City of the dead: Part 2

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It's something we can polish off this week, but I promise you it's worth the wait, just like episode 24 here. Everyone did a fantastic job, some really good role playing. So we hope you enjoy this episode. And keep an eye on the fan page, because we will be launching the site as soon as it's done. It's probably going to be sometime this week, maybe even before the weekend. I'm not sure yet. But yeah, keep an eye out, and make sure, and give us a rating on iTunes. It means an incredible amount. It helps us out. You know the drill by now. And if you haven't done it yet, take two seconds out of your busy schedule, please.

It's incredibly helpful to us. We want to try to get this to as many people's ears as possible. So with all that being said, please enjoy this episode and let us know what you think. Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the DM. Going around the room, let's start with Tyson. Hey, I'm Tyson. I play Galford, the Fapax Gnome Warlock. And Alana. Hi, I'm Alana. I play Braneth. I am a cleric elf. And Megan. Hi, I'm Megan. And I am the Brainsraiser Claws Shifter Brains. And Danielle. Hi, I'm Danielle. I play Trixie the Drow assassin. And Brains.

Brains. Hi, I'm Brian. I'm the Mole Rune Priest. I'm the Mole Rune Priest and the Lawful Good Guy. With delicious brains. Use your brains to help us. Brains? So yesterday was interesting, or last week. Last week is what I meant. Last week is when we recorded, for those listening at home. You guys escaped the complex, the arena, but at a terrible cost. Because Tala had a nice chunk of her taken out by Valis. So Valis has bitten you, and you're getting sicker and sicker as you make your way through here. On the bright side, you guys came across two mages from House Darksbane.

And you cornered them in a local tavern, right in town square, pretty much. And in the ensuing melee, one of the mages was stabbed in the back of the neck. By the other. And he died. In the inevitable fight that happened afterwards, you managed to trap the second one. So he's not dead, and that is where we're picking up today. How would you guys like to handle the situation? Apparently you have a plan. I like it. If he's not already restrained, I think we should probably try and restrain him. Try and find some rope or something we can tie him up with, because it would be nice if he was just sitting down and unable to escape.

OK. What about duct tape? There's got to be duct tape around here somewhere. There are some barrels in the back lashed together with some rope. So you can-- let's say you take him out in the middle of the floor here, and you've lashed him together. So you guys are surrounding him there. How about that? Do I get some sort of like intimidate check bonus or something like that, given the fact that I basically slammed him against the door pretty damn hard? There's no intimidation bonus unless you are nude. I don't want to pull out that weapon quite yet. That's plan C.

That is plan C. Yes, that's it. Don't help him. Plan C. Don't give him a reason to get naked. Do I really need one? It's plan D, honey. No, but they're chanting brains outside, and they're like, OK, strip T's for the new guy. I heard plan D, and that's cool. Do you really want to be naked and biteable with Tala getting hungry right next to you? This is taking a turn. Hold on. A DNR after dark. Plan D's into A's. To prevent the show being syndicated to skin a max, I think we might-- Want to draw back here a sec? Yeah. So why don't a couple of you try asking him some questions, and let's just see how he responds.

Because see if he's totally clamming up, if he's just yelling dogma at us, or if he's scared and spilling the beans. We don't even really know what kind of state of mind he's in. Yeah, I want to hear what he has to say. Still ready to die? I'm not telling you anything. You don't scare me. You know what's going on outside. He looks back towards the door that you've barricaded, and you just see shadowy figures back and forth. You can hear him every once in a while bang on the door. It's kind of a mishmash outside. And he looks visibly startled. Then he tries to put on a brave face right afterwards.

This is all part of the master's plan. You're all going to pay. Who are you? State your name and your relationship to Darkspane. He looks over at his fallen brother. And he looks mournful. And he says, Plinkett, why didn't you just shut up? And he just kind of zones out. He doesn't appear to be paying you any attention at the moment. Look, it's not a good situation outside. And whether you want to represent how Starkspane as well as you're trying to right now is beyond the point. Right now, it's evident that you just need to spill, you need to talk to us, you need to give us some information about what's going on outside.

He-- it becomes clearly evident on his face he has no frigging clue. He breaks contact from Plinkett, I guess would be his name. And he looks up into Righus's eyes. And it's just fear, like pure fear. He says, I didn't know this would happen. I was just supposed to watch the city. They told me it was supposed to fall. I didn't know how. Is he like in just around the barrel? Is he like standing up tied up around a barrel? Like how tall is the barrel? This would be a table, actually. You just grab some lashings that held these barrels together in the back. So this is like a table in the middle of the place.

So yeah, this is-- you just have him sitting up on this thing. So Righus will lean down a little bit closer to him and just-- he's used a little bit of an aggressive tone at first. But he'll use a gentler tone and just say, look, it's evident that you're a little startled by what's happened here so far. We're still trying to get our bearings, try to figure out what's going on. It's going to make it a whole lot easier for us if you can just kind of help us out and make sure that we get the information. We know that you probably had a relationship with your friend here, and you have your very strong wills.

But it's going to make it a whole lot easier on us if you just kind of help us along and kind of give us more information about what's going on. After you-- you're basically telling him to help you out, you-- he starts to kind of puff at his chest again. You, this is all your fault. I wouldn't even be here if it wouldn't for you. Your master's the one that left you to die. Oh, I want to hear more about that. I'm sure they'll be back. I'm sure they'll be back any time now for us. Before or after I turn? And after you say that, he's kind of looking at you kind of perplexed.

And then he notices the large bite mark on your shoulder. And he starts to wig the fuck out. And he's going to try to stand up. And even though he's tied up, he's just trying to wriggle and-- like he's in a straitjacket, just completely going crazy here. Not so confident now, are you? You need to get her away from me. Quick, now! Now! I'll kind of go on next to her and kind of, you know, reassure her, like, OK, no one's biting anyone right now yet. Yeah. So Baranatha's kind of sidled up next to Tala. Yes. OK. So-- Jason? Yes. Can I roll a thievery check, please?

On who? On Tala. Sure. For what? I want-- I'm pretty sure she has the res scroll. And I want it. [LAUGHTER] Don't ask me for the res scroll or anything. Because it's not like I wouldn't have willing to give it to you. I'm pretty sure she'd just give it to you. Well, let's-- hold on. Let's see where this goes. I just-- no, like, I'm-- I don't want to see where this goes now. All right, let's see what happens. OK. So let's see here. OK. So you have a thievery 02. Add a plus 5 to it because she's in a conversation. And she's sick. OK. Wow. So that's a 25. So you're going to deftly reach over to Tala's waist and kind of-- there's a cylinder with a tube in it.

And it's fairly light. You're going to reach right over and just kind of yoink that and then stash it real quick. And no one notices. OK. I will-- since he was trying to kind of stand up and he made-- did he get to his feet at all? He's-- it's more like a fish flopping around. Like, standing up he knows isn't going to do any good. He's just kind of trying to wriggle free of his bonds. So it looks like he's partially-- he'll start to stand up then kind of flop down. And he's-- yeah, he's really struggling against him, though. I will look at him laying on the table and just kindly ask why him and his friend that he so-- I guess, took care of, so kindly took care of, why him and his friend were left to not really be a part of the rest of House Darkspane, why they were running and had to hide in this tavern.

And he seems to just kind of give up. Like, he's just kind of-- he's just-- he's not struggling anymore. He's just sitting there. And he's-- me and Plinkett were supposed to watch the gates and make sure no one left. That's all I know, really. You got to let me go. We got to get out of here. Can I roll insight on that? Sure. OK, d20 plus 6, 22. 22. You're-- you're claiming that that is not the whole truth. All right. I will turn to Tala, Baranath, and Trixie and just kind of look at them and say, let's kind of go over to the corner here and discuss privately.

If Galford wants to stand here and kind of make sure he doesn't get loose of his bonds, we can go over there and kind of discuss where we want to go next. But before we actually walk over there, I look at Galford and just kind of give him not really a kind look, kind of a stern look, and just remind him that he shouldn't try anything outside of the ordinary. Just make sure that he doesn't get free of his bonds. If he starts talking, let us know. I'll watch him. OK. He'll be fine. So we'll go over into the corner of the room away from Galford and the Darkspane Thug.

So Galford's sort of pacing around the table and just watching the Darkspane minion, I guess. And he'll stop in front of the table so that Galford's back is to the rest of the group. And he'll kind of put his hands on the table and look directly at the Darkspane Thug. So it just looks like he's watching him intently. And in a fairly low whisper, he'll say, if I had a chance, I would kill them all. They are my abusers. They're my tormentors. Just listen to me. Agree to let them take you prisoner. And lead us out of the city. When we're away from here at night, I will free you.

We will cut their throats. And we will bring their bodies to the steps of House Darkspane. When I draw the knife, cry out and tell them that you'll cooperate. And Galford pulls out Katie's dagger from his equipment and thrusts it up towards the Darkspane Thug's throat and holds it there and shakes his hands and says, I'll kill you. I'll kill you for doing this. He lets loose this scream, which he's kind of yelling at me. Get him away from me. The group will hear this-- the rest of the group will hear this clamoring and noise and rush over to the table.

As they're rushing over there, I'll just quickly whisper as I stand back, just tell them what they want to know. We'll kill them. Can I roll my bluff check now? Sure, yeah, do that. 23. OK, that's good. Jason. Yes. I-- so I want to leave. B and R forever. Goodbye. Hang on. No, no. The building? I want to leave the tavern. Is that a stealth roll? Without anybody else knowing or just leave? I'm sneaking out. I'm going to a party. Sure. She's sneaking out the back window and making sure mom doesn't notice. Whatever your stealth is, add a plus 5 to it because they're all pretty much locked in this-- they're all paying attention to this guy at the moment.

He's kind of shouting and screaming. Really? All right. That's a 20. 20. Baranath-- wow, OK. Baranath slips out the door and-- the front door, not the back, the one that's barricaded with all the zombies at it, I'm assuming. Yeah, yeah, obviously. I don't want to speak for you. I will close the door behind me because I'm not an asshole. Good, there's a draft. All right. OK, so Baranath leaves out the front door and not a noise is made. She pulls the door back to and closes it. And we'll pick up with that in just a second, actually. So Galford will kind of put his hands up and back away from the table when he sees everyone walk over.

With sort of a smug look on his face, kind of like, what, what, you know? But as he's putting on this little act, he kind of winks at Rikas. Hopefully Rikas will pick up on that. What happened? With his big potato head. With my big potato head. After I thump my head a few times, I look at Galford and just ask, yes, we heard some screaming and yelling. Yeah. I'll tell you anything you want. Just get him away from me, OK? Galford will take another step towards him. With the knife still out? No, I put the knife away. OK, OK, yeah. [LAUGHTER] I'm just-- I'm staring at him really creepily, like really gnome creepy.

