over it. Fighting over the whiskey. Beautiful. So Baron has the gun.

That's my special whiskey, too. That'll all be gone. That's my only memory of the home distillers. Of the family then. Probably. Your name is Baron Jones. What if I'm just like,

what if I'm just a little person imported from East Texas that somehow ended up in Galeria? I'm not even a dwarf. Not even a dwarf. Maybe you're Baron Davis. I don't know what he's up to lately. The orcs step aside.

Not basketball. And let you in. Checking you. Eyeballing you all the way in. Eight of them. The guys are weaponless. You walk up the stairs. Droja behind you.

Barry Connick Jr. Barry Connick Jr. Oh, there's a fucking bear in this. That's insane. They're all eyeballing the bear, but they don't care about the bear. I'll tell him not to kill you. Is that all right? Watch out for your bear.

Don't kill him. Look at Barry Connick Jr. If that bear makes one wrong move, we'll all kill him. He'll be fine. Guys, walk into the tent. Just don't listen to him talk. It is. Galabras.

Galabras, you notice immediately this is the largest tent that you've seen when you were flying above. This tent is, obviously, it's the general. It's hardly ornate, but it's a little more well-kempt than Droja's tent, which is like what you would assume a soothsayer's tent would look like in an orc encampment. I've seen a lot of those, and it did look exactly like that. You see one, you see them all. This one, it's jutting right out of the wall, so it's very safe on one side. There's a tapestry, a beautiful tapestry, hanging on the rear wall of the tent.

Stolen, certainly. Tapestries. And not a throne, but a makeshift sort of seat of power that Karguk is sitting on. He says, go, come in, come in. So, Droja tells me that you have infiltrated my fort and want to speak with me. That sounds fair. I'm always up for a good talk.

First question, tell me why I shouldn't have my men kill you right now. Because it's not your fort. I don't see you inside. I see you outside. And if you want to get in, and you want to hold it, you're going to need us. Oh, really? I'm going to need four unarmed heroes. That's what I'm going to need. I've got an army of orcs outside. Thirty plus orcs. I need four nobodies. That's what I need to take over the fort?

How many heroes you got in those thirty? I've got plenty. And I've got myself. You seem quite capable, but it's not just strong arms and good forged steel that's gonna help you inside there. There's spirits in that place. You know it as well as I do. Ah, my men talk of spirits, sure. I just think it's

things that go bump in the night. Nothing to... nothing to be too worried about it's all tomfoolery it's those damn ogre kin you know the ghosts are there you feel it I am a man

of devotion and I carry within me divine power oh and and who do you who do you worship boy I worship the goddess Desna. Oh, Desna. Now there's the seat of power. A butterfly. You've entered a house of gorm, strength, war, power. You take your butterflies and play in the esk when I throw your carcass in there. Physical strength is little use against the spirit realm. I have experience in this area.

I can purge this place. Purge this place. What of you, little girl? What brings you here in this world of men? Hand me my scimitar, I'll show you. So you're good with a blade, is what you're saying? So if I put you up against six or seven giants by yourself, you're going to spin that blade to victory?

Let's see. You'll be torn limb from limb in a matter of minutes. They have to touch me first I like her Aye, we all do She's got spirit Well, if I let any of you live, it'll be her Droja, you might have some competition for concubine

He slaps her on the ass Oh, gross What a creep Lork is gonna say Your man Your man that took my blade, tell him to come in here. Tell him to bring in the weapon.

I want to show you something. And I won't even touch it. My man that took your blade. Tell him to bring it in here. Palva. Palva, get in here. One of the orcs comes up. Who took the halfies' blade?

Uh, hold on, I'll get it He comes out, comes back with Gorum's thorn I look at him and I say Hand it to him, to the general General looks at it I tell him to unsheathe it Ah, I know orc-forged steel when I see it, and a

symbol of Gorom to boot. He is my god as well. I've grown up following the way of battle for a long time, and I know as well as any orc here how hard giants are to fight. So here's what I'm telling you.

You have a great combination here between the girl and the cleric who can take out the spirits and fighters of Gorim, me with you who can take out the giants. I've been fighting giants for decades. I know their weaknesses. They're my favorite enemy.

And if we can get through them first we'll be able to take the fort once and for all. Grinsaldek is weak. Now's the time to strike. Grinsaldek is weak. That is true. What say you, dwarf? You're awfully quiet over there.

I'm surprised my men didn't just kill you and let the rest of your friends come in for being a filthy, filthy dwarf. I got a body count larger than all your little peckers drawn in a line one by one. And I'm here to kill giants. Here to kill giants. So you all want to kill giants and cleanse spirits and all this? Roll the diplomacy check.

Who's gonna do it? I'm gonna do it. Who's gonna aid? I will aid. And I'm gonna give myself a bit of luck and i'm gonna cash in one of my bottle caps all right four rolls uh roll a sense motive Fabris, to begin with, unassisted. 26. No, 27. You get the sense from the entire time that he's talking, whether I've portrayed it or not, that all this bravado that he puts forth,

he is, there's a lack of control there. And you know from what Droja said, that he has a tenuous hold at best on his camp. So that's going to give you at least a plus two to your diplomacy check. Okay. Plus other bonuses that I'm giving you for good role-playing. Okay.

