Letters

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(Coughing) (Cock cocks) Peacocks. This summer, during the biggest sporting event of the year, Peacock turns to two broadcasting legends for the Olympics coverage you can't find anywhere else. Um, I think they mean us. Oh, s***. Um... (Clears throat) With an incredible duo sure to take home the comedy gold. Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. New episodes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only on Peacock. Coming to Apple TV Plus on August 9th. You're the Marine? Yeah, you're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you don't gotta cast aspersions at me.

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We'd love to expand even more so if you go to patreon.com/danddr then you can check us out there and see what we're offering each month. Thank you very much and enjoy the show. Let's do that thing and go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason, I'm the Dungeon Master. Going around the table, starting with... let's start with Kat. Hi, I'm Kat Charlie and I play Fi, the Changeling Fi. And Mack. Hi, I'm Mack and I play Kaluna Volgares, the Wilding Shaman. And Brie. Hi, my name is Brianna Richardson and I play Jetsuya Grace, the Human Warlock. Okay, last time on the show we had the group arrive at Fairbay.

Fairbay is a lovely little town which you guys kind of caused a bit of a disruption in there by getting into a fight at the inn. Which eventually was settled, Valus and Kaluna made up and the party seemed to kind of ease back and relax for the evening. In Odyssea, however, things were not going as well. Una died, as we know. Brie pretty much snapped and decided to go fight Strahd by herself by climbing the tower and pretty much eradicating the roof and ceiling above her and jamming bits and pieces of it into Strahd's stomach. So last we left off, Strahd was kind of bearing down on that tower and was pretty much going to breathe fire all over it.

So you guys have a choice. Because the party is so small, technically Brie is a member of your party but there are no living PCs anywhere near her. So you have the option of just sticking to your thing today and we will just completely focus on you guys or at a certain point we can catch up with Brie and see what's going on. Otherwise I'll just do written content for the site. I would like to catch up with Brie. I want all the fans to hate me. I would rather stick to us because we're more important. I just want everyone to cuss me out and please everyone send emails saying that I'm a cunt.

Okay, okay, okay. So we'll catch up with Brie. But I do want the hate mail. Everyone send in some hate mail to me, okay? I'll give you some of mine. Dear Brie, you smell bad. I do not. I just checked. She's kind of right. Okay, so how's about we pick up the next morning in Fair Bay? I would imagine everyone's kind of getting their things together. They're packing things up. They're getting ready to hit the road as time is of the essence. But you did need to get some rest. So what is everyone's ritual here? Getting ready to hit the road again. What did you guys do the night before to relax besides sleep, obviously?

Probably... Didn't we order some wine? I think that happened. Yes. So that was relaxing as fuck. Would you say that you drank excessively? Would Valus have drank excessively? Valus would have drank. That is definitely a thing Valus would have done. So I would say Valus would need to roll an endurance check. Would anyone else? I'm not sure. Kaluna probably should. I don't think so. Judtsia reads all the time. She's probably reading during. So once her vision got blurry she's like, "I'm done. It's cool." He's got reading to do. He needs to drink. He is not nearly as relaxed as the rest of us.

Okay, Valus rolled a 27. So both Valus and Kaluna can seemingly hold their liquor pretty well. Makes sense. I was going to say, how does getting drunk work for you? Is there a fermentation process? Well you know what? We don't have to find out. We don't have to answer those heavy questions right now. I like how Kaluna's endurance is higher than Valus's. Ben, please. You know, it's all those werewolves. Dude, I have some pretty bitchin' endurance too. Mine is higher than Valus's! Holy fuck! Judtsia's been through more physically than Valus's. Well, I don't know.

I mean, if endurance and willpower are kind of the same thing, which I think they kind of are. So it makes sense? I would say they're both strong enough people to survive whatever they've survived, so that's something. I'm stronger than Valus. You know what? It's all that running. So that's it? Yeah. He stands in one place during fights. But his fortitude's crazy. My fortitude. So, do me a favor. Judtsia, roll a perception check please. Are you sure? Here we go. Seventeen! Hey! Double digits! That never happens. Your perception checks. I wanted to see. So, Judtsia, while she's packing up her things and everyone's kind of packing their bag and getting ready to hit the road again, Judtsia is going to find this...

She's going to find a letter in her pack. Addressed to her. Can I roll another perception check to see if she recognizes the writing or anything? Just like on the outside, I imagine it says, "Judsia." Yeah. So, finding the letter, you're going to kind of pick it up and... Yeah, just check it out. Ten! You don't recognize the handwriting, but you do see that it's semi-decorative. It looks like someone tried. It looks like someone tried pretty hard. It looks like they tried to make it look fancy. Like, nice. Okay. I suppose that Judtsia would open the letter then, because it's maybe not poison or anthrax gear or anything.

Anthrax doesn't exist in theory. It's okay. Okay, cool. So, here. To my Judtsia. For so long, I've wanted to express how I truly feel about you, but I simply felt as though I wasn't able to speak the words necessary. Hopefully, I can say what I need in a letter. I've cared for you almost from the moment I saw you, and losing you would be more than I could take. I have not always done well at expressing myself, but I need you to know that I would do anything to protect you, and I would kill anyone who would try to tear us apart. Aww, if this is Valis, that's adorable!

So, where is Valis right now? Oh, he'd be in the same room, packing. Just getting ready. Okay, so, last time she was direct with him, with the hugging and kissing, and then it turned out not to be him, and that was really embarrassing. So, I think she would probably turn to him and just gesture to the letter with her name on it so that he could see what it is, just to see if he reacts to that at all, like he wrote it. So, Valis is kind of... everyone has blankets and stuff that they have, and they're like a bedroll type of thing, so he's kind of packing everything up.

