A Short Walk in an Endless Forest | 1x16 | The Naturolls

Does does that does that sound like everyone's ready? Yes. Take us in. Um, what is it? Sc Scotty, take you in, Scotty. Got it. Yep, that's the quote from the famous TV series Star Trek. Take me in Scotty. Scotty's not the pilot. I hate everything. You've roused the trekkie. Oh man. That's so good. Hurts. We're gonna get emails about that one. Okay, go ahead. You can just cut it, it's fine Um all right, so um hundred percent not gonna get that. Cut engagement, are you kidding me? Yeah. Yep, yep, yep, yep. So we left the tater tots, which actually is not their official name, but uh a name nonetheless. Um in the invertent um cove at the edge of the endless forest And we left them as uh Sal had climbed on top of Rini's revelations with the help of Svetlana, and Sal saw smoke rising off in the distance above the endless forest. And he thinks back to times he'd rather have forgotten. But as Sal climbs back down to join his companions, they swing by Tots this and that to gather up new gear to do what must be done to save Maz. Originally they weren't sure what led to her disappearance, but now it is seeming more certain that something sinister is afoot. After the death of Toko Stormclaw, the Tater Tots found themselves at the verdant cove, a bustling port on the outskirts of the endless forest. A guard confronted Hilo, questioning his presence, while Sal and the crew tried to persuade him that an autograph from the great Hilo Would be worth his while for some information. Of course, gold is what ultimately got him though. Svetlana shared a moment later on with a local bard while still in mourning, and eventually the group was uh stopped by, once again, Ringy's revelations, where gazing into her Crystal ball. It very obviously at first showed nothing. But with Svetlana, Boga's connection to magic, suddenly the tone changed, and Rini created a flame, bringing about Kor's light. Ah, the Rockies. Envisions flashed with Boga, Svetlana, and Hilo's mind's eye. Sorry, within Hylo's mind's eye. They all saw different things, but uh amongst the things that were seen and these visions that flashed were images of Maz being marched along. another of her losing a wing, and yet another of Maz as Scorchborn. Hilo believes there are multiple possibilities for the future, but time is finite Sal will begin to lead them towards the smoke rising in the forest to find whatever is left of the Maz that they know. So here in the verdant um sorry, verdant cove. Outside, I would assume, right? Pretty much where we left off of uh tots this and that, and Ringy's revelations, all kind of in the same area of um town. No relation to Tater Tots, though No. No. No. Tater tots this and that. No. You uh all stand um, you know, at the uh precipice of the uh next part of uh your adventure. You see a number of uh figures uh moving about, and um oddly enough, um as you are um standing there, you see a dwarf bard with a very fancy feathered hat. Walking along with two other companions, followed by a giant goblin rogue, who looks like he's trying to kind of like be a little bit sneaky, but it's pretty hard to be sneaky because it's a giant goblin rogue rogue. And then a clank, um, who is very uh short and tiny, um, you know, probably about like, you know, three feet tall, so like kind of rivet height, maybe even smaller Um a clank, uh a seraph in white robes, kind of like making different like motions, kind of gesturing as though they were maybe like praying towards something. Um this clank also has a slight limp. And it's just like kind of odd because it's almost like the opposite of your party in some ways. Because you have a short clank, seraph, right? So on and so forth. And then you all just kind of like catch their eye for just like a second, and they all look at you, and it's almost just like That's a little weird. And then they kind of just like keep walking past slowly. And um I uh leave the uh you know next move up to uh the uh the players. Do we recognize these people? Like have we seen them before? No, no, definitely not. It just it just feels odd that it's like, you know, you've got a very tall serif in your party. There's a very short serif. in that party that there's a short goblin in your party and a very tall goblin in their party, and then you have a taller clank and then a shorter clank. And you're just like, that's weird. And I think you get the sense that like when they look at you, they're like That's weird. And then they just kinda like keep moving along. There's no like threat or anything like that. It's just kinda like, you know, you ever uh been out in public? And sometimes you just kind of like see something and maybe somebody sees you and there's like a shared moment there where nothing's spoken, but you're just like, hmm, that was odd. Are we sure it's not the fun house mirror? Yeah, yeah, no, no, there is uh no no magic involved. It seems like there's amongst the people walking up and down this path, um that you know, they just happen to be walking um through the uh verdant Uh cove as well. Sal hears Svetlana ask about the mirror and quickly is like, no no no no no no no no no and puts puts his hands on her axe. It was one time, Sal. Yeah. One time. Yeah, that that that's fair, but I just You know, f fool me twice. Sometimes that's all it takes. Fair enough. Fair enough. Do we feel like if we if we hustled we could stop them? This whole party? I mean, sure, I mean they're they're just walking about. I mean they're not like running or anything. It just seems like they're out and about on business. It's, you know, um Kind of like mid afternoon, uh, you know, it's not like super late, like sun's, you know, still out. And um, you know, Sal specifically would have kind of the memory of that you know, smoke in the distance. Um, of course, just kind of as a reminder for the party that we had these visions and the impression that was left uh with everybody is that, you know, there may still be time left. We're not certain of exactly how much. um to potentially you know save Maz. It's not super clear. And um you know Sal of course knowing you know uh the Endless Forest a bit better than the others um might have um a large, not large, a note in his um handouts that also gives him some information to, you know, read through and do with what he pleases. Uh, you know, so up to Sal. But uh but yeah, sure, if you want to go, you know, stop him and chat it up, you certainly, you know, more than welcome to do so Sal looks to the party. Hey, hey, I know we're kind of in a hurry, but d they they look like another us. They they look like they are out on adventures too and I don't know. Strength and numbers? Should we should we stop them? Should we just keep going And Sal kinda looks down, he pulls out the note out of his satchel. Doesn't really remember where it came from or how it got into his bag. Maybe it was slipped in at uh tot's this and that or something like that. He doesn't know for sure, but he bury after asking the question he kinda buries his head in the note And I want you to picture him reading the way like Kermit the Frog would read, where it's like full head going across the page for each line back and forth. So. Yeah, exactly. It's like a typewriter sliding back and forth. 100% correct. Yeah. What do you have, Sal? What is that? Well, I gotta read, and that's not necessarily my strength, so I was hoping you guys would discuss the whole should we talk to these people and then I could read and Sal goes back to his his typewriter reading Um and as um Sal starts to um read, you know, amongst the other people, one other individual um kind of catches your eye because um you see them um not walking by, but wheeling by Um they're actually pushing themselves in a uh in a wheelchair, you know, kind of, you know, both arms, you know, moving down the uh the pathway. And um When you look at this person, they catch your eye because one of their eyes is colored completely like milky white with like a scar extending over the uh left uh cheek. And um you see them, you know, looking about. Um, you know, seems like they might be stopping over at uh tots um this and that. And um, you know, you see the person kind of glance over towards your party. Again, no discernible threat, um, but uh, you know, this person seems to notice you. Um and then um you know, they could they start to work their way um further down the street. So maybe they weren't stopping at tots this and that. Maybe they thought about it, but they weren't sure, then they're kind of going down the pathway as well These seem unrelated, by the way, these groups. This one person in the wheelchair and the other group. Did you see those people that have just passed us by? Did you notice they look very similar to us, but maybe like opposite? The clank is unusually short. Yes, I noticed that. It is strange. Did you get any sense from them? Like magic or anything like that? As a wheeling way, Bogar tries to um extend her her arcane sense. Because I'm assuming they haven't gone that far that far past. No, no, they're they're meandering. It's not like they're running away or anything. It seems like again they're kind of out on their, you know, daily um, you know, business. And let me just make sure I've got Arcane Sense down. Okay, yeah. So within yeah. I mean they're within close range. That's fine. Um you definitely get the sense that Um at least uh one of them has you know a magical you know presence um appropriate um to a uh to a serif, which is especially interesting because it's a serif clank, which is an interesting thing to consider. Um and uh you you don't get the same arcane or magical sense you'd get from Svetlana. Um but uh what I guess I describe it as is that It is a um maybe different flavor, right? That perhaps based off their particular faith that there's a certain feeling you get for one depending on their particular magic Where the clank's interesting because um you almost get the sense that it continues to like um sort of be uh almost multi-flavored or layered or more complex. But magical, yes, is the short answer. I I do pick up something similar to uh how do I put it? It feels familiar But weirdly different. It's the I cannot tell which one it is Do they appear to ha be like well-armed? Yeah, no, when you look at them, I mean they uh as aptly described by Sal, uh they seem like adventurer types. You know, like they they clearly are armed. Um they are armed, you know, well. Their stuff doesn't generally look um, you know, kind of run down or anything like that Um, you know, I will say the uh the dwarf, which is uh uh looks like a bard, because he's got like a little like loot on his uh you know back. Um definitely um you know has a very, very beautiful, fancy hat with this like gorgeous, like gigantic feather where you almost look at it and you're like, that can't be real. Like cause the feather's like too big. Yeriel Hilo, what do you think? Um I mean what Sal said is very interesting. I think it could be helpful to have more people in the search for Maz, but I mean, you're maybe m more well versed in people having traveled a lot, Yuriel, so I don't know if maybe you have an idea whether they might be willing to help us. Well Here's the thing, we have a personal investment in our objective to get to the to forest and find out what's going on with Maz because Maz is our friend and companion. Um So it's possible uh another band of adventurers would help if they're motivated. But usually that's some sort of reward for assistance. I mean as um I'm gonna Spend a fear to interrupt really quick. Um as that happens, um suddenly the name Maz just like suddenly jolts your memory and um each um one of the you that got a flash of that potential vision of the future it comes back almost like with a vengeance, right? And um so for each one of you, you know, some of them particularly, you know, kind of brutal, that's like Maz triggers that of like and you know, you also then get that sense of urgency as that party, you know, again, they're not purposely walking from you. But they walk, you know, um, further away and um suddenly there's like a little glint of sunlight in the sky. And the glint of sunlight in the sky causes some of you to kind of like look up at it. And what you actually notice is that there is a plume of smoke. so high up in the um air that it's almost like the sunlight is kind of like refracting off the particulates in the um in the air. Bogus gonna yell out again, um, just cause that memory is well vision memory is Just too much for her to bear. As people yell out, Sal would look up from the note and You'd see him looking really puzzled, and he'd say, I I don't I don't understand. I these this is my handwriting. This is these are my memories on this note. I don't I may have written this down when I was here before, but how did it get into my bag? I didn't bring things with me when I left the endless forest. And Sal would see the smoke in the sky and the light and You would say, unless we think that they're going to help us, we need to go. We need to try to help Maz. If anybody has any objections, please let me know now, and Sal would start walking down the the pathway that is that is considered a road into the endless forest. I I'm ready to go and uh I kind of motion for Boga to see if if she wants to get on my shoulders um so that we can start running together Please Svetlana and Buggy just kinda clambers up cla clambers up the back of Svetlana. I hold on to her little froggy legs and I I uh start running. Oh gosh. Like first first of all I imagine we'll probably try to stealth once we get closer, but in the interest of saving time, that we would maybe rush uh a little bit um to get closer faster as they start moving sal would turn to people uh turn to the group and say so we have a few options um It's been a while since I've been here. I don't know what's changed. I don't know how my note re I He kind of pauses, confused. