The Choice

This transcript is machine-generated and may contain errors in names, terminology, or attribution.

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This summer, during the biggest sporting event of the year, Peacock turns to two broadcasting legends for the Olympics coverage you can't find anywhere else. Um, I think they mean us. Oh, s***. Um... [clears throat] With an incredible duo sure to take home the comedy gold. Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. New episodes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only on Peacock. Episode 137 of the DNR podcast is brought to you today by Noble Knight Games. They have over 50,000 products for you to go peruse. They sell everything from dice to minis to whole role-playing games, old core books, everything you could hope for.

If you've purchased anything from them in the past several months since we've started advertising, please send them an email, let them know. And if you chose not to order something from them, let them know why. That kind of feedback is very helpful for them and we very much appreciate you checking them out. That's nobleknight.com. Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason, I'm the dungeon master. Going around the table, starting with Valerie. Hey, I'm Valerie and I play Sora Greywing, the halfling ranger. And Kira.

Hi, I'm Kira. I play Ingrid Pike, the gnome sorcerer. And Lisa. Hey, I'm Lisa and I play Elorath Beestinger, the halfling barbarian. And that would be it. As of now, guys. *Sigh* So, I don't need to tell you that last session was a little rough. *Sigh* You guys came under attack by the werewolves finally, and there really wasn't anywhere left to go but to stand your ground and take them on. Sadly, Josephine was torn apart outside. Sora couldn't get her in in time. Sora did manage to get back into town hall before the actual attack, and then once the werewolves ascended to the front door and just sort of tore it to shreds, eventually they got in.

Cole and Kaylee fell shortly after that. At the very end of the last session, there seemed to be a bit of a bright spot because Brie, Poe, and some paladins had shown up at the front door. Now, here's what we're gonna do. We stopped in the middle of a fight last time, which is something we do not normally do. Because we stopped at the end of a round, because Kaylee doesn't count as a character anymore, what we're gonna do is we're gonna go ahead and roll initiative for the four characters that have just walked through the door. Now the thing is, they have to go through the hindering terrain that the werewolves did, but we're gonna see what they do initiative-wise.

So let's go ahead and do that now. Okay, so here's the good news. Brie rolled really well, and that's gonna place her at the top of the initiative just above the alpha. Yay! Yeah, that's good news. Everyone in the room has at least one werewolf on top of them. We've seen that in the last fight that they have sort of spread out and started to pick you guys off. So Brie would be coming through the door here and sort of climbing over the furniture that you used to barricade the door. Now, that would just slow her down a bit. She'd be coming through who would be nearest to her.

She's probably gonna move a little bit further into the room. And then level her hands at werewolf six and try to force blast it. That is almost a crit that is gonna hit. Thirty-nine damage to the wolf and it is going to fly against the wall next to Elorath here and go prone. So that'll wrap up her turn. With Ingrid down and Kaylee down, I would say that the alpha is going to turn around and move toward the sound of this blast and Brie. So the werewolf's going to square up with Brie and target her and use his claws. That is going to miss. Werewolf number four is going to turn away from Cole and move toward the door and square up with Poe.

That is a crit miss. That is going to miss Poe. Werewolf number six is going to pick itself up and it is going to charge toward Brie. Do I get to make... You sure do. Yes. Is that just a melee basic attack? Yep. That will hit the wolf. Are you kidding? Yeah. Suck a dick. That will bloody the wolf. Oh, sorry Brie. But because it had to pick itself up and then move, that's going to take up all of its move action. So it is actually going to pick itself up, go to charge, you're going to clunk it in the back and it's going to sort of stumble forward towards Brie. That'll bring up Poe.

Poe's going to try and swing his sword at the werewolf that just attacked him here. Oh my god, that's a crit miss. They're just slap fighting at each other right now. Yeah. So one of the paladins appears to be Elvin and he is going to move up toward Brie and take a swing at werewolf six with his axe. That will hit. And that'll be fifteen damage to the wolf. That'll bring up werewolf one. Okay, werewolf number one is going to try to attack Ingrid. That is going to hit Ingrid. That will outright kill Ingrid. Sori, your turn. Okay, I am going to... okay, this will be good.

I haven't done this in a while. So first things first, I'm going to put hunter's quarry on number two. I mean it's probably already on it, but anyway. Probably, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't. So, okay, I'm going to use evasive strike and I can shift a number of squares equal to plus one my wisdom modifier either before or after the attack. And I also have an ability called running attack. So if I use a standard action that lets me move and I end that movement at least two squares away from where I began I get a plus one bonus to attack rolls made as part of that standard action.

Nice. So, one, two, three here. Okay. Plus one and then use evasive strike. That is going to miss the wolf. Well, shit. Um, you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to use my action point. Okay, action point. Yeah. So I guess I'll use careful attack on him then. Okay. Please? That will hit. Almost a crit. Yeah, almost a crit. Okay, so we got regular damage and then hunter's quarry damage. Very nice. Anything else, ma'am? I believe that is it. Alright. Elorath, your turn. Okay. Um, so I feel like Elorath seeing that there are now two helpers would actually move forward three to get flanking with werewolf six and this elfish paladin looking dude.

Okay. And she's going to combat a bit of it. Yeah, she's going to try devastating strike. That is going to hit the wolf. Hurrah! Okay. Um. 19 damage to the wolf. That's almost a crit damage. No, that was stupid. I apologize. Um, and I think, I think that's it. Okay. The other paladin that is inside right now appears to be a female mole, actually. Uh, Karen, that would be you. You're up. Yay. Okay. I am going to target werewolf four, because he's right there. And then use dazzling flare on him. Okay. Um, so if I hit it, it takes a negative two penalty to attack rolls until the end of my next turn.