Which is way different than regular creepy. Oh, it is. Because it's right at your torso. [LAUGHTER] So OK, what do you want to ask this guy? Because he is ready to talk. If somebody else has a better question, they can go ahead. Fix me. Yeah, we need to know if he knows how to fix Tawa. If he knows anything, how to slow it down. You know, we don't want her to turn any further than she has. I don't even know what this is, lady. I-- look, I'm new, OK? This was supposed to be my big break. It was me and the boss, which-- it's amazing, right? You get to go on a mission with the boss.

So where did they go? If you're new, where did they go? Why'd they leave you here? What? And he kind of thinks about that for a minute. I don't know. Yeah, if you're so important, why did they leave you here to die with us? You're not watching the city. You're watching us, and you're going down with us. That sinks in. And he just starts crying, like openly bawling. So I want to walk over to get up right in his face and just kind of grab his face and make him look at me. And I just want to say, we helped you this far. We stopped you from getting bitten by the ones at the door.

Granted, we may have you tied up, but right now that's probably the safest place for you. So it would be better for you to help us than it would for you to sit here and cry. So Galford will pipe up and say, it's obviously-- he's a low-level person in House Darksbane. I doubt he can even lead us out of the city. He's a peon. He's no one. I say we kill him, or we throw him out the back door, let the ghouls feast on his flesh, and in the distraction, we can get some provisions and get out of this city. He's worthless to us. Let's kill him. Galford, he's lasted this long.

Galford, run an Intimidate check. OK. And as Galford grabs his dice to see how intimidating he is-- 8. Great myth. Never works when you're a nun. You're like a little teddy bear. You're going to bite your deer. That was-- he doesn't take you very seriously. If you wanted to kill me, you would have already done so. Look-- All right, I admit it. I think you could help us get out of the city. I don't think we should kill you. Do you at least know the right way to get out of this city? Yeah, I've been watching the front gate all day. Will you cooperate with us to escape the city if we promise not to harm you?

And to help you out as well. You don't get it. Even if we get out of here, even if we make it out of the city, he wants you dead. He killed an entire city to get to you. That's not the point. Why do you care? We're going to get you out. And what we do after that is not up to you. At least you're alive. If he finds out I helped you-- I was with him, and he didn't care if I lived or died. What does he think he's going to-- what do you think he's going to do to you? Would you prefer to stay here? What are your options? He's just kind of sitting there thinking about it.

I could lead you to the front gates. It's not far from here. I don't know how we're going to make it past the mob. Leave that to us. Your master, who is he? What is his position in House Darkspane? And why are we the object of so much of his ire? All I know is after you stole the dragon, we've pretty much launched all-out war on Silverclaw. Brightport's in shambles. He wanted us to come here with some of the high-level guys. I've never seen him before. I barely ever saw their face. But man, he hates you. He wanted to make sure that you guys suffer. I was supposed to stick around with Plinkett, and we were supposed to watch the matches.

And if you didn't die in the arena, then we were supposed to stick around and make sure the city fell. Those were his words. We didn't know how. We just were supposed to sit and watch. We were supposed to be fine. You must know a little bit about the history of House Darkspane. How many times in its history has the gold dragon been removed from the house? No one's ever stolen from us, ever. That would explain a few things then. I don't know how you guys did it, but man, have you managed to piss him off. Are there more-- We did something no one else could accomplish.

Wouldn't that make us a more powerful ally than an enemy? Not to him. Clearly. Very well. You can lead us out of the city. When you've outlived your usefulness, you can decide on your fate, whether you prefer to leave and run back to Darkspane and face the discipline of your master, or whether you decide to travel longer with us, escape on your own, or you can remain in the desert or take your own life. Want me to try another intimidate check? Yeah, try that. Now I'm being a bit more of an asshole instead of being tough. That's kind of better. Ah, see, being an asshole always pays off for gnomes.

Booyah! 24. Yeah, he buys that whole hook, line, and sinker. Fine, fine, fine. Just look, just get me out of this city and I can make my way home from there. I can't go back to Brightport. But I'll find somewhere else to live. It'll be fine. Just get me out of the city. Do we want to roll perception just on this building? Maybe we can figure out anything else that's inside here? Or does anyone else have any other questions for our buddy here? I would just want to ask if there are anybody else from House Darkspane still left in the city or if he and his buddy were the last two people left in the city.

I'm sorry, repeat that? I just would want to ask whether or not he was-- if him and his buddy were the last two people in the city or if there are more Darkspane people that we should be worried about. Me and Plinkett were the last. The protection spell stopped whatever it was that infected the city from getting to us. But I don't know what all these zombies are doing. I-- look, it looks like if they bite you, you become one of them eventually. It takes a while, though. That's-- I don't even know if that's true. But your friend sure looks sick. Still well enough to kick your ass.

That's big talk when I'm tied up. Oh, and suppose I should have left you to the zombies. Look, if I didn't have to stab my friend, we could have taken you. You didn't have to stab your friend. That was your choice. You know how much better your odds would have been if you would have had your friend still with you? He lost his cool. And so have you. Shut up. He just kind of fights down. [LAUGHTER] Shut up. Shoot him. Doo-doo head. Pooter. So Galford will ask him, and say, do you know why none of us are affected by this affliction? I mean, Tal has been bit by one of the infected, but it seems this city turned.

Why were we unaffected? I imagine they put the same protection spell on you that they did us. He wanted to make sure that you guys suffered. How did they perform this protection spell on you? I was just one of the higher up muckety muck guys. Walked up and kind of touched me real quick, and there was this little glowish type thing, and that was it. I was told that would stop me from being infected. Very interesting. Tell me again your master's name. It's Archmage Uman Thermak. Very well. Do we want to know anything else, or do the rest of you want to get out of this city?

I would like to leave. Galford will kind of motion at Rheekus again, kind of doing the whole winking, pulling his earlobe, trying to motion the three of you to move away from him and leave me alone with him one more time. I don't know if Rheekus picks up on that. Rheekus is doing baseball catcher symbols, like signals, too. He's just totally messing it up. Rheekus will kind of confusingly a little bit look at Galford, and then just kind of turn to Trixie and Tala, and then just say, should we kind of look around here a little bit and maybe find out if we can find anything useful in the tavern before we leave?

Wait, wait a minute. Where is the elf? Has anyone seen the elf? I'm sure she's off healing someone. Shit. Yeah. The group turns around and sees that Baraneth has left the building. How about we catch up with Baraneth, actually? We don't have time for this. Can I-- You specifically don't have time for this. You guys walk away, can I speak with him one more time, briefly, alone? I just have less time for this. So after you notice-- so you want to talk to him again alone after you notice. Yeah, so Trixie, Rheekus, and Tala start walking towards the door. Galford hangs back just slightly and walks past him again.

Sure. So I'll just say-- I'll whisper to him again and just say my original offer stands. We can kill them in their sleep and escape. You have choices. And then I'll walk away. OK. So do you want me to roll a bluff check on that? Because I-- You passed the first one. That's more of a-- OK, so I passed the first one. So he's essentially bought that-- Yeah, that's-- I may have an ulterior motive. And if he helps me assassinate my abusers, it'd be easier for him to escape. You also did threaten him. So he's just kind of-- he's kind of in a state of shock. He's just really confused.

So yeah. Yeah. Baraneth. Hello. So you snuck out. Yep. How about you tell us all where you're going? And she's cured the whole city. Game over. Game over, yeah. Everything's fine. We all go home. I injected them with meningitis. I've cured Zeke. Oh, goodness. But you can't cure me. That's awesome. Brad Pitt will cure you personally. Hey, that's awesome. Well, no. Oh, now we're talking, Jason. I'm not role-playing that. [LAUGHTER] I still lose to Jason. Well, if he has to role-play that out, then I suggest next time Baraneth has to do her one with the optional singing bonus, she has to.

That's always on the table. Otherwise, she's not allowed to use it. That's always on the table. We're going to make her do it. It's going to happen. The episode will be called Will You Accept Pitt? [LAUGHTER] Oh. I agree. Hashtag blame. All right, so Baraneth left. Where is she going? What's she off to do? I'm going back to the dungeon. Oh, you're going back into the complex. I'm going back into the complex. All right. All right, so you got a little ground to cover. Here's how-- so while they're having this chat, you snuck out and you're rolling back to-- OK, so here's what's going to happen.

For each area that you have to traverse that wasn't completely cleared out, I'm going to have you roll a stealth check. If you pass the stealth check, you sneak back past it, and there's no problem. If you fail the stealth check, you're going to get into some combat. OK. Sound good? OK. So-- And you're by yourself. I didn't think this through very well. Nope. So the first place you're going to be walking past is the lookout tower, more specifically the portion of street that would be right in front of the lookout tower, basically, unless you're trying to get packed in there.

No, no. OK, so go ahead and roll a stealth check. And I have a number in my head. And if you pass it, you will not get into combat. 14. 14. That is not going to do it, sadly. So go ahead. Let's pop you right here. And then let's say that there is two zombies kind of walking around. Go ahead and roll initiative. 15. 15. All right, let's add you to the initiative tracker. And 15. This could get interesting. 15 and 18. OK, so let's sort that. OK, so they're going to take their turn before you. So they see you moan and just start shuffling towards you. And that'll end both of their turns.

Go ahead. OK, I'm going to move to zombie number two. I'm going to use Singing Strike. All right. G20 plus 11. 15. 15 versus what? Oh, god damn it. Wisdom versus AC. OK, so that'll hit. Awesome. And go ahead and roll damage. D8 plus 6. Wow, 14. 14. Very nice. You have killed the first one. Well, two, actually. So yeah, you've killed zombie number two. And can I shift? No, because you moved up to get to him. OK. Yeah. And it's zombie number one's turn. He is going to lunge forward and try and grab you. So keep your fingers crossed on this one. Oh, god damn it. D20 plus 6. 23.

So he grabs you by the shoulders. So you are grabbed. And it's your turn. OK, Singing Strike again. OK. D20 plus 11. 17. 17 will hit. OK. D8 plus 6. 14. 14 will kill him. Good god. You guys can talk, you know. My heart's in my throat. I don't know what we were supposed to be talking about. Brandon, remember, whenever we fought them before, it was literally five damage and they were decimated. So you go against them for the most part. You should be OK unless you say something. I love how we're having a conversation in the outside text box. Yes, I see that. Yeah, your characters can't interact with her.

But of course, you guys can. I'm just-- yeah. Go, Brandon. Thanks, guys. Brandon, why'd you leave us? See, that question you can't ask. Why'd you dump us? You dumped us for-- You can't ask that. Shh. We have a new friend from House Darkfane. I say we leave her. It's out of characters. So you continue to sneak back into-- you continue to sneak back into the complex. So what we're going to do here is put you back into the hallway. So as soon as you walk back into this place, these zombies are just moaning and shitting themselves to get to you. Stealth is pretty much out of the options.