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about receiving my own thoughts on a piece of paper. But um we can go straight towards it this this road heads in the right direction. The thing is, th none of this is routed. This was not a not a road that was intended for people to travel, but People travel it anyway, and that's how the path was made. I think this will take us in the right direction. But we also have other places we could go if we feel like we need more information. There's a there's a cove to the south that we talked about a little bit when we were on the pier that might have more information, but I just don't know if we need information or if we need to get there. I feel like we need action. Is does anybody disagree? No. I'd say we uh we take the desired path. Tell kinda stops for a moment and just puts a hand on one of the trees. And he you you see him his eyes close and his head bows and he just says very quietly, you might not hear it if you're not close, but he says Forest keep us. And then he starts down the path. Is everybody following? And is everybody running? How fast can a clank run? I I would say uh We're hurrying but not running because we want to uh approach carefully. This is i when I say us, I mean a real and pause. Um So, you know, we we don't wanna like f fall into the enemy encampment exhausted, winded, crashing in, making a lot of noise. So hurrying, yes. Running probably not. Looking at looking at the smoke, how how far do we get the idea that it is away? Like we see the smoke in the sky. What's kind of our sense of the distance to it in terms of you know, like if if I see something far away I can kinda get a general idea of like this is roughly how long it would take me to walk there, like What's kind of that what's kind of that general feeling that we get? So right now it's you know mid-afternoon-ish and um you know judging by the the group and uh if they wanna you know move at a at a nice pace. Um you get the sense that you could probably, you know, be there by um you know by by some time this eat this night. Okay. Like, you know, um not maybe nightfall, but uh you may arrive By the time it's definitely dark. Okay. Very dark. Okay. With no sun in the sky. Okay. Sal will take the lead and kind of use his knowledge of these paths, having walked them before, and attempt to guide people on the what he believes is the quickest path to the smoke rising in the sky. Okay. In is so Sal's in the front. Um and uh can we get a sense of then um who's kind of traveling? We don't need like a perfect order necessarily Um, but you know, kind of are we, you know, the path is um, you know, I I don't know, actually, I mean if Sal could certainly tell me, but I'm assuming it's maybe not super wide. You know, I don't think we're gonna have five people necessarily going side by side. Um but I'd imagine a couple people could walk side by side, but feel free, Sal. What do you uh what what would you describe? I think that what Sal is struck by is that the the path is a little bit more overrun than he remembers. I I would think that the path is kind of grown in a little bit, almost like the forest is kind of like closing in around us. Um not necessarily because of anything ominous, but just because it's it's the way that nature works. It it creeps. It moves in. So I I think the path, even though it's well worn, is probably at most a couple people wide and If you get wider than that, people are going to be constantly walking into branches and stuff like that and having to duck. So My experience with forest is that when trees are very close together. Um, the branches don't start until higher up because they need sunlight um and they're competing for sunlight. So Could I guess that the branches are not going to hit Boga uh if she is still on my shoulders? Um no. No, Boga is not gonna get branch smacked. Okay is the term that I would use, I guess. No. Branch boga plus yeah. Yeah, no, no like whap and boga goes flying off like a big thing. That's a technical term. Ranch spec. I would say I am paying special attention to that um because you know I care for Boga. I don't want her to get hurt. So I am looking out for that. uh watching my footing extra carefully so that you know I don't stumble and you know hurt her. Um but I also I I call up to Boga and I say, keep a lookout, okay? You're the tallest one of us now. So You're you're the one that has to uh check to see if there's anybody hiding in the trees, okay? Well do. Thanks dear. My my froggy eyes are peeled. Um with um you know uh uh Boga on top of uh Svetlana. So I I guess Boga actually you've got a a high kind of like vantage point. So I guess I kind of picture you two um Bogo on top of Svetlana, I see Sal kind of leading. Um is there any other particular placement I guess anybody else would like? Actually I should do first. Um anybody particularly going behind the party, anybody walking side by side? Um anything like that? Uh would say Ariel and Pazu are side by side. I don't know that uh position in the queue we do we do tend to stick together in uncertain situations. Okay. Um Hilo? Um any any particular spot or just kind of walking along? Hilo's not very comfortable with with uh foresty trail things being an urban clank. So um he's going to be more towards the back of the group and walking a little more carefully, I think, than people like Pazu. Wouldn't want to step on any twigs. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I think I think Ariel w go ahead and take the the rear position in the line to make sure that she can keep an eye on everybody and nobody's falling behind or wandering off Okay. Um so let's go back to Boga then. And Boga, you know, is there anything that you um are looking for, anything that you see in the forest as we're you know, moving about. I'd assume, you know, right, uh we got uh initial description from Sal. Um we're kind of walking along the path. There are a lot of the sounds you'd expect in a forest, you know, um various insects, you know Making noise back and forth. You can even hear some birds kind of, you know, uh chirping. You hear the occasional rustling in the forest, you know, a little bit further off. Uh anything in particular that you notice here or uh are looking for for uh for boga? I mean I was gonna start by saying there's like a little like fly that just kind of goes by like right within eyeshot of you. I immediately gotta try to get out with my my tongue, clearly. Hungry. I don't think bug has eaten for a while. I mean uh so so you you go for it? I use my long tongue. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And wow, you won't even tell me what it looks like, or just kinda like, I'm just thinking like, are you having fun with it? Like are we Or you just hungry and voraciously gulp it down. I miss a few times. Right my tongue just kinda fires off y different directions trying to catch it. And Fatlana is stabilizing her legs as she's kind of tilting back and forth trying to catch this fly. Well she finally does get it. She just yeah, just devours it. Like a snack. Uh perfect does uh does Sal notice? Sal's too focused on moving forward to pay much attention to that. Okay. Um so if a bug kind of goes then by Sal's vision, does Sal do anything or again too focused? I think you'd be pretty focused. I think he'd be moving forward. Okay. Um so uh then, you know, um as you uh continue um to walk, um, you know, Boga Uh does that lovely little boom boom boom boom boom boom boom his tongue out, try to get the bug, eventually gets a Eats it up, right? Um Svetlana provides uh, you know, uh support. And um as uh you're continuing to walk um through right the forest Um Boga um does um notice that the little bug um that was eaten, you do start to see a few more of those. similar bugs kind of like emerge out of uh the uh the forest. Oh more but we're definitely gonna try to catch a few of them. Um she kinda whipping her tongue around. Uh in li like a like an arc trying to get them. I wear Boga like a bug catcher, uh, so that mosquitoes can't sting me. So I that's why uh I keep Boga very close. Thank you so much. And I mean, Bogue's obviously done this plenty of times before. Easy enough. There might be some, you know, hits and some uh misses, but uh you can kind of turn it to like a little bit of like a playful game. And um as this happens, um at one point um suddenly there is a uh a bright light from Kind of like up above because there's obviously like branches and everything like that um all um you know kind of above you. You can still see the smoke off in the distance. You know, the light had kind of refracted off that before. Um, but then um suddenly going into Boga's um eye you see that light kinda refract, but it is entirely um separate. from the smoke. It is not the smoke. It is, you know, you're not sure why or what caused it. Hmm. Is this really bright light? Just really bright light, like kind of comes and goes like it is uh ephemeral, right? Just kinda like hits your eye like you know, ooh, like you gotta squint just a tiny bit, and then it keeps going. And uh it was pretty much centered on you, so nobody else may know about it. Um but then you continue, I guess, walking unless there's But we're just gonna la a little a little like la What what it hits her eye? I think Sal would turn around at that and just kinda Is everything okay? I got uh the There's a light. It's it's blinding me. Sal looks around for a light. Does he see it? Nope. Well actually actually I shouldn't say that. Um how about you uh you give me our our first our first roll of the day for what would that be? The the classic Uh ever popular um instinct check. Love a good instinct check. Love a good instinct. Sal is looking around and um kind of curious why Boga is making this noise. That is uh fourteen with fear. Ooh. Thank you, friend. Appreciate that. Um So the um you you look around to try to kind of catch um something that may be um causing boga, you know, um distress and uh you you don't um see the source of anything in particular. Um one thing you do notice off towards the side is there's it is to the uh average kind of traveler, like a stranger to the area. uh there would be no path that way towards the south. Um but you who has some memory of this place um you know may recognize it if you so choose as you know, going off in a particular direction. Um, but you know, you don't see where the source of the distress is for um Boga. Okay. Um does Boger know which direction it came from? Uh it came from more or less kind of up above. You can't really pinpoint exactly, you know, what angle. Um it sort of came and went. Um you maybe the best you get is the sense that maybe um it was something that kind of passed overhead. Um but it's you know, you're not entirely sure. Are you okay, Boga? Whatever that was, it Ah what s that startled me. I you said that it was a light? Yes. Yes, I I right in my eye. Like the sun? Um Booger looks kinda embarrassed. No, I don't Oh thought he is it uh d do you think there is danger? Yeah, maybe. I Mysterious lights kind of give me the creeps. I could uh try to send a bolt up there and see if I can knock whatever it is out of the sky. You could. My first instinct it was um lighthouse, but Oh, okay. Well we we don't want another mirror incident, so maybe we better find out what it is first. I mean if you wanna shoot first and ask questions later, I mean don't let me stop you. I'm just saying follow your instincts. That is her normal instincts, but she is beginning to learn from her mistakes. Um, she has done that quite a lot and it has impacted not only her but her friends. Uh so I think she she's gonna hold off for now, but it's it's in the back of her mind that's what she wants to do, but she is holding off. And and mirrors, obviously. Um so the um Uh a as as you then continue, I guess, to walk, unless somebody else you know wants to kinda like jump in that kinda like came and, you know, went. Um then um is there anything that I guess Yuriel is kind of like um looking for or paying attention to, or are you just kind of moving along the path as well? Um, I would say Ariel is uh keeping her eyes and ears open, not looking for anything in particular, but just in case something stands out, also relying heavily on Pazu at at my side, who will probably know before I do if something is amiss. Hmm. Um as um you continue to walk, um, you know, at a you know, decent pace, I guess, again unless somebody wants to jump in. Um then uh you um Yuriel does um you know kind of looking you know up and kind of about uh being uh you know much more comfortable I think in a variety of environments, right? Kind of being wander born, moving from area to area. Yes. you do notice um some um particularly interesting looking um you know mushrooms growing off to the uh right side of the path You know, probably about um some are still somewhat short. You get the sense that maybe they're a little bit like younger, some are growing as high as almost like, you know, a foot, you know, tall with a nice big um kind of like small, you know, plate sized um, you know, mushroom top. Um and uh, you know, they sort of glimmer a little bit almost in the uh in the light that does make it through the forestries. Um, is this something that Ariel would recognize from previous travels? Or from stories told by other clan members? We can find out We should. Yeah. Uh you want to give me uh knowledge role? I have uh eleven That's with hope, right? Um but also uh would like to add my experience collective memory, which is the That uh knowledge that the goblin clans are are gathering and compiling about about the the history and uh environments of of our world. Sorry, it says fear. I can see it on the other side now. Oh wait, you rolled with fear? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I have 14 with fear. 14 with fear. Okay. Um, so you you look at the mushrooms and uh you get the nagging sense that you should know what these are. That you have this thing in the back of your brain that's like, oh, it's like so close. And you basically are split between it being something that um when eaten would uh provide sustenance and uh benefit, um but you're not totally sure if that's the right Mushroom. Can I use my experience in the Endless Forest to help Uriel with her checking it out? Kind of walk up and say Um oh actually, like can I see if I have any knowledge about them and help y use the actual help action to assist Uriel? Yeah. Yeah, how about you roll a uh a D6 and let's give uh Guri a little advantage on that. Okay. Sounds good to me. Do I spend a hope to help? That's correct, right? I believe the hope action uses spends a hope. I'm gonna spend a hope. I think so. If I'm wrong, you owe me one hope. Just one. I rolled a three on that help action. So Sal will see Uriel kind of looking at it. Hey, you checking out the mushrooms? And he'll kinda like slow to like a stop. Almost, and just be like, hey, you checking those out? And he will weigh in with information if he has it from his knowledge with his help. I don't have anything So what's what's great about uh uh this one is that um it's not so much that Sal offers knowledge of um what it is as opposed to what it is um not. Oh. Um and so uh Yuriel and Sal kind of talk back and forth, and Yuriel believes that it is this um, you know, kind of beneficial um what's it called? Uh uh um uh mushroom that essentially is going to um offer um uh assistance and and health and and help you out. And uh Sal then kind of looks at it and he's like, well no, but like look at how the gills underneath the mushroom just look a little bit different. And Sal expresses he's unsure what it is, but he's like, it is not what Yuriel thought it was. And she looks at it again. goes, you're right. It's actually a drip fang mushroom, which is extremely poisonous So you would not want to get that, more or less. Good catch, Sal. As Sal keeps moving, can he run the tip of his his secondary weapon, his small dagger, just along the drip fang mushroom and then put it back in its sheath? Um yeah, yeah, you can totally use that. Yeah. It may only be poisonous when ingested though. But it's worth a try. Sal looks at his knife. We can make that work. Sounds a bit scary sometimes. All right. Um so then I guess what Sal sheaths his uh his dagger. Correct. I'm assuming. Keeps going. Okay. Keeps going. Um and uh then let's go towards the um you know, very uh back of uh of the party. And um when we go towards the back of the party, I'd love to hear, you know, um, you know, is Hilo Kind of looking around is Hilo focused on, you know, uh making sure he doesn't stumble? Like what is uh what does this look like for Hilo in this uh uncomfortable area? Hilo actually has has kind of been using this as a as a as a Zen moment. Um, which is kind of new for him, right? But he actually now has an entire backstory for that group that we saw that looked like us. And he's gonna communicate that as an inspiring tale of how they started actually in Omphallos. Uh not Skyland and they didn't get the good potatoes. They had to have some dried cactus. And ours was so much better and so much more awesome and we've had so much better experiences than them that we feel inspired and rallied. Okay. Sal's gonna stand up a little bit taller and be like, those guys were the dried cactuses? I've heard about them. Hey, if we're the tater tots, they can be the tried cactuses, right? Sure. Sure. Fair enough. Fair enough. No, no, no, no, no, no. They don't care about grammar. They're they're not they're notoriously not concerned with grammar. As a as a native of the the desert region there, I I'd say that Uh, that's not a very flattering name. The last thing you want is a dry cactus. At least it should have some moisture. It'd be all shriveled up. I mean it would be. It would be. That's up cacti work, right? That's not just me. Awkward pause, awkward silence, yeah. Just just long enough. For Michael to shake his head. Sometimes I'm worried it take a stress in real life. Sometimes. Some sometimes for for travel purposes you have to dry something out so it keeps better, even if it's not quite as tasty. Okay. I like all this. Actually, this is all perfect. But you all get a rally die because of that. So just you know, throwing that out there. Okay. That's a d6 we can add to basically any roll, right? That is correct. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So as uh you continue to uh you know move um you know forward through the forest again, I'm assuming they everybody kind of got in the um same order that we had had Um, you know, kind of previously, roughly speaking, if anybody would like to change it up, obviously, you know, interrupt. Um there's, you know, again, sounds in the forest. You do hear some some small rustles. Um and then uh Boga who's a little bit uh further towards you know kind of the top of the forest, I guess really being the tallest one of the bunch currently, right? So, you know, good experience, right? Being you know, super tall. Um and uh you um start to notice that those little insects that you've been eating uh are becoming you know a uh a bit more frequent. And as those insects become a uh a bit more frequent uh you do and then Sal um kind of simultaneously um starts to notice on the um I think it'd be the northern side of the path that um some of the trees do start to um you know, a sort of th not thin out, but they are not as uh verdant or lush and lively as in some other areas of the forest. Can I ask a dumb question that I probably should have asked a while ago as we started moving? Please. Vaguely, what direction are we going like w as we travel on this path? Like w when we east. Okay. We were specifically just. So let's say you're going east, it's an east to westward path. Okay. You've got to the south and then to the north are also directions that obviously you can go. I mean you could go north. east and southwest and all that right too. Okay. But yeah. But there's not there's not really the path is is more east-west. There's not really a clear path, especially to people who are not familiar with the area going in some of these other directions. Okay, so Verdant Cove to the smoke is west to east, essentially, is where we're Yes. Yes, more or less. And I mean obviously, you know, you're more than welcome to just trudge through the forest, slashing all the things that get in your way. Um and um see what a way to. Um and that's fine too. Yeah, no, I I think we'd be following the path as as long as it is roughly heading in the direction that Sal is gonna be constantly looking up when he can to make sure that they are still following the path of the smoke. And as we get to the point where the the trees kind of seem to thin out a little bit. Sal's gonna have a memory of this area and of kind of what used to be north. There used to be an area in the Endless Forest that was incredibly lush and um it was You know what? Why am I why am I doing it like this? Uh why why wouldn't I do this in character? That would make a lot more sense. Uh so Sal would kind of say like that's really weird. This used to be Sal kinda like turns left and right to get a feel for what direction they're heading um from having traveled traveled through the forest for so long and he would say that to the north used to be really Really incredibly lush. I don't know why I don't know why it's it's like that now. It's This is this is where the the thicket used to be. And he looks to to everyone's eyes to see if anybody recognizes what he's talking about. And he Let's presumably not get it get any recognition um unless anybody knows about the thicket in the endless forest. Hilo says it looks rather thin for a thicket. Well that's the thing that's so weird. This was the the thicket of t Paladine, and it's you kind of Extends his arm off the north side of the path and says, It's so th something's wrong. What happened? I I don't know. Can Sal look out to the north and get a sense of anything that's different from the last time he was here? Um yeah, I mean you you get the the feeling is exactly what you said that something um is definitely amiss and something is um somehow um you know, sort of gutting um this part of um, you know, the the forest. Um not gutting literally, but that you know, the the leaves and detritus even on the ground, you kinda like look down, being more familiar with the forest itself and you notice that There's just a coating of dead leaves where typically there's going to be kind of like lush uh short uh uh relatively short green, you know, plants and things like that growing from the bottom of the forest. The sunlight suddenly um, you know, um penetrates, you know, much more easily in this area, kind of casting more interesting shadows, right, with all the the trees with their more bare branches. Um and then as you continue to look, you realize you're like there's barely a living leaf anywhere kind of off as you look further into the distance. It's like it starts off a little bit better in green and then it gets less so as it continues to uh move. Is there any ash or um indicators of like maybe a fire or something that had happened? Here other than smoke. Uh no, and that makes it even more strange. We shouldn't Dally And Sal kind of looks to everybody and then keeps moving. While we go through here, um, Boga, do you get a sense that something m magical here might have um I don't know killed these these plants Let let me get down to check. I just kinda bounce off bounce off Svetlana's shoulders. Mm-hmm. And so you're using Arcane Sense? I am using Arcane Sense again. Getting legwork out of this today. Yes. Um You get the sense that it is almost, and you've experienced something like this before, um, maybe not exactly the same, but it's almost like a slap in the face of like it is um Uh uh as though um like I wouldn't almost death is not quite quite the right word so much as an absence of life. Like a void is like existing kind of in this area, like almost it's being sapped out of um, you know, the forest itself by whatever magical force is at work. I feel nothing, no Like even in most things there should be something. Anything that's living, it should have something to it, but this There's nothing here. There's no latent magic. There's no it's just gone. The life is gone Can you tell if if something has taken the life from it? Or or what direction it might be coming from? I am afraid that's outwith my abilities. However, may I suggest following the death The unlife even Yes. It may it it may lead us to our source. Yeah, I fear if our visions about Maz are true, then likely whatever is happening to her might be causing this. But we should be able to do that. And to be clear though, by the way, this is in a different direction than the smoke. Oh. Sorry, I should have specified that. Yeah, oh it's north, wasn't it? Uh yeah, and and the smoke is where the tower is, or from the we believed, right? The the building so sorry I'll just meditate a little bit just to make sure everyone's kind of sorry on the same page is that um I always love to throw in little tidbits and feel free to go it in whichever direction you please. Um, but don't, you know, feel uh pressure because then I like to always have multiple pathways to kind of go in that