Okay. That would be a hit. 14 damage to the wolf and it takes a negative two penalty to attack rolls until the end of your next turn. Anything else? Um, no, I think that's it for right now. Alright. werewolf number two is going to shift one towards Sora and use its claws. That is going to hit. Ooh, 17 damage to Sora. Okay. So, yield ground. An enemy damages you with a melee attack and you can shift and the number of squares is equal to your wisdom modifier. I also get a plus two power bonus to all defenses until the end of my next turn. So, let's move. Could I just be going towards the other werewolf?

Well, shoot. One, two. I don't really like where I am, but, oh well. Well, you're an equal distance away from the two werewolves. Okay. That'll end the werewolf's turn. Werewolf number three is going to stop hovering around Cole, move up, and try to attack Poe. Claws, and that will hit. 22 damage to Poe, and that'll bring up Bree. Let's see here. She can't do a lot of stuff without killing everyone. So, Bree's just going to try and force punch the alpha. So, she's going to turn and try to plant her fist in the werewolf's chest. That is going to hit. 57 damage to the werewolf, and the werewolf is going to go back six spaces and go prone.

Alpha's turn, the alpha's going to pick itself up and it is going to square up. Yeah, it's going to square up with Bree and then it is going to lower. And it looks as though it's about to maybe do something on its next turn. It looks like it's preparing to attack. Werewolf number four, god, yeah, werewolf number four is going to continue to try and claw at Poe. That is going to miss. Werewolf number six is going to try and attack Elorath. That is going to hit. 17 damage to Elorath. That's going to bring up Poe. Poe is going to try and clench his fist and he is going to swing at werewolf number three.

And he is going to try and punch this werewolf in the throat. That is going to miss. So that wasn't as effective as he would have hoped, probably. That will bring up the elven paladin. He's going to try to use his greataxe against the werewolf six in front of Elorath. That is going to miss. That will bring up werewolf number one. Werewolf number one is going to close the gap towards Sora. And it is going to try and claw at Sora. That is going to hit. Um, uh, maybe I say no. Okay. Immediate interrupt, second chance. So I have to reroll the attack if I'm not mistaken.

Yes. Alright, let's do that again then. Um, yeah because of the plus two defenses that will miss. So that is going to bring up Sora. Awesome. That was really great. So let's get out of this pickle. Okay, let's shift here. Okay. So I'm again in between right in the middle. Um, I am... Let's keep my hunter's quarry on werewolf two. But I am going to use twin strike. I'm going to get both of them. That will hit werewolf number one and miss two. Okay. And then damage again. Yep. Uh, so that will be four damage to werewolf one. Anything else? That is all I can possibly do.

So things are not looking too great for Sora. Alright. In the back. Elorath, your turn. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and put that rage effect on myself. Let's see. Elorath will then swing at werewolf number six with devastating strike again. Let's try it again. Ugh, son of a bitch. Um, okay. She will then shift back one. Okay. Because... why not? She's hurt. Um, and I think that's my whole turn. Alright. Uh, Karyn, you're up. Okay. Um, I am going to use paladin's judgment on werewolf number four. Okay. That is a crit. [squeak] Sorry. I just got really excited. Um, okay.

Do I have to? I do have to, don't I? Yep, it automatically does it. Oh, okay. So that's thirty damage. Cool. And Poe gets to use a healing surge. Oh, well that's awesome. I didn't kill that werewolf though? Nope. Oh my god, seriously? Yep. Um, I'm sorry, hold on one second. No, no problem. I think that's it for right now. Hmm, that'll bring up werewolf number two. Werewolf number two is going to stalk over to Sora and try to use its claws to knock her down. That is going to miss. Werewolf number three is going to continue to attack Poe and try to rake at his armor.

That is going to miss. That'll bring us back to Bree. She's going to turn back toward werewolf six and try to punch it in the chest. That is going to miss. She is going to have to charge. Werewolf alpha is going to charge across the room, square up with Bree, and use his claws twice. That is going to miss. Holy shit. Werewolf number four. Werewolf number four is going to attack the mole paladin and use claws and that's going to miss the paladin. Werewolf number six is going to attack Bree. That is going to hit. Fifteen damage to Bree and that'll bring us back to werewolf number one who is going to stalk in ever closer to Sora and flank with his partner.

Fuck me. That is going to hit. Nineteen damage to Sora. Yeah. Sora, your turn. Okay. Fuck. Okay, if I were to move, would I have to take two opportunity attacks? Yes. Ugh. But you get a plus two or yeah, they get a negative two when they swing on you. Right. How bloody dang. Ugh. Okay. Because this is going to get really bad really quickly. I need to get out. So, so let's go. Yeah, let's do that. Alright. Um, right. Okay, now I need two opportunity attacks. Yep, both werewolf one and werewolf two are going to get an opportunity attack against Sora with a negative two.

That is going to miss from werewolf two and werewolf one. That is almost a crit. Damn. Twenty two damage, which means you got right here before you fell. Oh my god, you gotta be kidding. Sora's gonna make a run for it. The werewolf two to her right is going to rake at her back and she is going to go down. Alarath, your turn. Oh my god. Um, she's gonna step forward and swing again at werewolf six. She's gonna try just a melee basic attack. Okay. Here goes. That is going to miss the werewolf. Um, hmm. Okay. If it must. Um, I believe that's all I can do. That'll bring up Karen.

Okay. Um, okay. I'm gonna break away from werewolf four here. Okay. Um, so I'll take an opportunity attack. Mm-hmm. So let's get that out of the way now. Yeah. That is going to hit. Okay. 21 damage. That's fine. Two, three, four, five, six. Perfect. I'm gonna move right up to Sora. I'll just, I'll do land hands on her. Uh, that will wake Sora back up. So she is no longer bleeding out. Uh, that'll bring up werewolf number two. Werewolf number two is going to move forward and try to attack, uh, the mole paladin. That is going to miss. Werewolf number three is going to continue to attack Po.