Della AIDS, by the way. I will tell you right now, it is an incredibly high DC. Okay. This guy is hostile. So how many rolls are you getting? Three? Four. Four, nice. I will tell you right now it is an incredibly high DC okay this guy he's hostile so how many rolls are you getting

three four four nice well is there any way that I can aid I mean

based on the Gorm stuff and the battle stuff and the bravado that I showed is there any way that I can aid with intimidate you probably don't want

to intimidate him well I'm just saying saying it's a different style of diplomacy. You know what I mean? Sure, sure. It's saying that I can go in and fight. It's not like honeyed words. It's like... You're showing your strength. Showing your muscle. Showing your strength. Sure, so you can...

And it's just for an aid. Aid him with your intimidate check. That's fine. Okay. And Della, you're... How are you aiding you used words if you had your scimitar in hand I'd let you maybe aid with a performance I could perform if you want but I rolled the diplomacy

and Baron straight up words so alright let's see if you aid him first he's already got a plus two plus whatever else I'm giving him Lork aids him Lork aids him plus four I just rolled it I'm giving him. Lork aids him. Lork aids him. Plus four. I just rolled it. Della aids him. Plus six. Baron?

No aid. I'm umlo. Alright, so you've got a plus six based on... And what is your diplomacy bonus? My diplomacy bonus is plus nine. So right now you're working with a plus 15,

and you're using bit of luck and a bottle cap. So that's four rolls? Yeah. Four rolls. Okay. Four rolls. We got to guess. This is a huge diplomacy.

Two bottle caps. Three bottle caps. I'm going to roll one at a time. I rolled a 15. Plus nine. 30. 30. You made it. Yeah! I rolled a 15 plus 9 plus 6 so 30

you made it yeah on the first one nice give me my bottle cap back well that just goes to show you Desna's divine hand it was DC 28

wow it was DC 28 and I gave you a plus 4 for your role playing wow so you actually crushed it. So does that come from, is it DC 25 plus his charisma modifier, or is something close to that?

I mean, that's what it is to go from hostile to indifferent. Right. He doesn't even like us yet. He's just indifferent. He doesn't want to murder us on the spot. But you caught him at a time where he can't control the situation anymore, and he doesn't, if you believe what Droja says where he can't control the situation anymore, and he doesn't, you know, if you believe what Droja says, he doesn't have the courage himself to make a run on the fort.

He's like, speak of Grinseldek. Grinseldek, that fool. She's retreated to her private chambers where she spends her time just sulking in abject depression or throwing violent tantrums, all the while ignoring the tribe that she brought together. Without her leadership, morale has collapsed. Though the fort's hill giants remain loyal to Grenseldek for now, infighting has begun between my orc tribe and these stupid ogres that she subjugated. So you're here to help, eh?

You're here to take out Grenseldek, take out these giants, take out these ogres. That's why I'm here. You have my word. We have a common enemy. Our meeting is fortuitous. I want this fort. What do you want? I want Grenzeldek dead.

Why? She launched an attack on my city that resulted in the death of my son. And I'll have my revenge. So you came all this way from Trunau, as Drogia tells me, for revenge? The four of you and your bear

came miles, miles along orc-infested country just for revenge? Bullshit. Why are you here? I'm not speaking for them. I'm speaking for me.

I used them to get here. I needed the help to get through the lines. You have no idea how far I'll go for revenge. If you weren't an orc, I'd have more trouble disbelieving you. What about you, girl? You are way out of your league. You say you can swing a scimitar.

Great. I'm sure you'll hold your own. But why are you here? What brings you to Red Lake Fort? I follow my friends. I was stuck in a plane. I was stuck in a tree. All this is interesting to me.

Even you. I have no idea what you're talking about. Who's going to give me a straight answer here? You, dwarf. Why are you here? You're looking for riches? You're looking for gold? Because this is my fort.

You're kind of using a stereotypical view of dwarves here. I'm here because I love to kill. We're here for the thrill of battle, eh? Yes. Okay. And you, young man, butterfly boy, what brings you to Redlegford if none of your friends are going to tell me the real

answer? Well, first of all, thank you for quoting the title of one of my favorite Shonen Knife songs, accidentally. And second... You're welcome that is a good song what song butterfly boy hey you say you you're a butterfly anyway i am here to preserve the only home and the only family that I know. True now and these people. And killing Grenzeldek seems the best way to do that.

So you're really here just to wipe out a threat to true now? Yes. Oh. The threat to true Now will never end But at least you can stave off some death For maybe a generation Alright Alright

If it's revenge you're after Then revenge you can get I will give you back your weapons And I will give you back your weapons and I will tell my troops to let you go unmolested. But here's the problem. Right now, we basically only control the outside portion of the fort. Inside, it's ogres and giants.

And I don't know what's going on in there. I sent spies in three days ago. They've never returned. So if you're going in there, you're on your own. I'll let you through. I'll tell you as best I know where to go. I even have two

guards protecting Grinseldeck. And I'll pull them from their post if you give them the sign when you find them. Where she's holed up now, who knows? Upstairs. But she's inside. She's inside.

And I have two guards. I'll send word to them. When you show up outside the door, you tell them the safe word. And they will let you right into her. New England clam chowder.

Is that the red or the white? I'll never remember that. What breed of giant is she? She's a hill giant, obviously. All right. I'll pull the bodyguards. I'll let you into the fort. And you do what you say you're going to do.

And you leave me the fort at the end. With all its riches. I've got... No ogrekin. No ogres. With all its riches. I've got... No Ogrekin. No Ogres. No Hill Giants left. And I let you on your way. We shake hands.