maybe don't always take you on the most direct route, but the direct route's also totally fine. So, uh whichever I'd say pleases the party. Um as opposed to, you know, I could have just been like, all right, you walk down the path and get to the thing. True. Yeah. I mean I think we need to try to get them as as soon as possible. Um so if this this death Is not on the routes, then I think maybe we we come back for it to investigate later. But what do you think, Boga, Yriel, everybody? I also uh agree that we make to where we think Maz is being held. Sal's already on on the path. Sal is Sal has kept going. Yes. Sal stopped for a moment, but Sal is. Impatiently determined. Like he you if you look down the path further the direction he is, you'll see him keep looking over his shoulder, like and just just just continuing. Thank you, Sister Boga. Do you want to c crawl back up on my shoulders and and we can follow Sal? Uh please if that's not too much hazardous I kind of bend down a little bit so she has an easier time to get back on my shoulders. And we'll follow. And she does. So everybody is going back towards the path. Make sure I got it. Uh towards maz, yes. Yes. Or where we assume mazes, I suppose we should say. Yes. Uh so uh the the party um you know walks uh further along the path and um you start to notice that the path um starts to widen ever so slightly, but off um in front of you You can tell that um it looks like the the forest is kind of like beginning to widen. Um and As you continue to walk, you do notice that the um insects that um you know the boga had originally seen, they start to get um even more frequent. Like I wouldn't call it a swarm. But it's as though these things are kind of all over the place. Um they're not, you know, kind of like biting insects, um, but they're definitely bothersome. Like meaning that like you're kind of just like kind of trying to get them out of your way. And um with the you know party's permission, I'm going to kind of fast forward a little bit in time. So we're gonna move maybe from kind of like mid afternoon And then let's say go towards uh closer towards like kind of like late afternoon, getting closer towards uh sort of like evening, let's say. Um and if there's anything that we'd like to do on that journey, we certainly can, but I also do like to kind of cut to um the uh uh action, you know, as it is a little bit. Um so uh they you know guys kinda keep walking, then uh you do see uh the sun no longer now overhead is um starting to Um go further um out towards um the uh the edge of um the what you call it horizon, you know, you can't quite see it, but you know intuitively that that's kind of like where it's going. Um and um so The forest that was once very closed does um start to open up and then as it begins to open up um you kinda see um a more wide sort of dirt um based clearing and then the smoke off in the um distance suddenly feels you know much closer. Um not only that that now you can start to um smell what that odor is like. Uh and at first it it just seems like smoke. As though um they were going to you know, burning, let's say, the usual detritus. Uh, but then suddenly the uh odor becomes a bit more puntent. So it's not like they're just burning, you know, things, but perhaps also people or s flesh or meat, let's say. Within the path, you still see the way, you know, kind of going clearly, um you know, forward, um, but then once again, um, you know, Boga specifically kind of gets like a uh little glint being a little bit higher up is the first one, let's say, to get like a little glint in his eye, uh her eye, sorry, as uh the stuff starts to flash Um you see a little flash of light from up above. But this time you notice that it's not just the light, but this time you very deliberately see that there's a thing flying in the sky above you. Guys, guys, look look, it happened again. Up up oh up there there. If if we look up can we also see? And do we see it? Does yeah. Does everybody see it? There's nothing there now. It was quick. Are you okay, Boga? How how big was it? What did it look like? Since no one else saw it. All good questions. So let's just say um from Boga's perspective, it was big. It was freaking huge. It was big enough to see from the ground. I could see something up there, I swear. Was it moving? Well, i it's uh it must have been. It's not there now. And the uh the glint i the the light it When it was there, I it happened. It happened when it was there. Unless it's gone invisible. I'm being I'm being punished for some crime. I believe you, Boga. I believe you. But it is strange. This whole thing is strange. The dead grass the yeah the thing the fire this whole thing has been strange So shall we keep moving then? None of us have experienced seeing UFOs in the sky, correct? I mean I guess we could roll for that if somebody wants to uh you know kind of roll. Would you like to roll Svetlano? Get get some get some math rocks. I think Gary El would make more sense 'cause she's she's more uh experienced in the ways of the world. They they all they always do deserts. I But that's I would say Yurio can throw at a knowledge roll. Yurio's also got plus two on that knowledge, baby, wanna mini max it. You see how well that helped last time? We almost ate we almost ate toxic mushrooms. I believe in you, Yu-Yo. It would have been fun. Ah. That is a twenty two with fear. Ooh. Ooh. Well, that's a That's a great role, uh great role with fear. And um with fear. So uh you uh definitely have a uh kind of a uh like an aha moment. Like you've also now suddenly it's like um almost like a picture like a montage in like a movie where you kind of noticed earlier Boga going to like and like eat one of these bugs out of the air. And then you notice that there were more of them in the air. And you kind of like noticed that at one point there was a little glint in your eye coming off of one of these small bugs. And then you think back to some of the knowledge that has been, you know, collectively uh shared from your your past community. And um just as um that happens, um you kind of just think like, oh no, and you kind of like tell everybody Take cover and look up in the sky. Oh uh Uh everybody take cover back back back up under the trees. What? Why? I don't think so. Any issue hiding. Bow slips down the back of uh Svelaga so she doesn't get clobbered by the trees. Yes. Yes. I'll shield you with my body boga. Whatever happens, I I am over you. Thanks, Fredlana. You had me excited. I thought that it was Maz flying in the sky. It is definitely not Maz flying in the sky. I don't know that we want to see Maz flying in the sky at the moment, given The vision It's better to see her flying than to see her chained. Oh that's true. Well I wouldn't assume malicious intense just because she was flagged. Yeah, I w I was w it wasn't about the flying, it was about the game master, is really where that was coming from. Oh yes. We know DJ very well. Mm-hmm. So I'm gonna kind of just like place everybody for right now. And um if you would like um to change anything, you just let me know. Alright, um, so as um you all duck into um cover, um suddenly you know what Boga was talking about, and you realize she's not insane. uh that she was definitely um seeing a thing as you um kind of hear like almost Um the equivalent of I guess these days we'd say like helicopter blades, but almost like you hear something like a maybe like it was though a hummingbird wing was like gigantic and a much um larger size and then there's all kinds of light refracting out of um the sky and you um uh suddenly see, um not uh, you know, just w one thing, but two things um descend out of the sky and in front of the party and it is too gigantic Ooh. Um creatures that are about the size of a horse land in the clearing. and begin to um look about for I mean you guys are adventurers you'd assume prey because they're probably looking for something to snack on and A horse-sized creature would certainly snack on a variety of things. They have large um teeth, large claws as you can see, and then the wings keep going like foom-foom foom-foom-foom-foom-foom as they kind of like land um on the ground. And I kind of clustered everybody into two different spots. And uh but if anybody would like to rearrange those in any way, have everybody kind of in the same spot, feel free. We can set up however you'd like because of your you know theater of the minding in. I will say that Boga and Svetlana would be close together because Boga has just gotten off of um her shoulders. And I have promised her that I would protect her. Yep, yep, yep. But that's the only thing that uh that I would say. I like it. I'm in. I heard giant insects, so uh Uriel would like to, you know, raise her sword and send forth the ribbots! I love the material. Beautiful. Beautiful Think that's a bit bit bigger than they can chew. Does Sal know anything about these creatures from the time Sal knows about very large bugs? from previous times in the forest. Does Sal know anything? Um give me a knowledge reaction role because we're now in a split second thing. So this means that um hope and fear are not accounted for in a reaction role. Um, so let's see what we got. Oh my god. Uh hold on, knowledge. That's a sixteen End of thought, because you said fear doesn't matter. Okay. Yeah, yep, yep, yep. 16. Um so suddenly um it comes back to you and again, sort of a flash like Uriel. Um and I'm assuming that now everyone's kind of in the spot that they would like, roughly. So I'm guessing I'm seeing Sal with Hilo, I'm seeing Svetlana with Boga, Yuriel, and um Pazu. Cool. Um these two then biggies are out in the uh the clearing and then uh Sal has this thing where again it's like Flash small bugs Flash sees himself eating one Flash then sees like the glint in the sky and is like And you uh remember that these are uh huge um uh flicker flies, and uh believe it or not Um that while these are not uh babies, they're also not adults. That as they grow, um, this is about the adolescent uh phase for them and as adults they actually can grow up to the size of a small house and uh that uh they do uh make homes in different places in the endless forest. somehow, you know, along with the forgotten knowledge from, you know, you had previously that you would not remember that until now. Uh, you know that they move uh very quickly. They are very precise when they are going after the things that they would like to eat. Uh, and that they um have some really nasty breath that you don't want to get in front of. Well, I would say Svedlana has been holding the bolt beacon for I would say very long time and she has been itching to are they in the sky or have they landed? They have landed currently. Okay. So as soon as she gets like a clear shot, she's going to take it because now she knows these are not good flies. Um and maybe, you know, if she kills it, Boga can eat a little bit of it, you know. Uh so she's going to make a spell castrel So just to be clear because you were kind of like hidden before, are you trying to do this from cover? Are you kind of jumping out and just Going for it. Well, at least in the map I see that there's a little bit of a opening between two trees and thinking I could shoot between those trees. Um at the At the fly that's closest to me and um I actually rolled a crit, double nines. Oh, um so uh that doubles my damage dice, right? You get the full value means of your damage. So And on the bold beacon, what do you usually roll? Two what? Uh to the eighth plus five. So you get sixteen, then roll your two d eight. Okay. And then add five. That was a terrible roll. Uh so that's five plus sixteen. So 21 plus 5. So 26 and take a hope, which already have all the hope. Clear stress if you have any stress. I'm when you have any stress. Um and uh what does this thing look like? Because I think this is the first bolt beacon we've gotten from um from uh Svetlana. She just leveled up, so she just learned this um from core. Um you see her her uh orange tinted fur in her chest glow even brighter than normal Um, and you see her almost like grab some of the light from her chest and then kind of style. Like it just like blasts out and it it's just like a beacon of light that just like hits it right in the chest and kind of like spreads throughout its chest Hmm. Um so this thing uh is obviously uh a predator and being how large it is, it is used to, you know, kind of destroying just about anything um that it sees, you know, typically in this forest. There's not that much that really competes with it. Um, and you suddenly see this creature go from sort of like alpha to uh shot, where it reels up on its sort of back egg back legs almost like a horse would, and you hear make this uh scream. Sound where you see a hole suddenly appear um in its chest. Not a giant one, but then you see some eye I ICOR, ICOR would be, I guess, the term. Acor, Acre. Um, and uh starts to sort of ooze out a little bit where um You just did some serious damage to this thing and it is now suddenly looks um uh directly at you specifically um and