Make it Right

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

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It helps us keep the lights on, it helps us bring content to you guys each and every week, and as a bonus you get to join our Discord, which is a wonderful community of listeners just like you. So swing by patreon.com/dandr for more information. Previously for Group A, while venturing away from the town of Aubrey, the unthinkable happened, as the group was caught in an explosion that killed both Masoka and Amven. Clearly this was an emergency, and the group returned to Aubrey as quickly as possible to try and find a cleric to resurrect perhaps one or even both of them.

This didn't go exactly according to plan, but fortunately enough, Masoka was able to rejoin the party. But all is not lost for Amven, as while there's not a cleric to resurrect him, there may be a darker way. And that's where we're picking things up today. Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves! I'm Jason, I'm the Dutchie Master. Going around the table starting with Rob. Hey I'm Rob, I'm playing Ubo, the half-orc druid of the mountain. And James. Hey it's James, I play Masoka, the still-alive half-elf rogue. Rubbing him.

And Kelsey! I'm Kelsey and I play Aster, the elven fighter. And Susan. Oh my goodness, Pinky's out. I am Susan, and I will be playing Madeline, Ryoin, the human cleric. Human wine fridge. Um, Xavier! Hey I'm Xavier and I play Donovan, the human fighter. And last and certainly not least, Michael. Hey I'm Michael and I play Amven the corpse. *laughter* We balance each other. Amven the slightly toasted wizard. Amven the well done. *laughter* Speaking of which, I guess we should just dive right in, right? So, we all know what happened last time. I... thankfully, Masoka skirted death.

All of that could have gone far worse than it actually did, so... congrats. How about we pick things up directly after the events of the last session, right? We got Masoka coming back, Amven is still in the room, and Donovan is just wiped. Mhm. What would be your first thoughts? *sigh* Maddie would probably turn to Aster and actually make a motion to leave the room. Aster probably looks just a bit astonished at everything that happened. I mean, it's just kind of... you hear about resurrection, you don't really ever expect to see it happen, especially not a successful one.

But a lot of stuff has just happened, but they're just gonna look at her and they'll nod a bit distracted and they will leave the room but wait outside of it. Yeah, she just wants to talk with them real fast. Yeah! But we'll get to that after everyone else's reactions, I guess. *laughter* What about... okay, obviously the big one's Masoka, but I wanna... how would Donovan be feeling? Like how would you put this into words? Yeah, he's super exhausted and kind of in disbelief, right? Like kind of in a pinch me, pinch me I'm dreaming kind of situation maybe?

Because he's so physically out of it and he sees Masoka moving, so he realizes that it works but he's still really surprised that it worked so he'd kind of be at a loss for words, just like breathing really fast and heavily, just catching his breath. Ubo viewed all this, right? Yep, he's in there. So, we already know Ubo casts magic and stuff like that, but there's an orcish side. Is there... what were Ubo's thoughts on resurrection as a whole? It's cool, it's legit. I think druids can do it, so he doesn't have a problem with it or anything. As far as this specific resurrection, he kind of expected to feel somewhat better were we to recover one or both of the people who died and seeing Masoka gets back up, like...

Yes, it is a good thing, but also zero of his guilt is resolved. So he kind of watched it happen and he's just kind of waiting to feel better and then doesn't and then just kind of crosses his arms and leans against the wall and doesn't make eye contact with anyone. Aww. So, we brought up that Donovan is wiped, Masoka is equally as wiped. How's Masoka feeling? What's the state here? How wiped out would he be upon waking up? Obviously he kind of wakes up with that gasp. Right. Can he... I mean, is he strong enough to move? Yes, but barely. Like, I would put it... this goes for both Masoka and Donovan.

This is probably... I wouldn't even put it as tired, I'd put it like drained. Like, people toss around the word "exhausted" all the time. I'm talking can barely lift your head up, can barely move around, that kind of exhausted. To put it mechanically, you're taking... both you and Donovan are taking a negative 4 penalty to basically everything. And that's just kind of to signify the stress and strain you guys have been through. But yeah, you are no good, basically. Okay. Then, I think in his mind, as soon as he woke up, he would recoil, because the last thing he saw or sensed was this explosion happening.

Right. Now whether or not he actually flips out where he's lying or he just kind of twitches a bit, that's another thing. Which I imagine he just wouldn't move very much, really. It probably almost be like that thing where you go to fall asleep and you kind of imagine that you're falling down steps or something and you just wake up. That type of thing. Okay. Then, I mean, I guess he would just be confused, like, you know, sort of blinking, looking around, can't quite move. Can he talk? Oh yeah! Yeah? Yeah. So he's probably staring at the ceiling, so he'd probably just be like, "Who's there?

What happened? Why does my voice sound so weird?" Like two very long, slow blinks from Donovan. "Asoka, you made it back!" "What happened?" "You died, man. You blew up. How are you feeling, man?" "I guess I'm happy that I'm feeling anything. What was that?" "From what we gather, it was some booby trap. We got punked. And Amvin, well, yeah, he died too." "Shit. So he's okay though, right?" "Yeah, he's still dead. And he puts his hand on his armor. It's our friend Kirkland who brought you back. Thanks, Kirkland, by the way. You really came through with that. Thank you." And there's not going to be any reply from the armor.

Does Masoka know about Kirkland? Yeah, the whole group would. Whether you think Donovan's crazy or not, I guess. Because Donovan did explain it. Okay. How did Kirkland do this? He said he'd take over my body to cast a spell he used to cast way back in his days. So I guess it just worked out like he planned it. I could feel his movements through my body and it kind of felt like I was on a body high. It kind of felt nice. Maddie, is that how you always feel? Maddie's not there. Oh, Maddie, you're not there? Okay. Yeah, she left the room with Aster. Okay, okay. Sorry, I thought you stayed.