This has Hello Kitty on it, guys? It's a Spongebob. Valis is going to look at you quizzically, like, "What am I looking at? What's a letter?" Okay, when he clearly doesn't know what it is, "Wow, I can't talk." When Jadzia can tell that Valis doesn't really know what it is, she's just going to hand him the whole letter. Okay, Valis is going to look this thing over, and as you're tracking his eyes reading it, an expression comes over his face first of, "Okay, what's this?" and then pure seething rage. And after he gets finished, he's going to look Jadzia dead in the eyes.

Who wrote it? Jadzia is going to shake her head and kind of look over to her bag really quick. "I don't know, I just found it in my bag." "Um, you can see Valis kind of give this some thought for a minute. The thief." And Jadzia is going to pause for a second and look up and go, "You think Thi wrote that?" "You thought he was the one who gave you the flowers, didn't you?" "My bag's been with us since we left. There aren't many people who have access to it." And he's just going to widen his eyes like, "Eh? That makes sense." "What should we do?" "I'm going to go talk to him about it." And he is going to pick up his sword and strap it to him.

"Don't pick up your sword. It's not a good idea." He is fully outfitted. He is ready to leave. "Let's say leave." "Let's say leave. That's all." And he is going to kind of stomp out into the hallway. Kaluna and Thi. Let's do this. Do me a favor. Both of you roll a perception check, please. "I don't wanna." "21." "Thi and Kaluna are going to wake up and stretch and yawn and do their thing." "I don't know if Kaluna stretches and yawns, but I imagine she sounds like a tree." "Yeah, I imagine she sounds like a tree-ent." "Like just a..." "Tree..." So, just kind of getting your things about you, kind of getting your wits about you.

And across the room on the desk is a letter. You are going to notice that Merrick is not in the room with you. And there is a letter addressed to the party. "Kaluna will grab it." Okay. Can Kaluna read Common? "Nope." They can, however, read their own name and Merrick's name. Okay, so you are going to recognize that this letter does address Kaluna and it looks to be from Merrick. So that much, that much you have. Beyond that, it's a mystery. Seeing Kaluna pick it up and have a look over it, Thi is going to say, "What you got there?" Kaluna is going to kind of squint at it really hard, just kind of like "Ehh" and sort of try and pick out words.

But then they are going to just sort of shrug and hand it to Thi and say, "Can you read this for us?" And then they are going to start gearing up. Did Jadzia follow Valus? I'd imagine yes, but she is kind of hanging back a little bit because this is super fucking awkward if he is right. Right, okay. Valus is going to come stomping into Thi and Kaluna's room. And he kind of fills a doorway. Valus has a tendency to kind of block out line of sight from things behind him. So he is going to kind of lumber into frame here, into the doorway. And just kind of pan around the room really quickly, meet Thi's eye, we need to talk.

Okay, we are going to talk now. And he is going to look at Kaluna. Let's talk out in the hallway. Okay. Now, Valus has this letter in his hand. And he is going to hand this over to Thi. Did you write this? No, this is far too neat for my handwriting. Alright, he is still learning to use his hand again. Oh yeah, there is that whole thing. Where was it? It was in Jadzia's bag. Who would have put it there? That is what we are trying to figure out. Did you give her flowers before we left Astarhold? No, why? I am not really a flowers man, but I have no reason to be giving Jadzia flowers.

And Valus is going to cut eyes over to Jadzia. Like, are you buying this? Jadzia is just going to... She has her arms crossed. This is super awkward. She is not even sure if she really bought it in the first place. It was just that she didn't have any other explanation for it. So, she is probably just going to nod. Like, I kind of believe that. There is... Ew, Thi, no! Not like that. I am sorry. It is just awkward. And she clearly feels awkward. The fact that Valus has to talk for her because the situation is so weird. And also because there is something going on in the back of her head that she just doesn't want to fucking acknowledge.

While they are standing in the hallway, Thi is going to look at Jadzia and go, "Hang on, when did you get flowers?" Jadzia will say, "It was the morning that the grey cloaks came. I found flowers in the bedroom and at first I thought that Valus brought them, but he didn't. And I am a fairly light sleeper." And she is going to stare at Thi like, "You know, and you could sneak by." But she doesn't say that. It is kind of implied in her eyes. And you are sneaky, so... You could see where this would be troubling. I entirely understand why it would be troubling.

Has anything else of this nature happened recently? Valus is going to look to Jadzia. Just this and the flowers. Thi is going to read over the note again. Is there anything that he would be able to pick up from how it is written? Do me a favour, roll perception. Perception or insight? Insight is more for conversation. Okay. Yeah, I would say perception on this one. Crips! Oh, shite. Holy fuck! Nice. Here is the thing. Thi has definitely noticed handwriting kind of similar to this. And it was when he was snooping around in the basement of Jadzia's house. Formerly Darmok's house.

And this looks to be something similar to Darmok's handwriting. The tone of voice used is also something that could fit with something Darmok might say. The tone of the letter, I would kill anyone who would get between that is pretty in keeping with what Darmok would do. The problem is, Darmok is dead, obviously. And the handwriting doesn't quite match up. It's got that shaky kind of vibe to it. Like, this person knows calligraphy but has a bad jitter. Hmm. Okay, so if you compare them side to side, like something handwritten by Darmok and this letter, there would be noticeable differences?

Slight discrepancies, yeah. Sometimes it looks as though the handwriting is neater. Sometimes it looks like it's way worse. Like, this person has lost control of almost all motor function. But there are times where you're reading it and almost line for line this looks like something Darmok could have written. Okay, yeah, so after Fe's scanned it a few times, he's gonna look a bit shocked and concerned and look towards Jadzia and say, "Do you have any thoughts on who it might be?" See, it's tough because Jadzia does, but she really doesn't want to admit it.

So she kind of just takes a step back and she's gonna shake her head no, but it might be a bluff check. I would say that is a bluff check, yeah. It's just a pretty high bluff. 22. Does that beat Fe's passive insight? My passive insight is 22. Yeah, she does beat it. That will surely beat Valus's passive insight. Kaluna. Oh, Kaluna's not in the hallway. Kaluna's not there. It would have been hers too anyway, so I'm a good bluffer, guys. I can fake stupid like no one's business. Fe is gonna look at Jadzia and nod and say, "What books have you got on you at the moment?" A book on demons and a book on blood magic.