uh it is very upset. uh and uh enraged. I step in from the boga and shield her with my body. And by the way, bolt beacon, doesn't that mean this thing's also lit up and cannot be hidden, etc and so on, correct? Yes, there is a few more. And it's vulnerable, I believe, right? It is vulnerable and glows brightly until this condition is clear. So it is um vulnerable. So all roles targeting the creature have advantage. Not just my roles, but any roles. I guess because it's it's glowing so brightly, it's just such an easy target right now. Y yes, yes. You add a D6 die to your um When you're increased your chance of success, when you roll with advantage, you roll the d6 and Yeah. Yeah, because I think what'd you do it on damage rolls too? On an action or reaction roll. Action or reaction. So it's to hit or a reaction, not to damage. Got it. Yes. That one suddenly is not only in rage, but then as its legs kind of like land back down, it flaps its wings and then it starts to rise up off the ground, so it's no longer on the ground, but it's hovering, you know. somewhere between, you know, four to six feet off the ground, suddenly um light like uh you see like uh uh it like starts at the center of the creature as like um sort of like a concentrated ball and then it goes like and It is lit up like a uh kind of like a sun, like a mini sun almost. But it's still like alive and doing its thing, right? Um, but you know, it's almost like you gotta like cover your eyes for a second as um you look at this thing. And uh I'd say it's still with the players right now. So because that was a crit. Does Hilo have any witty commentary he would like to add? No, no pressure. Um Hilo is going to boy they're how far away far are they from each other? Um I mean I would say because what close? I would say because yeah. Yeah, I mean forty feet, thirty feet. That I did update all these maps, so that should be more accurate, I think. Um so I would say that they they're a good distance from each other. I always forget the ranges of these to be honest. Let me just double check. I think above thirty is far, I think is the crit. Yeah, I would say it's probably far. That's what it looks like. Yeah, they're Yeah, they're far range right now. So um Hyla's actually gonna step forward a little bit. J stri still trying to be like a little bit under these trees, but but a little more visible, I guess, if that makes sense. Ye Um and he's going to try to um taunt Uh with my troublemaker ability, the one that actually uh should I do the one that Svetlana already attacked or should I do the other one? There's no wrong answers. I think the answer is the one that's further away from me, the one that Svetlana already kind of vantage. Yeah. So I I well the there's oh okay, that's true. So um yeah, I'll do that. That that that'll work really well. So I will do a presence roll with advantage Can you tell us what the taunting sounds like? What do we I mean that's what I always want to hear. Oh sure. Sure. For sure. Um Hilo steps forward and goes, you know, shoe fly, don't bother me. And then, you know, sticks his tongue out, his metal click, click, click, tongue. And uh says, you call that Icker? You hardly know her. Does a little insulting what's meant to be an insulting little dance for uh like flapping his arms around like a a dead fly. Okay. So, uh oh, I forgot the six. Okay. Sorry. And you're you're doing um Troublemaker, right? Yes. Okay. Alright, so I have a 15 with fear. A 15 with fear? The uh Flicker uh fly kind of like cocks its head that was once on um Svetlana. And suddenly you see it like turn towards you, kind of turns towards the side, and at first you're like, that did not land. I'm talking to a giant insect. But then suddenly you almost see somehow a look of recognition on its face, as though it somehow Maybe it doesn't understand, but it understands that you're saying those things to it. And because of the cadence of your words and the delivery, not as much as the meaning, um, suddenly it it lands. It definitely lands. Dude, the it's the iambic pentameter that you keep using, Kylo. That's really what it is. Yep. So and so 100%. 100%. So on a success, uh you rolled a d4. Two D4s. Oh, you are correct. Two D4s. Yeah. If we're just naming more numbers of D fours, I say three. Yeah. So I rolled like hope or fear? Uh with fear, unfortunately. But that was with the I just rolled two fours on my stress die. So take take whichever four you'd like. Wow br Nice. Okay, um you uh See this creature that again, Alpha Predator, used to just going around basically eating whatever kind of comes its way And it's um you see the Icor kind of flow a little more freely from the wound in the front of its body. And it actually um its wings that were going like like a hummingbird flapping constantly. Um keeping it uh up, suddenly it just drops onto the ground, its wings stop, and you're almost waiting for it to uh fall over. And it does not fall over. But it's like i it it's how actually as best as it could with a large insect sort of like shakes its head around maybe shakes its body around as though it's trying to kind of gather itself back together and it is having an immensely hard time uh focusing on whatever just taunted it and then what had just previously also shot a giant bolt of light at its face and is uh suddenly having a very hard time keeping up. So the um the the uh Firefly uh or sorry, Flickerfly, uh that was um the subject of both a taunting, it is now lit up, it is, you know, somewhat um you know confused, and then it uh needs to kind of like gather itself. And suddenly fly right up towards uh the clank. But since um there's a little bit of a clearing here, then the flickerfly would instead say uh stay slightly elevated. above um the uh the ground and um the flicker fly is going to do this dazzling display right in front of hilo kind of like fireworks going off in front you can almost see like the glitter of the lights coming off of the little I guess what you'd they look like eyes but they're right kind of like I feel like have you how how have you described the eyes for high-level before Um well they're just they're like inset gems, like inset gems pol pol polished surfaces. So like semi-precious stones like on top of each stacked on top of each other, but like flattened. Got it. So the light reflects in my precious. And then you uh gonna make an instinct uh reaction rule for me, uh Hilo. Instinct? Yes I have an eleven with hope. Oof. Ooh, baby. That doesn't feel good. Um so um let me just double check something. Um, Sal, would you say you're in close range or not so much? Because I feel like you're more hidden. Um With Hilo stepping out, I don't think I would be close. But I I if if it makes sense narratively, then I No Sal Sal's still hidden in the trees, but if if something's gonna affect him, that's okay. No, no, no. Um I'm good. So um suddenly as those lights um dazzle and um you know Hilo has this vision in his mind's eye of like holding this little golden ring in his hand going, my pressure no no no. Um then Sorry, we are not going to be able to do that. Wow, that was really good. Dirty, fluffy hobbits Amazing Aries. Amazing. Um so Hilo, um you don't have to think of something right now if you can't, so no pressure. Um, but um if you can or you can make a generic Um you uh the flicker fly as it flashes these lights into your gem-like eyes um learns one of your fears Oh, okay. Um That's an incredible. Is it tears? Okay, cool. Yeah, he's very he's very pleased. Um so so uh Hilo is is horribly afraid of failure. Um, failing failing his friends, failing in their performance, etc. And he fakes it really well, but he's actually horribly insecure. So that's that's his his biggest fear. Okay, perfect. Well, not perfect, but you get what I mean. Mm-hmm. Sorry to write that down. Um and as um that connects I'm spedning um another um fear where um the uh other uh flicker fly uh sees uh the uh combat uh taking place with the uh between Hilo and uh that other one and just kind of like rises up, you know, into the air and uh, you know, not like so far off the ground that nobody can uh uh see uh hit that flick flicker fly, sorry. Um but uh getting kind of like, you know, a cool like four to six feet off the ground it begins to fly around trying to get a better idea of where uh these attacks are coming from and then you know kind of hovers uh towards the southern uh side of that uh first uh flicker fly um being um unsure you know where these um you know attacks are happening and then as the dazzle leaves um hilo's um eyes you've got the flicker fly directly in front of hilo go ahead and turn to the side and goes to um swing its wings at um hilo going in for an uh attack And Hilo just narrowly takes like one step back and just kind of like barely makes it out of range of what you just learned are very sharp wings with like a little like fing sound. They're almost like blades. um out on the edges and uh the flicker fly um does uh miss and then i turn the play back to the uh players I just wanna say wing and a miss. Wing and a miss. Okay. Um I th think uh Pazu did the did the other fly fly down? The one towards the south? Yeah. Did it land? Uh no, it's about it's about four or six feet off the ground. So let's even say it's hovering, kind of going up and down, but it's slightly off the ground. Thank you. This is just a clear just a clarifying question. It is close to the cops of trees where Yuriel, Boga, Tvetlana, and Pazu are located. I just want to make sure if it had been on the ground yet or not. Okay. Sorry. Sorry, Uriel, please. No, that's okay. Alright. Uh so Pazu. Looks to Ariel who points at the one that's floating And they are moving forward to attack Pazu mostly just like r moves forward to get get close to the the hovering flicker fly, um and No, but bears bears his teeth and kind of his fur f fluffs up. He's going for a a bit of an intimidation factor. And then Arial is marking a stress a stress to sprint anywhere within far range without a roll. Okay. Okay, and then Ariel is marking a stress, um, and she is going to leap onto Pazu's shoulders and boost herself up into the air to strike the the hovering flicker fly Um that is so badass. I love everything else. It's it's a bit acrobatic, probably the uh influence of of her long f friendship with with Maz. Uh and she's, you know, definitely uh doing a doing a superhero pose, flying through the air with her with her sword. Um already too. Have you ever seen the the last prequel for Star Wars where Yoda does his lightsaber fight at the end? Like, is it wrong to think of it almost a little bit like that? Where I'm like, just like we were just Talking about Star Wars at the beginning of this episode with the take take me there, Scotty. That was a Star Wars reference, right? Get out. Get out. Move on. So this, the the boosted leaping attack is with advantage. So I'm gonna That is Are you using strategic approach? I'm going to. Okay. I'm just making sure I got it, yeah, because I'm looking at your character sheet. No, no, no. So this is boost Right. You have advantage on the attack, right? So that's um uh seventeen with hope plus five. Twenty twenty-two with hope to hit. Yeah, take a take a hope, you definitely hit. Okay. Um and then also using strategic approach, which is the first time you move within close range of an adversary and make an attack. You can use one of the tokens and add a d8 to damage plus a d10 to the damage roll from the boost attack. Oh gee, dude, this poor flickerfly did not know what it was getting into. It's just an innocent, deadly insect. W wh why are you doing that? Um, I don't know. I didn't like the look in its eye. In its very, very large eyes. Clearly it bugged her. I'm gonna mark a stress. I'm gonna mark a stress. What Why is it? Flicker fly already marked four. Um that's Twelve, twenty-two, thirty damage. Yeah! Let's go. Nice. And um and you're attacking with your Oh wait, no 33. My broadsword. You leap and attack this thing, and it um has um no wounds, does not even see this um you know, kind of um um coming because it did not see where you're coming from, right? It kind of just saw that Svetlana was over there, didn't quite notice you, saw its um, you know, kind of companion off to the uh other side. And uh it doesn't even move as you leap up and you actually just penetrate right through the carapace, and uh you you hold the sword as you slowly Now slowly descend to the ground because its carapace is like slowly kind of like slicing and cracking as you kind of come downward and then your feet land, you pull it out, they go Like sound. Oh. And then the ICOR just starts kind of like oozing out um there as well. And um I mean I just could This thing is pissed. Like it is like suddenly like, ooh man. This thing flaps its wings and starts to instinctively um try to go a little bit higher up in the air as that had actually dragged it down towards the ground. So now it's trying to pop back up about seven-ish feet off the ground, let's say, because suddenly it is uh definitely wounded. I mean it's still certainly