And we walk away. I have one request. You let Umlo go now. What is the problem, dwarf? The only thing preventing my men from an all-out mutiny is the sport of bear baiting.

So unless you want to take his place in the bear baiting pits, he's all I got. Don't be asking for too much, little man. But you do what you say you're going to do, I'll let you take any filthy dwarf you want out of here Oh yeah

Hey you gave it a shot You could tell he grilled I fought real hard for him We went for hours He got really mad I don't know He said no Rogers Days to Save event is back

with our most incredible deal yet on our most reliable internet. Enjoy Rogers Ignite internet now starting at just $50 a month. Backed by our Wi-Fi satisfaction guarantee. Visit rogers.com. So what's your plan? Well, you're going to let us into the fort, right?

Yeah. And then rendezvous with these spirits? Deal with them? I have no idea about these spirits. My men always talk about these strange things they've seen. Noises they've heard. Visions they've seen. I don't believe in any of that.

I believe in the gods. I believe in Gorm. But I don't believe in any of that. I believe in the gods. I believe in Gorim. But I don't believe in any of that nonsense. I think it's an excuse not to work. That being said, you do whatever you have to do. Just wipe out the threat and give me back the fort. And I'll let you go in there fully equipped. Here.

And he opens up like a tarp that he has laying, and it's a bunch of equipment. He's like, there's your dwarf friend's equipment right here. You do what you're supposed to do, I'll give him back everything. I'll let you guys walk right out of here. Just give me this fort. Why do you want it? The world is changing.

There are giants and orcs. Worse than I've ever seen banding together. And I just want a place that's safe for me and my men. I want to be able to live here and thrive here in the middle of nowhere. I have no designs on your true now. I have no designs on anything but living and thriving here. Can I do a sense motive? Sure.

Me too. 28. Not 28. I got an 11. 15. not 28 I got an 11 15 so Galabras

you sense that like he really does just want to have this place for himself but his motives may not be

completely altruistic right like it may be a vengeance against Grinsaldach because she maybe promised something to them

and didn't deliver. Now she's sulking in there because of the attack on Trunau failed or whatever. Like a kill is in his tent. So maybe like he scoffed at Lork saying that it was all about vengeance, but maybe it really is all about vengeance for him. This guy is a piece of shit

and can't totally be trusted, but he's definitely going to let you through. But we don't get the sense that he is going to try to use it as a base of operations for a war against the Knights of Ozum or Trunau. Knowing what you know, they don't have the manpower. Right, right. And wiping out half of this camp

by wiping out the giants and the ogres would leave them even less prepared to do so. It would take them years to be able to recruit enough orcs to build up an orc army to take over Trunau. So if what he's saying is true, you guys doing this for him, even if he decided a couple years from now,

you know what, we should take over the rest of the Holderbelts and take over Trunau. He would never be able to mobilize. Okay. So you would save Trunau. I want to ask him. For the time being. How did you and Grenzledeck get together?

What was the plan? Grenzledeck, as I told you, has fallen from grace, for lack of a better word. With whom? With herself. And since she decided to stop being a leader, this place has fallen apart but when I met her when she came to me and other orc tribes in the area she had promises of great things that we were going to be part of this

huge army that would take over all of this area all of the holds of Belkson and beyond and eventually all of Galarian would be ours but it's just not true so all I can do is survive because the woman that came to me And eventually all of Galarian would be ours. But it's just not true. So all I can do is survive. Because the woman that came to me and seemed like a leader has failed.

And now she's got to go. Have you ever seen her fight? How is she on the battlefield? She's a giant. She can handle herself. But right now, you're going to catch her at her worst. If the four of you and this animal are as good as you say you are. Don't talk about Rourke that way.

If you're as good as you say you are, you should have no problem with her. But she's a giant. How many does she have? I know you got 30 plus. This is one of the reasons I sent some of my men in there. To spy. To spy, and they haven't come back. Lord knows, these stupid ogres.

Honestly, I believe the ogres are the ones that have caused all the problems. The giants and the orcs, we had some problems, but we were living in some semblance of harmony until Sulky McGee went into her bedroom. Sulky McGee. But these ogres, they are disgusting abominations. They are depraved creatures, it is true. You have a couple of options. I can let you in the front door, as it were.

Over the Barbican, there is a bridge that leads basically into the fort itself, into the front courtyard. There are Ogrekin that patrol there, so you'll have to deal with them. But my men will let you in freely. Or you could go this way. And he pulls back the tapestry on the wall. And you see that there is a passageway

behind the tapestry. Oh, wow, behind the poster. And he says, when I came here and set up my quarters here, I must have been here months before I discovered this secret passageway into the fort. I walked in and immediately was struck

by a portcullis. And he shows you his hand, and like two fingers are completely gone on his right hand. Luckily, I pulled myself out of the way. But I lost two fingers in the process, and I never went back in. So that room, that passageway may lead into the fort, but it's most likely trapped

unless I set up the only trap in there. So that's one way. The other way is the front door, but that's gonna arouse just as much suspicion. Just as much suspicion? Probably a little more than a secret entrance. More suspicion. Much much suspicion. Probably a little more than a secret entrance. More suspicion. Much more suspicion.

All right, give us our weapons, and we'll talk. We'll discuss what we're going to do, and then we'll be on our way. All right, he peeks his head out, motions to the guys. They come in and start handing over weapons in a pile. You guys sort out all your weapons and get everything back. Lork's going to say through the secret tunnel. Yep, they'll agree. Just pick one.