Cool. Alright, I'll say that this way then. I wonder if it's how Maddie feels all the time. Yeah, there you go. So you help bring me back. I had no choice, man. There was nothing else for me if you weren't there. Kirkland gave me the means and I just took it. And that was stupid. I can't believe I did this, man. He said I could have died. That would have sucked. Whoa, whoa, Donnie. You don't need to put me before you. Well, yeah, now I realize that. But I got emotional in the moment. It felt like it was the only thing to do. And you know, I'm pretty happy I did, man.

I was going to miss you a lot. Come here. And he'll just open his arms for a big embrace. Yeah, I guess he'll sit up as best he can. Yeah, both of them kind of crawl to each other. Slowly, yeah. Thanks, Donnie. I owe you big for this one. Sure, we'll figure it out when it comes to paying me back. Right now, I just want to go lay down for six weeks. What about what about Anvin there? Can you help him too? I don't think I have the energy to do it right now. I'm pooped. Kirkland, do you think we could do it again? I would say, after the second try of talking to Kirkland, Donovan's going to notice a lack of presence.

You could always feel when Kirkland was there, like when he was going to speak to you. It's kind of like you can feel someone else's presence in the room. Donovan's going to feel nothing. Yeah, I guess Kirkland's pretty tired too. I can't get a thing from him. From what I gather, Anvin's got like three more days, a three day window to come back and I don't know if we have a solution. I think there was one, but I don't think people were really on board with that. It sounded pretty shady. Well, you know, I don't know much about this stuff at all, but if you guys need anything, you tell me, I'll do it.

Yeah, you got it. You want to go back to the vampire hotel? Because I do. What about Ubo? Hey Ubo. Ubo briefly just looks at you and then looks away and walks out of the room actually. Okay, Masoka, we'll turn back to Donnie. What's going on over there? Ubo killed you, man. What? Yeah, I guess you didn't have a good vantage point to see it, but he wanted to wrap things up and he shook the cart a little too rough and it just blew up. I don't think he's taking it very well. Well, I mean, I'm not going to hold a grudge. I mean, he didn't know what was in there.

Yeah, nobody did. I need some water. Yeah. Let's catch up with Maddie and Aster. Okay. So Maddie pulls Aster out into the hallway. Yeah, and then I, so the sequence of events before them is Maddie hugs Donovan, then Aster hugs Donovan, and then Maddie turns to Aster before they start talking and walks out of the room. I just want to. Yeah. Okay. So then Maddie turns to Aster and wipes the tear out of her eye. I was up most of last night praying, but I didn't get a clear answer. And you and I are usually have one mind, you're usually very level headed. How do you feel about the blood magic?

They kind of let out a sigh at that and they're going to kind of sort of lean against a wall and like lean their head back and close their eyes and just take a second to kind of think, and I, and they'll open their eyes again and look at Maddie and what we just saw was, I don't know if I ever really believed it was possible in a sense but as far as the other thing. I've seen some bad stuff with magic before, like, stuff that gives you nightmares kind of thing. I don't think I really don't think that we should pursue it. I mean, it would take a lot and even if we were successful thing messing around with that kind of thing like, we don't even have anyone with experience not that I don't think we'd want that but there are so many ways that it could go really bad.

I don't think that you knew him better than I did but I mean with something like that like we could risk like destroying this entire town I don't know I just, I don't think it's a good idea. And that's in character Maddie will let out of sight and then lean against the opposite wall and kind of like slumped down until their knees are up. I was thinking the same thing but it's anven and I don't know if I would feel right not trying, but it feels wrong. And then Astra will actually go over to her and kind of sit on the floor like next to her and just to be the presence and.

Yeah, I, I know I mean, we've both seen our fair share of death, I think it's. I think that it's better not to view it as if we're not trying for amven but that what happened with Masa was a miracle and like that should be. It's not the common thing like that shouldn't be the expected outcome, I don't think, or else. I mean, that's a lot of people have gone down darker paths trying to bring back people that they couldn't. It's. It's hard, though, and it's okay to be sad and to mourn and to be hurt beyond words. I mean, in the war it was just so present and constant.

And it was expected. But out here. We were just on a mission we were on him Vince mission. Oh god. Jason Xavier put something in the chat would Maddie know about any resurrection trinkets. Yeah, it'd be pretty darn rare. Okay. I just, it was so sudden. Yeah, I still keep like on the way back over here, I when I'm like turned to look at the rest of the group, I kept being surprised that he wasn't there you know it's like it hasn't processed yet. I just don't know how, knowing that, knowing in my heart that this is wrong, how we could face the rest of the group.

When there is an option. Do you really think that it is an option, though, like, do you really think that it would work, because I can't see that happening. I mean, don't you think that if there was like some way to use blood magic to bring people back like, like, I mean people know about resurrection, even though, like, blood message. Because it's like a lot of bad stuff like if it was possible I feel like there would be something more known or anything like it just. The fact that it feels too easy, makes me even more wary. Maddie will lean her head back up against the wall and kind of stare at the ceiling.

Me too. I just don't want to let him go you know, Jolene or head over to ask her. So, yeah. I know, I, I mean you knew him longer than any of us and I don't think any of us want to let him go either but I mean we don't don't have to not completely we can still finish this mission for him, at least, maybe would still carry on his memory. That's, it sounds so trite always but that's what it always comes back to. And then I feel like they're just gonna like look off into the distance for a while. Yeah, they're just gonna hang out on the floor. So let me ask a question of everyone.

It is the 15th of Farayor. Now, eventually I would imagine everyone would meet back up, and there is an elephant in the room. But I feel like first and foremost, you guys got to decide what the next step for the party would be. Do you stay in town? Do you just take it easy for the next few days? What? Well, Donovan and Masoka definitely need a break. Yeah, like I don't think we're going to be going anywhere until they're back up to snuff I mean just like, and it like I think Astr and Maddie could also use the emotional break as well. Like it's just like, we could probably use some downtime and also I, I don't know, I feel like we should do some kind of funeral thing I feel like he deserves that.