So you're just traveling back through. So just about when you were to the opposite side, you're noticing that some of the bars on one of the larger holding pens is looking a little worse for wear. Oh, Jesus. And you're just about-- you're just about to the other side when you hear it. You hear a loud clanging sound? I'm going to run. OK. So you're just sprinting for the other end of the door. Now, these are pretty large-- these are pretty large doors. And they pull inward. So what's going to happen is about three or four of these zombies are tumbling out first.

So let's say-- let's just grab four. And there we go. But more will be coming as soon as they figure out that there's a way to get to you. So they're moving slowly towards that door. What I want you to do-- we're going to do an athletics check to close the door. OK. 21. Gorgeous. I critically closed the door. Yeah. My athletics is only one. So-- But yet you still succeed. Yeah, that's fantastic. So with all of your strength, you pull back on both of these doors and manage to close them behind you. And it isn't long after that that you hear these ghouls just like beat on this door.

But it's going to be a long while before they can kind of get through that. So you-- Just remember there's a chance you'll have to go back through that door. Well, it's that of the arena. It's that of the arena at this point. This is very interesting. So let's put you back in the-- there we go. OK, so you travel back down the long corridor that leads to the spiral staircase that brings you right back to the prisoner's quarters rooms. So these are all the cells, including yours, that you came from. I'm imagining that you're making your way back to that cubbyhole room, right?

I'm going straight to the alcove. OK, awesome. So in that room, there are four bodies-- well, there are six. But there's only four that you would even remotely care about. Beyond the two random, miscellaneous ex-prisoners who are dead, there's Tholoman, Katie, Sill, and Valis. I'm guessing you want to bring someone back from the dead. I'm going to kneel over Valis and open up the red scroll. Knew it. You choose Valis over your party members. It's not like that. I told you she was so broken up over it, we should have seen this coming. Yeah, my whole offer about killing people in their sleep during the desert, it stands now.

I'm with you now. Now I'm with you on this. It's going to be Valis or Baranas, somebody who's getting a knife in the throat. I put aside my hatred for elves until this point, but it's on now. It's on. I really don't know how to feel about this. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Shoot. Let's give her the doubt. Maybe she has a good idea that she just hasn't bothered to share with the group yet. So you said you kneel over Valis, and you take out the scroll from the little cylinder. Yeah. And I'm guessing you're going to read it. I am. OK. So you read this scroll, and as you do, you kind of feel this power surge forth from it.

And it's something way beyond you. You don't feel like you could have the power to cast this, but thanks to this, this is mystically etched on this scroll. And as you read it, the words disappear from the page, and Valis starts to glow. And where he was scarred up and just oozing and bloody and really just fucked up all the way around, his skins return to normal, and his eyes burst open. And he wraps his hand around your throat, instantly jerks his hand up, and starts to scream because in his mind, he's still falling. And after he gets his bearings, he lets go of your throat.

And he just kind of scrambles backwards on the ground. And he actually backs up to the large door leading to the arena and he kind of starts getting his bearings. I'm going to back up against the wall and cower until I know I'm safe. He can hear the moaning outside, and you can see it slowly, like dawn on his face, like what's happening. And he says, what's happened? And Braneth is still completely in disbelief of what has just happened and kind of stares at him just blankly with wide eyes. And her jaw dropped and says, I can't believe you're back. He starts looking around the room at the pile of bodies on the ground.

And he could see that they're no longer human. They were obviously ghouls. And he says, the last thing I actively remember was you pushing me into the pit. As soon as you start to give him an explanation or anything, he kind of holds up his hand. And he's like, it's not like I gave you much of a choice. It's fine. I tell him I didn't want to do that. I really didn't ever, ever want to harm you. We don't have time to talk about this right now. We need to get out. And he glances back at the door. And he listens for a minute. And it's getting noisy in the arena.

Yeah. I don't think we want to go that way. Fuck. Which way do we go? He says, you know of another way out? I do. I know of another way out. And well, you see these poor dead creatures laying here. There are about 50 of them walking and hungry. And we're going to have to fight through them if we're going to get out. And in the midst of all this, a smile creeps across his face. And he simply says, I'll need my weapons. OK. I think we're in the right place. Let's cut back to the group. So you've noticed Brandon's gone. What would you like to do? I'm checking my bag.

You're-- you're coming in a little low, Megan. It's not an instinct. She's checking her bag. So she's-- so-- OK, so you're checking your bag instantly after you see that she's not there. Yep. OK. And you notice the scroll is missing? Fuck, she went back for Valis. How did they know? Like, they automatically, like-- They automatically suspect you of thievery. Do you-- do you now remember how broken you were when he died? Like, you were emotionally scarred to the point that we could barely even move you out of the arena. You vomited in the middle of the arena.

I didn't think Brandon was that transparent at the time, but please. Oh, please. Oh, please. Please. Apparently, oh, please. There was a finding in Jersey that saw it. And you're all the way in Canada. OK, sorry, go on. You're assuming she went back for Valis. So I assume you're going to give chase. Yes. Well, I just-- Rekis will kind of pipe up and just remind the group that we don't know everything right away, even though we kind of-- you guys may have your hunch. I'm a little bit more skeptical and a little bit disbelieving of what her purpose of leaving the group was.

You be a skeptic. I'm going to go whack her over the head. Yeah, I'm going to chase after her out of anger. So Galford will just throw up his arms and say, are you actually considering going back for her? She took a resurrection scroll to go resurrect a murdering tiefling when, meanwhile, Tala is dying from this affliction. In some respects, realize that we put her in this predicament. Who is she? She's a member of the group. And she's a very valuable member of this group. And she's put a lot of-- She's a liability. She is a liability for mental state. We're all liabilities in this group.

Just because you're pissed off at her doesn't mean that she hasn't saved our asses more than once. So we're going to go back for her and find out what happened. You don't measure the risk of going back into the arena. We have a key to get out of this city. This member of Darkspane is going to help lead us to these gates. We can find another insane elf cleric somewhere in the desert. Let's leave this one to be food for the ghouls. Rikas will kindly or a little bit more aggressively walk up to Galford and bunch up whatever he has over his chest, bunch it up in his hand, and look him straight in the eyes and say, look, she's a member of the group.

We're all here for the same purpose. We all want to get out of here. We're not leaving without her, whether you like it or not. You can make your choices, and you can go run off with little Darkspane boy over here. But as far as I'm concerned, I want to know the truth of where she went, and I want to know now. So you need to kindly calm down, because as much as-- you are taking the respect I've given you for the stuff you've done in battle with us. You're taking it way out of line. And you're disrespecting the respect I've given you. Don't make that mistake.

We are going to go find her now, and we'll get the truth, because that's the right thing to do. The only thing sicker than that hammer you carry is your brain. Now take your mule face away from me. If you want to go look after this ridiculous girl, this elf, I'll be staying here. But I cannot guarantee I'll be here when you return. Can we just tie his dumb ass up and throw him over your shoulder and bring him with us? I mean, we don't have time for this. She's by herself. She is by herself in an arena full of zombies. On top of everything else, if we hurry, she might not use the res scroll.

Rekis will noticeably clench his fist as he looks at Galford and just says, all right, that's your choice. But if this building becomes compromised, don't forget the fact that we were here to help you before. And I once again get the fact that as the ghouls eat your entrails, they will be occupied as I am freed from this city alone. Are we splitting the party three ways? You are. Apparently. OK, sorry. Jason, someone's excited. I'm sorry. That was-- sorry. That wasn't supposed to be out loud. Can I say one more thing before-- You were supposed to squeal like a schoolgirl out loud?

Can I say one more thing before we leave the tavern? Absolutely. As I assume Trixie, Tala, and Rekis reach the door, Rekis will turn around and say, look, Galford, I've had a lot of chances to smash your head in, but I've been really, really patient with you. I've been really respectful. I've valued the sacrifices you've made for the group, but you're stepping way out of line. We're here for a purpose, and that purpose is to get out of here alive if you figure out what's causing this. Galford will ignore him completely and walk over to Tala and grab her wrist and say, whether she's alive or she's dead, get the scroll back from her.

Fuck you. Was that in character or out of character? You obviously don't want to live. None of you do. I obviously, first of all, don't want to leave a comrade behind. Second of all, she needs to be punished for what she stole from me, one way or another. Can I reach over and smack you? Explain to me this punishment. One at a time. What did you have in mind? That's one of your concerns. She wronged me. Oh, as much as I would love to witness that, enjoy your trip. Go to hell. So Tala, Trixie, and Rekis are now leaving the tavern, and you're going to go follow the same path that Berenith did, right?

That's correct. All right. So let's do the same thing. How about that? Let's go back to-- let's start at the lookout tower. This is what we'll do. And we'll remove that. And we'll have you guys do a stealth check the same way that-- actually, let's have Rekis up front, just because he's the meat. All of you go ahead and make a stealth roll. Ooh. 21, 34. That was Rekis with 21, 34 for Trixie, and Tala. As I fly through the area. 19. Summersault. Boom. Glorious. Love it. You guys-- nothing hears you as you creep through the streets of Onakal. The one time I created this, I wanted to sneak in zombies.

Yay. We moonwalk by, going swag, swag, swag, swag. So you guys managed to get back into-- against all logic and reason-- you walk back into the arena hallway here. And there are dozens of loose ghouls streaming in. A lot of them are by the door at this point. This entire pen has emptied out for the most part. And you guys enter into the room and see many, many zombies just kind of loose, much to your shock, in the hallway here. Whereas before you walked by and were completely unscathed, this time they're just loose. So here's what we're going to do. Roll initiative, guys.

Looks like you've got about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 to contend with right now. My initiative went up too, so I have bonus two now, don't I? It'll automatically be in the math. Oh, I just didn't add the bonus. What did you-- oh, OK, I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what's your bonus? Two, so that'll be eight. All right, so Ricus gets an eight. Trixie gets a 14. And what did Tali get? She got a lovely 24. 24. And then we'll get ready and add all of your friends to the initiative tracker. Yeah, so all of our friends, that's what they are. Ricus smash.

You're about to get very acquainted with them, so. Ricus will just look at all the zombies and start humming a lullaby. That's right, you get to use your new-- let's go down the list here. Bam, bam, bam, bam. And sort. Tali, go ahead. Well, I suppose-- let's see, I'm all the way back here. I will-- yeah, 10 squares. I'll do my call lighting. All right, where would you like it? I would like it right here. Gotcha. And that will-- there you go, right there. And go ahead and I'll just roll down these. Roll for number 10. OK, hold on, hold on, hold on. What was your first roll there?