That's gonna miss. Wow. Okay. They are having crappy dice rolls. Oh, Bree's got a charge. All right. So that's a six. Uh, that is the end of her turn. Alpha is going to. Um, werewolf's going to, the alpha is going to use its claws on Bree. That is going to miss. Holy shit. Number four is going to attack Po. That is going to miss. Okay. You guys are having a really lucky dice night so far. Don't jinx us. No, it's good because we have not in the past. We need this Jason. Don't take this away from us. I'm not taking or giving anything. It's just the dice. Damn. Werewolf number six is going to target Elorath.

Must you? And use its claws and miss. Oh, thank god. Um, let's see. Po's turn. What the hell. He is going to, uh, he is going to swing at werewolf number four. Crit. Forty-nine damage to the wolf. Um, so Po's just going to take this home run swing with the sword and just slice into the werewolf's neck. Uh, holy shit. Okay, the elven paladin is going to swing at werewolf number six with his axe. That is going to miss. Werewolf number one is going to move forward and attack the mole paladin. That is going to miss. Sora, your turn. Okay, now I don't really want to try and break away again.

Um, can you tell me, uh, about the, like, turtling defenses thing? Uh, it's called total defense and what you're doing is essentially you are just putting up your dukes. You're not attacking, you're not doing anything on your turn. You just say, um, just total defense. That will give you a plus four to all of your defenses until the end of your next turn. Or, until your next turn. So, how will a sword do that? Well, you're in a spot because you're still being flanked by the wolves. Shifting won't break away, so if you try to do any ranged stuff you're going to have to take an opportunity attack.

I believe you can use some of your ranged powers as a melee? Yeah, but they're really bad. Right. You are a ranged character, yeah. You're essentially just taking an arrow out of your quiver and trying to stab something in the face. Yeah. Um, okay, I think, I think Sora would use total defense. Okay. So, Sora is going to turtle up, use total defense. Elorath, your turn. Alright, I feel like she's just going to keep trying to swing for werewolf number six. Um, but this time she's going to try run down. Because, why not? It's her least successful attack, but let's try it.

Um, I'm at advantage. I'm glad that the streak, what? We have forgotten to give you the plus two. For? Like, every single time we've forgotten to give you the plus two for your flanking. No, I counted that in. It says effects plus two. Oh, I didn't know you were adding it. Okay, cool. Yeah, there's a, I can, I'm doing the comp edit. I didn't know you were doing the modifier. Yeah. Sweet. I mean, if you want to just like make, it wouldn't hit it anyway, but if you want to just like give me a hit, that'd be great. No. Hollow victory is not a victory. Are you sure?

Fairly certain. Because donuts are hollow and they're pretty great. Anything else? No, that's my turn. Alright. Uh, Karen. Okay. I'm going to target werewolf number two and use hold fast. Um, so if I hit, the target's immobilized to the end of my next turn. Okay. That is a crit. Sorry, I was not making noise, but I was screaming. That is your second crit of this fight. Uh, I think it's long overdue, but that's all I'm saying. Um, that's it all. That's all I can do. Uh, wow. That is going to clobber werewolf two. Let's see, werewolf number two is going to try and fight back against this mole paladin with its claws.

That is going to miss. Werewolf number three is going to continue to hack at Po. That is going to miss. You guys are having a crazy good dice night. That is going to bring up Bree. She's going to try and force blast. No, she's going to try and force punch this alpha again. Because, yeah. That is going to hit. That is 33 damage and the wolf is going to go sailing back one more time. And Bree is going to shift down one. Uh, werewolf alpha is going to pick itself up and then move forward. Werewolf number four is going to continue to hack at Po. That is going to miss.

Uh, the werewolf is then going to shift behind Po, or next to Po. And, let's see, werewolf number six is going to swing out at Elorath. That is going to miss. I don't think I've hit anything. Let's see, Po is going to whip around with his sword here and try to hack at the werewolf that just shifted next to him. That is going to miss. Uh, elven paladin's turn. He is going to raise his greataxe and swing it at werewolf six. That will hit. That is almost a crit. That will kill the werewolf. Fuck yeah! Excuse me. No problem. That will end this fucking stalemate. Uh, then, uh, the elven paladin is going to move down and try to assist Po.

That will bring up werewolf number one. Werewolf number one is going to swing at the mole paladin. Twenty-two, that is a miss. Sora, your turn. Okay, um, does the total defense thing only last for one turn? Yep, but you can use it over and over again. Okay. Um, shit. Such a bad idea. Let's use second wind, then try to move away. God damn it. One, two, change it back. Okay. Um, one, two, three, four. Okay, and these werewolves are going to get an opportunity attack against Sora. That will miss. And one will also swing at Sora. That will hit. Twenty-one damage to Sora.

She is going to be, she is still up, but hurt. Anything else? Yeah, I just moved, so I can attack, right? Yes. Okay, so, let's go and do twin strike on werewolf two and one. Um, let's just keep hunter's quarry on two, yeah. Twin strike, don't fail me now. Um, that will miss werewolf one, but hit number two. Okay, so, nice. Nice, okay. That's eight damage and hunter's quarry damage. Another two, not bad. Okay, anything else? No, I've used all of my dailies and all of my account of powers. Elorath, you are up. I have to clear my throat, and then I have a question.

Charging, because I feel like seeing that her last remaining teammate, that she knows, was surrounded by werewolves and got helped by this paladin. I feel like Elorath would want to come over by werewolf two and one and help out the mole paladin, right? Or is it a priest? A paladin. A paladin, I'm sorry. So, can I move and then charge? Because don't you, can you, can you, okay. Because charge counts as an attack. One, two, three, four, five, six. Okay, so she's gonna move here and then I feel like she would charge at werewolf two. And could I charge and get here?