Michael I'm so sorry. Maddie is Susan would do it. Susan would give up all her morals for it. Yeah, we saw what Susan would do last season. Oh, well, let's not give up right away. Other people may have a say in this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, there we go. Well, okay. Good, good, good ghost. Let's pick things up in the evening then. It's probably at some point. There's that thing of everybody kind of at the very least deciding it's like, well, we can't go anywhere yet because these two are dying. Basically, they're, I mean, they're, if something were to happen on the road, they're in no shape to fight or defend themselves or anything like that or march.

So that would probably at least be decided. What at what point in the day do you feel like the party would be able to reconvene and talk about the the Amven situation? The same day, you mean? Yeah. Probably in the evening. Yeah, yeah. So it's probably like a late night conversation. I think Ubo might actually, since he wandered off from the last scene, he might want to go see Clarissa privately. Okay. And this is the thing where she checked out after, like, there's a lot of guilt on her end too. Obviously, she didn't have anything to do with Amven's death, but there was still a lot of stuff Amven was trying to accomplish, right?

He was still very young in his life. And, geez, they just had a long conversation after catching up. It's like, yeah, I'm working on this, this, and we're gonna, you know, it's just, and then just gone. So, yeah, she's in a real bad spot about it. I don't think it'd be too hard to find her if Ubo wants to pull her aside. Yeah, Ubo wants to go find her. Okay. So let's say all this is taking place, I believe we said the temple for this. So let's say you find Clarissa back near the library somewhere. And she would be hardcore studying. And she might be a little bit surprised that it's Ubo because she hasn't really had much communication with Ubo.

Yeah, so this would, she might be a little bit surprised. Like, oh, hi. Ubo just kind of waves. You said to Maddie, you thought you might be able to save Amven. There'd probably be a, like every ounce of her body, there'd probably be a, yeah, but like there's a, there's a caveat. And she closed the book that she was reading. I've been looking into it. Yeah, it's a long shot. But I, I think I could pull off a ritual that might bring him back. What does it cost? Well, she's gonna, she's gonna motion to the book that she's reading. There are things in the afterlife, beings that have power over a mortal's life and death.

Depending on what I could reach out to, the cost would be different. The only problem is I'm, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm not entirely sure what I'd be reaching out to. Will we know what my fate would be before you used the magic? I don't understand. I was planning on doing this. I knew Amven. I feel like I owe it to him to try. Why you? If it needs someone to take to bring him back, I will do it. He should live. She's gonna cast her eyes down a bit, just break eye contact momentarily. I agree. I don't, I don't think it's his time yet, but...

Mattie didn't seem like she liked the idea all that much. And I understand there's a lot that I don't know about this, but if we could pull this off, we could give Amven a second chance, you know? Mattie did not get Amven killed. Ubo got Amven killed. So maybe Mattie does not get a say. Oh boy. I, there's a long beat of silence. Okay. She's gonna stand up from the table she's sitting at and she's gonna grab this book. Come with me. Ubo nods and follows. Okay. Um, let's jump back to the rest of the group. Oh boy. Yeah, let's discuss what we're going to do about Amven.

Yeah, it's totally, it's totally us here, right? We're doing this. I'd say hours are going to go by, right? The sunset, like it's been a long day. And you guys are back in Aubrey. It is still the 15th affair of yore. You got a few days before, before Donovan and Misoka are in any shape to travel and you have a dead compatriot. You need to decide, like there are funeral arrangements or, you know, whatever else you guys are thinking about doing, the conversation needs to be had and it's sadly got to be had sooner rather than later. So most of the group is back together, minus Ubo.

But I would say that the party would already understand that Ubo is quite upset. So I don't think it would be crazy out of the ordinary. And yeah, this is hours later and Ubo met up with Clarissa right after. So whatever he did already have happened when we have this conversation? No. Okay. So since Ubo's not there, Donovan would have probably suggested to go have the meeting at the, the, what's the vampire hotel called again? The vampire hotel. The eternal slumber in- Hotel Transylvania, hotel Transylvania. It's Transylvania 6 5000. Adam Sandler's there.

That'll sell, god. Blah, blah, blah. Rob Schneider, please. Yeah, let's go to the other hotel then. No, just kidding. Yeah, because Donovan's gonna check in there for the next four days. And he, yeah, he'd check in for a room and he'd get everyone to join, like, sit down in his room. He'd have a nice bottle of wine for himself and he'd kind of like lay down on his bed on top of his sheets to like have this, this meeting. And then before Maddie comes up to your room, like she's probably directed to where your room is by Jonathan, Maddie will say anything that's charged to the room she'll take care of.

Aw, Jason. What? Oh my goodness gracious. Did you see my tweet? I am legitimately drinking from wine glass. I'm too fancy for you, Jason. You must use etiquette. And so Maddie sits on the wine fridge. Alright. Donovan has a glass of wine, laying in bed. Yeah. We're all sitting around. Welcome to my office. Jonathan is not drinking, and he's staring off in intense contemplation of the past day's events. So what are we doing for Enven? Is Miss Oka setting up or laying down? He's probably sitting up in bed. Okay, Maddie will go sit next to him. And then answer. I don't feel like blood magic is the answer, guys.

And then Maddie will look down at her hands. I don't know. I don't know what blood magic is all about. It sounds sketch, as all hell. It's bad. But I know I would have done it for Miss Oka. So, I mean, is there a difference? It's not the kind of thing that would necessarily just affect the person that does it is the problem. It's bad. Real bad shit. It's twisted magic. It's magic used only for the benefit of the user. It's not anything anyone usually willingly looks into. It's the kind of thing where you could be trying to heal someone and end up bringing a demon to this realm or something.

If you fuck up with the ritual, it could end up turning Aubrey into a hell pit or something. I don't know. I try to stay away from it, but I don't trust it. Okay, I think I get the picture. It's pretty stupid. Yeah, I bet. Okay, that's clear. Terms I can understand. Okay, so that's a that's a bad thing. I get that. And I mean, I'm so grateful that I'm sitting here with you guys right now. God, I know you sound so good. What the hell happened? The pipes on you, man. It's kind of been bothering me. Like, I sound kind of weird. No, you sound great. Some better. Okay, so did I improve you?