First roll was six. OK, so going right down the line. So that misses 10. You're going to hit seven. You're going to hit five. And you're going to miss 47. So if these numbers sound high, ladies and gentlemen, because they're in a room with-- it's just packed with ghouls. 49 of them. We counted. Only 49. That's it. That's only 49. They're really being wusses about this. You can make it easy and put a 50th one on there. Gosh. Oh, OK. Hold on one second. No, no, don't-- can't do that now. Too late. Seven and five are hit. So go ahead and roll damage. Five. All right. Seven and five are going to die.

And anyone that leaves this zone is going to take five damage. Yep, until the end of my next turn. Until the end of your next turn. They also get negatives to attack rolls. OK. Only I think they need to be right up in our faces, first of all, to do that. Yeah, that's going to take them a bit. Number nine is going to shuffle-- oh, wait, sorry. Number 31. Where's number 31? One, two, three, four. He's going to shuffle into the zone, because he's just making a B line right for you. Number 33 is going to shuffle forward as well. Number 35 is going to do the same.

And Trixie, your turn. I think I'm just going to move forward some. Let's see. One, two, three. I'm just going to move forward to there, and I'm going to end my turn, because anything that comes out of there is going to die anyways. OK. So you're ending your turn right there, you said, right? Yeah. OK. So 47. He's going to shuffle forward. And as soon as he leaves the zone, just lightning crackles, and he just drops dead. And he just goes, ugh, and dies. [LAUGHTER] I strongly approve of this. Number 38 is going to roll forward for-- and that brings us to number 40.

He's going to roll forward. And R OK. Um, I'm going to move. I'm just-- oh, man. I kind of-- [SPITS] Because the only downside-- that was a weird noise. That was my frustrated noise, because it's the only downside I have to this character is the fact that I really don't have any ranged attacks. So I literally am just going to move up. It's three, four. I can count. I go to college. Five. All right. And-- I went to college. I can't count either. Don't be sad. It's OK. I work with money all day, and I can't count. And that's it, by the way. OK. And zombie number nine, he's going to shuffle forward.

Zombie 10 is going to lunge forward for Trixie. Crackle snap, he's dead. Leaving that zone. That was number nine. And zombie number 45 to close out the initiative is just going to strut forward for coming into the room from the rear. The door which was left just a crack open, Galford pops his head in from the rear. So Galford will push into the room and just say, you're all fools. Da, ricus. And then we'll just roll for initiative. Let's just tack you on at the end. All right. Cool. Let's just do that. So-- I got a shitty initiative roll anyway, so. Yeah, that's fine.

All right, go ahead, take your turn. OK. I'm just going to zoom in a little bit. Other things are a little far back for me here. I was just watching the sheer number of zombies and enjoying it. So I can still only move four, right, because of my limp? Yes. OK, so I'll move four. And use Shadow Claws on zombie number 402. What is that, 31? 31. 402. 14. 14 will hit. OK. And 1d10 plus 6, 10 damage. Bam, dead. Do you want to do anything else? I can only-- OK, no, I'm good. I'm good. OK. Tali, your turn. You're muted. There you go. The sickness was just getting to her. Yeah.

Sorry, we were kind of looking at the baby. Baby cute was going on, sorry. The baby zombie growing out of Megan's shoulder. Wouldn't that just be it if that's what it was? There's just a zombie growing out of my shoulder. That's all it was. Quaid. [LAUGHTER] I haven't seen that movie in so long. I will move up a smidgen here. And I will-- yeah, I'll go ahead and use my flame seed. All right, on what? On number nine. All right, go ahead. Maybe 20. Eight versus-- well, that's not going to hit anything. Yeah, reflex, that doesn't hit. Nope, not even a zombie. That doesn't even hit a zombie.

And that'll end your AOE, so we could stop zapping zombies that way. Though you got your mileage out of it. Yeah. I killed four whole enemies that way. Let's see here. You're done? Other than that? I'm done. OK. Four. Trixie, your turn. OK, I'm going to scoot up right next to number nine. And just use a melee basic attack on number 33. All right, cool beans. 18. 18 will hit. OK, eight, dead. Eight, yes, dead. Gone. Done. Do you want to do anything else? Can I shift back one without getting hurt? You moved forward, right? Yeah. Yeah, so no, you can't shift after you move.

OK, then I'm fine. All right, zombie 38-- Please don't bite me. --is going to strut forward, as will zombie 40. He's going to walk right up to Trixie here and lift his arms and just try and slam the hell out of you here. So let's see if this works. Eight. No, that's going to-- You suck. That's totally not going to do anything. Riegus, your turn. OK, I'm going to-- well, I had one plan in mind, but now I'm going to swap things around. Let me just double check something, because I was just originally going to go up to number nine and hit him with a basic melee attack and smash his brains in, because I was going to charge up.

But I got to double check. Close burst three, each enemy in the burst. We're going to do-- I'm going to do-- if I run up and go on the diagonal side, diagonal from Trixie, can I hit-- if I use the ruin of undeniable dawn, which is a close burst three, do I hit nine and 40? Let's see here. Close burst three, each enemy in the burst. Yeah, not only do you do that, but-- hold on, let me try that sentence again. Not only do you do that, but I also have a stroke. And you will also hit number one in the pen, too. Oh, wow. OK. One, two, three. I'll move it three.

OK. That's where I was going to move originally. I probably don't hit one anymore, do I? You'll hit a bunch of stuff. So you're going to-- OK, so-- OK. That's good. So this goes out three in every direction. So you're going to hit nine and four and 33 and 16 and 22. It's like a bingo card. Yeah, you're going to hit a lot. One, two, three. You're also going to hit one. Well-- So here's what we're going to do. Oh, OK. This is each enemy in the burst. OK, that hit one, roll right down the line. Go to 16, hits 22. That's against what? Hacing? Yeah. So that's not going to hit 22. 38. 20.

That'll hit 40. That'll hit nine. That'll hit and-- You're a beast. 23. That'll hit. You just rolled like four consecutive tens. Is this five consecutive tens? I was practicing before we started. Oh, I'm dumb. No, no. I'm dumb. I'm looking at the bonus. OK. That makes more sense. Go ahead and roll damage. Because you may just-- you may kill a bunch of crap. You're going to obliterate them all. 1d10 plus 8. If you roll a 2, I'm going to smack you, though. It's going to happen. Nine. Holy shit. OK. Nice. All of that. Number one is dead. Number 22 is dead. Number nine, dead.

Number 40, dead. Number 38, dead. Number 23 is dead. One, two, three. Yeah. You've just killed several, several people. Zombies. Riekus realizes his fly was down the whole time, and that's why he was so powerful. That would have been like a plus 100 bonus. That's right, baby. First creates a zone that lasts until the end of your next turn. You and your allies gain a plus 2 bonus to all defenses while standing in the zone. So let's make a zone, guys. That was awesome. I didn't think that was going to be as successful as it was. That was incredible. That's how you use it daily, guys.

Yeah, thank you for saving me from those. That's very nice of you. Generally, you ran up there, and my original thought was, oh, I'll just take out the one on your right. And then the other one approached you, and I went, well, I got to take out two at once. And this thing-- And he took out 15? --took out like everyone and their cousin. Man, look at that zone. This is like the Riekus arc, because you Kool-Aid man through a door. You got a new hammer, and then you blew up like 10 zombies. That was really impressive. Very, very nice. For such a soft-spoken, lawful good guy, you're pretty powerful.

I get an anger streak. So I'm assuming you're done. Do you want to kill another 10? Or-- [LAUGHTER] I don't want to take a point. Yes, you would like to kill another 10 of them. I'm good. I'm done. Zombie45 is going to-- he's going to strip forward. Galford, your turn. OK. I just want to see if my Fascinating Shadows could actually take out both. If it's a blast, I can't shoot through allies, or would that go around them? Is it just ranged attacks that you can't shoot through an ally? Can a blast go through-- like Trixie and Ricus could be in the blast? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They can be in the blast. It's fine. OK. I will move up. 1, 2, 3, 4. And then Fascinating Shadows is a blast 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. OK, so it won't hit 36. But OK, well, then I'll just go there and just aim it right at him. OK. And that's a crit miss. I don't really want to save you guys. I'm just pretending. Thanks, buddy. I look at him because I'm just like, show off. Thank you so much for that. Tali, your turn. I just make shadow puppets with my Fascinating Shadows. They are fascinating. I will move up again. And I will try and use my Flame Seeds again. So let's do that. 20 will hit.

That will hit. Yes. 6? Do my 6 damage. Dead. It did. Totally dead. Yay. My zombie counts almost as high as Rika's is now. You guys are-- I killed all of one. I totally saved your asses. If I hadn't come through that door, you'd all be fucked. Right. These guys are nice little XP pinatas, too. Because while they don't have a lot of hit points, the lethality that they represent in the form of the virus is worth some XP. So you guys are racking it up. Rika's got a nice little bonus just because he killed like eight or nine in a turn. So I gave him a bump. I love that term, XP pinata.

Yeah. That's a Rob term. I took that from Rob. Copyright. Zombie number 35 is going to saunter up to Rika's. [LAUGHTER] I'm laughing just because I know this is going to be funny. I could be laughing for the wrong reasons, but I feel like-- go ahead. He is going to just kind of like flail his arms at you. 22. We also get-- You get a plus 2 to your bonus, your defenses. But that'll bring you to 22. 23. 23. My AC's at 21 already. Son of a bitch. That'll miss. Trixie, your turn. OK. You want to punch him in the nose and be done? I do want to punch him in the nose.

How long did you know? I'm going to walk up to him and punch him in the nose. All right. I'm just going to use my melee basic attack again. That's a D20 plus 70 if you punch him in the nose. [LAUGHTER] Rekis is just flexing. 14. That'll hit. [SPLAT] 3. Damn it. He's bloodied. You only got one nostril. That is the first time someone's hit something, and it didn't kill him in this encounter. He's bloodied. Reroll, reroll. Heroic effort. You should use an action point. Heroic effort. Rekis, your turn. Mm. You can use an action point. Rekis, knock him over. Just trip him slightly.

Yeah, just push him with the hammer. Rekis, the light pieces of purple stare out of his mouth. The zombie, and he crumbles over and dies. No. I'm going to use-- Just poke him with the hammer. He'll fall over and die. --with hammer. Ew. We just got away from the dick jokes. Come on. Bring it back. Bring it back. Use my melee basic attack. I'd like to point out, Rannit started it. Everyone close your mouths and your eyes, because this is going to splatter really far. Crit. Oh. Oh. So you bring your hammer down on this thing, and it's just the reenactment of a Gallagher concert from the '80s.