She likes the shadows. Yeah. Never met a shadow she didn't like. I'm absolutely with that plan. My only two thoughts are that I want to see if Ingerhild would come with us, but I think she wants to stay with her brother probably now that she's found him. And I also want to know, now that we have Orc's permission on our side, if we should think about resting.

Good point. Well, if we rest, Umlo fights maybe more than once. good point good point well if we if we rest umlo fights maybe more than once it's at a risk you're willing to take

it's true he knows what he's signed up for now Calabras is how are you doing with this well I only have one

instance of bit of luck left today. And I have spells that I've expended. It could be difficult to fight in a fortress full of augers and giants without full capacities. All right. Can we impose upon you to rest up, gather our strength, let the spellcasters pray,

so that we can go in full strength against Grenseldeck? Otherwise, what's the point of the mission? Right, right. From what I understand, you came in over the western side of the fort. Sure, it doesn't take an idiot to realize those huts are empty, yes? Yeah. They're empty for a reason.

It was her brilliant idea to set up all these huts to make it look like we were much more fortified than we were. it looked like we were much more fortified than we were. I'll tell my men to keep off of you, but you're safe in there. We won't touch you, and they'll never know you're there. Don't light any fires, and just keep to yourselves and be quiet. And when you're ready, you come see me,

and I'll let you through the tapestry. Would the timing work out so that we could rest and then go during the fights? Yeah, but I mean, you already have the orc. The orcs aren't going to bother you, so. Giants aren't the same. Right, but just a little less sound and stuff like that. Oh, sure, sure. I'm also just asking just to know what the time is.

Like I, I, did you say we arrived at like afternoon? Yeah. The fights had just gotten over. So I guess, yeah. So the,

the next round of fights are going to happen at night. So if you guys go there and settle in and rest, we'll be resting overnight. You'll be resting overnight. So he's going to fight at least once. And then you, no, no,

no, I'm confused. I thought that he already, I thought he fought during the day. He's fighting twice. Okay. be resting overnight, so he's going to fight at least once, and then you... No, no, no, I'm confused. I thought that he already... I thought he fought during the day. He's fighting twice. Okay. Yeah, Drogia said, like, they're coming back for him at night. Oh, for the night shift. For the night shift. No, they may not fight... He's working doubles.

They may not fight twice every day, but, like, he's trying to put as much distraction in these guys as possible, and this is all they... This is his only solution. All right. That's fine with me. So, yeah, if you guys want to go rest, you could come back and do a clandestine mission in, like, Twilight.

Yeah. Yep. Sounds good. All right. All right. And then probably at some point in the middle of your mission, depending on if you guys rest again, Amo will go in for a second round. Let's do it.

Maybe. All right, so you go back to the huts. You guys rest. Gael, could I impose upon you to mend my scimitar? Oh, yes. And I do. Excellent. And did you have any channels or heal spells left?

Yeah, I've got all my channels. Okay, so could you pop me with a channel? Yeah, yeah. Here I am. And then Lork is going to, as he goes to sleep tonight, he's going to pray to Gorim for guidance in battle because he knows it's going to be a red day. Red day.

I like that. 11. Oh, that's a good one. 8. 13. All right, cool. Are we back in the tent? Yes, you guys are in the tents.

It's getting dark now, so you can't see your hand in front of your face unless you have dark vision. He told you specifically don't light any fires, but what do you guys want to do to sort of steel yourselves and prepare for battle? I let Ingerheld know what the plan is and how we're going to get her brother out, and that I'm sorry I couldn't get it done any sooner or in any other way. She said, do you want me to go with you? I trust this woman. I trust Droja. I can go with you. I promise I won't be a hindrance again.

Now that you know your brother's safe, can you assure me that you will only do what you are told once we're inside? Yes. Yes, now that I know he's safe, I'm with you 100%. Sense motive. Detect alignment. But still curse.

I did actually roll a 28. This is the most confident you've felt. Like, she just wanted to know her brother's alive, and now she wants to show you what a badass warrior she can be, because she also knows the faster you guys complete your goal,

the faster Umlo is gonna be free. Yeah, yeah. Assuming you told her about your conversation with Karguk. Yeah, yeah. And whatnot, so she's in it to win it. General Karguk. Karguk. Yeah, yeah. And whatnot. So she's in it to win it. General Karguk. Karguk. Karguk.

All right. Played by Ron Perlman. I say we show the rest of these tall folk how dwarves get down with giants. Yeah. Wow! Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. Ready to go?

Let's do it. All right. Twilight? Twilight Oh I ask Sorry Last thing Sorry to do it I asked Roja

If she has any potions We could take It's not crazy You gotta do it She says I had potions You do have a potion holder In your belt

That's true It's a magical potion holder It's where I keep my potions I can heal you With spells But the potions. You do have a potion holder in your belt. That's true. It's a magical potion holder. It's where I keep my potions. I can heal you with spells, but the potions that I have, I gave to Umlo. And he hid them in the bear pit. And that's what's keeping him alive

if it ever comes close to death. He told me he hid them behind some rock in the bear pit. So unless you plan on going there, I'm sorry, I cannot give you a point. I don't need that fucking sass, Grojo. Sorry, I'm just being straight with you. Unless you plan on going there.

I'm not even gonna save you anymore. You've been waiting for us all your life. All right, so Twilight. The guys are fully rested. Galabras has meditated. Della has taken the time she needed to sort of regain her spells. Lorik has cut poop out of Barry Connick Jr.'s fur.