I didn't think that was possible. Well, my throat doesn't hurt anymore, so. But look, I thank you so much for bringing me back, but it is not fair to Ambin. And can we just bring them back the same way you brought me back? I don't think I have Kirkland juice anymore. Does it have to be you? I mean, there's got to be someone else that can do this. There's not anybody else. I asked when I came to town and they're all they're all not here. Then we go to them. We go find them. The nearest. The nearest cleric who knows how to resurrect someone is an Esther Holt, which is at least two weeks away.

At least. I cast a spell on both of you with gentle repose, but it only last. I don't. At max. A few days. I think four. It's just. But by then the soul leaves the body. He'll he'll not at that. Thank you. And. I mean, what about. What was the end his friend, Chris, Clarissa? Can she do it? I mean, they're friends. She doesn't have the ability to resurrect. I don't know of any other options, guys. Is it not worth taking that chance? I mean, I still can look. What I did came with a risk. A gamble is fine, but. I get a cost. That's a little. So worse. If you pay for something bad to happen, that's not a good deal.

Well. Well, let me help in it. I mean. I got to come back. I'm not going to be able to. He should get a chance to. This is probably in character. Yeah. I love this so much. Meanwhile, I'm going to run the knife down his palm and squeeze it into the pentacle. Mattie will take his hand and we we just got you back. I don't think any of us can bear to lose you again. But he's he's important. He's doing good things. You know. He he was. And that's why we have to finish his mission. This. It tears me up more than any of you will ever know to not take the chance, but it doesn't feel right.

So we have to we have to finish his mission. Yeah, we should send word to people, though. Yes. In case we don't make it back, they should at least know. Let's let's give the guy a proper burial with his family. Yeah. Meanwhile. We have to take the knife across town in an attic. So I would picture that Clarissa would have pulled Ubo aside and and understanding why people in her life would probably be very against this idea. That conversation with Ubo was just the nudge she needed to kind of push her into it. Right. Let's let's go thinking too much about this.

So the problem is you don't want to interrupt a ritual like this. And at the entire time, she would probably be telling Ubo about the dangers involved, like kind of a buyer beware. It's like, OK, just so just so you know, I've read a lot of a lot of cautionary tales about this type of thing. And, you know, who knows what's going to happen when we do this officially? At any point during this, do you feel like Ubo would have changed his mind, would have had second thoughts, anything like that? I mean, I guess the thing he'd try to iron out is like, will we be able to like do the spell enough to see what the deal would be before we follow through on the deal?

Or is it like once we know what the deal is, the bad thing happens or something worse happens or I don't... Right. Right. I guess like how much, you know, is this like is this like the like evil contract where like the language is very specific and tragic, but at least it's all in writing? Or is it like... It's pretty Faustian to some some degree. So here's how she would lay it out. It depends on what you're asking for. Demons are notoriously shady creatures, right? They ultimately what they want is their freedom. But if they can use use your soul to gain some sort of leverage where they are, they'll take that, too.

So if you're asking to be rich or if you are asking to be great at combat, something like that, there are all kinds of deals to be made. And usually what you're giving up is your soul. Now, if you're trying to bring someone back from the dead, that's a big one. And you're going to need a more powerful demon for that type of thing. So usually the way she would break it down is what you're doing is opening a door like just a crack. And the first powerful demon to see this door open will come forth and barter with you. The bartering is not always a pleasant experience.

Usually it's a downright unpleasant experience. And something has to be given up just to have the meeting, basically, if that makes sense. There's a reason why everyone would be warning you about this. It's a very... This is this is the thing you do when you have no other options. Is there any degree to which I'll know what I'd have to give up before... I'm trying to figure out how much I get to know before I take each step of this, right? Right. Yeah. I mean, Ubo doesn't want to hurt me. Ubo wants to get Amvin back to life without hurting more innocent people.

But he's OK if he's dead, right? Right. He's OK if... Right. If it takes him, he's OK with that. Yeah. And I think that's pretty much... So picture it like this. Clarissa's never done anything like this. It's all been read in books. So imagine somebody who's only... Like, who wants to rob a bank, but has only seen shit like, you know, Ocean's Eleven to go off of. It's like, well, I know what I've seen in movies, that type of thing. So she's probably going to brace you for the fact that you could lose your life. She could lose her life. Like, this could all go very badly.

But the whole, oh, the town could be burning or something like that would probably not be in her forecast. Like, it would be like, no, I don't think that would happen. But she's going off of what's in this book. And it's a limited window into what could happen. OK. Well, hopefully we get to hear what the deal is. I mean, like, I guess I don't know what happens if we say no once we hear what the deal is. That's the problem. Yeah. And yeah, usually there's some sort of payment. There's something to take or something. But anywho, in this attic, there would be candles lit.

She would probably be knelt down. There'd be this circle. And she would ask Ubo to kneel with her. And there would be a preamble. Like, she's had some time to think about this. She knows that there's a risk. She understands what's at stake. But this would be her last ditch attempt to kind of warn Ubo. It's like, OK, these are all the things that could potentially happen. And we're getting ready to do this. And she would hand Ubo a letter addressed to Alexandra. And she would tell Ubo, if something happens and I don't make it out of this alive, please make sure that she gets this.

Do it. Am I supposed to know who Alexandra is? Is this someone like Ubo knows? You probably would have seen her around town. She's kind of a high muckety muck in terms of the town guard. She used to be the lone town guard, actually. But things have improved around town and she actually has some clout now. OK. And she would probably ask Ubo, is there... Like, if the roles reversed and she makes it alive and you don't, is there someone she should talk to or a message she should deliver? Ubo thinks for a minute and says, if I don't make it and Amvin comes back, tell my friends that everything was made right.

If I don't make it out and Amvin does not come back, no one should speak of me again. And she would take... She would take a deep breath. OK. Give me your hand. Ubo does. And she would have this... She'd have this knife and she would slash across Ubo's palm as gently as she can. But there'd be... There'd be some blood. And she would do the same with her hand. And she's going to have both you and her kind of trace this pattern in the middle of the circle that you're sitting in. And then she's going to wrap your hand with this bandage and do the same for her.

