The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 94 - Sneaky Blinders

Episode Date: March 14, 2017

Having vanquished the guardians at the gate, the party faces crucial decisions on how they can possibly proceed with hundreds upon hundreds of giants between them and the cathedral. 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. Under cover of darkness, the heroes infiltrate the giant's camp. We're really doing it! We're doing it. It's been fun playing these characters. But with a massive army surrounding them. I'm so scared. And unexpected danger lurking at every turn.

Della feels something run over her feet. The mystery only deepens. And where are the tributes? Like, what's happening? Where are the fighting pits? Yeah. What's happening? What is happening?

So many questions. And there's no turning back. Or you could make a run for it. The adventure continues now. Hey, everybody, what's up? It's me, Skid, and welcome to episode 94 of the Glass Cannon Podcast. You know, we launched our Patreon a couple of weeks ago, as you may have heard, and I don't want to go into it too much, but I just want to thank all of you who have given, again, to help us keep this thing going. This is something, a hobby that I've loved. We've all loved since we were kids. recess in third grade and sitting with my friends in the hallway while everyone else played outside

and running through a dungeon that my friend, I think it was Josh, my friend Josh Madison came up with for like, you know, 15 minutes a day and just falling in love with it. And it's just astounding to me that we could do something with it as adults, get to this point where enough people care about it that they're willing to part with some hard-earned cash to help us, to help support it. And it's just so touching to me, and thank you all again. And if you haven't given yet and you think that you might want to, head on over to our Patreon page, and we've got some great rewards,

and we're heading towards some really exciting reward tiers too, so hopefully we can hit those. But in any case, let's get right to this episode, because I am curious to see what happens, how we possibly plan to infiltrate the very heart of the enemy's fortress. Episode 94, Sneaky Blinders. One does not simply walk. the Enemy's Fortress, episode gesture. I got Bean hand.

He's kind of shaking. A little sweaty. Into Minda Hall's Valley. Wow. Wow. You guys had a week. I wasn't involved with most of the emails. I mean, talk to me.

I'm going to let you guys open. I made my joke. Well, I'll be honest with you. We did talk without you on the email. How much of it do you want us to talk about here versus just telling you where we're leaning? Well, talk to me in terms of character.

Not a check-in thing, but what does Sir Will want to do? What does he want to do? And why? You know what? Can I pass for a do? And why? You know what? Can I pass for a second? And I have good reason. Let's pass it around the room a little bit.

All right, Baron, you've been the de facto leader since you left True Now. Okay? Would you agree that this particular mission, if you choose to go forward, is not your area of expertise? When did you start asking questions like an attorney? That was amazing. Would you agree? Would you agree? Would you agree? Objection. Leading the witness.

I think it's incredibly dangerous and Baron wants to. He already has kind of a weapon that's out of time and a little overpower. No. Oh, oh, spell strike, spell combat. But by out of time time you mean from the future

exactly what i meant to say was anachronistic but since this is a fantasy world so i baron's actually working on plans to invent the b-52 bomber and we're just gonna yeah no i'm really bomb the whole place i'm really worried honestly, the thing I'm worried most about is twofold. One, how noisy Joe Sir Will is. And two... Joe or Sir Will. Both. A little of both.

I mean, he just can't stop yelling for Highbury. And if it's not for Highbury, it's for the rose and the light and the this and the that. Everybody gets up, he's like, good morning! What a fine day. What a fine day to be stealthful. So I'm worried about that. And then if he hangs back while all of us who have over plus 10 stealth go forward, then we are in that splitting the party situation we got into where we almost got captured on our way up here,

which was a scary, scary event. Yeah. When Lork was scouting ahead. So you're more worried about your people that you're leading. Yeah, I wish I had sealed Team 6. Right. We are, pretty much. We're now four.

Della, what about you? You've now converted everybody to demon worshippers. I think my work here is done. Della turns back. Della wants to go forward. I mean think my work here is done. Della turns back. Della wants to go forward. I mean, she is a shadow creature. She's not afraid of being stealthy, even though she's clearly not as stealthy as Baron,

a dwarf with a gun. You don't have to fire it all the time. She ain't afraid of no host. A giant. There's also the Shinemon's Fortune people. It would be, as you pointed out, science oh uh there's also the cinnamon's fortune people yeah and she doesn't want to i mean like it would be as you pointed out clear suicide to go go with a full-on assault but like if you could sneak in and rescue those people and yeah there's some intel i mean what and then we could get out

feasibly we don't necessarily have to take on the whole army right now but we do need to know more now so this is like right up your alley do you feel like you'd be better off alone in a situation yeah he's actually a bit tempted because he got uh like he's very focused on that cathedral and he's got a good sense that his particular objective might be in there and so he feels like maybe maybe i could just leave him here and then I could get, I could find, I can sneak pretty well. But he feels like when he gets in, if he does get caught,

he's going to be in a bit of trouble. So, you know, at least see where we can get as a group and take it from there, you know. He probably need all the help he can get once he gets there anyway. And this objective, is it something that you have shared? Not in the least. No, it's like this only thing that's maybe keeping you with this group.

Yeah. Perhaps. And the other thing is he saw, I was saying that the joints coming from the north taking provisions in number. If we could possibly find out where they're coming from and get smuggled in with whatever they're carrying. They're going to the south. The ones with the weapons are going to the north.

The other ones are going to the south. No, I know. That's what it is, finding where they're coming from and let them smuggle us in. But that seems like it would be however many episodes worth of finding another way. Right. And that's just not good stories so

fuck it fuck it mate yeah uh joe you finally ready to tell us your thoughts bless you yeah and i'm mostly i wanted to kind of hand it over to della and kind of see what della said first because sir will is really torn i mean he's having almost like a split right now in his personality, like in his psyche, because he is both faced with doing something that he's never done before. His only concepts of danger

and battle have always been with a team and have always been really in the couch of an army, fighting a war with a certain set of ideals and everyone sort of on the same side and everyone with their sigil and their whatever battling the enemy and the enemy would come and face you in the field. He's not used to, he has no concept of this clandestine mission sort of thing.

mission sort of thing and at the same time della is making him realize not only that he sees in her this person that has come from another plane like demons come from another plane to wreak havoc this is someone who's come from another plane in his mind to do good to to help does she well i mean to help the common people, to help innocent people. Right. Why do I say good? Well, then you have this level of complication that comes with that, with the demon's blood and how he's kind of been tempted and he is realizing this temptation. And he's realizing, I mean, almost within hours after we would have ended last session,

he starts to feel, like, immense regret for taking the demon's blood. Why'd he do it? Yeah, I didn't even have to put up a fight. It was almost this, like, just reaction. Like, he didn't even really think about it. He was so low on hit points, he knows that his praying, what that does for him, would not cover

what he needed with the enemy that he was looking at. And he thought, just this once, it'll be okay. A moment of weakness. Crisis of faith. Right. So I don't know if we're going to be able to

rest or if we're going to have some time or whatever it is, but I almost imagine him tearfully going to Della and almost desperately being like, don't let me do that again. Don't let me do that again. Asking her to like, I don't know why I did it. Because when he felt the blessing of the channel that I did at the end of last week, the feeling is so different. It's so much better in the long run.