Um, that'll be an opportunity attack for it. Okay, so. I mean, you can do that. Okay, well, and I have the same negative two to opportunity attacks being a halfling. Oh, sweet. Okay, okay. Um, yeah. Let's resolve that first. Because that's nimble reaction, I believe. Yeah. Yes. Plus two racial. Alright, so let's resolve that. So. Oh, fuck me. Okay, well then. That is a crit. Yeah, I'm... Shit. That means Elorath is going to charge, get within range of the werewolf and its lightning fast reflexes are just gonna whip around and claw Elorath in her face. And Elorath is going to go down.

That will bring up the mole paladin. Okay, I'm going to do Resurgent Smite on werewolf number two. So that's gonna hit. Okay. Okay, so there's the damage. And then if it's over. Oh. Okay, nevermind. But, um, but somebody with an ally within five squares of me can spend a healing surge. So I guess Elorath? Oh, there you go. I love you. Thanks. Okay. Anything else? No, that's literally all I can do right now. Alright. Karen, I love you. With big purple heart. Love you too. Let's see, because Elorath is already down, werewolf two is going to go back to targeting the mole paladin.

It's going to rake its claws against the paladin's armor and it will be ineffective. Man, three is going to shift up and flank Poe. That is gonna miss. Brie is going to shift down one and get on the werewolf alpha's left side and she's gonna use Overload. Which is a daily... Let's see if this is gonna hit first. That is gonna hit. Forty-eight damage to the wolf. The wolf? Okay, so that's a hit. One, two, three, four, five. Okay, so here's what's gonna happen. The wolf is going to be catapulted backwards through the wall one square. The alpha no longer occupies the building that you guys are in.

She is going to go flying back one, two, three squares and go prone. The wolf is going to take forty-eight damage and is now bloodied. Knock her prone. Good God. That's awesome. So this is just gonna be both hands out in front, blast, one powerful enough to knock her back, and the wolf is just gonna go sailing out of the town hall itself. So there's gonna be this hole left in the wall where it's been flung out. Werewolf number four... Let's see, werewolf number four is going to attack this elven paladin. That will miss. Poe is going to attack this werewolf with his sword.

That is going to hit. Thirty-one damage to the wolf. That will kill it. That'll bring up the elven paladin. The elven paladin is going to move over to werewolf three, target that, use his axe. That is a crit miss. That is going to bring up werewolf one. Werewolf one is going to start to make a break for that hole. Which means that... Karen, you're gonna get an opportunity to attack. Cool. I don't know what's going on with my aiming right now, but... There we go. That'll hit. Twelve damage. Twelve damage. So, kind of a yipe as it goes by and you're just going to swing on it and collide.

Sora, your turn. Okay. Okay, let's just do twin strike again. Hunter's quarry on werewolf one, though. Both of them will hit. Yeah. Nice. Man, that brutal has come in handy today. Okay, so, anything else? Um, hunter's quarry. Oh, yeah, hunter's quarry damage. Oh, yeah! Good job. I totally forgot. And I put it on one, so let's take off that. Ooh, another eight damage to one. Okay. Anything else? No. Elrath, your turn. Shit, I'm dumb. Okay. Um, Elrath is going to shift one, because eventually she'd like to be flanking, but if she goes for two, she'd have another opportunity attack, correct?

Yes. That has not worked out well for you so far. It has not. So she's going to not do that. She's going to try run down one more time, I believe. Um, yeah, she's going to try run down, because eventually statistics say that it has to hit at least once. So she's going to try. Are you bargaining with luck right now? I am. I just want it to work. Alright. Um, so let's try it. That is a crit! Suck my dick! Ooh, bargaining works! Okay. Um, critical damage. Nineteen damage. Yeah. Um, let's see, the effect... Uh, the target is slowed until the end of my next turn. Oh, I get to do one... did it roll one d8 extra damage because I'm in a rage?

I typed one d8, so... Nope. Okay, so is that just a flat d8? Flat d8. Next damage! Wow. Oh. Let's see here. Oh, it didn't put it on there. That is going to kill the werewolf. Oh! Oh! Oh, there's not another one nearby. Damn it. Because I'm raging, so it's, uh, when you enter the rage... Mm-hmm. You can make a melee basic attack as a free action when you reduce an enemy to zero hit points. Oh. Um, well I haven't moved, so she's probably going to... wait, one, two, three, four, five... No, you didn't. Oh, I shifted. Yep. That's it. Uh, mole, paladin, caron, you are up. Okay.

I'm gonna go after that werewolf that's running away. One, two, three, four... Well, that is ballsy. I know, right? Is... is Sora still within five squares of me? One, two, three... One, two, three... Yep. Okay, so I'm going to do Strike of Hope on werewolf number one. That's gonna miss. Um, I guess it doesn't do anything then. Because I was supposed to give somebody temporary hit points, but it doesn't say... Wait. Does it say "effect" or "on hit"? Uh, "on hit." Uh, well then... No. Fine. Be that way. I'm done. Werewolf three is gonna start to break away and try to make a... uh, make its way to that hole.

One, two, three, four, five, six... So first, let's resolve these two, uh, opportunity attacks. Po. Uh, that is gonna hit. Thirty-two damage to the wolf. Uh, and this elven paladin also gets to swing with his greataxe. That is gonna miss. So the wolf is going to use two movement actions and leave. Uh, just leap clean through that hole and disappear into the night. That is gonna bring up Bree. Bree is gonna double over and start to violently cough. Uh, she's gonna fall to her hands and knees on the floor. And that is gonna be her complete action for her turn.

Po is going to move to her side. And this elven paladin is going to move over to this werewolf and try to use his greataxe against it. That is gonna hit. So four damage. That's pretty weak sauce. Ugh. Werewolf number one is going to try and move toward that hole again, so... Um, Karen, go ahead and take an opportunity attack. That is gonna hit. Uh, the elven paladin is also gonna hit. Thirteen damage to the wolf from, uh, the mole paladin and... Nine damage from the elven paladin. Uh, and the werewolf is going to limp away but make it out of that hole. Ooh. That is gonna take the party out of combat.