Just-- All my anger-- Who's Gallagher? My anger towards Galford out on these zombies. God damn it, man. And then what is the thing with my hammer since I crit? He's super ultra mega dead. So-- The shockwave hit his ancestors eons ago. You've destroyed everything that ever was and ever will be in relation to this corpse. Dead. Super duper dead. And that will end this encounter. You guys are in the clear. That was fun. Good work with that hammer. Should we discuss the fact the gnome's back? Megan just looked up Gallagher. God damn it, Megan. He's the guy that smashes the watermelons.

You're so young. I'm starting to be ageist. I am so old, apparently. It's OK, dude. I'm right there with you. OK. We're old enough to have had Gallagher at one of our birthday parties. Mm-hmm. He is a prop comic that used a large comical hammer and grew up to be a very bitter old man. He smashed the watermelons. He did. He did, Megan. No. Dave Chappelle also did black Gallagher. You're cute, kid. Now shut up. Trying to tell a story. So you guys have slayed every zombie in your way to this door. I'm assuming you're going to crank this thing open and then run to the other side, right?

Yep. OK. Let's do it. Do it. Sprinting to the opposite end of the hallway, realizing that time may be of the essence. And it would appear that someone's been through here. So that kind of spurs you on. You yank open the doors. And on the opposite side, you find Braneth marching up what appears to be the same stairwell that leads to the pits. But she's coming up from that. And then directly behind her is a very large tiefling he recognizes, Valus, covered in gore. You traitorous bitch. Hey, guys. Valus is now holding his trademark weapons, a large greatsword, and what appears to be a bear trap on a chain.

I leave it to you. You traitorous bitch. Hey, Tala. [LAUGHTER] Arm agnost. So let's do this. Let's put you on a map, because a fight may break out. And I want to be prepared for that. So let's put you all in a nice, close proximity to one another. [LAUGHTER] Nice cuddly proximity. All right, go ahead. Sorry. Can I just look at her, and I start squinting my eyes at her And so you know we could have used that spell to save talla if she if we couldn't fix her and no offense valus But you use it on him instead I'd like to use lure of loyalty on Brannus We'll be in a second Not if I have anything to do about it wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait Let me read full of loyalty this You pull the target up to four squares to a square adjacent to you and the first time an enemy Attacks you before the end of your next turn the target must charge that enemy Or make a basic melee attack as a free action Okay guys keep in mind if we attack her valus might be you know grateful enough that he will attack us And we're gonna have to kill him again.

I think what he's getting at and correct me if I'm wrong Tyson I think what he's getting at is he's going to pull Baranath to his side and He's assuming he none assuming that valus attacks. He's going to make Baranath attack him yes Yeah I'm gonna save you the trouble and walk right up to you Boy, don't I get to roll for that what? Okay It's not a damage inflicting power Well counter my understanding of that was that it only applies to when we're in combat. We can't use I mean should be in Baranath Just roll initiative against each other well, okay wait wait first if I get first then I can do it okay wait how about we see if this escalates into a fight and then I'll have everyone roll initiative and then You can use lure Loyally if it escalates into a fight how about that all right Baranath is saying that she is walking up to Galford Are you sure you want to do that Baranath?

God I am NOT. I'm not I'm not walking up to him to get into his face I'm just I am I am walking up to To him and to all of you. I I'm anticipating that you have something to say to me and I'm ready to I'm ready to take it I'm not gonna speak to her. I'm just gonna say you all heard what I said about her. She's insane, and she's dangerous It's yours tell him Guys guys wait won't we can we at least ask her why she did what she did? We're not just gonna come in here and start screaming at her. Maybe she has a good reason I don't care if she's crazy. We brought her into this Tala is rotting away before our eyes and a murdering tiefling demon who sent me 60 feet nearly to my death is Standing behind us yes, and so you're biased so separate yourself from this for a moment and last Tala don't ask me She is the one that's dying in front of us City Vala steps up and sidles directly up next to Baranath And I can smell the stink of death on you demon Hold your tongue gnome Tala please for once just please just let us ask her before you decide to beat her up Yes, can we use can we use less violent ways to negotiate and kind of have a conversation about this without jumping the can? conclusions One less traitor around Well, she might have been trying to help us.

How do you know? Galford is afraid of Valis. She stole from me wronged me, but she also brought back someone who might be able to help us in the Long run we don't know why she did this Let's at least ask her and if her answer is not good enough you can beat this not out of her I won't stop you. I will I'm going back into the main cell. I'm done here so back in the other room. I'm done here You're walking back into that that I'll throw this I'll throw the cane back at Galford And I'll go back to the cells with the zombies because I've had it with most of you Okay, I'm gonna catch it all super cool and like twirl it all pimp style No, I'm not shove him over So on the way out tallow walks off And marches back up the spiral staircase that leads to the ghoul infested hallway which leaves Trixie ricus galford baraneth and Valis So can I walk over to her and like get up next to her even next to Valis doesn't matter and just ask her to Explain herself all right brandeth seriously.

Why why did you not tell us you were leaving? Why did you steal from Tala? I mean yes, we got you into this, but I mean is this really the way out I mean not you know being sneaky and Doing this when the thing that you had you had to steal to get it and it could have saved her life And why did you condemn us to death I'll yell over Trixie's shoulder Valis glares at you Galford galford ricus will look at galford and just kind of gently put his hands on his back and kind of quietly Leave him a little bit further away from the conversation And just say it's probably best if you don't chime in right now Rickus I am the last sane man on this planet Yes, and you're also a crippled man that I can triple and make fall over so I highly suggest you just take take a chill pill Take a breather We're gonna figure this out.

We're gonna do this in a calm cool collected way We're gonna let them figure out why she did this very well I'd also like to point out that Valis. I'm not I'm not sad that she brought you back I mean I didn't want to kill you to begin with we didn't want that to happen But please understand that she you know utterly betrayed us as far as we can see it to come get you without ever telling us Why? He just simply nods if I had asked you To do this if I had told you that I needed to do this Would you have let me? Was it strictly because you felt guilty over killing him To save yourself or did you do was there some other reason?

He's And she kind of catches herself and takes a breath and He's he's a brother of the Fae He is no different than me He is no different than the rest of us I know you look at him and you see a demon and I know you look at him and you see a monster None of us were monsters when we were brought here this This was not our fault He looked me in the eye and he spared me what I'm sure would have been a killing blow and to repay him I struck him and Then I sent him down into the pit to his death But did you not think about Tala? She's bitten and if she turns we're gonna have to kill her But the resurrection spell that you took could have brought her back to the Tala we had before so the fact that she was bitten What was not as bad as it could as it is now now she is really facing death She was not before and no offense to you Valis, but you know unfortunately yes, we got you into this, but you know Tala is a part of our group and Yes, you know whatever Reason that Valis is in here She is part of our group and you stole from her to help someone who's not even a part of our group and now you're forcing You're condemning her to death For helping you whenever we you know whenever we did get into a battle He saved you once she saved you she's helped save you more than once Did you think about that beforehand can I struggle away from Rika's to join this conversation I've heard enough Okay, Rickus are you actively holding him back no I just kind of let him away just so Valis didn't like jump over people and try to smash his head in okay So I'm actively holding him okay, so Galvric can walk right up and join the conversation, okay? I'll push between Trixie and and Rika's cuz I'm kind of small and let's sort of balding It's a push right between them, and I'll just look straight at Baranath and just say you know you claim that He's your brother you claim that he was innocent Then what was still when you murdered her in the arena?

Why is she not standing here? Resurrected if your guilt over striking him down Because he batted his eyelashes at you and spared you a killing blow only to turn around and try to kick Trixie to her death with a roar He nearly killed me the only reason why I'm standing here is probably because you healed me I'm sure I would have died from my wounds eventually Your logic is folly you are insane if he helps us escape from here That is the only reason Why he would be of any use to us Maybe he can carry the body of Tala on his back uh Vala steps forward and Kind of switches places With Baranath he kind of like gently pushes her back. I'm still afraid of him, so I'm not like in his face right right So I'm I'm an I'm an I'm all talk But I'm not I'm afraid of him still from between so you're just behind Rika's and Trixie But like from between them you kind of pop your head in between like kind of squeeze in between okay?

And he says I've told you once to hold your tongue if you address her in that manner one more time I'll tell you with my blade Baranath puts her attention back to Trixie and To answer your questions of course I have not forgotten about Tala this whole time I I could never forget about Tala So it knows how do you expect to save her now? I mean don't get me wrong I'm you know having having Valis with us to help us get out of the city is a Great idea in some respects, and I am happy that he is not dead. I did not want to hurt him, but Do you realize the predicament?

We're in now? I mean like what are we gonna do about her the the guy at the at the Tavern didn't help us that was our You know only shot in the dark, and we don't have it, and we're in the middle of a damn desert Baranath There's no one else Delta will cross his arms and just say the dark spain Minion is still restrained Baranath kind of kind of catches herself and Kind of thinks you know kind of a look on her face like oh crap I didn't realize there wasn't gonna be a cure there I Have I have not Forgotten about Tala and and I'll remind you that she's not dead yet I'm I Haven't forgotten about Tala, and I haven't forgotten That I have more than repaid my debt But that's not going to save her like we came back for you We little did you know we left you know we left the tavern at the risk You know risking our own lives to come save you because we were scared that you were you know that you were going to die But you didn't tell us I mean imagine put yourself in our shoes We're pretty pissed off right now You left us didn't say a damn word and just took off to go save someone else Baranath kind of lowers her head and looks at the floor and I Planned on being back before you know I was gone. I Didn't work out to fight your way back here But we're here now So you have Galford who wants to kill you?

Rika's who's trying to stop that from happening? And I'm trying to figure it out while Tal is in the other room doing God knows what in a room full of zombies like I? Mean we're broken this There there was a debt that I had to repay and No Galford No, I know I can't Bring still back and no I know I can't bring Katie back, and I've killed More people than I care to count But I had one chance To redeem some of that I had I had this one chance to save someone and I took that chance And that's and that's a great thing that you did but at the expense of another debt that you're going to have to pay if she dies You just exchanged one for another I Mean I don't think you're grasping that yes, you saved Valis and yes, that is a good thing and that makes you feel great That's wonderful, but now if tallah dies.

How are you gonna repay yourself for that? Or how are you gonna repay us for that? Valis speaks up And he says I take it your friend has been bitten That is correct you said bitten. Do you do you understand what's happening here? I've seen this once before When was she bitten not too long ago, I mean It was while we were writing to get out of here matter of hours ago, and we haven't much time We should move soon instead of argue. I'm ready to to get out of here All right, so here's what we're gonna do While this is going on tallas in the next room yep talla We're gonna make another roll Okay, plus 10 versus fortitude, please Wait, do you what am I rolling a d20?