Hey, I prayed to Goran for guidance in battle. Pray to Goran, why not? And Baron sharpened his gun on a whetstone. As is per usual. sharpest gun in the west you see Ingra Hill just practicing she's got her battle axe

and her war axe and she's got them both on her back like in an X shape and you just see her practicing drawing both of them drawing both of them

like just practicing battle you feel very confident in the presence of Ingra confident in the morning she gets up and does a little this little little bar as you as you do galavris is a raging direction wait i made it clear no i am fascinated by it i'm like wow she reminds me kind of of sorry it's my holy symbol is that a holy symbol in your pocket?

Delos reminded me of Antonio Banderas in the 13th Warrior, where he's like the only scimitar fighter that's like besieging all these towns with these class warriors. With these barbarians. I think that's the second 13th Warrior reference. Yeah, we made one way long time ago. Long time ago. And I probably will cut that one too. We're having fun.

All right. So you guys make your way there in the twilight. There are not as many orcs guarding him at this time. So there were eight before. There's four now. And they look at you just sneering. But they know the deal. Can I say how cool it is that we are now walking around this fort?

That you flew over and I was like, we're going to have to fight our way from there to there. And if we're ever outside, we're going to have to hide from hut to hut. And now we're just walking through. Yeah, now we're just knowing we're there. And there's nothing they can do about it. We're just walking like reservoir dogs. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

It's so quiet at this time of night. Like, have you ever walked home at 5 a.m.? You know, it's got that stillness. Something tells me you've done that a lot, Troy. It's an example based on a true story. I'm doing practicing to get into the mind of my character. Yeah, right, right. So you hear the water lapping against the dam,

which is only about, you know, 50 feet away from you, that dam. You see water trickling over it, but that's off in the distance. And more orc huts are ahead of you, and you see orcs milling about. But the four guarding General Kargik's tent stand aside and let you in. guarding General Kargik's tent, stand aside and let you in. Kargik is inside the tent and he gets up from his bedroll or pile of furs or whatever. He looks a little groggy and he nods at y'all and pulls the tapestry aside and says, it's close quarters in there, aside and says it's close quarters in there. Syngophile.

And I don't know what's in there, but good luck. He puts his hand on Lork's shoulder. Gorm be with you. Aye, thank you. Luckily, I happen to worship the goddess of luck. Butterfly boy. So he pulls the tapestry aside, and behind the wall is another wall five feet away from you. So there is a five foot space directly in front of you.

A corridor that goes to the left, a corridor that goes to the left, a corridor that goes to the right. And who is up front taking all of this in? How's your trap finding? I don't have trap finding. Do you have trap finding? I do not. It is darkness.

I have dark vision. Do I have dark vision? You're a half-orc, you should. Or is it low light vision? I think you and Baron have dark vision. I have dark vision. Do I have dark vision? You're a half-orc, you should. Or is it low light vision? I think you and Baron have dark vision. I have dark vision. Yes, I do. So dark vision and I have an 11 perception for finding traps.

You have a higher perception. Y'all two should be up front. That's the same as my perception. And my stealth is a nine. You call it, Grant. You want to be first in line or second in line? Third in line, rather, behind Barry Connick Jr. Oh, right.

I forget about that. It's first or third. I forget about that damn bear. It's whatever you'd like. As long as you don't go ranging so far ahead of us. I go 200 yards ahead. All right. Lark will go first, and he'll start.

If you want me to, perceiving for tracks and traps, however you want me to do it. Let me explain to you what you see. You look to the left, hallway, ending maybe 15 feet away, but five feet away is a portcullis that is down. Got it. Most likely the trap that cut off Johnny Cake's hands. To your right is a wall that's 10 feet away. Ents. You don't see anything.

So to the left, the hall goes 15 feet to nothing, with a porculous five feet away. To the right, 10 feet away, and a hallway, and you see nothing. That is what you see. Can I roll survival to see if there's any tracks in here? Actually, you know what? I just want to move toward the right, checking for traps first.

All right. So the right is where the opposite way of the portcullis. Right. So you're going to step in and look to the right. Yeah. Okay. You step in and roll the perception check. I loved your face.

You're like, look tied! 24. 24. So you're just looking at that five foot square in front of you. And the walls and ceiling kind of around. Right, right, right. I don't want a portcullis falling down on my hand. Who does?

I need my fingers. Not in this day and age. What'd you roll? 24. 24. It seems perfectly fine. All right, then I'm going to keep going to, you know, to the wall. you know, to the wall.

You step forward. And all of a sudden, shoom! Right on the spot. You didn't see it. 24 was just not enough. Roll a reflex save. Oh, Lark.

Lark! 22. Oh, that should do it. You're fine. Oh, wow. You jump. You jump. Oh, shutter it. You're fine. Oh, wow. You jump. Shuttered. Back.

As this Porculous goes, boom! The same Porculous trap that took off two of Karguk's fingers would have just taken off maybe one of your legs. If he didn't tell me, I wouldn't have had any warning. This is the sound of all the dice that I was about to roll for the damage. So now this area is closed off, too. So now you're closed off there as well. Can I do a perception for, or can I try to lift it? Yes, yeah, it has a, you can lift it.