And she is going to start to read from this tome. Now, here's the fun part. Rob. Yes? I want you to get ready and roll a die for me. Now, there are many demons out there that might be able to answer the call. Some are more powerful than others. Some are just itching for the chance. Based on this d10 that you're about to roll, any number of demons could show up. Do I want a high number or do I want a low number? Well, it's about variety, basically. This isn't... It's the history. Oh! This is... It's all kind of bad. Yeah, yeah. But this is different flavors. I get it.

I get it. Yeah. This is... It's less... It's less linear scale and more continuum all around the same level. Right. Yeah. Just what flavor? So, do me a favor. Give me a flat d10. That's an eight. There it is. That's the laugh. Oh, boy. Okay. So, Clarissa is going to be reading from this tome. And the more she reads, the further she gets in, the more the room itself is going to change. You're going to feel it in the air. Candles will flicker. The wood in this attic is almost going to seem to warp and stretch, almost like the house is breathing. And just outside of this circle, like right on the periphery of it, something is going to start to materialize.

Sort of this purple smoke. It's going to start to fill a space. Almost as if there's some sort of glass dome around it. It won't expand any further than this this thinnish column about the size of... About the size of just a humanoid. That general shape. Speckled within this circle are a bunch of these holes that are going to start to appear. They look like holes anyway. About like dime size holes. There's going to be a bright light shining beneath. And these tiny hooks are going to spring out from these holes and they are going to attach themselves to both Ubo and Clarissa.

Clarissa is going to drop the book that she was reading from. Now, picture hundreds of these fish hooks. They are going to pierce Ubo and Clarissa's skin. Arms, legs, torso, all that. Everywhere but the head. And they're going to sort of clamp down. It is agony. And a figure is going to start to materialize through this smoke. You're going to start to make this out. And again, within seconds, this all just feels like it's going awry. There's just tremendous pain. Instantly just feels like, "Okay, this is not going well." And I would say the figure that's going to take shape looks vaguely tiefling.

Big horns, like kind of rounded these awful, unmanicured fingernails. And after a few seconds, you're going to hear this breathing. Again, stark quiet in the room. Beyond the sound of these chains attached to the fish hooks. They're very thin, almost like a wire. What would Ubo's reaction be to this? He's obviously hurting. There's no getting around that. But he's just kind of gritting his teeth and he wants to get to the point. He wants to get to... Yeah. But he's gritting his teeth and I think he's looking at Clarissa out of the corner of his eye to see how she's doing.

Because he did not expect... He expected to be the one giving up everything. So he's seeing how she's taking it, I guess. And there's nothing in her spiel involve fish hooks and piercing of skin and all this stuff. Like none of this. So this is a wild surprise to her as well. Like absolute agony. And you're going to start to see a blood pool in several areas. Like you can feel it kind of in little rivlets, like dribbling down your chest and stuff like that. For her, it's just like she's wearing these robes and stuff and it's going to start to soak through.

Like you could just see it. And again, this breathing is going to persist. And after a few moments, this creature is going to start to speak. Almost like he's sort of acclimating himself to the room. Just kind of like stepping outside, breathing in fresh air. That type of thing for the first time in a long time. [ I wouldn't say that he's even looking at either one of you in particular. Just sort of the sight of both of you there. Would this be a thing where Ubo would speak up or you're waiting for Clarissa to take the reins? Does she look like she's giving him the "Go" sign or does she look like she's something on the tip of her tongue?

I think most of it is pain. Because she's not used to dealing with this type of thing. Ubo would probably be far more, I mean maybe not this particular style of pain, but you've been... Yeah, he's had it wrong. Yeah, you've been stabbed and shot at with arrows and stuff before. She hasn't. So it looks like she's racking her brain trying to like, one, steal herself and get... And part of it's probably being terrified. So there'd probably be a long beak from her. Then Ubo speak up, yeah. It's tough, right? Yeah, yeah. A friend must be brought back from the dead.

What will it take? Oh my. That is a very large favor. We barely even know each other. Tell me, how much does this friend mean to you? Enough. Enough to do this. You can tell that this demon has a very small range of movement. And he's pretty much bound to the circle with you guys, like right around the edge here. He can't move. But he can touch you. And he's going to lean down, kind of kneel down with you guys. And he's going to take the back of his hand and trace his index finger over Ubo's cheek. I can see that. This type of friendship is so touching. You just don't see it anymore.

I can see that you're very, very loyal. Clarissa at this point is kind of panicking. And just as she's about to speak, I would say that these chains are going to tighten up just a little bit. And she's probably going to she's probably going to squeak out like, ah, like that, like it is very taunt. I could use your help with something if you would be my friend as well. And he's kind of, um, he's drawing this out, obviously. And he's kind of waiting for an affirmative. You can kind of tell it's like a question hanging in the air. Explain. I have been ever so lonely.

I can bring your friend back right now, just as you remember him. And all I ask is that you go to a specific spot when I ask you to. Do we have a bargain? What will happen there? This wide smile is going to absolutely devour his face. I'll be reunited with someone I love. Honestly, you couldn't ask for a more fair trade. At that point, Ubo balls up a fist and punches the ground and says, no, this was to be on me. I will not hurt another. It is me or it is no one. That is how this ends. This is interesting. Ubo, do me a favor. Roll a persuasion check for me. I just hear you.

What charisma? I'm sorry. Is it low? Is he drunk? Is he easy? Depends on who's asking, I guess. Persuasion, you said? Give me persuasion. All right. So it's a flat D20 from Ubo. Here it comes. Wow. Literal, natural one. Well, okay. So that's not great. But okay. I was trying to spare you so much pain. However, I think we can still reach a bargain. I can bring your friend back. That much I'm certain of. But when you die, eventually, I get you, Ubo. Thinking thoughts. Sorry. No, take your time. This is a big one. What do you do with me once you have me? Oh, boy. My, my. You do ask a lot of questions for someone in such a compromised position.