up and moving about, but that that hurt that hurt a lot. Um and uh the plays with still with the players. Um I've already done something. Someone else should be able to feel free to go f go forward. I am absolutely fine if you still want to go, by the way, Hilo. Or if Boga or Yeah, narratively you continuing to go makes sense unless folks want to jump in. I don't think there's anything wrong with if you because you're kind of in the midst of battle, right? So it's like I don't think there's anything wrong with you continuing, but if somebody wants to jump in, that's you know equally cool. Okay, is uh the the one we just boost attacked, is it still floating or we we knocked it to the ground? No, it floated back up after you attacked it because that would be it's certainly um instinct um would be to go up there and um certainly thinking to prepare for kind of like a swooping attack because that would be its natural instinct to do something like that. Okay. All right. Hilo, do you want to go? Uh well Hilo was just gonna like try to work his way around this this This one here, just kind of edge around this one over here to be m a little closer to Ariel. And then he was going to um Marcus Stress. Which is the first time I have ever marked the stress because I didn't have an ability that would do it. Wow. Oh. I know, right? And um he will take a moment He bends down to the ground, does kind of a a quick like circle some um sigils on the ground, uh casting a rune circle Ooh, what does that do? We have not seen this yet. This is a new one, right? This is this is why I was like, oh I got a new thing. I can't I have never done it. So yeah, uh all adversaries within melee range or who enter melee range, this is why I was like just edging around the other side. Um, take two D12 plus four magic damage and are knocked back to very close range. Ooh. So I'm just wondering, I want to make sure I got it. Are you picturing doing that? Proactively or are you kind of thinking that more defensively, kind of pulling yourself out of range? Like I said, I'm trying to stay within his range, but be be available to help Uriel. So I've literally been like circling this this this bug, you know, making faces at it still trying to you know. Well, 'cause I'm I'm cool if you're thinking that you're gonna hit that flicker fly right now. I just want to make sure that's what you intend. That that was the intent. The intent was to hit it hit him now and knock him back a little bit. So that maybe uh uh my froggy friend over there could hop to it. Mm-hmm. So let's see, very close. Uh Hop to it. Um so within like five or ten feet. So I'll move a little bit further up. And um then I would say um from there. And they do take 17 damage. 17. Ooh, baby. Dude. Yeah, baby. Um yeah, yeah, that that uh yeah. Um so um this uh flicker fly on the ground, much like the other one, suddenly Flaps its wings and leaps up once again and once again instinctually, uh knowing that that's where it's really most comfortable as a kind of a predator, and again taken back at the damage that it's suddenly taken. And um is uh definitely uh visibly um you know uh not not near death, but certainly very damaged the Icor out of that wound in the front. uh is now not just kind of like oozing, but you kinda see like like spurts, like b like blood kinda like popping out a little bit or Ickor popping out. And uh that one is uh definitely difficult. Um er or having a harder time, let's say, kind of focusing on what is uh around it. And I'll say, you know, play can still be with the players because I didn't get a roll with fear yet. Although I'm happy to interrupt, I mean, I got fear for days. How does uh Boga respond behind Vitlana? Is she terrified? Is she cowering? What's what's happening there? But Buggy is just kinda just hiding behind one of what one of Svetlanus legs. Like I I'm not sure I can this bit more than I can chew. You do like your flies, but maybe they're a big a bit too big for for your mouth, huh? A little bit. Well, we'll we will take care of the news for you, Voga. Um And I uh I charge forward. I'm not using my chargeable D because they are not um on the ground, but I will charge forward and get underneath uh Do you think I need to roll agility? It's like twenty feet away. Um you're fine. I think I can get there. Um and I am going to take my axe out and just throw it up kind of it's circling, throwing up, trying to like slice the belly of this um this flickerfly that Yuriel had uh attacked. previously. Yeah, the one right near you. Yeah. Yeah. Let's uh let's get a roll for damage. Or sorry, roll for attack. My bad. Um so that's a nine and a ten. So that's nineteen plus three. I'd say that's okay. That's okay. I think that's enough. Okay. Okay. Um and then You guys are rolling great today too. You guys are rolling great. Like that was a great role. There has not been a miss, I think, so far, except for me. These dagger heart dice, I'm telling ya. Alright, um 2d8 plus 7. So let me make sure these are actually the eights. Yes, okay, two the eights. Seven and seven. So fourteen plus seven. Twenty-one? Twenty-one damage. Unless I guess I could ask I could add my rally die as well. Um added a one, so would you like to have the rally die? I did. It's twenty. You did? Yeah. So wait, it makes it uh twenty what? Twenty-two. A twenty-two? Um if it makes it a twenty-two total, save your rally die. Okay. Yeah. So it was a twenty-one before. So just save the rally die? Well no, but your rally die, isn't that it gives you oh because you rolled the V6. Just save it, it's fine. Uh because it's not gonna make a difference because of the thresholds. Um so um the the flickerfly in the air, and was that when you rolled originally or was it with Hope? Oh shoot. I'll tell you what, that's fine. I'm just gonna spend fear anyway. It's fine. I'm just gonna spend a fear. Um and this thing uh suddenly uh gets sliced right down from the bottom. And uh the carapace on these things, because they're again the size of you know horses, they they are tough, but certainly not um impenetrable. Um that's probably not a word I should really say um with with this group of particular people, but that's fine. Um What do you mean? What do you mean? That's what Let's be honest, Michael's not the problem here. Michael's not the problem today. Today it's everybody else I'm I'm it's just an honor to be nominated to the not the problem awards, you know. Um the problem. The uh Icor then begins to uh leak now from the kind of belly and uh bottom of this uh gigantic um, you know, insect uh creature who then uh turns just as quickly on uh Svetlana. And you see uh first its eyes are kind of like again, 'cause they they're bulbous, like bulging out the side of its head, like you're talking they're probably about the size of like a large like orange or something looking in the direction and then suddenly you see one go pivot forward the other one pivot forward and then they're both looking uh directly at uh you And um it goes and uh tries to turn its wings and slash towards you, but with the damage it just took, it kind of um turns a little bit further. like rotates a little bit too far towards the ground and so the blade-like wings um hit um the uh you know, uh just barely uh miss. Um and then it notices that though, that kind of there was no connection. It didn't feel any flesh being sliced. So then it just angles a little bit further upward and it goes for another slash um right across the uh side of Svetlana's buddy and by the way just mechanically if anyone's curious I just used two fear to roll again um and the second one was a hit the first one was not What was the rule? Um It was a because I think it should have actually I should look. Let me double check. My equation is eight, so Yeah, the first one was a two. The first one was a two. So it very much missed. Yeah. Um I know you're right there with like Maz in the sense of like you don't really get missed a lot. Like you just kind of stand there and get hit. Um and I always forget what the D10 is, because it looks like a D8, but it's not a D eight. It's the one with a zero on it, right? Yeah. Just add some more corners, yeah. So one with ten sides. Ten. Nice Aris. Very helpful. No, no problem. Yeah. You're here to learn something, right? That's that's how you d determine a D10. Yeah, exactly. Just look for if you've counted fewer than ten sides, but Not more than ten sides. Also if it has a twelve, probably not a D10. Remember thy shall count is ten. So As this thing writes itself though, it is certainly you can tell that it is a predator because as soon as it readjusts It lands and um it lands very well uh hitting uh 26 damage. 26, yes, that is above my severe damage threshold. So I will mark a armor slot to reduce it to major damage and take two HP. Yeah. Um and then I'm gonna spend yet one more uh fear. To go ahead and as it slashes um uh side word, uh then you see it, you know, kind of just like it's almost eerie Kind of like how you see like how hummingbirds, it's almost like they it's like they're not like flying, it's more like they're hovering almost because they flap their wings so fast. It just rotates. looks towards you and as you take the damage suddenly these lights begin again flashing in your eyes and I need you to make an instinct uh reaction roll to see whether or not um the uh hit lands. Um that's a seven. Uh-d. So um as uh these lights begin to flash in front of your eyes, suddenly you're Drawn backwards into your past, and one of your fears bubbles to the present. And comes to the front of your mind. And again, if you can't improv a fear right now, that's fine. You just say you have a fear, but if you can, that's great. She has lots of fears. She fears that she uh has been following her god's core. Um and not really understanding that there's a gray area in life. Uh she's been so black and white for her whole, you know, time of following core. So she's afraid that she's made some wrong choices. um choices that have cost her friends um and have created the scorchborn To be all honest, see, like she's she knows that it's her fault, it's partially her fault, um, if not totally her fault. So yeah, sh that's what she thinks about during this moment. Does she take a stress from that then or No. Okay. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Um and um just because we're at it, um, I am spending yet another fear just to kinda Keep going just for funsies and um just move on, that was a whiff completely whiffed. God, that was horrible. I don't know why I even bother rolling sometimes. Um these these lapis uh new dice man they're beautiful and apparently roll horribly So they're just on the side of right, aka us. Yes. I mean I have a nice modifier on these enemies and even then it didn't even hit Svetlana. So I'm beefy Yeah. Yeah yeah. Uh so I'll back to the players. Yeah. Uh would you say that the southernmost flicker fly is in melee range with my allies? Or would are they in I don't think so. Or at least not for Ariel, um, because if it's hovering, it yeah, I her height plus her broadsword range, I think, is outside of melee range. But for Svetlana was right there. Svetlana I would axe and but it's all. I mean it really comes down to whether or not how high this uh flickerfly is hovering, but given that the flickerfly just took a swipe, let's say at Svetlana, I mean it wouldn't have hit anything there anyway. Um then I would say it is within melee range of Svetlana Um so Sal is going to the so the the the flickerfly that's focused on hilo is I guess if we're thinking of the map as cardinal directions is south of Sal, correct? And then Hilo is south of that. So that that flickerfly is not looking at me. Is that correct? Would not be uh it is focused on hilo, yes. Okay. And so Sal can scamper kind of the northeast route without being noticed. Would you agree with that and just kinda Just kind of silently move all along that line. Okay. Sal is going to see what's happening to his friends and duck out from the cover that he was using. He's gonna stay near the trees that are kind of in between the two flickerflies. Sounds very comfortable in the the shadow of these trees. And um From the From the hilt, I guess, where he keeps it. That might not be the right word. From the the um the sheath where he keeps his returning blade. He's gonna hold his hand out, and the blade is just gonna snap to his hand. And he's going to look to the flicker fly that is within Svetlana's melee range. And he's going to toss his advanced returning blade straight at its head. Yeah. Yeah, baby. I'm gonna regret giving you that good weapon. I hope so. Yep. I hope so. He says He rolled well for that blade. Oh my god. That was uh wow. Uh that's a 25 with fear to hit. Alright, so Um 25 definitely hits. Okay. And because this flickerfly. You guys are not getting to miss. I don't think any of you have missed so far. Because this flickerfly is within melee of Svetlana, I get to use sneak attack. Which adds By the way, you didn't even did you even give yourself advantage on that role? No. Cause is that the