You can lift left or right. You think it's going to be tough. It's going to take a really strong half-orc. So since you guys don't have one of those, you can try, Lord. You fuck. Alright, well I'm just going to try once lifting it. You can also try to unbuff. Break it, but you can tell this isn't the iron

grate out in the latrine. This is much more... Yeah, first I'm going to just try to lift it. Six. Meh. You lose a finger. Oh man. So you were trying right or left right the one that just dropped out

the one that just dropped yeah you're like it feels like it's impossible to lift alright as I'm walking back to the left can I

and I'll ask Baron to do this as well as like check the walls for a secret entrance between the two porculuses

oh yeah remember stone cutting is an effect. Susie Stonecutting. Right. Give me a roll. I'm going to use the neon green dice of Troy. By the way, we never asked the general to mark our map,

which I feel really stupid for. I did. You did? Oh, no. I asked her. I asked the oracle to mark our map. Yeah, but I mean, he's pretty clear. He's sending spies in.

Yeah, he doesn't know. He doesn't know what the hell's going on in there. Ooh. For perception? Yes yes perception stone cutting uh so you walk 28 with stone cutting 28 with stone cutting and you feel those walls in front of you obviously the two are trapped and you don't detect any secret doors but it doesn't make sense to you as a dwarf why you would have an empty hallway trapped. Right. So you would think this is, you're feeling these walls and you're like,

I could build a secret door here if I had the time, but there's nothing in front of you. Are there any mechanisms which are visible to us that would lift these port culisses? No. What about the ceiling? Is there any openings in the ceiling? Where they came down.

So if there is any sort of mechanism. But between them, in the 15 feet between them, there's no, it's just bare, clean ceiling? Yeah, bare, clean ceiling. And this thing was like disguised there.

And just, maybe the left one isn't as stuck. I'm going to try to get that out. Can we situationally boost this by using like leverage from a polearm or some other weapon? Like the way you jam a lever underneath something to lift it. Right, I hear you. Give me a lever long enough.

It's still ultimately going to be a strength check, but you guys can aid him on the strength check. All of us can aid him. It's a five-foot corridor, and ultimately he's just lifting it. But let's say you want to wedge something under there, and you guys are all going to push on it. Well, let's just lifting it. But let's say you want to wedge something under there and you guys are all going to push on it. Let me just try it once. You can retry it. Let me just try it once. Maybe I'll roll a natural 20.

17. You pull it up a little bit off the ground. Oh, so it moves. It's just you're not strong enough for it. Baron, help me. Simple machines. All right. So should I just roll a straight up strength or try to help?

You try and lift it? I'm not going to. I'm going to have to roll a natural 20, basically, with a zero strength. Can't we just take 20? Take 20 on a strength check. I mean, there's nothing really pressuring us right now. Yeah, there's nothing pressuring you. Yeah, take 20, and what does that give you? It's as if you rolled a 20 right but what's his strength bonus it would be a 25

with my plus three and his plus two for the aid still doesn't oh god you're like you can you're getting it up and you're like you can almost hold it there but like you know that if someone tried to walk through while you were holding it you would would drop it on them. So you're like, I mean, inches away. So basically, let's say that through trial and error and taking your time, you guys can choose to go left or right with Lork doing the lion's share of the work. You guys are going to have to run through

in order to get there before Lork can drop it and go around. So you have to decide which way you're going to have to run through in order to get there before Lork can drop it and go around. So you have to decide which way you're going to go. Left or right. And you have to just run right in. Last question. Can we dig under them? You cannot. Stone. Okay. I vote left.

Alright, I like it. Can we see on the map where we are and which way left and right will take us? Sure. So looking at the map where we are and which way left and right will take us? Sure. So looking at the map that you guys got from Calrean, it looks to the left, you know, that hallway ends. But on the other side of that wall is what looks like a circle. It looks similar to the latrine, actually. Now that you've been to the latrine, it looks like another water situation.

A small circle in a room with double doors leading out to the main courtyard. To the right, where the trap just almost fell on a lork, again, a wall that doesn't lead anywhere. And it looks like it leads to just a room that has stairs that probably lead up. So maybe it's a guard tower or something. And that also has a door leading to the main courtyard. So if either of those hallways

end in a secret door, like what Baron was looking for, they're ultimately going to take you to the same place unless they have other stuff going on. Well, I mean, one of them has stairs going up inside. The other one doesn't.

I think that we go right. I say right. I agree. It gives us more options. We don't have to just go into the courtyard. And presumably, I'm looking at this map, maybe those stairs will lead up this bridge-y thing, or is that a wall that leads across here? Without knowing

the map of the upstairs, it's probably going to lead up to eventually the curtain wall like where you guys were before, but on the complete other side. All right. So Lork

can lift it up. All right. So if Lork lifts it up. We take all this time. Lork can lift it up and people can slip under? Is that what you're saying? People can slip under and then at the last minute, Lorcan let go and you're all going to be kind of crammed there. Technically, you're not allowed to do it, but like, I'm going to let you do it. You just

got to decide who's running forward and doing a perception check on this wall. I'll do it. Baron. Alright. So Lorcan lifts up the port and Baron slips under. Baron runs through. Okay, so Baron, you run through.

Heedlessly. Heedlessly. And as you step on the last space before the wall. Don't I get to, okay, whatever. A scythe comes through. Oh my god. This is why I wanted to know who was going first, because you guys don't have the strength to do this.

It had to be a quick sort of thing. So the first person to go was going to get attacked by this trap. To dive under. Because you don't have time to be like, hold on guys, let me just check this, see if there's traps. You have to just run through and unfortunately there was a trap there.