Yeah, it's a d20 plus 10, okay Twilight Sparkle, I'm counting on you 18 You you can feel yourself becoming more exhausted you're getting sicker So let me see what were you on stage two so here's what we're gonna do stage three you're gonna get a negative 40 healing surges a Negative one to attack rolls and negative two to fortitude Oh good, cuz you know my fortitude it's not crap already So talla in the next room just kind of doubles over And You guys I assume are moving back into the hallway You're leaving or do you want to leave through the arena? I don't want to assume Well, I think probably safest to go back the way we came okay, so making your way back through you re-enter that hallway and You find? let's You guys find talla doubled over? By the way, I am Cry I am crying like a freaking baby right now.

I am I am curled into a ball I'm beyond doubled over. I'm curled up into a ball. I am crying my eyes out Yeah, this thing is it's pretty intense at this point. Like it's it's it's causing you a lot of pain. You're very fevered You're you're just you're flushed you look like crap Can I run any kind of heel check to kind of alleviate some pain? Yes, you can okay 30 so You let me see were you was any damage done to you no, okay not recently so While no damage has been done to you physically You you you are in a tremendous amount of pain due to this thing.

It's it's you can feel it like eating away at you and What Baranit does is kind of You Temporarily at least it's she's acting as a painkiller almost and and kind of alleviate some of that so at the very least you can kind of write yourself and stand up and Is she like trying to come near me? Close enough to cast this spell so I'd say at least 10 feet away Somewhere in this region somewhere. Okay. Can I run over there and help her stand up? Just kind of like give her balance. Sure. Okay, totally can So Trixie kind of helps Tala to her feet and Kind of helps get her craft together She can try but I'm still gonna be standing there crying.

Okay. I'm gonna be crying dead into trick. She's shoulder. I don't care Okay I'll just stand there and keep my arms around her and hopes that it might help Valis kind of chimes in and says we don't have much time. We should be moving Okay, we need to go you guys The the entire time these ghouls are just just going nuts just just just just just just Banging banging banging on these on on their bars and the cell doors You're making your way back to To the bar The bar itself By this point has been besieged So while you were gone The zombies had beaten down the door and Approaching the bar you can see that While there are no zombies There are no zombies in the streets You can see where the door has been shattered from behind and you you just hear that guy screaming And it it's really loud and distinct for a few seconds And then it's just kind of gurgled and goes silent and all you hear is the moans of the undead inside Can we burn this building to attract some of the ghouls to it and eliminate some of them Well, let me see you don't have any torches The only thing that we have is for flames at least I know I have flames of purity I Think that's more of a let me see does it actually burn someone Actually, I can instantly light a candle torch or small campfire with presser digitization Okay, that works Okay, so let's see here Do you want to just set I mean it won't be a fast fire like it won't be something though It is it is a bar if you cast a fire Like if you kind of peek your head in there and cast a fire Back where some of the alcohol is that might speed things up You have a stealth check Or just to peek in yes Okay, let's give that a shot, okay nine Okay, maybe I'll just throw it at the rug in the front door, okay Yeah, I remember whenever I just did my first stealth check and was quamping through the trees and kicking every single rock and stepping on every twig So here's what we're gonna do Tallaricus Trixie Right there so Galford is going to ease on in And and try to be stealthy about it and with a nine sadly He trips over the door of the doorframe here.

He just kind of trips in there's an extra. There's a little lip he didn't see and he kind of trips in and several zombies Stop tearing at this guy Long enough to turn around and start towards Galford Can I go run after him pick him up Turn around run well now. There's two things you could do the door that do it the front door is still intact so You could even set this fire on your turn Galford, and then you could just try and close the door and run Yeah, essentially that's still my plan okay, so let's go ahead everyone roll initiative You can look at you Whoo good initiative I just hope the zombies don't get oh wait shoot mines 14 I keep forget to I'm not used to having a bonus with my initiative Okay, that's fine.

So what is it a 14? I've got a 12 it should be 14. I gotta remember that no biggie everyone. Just sound off Tell me what you got one at a time Okay, okay I've got a 17 and Trixie has a 24 all right. I got a 9 17 and Trixie got a 24 Valis will get an 11. It's not great How did that zombie roll a zero That doesn't oh he has a negative one negative one. I was about to say that doesn't seem possible He's more interested in chopping on our friend there Trixie your turn Okay um hold on let me see where I'm at I am outside So let me I guess I'm gonna go inside Well, that's up to you Gal for him his turn is gonna try set a fire.

Yeah, oh so Yeah Go ahead oh, no, I it's it's fine Oh, if he's gonna set a fire then can I just pass up my turn because I mean There's no point me running in after him if he's gonna set me on fire Calford your turn Okay, so the door is open I can obviously see the bar now right yes, okay? So press a digitation right in the middle of the bottles, okay? so you set fire to the wood of the the bar itself and The fire is starting to spread slowly Is that all you want to do with your turn um I'd like to shut the door if possible and shift back for Let's see here. What is press the digitation?

What does that count as any encounter power an encounter power? Yep? Okay, so you've used that well. It's yeah. It's a red power. It doesn't actually say it's just oh no at will arcane Well, okay, oh it is so it is not well. Okay, okay, so you've used that that's at will and then yep That'll be everything so the minor action to close the door and You back up four spaces and it is zombie fives turn zombie five is going to march forward and Kind of bang into the bar as he's marching towards the front door And when he does he spills a bunch of alcohol bottles over Some ale and some some harder stuff and the bar just kind of erupts into flames And it's you can see it sweeping in you can see the dull flickering inside, so it's it's spreading pretty quick now Tally your turn Yeah, I'm not taking an action.

I am Powering in fear okay, okay? rikis your turn Hmm see like part I'm gonna be the tank that I am and I'm just gonna oh wow where did I go I? Want to go click on my I moved myself completely off the board. Yeah, okay? Yeah, I was just gonna move actually I was right there. I was just gonna move one Square to the left I guess that is and kind of stand right in front of the doorway So when they come out they're gonna be swinging at the giant wall of meat just in case okay on Valis's turn Valis is going to see that the Excuse me see that the door is closed and then he's going to Walk up to Baraneth and grab her by the arm and start to turn away and walk And The zombies inside zombie number two is just gonna walk up to the door They're gonna start beating at it, but to do that.

He walks through fire to get to the door The the flames in the bar have just spread to the point where they are everywhere and pretty much everything inside is engulfed And it is Baraneth's turn Now is it are you gonna go with Valis or is this a thing where you're gonna kind of pull away? um I'm gonna kind of just like Not hit him, but kind of pat him a couple times and say listen. Please put me down We didn't pick you up it was more just like Oh, yeah, just kind of almost almost like you would with a small child just like grab him by the wrist It's like come on. Let's go like you're taking him to a grocery store.

Okay. I'm gonna dig in my heels and And tell him to stop We need to stay with Tala you said you had a solution like please tell me you have a solution for this Do I pull away from him like is he still hanging on to me that's up to you I mean if you pull back that let me know if you pull back first. I'm pulling back. Okay, and he lets go of your wrist I'm said, okay Okay, why are these zombies not burning? Oh, they're burning okay? They just don't feel pain so they're gonna move around for a few more minutes before Before keeling over, but yeah, they're they're taking damage there there.

Yeah, but they're really no threat to you at this point there although The ensuing fire will be because it will attract some attention I'm just I don't understand why we're still in combat if they're locked in there and the place is burning Um you're pretty much out of combat now actually this is okay. Yeah, we're We're just speaking now. Sorry. I should have said okay. Thanks XP pinata's And Because galford was so clever to to kind of come up with that plan. He's gonna get an XP bump. Oh, yeah Let me mark that down go ahead sorry Where is Val still walking away?

No, he's standing there in front of you now, okay, um I'm Okay, there's some urgency here because I'm sure we're gonna be overcome very soon by whatever undead is is walking around Please tell me what you know on how we can we can heal her Your friend doesn't have much time. The only cure I know of is a house darksbane itself How how do we get there Uh, he's he kind of for the first time he kind of just like scans the area like he's kind of at a loss like the only The you guys don't have any transport of any kind and he doesn't know of any any Any way to steal any that doesn't look to be anything alive He says sadly the only way I know is to walk What is it that's at house darksbane that that could help her The only the only person with that kind of knowledge to do something on this scale I Imagine he visited you that day Is the man with the crooked nose? Thermak yes, and And we can't create a potion we can't find a spell.

It's it all comes down to him. I Have no working knowledge of it Like I said, I've encountered this once before he was the only man to have any Do I have any working cure? Braneth is going to turn to Galford and Trixie and and Say you you've seen him you is that the man who is here a man from darksbane with a crooked nose came and touched our shoulders and This fire is gonna be touching our shoulders if we don't get out of here When we were up in that tower, we saw a cavern heading towards the city gates. We need to get out of the city Okay, then Okay, we need to get somewhere safe we need to move Valis looks at Galford after he said that you saw a caravan.

Are you sure it was coming toward the city? Yes We climbed a tower we saw the the darksbane Minions run into this bar. We hope to interrogate them Obviously, you've seen the state of the bar now Our other option was there was a caravan heading towards the city Some type of a carriage and they had not reached the city gates yet. I Can't say I vouch for the condition of the the driver But hopefully the carriage itself is intact if it traveled across the desert It could do so again And he said how long ago was this there's like urgency in his voice now Mere hours if that It had to be less than an hour.

Oh, it's yeah, it's much less than an hour It's it's like you're from the point where you guys were originally at the lookout tower to now you're talking maybe Like 25 minutes somewhere there. Oh Okay, well then we went all the way back in and got brandeth and valice and came back out - yeah, cool You're talented man. Well rikis just blows up everything and like it, you know, if you put radio Well, I mean these two these two things are going on at the same time Brandon walking away. She's doing her thing the same time. You're interrogating him and then You guys backtracking to meet up with her.

So yeah, you're talking about 25 minutes. Yeah, we're talking about every action Someone takes is only about six seconds. Yeah in combat. So yeah combat doesn't take especially when rikis is blowing up half the damn room Then I take it back. I'll say, you know, he may have reached the gates by now, but it was you know half an hour ago Okay, so I'm gonna look at Valis and say we go to the gates He kind of stops and considers for his considers it for a second we don't have any other choice One of two things is going to happen either. He's going to try to open the gate and get consumed Where he's going to know something's wrong turn away and that we are only way out of the desert Do we have time to grab any provisions from the market here as we're running?

He says you do what you like I'm heading to the gate. I'm gonna follow him to the gate The fire is now raging out of control While you guys speak directly you can feel the heat off this thing like it's it's yeah and you hear shuffling and moaning It sounds like it's echoing throughout the the big empty town square like it sounds like it's coming from everywhere at once So here's the thing We can either stop for the night Or you guys can do the big push for the gate this evening Even though I have a baby right here. I totally don't want to stop Yeah, I I need to keep going Alrighty, then we are gonna do the big push for the gate right now guys I'm hoping that the fire will attract some of the the walkers to this building which will at least You know remove some of them from the streets while we're running actually here Since you were so clever to come up with that I'm gonna shave off a quarter of the zombies that would have been at the gate Beforehand That's not fair cool awesome, so let me do that on this side.