I don't trust you. Pity. I thought we could befriend. He's going to turn his attention to Clarissa. What about you? You're going to feel those chains tighten once again. Almost like someone's yanking on them just a bit like a like a dog on a chain, that type of thing. She is in agony. And not used to being put through this type of punishment. Just for summoning me. I could take you both right now. And he's going to do the exact same thing he did with Ubo and kind of touch her cheek with his in the back of his index finger, kind of drawing his nail against the side of her cheek.

Give me a reason to wait. All I want to do. Is walk free. The same treatment that you get every day. And she is going to. She is going to. Tighten up kind of like, OK, you know what? Let's roll a constitution save. That'd be great. So she is going. You could tell she's trying not to let the pain, glider judgment, that type of thing. Why not just take me then? Just take me for Amven. No. That is not how this works. This demon is going to stand up and kind of giggle to himself. How we seem to have a difference of opinion. Do we know if he's if he actually can take us both just for doing this?

Like, do we I mean, he's definitely got the power to hurt you. It doesn't seem that could be a bluff or it's like it's I would say at this point, nothing would seem like an outright lie, right? Like this. It's like it's like, OK, he's obviously got the power to touch us and hurt us. And there's some fine print in this summoning that was not in the book. It is too much, Clarissa. We cannot. Go back where you came from. Hmm. And Ubo looks to Clarissa like, hey, get on this with me. Like, we've made a big mistake. Right. God. Do me a favor. Roll a persuasion check.

Hmm. Another one of those, huh? It's got to be better than the one you rolled a second ago. Well, that's all it takes. No. All right. Yes, five. I'm not very persuasive. I'm trying to figure out how she would react to all this because she is definitely this. This is bad. Hmm. She's going to look at Ubo and there are going to be tears welling up in her eyes. And she's going to mouth the words, I'm sorry. And she's going to shout, just take me and get this over with. This demon is going to crouch down again and get face to face with her. Are you sure? This is a very important decision.

Ubo is literally like shouting and wailing for her to not do this. Can I literally leap in front of her? How much freedom of movement do I have? Not much. I mean, boy. Already a significant amount of damage has been done to you guys, basically. And I'm trying to, like you would have to, not only would it be a strength check, but it would be, you'd be ripping off your own skin basically to get to her. You know? I think at this point, to stop her from doing this, he would do just about anything at this point. Okay. Okay. Let's push this into an arena where Ubo has a bonus to an ability score.

Right. Yes. Not charisma. All right. Do me a favor. Give me an athletics check. I think I'm better at that one. I would hope. You gotta be. Yeah. Yeah, plus seven. All right. That's my territory. Strength based persuasion. Hey, 21. Okay. So. Oh my God. Okay. These hooks are burrowed into muscle and shit. Like, this is bad. So, to understand what Ubo wants to do, you want to lunge forward at this demon or at Clarissa? The problem is, if I rip her free from the hooks, she might die from the damage. Right. When Clarissa was discussing this whole process with me, is there anything she said about, "Hey, don't touch it, don't fight it, if you fight it, it breaks the seal." Like a "don't cross the streams" type of thing?

Yeah, yeah. Anything like, "Hey, if you try to punch this dude, it just punches the door open or something." Well, there's one thing, and she was very adamant about this when telling you about the ritual, that the driveling of blood in the pattern in the center of the circle, don't touch it. Okay. Until the ritual is finished. And, she probably didn't go into too much detail, because she doesn't exactly know what's going to happen. But, she was very adamant to just, "Don't do that. Like, whatever you do, don't do that. Everything else we can figure out, but don't do that." Mm-hmm.

Don't touch the... Okay. Yep. Okay. What can I do without touching the... and the blood's all on the floor, right? Yeah, it's dribbled in between you two. Like, picture there's a circle, and then you two are kneeling mostly in the middle of it, and then between you two, there's a small symbol. Okay. I guess I'm trying to figure out if the lines are in any way, I mean, I guess they're obviously supernatural. I don't know. We'll find out. Mm. Okay. So, I've ripped free of the hooks. Is this the case? Yes. Add significant damage to yourself, yes. Okay. How much damage?

How many hit points do I have? What have I taken? Okay. Let's quantify it. I mean, yeah. That's relevant to the course of action. Yeah. That's absolutely correct. So, let's say, good lord, what's a good damage value for that? 'Cause you are literally... boy howdy, let's do that. Let's say 4d10. So that's 22 damage you've taken so far. Okay. That's significant. Yeah. I am... gosh, the problem is the only way Ubo knows how to solve this is brute force, which may not be optimal. Right. I almost can't roleplay right now, right? I kinda have to go back into Rob mode and be like, "Okay, what's Ubo doing?" Right.

No, I completely understand. I'm having to outline him from a distance here to talk this out. It's like a mecha. Yeah. Yeah. I... he said, with the utmost confidence... I'm gonna manifest Flame Blade. Okay. Which is a bonus action. And then I am going to attack the lines attached to Clarissa with it. Hmm. So to understand, you're basically swatting at these chains. I am attempting to sever them with a blade of magical flame. So yes, I have, as Clarissa attempted to agree to this measure and thank goodness the demon decided to double check and didn't just take that for face value.

Ubo ripped the hooks in his skin and muscle free from his body, I imagine with a mighty orcish roar, conjured a scimitar of blazing magical fire in his hand, and rushed over to slash at the lines attached to Clarissa. Okay. Uh, okay. Roll the attack. Let's see something here. Okay. That's a good attack. That is a very good attack. That's a good attack. Yes. Oh boy. So... I am going to say that you are going to cut these, right? Okay. And this is all just, there's almost going to be no feedback for you. There's no resistance. It's just going to like, just right through.

So these are going to loosen and give slack and Clarissa is going to fall forward on her hands and ooh, you know what we're going to do. Let's roll a flat d20. That always goes well. Okay. She is just going to narrowly avoid putting her hands in that, in the symbol with the blood. Like she's just going to catch herself like on the outskirts of it. So that could have been bad. Yeah, it's a great thing to leave up to a flat d20. I love it. Keep it going. What else have I gotten us into? So she's free of this, still in pain. There's still hooks in her and stuff like that.