Whereas you get this invigoration, this boost for a little while, and then you feel awful about yourself. So anyway, it's that kind of combination of splitting everything he thought he knew about. This is how you do war. You gather a huge army. You have leaders that tell you what to do you're not the leader you know and even though sheriff baron is his leader in this sense this small squadron special forces leader thing is not something he's used to so the idea of sneaking in here like grant said he points out to him how loud he is you know his natural way of moving.

So, yeah, I think that he is, he wants to go in because of Della and he wants to do what Della wants to do because he wants to protect her and make sure she's okay. But he's also nervous that they need to get a whole army. But they can't get a whole army because how are they going to know that they'll even be able to get out of here and warn people and like nestor said maybe if we get in a little bit we can get some more intel i don't know della would say you know straight ahead it's not the only way to move forward baron says sir will you're louder than two shadow rats screwing in a sock in the middle of summer how in the hell are we gonna do a clandestine operation when you sound like a beggar's cup full of coppers after mass you jingle jangle more than my spurs, Sir Will. How are we going to do this?

That was visceral. Good. I want to see two rats screwing a sock. What do you got to say to that, Sir Will? Well, Sir Will will turn to Baron and he'll be like, My desire to continue with all of you on this mission to protect protect you as best I can, does not rely solely on this armor. Does it, Lexington? He looks at Lexington.

Lexington looks confused. That was a very complex sentence for a wolf to understand. He says, I will, if needed, I will shed this armor you have granted me so that I could be quieter and so that we can be stealthier. I will lower the banner of Highbury if I must do this clandestine mission. But I don't like it. But I will do what I must. Armlo says,

perhaps I should shed this armor as well, so that the giant snail scale me all. In the event that we are seen, I don't want the entirety of the valley coming down on our heads. What about your hand? If only I could give up the hand. We can blindfold you, Amlo. Would you take my hand, trust a fellow dwarf?

Suppose you're the only one of the lot that I do trust. Apart from maybe him, he points at Will. But yeah, alright. Bella's standing behind him and is like, what? What? We both ate demon's blood, and I know that I asked for it on several occasions, but

it's still a bit shaky, morally, so. But, um. You're alive. I would never leave your side. You know this. Well, just make sure I don't trip over any of the corpses you leave in your wake. Man, so you're going to blindfold Amla. That was just as a guess. I have not said that's the best idea just yet.

It's on the table. I mean, he does get to roll a save. I have not said that's the best idea just yet. It's on the table. I mean, he does get to roll a save. Sure, sure. It's a DC 15, and I think he has a plus three to his will save. Touch of law can't help him. No. And Della can't countersong it, because it's a... There's no words.

There's no words to counter. No words. You should go kill that giant. There's no words to count. No words. You should go kill that giant. Oh, no. Shut up, hand. God damn it. All right. If only Gormley were here and had the slumber hex.

If only. So, can we get back to where we left off? I mean, we are... You're laying on top of this It's like late afternoon. Makeshift gate. You know, what did I say? It was 3.30 during that battle? I said 3.30?

So, yeah, 4 o'clock. You've been scanning. I mean, you can take time. You have all the time in the world, you feel like, unless the next round of giants come up knocking on the gate. Sure, but that should happen

in the next eight hours, shouldn't it? At least a shift. We have no idea. There's no reason to believe either way. There's no reason to believe either way. So, look, I think that we should backtrack a bit, find somewhere safe to camp out. Until it's dark. Until it's dark.

Spend our time. And then when we're ready, after it's dark, then we go and we start. We try a plan. Move under cover of darkness. Exactly, yeah. I agree with that plan. Della agrees as well. Oh, man.

God damn. We're going to have to leave Reginald. Oh, and Lexington. That's why timing is important um so baron wants to do a quick check before we leave and find cover uh he wants to look at the architecture of the temple and see if it looks like it was made by dwarves perhaps even slave dwarves as we saw earlier in the evening so he's hoping that in understanding that perhaps as we get closer with his knowledge of engineering, he can find like a sewer entrance or someplace where a dwarf would normally make. I'm kind of looking for like a Death Star weakness to get. Sure, sure, sure.

So should roll. There's a hologram. Yeah. Now, you know, mind you, this is very far away, but you can still get a sense of something. Oh, good. Nice. I was about to do touch of law, but you can still get a sense of something. Oh, good. Nice. I was about to do Touch of Law, but that was better. That is on engineering a 21.

There is no indication, even from this distance, five, six miles away from the front door of the cathedral, if there is one, that the dwarves had anything to do with the construction of this cathedral. Okay.

You know, I think there's something strange happening. There's some, I don't know if it's as simple as dwarves being enslaved by giants to do their work. There's some kind of bond that we haven't seen yet or we're not understanding. Yeah, because I still can't wrap my head around how the fire giants are dwarves. Descended from dwarves. If they adopted their culture

I really don't know. We have seen some intermingling of the genes already with the dwarves and the spider creatures. I wonder if there was some sort of strange breeding going on. Maybe. I think we should just try to... We have enough giant speakers.

I think we should... I do. Let's just take the night and rest. And hide these bodies, I guess? What do you want to do with the bodies? Roll them off very quietly onto the far side of the wall. Like the way you guys came in?

Yeah. So they can't see from there. They're sitting right against the barricade. Or if there's a tree this high near the gate. No, I know inside there's not, but around there's not. No, there's nothing. It would be some work to drag them.

You could easily push them off. You got the two bodies of the Smilodons too, but... They could have easily been killed by the lookouts. We can, you know, there, there are crushed boulders and javelins. We could stab the javelins into their bodies.

Yeah. So you're like in typical true now for fashion, you want to make it look like they were jumped. I, I, I am going to use, uh, um,

one of my Orisons, which I've predetermined, which can't change, I guess. Wish. Uh, I guess. Wish? Limited wish. Limited wish. It's limited.

It's limited. It's only level zero. So I'm going to, this just fits in with Baron, it's brand, and I'm going to etch an indelible rune into the creature itself. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to, from my memory, put in the Twisted Heart, Twisted Nail kind of logo in them. Oh, interesting.

Like someone who survived from Grenseldeck, is that her name? From Red Lake Fort. Red Lake Fort. Gristlecrack, Grenseldeck. Yeah, Grenseldeck. So someone from that. So it's kind of likecrack, Grunseldeck. Yeah, Grunseldeck. Someone from that. So it's kind of like, oh no, they're coming. He's been using Brand X.

Is there a way we can leave information or get information back to humanity of what we've discovered here? Can we send a raven? Send a raven? Send a raven. Dark wings, dark words. Yeah, I mean, you don't have that magic user in your party. Yeah. You know, you need an oracle, I think.

We could send... Or a cleric to scry. Send Reginald back. Yes. Post a note on Reggie. Carrier horse. Okay, so you stage a break-in at the O.K. Corral. And backtrack. back to the valley.

You come to the point where it turns north again, where you guys were coming south, and you get to an area where you feel safe, safe enough. You had walked a while before you came to these gates without being molested, so you find a safe little outcropping with the rock wall to your back where you feel like you can camp out for the night.