Jesus Christ. [laughs] Everyone who is conscious and alive, do me a favor and roll a perception check. Heh, no. Almost a crit? Oh, that was terrible. [laughs] Well, we did almost just die, so... That's true. I would say that, firstly, it's... Everyone's taking a second to catch their breath, unless I'm mistaken. This has been a big fight, and to get through it alive is sort of a milestone. This is a big deal. The mole paladin is gonna see Bree go down and Poe sort of rush over to her side. Just kneeling down to see if she's okay. Both the mole paladin and Sora are going to hear her violently cough.

And the mole paladin is going to spot flecks of blood underneath of her where she's coughing. Just sort of blood droplets on the floor. You gave her consumption? [laughs] The paladin's gonna rush over to her too, and maybe do a heal check? You can try, go ahead. Okay. [spits] That's not so great. So this mole paladin is going to lean over and try to tend to Bree's wounds. And she's gonna see that it's not... She has been hurt, but it's not... She shouldn't be reacting that poorly. The wounds she got in the fight weren't so bad that she should be doubled over like that.

And after a few moments she's gonna stop coughing. And she's sort of leaning against Poe. Poe's got his arm outstretched, and he's gonna start to help her up. And she's gonna be catching her breath, and Poe's gonna look over to the mole paladin. It's alright, Irena. I got her. Okay. You should check to make sure everyone else is okay. Okay. And then she'll kind of look around, uncertain of where to start. I guess Sora would be the closest, so she'd walk over and ask her, "Are you okay? Do you need any healing?" And Sora is three hit points away from being unconscious.

For you listeners at home. So, Sora's very, very weak. She's going to say, "That would be great, thanks." Poe's gonna motion for the elven paladin to come over to where Bree is. I feel like once Elorath kind of caught her breath, she would... I feel like Elorath would go check on Ingrid and then Cole, because she's not used to losing... Well, I guess she is, sadly. She's gonna go check on Ingrid and then go check on Cole to see if they're truly down, or, you know, just knocked out. Do me a favor and roll Perception. Okay. Determine how descriptive this gets.

Oh, great. Oh, now, thank you. No. When I don't run it. Well, both of them took extensive damage in the fight, and in Ingrid's case, you can see clean through to bone in certain areas. Cole was mauled by two werewolves at once, and even if he were to have lived through that, he'd been bitten. And the only thing that you can say about the two of them is that they made out better than Jo did. Kaylee's going to be laying not far from where Ingrid fell, and there's going to be just massive claw marks that go across her chest. And it would appear as though she just bled out.

Okay. Shaw is going to be huddled in the far corner of this room. Just sort of tucked down in the fetal position, facing away from all of this. Is that girl still beneath the floor? She is! Um, Sora would probably go towards Elrath and just kind of be like, "We need to do something about Kaylee." Like what? Just not let Lucy see her. Okay. Um, like cover her up, or we could put a blanket over her, maybe? So it doesn't look like... So it maybe looks like she's sleeping? Jason, is there anything in our adventurer backpacks that is kind of like a blanket? Bedrolls.

Is that like a sleeping bag or nah? Pretty much, yeah. It's like a very thin sleeping bag. Okay, then we need to try and cover Kaylee up with that. Okay. Elrath will probably get out hers if Sora's not getting out hers. She'll probably take out her bedroll then. And you're just sort of draping it over? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Like, keep her face out, maybe? Is her face, like, scratched? Uh, there's some blood on it, but it doesn't appear as though that she's injured in her face at all. Okay, maybe we should keep her head out. Sora's gonna go over to Shaw and see how he's doing.

Um, Shaw's absolutely terrified. Like, completely terrified. Like, hysterically so. So, he's like, in the fetal position? Yeah, just sort of on his feet but ducked down. Uh huh. Facing away from everything so his back would be to you, and just kind of rocking back and forth almost. Okay. Um, Sora's gonna kind of go next to him, uh, and sit down cross-legged and just gently put a hand on his shoulder. He would stop very clearly startled and spin around and giving a quick glance of the room seeing that there's no more fighting. He is going to aggressively sort of leap towards Sora and wrap his arms around her.

Uh, Sora will hold him tightly and kind of pet his hair a bit and just kind of whisper to him, "It's okay now. It's done for now. We'll get through this. It'll all be okay." After he sees the fighting's over and, like, you're there, it's just sort of a gentle sobbing at this point. After a couple of minutes, Bree would compose herself and start to approach the rest of the group here. And she would sort of make a motion for everyone to come closer. Is everyone okay? I guess. For now? We... and she's gonna look down. We got here as soon as we could. We got your letter and we grabbed everyone we could from the Temple of Kord and got here as quickly as possible.

And she's going to look around. I'm... truly sorry that it wasn't fast enough. Can you tell me what happened? We... tried to hole up and one of us got trapped outside. A couple of us, actually. And then one of them fell and Sora tried to rescue them and by the time we all got back inside to safety, they were... they were on the door. So we tried to hold out as long as we could. But they were everywhere. Were they already in town when you got here? They were everywhere. Were there any signs of anyone else alive? When we first got here, we found Shaw and she's kind of going to gesture towards him.

And as we stayed in the attic, across the street, there was a father and two daughters. Kaylee and Lucy. The father passed away and then we kind of had to come here. Well right now there are five more paladins guarding the door to make sure that nothing else is going to get in without us knowing about it. We need to talk about a few things, but if you want, we can explore the rest of the town and your group can get some rest. Erina's going to speak up. She's going to say you said you saved two girls, but I only see one here. Where's the other one? Uh, she's hiding right now.

We should probably get her soon, though. Bree's going to motion toward the bedroll. Is that her sister? Yes. We should take the body outside before we let her out. I can have the paladins do it. Soara will just nod. After that we should get the kids to the next safest area. We'll go through the town house by house and see if there are any other survivors that might have been hiding like you were. Before we go to that, I have to ask, did any of you find any trace of the two groups we sent in before you? Not unless they were those wolves. Do you know how many wolves in total there were?