But I mean, there's like, there's bits of Ubo's skin missing. There's deep lacerations here. Like it's really bad. This demon is going to stand up. Like just kind of like, whoa, like kind of step back a little bit. There's no need to be so brash. Go home. And Ubo will like pointedly like point the sword at him. Hmm. Yeah. Pretty brazen. It's pretty, yeah. He's going to grab at Clarissa. My business is not concluded. Ubo will slash at his hand if Ubo has an action. Well, here's what we're going to do. Clarissa's in a spot, right? She's in a lot of pain. You've been through a lot of pain.

And Anven's still not back. You want to make me follow through on that slash or can I change my mind? What else were you going to do? I was going to cast Gust of Wind and hurl Clarissa backward across the room. Wow. So that she cannot be grabbed. Well, okay. Hmm. Okay. Here's what we're going to do. You just took an action. Okay. So what we're going to do is if Clarissa would just try to put an end to this and say yes, or if she would kind of see everything that Ubo is going through and she's like, "Yeah, you're right. This is going way too far. This is..." So she's kind of of two minds.

It's like, "Well, we've come this far and we still don't have Anven back." Or we see that this is a tremendous error. Let's just bail. Right? So what I'm going to do is I'm going to roll a flat d20. That'd be flat. Can it be a sense bonus? Well here's the thing. I don't think that there... I think it would be like a 50/50 split in her head, right? Because you got to factor in pain and all this stuff. She really misses Anven and you made a good case earlier about like, you know, all this stuff. And obviously this demon's shady as fuck. Trying to get free. We like, no.

So one through 10, she is going to say yes. Eleven through 20, she's not going to. Okay. Are we ready guys? Time for survivor's guilt part two. Her hands are going to hit the floor. And again, in a lot of pain, he's going to, he's going to kneel down and she's going to furiously nod her head yes, and then shout yes. With a gust of wind, these candles are going to go out and this room is going to be pitch black. And can Ubo see in the dark? Yes. Half-Orcs have dark vision. Okay. Gonna wish I didn't, right? Well, you're going to still, you're going to see Clarissa's figure just like doubled over and there's going to be you and no one else in this room.

And it's going to be eerily quiet. Let's catch up with the rest of the group. I don't know. We're having a good time. Planning a funeral. Yeah, planning a funeral. We're hard at work planning a funeral. I had a question earlier, what did we do with Amven's body? Where would that be? Well, I, to my understanding, it was still in the temple. Okay, yeah, that makes super sense. Yeah, just kind of, because they gave you some privacy to say, you know. Good. Yeah, other than like, we're having like, oh, well, Mattie could be saying some lines at the funeral and tomorrow morning we'll go talk to the city and prepare the graveyard.

Yeah, planning. Oh, it's probably going to be a sunset thing because that symbolizes his passing and it'll be here and oh, he was a great guy, right? Let's talk about all the great things about him. Amven. Oh, hey. How you doing? I'm on the edge of my seat here and getting some guilt. No, no guilt. So Amven is going to wake up in the temple. There's going to be this chilled feeling. It's kind of like waking up in the middle of the night because you realize that you're too cold, that type of thing. Now you're, the room that you're in is going to be absent of people except for you.

So you're going to wake up. And what do you think the first thing that would be going through Amven's mind would be? If I would be like, hello? Is there like no lights? It's all dark and... There's probably like some lantern light outside or something like that. So there'd be light coming in the windows. Having grown up here, do I recognize that this is like, this is just a room or is this just a like, this is the room for visitation? That type of thing, yeah. I look around, I don't see any of my friends. Am I on just a stone tablet or am I in a... Yeah, pretty much like this would be a place for like a viewing, that type of thing.

I'd look at my hands and myself, do I look burnt or singed or... No, you appear to be fine. Your clothing is wrecked, like you're like tatters, like that type of thing. I'll probably try to get out of the off the tablet thing and try to stand. I don't know if I'm exhausted or... No, you're fine. Ooh, this is getting interesting. Then I will be utterly confused because the last thing I remember was going towards a wagon. I assume I remembered that. Oh yeah. All right. Do I have any recollection of anything or is it just wagon blow up here? Yeah, like instantaneous, like it would be partial explosion, boom, black, up.

Okay. I'll try to head out and see if I can... Because I'm sure since I'm in such tatters, it probably doesn't wear well. I'm probably holding it as I walk. Oh yeah, probably. Yeah. They're not really fit for use anymore. It's that type of thing. Then I think I try to leave the room and find someone to ask for a robe or some spare clothes, having no idea what impact this is going to be. Thinking, I just like, oh man, the way I'm thinking it is, man, I must have been knocked unconscious, and Maddie and the group must have brought me back. That's amazing that I'm alive, that I was so close to death.

That's the way I'm treating it. And then I'll... Well, let's see what happens when I do that. Can I have... So okay, you're all hanging out, most of you are hanging out in this room at the Eternal Slumber Inn, right? So this sounds like Amvin... Is Amvin stumbling out into the street or just looking for someone else in the building? He'd be looking in the building because he knows it's the temple. So saying like, all right, well, if anything, my friends are probably at a hotel. Maybe Maddie's in the temple, so it'd be like looking around, hopefully catching Maddie if she's in the temple because she knows that Ugo and Maddie was staying at the temple last time.

But if he finds a passerby, then he'd be like, "Oh, hey, where can I grab the spare robe just to cover up and then try to find the hotel?" That's his aim of action of like, "Anybody? It's cool. But man, I hope Maddie's here because this is where she's at and it'd be good to see her and she could fill me in on the whole crazy trip back." So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna roll because it's the middle of the night. We're gonna roll to see if anybody's here is at the temple. Nope. So I would say this is almost like a Rick Grimes situation where you just wake up and you're like, "Okay, this is weird.