You say your prayers, you eat your vitamins, you heal your HP. Yeah, so it's around now, like before going down, that Sir Will would try to privately go to Della, like a little bit desperate, and tell her not to let him do that again.

Della just kind of shrugs and gets all emo about it and throws her hair in front of her face. She thought she was so close with him. She thought he had given her that big speech by any means necessary. And then he had asked for it. He didn't even hesitate, which I thought was interesting.

Della didn't or Will didn't? You didn't. He's like, he wants it? Good. Boom. He asked for it. You didn't even hesitate, which I thought was interesting. Della didn't or Will didn't? Yeah, you didn't. Oh, no. She was like, he wants it? Good. Boom. He's got it. Right.

But now, she's like, what's with his moods? He's so changeable. Typical former atheist. So, and Umlo removes his armor as well. And Umlo removes his armor as well. And while everyone's bedding down, anyone who looks sees that he's sitting on a stone in his dwarf underwear. Just kind of looking down at the steel hand

and just kind of slowly making a fist and opening it again, just flexing his hand. You hear this little metallic creak as he's doing it. I see him just looking down. What's he thinking? He's more machine than that. You could ask him.

Umlo, are you all right? Just to think about everything that I've lost. Where I started and where I am now. I've lost my sister. All my companions and now I feel like and he holds the hand I've lost a little bit

of my soul as well I just I'm not the same I haven't been the same since that tomb. I know how you feel. I haven't felt much like myself lately either. I thought things were rather clear when I first arrived in Trunel. But now I'm not so sure.

Sorry, we'll be talking about you now. I'm just trying to commiserate. Well, I wasn't done. Please, continue. Sorry, I've lost charisma as well. Obviously. I mean, it's... Do you know what it's like To lose a hand

I do not To lose a part of your body like that And to be left with something like this And it gives me power Power that I couldn't have dreamed of before And it's I left home

Trying to find a connection to where I came from to my clan and I found it it's right here but it's taken so much from me and he like looks at it he shakes his head

and he's like to top it all off this is the hand I used to pleasure myself with smashes the rock next to him. Baron overhears this exchange and he kind of says over his shoulder as he's sharpening his gun, it's almost to just the perfect point, and he says,

don't feel like you've been yourself lately huh well if we don't do something about this there won't be any being at all when he turns to Will and he says like he grabs his wrist by the steel hand and he says you keep an eye on me don't let me put the group at risk I can't control myself sometimes with this thing his wrist by the steel hand. He says, you keep an eye on me. Don't let me put the group at risk.

I can't control myself sometimes with this thing. Fear not. I will not leave your side or let you put yourself in unnecessary danger. If you have to put me down, put me down. By any means necessary. By any means necessary. It's become like a slogan for the group.

Wow. When you think about everything that every character from way back in the beginning, the tug of war has gone through, there's an argument to be made that no one's lost more than a mom. And now he's losing himself

in it too. Well, I mean, workork, but fuck him. Hey, easy. Left us. It's not funny. That was Delos. That was Delos, by the way. Fucker.

So, Baron. One other thing. And Baron doesn't share this, but Baron inside, he's gone a different route than the cleric or the cavalier paladin route. But he's still in kind of a holier cleric-y area with Inquisitor. And as an Inquisitor who have necessary lives, lies, and can change their alignment and disguise themselves and kind of do anything necessary, kind of do anything necessary his eyebrow goes up and he's totally confused that lork or sir will just said that he would euthanize umlo if he went too far but won't take the demon's blood like for him it doesn't make sense at all well i mean that's not exactly what i was saying but you said you'd put him down i did not say i will put you down. I just alluded that by any means necessary thing

has become this kind of catch-all of like, how far are you willing to go? We'll see. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. I mean, there's every reason to believe you're going to be tested in ways you've never been tested. So what will people be willing to do? It's not all going to be

hill giant fights and smile-a-dons that give you a little tough time and then you kill them. It has been. Maybe the fortune's been going too well in the party's direction. But nonetheless, you all sleep surprisingly well.

And you wake up to a typically gray Minderhall Valley day. Oh, we were going to leave at night. Yeah, yeah. It was afternoon, so we were going to... I was actually sleeping today. And then go. You wake up at like 2 o'clock in the morning.

Typically dark night. Just like Minderhall. Very, very dark night. Typical Galarian sunless night. This is fantasy world. And, uh... You make your way back. sunless night. It's a fantasy world. And you make your way back. Yeah, I mean, you know how there's that

time of night around, you know, when we were having the campfire where you can hear, I mean, it comes through sirenscape, you can hear the insects and the birds and all that stuff, but then there's a time of night when it's just like dead. It is now the very witching hour. You know, and that's when we start moving. Right, and you know, all that stuff. But then there's a time of night when it's just dead. It's now the very witching hour. And that's when we start moving. Right, and the mountain peaks around you are getting higher and higher and higher

as they lead toward the highest peak that you've seen so far. And so that's blocking out even the nature sound that made you feel a little bit at ease. You don't even hear that anymore. It's colloquially a little too quiet. You make it back, you see the bodies of the Edna and the Hill Giant, the Smilodons. They're already starting to rot. It stinks, but it doesn't appear that anybody's

seen it. So you're lucked out this time. You make your way up. Take your guys' time. Some of you... So we're re-outfitting here. Yeah, what is everybody wearing? Will did not put his Oscars armor back on.

He put the Highbury Lance, the armor, all of this stuff in the bag of holding. He is wearing plus one leather and has his longsword. Plus one leather and a regular non-magical longsword. Yes, and a regular non-magical wolf. Why not Roselight? Yeah, Roselight. Oh, okay. My longsword. Yes. And a regular non-magical wolf. Why not Roselight? Yeah, Roselight. Oh, okay. Yeah, my longsword, yeah.

Okay. Del has to put the horn in the bag, too. I realize I've been encumbered this whole time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's why my stealth was down. That's a big old horn. Seven pounds.

And Umlo has gone back to his regular armor. I can't remember what it was. Yeah. Actually, I don't know. I can't remember what it was. Yeah. Actually, I don't know. I don't know what it was. We had a set of plus one studded leather or something. That was Joe. We resized it for her.

Yeah, that was Joe. Baron, you're sticking with your leathers, right? Sticking with my leathers. I wish I had a hat. I wish someone would take craft hats, but no one has. I wish I had a hat. I wish someone would take craft hats, but no one has. But I have my plus one giant's bay and crossbow out.

It's to be stealthy-like. Elmo actually had a plus two breastplate, which is even better. Yeah, I just saw that. So his AC is a little better. Yeah, his AC is 20 now? Or is it? Oh, that's medium armor. Do I still have a condition on, possibly?

Anyways, it's a plus eight to his AC as opposed to a plus seven, so that's definitely better. And now he's got that plus two strength. Yep. So, you climb back up. Some, it's easier than others. You figure out a way to get Lexington up there. Was there ever a question of leaving Lexington behind with Reggie?

Because I'm assuming you left Reggie back. In the woods. Yeah, there was a question. Did you? Yeah, Will kind of talked it over with Lexington to kind of take his temperature on staying behind and guarding. If he was to take all the armor off. He stuck his finger in Lexington's butt. Not even a thermometer, just his finger.