And then she's gonna ask why. I need to see both of them. Jadzia will nod and she'll just grab them out of her bag and hand them to Fe. Fe's gonna sit in the hallway and flick through the books until he finds notations from Dharmok and compare the writing. Is he making a show of this? Is this something that he's trying to show both Valus and Jadzia or just Jadzia? He's not showing them, but he is doing it. Obviously, he's looking and comparing through it in the hallway, so it's not like he's hiding it or anything. So after a while, he would have obviously come to the conclusion that yes, he thinks that it is Dharmok.

And he's gonna look at Jadzia, close both of the books and hand them back to her and say, "I have a hunch as to who it is, but I don't think you'll like the answer and I don't know how it's possible." Jadzia's just gonna look frightened and take another half step back, like she's putting her back up against the wall. And she isn't going to ask because it's a little bit obvious. But she's gonna stay silent, like she doesn't want to process it. Valus is very curious because he's following the conversation, but he's not jumping to the same conclusion that everyone else is.

Would Thi notice the confusion on Valus's face? I would say it's pretty obvious. He's half a step from saying, "What? Fill me in." It's pretty on the face of it. Okay, so Thi's gonna look at Valus and think, "Okay, he hasn't quite got it." And he's gonna say, "The other, Thi Lin." Okay, so you can see where he's processing it, and then there's that moment of realization like, "Oh, fuck that." No, no, no, no, no. Not wanting to believe that at all. You realize that's impossible. That is exactly my thought, and that is what I hope as well. But comparing this letter to the notes that he's made within these books, there are a couple of discrepancies.

But the general style and writing of this letter is almost the same. It has the exact same undertones of how he was, how he jumped between his patterns of speech. This is the only conclusion that I can come to, and I don't like it either. Jodzia looks like she's about to throw up, and she's going to try to hastily grab the books away from Thi and pack them away. And the second they are packed, she's gonna run. She's just gonna turn and try to get out of the inn. Fancy. That herpes medication. We call them Jallis. That's their official couple name. Vallas is definitely going to try and keep pace.

It's a little scary because while he's concerned, what it is is a lumbering giant tiefling stomping down the wooden floorboards of this hallway behind her. So to the common passersby, this kind of looks like Jadzia may be about to be assaulted? Something bad might happen? I imagine that's what most people's conclusion would be. So, okay. The rest of the party, are they going to follow or is this going to be more of a give her space thing? How do you want to play it? Thi would watch as they run down the hallway. He's contemplating chasing them, but he decides that she is more likely to respond better to something that Vallas would say than anything that Thi would say.

Because Thi has a tendency of being slightly cold when he's talking about things and people because he doesn't have the experiences that other people may have had. So instead, he's gonna, once they've kind of gone far enough down the corridor or out of sight, he's gonna sigh and then go back into the room. Where exactly would Jadzia be running to? Well, after she was out of the inn, I don't think there'd actually be a destination except for a way. Right. I'm not sure. Yeah. Again, Vallas is trying to keep pace, but Jadzia is quicker than Vallas. And at a certain point, once you've left the inn, he's gonna kind of holler for her to get her attention, just to try to get her to slow down or stop.

I think if she's in a place where there is no one, like not on a busy street or anything, she probably would just to catch her breath. Yeah, the street isn't really busy at all. It's still kind of early. The people who were getting up to hunt or fish or whatever have kind of done so. And it's a little early for most of the businesses to be open. Not business, really. It's kind of the Hunter's Alley. That's this town's, you know. So it's a little early for them to open up. So Jadzia would stop, but she's not turning around. Like, she's clearly trying to fight something inside of her and she's shaking a little bit.

But she is staying still because he called out for her. Vallas is gonna kind of hurry up across the street until he gets, I don't want to use the term, but within striking distance of Jadzia and just slow down a bit. You know we can't just ignore this. It's said I would kill anyone who would try to tear us apart. We still don't know when it was written or who wrote it. Vallas is going to get very close to Jadzia. And he's going to kind of slip his hand behind her neck and just kind of the palm of his hand is going to kind of cradle her face. Because his hand is so fucking big, it kind of encompasses half of her head.

She's gonna bring her hand up and kind of clasp on to however many fingers her hand can hold, which I'm assuming is like two or three. This is a big fucking hand. The letter, if the letter was from him, it wasn't talking about hurting me. And she's gonna look up and meet his eyes. He wants to hurt you. And Vallas is going to kind of look up for just a second. Just kind of think about it. And he's going to get really close, just kind of bend down and just kind of touch his forehead to Jadzia's. Jadzia will probably at that point just let out this sigh of relief that's like, I would say like a sob chuckle.

Like you know when someone just can't deal with stress so they laugh instead? It's a little bit like that, but also a little bit more sad than that. And she's just gonna fall into his chest and nod like she believes him. Vallas is just gonna kind of close his arms around Jadzia and hug her. Just kind of anchor her to the street basically. Just like, okay, no more running firstly. And secondly, it's like he is trying to do anything in his power to comfort her. Just to make sure that she's not scared anymore. After a few seconds of this he's gonna kind of say, we should get back inside and deal with the others.

I would imagine you'd like to get back on the road. Jadzia will just nod and kind of, she'll let him lead her there. She's almost like a zombie. Because she's still focused on that. So, let's say the party's kind of back together here. So I would imagine Fia is going to read this letter. My friends, I hope the wine helped you sleep and recover from yesterday. With this note I'm taking responsibility as well as some time away. Jadzia, you welcomed me into your home without question, even though I kept what I am a secret. I've never known how to apologize for that, under all this shame.