At least four, right? So at least one big one, and three or four other ones. Alright. We'll take apart the town piece by piece, and if you want you can get some rest. When you're ready to talk, come find me. Thank you for coming to give us help. She's just going to raise her hand to stop you and then shake her head. And unless anyone stops her, she's going to turn back around toward Po and the elven paladin. After a moment, they are going to leave the building and sort of make their way through this mishmash of furniture piled up by the door and move it out of the way and meet up with the paladins outside.

Elorath would probably go back over to Cole and just like probably stare down at him for a minute and she'd probably say like whisper to herself, "You fought too well to die." And she'd probably kneel down actually and pick up his gauntlets if she can. Sure. Okay. And put them in her backpack for now. And she'd probably go over to Ingrid and say something very similar. Just, "It's not fair." She's really upset and very tired. In the midst of this, I would say a couple of paladins would have come in and take Kaylee's body outside. Just sort of being as ginger with it as they can.

Sora's going to look over at Elorath and just kind of do kind of that head nod thing where it's like, "We should go this way towards where Lucy is." She'll nod and come with you. And she'll probably actually reach out and just kind of squeeze your arm a little bit. Like, gently, just like, "Sorry." Sora will give a bit of a sad smile. And she's going to move the podium kind of off of the secret door and knock really lightly on the door. And say, "Lucy, the fighting is over. You can come out now." And as she says that, she'll start lifting open the door.

Do me a favor and roll a perception check? Okay. This little girl is clearly terrified. And the space is pretty much just big enough for her. So there's not a lot of room to move around. It's kind of like opening the trunk of a car and finding someone in it. Like, they're sort of scrunched in a bit. There's not a ton of room. And it's also really dark. So the second you start to open this up, the light is going to kind of pour in. And she's just going to sort of reflectively shield her eyes. And there's going to be this little gasp. But you telling her that the fighting's over and it's clearly you, it's clearly a person's voice.

And she sort of knows Sora a little bit. And she's going to start to un-bunch herself from this little stash-away hole and climb out of it. Unless you stop her, she is going to immediately try and look around the room. I'll... she can do that. So she is going to look around. And she is not going to see her sister. And she's going to look up to Sora. Where's Kaylee? Sora's going to put both of her hands on Lucy's shoulders. Kind of look down and say, "I'm sorry. She didn't make it." This little girl is going to just openly start to cry. And she's going to kind of burrow her face against Sora's midsection.

And the crying's going to be muffled a bit. Sora's going to squeeze her really tight. How old is Lucy? About eight years old. Elorath is probably going to wait and see if the cries will subside, like, just for a second. And then she'll probably actually, like, bend down if she needs to, like, get level with her, with Lucy. And she'll say, "Lucy," to see if she'll calm down just a second, because she wants to say something to her? It would be a while. Okay. For, I mean, for that to die down at all. But, yeah, it will slow down eventually. And after you call her name, she's going to stop and look over at Elorath.

Your sister fought so hard. And she helped protect us all. I'm really sorry. She's going to give this sniffle and run her arm over her nose to wipe it. And just kind of silently nod her head. But the entire time, it's kind of looking down at the floor. Yeah. And you're getting the impression that she's maybe heard stuff like that before. Oh, my heart. Sora's going to give her kind of another squeeze and say, "Why don't you go over to Shaw for a bit? He needs some comfort too." She's going to nod her head again and walk over to where Shaw is sitting. She's just, without a word, just going to sit next to him.

And the two are sitting really close to each other. And Shaw's going to reach over and wrap his arm around her. Sora is going to go over to the Mole Paladin and say, "You saved me. Thank you." You're welcome. You fought very well. As did you. I'm Sora. And she'll hold out her hand to you to shake. Sorry, I'll shake it. And then there's that super awkward moment. Oh, yeah, no, totally. Where they're all just standing there like, "I don't know what to say, do you want to look down?" And she'll look down at you and she'll say, "I'm really sorry about your friends.

I hope they fought as brave as you did." They did. They always did. So let me ask a question to the party. Is this a situation where you're going to try to rest? Or is it pretty much just catching your breath? I mean, where would we rest? Like, in here? I mean, that's the thing. It's not like there's an "in" to go to right now. Yeah, I don't think we'd want to sleep in here. Yeah, I kind of doubted that. I think Irena would go out and help the paladins with what they're doing. Outside. If you're going to go outside, do me a favor and roll a perception check.

It's going to be stinky. It's not terrible. Right off the bat, Irena would see two paladins by the door, kind of standing guard, making sure that nothing enters. And looking to her left, she's going to see that there's another paladin stationed on the side of the building, because now there's a massive hole. So just making sure that nothing makes a run at that hole and no one's going to be under attack. You're going to see Bree and Poe standing not too far away from town hall, and then you're going to spot a few more paladins walking around town. You can hear them sort of beating down doors and kind of spot-checking buildings.

Bree's going to notice you and start to walk over to Irena. She'll kind of meet her halfway. We're going to have to talk. Okay. How does the rest of that group seem to you? The two halflings. They are... they're brave, I'll give them that. They're not much, though, just on their own. They've lost a lot of people since they left the city, and... could you do me a favor and go get them? Sure. And then she'll turn around and go back inside, I guess. If you guys are up to it, Bree would like to speak with you outside. Elerath would probably take a deep breath and look at Sora, and just kind of raise her eyebrows, like, "Want to do it?" Sora will take a deep breath and say, "We need to." And she'll probably look back at Irena and just nod.

Okay. Let's go then. As soon as you leave this building, Bree is going to motion for the three of you to kind of approach and follow her. There is a house not too far from town hall, and the door's been beaten down like a lot of the other ones have. But it's kind of a private place to talk, being as how there are no paladins or anything else. And then once everyone's inside, you can all sit down if you want. Irena just kind of leaned against a wall. I know you all lost people. And believe me, if we knew the town was in this kind of shape, we never would have sent you anywhere near it.