Let me roll a quick touch attack. He licks his finger. 98.6 exactly. 98.6 exactly. No, he kind of felt out his mood, and Lexington wants in. He wants to go. Even San's armor. So he's in.

Wow. Two arcane pull points, by the way. Two arcane pull points. Guys, find your way back up to the top. And remind me what that's for? Knowledge pool. For what? For spells that he can prepare that he...

He doesn't normally have. So you already prepared them. You're just not telling us what they are. Exactly. I was trying to, well, I'll tell you, one of them is invisibility. The other, we'll see. It's a mystery. Is it plus ten to stealth for Sir Will?

How did you know? So, you guys are atop the thing and I'm just gonna make the decision for you. You all make your way into the yard. Oh, shit. We're really doing it?

We're doing it. What? It's been fun playing these characters. They had a really good run. They really did. No one's going to say they didn't. We're going to go out on a high note. It's going to say they didn't. We're going to go out on a high note. This will be great.

So, I'm going to divert. Nasty's going to defer to the dwarves as I assume Sir Will will because we can't see very far. Right. I'm okay to take the lead and stealth ahead if Nestor, I can look a little bit out further if you'd like to join me.

Yeah, I'll come with you. I think Della has earned the right as deputy to decide her own fate now. If you guys are going to stealth ahead, Della will stay with Sir Will. And Umlo. And Umlo. Umlo and I can see in the dark, but that way we have a little bit of... So we're not going to blindfold Umlo. I think he's just got to keep his eyes down.

Yeah, I think at night we don't need to blindfold him. If he's going to be stealthy, he's got to be able to see his feet at least. Right. Okay, let me just get my D100. Got it. Also, I want to keep Lexington in mind because Sir Will is going to look to Lexington a lot for his scent ability.

His giants are very, very pungent. So if there's giants within 60 feet that maybe will can't see uh lexington will react to that oh every 30 feet i'm going to touch the ground with the hand of stone and use tremor sense to feel any creatures between you and lex i mean lexington's got a little farther reach because of the 60 feet rabbit sense right yeah and the wind is at your back so so that's bad. No, I'm sorry. The wind is in our face. You're downwind? We're downwind. Wind is in your face

so you're getting that. So active sense. That stank. It stanky. It's actually incredibly stanky. It must smell horrible. Horrible. And Delos Scimitar is sheathed, by the way. No, it's not sheathed. It's just not on fire. Ah.

This is where it comes in. It's just not on fire. Ah. Yeah. This is where it comes in. Yep. Standard action to turn on fire. Command word. So, I mean, before you, the nearest camp you can see is up and to the left as the valley is beginning to widen out 300 or 400 yards. out three or four hundred yards and there's cook fires everywhere.

You see little blips of flames in the distance and these hulking shadows. Passing in front of the fires. You don't know if it's fighting. You definitely hear some fighting. It could be fucking. It could be gambling. There be, you know, gambling.

There's all sorts of guttural noises in the distance. The wall next to you has some crooks and crags. If you hug the wall, I mean, you're going to be pretty good for a while. What do you guys do? I think we should do that. Nestor, let's mosey out down this wall. Yes, sounds good, mate. Oh, my God.

I'm so scared. You guys walk. We creep. You creep up to that first camp, and it's actually empty right now, or seemingly empty. You don't see any people inside, but there is a cook fire outside of it. The nearest camp from that is another 100 yards to the right, another 100 yards forward, another 100 yards to the left. They're all pretty well spaced, but you have some cover if you wanted to run up to it and like... Peek around the corner.

Peek around and see what's going on. What do you guys do? Would we judge that that would be if we would be safer to cover behind the tent than it would be to kind of hug the wall and keep moving? As long as there's no one behind you right now, which right now there isn't, unless someone

else just came through the gates, that's you're safe right now. Anything after this, it's fair game. Troy can't help but just smile when he says this. He's a real smile-a-don. Smile-a-don.

Do we want to check out one of these tents? I'm more inclined to just keep moving. I mean, yeah, I'm tempted as always to take a duck seat,... I mean, I'm more inclined to just keep moving. I mean, yeah, I'm tempted, as always, to take a duck seat, but, I mean... I don't know. What's... Nestor, what do you feel? What do you...

Given the choice, death or treasure? Oh, God, don't make me choose. Wait, wait, wait. Death and treasure or life and no treasure? Well, death and treasure is, like, two of my favourite things, so... I should be... I should be making that clear. Your death and treasure. Well, death and treasure is like two of my favorite things. So I should be clear. Your death and treasure. Oh, you didn't specify. I still don't know.

But let's, I'd like to take a quick peek. Let's take a peek. Let's take a peek. And then I touch. Do you want to touch a lot? I can do us both touch a lot. So we get really good stealth checks. Or do you want to roll? Yeah? I can do us both touch a law so we get really good stealth checks. Or do you want to roll?

Yeah, touch a law would be good. Baron touches both of us. Baron and Nestor with touch of law. And he said, yo, Torag, a favor. And then if we have to do a stealth check, I automatically get a 25. Okay. And Nestor, roll yours. Well, I got a 27.

Nestor and Baron creep up to the tent while the rest of you stay behind at the wall. It's quiet. Silence. You would know if there's a giant in there. The smell is unbearable. And you see to your right just piles of excrement oh god as big as you know comes up to baron's waist uh this is silly but a

quick survival check is a giant shit yes i'll save you the world i don't know uh yeah i mean i stick my hand in 98.6 degrees degrees, exactly. A bit nutty. Oh, fuck. That scared the shit out of me. The entrance flap is on the other side, which looks out on the whole camp. But you are behind it safely, and

Will and Della and Lexington and Umlo are back at the wall looking at you guys, just like backs against this camp. And you see the campfire is lighting the thing up, so it kind of casts a puppet show. If you were

inside the camp, you could like that Brady Bunch episode when they were camping. Are we able to see anything else from this position? No, you are at the easternmost portion of the first settlement, for lack of a better word.

So until you come around to the other side, that's when you're really going to see the camp unfold proper. You can roll over your stealth checks because there's no one in that vicinity. And you come around and just dart right into the tent because you know it's unoccupied. And it stinks.

There's a couple of flaps and furs. No, nothing else of note. It's pretty ramshackle. But you see out before you just the same scene over and over again of camps. You see a group of like four or five Edmonds together. You see a bunch of ogres. You see stone giants.

You haven't seen stone giants really other than the glances you get when you took your first peek. You see these giants that look like Vikings and that something Nestor would recognize. Frost giants. You know, they're all hanging out together. Oh, shit. They're not sitting by the fire. That's how you first notice them.

And, you know, they're all pretty far away and there's like, you know, there's still that throng of people with their weapons in hand going to the north

and there's still other people Okay, can I ask you more about this? Sure. Now that we're in here, are they in formation of any kind? Are they random? The formation that there is is the column leading straight up to the main gate.

It's a single file? Are they in a single file type line? It snakes its way through to the valley, like around the camps. It's like Coachella. But is it one person standing, one giant standing right behind the other? For the most part. I mean, sometimes it's two by two,

but it's... And where are the tributes? Like, what's happening? Where are the fighting pits? Yeah. What is happening? What is happening? So many questions.