Give me one second. Oh, you're so nice Hey, you're you guys came up with a plan. I like it. I'm so glad I took that class on Resident Evil Nearly spit coffee all over my laptop screen oh You guys don't have the green key for the gate. I'm sorry We're gonna have to go back and find it somewhere in the city. Oh damn All Right let me load up the front gates I found it funny that as Vocal as Tala has been this session. No one seemed fit to question why she's being so quiet now It's kind of an urgent situation. I hadn't gotten that yet You're not doing so well I Would just assume that it's because you're you're doing Like you're doing worse, and that's yeah, that's just an interesting assumption to make On the way to the gate can I like lean over you know?

Kind of get closer to her even though I'm holding on to her and ask her if there's anything I could do to help All right, I just look at her in horror and hold him like hug her tighter, but don't say anything But I do kind of look at Brandon and kind of give her that look like hey step away in case she means you What the hamburger? So in the midst of all this Valis doesn't break stride And This is all happening like you like Trixie and Tala are bringing up the rear of this little convoy, and that's going on and Baranath is within earshot Galford is hovering somewhere in the middle and Riekis and Valis are just beelining it for the gate Let me show you guys what you're gonna be dealing with here So shaving off a quarter of them, that's not so bad you're dealing with what 11 12 14 Somewhere in there 13 between you and the gate is a small body of water There there is a bridge to cross over to it, and then there is There's the large The large gates in in and out of Onakol To open them you're gonna have to go to the second floor of the the gate mechanism which is up in this region here, so this would be the front gate and You would have to kind of skirt around to the side of it and climb that now. We'll deal with that when we're when we're We'll cross that when we get to it in front of the gate is a small horde of zombies Which looks like the last the last things to stand in front of you and freedom So everyone go ahead and roll initiative Wow oh It's getting back at us now Yeah Give me one crit, and then you backstab me you stupid dice Some of those are not great Everyone let's just hope they all bunch together Everyone go ahead and let me know what you got Eight I got a twelve I got a four Eight twelve and a four thirteen thirteen for Brenna 18 18 for Tala Valis gets a 20 now.

I'm gonna go ahead and add all of your buddies Now here's another thing that you're noticing about these particular zombies up front They look to be a little hardier they look thicker somehow if that makes sense If our former guards or soldiers or something like that there may be fresher So let's go ahead and roll initiative for these guys they all get a negative one because they're zombies not a whole lot of initiative there Look there's a happy zero oh my goodness That's a bit more pep in their step So you got a couple with a with some ambition, and then you got a string of zeros at the end so Let's get ready and do this Valis is going to take his turn first Let's see his speed is a five so he is going to race forward here ahead of the pack one two three Four five and he's gonna start swinging that big-ass chain with a with a bear trap on the end of it Which should really have a clever name, but doesn't? You know Duchess and randomness listeners if you'd like to name Valis as bear trap Please put it on the Facebook page. Please do that would be awesome And he's going to swing at zombie number 11 22 so that's gonna hitch and he is going to drag this zombie Right up in his face And the zombie is going to let's see how much damage he's gonna take here 13 So this zombies dead So he drug this thing right like he it clamps on let's say its neck Snaps it as he drags it back, and it's just a corpse that sidles up next to him That'll be fatality her next She's cowering okay zombie number 12 He is going to shuffle forward Zombie number 13 is going to do the same Zombie number 5 is going to do the exact same thing and that brings up Baranath Okay, so I'm gonna move one two three four five I'm gonna move five and I'm gonna end my turn alrighty Trixie your turn I'm just gonna move.

I don't think I'm gonna be doing an attack at this point Yeah, wow okay, so you did double move okay cool That'll bring up the zombie six let's see where's on b6 zombie six is right there, so one two three four Zombie number one Same thing And Galford All right I'm gonna move five one two three four five and I'd like to use my daily, but you know what I'm gonna save it Hopefully some of them will bunch together a bit more because that would that would be a nice hit So I guess shadow claws on 13 you know Let me just move down one and I'll use it on six and stay I guess six is a little bit closer to the group because It shadow claws is a range ten so I can definitely pick it off from there, okay As would say you were yeah, okay, that would work yeah cool cool And nothing 11. What's the 11 versus? fortitude Yeah, that's gonna miss sadly Okay, and zombie number four is going to guess what guys he's gonna shuffle forward oh I know pulling out the kitchen sink Turning into a bad thriller video Let's see number nine is also going to shuffle forward Rick is your turn Rick is it's also gonna shuffle forward And he's gonna move one two three four five And kind of get up right next to Trixie and Valis We're almost forming like a line Yeah, they are closing in to that. That's actually pretty formidable when you see them all start to swarm like that yeah And then I'm gonna end my turn all right Let's see we got zombie number ten thanks for the human shield guys appreciate it Zombie number ten moves forward so does two And number seven he's gonna do the same thing zombie number three Same thing moving moving forward and that brings us back to Valis Us well Valis is gonna step forward Twice and he's gonna use actually just once and he's gonna use the chain again Cuz that worked really well the first time And he's gonna use that on six And that wraps around six Chomps down on him and just yanks him back And that will murder him so another dead zombie And Tala your turn I will have a very panicked look on my face and my speed was not affected yet, right, right?

And I scuttle over to Trixie like as fast as I can Awesome, and I assume you're gonna end your journey. Yep, okay? Okay, now we're going back through the cycle of zombies Twelve moves forward thirteen is gonna do the same thing And he's gonna move right up to Brandon and he's gonna try and grab her what the hell Completely by surprise that's inappropriate zombie Going right good girl 25 Brandon is grabbed You Are such an asshole Zombie number five is gonna shuffle forward Brandon it's your turn Okay, do I make a saving throw to get ungrabbed? You're gonna do that the end of your turn so right now if you want to attack you sure can Darn fucking right.

I will okay first of all shield of faith Daily divine minor action close first five you and each ally in the burst We'll get two plus power bonus to AC until the end of the encounter. I'm gonna be a dick here What you kind of use that? in the first encounter Like you use that well we recorded yesterday, but you used it yesterday, and I didn't check it off I did not it was your opening move Was it It was really didn't think I'd use that okay That was shield of faith right yeah, that was shield of faith I'm the asshole for not checking that off though. No you're not well.

Yeah, you kind of are Okay moving on Okay, so I will use Singing strike against Zombie number 13 okay, and that is d20 plus 11 22 will hit eat it my friend I was talking to the zombie So my damage is d8 plus 6 13 that will kill it all right, so you just stabbed this thing in the eye, and it goes down I almost reflexively like uh and just Do you want to move Yes, can I shift please you sure you can move you haven't taken a move action so you can move Okay, sorry, I'm just having a peek at initiative to see who's gonna be attacking next I'm just gonna move next to Alice here Okay, I'm done all right and Trixie your turn All right, so I don't want to move So I'm gonna use What's it called my shadow darts nice on number eight Okay, so it's a d20 plus eight and it's the only range thing that I have right and you're gonna make okay So that's 18 that hits roll again, okay? Wait roll d20 again If you remember the shadow darts you can hit someone three times with those Yes, okay, so 14 that'll hit and 23 and that'll hit Boom okay d10 or sorry d8 stupid D 8 plus 1 I just roll this once right yes Step so you're doing 21 damage that thing it is dead Nice nice. You just riddle it with darts up and down.

Let me check that off to make sure that That doesn't happen again Do you want to do anything else? No okay zombie number one is going to shuffle forward Galford your turn okay, so I'll move up one and I'm also gonna use my daily web of shadows on zombie number two It's a burst one within ten squares, so it'll also hit four potentially okay charisma versus reflex And if it misses it does half damage Also creates an area of effect, but we'll deal with that If it hits okay, where's the burst it is? Burst number two. Sorry. I zombie number two and it would be there okay.

Can you see that yep? That's a book. That's a burst one. Yep, okay, and it had the range on it is ten So it's within ten square, so I think I'm yeah Once I wait a second was I have six down within six you said that's a burst to add no It's an ab burst one with no ten squares gotcha gotcha. Sorry Oh Reflex that'll hit him oh nice, okay roll for four to 25 that'll definitely hit him so those two get hit go ahead and roll damage. Okay 2d6 Plus six 12 both dead All right, and what happens in that zone there sir, okay, so it creates a zone of shadows And any creature that willingly enters the zone is immobilized until the end of its next turn gotcha And that leads us to zombie number nine.

He is going to lunge forward and attack Trixie He's just going to kind of flail his arms I Didn't allow this You can't wave his arms in the air like he doesn't care. Yeah 15 versus AC though is going to miss When he is humiliated Rika's your turn Rika's is going to charge up to zombie number five and do his basic melee attack, which I had already had all this bonus crap already figured out, but apparently I Didn't so that's d20 plus 10, but since I charged up to him Plus one so that's just plus one bonus Yeah, and your hammer if you hit him you're dealing one extra damage Okay, go ahead and roll It says one weapon damage for a melee role. So roll a 2d 10 plus 8 If you don't kill him with this that's just embarrassing this is gonna get messy 18 18 totally dead So BAM he just splatters in front of you done Then I'm gonna end my turn, okay zombie number 10 is going to close in here three four and attack Valis And let's see here he's just going to slam him with his arms 24 that'll hit Two ten damage to Valis all right, and that'll lead us to number seven Who walks into that zone and is immobilized So let's remember she is immobilized can't move I'm assuming because he's lost in shadow and then three Kind of stutters forward there and Valis's turn Done it.

I wonder what he's gonna do He's gonna take his great sword out and Swing at the zombie who just attacked him and he's gonna roll a 17 and hit the shit out of them so that's 2d 10 plus 4 19 this thing he just cleaves it and it goes down so that's no longer a threat Tally your turn yeah, I'm gonna move over here and try and use flame seed Okay, that hits To nine I'm guessing yeah, it's a nine okay, okay? Go ahead and roll damage Damage I do three damage against it alrighty, and so yeah it takes three damage All right anything else? Um He's now a fiery zone And that'll bring up zombie number 12 zombie number 12 is going to move forward and lunge for baraneth And he is going to He's gonna try and slam her with his arms Six eight okay, that's pitiful Terribly terribly pitiful Baraneth your turn okay, so I'm gonna use a singing strike against zombie 12 here 30 That'll do it two weeks of being afraid of zombies They're just being squashed And damage is 14 okay again almost reflexively this thing takes This thing takes an attack me oh stab it right in the eye again.