A wall scythe comes through. 30 to hit. Do I get a reflex save? Unfortunately, with this one, you don't. But it's also not as brutal. It does hit you for 10 points of damage. Good. Fuck.

God. The scythe comes out of the wall, just... Rips your duster. A chunk of your duster comes out and it takes off like, goes right into your side. Ten hit points. Baron!

Are you all right? And now you're in front of the wall. Roll perception stone cutting. That's a 21. Secret door. There we go. There we go. You just move it open

and all of you start, run, run, run, avoid the trap. You guys run through and Lork drops the porculus and runs through as well. I thought you were going to make me do one more. I was like, please don't make me roll to slip under it because I will fail and I will be on the other side alone. I mean, the penalty really was first man in is going to get attacked. And unfortunately it was Baron.

Baron the Bold. Baron the Bold. Well, he's definitely not Baron Redheart, according to Druja. That burns so much. All right, so now you are in another room. As expected, it is a guard tower. Very sparsely furnished.

Clearly two stories, as you can tell from your map. There's stairs going up. You can already see, looking at the stairs, there's arrow slits looking out over the moat. So they're using these, or maybe it was once used when it was actually Red Lake Fort, to protect it. But this one is empty.

Perception? Sure. It's on the room in general. 22. 24. 16. 15. Della and Lork both see tracks

going up and down, but not out. I'm sorry, did they roll survival check? I'm just kidding. Technically. Technically, you should have rolled survival. Yeah, but perception, you were looking specifically for tracks.

You see tracks. Well, survival, you can tell what kind of tracks they are. Survival. Damn it. 19. Badger tracks tracks I'll roll I'll roll a survival Benverine

he's here he's here I know it he yet lives yeah so you guys there's there are humanoid tracks and they're going

up the stairs and you know that's it just up the stairs and back into this room but not out into the courtyard

well I think we gotta go up and take a look see take a look, see what we can see out in the courtyard. Yeah. I'll go first. I'll go invisibly if you want. So you're thinking about going upstairs and Della wants to go invisible? Like you want to go invisible out in the courtyard? No, no, up the stairs. Up the stairs. You want to go alone into the courtyard, invisible, and then go visible?

So Della burst through the door into the courtyard. Well, she's invisible, but she's alone in the courtyard. Guys are the stairs. Up the stairs. You want to go alone into the courtyard, invisible, and then go visible? So Della bursts through the door into the courtyard, invisible. Well, she's invisible, but she's alone in the courtyard. Guys are the worst. And then you go visible? Della, roll six fortitude seconds. Let her climb the stairs. All right, 10 crossbow attacks. All right, so Della, you want to climb up.

Yeah. All right, you're going to vanish. I'm going to vanish. Mew's the one. 10 crossbow attacks alright so Della you want to climb up yeah alright you're gonna vanish I'm gonna vanish use the wand vanish you walk up what is it called a switchback

or you go to a landing take a right go back up another set of steps and you are in the upper guard room I think you should start a stairwell a stairwell yeah sometimes I try to over dramatize

nothing you walk up one set of steps landing I think it's just called a stairwell. A stairwell, yeah. Sometimes I try to over-dramatize nothing. You walk up one set of steps. It appears to be stairs. You take a juicy right. Walk up seven more wooden plank steps. You go up the set of stairs and you're on the upper level. And this is the upper guard room. The first thing you see is a splendid view of the countryside.

I mean, you are up there, thing you see is a splendid view of the countryside i mean you are up there so you see down you know exactly where like right beyond that tree line is where we fought the patrol belkson's best views belkson's best views on uh yelp um so you're up there and there is a door to your right and a door to your left But right now you're in open air just looking down at the countryside. Now, if you look sort of down into the courtyard, the way it's built, you don't have as good of a vantage point, but you see the same hill giant that Galabra saw when he was flying around maybe going in and out of sleep

on the same level as you are, but like in the middle of the fort. Imagine this courtyard is split right down the middle. There's the western portion and then there's the eastern portion, if you look at your map.

And then between that is a bunch of small buildings. On the upper level of those buildings, right in the middle of the fort, there's a hill giant going in and out of sleep next to a bunch of rocks. Galabras saw this when he was flying around. In the courtyard itself, to the left, you see the entrance to the bell tower. Okay. The thing that Droja told you,

that's where you can communicate with the Blix. Spirit. Spirit. But, around the corner, you can't quite see what's going on. You hear

screaming. Oh hear screaming. Oh, shit. It's not a human scream. It sounds like it's in terrible pain, and you see a large body kind of around the corner. You can't see it because it's hidden by the keep jutting out in the southwestern portion of the fort. But you hear screaming,

painful, awful screaming, and you see a large body that's got to be some sort of giant or ogre around the corner. From that vantage point, you can't quite tell. Door to your left, door to your right. You see the door to the bell tower, and you look behind you,

and there is where you guys came when you approached the fort. No guards, nothing? No guards. Survival check on the ground? None that you can see. See if this is a used area for surveillance? Sure. You see footprints.

17. Yeah, you see footprints, but they're're used but it's not like a million different footprints all right so i crash down let the vanish expires and i call the others up i whisper down all right so you guys want to come up yeah well she calls it up all right so you come up and you see the same sort of scene there's a hill giant x amount of feet away that you can't quite uh lork is like seeing a giant in range he He's like, oh, my God. He's like ready to shoot. He's basically sleeping. Oh, I'm going to kill it so bad.