We should have come during the day. Yeah, what the fuck? Can't see anything. Yeah, I mean, Nestor, you're having a real tough time. You can see, obviously, what's going on right in front of the shadows. Bear, and your dark vision goes a little bit farther, but you can't see a time.

You just see that snaking column of people leading up to the cathedral, which is still five miles away at this point. And then people with weapons going to the north, and people with provisions and timber going to the south. And then just various groups of segregated giants sitting at their camps. And you just happen to find an empty one. But for how long?

So we'll Della and Amlo still back at the wall. Which way is civilization from here? The closest thing they could attack? Which direction? which cardinal direction which ways uh like if they wanted to attack a settlement in belks and and go out towards true now and all that area oh they would have to go um well north is true now yeah northeast northeast there's just some weapons people moving north um uh yeah this is basically like a a in Resident Evil or something. So Baron waves everyone else to come up to us now,

since we are just confident no one else is around. Take out the flap. You guys. We're all in this. Lexington pads up. The smell is overwhelming. Roll a perception check, everybody. Della's going to cover her mouth.

Would Lexington rolling scent be relevant or just perception for us? Just perception. Lexington is very uncomfortable from the smell. 20 for Sir Will. 13. Del doesn't see shit. 12. 17.

Sir Willamette with a natty 18. Ooh. Gets the 20. Yeah, nothing... Damn Yeah, nothing really important. You're trying to discern something of this. Now you're in there trying to figure out what's going on. How does this all work? And you're looking and you just still doesn't quite make sense.

I mean, you're very far away. It would make sense that you still can't quite piece it all together. But where do you go from here? What are the, do we have any indication of who was at this camp? Like what kind of giants? No. Okay. Are we just kind of making our way generally towards the cathedral?

That's what I thought. Are there any more significant structures besides the cathedral, or is everything else temporary? Is it only tents? The only other structure that you can see from where you are, you're about another mile before the valley starts to turn to the north and the south. You know what I mean? You've still got rock wall.

So it's really far away. You've got rock wall on either side of you, so you've still got to go another mile before it starts to turn to those roads where the two different kinds of giants are going. Not different kinds, but you know what I mean. Those guys are going that way, those guys are going that way. You've got another mile or so before the rock wall opens up. What was your exact question?

Are there any structures of significance that are more than just tents? Oh, the only structure of significance that you can't really see in the dark, but you can see enough of the campfires that are closer to it is this circumference of a wall around. A stone wall? No, just a palisade that is like circular, but you can't see where it goes because it goes past where the north and south passages are, but it's big. And the snaking column leads up to the center of it. Well, let's just, I think we should,

without any batch of ideas, just keep making our way towards that cathedral. If we see something else along the way that's interesting, we can pursue it, but at the point, at the moment, I think that's our best course of action. Yeah, maybe with the idea of like, yeah. We can go that way for now, but I'm kind of curious as to what the people taking building supplies,

where they're going. Let's get a little further before we make any decisiones. They're building a headquarters and then eventually someone's going to start pumping out units and then the orcs will fight the pirates and Warcraft. It's like Warcraft 2. It's exactly like Warcraft. Gathering lumber and iron.

Work, work, work. Work, work, work. So so yeah i think we can continue stealthing along and baron in particular every 30 feet tremor sensing on the ground and looking for tiny cracks and crevices and many side side passages we could go yeah go ahead and roll a uh you know a perception check Baron, just looking at the rock wall. There you go. 29. 29. So you guys are closer to the wall in the south right now.

That's where that camp was. I mean, it's a ways away. I am having trouble. Do you have a representation of this of any kind? I'm having trouble picturing it in my head. So here's the valley, and it just starts to open up here. It opens up, and there are roads on either side of it? Yeah, as it opens up, there's a road that goes to the north,

a road that goes to the south, and then to the east is where the cathedral and the palisade is. So it kind of opens up like a... Like a beautiful flower. Like a beautiful flower, yeah. Think of it that way. It's blooming from the gate where you kill the... Like a giant flower. Like a beautiful flower, yeah. Yeah, think of it that way. It's blooming from the gate where you kill the... Like a giant uterus.

Etna and the hill giants. It goes from mine, and then it starts to open up. It really is a uterus. It is. But Baron, just looking to the rock wall that's closest to you, which is the one to the south, you see cracks and crevices. Maybe you could sneak in, but nothing of note.

Not like secret passages or anything like that. It's just... 31 for stonecutting, FYI. I mean, it just makes sense. It's a perfect place to build this thing. It seems completely secluded and hidden. It's the perfect place to seclude a huge army, because anyone that comes in is going to get choked out. They'll never see it coming.

I'm now understanding why why when we were preparing to storm Red Lake Fort, you continually said fork, because there are a million forks. I know you read ahead in the campaign. You're a good GM. You're getting ready. Foreshadowing. It was fork shadowing. Perfect. Alright, so you guys want to go Keep moving along the wall, I think.

So go back to the wall and keep moving towards the south. Yeah, I agree with that. Alright, so you keep moving towards the south. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. All right, so you keep moving towards the south, and there are other camps to the side of you, and now those camps are starting to be populated. You see a group of hill giants at the first camp to your right. It's a little farther inland than the campsite that you went to, so if you wanted to run up to it, not that you would,

there's six or seven hill giants there, it'd be a little farther of a run than the one that you guys just ran to. Beyond that, you can see other groups of giants that are even farther away. You now see there is some movement between the camps.

There is a cart being pushed around. And as you come up to this camp, roll a perception check. Natural 20 for Sir Willamette. Which is a 22. Sir Will.

24. 14. 23. Sir Will is like. 14. You know. 23. 23. Sir Will is like, it looks so pretty, that natural planet. I see something, but you know, your eyes aren't that good in the dark,

so you can't quite piece it all together. Luckily, Baron's like, oh yeah, I see it too. It's this like cart being pulled by four ogres with another ogre kind of like leading the charge and they're shoveling stuff into the cart from these hill giants. Poop? And can't tell from where you're standing.

Della certainly can't tell, and Baron even with the 24, 23, whatever it was, you're not sure, but they're shoveling stuff into the cart and just moving on, moving freely about, whereas everybody else kind of keeps to themselves. That's what you see. And they're ogres. You guys have fought enough ogres at this point. They very well could be moving shit.

Sanitation crew. Yeah, just to avoid dysentery and such. Yeah. For a big army. We've seen a lot of it so far. Yeah, cholera's a bitch. Yeah, cholera's a bitch. Can we time things along in concert with this cart

to conceal ourselves to a greater degree? It's certainly not impossible, but you have to formulate a plan. They're now coming, they're going now towards the north. You guys are on the south wall, they're turning around and going to another camp that's like 100 yards north of those hill giants.