But I am deeply, deeply sorry. Thing is, you're right. The beast inside me could easily destroy all of you. Even when I've pushed it far away, it's made the friends I care about the most nearly destroy each other. I have to take responsibility for that. The tension over the past weeks was never about Kaluna and never about Valus. It was always about what I am and what I'm capable of. Why this has happened to me is for another time. But suffice to say, this is a monitor's punishment. I'm certain of it. And I've deserved it all. I have much in my past to regret and many things I've never discussed.

So I've spent over a decade wandering in penance, alone, all to prove myself worthy, all to have a monitor turn his light towards me again. But for you, for all of us, I'm taking a stand. I've had enough. You've taught me that there's a place for me in the world. A monitor simply isn't listening to me. He continues to punish, despite there being no more for me to do. So I'm done, even if he is not. It's well within my power to close this chapter and start another, and that's what I intend to do. I believe we all have far more to do with one another, and far more to champion in Theria.

I ask you to give me the time for one last talk to a monitor, one last chance to either set things right with my god or come back with his head. And I'll return soon. Days, not weeks. I've already taken care of the costs for last night's wine in the rooms with Mr. Breakin. I've left you all provisions as well. Cornbread with honey butter, and a mix of herbs and spices for tea. The largest parcel is for Valus. I know he likes my homemade honey butter more than most, despite the scowl on his face right now. So I'll meet you all in Brightport, or I'll track you from there.

We will enlist this dragon to our cause if it remains, and together we'll help Una defeat Strahd. Be safe and eat well. Maric. One more thing. Kaluna, I gave you something when we first met, an insurance policy in case I ever put you in danger. You are the most loyal friend I could ever know, and without doubt you would defend me with your life. If I could not control this beast inside me, however, there's someone else I trust even more to do what needed to be done. Valus, it's yours for now. I expect you to protect them all from me if needed. Okay, so yeah, after he's read it, he would have read it out loud, and he looks up from the letter and just goes, "Ah, shit," and slumps against the door.

Kaluna is going to stare at him. As he's reading the letter, they're not paying too much attention. They're just sort of gathering up their stuff, putting it in their bags. But as the letter goes on and they sort of see where it's going, they start sort of getting sloppier and more frantic. And then as Fi reads the last few lines, they are going to stop what they're doing and just stare at him with just the most broken look on their face. And as he slumps against the door, they're going to stand there just sort of in shocked silence for a second. And then they're going to say, "You're lying." They're just sort of going to stand there and just shake.

So Kaluna obviously looks completely distraught over this. As you're reading the letter, Valus is definitely kind of grumbling. First kind of almost kind of a relief thing like, "Good, he's not in the party. That's a good thing. That's one less thing to worry about." And then he kind of goes on about how he left the largest parcel of food for him because he knew he liked Merrick's cooking. And then as it goes on to wrap up, there's going to be a look that crosses Valus's face that is the closest thing to guilt that you've seen him show since he accidentally chopped Fi's arm off.

Fi puts the letter on a side table next to him. And it's like, "Okay, so what do we do now?" Before anyone can say anything, Kaluna is going to snatch the letter really violently and just sort of like stare at the last few lines again. And then they're going to throw the letter and try to just storm out the room, assuming Fi is not blocking the door. He's out of the way now. I think Jodzia might call out to her, to them, and just call out Kaluna's name and follow up until the doorframe. But if then Kaluna does not turn around, she's going to let them go.

Yeah, Kaluna ain't stopping for nobody. Kaluna is going out of the inn. At the point when it's obvious that Kaluna is not coming straight back in, Fi will go after her. Valus is going to go ahead and follow. It's an emotional choo-choo train. Yeah, this is going to be one of those type of episodes. And the Breeze stuff is probably going to make things too much better. Okay. Valus is going to start to follow and then turn around and make sure Jodzia is right there. Just kind of like, come on, I want to give a head nod. It's like, I don't want you alone. Come on, we should keep an eye on everyone.

Alright, Jodzia was going to stay back, but then when he did that, she follows behind. Because she was going to obsess about the letter. She knows her very well. Where is Kaluna stomping off to? Is it just... Kaluna is going to try and see if they can track Merrick. Okay. So each time someone storms past the front desk, Clay is going to try to give them a wave like, good morning. And each time everyone just kind of keeps storming past. They don't really break stride. They just kind of keep going. And he just kind of gives us, okay, bye. Like he just kind of, not defeated, but just more like, okay, bye.

Like you guys obviously have someplace to go that's really important. Poor Clay. He's named after dirt, fuck him. Kaluna likes dirt. I guess. Don't think trees grow in clay. I think some do. Maybe. We're not talking about botany right now. There are more important things. There are not. Do me a favor and roll a nature check if you could. Ooh. 28. 28. Kaluna can kind of, a lot of the, the town itself kind of has dirt roads and things leading through it. So, picking up an individual track is a bit tough. But you can see where, you can see where it looks as though, it looks as though Merrick took his horse and from what Kaluna can see, it looks as though he was riding north.

So that's the best that Kaluna can tell in town. Is, is that technically the same way that we're going? Or is it kind of like he's riding dead north? From what you can tell so far, it looks as though he's following the same road as you are, but his destination is most likely different considering he, he's, he wanted to break apart from the party. Yeah. Would we be able to tell how much of a head start he has? You're guessing he has probably two to four hours of a head start. Kaluna's going to sort of make note of where the tracks are going and then they're going to whirl around and try to go back to the inn to grab their stuff.

Okay. So it's pretty obvious to anyone who's watching what, what Kaluna is doing, like what, what her intent is. There. There. Damn it! I figure if I just, if I just do little, little, "Hey!" it'll work eventually. It's, it's, I, damn it, I am going to have to do that. It's, it's. It's okay. Um, so Valus would try to stop her, just them, fucker. I caught myself on that one. Um, Valus would try to stop them and, uh, just, just, just, just try and put like a hand up, just, just kind of very, very passively actually for Valus. Just, just to try and show that like he doesn't mean Kaluna any harm.