one with the the thingy, I think? Or no, that's the one up above. Never mind. This is the one up above. I really wish I could like um Yeah, yeah, no, no. So this is this is Flickrfly uh beta, not alpha. Alpha is is glowing. Let's put a little uh light next to little little yellow thing on the glowing one. So uh that if that's a hit, then I get to roll my damage dice, which is two d8. Plus six. Plus six. And then I also get to add two D sixes to that roll because it is a sneak attack. Do it First roll is an eight. Second roll is an eight. This is incredible. Okay, so we're starting out at twenty-two. Let me roll my d6s for sneak attack, if you don't mind. I mean it It almost doesn't matter. Twenty-five. Oh, both of those were threes, interestingly enough. This is very confusing. So that's 28 points of damage, and the blade is going to Basically unicorn this flicker fly right but right in the forehead and then it's back in Sal's hand The thing uh erupts in a um a scream would be the wrong word because it's more of like a shriek. It is uh shrill and visceral and um i i it it is uh of a creature nearing uh its demise, um at this point that uh now the Icor is coming out of both its head oozing, you see um it um You know, kind of oozing out of on this one, I believe it'd be the belly, correct? Uh and the wings are now flapping but not as fast. It is having a harder time kind of floating, so now it doesn't have that kind of almost eerie perfect hovering. It's sort of like wavering a uh a bit from um from side to side and uh you um see it then uh turn um you know because are we being hidden again? Um Sal is He was in the cover of the trees, but he wasn't intentionally hiding, so I would say probably not. Okay. Um he uh the the flicker fly turns and uh moves uh directly uh towards uh that which has just now suddenly caused it all this pain and uh unleashes um as much as it can with uh the energy that it um has left turning uh its wings towards the uh threat in front of it And um Ooh, maybe landing with uh That might be the first Nat 20 I've ever gotten as a GM. Yeah. Um with a uh yeah, with a hit. And um so just from uh from your end, um The minimum damage. Sorry, I rolled two D tens. Okay, so twenty. Oh, so that's twenty to start. Plus eight plus so it's uh thirty-two. Okay, what kind of attack is this? It is physical. Physical? Okay, sorry, like what's happening, I guess. Oh sorry. So it the it's a wing slash. So it turns its body, so it is slicing its wings. Think of them almost like swords and blades coming after you. Um so Sal is gonna mark an armor slot and he's going to take the slash kind of across the chest armor, and he will look up at the creature, eyes kind of blazing defiantly. And just say, my name is Salvador Dark Walker, and I am from the Endless Forest. You will stop attacking, my friends. And he's just gonna stand there. Tall. Short, but for him tall. Are you attempting to intimidate or kind of like Like he is just setting his intentions. He is just standing in front of this creature showing showing it that he is not scared. Like I would picture from the slash of the wings, blood is kind of dripping down because Sal is pretty hurt. But Sal is not going to Sal has seen what happens before when he is attempting to hide and not standing up for his friends and he's not doing that again. And he is standing in front of this creature. as bravely as he can be. And if you're looking really closely, you might notice a little bit of a shake. But like he's he's a little bit a little bit tremorous in terms of trying to stand brave, but he is still doing it. Give me a presence roll with advantage. Okay. Ah, good. No, no, no Uh actually, you know what? That's a 17. That's a 17 with fear. That's a 17 with fear with the event advantage. So Oh yeah. The um The Flickerfly, um you know, looks over at um The sound it's like strange because it's, you know, a large insect, and so you assume that there's no kind of like understanding right with this thing and that it doesn't quite comprehend like things the same way that a person would, right? Because you're assuming that obviously it's like a you know large like insect. Um but suddenly it's like it has kind of like a moment of um Recognition that is uh fighting a foe that um while perhaps you know you don't know if it thinks it's it's equal but at least is uh you know intimidated and um You find that um this one um kinda slowly lowers itself towards the ground. And again, it's got Ikor oozing out of various, you know, kind of wounds. It's it's having a hard time flying as steadily as it usually does. And um you see it then kind of lift its legs up and shriek once again. You get the sense that now it's trying to kind of like intimidate you. Mm-hmm. And then it raises its wings or sorry, flaps its wings again, and then it, you know, flies right off and flies away. What Hm. Not expecting that. That's interesting. Sal kinda since he is For those listening, I guess Sal is on the other side of the tree from the flickerfly that is currently locked in on Hilo. And as soon as the one that he was standing up two flies off Sal kinda stumbles down to a knee and the the blood pouring out of his armor is kinda it it it looks a little bit more severe now and he puts his hand to his chest. and kind of remains there while potentially other people go. But that is that was Sal's moment in the spotlight, I'd say. I just like quickly Svetlana seeing Sal like gushing blood, like clearly in need of help, is going to uh run over to him and uh Marcus Stress to put healing hands on him. Uh she has to roll first to see if she does two hit points or one. Um that is a 17 plus three. So twenty um with fear but she will um meet the spellcast role which is 13 so she'll clear two hit points uh from From Sal. Sorry, and which spell are you using again? Healing Hands. I just want to make sure I got it. Yeah, so she made a spell cast roll. Uh she met the 13 and then uh she just puts her hands on Sal and you see the glow kind of leaving her hands going towards his wounds and kind of closing them. Um there's still blood obviously on his armor, but it's not gushing out anymore. Mm-hmm. Um and that was with fear though, right? Yeah, sorry guys. Uh before you take your move, Sal like feeling the healing energy would moving through him would just push himself back up to his feet. That's all. Um the other um flicker fly goes down towards um you know hilo kind of like a little more trepidatious knowing that the damage that had been taken before, not quite understanding exactly what it was. But then attempts to um slice, because remember this is a horse-sized insect, those wings are quite large. And um I don't always like to be so picky, but uh you can hit the wings from very close range and I believe the circle works within melee range. That is correct. Okay. This is part of the reason I wanted to make sure I was in close range to get it the first time, because I didn't really think I was going to get it again. Right, right. Yeah, no, no, no. Totally fine. Um and then also, so it's a circle though, so it's like it's gonna be in one spot. So if you moved out of the circle, right, it doesn't follow you, I'm guessing. Okay. Oh no, actually, I assume if I if I step out of the circle, it's done. Because it's a temporary effect. Temporary effect. Okay. Yeah. Um and uh so the uh flicker uh fly goes ahead and goes to uh turn to its side to take a slice at um Hilo with those sword-like wings once again. And lands. Actually, yeah, I got a 12. Well, no, I got a not a 12. I got 15 and your evasions 12? Yes. I did a search in my in uh I did a search on my character sheet. I need to go back to it, sorry. That's fine. You know, I keep doing that. I'll look up something on somebody's character sheet and I'm like, oh crap, crap, crap. I don't know what they have. I used the wrong one. Yes, I have a I have a 12 evasion. Um, all right, so it takes uh to the side once again, slashing right across um Hilo's um body, still saying somewhat in the air, not super high up. And um, you know, probably again about four to six feet off the ground and uh causing uh twenty-three uh damage. Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and and Um use another new thing I've gotten. Oh. Please. I wanna hear it. Which is Arcane Deflection. Once per long rest, I spend a hope to negate the damage of an attack at Targeting me or an ally? Ooh, baby, that is a good one. So he literally like holds up his arm, his left arm. Which where is where his fell cast focuses, the uh wing hits it, and you hear this discordant clang That resolves into this beautiful um cord at the end of it, um basically uh negating the attack damage. Incredible. That is incredible. Um Man, that's a really good ability. And then I'll pass it back to the players. This thing again, uh definitely wounded, not on death's door, but um it is not looking great, this uh particular flickerfly. And as a reminder, we still get advantage on rolls targeting this creature. Yes. Yes. How's Boca feeling? She's just getting a hang in back here. Wait wait for the flies to go. But she realizes she could do something about it to make it go go away quicker. That is true. So Boga is going to think how close can I get? Betlana yells, you got this, Boga! Mm-hmm. And Bogo kinda make makes her way towards the fly. Like instead starts just rubbing her hands her her hands Hands? Flippers. Grippy things. I mean you're like a you're like a humanoid version of a frog. Yeah, you're a humanoid frog. Yeah. You've got oppos you got opposable thumbs at least. Grippers? Or do I? No. Yeah. Oh, that's the thing. No one knows. Uh she is going to use once she gets close to the uh the insect. She's gonna have warmed her hands up and she's gonna cast um Cindergrasp on the bug Just try grab it by one of the like just try put her hands on a part of its body. One of its legs maybe. Mm-hmm. Um Oh my goodness. Okay. And that is And you get a D6 too. You get a d advantage. I don't think I need advantage. Uh probably not. Well the b what what do what do you got? Take it. Twenty. Oh you're you're good. You're good. 22 with hope, let's go. Don't even yeah, take take the hope. You don't need advantage. You hit Wonderful. Let me just dig in my body. My dag bag. Hang on. You got a skin pouch? My dice bag. There you go. The bag of hoarding. What you call me? We're dice bag buddies, right? We have the same dice bag. Yeah. We do. That is a fourteen damage. Ooh. Fourteen? Also add the rally die too. Uh it also gets uh lit on fire. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, it does. So hot. Yeah. Um so you you you kind of described it as you kinda reach up and try to go for one of the legs? Yeah. Tri So I mean tri tries to is this the one in the sky? Is it is it half her in? I mean it's hovering, but I mean the legs are again, it's the size of a horse. The legs are long, right? So if it's four to six feet in the air, those legs are gonna be much closer to the ground. They're definitely within reaching distance, for sure. She hops up and just grabs onto one of the w one of the legs with both her hands. Her flaming hands. And they're like, I got ya. Just kind of kind of dangles about for a bit Well, it's lighting the thing on fire. Could I say like, could it look like um like an old school Warner Brothers cartoon with like the little like um like detonation like line where they like light it and I just see like flames start to go from the leg and then suddenly Um And then um and I'll even add this on there. I mean, there's nothing mechanically saying this, but as soon as it catches on fire, it drops to the ground. Doomf because um it's pretty hard to flap your uh wings when you're now uh currently engulfed in flames and And um this thing is now um, you know, different pieces of it are on fire. The fire actually burnt through part of one of the wings, so it looks like this thing may not even be able to fly anymore. Um, and uh it is definitely um not doing well. Um did you roll and you rolled hope, correct? Yes. Yes. Um and uh suddenly this thing uh you know um It's still kind of like somehow magically focused on Hilo, even though it's something literally just got it on fire. But it blames Hilo for the fire. I don't know why. Um and uh you rolled with hope though, so I guess I keep going. Wow. Keep going. This thing though, I'll tell you, it's not looking great. It it is on fire. Igor coming from various wounds. It is no longer able to fly. Uh things are going south very quickly for this, again, creature that would usually consider it like a itself a predator. Was that the end of was that the flight's turn? The fly didn't have a turn, you rolled it up. Yeah, it's still our turn, so I don't know if it's a little bit more than a little bit. I don't know if it's Uriel or if it's I've definitely gone recently, so I mean I would say at this point just put it out of its misery. I mean that's my advice, but that you know you guys do you. On my way. I mean the other one wised up and flew away. Squish a bug. Uh Okay, I think um just due to the lack of of range being, you know, a little vertically challenged as Ariel is. Should attack with the whip Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm just trying to see It is on the ground, by the way. Yes. Oh, okay. Being set on fire definitely uh grounded it a bit. Oh. Well then heck it, we'll just attack with the sword. Good dude the the good old Uriel uh boop or bop. Yes. Poke. Um so this is Uh I can't add that high. Seems good. Twenty You you okay, just keep going. Keep going. 