God, this is so hard to picture. Yeah. So there's... Just imagine that if you're in immediate danger, I'll let you know. Well, so is there... The people that were shoveling into the this whatever was into the cart they're still there as the cart moves along no they're pulling the cart and there's

like someone giving orders to the cart there's like a boss and four workers so as the cart moves along there's no one left at the spot where the stuff is being shoveled just the hill giants that were looking at that okay how how big is the? Could we all fit in it and hide underneath whatever's going on in there? You'd think it's entirely possible. How you would get over there, you're not sure. But is it big enough to fit all of you? Yeah. I want to hide in that cart.

You just love to rub yourself in shit. You are so into rubbing giant shit all over yourself. Corphelia? Corphelia? I mean, I 100% take Nestor and Baron's lead here. Because I can't see much. I'm not a stealthy guy. I'm just taking their lead. I'll do whatever they say.

I mean, it would be hard to get all five of us onto that cart, especially with Umlo. Right. And if we're not sending one person. Where's the cart going? Yeah. Better to stay together. You know, you can tell it came from, you know, the direction of where the cathedral was,

and now it's looping around and going north. And there's some camps up there that start to skirt the road that goes north. Yeah, but that's the thing. You could zip from camp to camp and get over there. Getting in the car might be another... Yeah, that's so hard. And every time it stops, I mean, what's the stop? We just have more poo on top of it, and that makes Baron happy.

I mean, we could be spotted, like, every time it stops. No, we don't go in. That's fine. It was just an idea. Keep going forward. Keep going forward. Yeah, keep going forward. Okay. Car takes off towards the north. You guys keep going forward, Keep going forward. Yeah. Keep my line going. Okay. Car takes off towards the north.

You guys keep going forward, and eventually the valley opens to your left, and you see giants ahead of you. They can't see you, or they're not looking. You know, you're... Any, like, smart giant would be able to look and see, you know, five guys. There aren't many of those.

There's a girl just, like, hiding in the darkness, but it's darkness that you're not near any light. any like smart giant would be able to look and see you know five guys there aren't many of those just like hiding in the darkness but it's darkness that you're not near any light you're just standing in the shadows as these giants

are just carrying bags carrying wood and everything down to the south do we overhear anything conversations um no

but roll a perception check 15 20 21 6 oh man But roll a perception check. 15. 20. 21. Six. No, it seems a lot quieter of a situation to the south and a lot louder to the north. Is it the sounds of fighting to the north? Is it like the guys that are going north with weapons are going to the fighting pits?

Sir Will doesn't know. I mean, Nestor, it does sound a little raucous-y. It's the fighting pits. And you know, now that you're looking, now that you've reached a point where you can see to the south, now you can see to the north as well, and you just see giant lights

in the distance, like half a dozen or so, that are not campfires, like enormous circles of light up in the distance to like half a dozen or so that are not campfires, like enormous circles of light up in the distance to the north. Our bodies everywhere, you know, casting shadows on the walls. Something's going on up there. Yeah. I think we have to go south quickly

before they come back to their camps, which we just walked past, so I think we should go south. Let's go. Take the turn. Okay, screw it. Just, like, take the turn and start going south. Stoutly. Stoutly. Stoutly. take the turn just like take the turn and start going south stealthily stealthily carefully just going along

it's getting late it's getting early early bird catches the worm you can see in the distance the valley ends and curves back around towards the cathedral and

in this end of the valley there are numerous haphazardly pitched massive high tents all across the valley floor and along the canyon walls and as you would assume and as you've already seen,

these giants generate a ton of waste. So the smell is overwhelming as you turn down this side. There's less ventilation. There are pits in the back of the canyon. Giant fire pits just blazing. And you know just from the smell that they're incinerating

their own waste in these pits. Della feels something run over her feet. And then Baron feels something run over his feet as well. You guys look down and there's like a ton of rats all around you. They're running away from the fire.

They're running towards another pit in the back that isn't on fire. The whole area is infested with rats. You've got to kick them away, but you don't want to make too much of a motion and cause a scene. You don't want to scream, Ah, rats! Have a giant see you thank god it's not spiders or else sir will would be screaming

oh my god it's so infested with rats you can see up in the distance in a campfire like giants like wagering over rat fights as rats fight over trash they're big-ass rats. These New York subway rats

just fighting. Pizza rat? It's pizza rat. The ones of you with the best eyesight can see them like, cheering on rats. This is the situation.

God, they must be bored. There's a variety of giants, as you've seen so far, tromping about the encampments. Though the majority of these, you see, are hill giants, as you've seen so far, tromping about the encampments. Though the majority of these you see are hill giants, ettins, and more cave giants, like you found recently. And ogres, right? No, you don't see a lot of ogres here.

The only ogres you've seen are the spatterings of some and the ones leading that cart. I think there's like a case system going on here, like in India. I think the ogres are relegated to, like, muckraking as ragwit. Funny you should mention that, because for the first time, you see, among these encampments,

evidence of spouses and children. Wow. Giant children. Hill giant children. Oh, wow. Etten children. Giant children Hill giant children Oh wow Etten children Cave Mongrel cave giant

Children Bigger than all of you Together and at different camps They're at their different camps So whoever these groups are They have their wives And their children with them Non-combatants, possibly.

Intelligence officers. The only other thing you notice as the valley starts to turn around back towards the perimeter wall that surrounds the plateau that

the cathedral is on. By the way, that just wraps around this perimeter wall. It's a complete circle all around. It's a large cave opening in the western wall of the end of the valley. Is that where they were carrying the stuff? Were they carrying bags and weapons? No, you don't see... Once in a while you might see a giant go near there.

But for the most part... Is there a way to get to that opening without being seen? Or is it across all of them? It's across all of them. I mean, you can keep skirting along the wall. What if we ran? Ran straight through. Really big rats. I mean, at this point it's not impossible, but...

Let's light Umlo on fire and just have him. Distraction. The direction of the cave is leading away from the cathedral, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. So we could have come in that cave from another direction, I'm sure. Yeah, maybe. Oh, my God. Troy, that shrug was so unconvincing.

I can't believe you're an actor. I don't know. Maybe? I guess. I mean, I think we have to're an actor. I don't know. Maybe? I guess... I mean, I think we have to start killing kids. Oh, I'm sorry. And not even giant kids. Just real...

The Highbury! The Highbury! Die, Barry! You see Will standing there with the head of a giant baby and it's like, it's necessary. Barry me necessary Baron just says curious or incurious

I can't get a finger on this sir Will I think I mean unless we want to go check out the cave which seems risky I think we gotta keep moving towards the cathedral unless there's some sort of dungeoneering trick to let us know that the cave goes right into the bottom of the cathedral but probably not so let's go to the cave I mean all you can see is from where it is it is in

the western wall so it's like in the direction of the cathedral because the cathedral is but you'd have to go past the cathedral yeah i mean it just doesn't it looks like it's going another direction but you don't know it's a cave for shit's sake man what can you do here there's nothing to do let's follow that wall you can't talk to anybody. Yeah. Pardon me, sir. Yeah, you can't charm anybody. Could you lead us to the... Actually, you know what? If we had like a level eight bard right here.

Yeah, if we had a bard or just a wizard or any... Yeah, we could do a charm... Where's Third Street? Take it easy. We're newlyweds on our way to the cathedral. Pardon me, sir. Do you know the way to San Pei? What's your first name?