Just, just like give it one second. Kaluna will sort of just stop for a second and just yell, "What?" and sort of, he can see that they're trying to hold back tears because they're too cool to cry. You realize he doesn't want to be followed, right? He's going to lean in very close. He's Merrick. We promised. We have to go with him. He'll be back when he's ready. Whatever he has to do, he has to do alone. At least that's what he's thinking. I'm sure he'll be fine. Let's just get to Brightport and he'll catch up with this one when he's done doing whatever it is he's doing.

Kaluna's going to look, going to have that face that you get whenever you're like, "Well, you're right, but I don't want you to be right." Just- Just going around. Yeah, it's fun. Very much just like really frustrated. And then they're going to just sort of, they're going to just sort of body language. They're going to body language it. Yeah, that's what they're going to do. They're going to just, they're going to let out just a heartbroken wail and just start crying. God, you're going to make Valus do stuff. Valus is going to kind of reach up to put a hand on Kaluna's shoulder, but very tentative, very like, there, there, just kind of like touching, just kind of like patting, like very, very gently.

Just again, because the last physical interaction that they had, he kind of stabbed her a bunch. So he's trying to just, he got in trouble with members of the party for that. So he's just kind of like, "I'm not stabbing, not stabbing." And just kind of very, very like gently patting her on the shoulder. Kaluna is going to just sort of like, ugh, emotions are gross. Kaluna is going to like throw themselves at Valus and sort of just like cry on him. Just sort of like, "You're here. I'll cry on you. You're perfect." Okay, Valus is going to look over to Jadzia like, "What do I do?

What do I do? What do I do? She's touching me. What do I do?" Jadzia would be a lot more active in this if she just hadn't gotten all that news. Jadzia will step forward because she sees that Valus is having trouble and kind of pat Kaluna on the back. Kind of like she'll be right next to Valus so that her shoulder is right up against Valus. Almost like a group hug kind of thing, except not that physical because she doesn't like being touched very much. But she'll be rubbing Kaluna's back and she'll start making like little noises like to try to calm them down.

V will join in the group hug on the other side to Jadzia. Let's just make Valus more uncomfortable, actually, if that's a good plan. How's about we do this? Can we cut away from this nonsense? I'm so bad with emotions right now. Why is it the group who hates emotions the most is the one with the most emotions? Why do you guys get all the feels is what I'm asking. It's Jasper's fault. Jasper's fault this time. And Dharma. They're pretty much the same person, so. Pretty much. They're on the same level of awful. They're seriously a knot in my stomach here. I don't want to do this, but OK, we should get ready and get back to things.

OK. Let's catch up with things in Odysseum. Which timeline wise would take place well before what what you guys even arriving in Fair Bay, but for the sake of the show, this is how we're going to lay it out. Breanna is going to turn around and look out this window and see Strahd flying towards the tower. Strahd's mouth is going to open and he is going to try and bake this tower in flame. The jet stream is going to start at the base of the tower and work its way up and Strahd is going to fly up against the tower itself and wrap his talons around it. And his tail is going to kind of loop around the tower.

And as he's doing this, his head is going to tilt up and point straight at the window that Bree's standing in front of. Again, there is no top to this tower anymore. It has been obliterated. Gone. Bree is going to dig in and let loose another torrent of energy pointed directly at this window. This is a long, kind of thin window. So it is wide enough for her whole body to be kind of seen, but it's not. It is definitely not large enough that Strahd could poke his head in or something like that. But this very concentrated torrent of fire is going to erupt through the window and meet her blast.

And there's going to be a bit of a stalemate for just a moment. As the flame hits this wall of energy and starts to wrap its way around the interior of this tower, it is going to heat this place up immeasurably. Bree's going to start to sweat. And Strahd is not letting up. He seems to be giving everything he has. And Bree is going to dig in, just kind of erupt is the best word I can think of at the moment. And it's going to catapult her to the back of the tower and she is going to slam against this wall. And that's how much force she's putting into this.

The area around the window itself is going to crack and split and cave. This wall is essentially going to give way and blow out. The fire is going to be pushed back and stop wrapping its way around the interior of the tower. And this blast is going to hit Strahd in the face. He is going to stop breathing fire. He is going to be momentarily stunned and kind of let out this noise that almost sounds like a whimper. And as he's kind of shaking his head trying to get his bearings again, his head is going to be tilted down. Bree is going to stop and drop to one knee.

She is bathed in sweat and she's going to start to cough violently. And after a few seconds of this she is going to kind of spatter blood under her face where it's just kind of... She is openly coughing at the ground. So there's going to be a fairly decent measure of blood actually coming from this tiny person. And she is going to take a deep breath and kind of acknowledge that this is happening but this dragon is a much more pressing issue. She's going to tilt her head up, stand up, and run towards this window or where the window used to be. This is where I need everyone to cross their fingers.

She is going to make an acrobatics check to see if she can leap onto Strahd's face. Sixteen is just going to clear the jagged portions of this tower where the wall has broken apart. Strahd is still wrapped around the base of the tower. His head is very clearly visible. Brianna is going to leap from the tower and land clearly in the center of Strahd's eyes on the bridge of his nose. She's going to raise her fist up and start to punch Strahd in the face again and again, over and over. These are big, wailing psionic punches and after the third one, very visibly, Strahd has been broken open on the bridge of his nose.

He is clearly both enraged and in a lot of pain. Strahd is going to start to shake his head violently. He's going to rear his head back very quickly. Brianna is going to have to make an athletics check to see if she holds on. As long as it's a sixteen or higher, she is going to hold on and stay in the spot she's in. That is a twenty-one. As soon as Strahd jerks his head backward, Brianna is going to grip these spines that cover all of Strahd's face, most of his body. Strahd is going to take flight to try and get away from this tiny person who is inflicting a great deal of damage to sensitive areas of Strahd's head.