Just and it falls down done. Oh By the way he takes a minus two to attack rolls until the end of my next Way to add insult to injury um did you want to move or anything? No, I'm good. Thanks Trixie your turn all right. I'm just gonna do the melee basic attack against number nine 17 oh hit I would sure sell hopes Dead ah Against nine let's bloody he is bloodied Damnit, that's five damage. Yeah, these guys have a little more than that going for him, and he's games. Yeah again He now becomes the devil. It's okay. He'll take three. He'll take three damage in a minute Tech touch and zombie number one is going to shuffle forward here right up in front of Right up in front of Alice, but he's going to take a swing at He's gonna take a swing at Baranath That's a 21 the instant that happens Valis is going to use something called Guardian, and he's going to step in and take the hit for For brand Before damage so he's gonna.

He's gonna take four damage And BAM all right galford your turn All right, so I'm gonna move One two I can enter this fiery zone without affecting me Actually, I can hit what I want to hit with being there, so I'll just stay there So I'm gonna do fascinating shadows, which is a close blast five, so I'm just gonna blow it past all my Teammates here and try and hit nine and one Okay Yeah, so one so go for nine first three four five. Yeah, it's definitely within there. Yeah, okay 27 27 will hit nine and go for one 28 Excellent yes, so you created one.

What's the what's the damage for 1d8 plus six dead? One is dead go ahead and roll for nine 16 dead I assume you're done. I'm done. Okay, and Rick is your turn I? Can charge multiple times right like that only once per turn oh Well yeah like yeah, I can charge up to three right now right sure okay? I'm gonna charge up to new morrow trace and take a big swing at him with my basic melee attack Which is since I'm charging it's plus that and the 20 25 very nice and then that's So it's 2d 10 plus 8 yes, I love hearing that It's the lovely song of the lullaby rica smash 28 great that's the most amount of did you do all the damage?

So the damage he breaks the ground and we fall into the sewers Writing that down no um Yeah, this zombie liquefies in front of you just goes down hard and You were done right? Yes Zombie seven still immobilized and he just moans kind of helplessly Valis is going to almost as if he's in a competition with ricus Every time ricus gets a kill valis feels like he needs to step forward and get a kill Who's hoping that was gonna happen? so ricus this liquefies this one zombie and what valis is going to do is charge forward with that big-ass chain bear trap thing and Swing at number seven and 26. He's gonna grab it up and To 15 damage and break that one's neck as well The bear trap just kind of lunges forward and catches them all neck shoulder ear jaw bone all that And just drags them out of this cloud of shadows and it's just this limp rag doll And valis kind of looks over and gives ricus this this nod like hey just Riki's just kind of turns his hand kind of breathe a little bit on his knuckles and just wipes them against his shirt You guys are out of combat every zombie is dead in between you and that gate Let's run for the gate Alfred's going for the gate The this gate is massive this thing is huge and Again, there's a set of stairs off to the right that that lead up to like a second floor And if there was a mechanism for this thing, it's got to be up there because there's nothing on the ground in front of it So I'm assuming you're gonna want to try to operate this thing, correct Should we do a perception check on this area or are we just gonna go for it?

I'd like to roll perception and I would like to know what this is Well that okay if you don't want to go for the gate and you want to explore the building nearby you can do that, too I was hoping you just tell me what it is Why don't you check on the building Well to that you'd have to go to the building to do a perception check on it You can't look on the outside of the building and guess what might be inside Well, there might be a sign that says free money and food As is in every city, sir [laughter] Up to you guys you could take a detour. I will say this your fight with the undead was Not incredibly lengthy, but it was noisy And you can hear that your distraction isn't exactly keeping them at bay like you'd hoped And you can hear them In other words, time is of the essence right now It's gonna come down to the wire no matter what you choose Baranatha's running to the gate, okay Guess what it's time for guys. It's time for another skill check challenge skill check challenge This one this one's about strength guys this one's all about strength looking at you Valis This is probably gonna be a Valis slash Ricus so this one's gonna be a bit more tricky though Whereas the the thievery checks to open and unlock the door in the arena they were heart pounding and all but Did you know that the rules for 4e state?

That if you go to assist somebody and you fail to make the check for the assist the person making the check actually gets a negative one No, it's true The more you know, yes, what we're gonna do here is there is a large wheel That operates this gate and You would imagine how much strength it would take to get this get this thing going now Normally, there's a cadre of guards at the top of this thing to to operate this and it's operated on this large spring-loaded mechanism, so Once you get these gates open You will have a limited amount of time to get Down the stairs and out the gate before they shut again. They're gonna immediately start to close as soon as someone's not there holding the wheel That makes sense to you guys. Yeah.

Okay. Yep So who is going to be assisting now that you know that this is so this is gonna be an athletics check anyone who's gonna be assist everyone can assist if you like and It you know, this is going to be mainly on Rika's shoulders Can you like is it known what's the check gonna be for us to be running down the stairs and then Is that endurance? The running down the running down the stairs and stuff that's that's that's pretty much just That's gonna be let's see here that's probably in athletics or acrobatics, sorry No But the check isn't the check isn't extraneous for that because that if if you move at a brisk pace you'll make it out the gate The thing I'm looking for with acrobatics is that's more Like I'm imagining the reason it's acrobatics is I'm imagining like everyone's taking like double stairs down the state Like just trying to like running like this is imagine being trapped in this place Firstly as slaves just if the city wasn't full of zombies like you have been trapped as slaves in this place and the front gates Are open to you for the first time since you've come through in the car Now imagine that all that's happened and the place is infested with the dead and you will die and you have a sick friend and all That stuff so the only thing I'm looking for as long as no one crits zero or something close to that you won't trip and Fall down the stairs or something Laughing with me.

Come on. That's great. I I feel comfortable enough and confident enough that I can help with the wheel I would probably suggest that maybe Tala Probably wants to stay down by the gate. So we ensure that she at least gets out But if anybody else wants to jump up and help me, that's fine I Can I can do this the the athletics check to open up the gate myself But I was just if anybody had any ideas of jumping up and assisting with it. I Was just gonna make the suggestion just given her state that Tala probably stayed down by the gate Just so we ensure that she gets out Okay, that's fine I have I only have a plus one athletics So Valis seeing all this obviously steps forward he's gonna he's gonna help you with it Whoo Valis has a plus 12 to athletics.

I have a plus 12 as well See they're going no, I like that they're going they're going no for no, I like it jocks Which is like polar opposite of what I was in high school, so this is kind of awesome for me So I assume We're gonna go to the Gatoro yeah, it's just gonna be you two doing the checks then Yeah, all right every okay, so Rika's and Valis climb Climb the stairs as everyone else. Let's do this so Rika's Valis separated from the rest of the pack As everyone else climbs climbs across the bridge here and stands in front of the gate What we're looking for here Rika's Is six successes before three failures What yes Or else Rika's gets locked in the city or else You you fail to open the gate before the zombie horde come in behind you and When I say horde I mean The remnants of the city you didn't clear out are making their way towards the front gate So yeah, he's saying this is it this is it this is your boss fight guys, this is it against the gate Well, I can make it against zombies No, no, no, I just I I'm ready. My body is ready Yes, I'm doing it out.

My whole Colgan poses right now, so I'm ready to go. So you're you're you limbered up you and Valis grab the wheel and Here's what we're gonna do Roll can I do something sure can? I'm going to flip out right now being next to Baraneth and scurry back over next to Trixie all over there That's interesting. I want to I want to explore that but after we open this gate Yep, um, everyone's welcome to do that. I have to the skates open so Valis is gonna roll to assist you Now So, let's see, okay, obviously, yeah, so that's gonna that's gonna say he would have to be retarded at this point not to he has A plus 12 for athlete.

He would have to fall down and punch himself in the balls to not Assist you in this gate. Oh, I just got a weird image of that now the check is You know what? I'm not gonna tell you what the check is. I'm gonna write it down right here and Start add a plus two to your to your roll Add a plus two to my already. Yes, so it's plus 14. Yes Okay So 30 30 that passes so that's one success. No failures and He assists again go ahead 27 That's a pass you start to spin this massive wheel around and he's assisting you again go ahead Oh you roll to 15, uh-huh. That's a failure.

Well, yeah He's gonna roll, okay. Yep, that's he's going to assist again go ahead 21 will pass that's three successes one failure He is assisting again. Go ahead 30 yes, that'll yes, that's four successes one failure and he's assisting again. Go ahead I'm going to Vegas after this 30 or rikis five successes one failure ooh That Doesn't make the cut Valis gives you a negative one two years. So yours is a D 20 plus 11 now you had to say Vegas 30 doesn't matter the wheel keeps turning and The gates are at their pinnacle like they're they're they're open as far as they're gonna get I'm guessing the group is gonna shuffle along into the desert.

Oh, yeah. Okay, so everyone Shuffles along into the desert and Here's what we're gonna do Make what make an acrobatics check because I imagine you were just running and skipping down these stairs and racing back down So go ahead Wow What does that mean Well, that's a crit miss Rika's is going to turn and start to run down the stairs He was tired from turning that wheel and he is going to fall All the way down the stairs And he's gonna take 20 damage as a result So let me go ahead and shave that off and then Valis is gonna make his check Well balance falls down the stairs lands on top of Rika's Rika's side 19, so he has the same well, I think they have Comparable stats. So even with a plus two he runs down the stairs and and he stops briefly and and picks up Rika's and together they run out of the gate as as the the the things are closing so Everyone makes it out of the city alive.

Oh My gosh On the outside of the city There is a young man Alone actually in in a His own little wagon Normally going through the desert there'd be a caravan there'd be guards there'd be something but this guy's alone And upon seeing you all spill out and he's like, ah about damn time I I got this delivery to make and no one's no one's coming through the gate You guys want to get this stuff off and get it in the city, please? Boy do we have a story to tell you there junior No, no time for stories. We need to get in this wagon and we need to move Let's just overpower him Bring him with us.

Let's overpower and we can explain it later Okay Rick is making a funny Love how this has just turned into us just like any time. We're like grab and go you are essentially carjacking this man 17 will do it. Okay, so you yank him out of the driver's position of this of this wagon and he's like get your damn hands off me and you yank him down off of this thing and you all climb aboard this wagon and you you just Turn around and immediately start back the way this guy came you could see the tracks that were made I thought we were taking him with us though Like I didn't say he wasn't in the way.

Oh, okay. I thought you said we pulled him out and he's in the day Well, you pulled him. Yeah, you pulled him down off of the yeah, and then everyone loads back up into the wagon and He's protesting the entire time. But Guys, I think that's a good time for us to stop tonight You made it out of the city congratulations. Oh my gosh, I can't This was I'm tired I Want to go take a nappy poo You [music fades out]