I don't know. Baron approaches the first adolescent giant he sees and says, Hey, man, know where I can score some drugs? He immediately murders you. He eats Baron. Della can put on the armor of Oskaroth and enlarge herself and then do disguise herself and try to convince them she's a giant. Five rounds, yeah.

There we go. For 30 seconds. For 30 seconds. Better get all that info and get out of there, Cinderella. I'm heading to the cave. I mean, I guess... Follow the wall. You know, there...

The one thing you can do is you could keep going around and get to the palisade wall or you could make a run for it if you time it to get to the palisade wall because you're, you know, the valley opened up like a flower, and then the wall is here.

I'm all for making a run for it. Could make a run for it. Yeah, let's make a run for it. You time it. You think there's no fires there. The camps are all at the end of the valley. Do we also get the sense, and I know it's dark, but we watched a little bit during the day.

Do we get the sense that there aren't many giants right now beyond the palisade wall? Well, we couldn't see, I guess. Yeah. We couldn't see i guess but the yeah we couldn't see but we got the sense that there were giants that wanted in and couldn't get in you definitely got that yeah so i think that or that there's a line there's a more elite group inside maybe you know but you haven't seen you have to earn it you haven't seen the actual what's going on at the actual gate if there is one singular gate but you see a snaking line that leads to there. Let's make a run for it.

Let's make a run for it. Yeah, let's make a run for it. When you guys got to the point of the valley where it's spread out to the road to the north and the south, that gate is still another four miles away. So you just see the snaking calling lead to there. But you make a run for it, and, you know, it's a long run.

Are you guys running? God damn it. Like, it's going to be like a three-mile run. So it's going to be like jogging in the dark. With a three-mile run? Yeah. When I say made a run for it, it's not like 40 feet. But there's no light.

We're all in light encumbrance. There's no light. We're all athletes here. Three miles is nothing. Yeah, it's still, however, it's going to take like at least 20 minutes. So? As opposed to walking around the wall and doing it. But he said specifically we had a window.

All right. If you time it perfectly, you could do a ride. I'm always worried about your cardio. Lexington has no problem jogging three miles. Yeah, I know. It's easy for Sir Will to say. He's just like. Lexington has no problem jogging three miles. Yeah, I know. It's easy for Sir Will to say, just like,

Lexington, do it! Yeah. I'm worried about the dwarves. They run as fast as us. And I'm less blindfolded. Yeah, and I'm less... Well, you could always cast... Hold my hand.

You could always cast haste on all of us and we could run across very quickly. That's true. Very quickly. I'm really worried about if we get into a situation... Oh, I bet you are. No, no, no, no. This is the situation to use quickly. I'm really worried about if we get into a situation.

I bet you are. This is the situation to use it. It only lasts like... It wouldn't help that much. Because it only lasts seven rounds. Less than a minute. Nice boost. I'd rather play it safe.

The red shoes and Sonic the Hedgehog. Alright, let's just go. Let's just go. A light jog. Yeah. play it safe. The red shoes and Sonic the Hedgehog. Alright, let's just go. Let's just go. Let's just go. A light jog. Yeah. You know, trying to keep your... Good thing you changed your armor. Nestor, roll a stealth check.

You're leading the stealth charge. Touch of what? 32. 32. So I just see Nestor like literally be like stop doing that. Stop doing that. Run like this. High knees. Lexington? High knees. Lexington. Cut the shit.

You know. Three mile run is no joke. Three and a half mile run, you know. But you make it there. Nice! Yeah. To do it silently. There's not as much traffic, foot traffic, coming to the south. You notice that.

There's a lot of busy stuff going up north. Most of the traffic coming to the south was during the day. These families, they're home for the night, whatever's happening there. So what stands before you is a palisade wall 50 feet high. Oh, come on. Oh, shit. 50 feet high. And, I mean, you can't see where it starts and where it begins.

Oh, my God. Where it starts or where it begins? Or where it begins. Anyone else catch that? All right. You heard me. I know what I said. I know what I said. I know what I said.

Tremor sense. Boom. Right as we get to the wall. There are hundreds and hundreds of giants around. I mean, you know, just... It's 30 feet. You don't feel anything around you. So we should be able to climb the palisade wall if we get into it, right?

It's not impossible, but it's a tough climb. It is for Lexington. It's a sheer... Yeah, it's impossible for Lexington. I mean, it's a tough climb. It is for Lexington. It's impossible for Lexington. It's just leaving behind. Grappling hook? We've got grappling hooks and ropes. It is certainly not impossible, but failure could be bad. Can we do a perception?

Oh, man. Can we do a perception for, I man. Can we do a perception for... I don't know. How new is the wall? Is it relatively newly built? Fresh wood? Yes. Yes, and that would make sense

why the whole valley... So it's probably sealed pretty well. There's probably no gaps. We could dig? We could dig. Dig? Dwarves are good at tunnels you saw all those tunnels

did you bring a spade I brought a David is that in your gear I brought a show me your character sheet I brought a David spade he actually has a spade oh my god he has a spade

it's 2.5 pounds I could dig with a grappling hook you guys are still nine hours later this is the closest you've been to the cathedral now too and you just see this grappling hook. Nine hours later? This is the closest you've been to the cathedral now, too, and you just see this hulking

edifice just beyond this palisade here. And there are three towers that make it up. It's beautiful, not that you have time to take in the scene. It's certainly dark. But you can just see this hulking, huge building

that goes up into the clouds. I mean, Della could fly up and drop a rope. Yeah, I mean, I'm wondering if I can just like... God. Lexington is still a problem. I mean, who would have thought we'd get this far? I'm wondering if I can just let Lexington go. I mean, he's not armored. He has no markings on him. He could just appear to be a wild wolf. We're going to eat him.

Did you ever see Old Yeller where they took the dog out back and shot him in the head? I could do that for you. You're not helping. I'm trying to find a way to get us over this wall. When I say that we only have a very short amount of time to make this decision... Throw them in the bag of holding. Roll a perception check. Oh, dear.

See? You see, Skid? See what you did? I see. 14. 25. 27. 15.

What was the 27? Nice start. As you're standing there talking, worried... 15. Who was it, 27? Nae Star. As you're standing there talking, worried, This is what he always says. It's pacing. It's a wolf. Trying to figure out what the hell to do. Skid nailed it.

Oh shit, indeed. You smell a very strong waft of shit, but it's not coming from the direction where the camps were. It's coming just up the way along the wall. I think I may have smelt an alternative way in. Come with me.

Sewage pipe. And I move along towards the smell. A trough. Nestor falls asleep. I just imagine you guys in the darkness here, you know, because the camps, now that you've come into this side of the valley, now you're coming back around. Now you're walking back towards all those camps that are in the middle,

but you're still far enough along the wall here that you're away from any light besides the light of the moon. Following the stench, it's getting stronger and stronger. And as you scout along the palisade's circumference, you see a channel dug under the palisade, which is leaking brownish

sludge. We're gonna Shawshank this shit right now! Into a very small mountain stream. There are streams about about not as much as you saw as you were walking through the valley, but this sludge is just literally going into this little runoff of a stream.