Looking down the instant Strahd takes flight, Brianna is going to be clinging to Strahd's face. Looking down, she can see where Strahd is losing a huge amount of blood. The spire that gouged his stomach has done a great deal of damage. She is going to get her balance while Strahd is in flight and she is going to deliver another psionic punch. This one is going to cause Strahd to bank and actually slam into an adjacent tower. The two of them are going to go careening towards the ground. This tower has been clipped in half and has crumbled and fallen into the city and broken over Strahd's back.

Strahd is going to slam into the ground and let's see if Brianna is going to manage to hang on. Brianna is going to hold onto Strahd's face and stay exactly where she was, hugging her body against the contours of his snout. Damage to her is actually very minimal. Strahd is taking all of this, sliding into the ground after this tower has broken over him. I think that is a good time for us to catch up with the rest of the party and see what they are doing. Brianna is going to be a little bit more aggressive. She is going to be a little bit more aggressive.

Okay, you promise? I promise. Leaving Fair Bay. Okay, everyone do me a favor and roll Perception please. This only ever goes well for me. My sticky note is in the way. 27. 22. Sweet. Wow, you are doing fantastic. I am doing pretty good today. I am not feeding balls, but it is okay. It is not important. There, up ahead on the road. A bunch of NPCs that we can use for fighting. Quiet you. On the road, there is a man standing next to a cart with a broken wheel. This guy has a slight paunch. Very, very, not handsome. Not ugly, just kind of a big nose. A bit of a patchy beard.

Just kind of middle of the road looking. You wouldn't notice him in town really. It would be kind of hard to spot maybe. He doesn't stand out. He is standing next to this broken cart. He appears to be, from what Kaluna can see, it appears as though he is pressed up against the cart itself. It is heading in the direction that you guys had just left. You are next to this little wooded area. It appears as though he is pressed up against this cart and maybe hiding. No one is going to make a move? No, I don't want to be the one to kill us. I know. Someone else approach.

I know that I haven't seen it, but for description purposes, which side is he hiding? The way he is facing, he is pulled over to the left hand side of the road, heading in the direction that you guys had left, and he is hiding on the road side. Whatever he would be hiding from, if he is hiding, he would be hiding from something in the woods. Okay. Okay, so... Are you guys going to come to a stop or keep riding in? If you are going to come to a stop, how close would you say that you are? Can somebody besides Jadzia do a perception check of the area? Oh, maybe someone who is good at nature checks.

Maybe someone who has got really good perception and nature could check out the area. Yeah, that would be really awesome. Could be anybody. Would nature or perception be better for this hypothetical someone? Well, if you are trying to spot something... Valus, yes. Superperceptive Valus. If you are trying to spot something, let's say, in a wooded area, you might want to use nature. Okay then. This hypothetical someone might use nature and might get a 31. Or like this hypothetical person. Me too. They are pretty cool. Kaluna is going to notice... We were talking about Kaluna the whole time audience. [Laughter] Kaluna is going to notice that the treeline seems to be shifting.

That's very helpful, thank you. Which I'm not done. Which would indicate that something quite large is moving and stomping around. Just outside of getting a clear eye line on it. But it is definitely moving trees and bushes. You're guessing this thing is at least 9 or 10 feet tall. I'm not sure about my NPCs. [Laughter] Sorry. So Kaluna sees that. Kaluna will tell everyone that something big is in the woods. Something big doesn't really help me if I want to do a check on that. Right? So after a few seconds... God damn it. No. After a few seconds, a very large rock is going to come careening out of this treeline and split this wagon in half.

Cleave the top portion of this covered wagon. Clean off. And this guy is going to hit the deck on the other side of it. Goods, like he has what looks to be smoked meats and sugar, things like that, are going to come spilling out of this wagon and into the road. And this guy is shitting himself in just terror. Absolute terror. Grab the food and run. [Laughter] Okay, um, history check for the area to know if I know what kind of monsters populate the area. Sure. 23. Jadzi's done some reading. Yes. Because it's a good thing to maybe research the area you're about to travel through to see how dangerous a mission might be.

I'm guessing that would be Jadzi's motivation. Yeah. The area between Fair Bay and Lockford is known as Haunter's Bounty. Now for the most part, this is filled with a lot of common animals. They have been known to have some kobold problems here and there. Nine foot kobolds, guys. Holy fuck. The random unlucky traveler may hit the bad luck lottery and come across an ogre. So we're running, right? Nope. Yeah. Let's go. This guy's gonna die and I don't want nothing to do with it. Nope. You guys gonna nope right the fuck out of here or? Uh, yeah. Unless there's a reason for us to not nope the hell out of here, Jadzi, I definitely would.

Well, do me a favor, roll a perception check, please. Everyone. Okay. 20. Oh, no, that's not me. 26. Yes, it is. 10. We're back. It's still double digits. Still double digits. Valis roll a 17. Kaluna and Fi are definitely going to notice this very large ogre come stomping out of the woods after the rock is thrown. And he is going to sink both of his hands into the contents of this wagon and tear the rest of the top of it off. And he's going to kind of reach in and start grabbing smoked meats by the handful and just start kind of shoveling them into his head.

And there are these large sacks of sugar that are kind of just spilling everywhere and just making a mess all over the little highway you're on. And then the ogre is going to notice the man cowering on the other side of it because the ogre is tall enough to stand next to the cart and see clean over the other side. And he's going to start laying fists into this wagon to split it in two and get to the other side. Sounds like that guy should run and we're leaving. Yep. Are you just gonna run right past? I feel like such an asshole. Yeah, but at the same time, sell preservation.

Three of us. Four. There's- Alice is there too. Sorry, honey. Anyone else with a fuck now? It's um... Dang, if we can help the guy, I'd like to help the guy. He was dumb. Stayed with his cart. Should have abandoned that shit. Well, I think what he was hoping was that this thing would just kind of stomp on by. He has food in the cart. Well, what I'm saying is the way he was dressed, he should have been expecting for this to happen. He was asking for it. All tarted up like that? With his smoked meats hanging out for everyone to see? He really should have seen this coming.