We knew they were in trouble, but we didn't know it had gotten this bad. Were there any signs that the town had been completely overrun before you came here? No, there was just fog. Right? Because I don't remember seeing anything, just the fog. So we came in the town to see what was happening, because we didn't want to sleep in the woods, because it was dangerous. We stayed in a cave one night, and the fog just got so heavy. And there was something outside, but we couldn't figure out what it was. Well, the paladins have found a few survivors so far, so there were some people who were lucky enough to seal themselves away.

And I don't know how long things have been like this, but they're alive, so they had to have some kind of food and water. I am sorry that you all lost people, but you know this isn't over, right? What do you mean? As long as there's a few of them still alive, they're going to keep attacking this town. We have to find them and kill the rest of them. You want us to go hunting? I want to go hunting with you. Marina's going to smile at that. I wouldn't ask you to put yourselves in any danger that I wouldn't be willing to do myself. We sent you here, and ultimately we're responsible for it.

I guess the question is, do you still want to be ravens? Absolutely. Let's kill every goddamn one of them. And she's just going to stare at Brianna and nod. Bri's going to look over to Sora. What about you? I don't know. I understand if you want to stop. If you want to give up now and go home, I don't think there's a person in this entire town who would blame you. And I can't imagine what the lot of you have been through in the past week. And while I'm... I will forever be sorry that you lost friends. As long as there's someone out there trying to do the right thing, trying to do things like help out the few survivors here, then it'll never be for nothing.

If you want some time to think about it, then I can give you some time. I need to get some rest. Uh, Sora's going to kind of just look down and go back towards town hall. Before you leave the room, Bri would raise her voice. There's one more thing we need to talk about. The elf who was fightling aside of us, his name is Balrus. He had no idea how bad things were before we got here. We told him about your letter. The same thing with Irina here, but he's originally from Aubrey. And he knows how to resurrect. He's offered to bring someone back, but we weren't here.

So we need to talk about who that's gonna be. Oh my god. I'm gonna kind of grab Elrath by the arm and kind of like usher the both of us into a corner so we can have a little huddle. If you're cool with that. Yeah, should probably be stunned. Cause, yeah, yeah, she'd go with you. Sora's gonna break the silence and say, "We can get somebody back." Yeah. We need a fighter. What do you think? I think... I think... It's not possible to... How are we supposed to choose? I don't know. But... I think... He shouldn't have died like that. Neither of them should have, but...

Do you think bringing him back will cure the bite? Sora's gonna kind of have... Not quite a sour expression on his face. But... Do you think it's worth it to try? To even take that chance? He's strong. I want to fight with him again. I know you don't care for him. But he was my friend and I want to fight with him again. And I think... I think he'll help us win. Maybe we can ask about the bites. But I want to fight with my friend again. Sora's gonna look back over to Brie and say, "How long do we have to figure this out?" About 24 hours. A little less. She's gonna look back over to Elarath and say, "Can we sleep on it?" I mean...

Isn't it... I mean, we can, but isn't it... Isn't it better to do it right away? And she'll probably ask... Turn that last part to Brianna. Sooner, right? Sooner would be better, yeah. I need you both to keep something in mind. Bowers has never attempted this. He went through the rites about six months ago. And there's a chance that not only... Will the person you choose not come back, but... It might kill him to try. Oh. This is his decision. We... We never proposed it, and honestly... I didn't even know that he had the ability before we... Before we grabbed people from the temple.

But whoever you decide to bring back... I would make sure that it's worth the risk. Sooner's gonna kind of... Look puzzled at Brianna and say... So... He doesn't even know that he may or may not be resurrecting someone? He knows that he can. He's just never chosen to do it. It's complicated. It's not always foolproof. Trust me. Even if... Even if everything went off without a hitch... He's putting himself through... A huge amount of pain. Pain that I don't know any of us could even imagine. So why do you think he would do it for us? For the same reason you volunteered in the first place.

Just trying to do your part to make the world better, I would imagine. You should take some time and think about it. We're gonna stand guard over... Over the kids, and... Make sure we find any survivors left in town. If you need anything, or... You come to a decision. Just come find me, okay? Okay. Thank you. She's just gonna nod her head a little. Are you guys gonna go get some rest? Yes. Yeah. Well, I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to find some place to bed down. And I mean that quite literally. There are many empty beds in town right now. And I imagine that there's some kind of...

I imagine it feels at least a little secure knowing that someone's watching you while you sleep. So... I mean, not... yeah. Making sure nothing mauls you in your sleep, I guess, would be the more appropriate term. If you guys are gonna sleep... I'll give you guys an extended rest. If Sora would let her, Elrath would probably... Follow her to wherever she was gonna sleep, because she doesn't want to be alone. Oh no, totally. We can all make a cuddle pile. Oh... Just all hold each other while we cry ourselves to sleep. So let's say that... Hours go by. And... You two are gonna wake up sometime in the afternoon.

I imagine you guys have a decision to come too. Yeah. Um... Elrath would probably... Turn to Sora... Once they were awake and... Had taken care of whatever business they needed to and would just ask... Just... So what do you think? I think... I think... Sora's gonna... Take a really deep sigh. And say... I think... Lucy needs her sister. She... Never... Put herself... In this situation. She didn't... Volunteer... To... Become... A soldier. Oh. I didn't think about that. Neloreth's probably just gonna think about that for a few minutes because that thought... Didn't occur to her, because she was thinking...

Vengeance. If anyone... Should deserve to come back... It should be someone... That never chose... To take part in this. Neloreth would probably just like... Lower her eyes just in thought for a minute. I... I hear you. I think we need all of the fighters we can get. And what if it doesn't work? How will we tell... How do you... How do you explain to a kid that... Just kidding, your sister's not dead. After she was so sad. And... And what happens if... She doesn't come back the same? Right. I still wanna try for him. So what do we do? Well... I guess we first... Ask the Paladin...