It's much too small for a giant to fit through, so it's probably why they're not paying too much attention to it. But it's not too small for a medium-sized humanoid to fit through. Only we're sneaking into the prison. Well, I say we have a chance here to take the brown road, as me old dad used to say.

Your dad's a pervert. He was. Did you know him? No, but I've heard about him. You sound as if you know him. You talk about him a lot, so I feel like I do. I feel like I know him. I'm not proud. I'm not fancy, like many of you. I'm not pointing fingers. I'm not proud. I'm not fancy like many of you.

I'm not pointing fingers. I'm more than willing to crawl along this sluice and see what's on the other side of this wall. Sluice. Yeah, I think that's, I mean. Is this feasible for Lexington? Yeah, I mean, it's more gross than anything, but it's feasible. You're going to have to squeeze through. We can fit. And you're squeezing. He's going to be dog paddling through this duty

Will apologizes profusely Says you know I would never ask you to do this If it wasn't absolutely necessary Lexington You might have to handle Animal on this Push him? Yeah He doesn't want to go in You're tasking him to go in

And he doesn't want to do it I think that I can push him uh exactly with a touch of law I was about to offer it but since you tried to drive my character no touch of law it's a DC 25 so I need exactly

an 11 plus 14 there you go well I've already used two of them. I only have four left, so I say keep... Can we tie them out front like we're at a store? Can we do that? Lexington will not be

tied, Sheriff. Well, there are those in bondage currently inside that we need to rescue, so I will help you, Sir Will. Thank you, Sheriff. Lexington, say thank you. Lexington, just do it.

Yomadai. He's like, thank you for going through this shit? Fuck off. May this write another chapter in the friendship of Yomadai and Torek. Nice. Alright, so an exactly 25 to push him to go in. Lexington, Sir Will, Della, Baron, Nestor, and Umlo. Crawl through a mile of shit.

Come out full of shit on the other side. I mean, it is disgusting. You are literally crawling through a giant cesspit. Actually a mile? No, it's not a mile. You go 20, 30, 40, 50 feet or so and then you come out on the other side

and you are within the wall. This is crazy! This is insane. We smell amazing. I mean, it's bad news. But standing before you is a great stone cathedral sitting atop a wide plateau, as I've mentioned, carved right into the side of the largest peak that you've seen overlooking the valley.

the largest peak that you've seen overlooking the valley. Now that you're within these walls from the grounds below, you can see a flight of huge stairs just staggering its way up the mountain slope. The rise of each step is actually carved directly into the mountain face, and there are tall poles decorated with, it must be skulls, beast skulls, bones, severed limbs and similarly

macabre decorations driven into the stone at each corner where the stairs turn their way up the mountain face. At the top of the plateau, the first time since you've entered this section of the valley, in an immense palisade of trees and slab concrete surrounds the temple. What? They can make concrete?

Beyond the battlements rise the cathedral's cold, gray walls, especially cold under the cover of night. Carved from the ancient stone of the mountain itself, above this monumental structure, as you saw as you were coming up, are these three colossal towers climbing hundreds of feet into the air. The central spire is the tallest, and it's flanked by two smaller towers on either side. Can you guys picture that?

One, two. But you still can't see the tops of them, especially at night. You do see maybe Baron Della can see like a shape carved into the central spire, a symbol of some sort. Can't quite make it out. Although heavily weathered,

the cathedral appears to have mostly withstood the passage of time, though some walls, you can tell, bear evidence of crude repair work, where holes have been filled with concrete or sloppily braced with boulders and tree trunks. They're doing the best they can. with boulders and tree trunks. They're doing the best they can. You can see, off in the distance,

to the right, a gate where every so often four stone giants are guarding and once in a while letting people in to the cathedral. Once every...

I'm assuming you guys are taking this all in. You're safe. You don't feel threatened. You see that way off in the distance. Four stone giants. Maybe 20 minutes or so. Bring people up to the cathedral. Front doors.

Has anyone ever come out? No one has come out yet. You can check in. Do the stone giants bear any markings? Are they wearing any garb? Any sigils? So far away, I can't tell. But they seem to be in charge of who gets in and who gets out. Other than that, big building. Three spires, gate with the stone giants. On the section where you entered, you see two tents, not terribly far away from you. There's one to your left that's a little bit closer, maybe 150 feet

away. And then there's one a little bit deeper, maybe 200, 250 feet away, that's like to the right. And they are within 20 feet of the wall of the main cathedral. That

is what you see. How far away are they again? 250? 150, 200 on one side, 250, 300 on the other. I say we approach and Tremor scents it. A new scent from Lex. Shit, man, we are still so far from this cathedral.

Yeah. Okay. Red team go, red team go. What do you do? I mean Yeah I think we should Make our way towards The closest tent

Closest tent Highbury charge I didn't I didn't get dressed In my Sunday's finest To just Stop right here Yeah speaking of which

What day of the week is it? I don't know Ah Do it Nailed him Nailed him I Nailed him. I got to bring up the calendar. I got a lot going on right now.

I didn't think you were going to run across the wide open field. He opened his mouth as if to say it's a lie, and then he came clean. You're growing as a human, Troy. Moon day. It is teal day. All right. What?

Here we go. Stealth checks all around. It is teal day. All right. What? Yeah, let's first hit. Here we go. Stealth checks all around. I think we should still do two and two. Two and three. Yeah. Always forgetting. Okay, here we go.

But yeah, hopefully we can rely on Tremor Sense and Scent. Troy, you're being the benevolent GM and letting us take our higher stealth numbers. Are you doing what you did before? You just set Baron and Nestor up? Yeah. Oh, so we'll stay back by the palisade 100 feet away? Yeah, I mean, you can get a safe distance. So when they give you the word, you can come up.

All right, both of you roll your stealth. All right. 27. Ooh, 31. Both get up there, bearing your tremors since you sense life. You sense very small movement within the tent.

But nothing, as far as you can tell, knows you're there. Maybe. I think these may be the men from shimmerman's fort and i i as soon as i feel that and i don't sense anything huge i move towards the tent and i look for shadows and i try to see if i can see through in a stealthy way royal stealth trip i'm right behind him. Touch of law, 25. It was going to be like 32 for the master.

Oh, 35. 34. Don't even give the hand signal to the other group. I got to see what's inside this. You go around and you peek inside and you see a huge

horseshoe-shaped table laid with curious metal tools. Oh, fuck. Pincers, prongs. Experimentation. And other strange items sit all around the center of this tent.

The other thing you notice, Baron, when you're up front, there are glass bottles and jars filled with milky fluid, and they each contain a bloated and waterlogged eyeball. What the fuck? It's Mangala from... And it takes you like a second, because they're all looking right at you. Like a painting whose eyes follow you across the room. Holy shit. And they all just sit there, balancing haphazardly along wooden shelves.

A sizable collection of all kinds of birds, including crows, hawks, and owls, hang lifelessly from inside of the tent's roof strung upside down from their feet. But most curious of all is a creature standing with her back to you. Goblin?

Working at the bench. And for this moment she doesn't know you're there. You know what she looks like? Yes, please. Find out next week. No! Oh, shoot!

I can't believe you didn't see that coming! You ran out of time! Fuck. Keep stopping! Stop it.