I'm saying it's his responsibility. So let's go around and I'll take a vote. Who is for trying to run by? You said you were going to go around and you didn't say anyone. Okay, um, Kaluna. We're leaving. Jadzia. Bye bye. Fee. Leaving. We're all cowards. It's not cowardice, it's being smart. I have a really high wisdom. You guys are going to, I'm guessing, just do a full boar sprint with your horses. Just gallop right the fuck by. Yep. Is this guy in the ogre's hands? Not yet, but he is, he is, he's practically laying underneath the cart. This guy is petrified. He's laying flat to the ground.

Hey guy, if you're staying on the side of the road, I'd try to pick you up. Fuck you, let's go. I was going to try to help, he's an idiot, it's not my fault. He's petrified. He's a goddamn ogre. We just covered this, Jason. I know, I just. If I joke about it, it means that I don't have to feel bad about this poor gentleman dying. Valus is going to give a second's hesitation. Damn it, Valus. Don't be a hero, honey. Just, he's going to watch Jadzia ride off and he's going to look over to the guy and then just follow suit and follow Jadzia. I'm like such a cunt right now.

Everyone roll a perception check, please. I don't want to. You're going to make us watch this guy get ripped apart. I am so glad I don't roll well. 21, what the fuck? The one time. Is it fair? The dice just said, oh no, you're watching this. I just remember a briar troll at some point and I just don't want more flashbacks. The ogre's going to make it through the cart and when I say through, I mean he is going to rip this cart in half. The horses in front are going to completely get spooked and start dragging the front half of the broken cart down the street as quickly as possible.

The front two wagon wheels are intact and working so they're going to book it and book it fast. The man laying on the ground is completely petrified and the front half of this wagon is going to kind of split apart and land on his leg, pinning him to the ground. The ogre is going to lay his palm flat against this man and crush his spine in one swift motion. Pick him up and bite off the top part of his body. And that is the last thing you see as you ride off into the distance. Guys, the horses made it and that's what matters. Well, onward. Come back to Bri, she's being a fucking hero.

That'll make us seem like we're more valorous than what we just did. She's fist fighting a dragon and you guys ran from a single ogre. That's so great. You did say it was nine to ten feet tall. That's big. It's true. Yes. I think all added up. We don't equal that height. Like if Thea and Kaluna and I stack ourselves up, I don't think we reach nine feet. I'm going to check. Let's see. We got five foot eight. Oh Kaluna's five foot nine. OK. I was exaggerating by a bit. If we were gnomes. If we were gnomes. I hate this. I'm a monster. Arriving in the town of Lockford.

I'm going to ask you guys a question. You have been riding for easily a full day. Would you like to just ride past Lockford and continue on to White Hedge? What do we know about Lockford? Oh, Kaluna probably knows a lot about Lockford, right? Yes, Kaluna would know a lot about Lockford. Perhaps Kaluna would like to fill in the rest of the party. Little tidbits about Lockford and its surrounding forest, the Silver Blade. I think Kaluna would love that. Jason? Lockford. And did you notice how my voice went up a couple of octaves when I said that? Lockford is a pleasant little town with a not so pleasant history.

A couple of years ago, there was a young gentleman by the name of Trevor McBride who was bitten by a werewolf. He ended up hiding that fact from the rest of the town, losing himself to the curse, attacking people in town, and then not only escaping, but pretty much unionizing the local werewolves and started attacking the town. On top of a constant onslaught of werewolf attacks, the Silver Glade is also home to things like trolls. Basilisks are a bit of a problem. And a couple of other not so pleasant creatures. On the outskirts of Lockford, there's an area called the Moors, which is famous for being pretty much a unicorn settlement.

Which is only a problem if you're an elf. Well none of us are elves, so that's good. So, Kaluna's going to relay that to the rest of the party. Having that knowledge now, would you like to stay in Lockford for the night, or would you like to ride on by? What time is it? Oh, it's heading on dusk. Staying in Lockford sounds like it would be... Staying in an inn where there are metal bars on the doors, and um... We can always bar up the doors with like extra furniture. We are not going to leave if we hear people screaming. Nope. They're the worst. Heroes! Kaluna never claimed to be a hero.

Just saying. They already said that Jestia is a coward all the time. Valus is a follower. See, Kaluna has seen these werewolves in action. And all these other things probably. Kaluna knows. You know, Una took a lot of flak for being headstrong and shitty about it, but was she accidentally your moral compass? Yep. Maybe. Wow. Okay. You know, if we had at least a Merrick, I think we could have maybe taken on a troll. And he was our moral compass for a while because of the whole god thing he liked to do. That old thing. But then he left. That hobby of his. Riding towards Lockford.

There is a thick fog settled in the area. Lockford's kind of in a valley. And the fog settles around this town. Which is unfortunate because it makes it much tougher to see things that, let's say, were running incredibly fast on all fours. And have razor sharp talons. Fuck you Jason. Love you Bri. There are guards stationed at the front archway of the town. The town itself is surrounded by a waist high wall, which you would guess, considering this town's history, wouldn't really keep much out. Anyone who could lift their leg and step over it could breach this town's walls and pretty much have a buffet of delicious people to eat.

How the fuck are these people alive? Winterhaven made sense. They had a big wall. I'm sorry, continue? No, no, no. It's a legitimate question. They kind of stay alive by, well as we found out, tricking local fucking people into fighting their fights for them. These guards are going to stop you at the gate here. Which isn't even a gate. I'm sorry, I'm not even sure. They're going to stop you at the town's entrance. Ho ho, hold up, hold up. I'm afraid the town's on lockdown right now. What are you people looking to do? Sleep. We're not allowing strangers in at the moment.

Any particular reason? The one guard's going to look to the other and the other's going to say, "I'm going to go to the other side." And the other's going to say, "They have a right to know." We had a group come through about a week ago. Someone in their party was bitten and they ended up attacking the town. We're currently trying to take care of the problem, but until we do, we're not letting anyone in after dark. We have set up an area just to the east of town where you can camp out and you should be fine, but no one's allowed in the town proper. I'm sorry.