Uh... See if he... Is even willing to. Okay. Let's go talk to him. So the two of you are going to leave the house that you were staying in. For the day. Do me a favor, both of you roll a perception check. Hey. Oh. Wow. Hey! High five, Flora. Uh, both of you are going to see that the Paladins have... Pretty much secured the town. There doesn't appear to be anything... Violent happening or has happened since you went to sleep. Um, you're gonna see a fair... Grouping of people. Maybe 30 or 35 in total. A lot of... A lot of younger people were older. A few of them injured.

You're gonna see Irina and a couple of the Paladins... Including Boweris, sort of congregating in the center of town. Jason, can I roll a perception to see if I see them come out? Sure. Nope. Why didn't we train that one? 'Cause you can't train them all. But I wanna... Never mind. Um, so would this be a thing where you approach... You're gonna approach them or call him over? Or how would you like to do it? I feel like we'd like walk over to him and kind of ask him to step away with us from it. Don't wanna make a scene. Um, yeah, seeing the two of you approach, pull him aside, he would go.

So, right off the bat you're gonna notice that this guy is a little proper. For a Paladin. Specifically a Paladin of Chord. But, yeah, he's got the Chordian symbol, he's definitely a Paladin of Chord. But it is a little... Well, actually, do me a favor, roll a history check. Oh wow, okay. Either history or religion. Oh, they're both not good. Yeah. Those are my good ones, Jason. Religion, why not? Okay, then I'll do history. Elorath is not pious at all. Jesus. No, wow. She's like, "Gods? What are those?" What? So, Sora would know traditionally that it's a little weird for an elf to be a Paladin in the first place.

It's not necessarily something that elves gravitate to normally. And on top of that, a Paladin of Chord, it doesn't really gel with what Sora knows. But, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility, apparently. Because there's one standing in front of you. So yeah, right off the bat you're going to notice that this guy is a bit proper. And he's going to give a little half bell as you approach and then you pull him aside. Is there something I can help you with? We have a question for you. And he's just going to nod his head, like, "Go ahead." We spoke with Brianna earlier.

And she mentioned that you might offer your services to bring back somebody. He's going to nod his head. I told her I would attempt, if there was someone worthy of bringing back. We're torn. Between who? Two. A sister and one of our own party members. And you're of the opinion that both of them deserve a second chance? I lean one way, she leans the other. But I have a question for you. Please. Our party member was bitten. By one of the wolves? Yes. Two. Should we go that way? Might that condition follow him back here? I have no way of knowing. I've honestly never attempted this before.

And I know very little about lycanthropy. It is fully possible. That should this succeed, your friend would be brought back. Just as he was moments before he died. Cursed? Perhaps. It's also possible that he would be restored to a state before he was even bitten. I feel like Elrath would just look at Sora. I think she would say, "I want to try for him." Do you think he would be okay with it? If he came back and had that? No. I don't think he would. He objected very strongly to Joe. What if we bring him back and he just kills himself again? No. I don't know. I think there's a better shot with Caitlin.

You understand that I can only do this once? Yes. And you two are still at a stalemate? Seems like it. Do you want me to choose for you? Shh. I mean, you're the one that's going to be risking your life. So, what's your opinion? I have no opinion on who comes back. I didn't know either one of them in life. The only thing I have to go on is that both of you feel this strongly. Are you certain that you can't reach a decision? Elrath would probably look at Sora. I want my friend. She never decided to be in this situation. She never... Probably never even thought that anything like this would happen.

How are we supposed to let that slide? Because of someone who was brave enough to risk their life to help people. And brave enough to die while helping others. I don't know. I think we're going to need all the help we can get in this fight. And he's our best choice to help fight. Fighting isn't everything. Sometimes... Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. To do what is right. Bowers would speak up after... After a few moments. I don't mean to rush either one of you. But time is a factor here. Again, I could make the choice for you. If you feel like this would drive a wedge between the two of you.

I don't think either one of us will yield. Maybe it is best that you choose for us. Very well. Bowers is going to reach into his sack. And he is going to pull out a single coin. We're going to get ready and roll a d20 on the table. 1 through 10. Kaylee comes back. 11 through 20. Cole comes back. Are you guys ready? No. Bowers is going to flip a coin. And after he catches it. He's going to look at Allerath. I'm going to attempt to bring your friend back. She'll nod and she'll look at Sora. Sora's going to... Look pretty... solemn. But... She will nod as well. Thank you.

Bowers is going to give another short bow. I'll make the necessary arrangements now. You understand that even if this does succeed. Your friend wouldn't be in any condition to fight for the better part of a week. Yes. Very well. He's going to give this deep bow to the two of you. And then he is going to walk back to the Cluster of Paladins. And he is going to speak to two of them. And then the three of them are going to walk off. Bree would approach the party after that. Would you two reach a decision? With his help, yes. And she's going to look at Sora. What about you?

Do you still want to help us? Yes. She's going to motion for Erina to come over. And she's going to glance at Erina and then look to the rest of the party. Do you feel like we're still hunting? Definitely. Smile's going to come back to her face. Bree's going to walk over to one of the buildings that has not had its door beaten down. Do me a favor. The three of you roll a Perception check for me. That +4 is going to kill me. It's really going to kill me. So the door to this place appears to be a little thicker than the other ones. A bit more sturdy. The windows to this place have been barred.

And the three of you are going to glance over and the sign hanging up appears to indicate that this is some sort of resupply store. Like some sort of blacksmith shop. And Bree's going to reach out and blast the door off of its hinges. She doesn't even try to knock? Nope. I want you to all take whatever you need. Everyone get some rest tonight because tomorrow we're going hunting. Guys. I think it's a pretty good time for us to stop for the night. Give me a chance to look for Silver. Hey everybody. This is Valerie. I hope you enjoyed the show. Just wanted to let you guys know that we do have a Patreon.

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