Like no one's here." It's kind of disorienting because you probably recognize, "Oh, we're in Aubrey. Why are we in Aubrey? How did I get here?" That type of thing. And eventually I would say you probably leave the building and- I remember I have prestidicitation. So I'm like, "You know what? Let's try this." I don't know if that works on- Yeah, I would say that has limitations. That's like a good stain fighter or something. I don't think it's gonna completely- At the very least I try to make it where it doesn't fall off of me. Right, yeah. So your peony isn't showing to everybody.

Exactly. Right. Totally. Okay. So then I'm like, "All right. Well, if they're not here, then they have to be at one of the hotels." And we wasn't happy about that vampire one, but I know Donovan and the rest were pretty cool with it. So I'm gonna go try the Eternal Slumber Inn first. If this is a situation where the group probably talks and they reach the conclusion, it's like, "Okay, we got to bury Anvin. That's just it." And you probably plan out the proceedings and where you're gonna bury him and all that stuff, probably next to his mom. And eventually you adjourn for the evening because it's like, "All right, well, there's nothing we can really do." I would say that specifically Maddie, if Maddie isn't sleeping at the inn, probably gonna catch up with Ubo, just like, "Okay, we're probably gonna sleep at the temple again.

Let's just go bed down for the night. There's nothing we could do." Yeah. I'm gonna go track him down. I know that he has a lot of emotions right now that I'm gonna help him, guide him and do my cleric duty. You're a good friend. You're gonna run into Anvin stumbling around with no shoes and shit. I mean, clearly confused, dazed, clothing in tatters, not falling off him. You don't see no peeny. It's good. But clearly disheveled. Maddie? Like hit to the face, stop, jaw drop. Hey. Anvin? Hi. I woke up from, I guess, unconsciousness and there was no one in the temple.

I mean, I look like crap. She's probably gonna cut you off and hug you, like real tight. He will be taken aback, but then hugged back and like, "Hey, could you fill in some details?" I mean, and then just hugs you tight. Maddie's probably gonna lean back and put both her hands on the sides of your face and be like, "Is it you? Anvin, is this you?" And then like look into his face and like examine him. Yeah, it's me. I mean, we stayed together in the library growing up. Any question you want, I'll answer. We ... I assume I got knocked unconscious by that blow uping wagon thing.

So probably when Anvin first started talking, Maddie wasn't even registering anything. It was just like, "Oh my God, there's Anvin." And then like words start coming in and she's gonna ... like her face will drop. Anvin, you were unconscious. You died. Oh my God. And then she'll hug you again. Like realize you died and now you're here. Hugs you back, but it's very like, "Huh? I mean, I just woke up." Usually, isn't there like people around you when you get resurrected? I mean, I know you're growing in scale. Are you already at that level? No, no, no, no, no.

I don't ... I don't ... I don't ... And then I don't ... And then Maddie will start like pulling into herself, like almost like looking down and like, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Oh my God." And then Maddie will look into empathize, "I think there's something wrong. You go to the eternal slumber inn. I got to go. I got to go. I'm so sorry. I'm so glad you're back." She'll give you a quick hug and then run off in a direction. "You sure you don't want me with you?" "Get some clothes on." "Okay." "Let's see if I can twist the knife just a bit more." "Oh, yes.

Okay, so I would say it's about that time of night. Usually Alex is kind of midday on guard duty for the most part. Doesn't have to be up all night patrolling the border to Aubrey because no vampire attacks. But you could tell she's a bit concerned, distraught, not to the point of panic, but she's kind of roaming the street right now calling out for Clarissa, trying to find her. And you could tell she's walking up to people like, "Hey, have you seen her?" It's not like her to not come home after it gets dark. It's just like, "Oh, you didn't show up for dinner.

Where are you?" That type of thing. And it gets right at the point where it's like, "Okay, I've questioned four or five people and no one has seen her." It's kind of getting panicky." So does Maddie run into her as she's running to the library? "I'd say you would hear this, yeah." Maddie will hear her and then along the way just run into her and obviously panic-stricken herself. "Alex, I think there's something wrong." So you're walking up to her just like that? "No, probably run up to her." Oh no. "And probably take her by the shoulders. Look her straight in the face, take her by the shoulders, panicked." Right.

That would be the exact excuse to go into full-blown panic mode. That's a confirmation. So instantly it would probably ratchet her up two or three notches. What? What's going on? "Oh my god. One of my friends died. Well two of them did, but one of them was resurrected. One was dead and we couldn't resurrect him. I was talking to Clarissa and she said there was a book and it was blood magic and she said she wanted to use it to bring him back, but I told her no, but now he's back and I don't know where Clarissa is and I don't know where Ubo is. I think there's something wrong." I halfway through your explanation, she's going to start piecing it together.

It's like, "Oh god." Like that type of thing. The problem is there's nowhere to go. You just said, "I don't know where they are." And that would probably be her very next thought. Can we catch up with Ubo and Clarissa for just a second? I don't know. Can we? Yeah, let's do it. These chains and hooks would be gone. The damage that they left is not gone. God, part of me wants to just roll to see if Clarissa would remain conscious after that because Jesus, man, I can't imagine the pain. So let's see. So yeah, just barely, like just kind of like, okay. But I'd say she's probably still slumped down in the same position and probably crying or damn near on the verge of it.

What would Ubo's reaction be to all this? I think Ubo is basically catatonic. He's just staring at the ceiling. He doesn't even know what to do. Guys, I think that's a good time for us to stop for the evening. I guess we're going to have to figure out. So I don't want to concern anybody. But this is a blank check situation where I'm not sure that either Ubo or Clarissa would be positive of what they agreed to because it was in such a- she just said yes. Like there's- You know what I mean? And it's fucking Darmok. So damn it. There is an agreement, but you're not exactly sure the fine print, like what is the agreement?

Because a few different scenarios were put out there. So that was fun. You said a bunch of things that all I heard was "Mesoka and Anvin are back, baby." Man, I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Please jump on social media. Give us a follow on Facebook, on Twitter, wherever you check our feeds out. That's how you're going to find out more about Theriathon as it approaches on April 20th. That's going to be from noon to midnight. All day long we'll be streaming. We're currently setting that up. That's also when our Kickstarter launches for the new book, which we are working day and night to complete.

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