I don't quite understand how that is our problem for getting into the inn. Why is somebody else's errors affecting people who have done nothing and have no responsibility in this situation? We just want to come in and sleep for the night. I understand if it seems unfair, but the town has a long history of trusting strangers and sadly, when we end up doing that, we end up getting hurt. Just temporarily, I'm sure this will be lifted after a few days or so, but you're more than welcome to come back during the daytime hours and speak with our mayor. Maybe he'll make an exception for you.

Okay, who has a high intimidation check? I want to interrupt them. Can anyone intimidate? Plus four? I don't even want to diplomasize. I just want into this fucking town. There's Valus. What is Valus? Let's see. I just know it's Valus. That's all I know. That's one of the two things he's really quite good at. A 12? Yeah, that better be the best. Because mine's a plus nine. Then the second they realize that they're not able to get into town, like before, Jadzia's not even really listening. She's just kind of looking at the night and she knows how dangerous it is here, so as the sun's setting, she's getting more and more nervous.

And she's going to tug on Valus's sleeve while the men are still talking and say we need to get into town. And she looks terrified. Valus is going to step down off of his horse and approach these two guards. That's a lot of clicks. Click, click, click, click, click. And he's going to get right up in the face of the one who was talking. And he's going to kind of grip the dagger that's on his waist. We need to get in. Now there are two ways that's going to happen. You're either going to step aside, or I'm going to gut you in front of your friend, and he's not going to do a damn thing to stop me.

And he's going to look to this guy's friend and... That's a 29. Thank you, Valus. These men are going to very abruptly part and let you through. Do me a favor, everyone roll a Perception check, please. 35. Jesus! 26. 21! 15. Okay, well, Valus didn't perceive this, but... He was too busy being a fucking badass. The rest of the party is going to hear a sound. A very distant, very distinct sound. And that is the sound of a howl. And it's just kind of bouncing off of the night air. And it's going to kind of send a chill up Jatzia's spine that... If these guys didn't part, and you were forced to either camp out or keep going, something terrible could have happened to your party.

Thank you, Valus. Jatzia is going to kiss him on the face. Do you realize what could have happened if you did not get into this town? Could have been eaten by so many things. TPK. Completely. This is a dangerous fucking journey, you guys are on. Like every five seconds we're just doing damage control, like no. Nope, nope, nope, the floor is lava. That's what you're playing. You're playing a game of the floor is lava. It's true. It's especially scary for Kaluna. Ah, because she's a tree. How's about we catch up with Bree? Yep. Good? Here's where we find out if something really good is going to happen.

Or if something really bad is going to happen. Okay. Bree is going to kind of shake her head. This was a tremendous crash. And even though she managed to stay clung to Strahd's snout, she did take some collateral damage from the fall itself. Her head's just kind of ringing. Not to mention the toll her body's going through just keeping up with this amount of power usage. By now she would have had to charge at least two or three times and she's just continuing to push herself. And she's going to kind of stand up and she's going to lose her balance and fall off of Strahd.

Strahd is going to start to stir very slowly. A tremendous amount of damage has been done to Strahd in the past hour. As incredibly powerful and mighty as this dragon is, everything has a limit. And it would appear as though Strahd has almost reached his. At the same time, Bree is not doing any better. And she's going to go into this sputtering, coughing fit. And another large amount of blood is going to be expelled. And she is... it's going to bring her down to both knees. Now Strahd is sprawled out onto the ground and he is taking up an immense amount of space within Odysseia.

And if you were to pan over the scene, this place is wrecked. The tallest tower in Odysseia which was once kind of this beacon of everything that civilized life could be. This was the city. The Eladrin took great pride in it. And it is pretty much destroyed. Strahd is going to start to stir and Bree is going to try to stand up and falter under her own weight and crumble to the ground again. Strahd is going to plant his feet and with his one good eye he is going to focus on Brianna. And he is going to shake off the pain that is coursing through every bit of his body.

And he is going to narrow his one good eye at this girl. His head is only a few feet off the ground and he is going to lift it up. Open his mouth. He is going to slam his head forward and take Brianna whole into his mouth. And she is going to disappear. Strahd is going to start to lift his head off the ground and you can tell that even this small amount of motion is causing him immense pain. And he is going to tilt his head backward. And then a brilliant flash is going to go off in Strahd's mouth. And Brianna is going to use decimate. The bottom portion of Strahd's head, jaw and all, is going to disintegrate as it explodes.

And Brianna is going to fall several feet to the ground. The life is going to leave Strahd's eyes and his head is going to fall forward as his neck gives way. Strahd's head and the upper portion of his jaw are going to fall in such a way that they slam down over top of Brianna. But none of his teeth or anything that would crush her is going to touch her. She is going to be pretty much untouched inside of Strahd's head. And the city of Odessia is going to go quiet. In the town of Lockford, the party has settled down for the evening. And luckily you've gotten off the road before it got too dark and something bad may have happened.

Valus and Jadci are in their room and Kallun and Fi have bunked down in another. Fi has been looking around the room for a bit and he stops and runs his hand over the desk that's in the room and looks at it thoughtfully. Kalluna will notice that he's staring at it and go over and investigate. And they'll ask, "What's that?" Oh, there appear to be names written in this desk. I'd imagine that their adventures have passed through. Judging by the town, I doubt that they've made it very far. Let's see, there's Michael Pettigrew, Adrian Whitley, Kurt Magley, Alex Herrera, Chris Kent, Kira Thunderbeard, Zoleen, Devin Dais, Alex Lindley, and Morgan Hurst.

Morgan Hurst. Fi's then going to look out the window and then go sit on the bed. Kalluna will look down at the names, shrug, and then go to bed. And I think that's probably a good time for us to stop for the night.