How far away is it? We could pump it full arrows. The hill giant is 30-something feet away, but it's not easily accessible. You'd have to fly or go into the courtyard to it to get to a staircase to get to that giant so it's on like a roof it's on the roof yeah okay so we it's on the roof of the buildings in the middle do we have to now go in the courtyard i mean is that the only well if you're trying if you want to get to the bell tower where droja said communicate with the spirit you've got to you're going to go through the courtyard i I mean, Della saw the door.

But now there's some sort of situation over there. But we have to go in the courtyard to get to the situation, too, right? So what option is not to go in the courtyard? There was another door up here, wasn't there? Oh, you had a door to your left and a door to your right. And then this is what we see out in the open. Ultimately, if you want to follow Droja's advice to get to the bell tower, you're going to have to go to your right. And then this is what we see out in the open. Ultimately, if you want to follow Droge's advice to get to the bell tower,

you're going to have to go to the courtyard. So whatever's happening there now, you're going to have to deal with, but you might have the drop on them. But you do have a door to your left and a door to your right, and also downstairs is the door leading directly to the courtyard.

Should we look through these doors real quick? Let's check the doors. Okay. I want to go against the bell tower, but I don to go against the bell tower And then get the drop on them I want to get the drop on this hill giant But there's a situation with screaming Is the other situation too Yeah I want to get the jump on that too

I want to get the jump on anything I can get the jump on You're a jump getter Can Lork open a door? Sure left or right Okay so you open a door? Sure, left or right? Right. Okay, so you open the door to the east,

and it is a 10, 15-foot-wide walkway curtain wall. Same situation as the door that Baron opened a couple episodes ago when you guys were in the barracks room and decided to go left up. Same sort of thing. It's just a curtain wall. It's just a little bit longer. Leads to another door that looks like that door opens into another guard room that eventually leads to the Barbican and wherever. It eventually is going to lead to the front door. It's the ramparts without being able to see outside.

Okay, so let's go to the other one. Other door, it's just the top of a wall. No doors anywhere. It's just there because they need to build the wall all around the fort. Wow. Makes sense. So it's like a 20 by 10 foot walkway atop the wall that ends in another wall that's abutting the keep. Right, but it overlooks the outside. Yeah. So courtyard wall that's abutting the keep. Right. But it overlooks the outside?

Yeah. So courtyard it is? Right up against the keep. Find the screaming? Well, yeah, it's twilight. It's getting a little darker. Let's go to the courtyard and follow the screaming.

After midnight, we're going to go to the courtyard. All right. So you guys head downstairs. Yeah. Open the door to the courtyard. Stealthily. Stealthily.

Roll a stealth check, Della. Uh-oh. Stealthy McDella. 12. Oh, boy. That wasn't a good roll. You said you wanted to be stealthy. Let me just grab my neon. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That wasn't a good roll. You said you wanted to be stealthy.

Let me just grab my neon. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not yet. I like to roll all my perception checks with a neon green die. Save that for attacks on Galapagos. Okay, wait a minute. Natty six. Okay. Stealthily open the door into the courtyard.

Oh, my God. This is clearly the inner ward. Why is it the inner ward? into the courtyard. Oh my God. This is clearly the inner ward. Why is it the inner ward? Because to your right, you see a portcullis that is down that leads to the front courtyard. So if you'd walked through the front door, quote unquote front door,

you would eventually get down into the first courtyard. In front of you are these buildings. Who knows what's going on there? And on the roof of which is the hill giant that's going in and out of sleep. But to your right is a portcullis cutting off the two courtyards.

But you're in the inner ward. Make sense? Yeah. Check out the map. Open courtyard. Overgrown with thick vegetation. And there is a flight of stairs climbing up, leading to an entrance to the keep off to your left.

So there's a flight of stairs leading up to a landing, very similar to the way station at Cowrie Ann, when you guys met Cowrie Ann. There's a flight of stairs landing and like a mini little drawbridge. Yeah, yeah. Same sort of thing. Well, same kind of thing, except this leads into a keep. Right.

And the drawbridge is down. Okay. But around the corner from there, Della knows, and you guys who took a peek, there's some other business going on over there. What is it? I don't know. I'm thinking maybe just go for the keep. Well, we want to get to the

bell tower, don't we? By the way, the screams are much louder now. I want to know what this is. Is this Halrax again? Are you going to go on with Rag? I'll vanish and check it out. Do it. Do it.

Troy hates this ability. I'm concerned for your safety, Della. All right, now, how many times can you use vanish? I'm using the wand. Oh, you just, boom, wanding vanish. Yeah, I mean, which means I have to refresh it if I'm going for longer than, you know. So you just want to go over there and take a peek.

Yeah. All right, so you wand yourself. Boom, vanish. Tiptoe through the tulips, pass this staircase leading up to the keep. You see the entrance to the bell tower, 20 feet away where Drojan wants you to go. But as you turn the corner, the screams are getting louder and louder because you see four ogres huddled

around an orc and they're tearing him limb from limb and torturing him very slowly. Holy shit. Holy shit! This is new to Della. Yes. Yeah. I

come back and report what I've seen. What do you guys want to do? Oh, they're ogres? They're ogres. Oh, Lork is like, let's go yes yeah I come back and report what I've seen what do you guys want to do did he look oh they're ogres they're ogres oh Lork is like let's go kill some ogres see you next week

oh man I knew we were gonna close the chest I know god I want to kill some ogres I want to kill ogres sober light my scimitar

not a week from now now Not a week from now, now!