29 with fear. 29. Wait, how'd you roll? Wait, what? Two attack? Twenty-nine. Because advantage. There's advantage to get the things. I got a six on the advantage, yes. Okay, nice, nice, nice, nice. Yeah. Uh you're definitely you definitely hit. Okay. And then let's do I got a six on the other one too. It was a different die, just just saying. Uh What is happening? Everybody, all of you, every I mean I just rolled a one on my hope die, so not everybody. Fair. What I learned today is Gen Con improves your dice rolls. Go. Yeah. That's right. That's right. There you go. Go out go out and get it. Okay. So that's You mean we aren't missed up both. Sixteen damage. Sixteen damage. And that was using my rally die. Alright. Um this thing, um you I mean I guess you walk up And you just give it a good poke. I mean, I I feel like that's a good URL move. I mean, stop me if I'm wrong, which is kinda like you know, a little jab. And it's actually interesting because as soon as you do what? What that's me talking to the bug. Are you still here? Jab it a little bit more. Squish, squish. Um You you actually jab it and then it's like odd because the carapace is kind of like hard to stab through, but then suddenly as you do it, like you just feel it kind of just ease up and your sword just kind of goes like like just directly into this thing and it's like ushy and gushy and like like it feels like it's like the thickest jello that you've ever stuck a you know, a sword into you're trying to like pogue through. Um and uh suddenly you see its eyes that were looking at you both just like pivot wide and then it looks dead. And then all of a sudden, as it seems to be dying, you hear um somehow like breath kind of moving within And um stop me if I'm wrong, but would we agree that all of you guys are in front of the bug right now? I mean Svetlana is over with Sal behind the tree. I would say I would say everyone but Boga. Yeah, Boga is the same thing. Yes. Okay. Maybe m again, maybe not boga. I would say boga's to the side. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I agree. Okay. Yeah. Um then from um within the bug's mouth suddenly um a cloud begins to emerge and then suddenly with great force the bug kind of like Essentially like almost like um deflates in front of you somewhat. Not like literally like a balloon, but like kind of like gets like smaller, and then this gas is emitted from the mouth of the flicker fly and goes. gushes out in front of it and passes through everybody in front of the bug within um far range. Um and um everybody who is hit by that, so that's everyone except for Boga Um needs to make an instinct uh reaction roll. Um Hilo makes it a disadvantage because this one had pulled a fear out of Hilo earlier in the combat. How dare. And um if you uh fail, uh you lose a hope and mark a stress. So though I also take a disadvantage since I had fear taken from me as well. That was the other one. I think you got the other one. It was the other one. Yeah, that was the other one, yeah. That was the other one. Um, yep. So remind me, disadvantage is I roll a D6 and minus it? Yes. Yes. Okay. You said instinct? Instinct. I definitely failed that, I'm pretty sure. Jeez. What you got? Ten. Yep. So uh you're tormented by a fearful hallucination and lose a hope, mark a stress. Okay. Done. Um is this an attack? It is a reaction. No, from is it an attack from the Flickrfly? It no I mean it's classified as a reaction. It was basically on a countdown. Hmm, okay. Yeah. If you want to counteract it though, like I don't I'm not opposed. No, it's okay. Oh, you mean to roll your your fancy because I didn't have to roll to do it if that's what you mean. I was danger sense is what I was going for, but I think if you didn't have to roll, then definitely that doesn't apply. No, I did not have to roll, it just happens after um the countdown's over. Uh 12 for Svetlana. Take a stress, lose a hope. So I got a I also got bel take a stress and lose a hope because I got a nine. Yep. Frick geez. And with fear, by the way. I'm gonna rally die to that. Well, it's it's a reaction roll, so it doesn't matter for hope and fear. Okay. Yeah, actually that's an interesting question. Can we add our uh rally die to that? How close are we to succeeding? How close are you to succeeding? Um you're all remarkably close. Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna add my rally die then. Oh, I have one too. Hold on. I don't I used it trying to tell him. Fourteen, I'm taking a stress. So Svetlana, you got a fourteen? Mm-hmm. You're good. Hey, guess guess what my rally die got me to? A four too. You're good. Hilo? Yeah, mine also I rolled a five on my rally die, which takes me to fourteen. You're good? That's amazing. Everyone but Yuriel. Rian saves the party. H Yeah, Yuriel, what'd you get? Hilo saves the party. Does does Pazoo have to Yuriel would get uh Yeah, fearful hallucinations. You mark a stress and lose a hope. By the way, guys, the meet it or beat it was a 14. I legitimately rolled exactly a four, which is the number that I needed. Like it's yeah, wow. So that's a super fun ability though that I was like I wanted to play with because I can play with that also for later. That I'm like, you know Hit a lot of people at the same time kind of thing. Was the countdown specifically on its death or was it you don't have to damage. Damage. Okay. Interesting. Go ahead. Yep. Every time he got damaged the countdown proceeded. I'll be honest, I had full yeah, full full disclosure. I finagled it a little bit. It actually had one HP left, but it felt better narratively to finally kill it because we were pretty much there anyhow. Y I had one more count on my damage die, so instead of having you do one more thing Because I knew that it would also like kind of proceed or whatever. I was like, I think it'd be fun just to do both. So I gave you the extra damage and then did the attack. So illusion, shadow. Maybe that's not but it it made it made a lot of sense narratively. So I'll allow it. Right. Yes, yes. That was that was my goal is I felt like it would be like, cool, it's like its last dying thing. Is it Finishes this, I was only one away anyway, and I gave you the extra damage on that. Yeah, just hit it hits you with a bellows at the end. I like it. Yeah. What uh what hallucination does Yuriel suffer? Hmm. I was gonna ask that. Oh, sorry. No no no no I w I'm glad you brought it up because I would like to know. I mean if and if you can't improv something, no pressure, but if you can that's great too. But what was what's the description of what it's done to me and not everybody else cause everybody else fixed it? Um, so um you are hit with hallucinatory gas. Um that um means you are tormented by Fearful hallucinations. So it's not very specific. So it could really be something that maybe is more unique to your character. It could also just be anything, really, at that point. Like it could be these same creatures coming after you. I'm I'm gonna say this is like uh nightmares where um, you know, it's uh bringing something out of the subconscious and I didn't have the vision of all of Mazza's suffering, but I am terrified that I'm gonna lose my friend. So it's the It's the hallucination of of Maz being an enemy probably is is what's haunting me. Hmm. That's really good. Yeah. I mean really bad, but really good. I was about to also say that's really good, but then I realized that's not what that means. That That's not what that is, but that's what it it is also. I don't think you can say it's really good. I think we can we can say it, but if you say it, it sounds threatening. Right. Um and then that uh that flicker fly is now dead as the e-gas um dissipates into um the uh opening. And uh you're still kind of in this, you know, sort of like clearing and um the smoke that is off in the distance is um looking you know, not not too far off. It is looking within, you know, um within reach, within, you know, a shorter span of time as, you know, the Sun is now at the point where um darkness is beginning to descend, you know, upon you. We're definitely hitting um nighttime in this area. I don't have a nighttime version of the map, forgive me for for you know our our virtual tabletop. Um but uh I would leave it to the party for what we want to do um next because that could be a good endpoint. Um I'm also happy to move us a little bit further forward which could also be a good endpoint for today. Before we end I would like to say that I'm going to take my glamour stone out of my pocket and memorize the appearance of this flickerfly so that later on I could potentially use this as to magically recreate a guise on myself. Why do I give you anything? Why do I give you stuff? I was just looking through my inventory. I was like, I haven't used that yet. Let's let's take this out. Let's have fun with it. So. Um Yeah. Is this uh I I think I I if it's okay with everybody, I'd like to keep pressing forward a little bit, maybe I can kinda come up with a good endpoint, I think. Like, you know, a little bit further forward. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah, I think could I Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, I didn't mean to interrupt. I'm sorry. No, you no you can't. Roll for it. Sal would go to Sal would go to the down flicker fly, kind of stick his blade into it. He would lean really close to it and he would say something that none of you could hear. And then he would start moving back in the direction towards towards the smoke. That was all I was gonna say. Go ahead, Uriel. Um I was gonna say Uriel and Pazu also move in the direction of the smoke and um I I would like to focus more this time on uh surveying for any potential threats because Uh well, you know, I've been recently horrified by this hallucin ho hallucination of my friend Maz, and I want to get over their I don't want any more delays. I don't want any more distractions. Um I have giant ears And big eyes that help me see things, but also my goblin clan um is crepuscular Uh so we're more aware and alert at dawn and dusk than we are at any other time of the day, if if this also applies. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm really wanting to perceive the area around me. Can I use two experiences? I don't know that there's a rule or against it. You just have to use hope to use each one, right? So that's fine. Yeah, I spend a hope for each. Yeah. Yeah. I mean uh let me let me be honest at this point. Like I, you know, I I I think we could certainly just move right on forward. And if you want, I'm also happy to kind of move us. towards where I believe we want to go. Okay. You know, I'm always happy to cut to the action as it is. Um You're saying I don't need to roll I mean if you want to throw some math rocks and nothing else in there. No, no, no, no, no. If you want to roll some math rocks because it makes you happy, that's fine. Um But I am also equally happy to um just bring um everybody right on over to where maybe we travel through um the uh endless forest through the path and um i mean if anybody you know stop maybe don't want to do that but uh you Emerge in a clearing at a place that on the surface looks Somewhat pleasant, almost like a nice manor, um, in the midst of the endless forest. But right on the uh same location. Um, and we'll say again everybody traveled, you know, walked along the path. Um, you can tell that this is indeed the source of the smoke. um as you all um approach this opening and this um clearing. And uh in addition to the smoke, um the um Scent that you had before where you would kinda catch like whiffs and waffs of it is now um kind of like uh overtaking your nostrils in that um it is um absolutely um pungent and fetid and awful um Where you're like, there are um definitely things being burnt here and uh you don't again think it's wood. Um and uh you uh you see the entrance of what looks like a you know kind of like a keep manor. I don't know what you would want to particularly call it. And stop me if that was, you know, jumping too far ahead, but I'm like, hey, let's cut right to it. No. No. Yeah, I would just like to say for uh listeners, th this big stone Building I don't know if house is the right word, it has so many chimneys. Like it's kind of creepy how many places there appear to be inside the building to burn things. Does Sal recognize the the building? Um Uh I'm actually gonna go with no. Okay. I don't think you've ever been to this place. Have I heard of it? Like is it we're not it's not something I've heard of before, right? Because there I know of places in the woods, but I just want to make sure it's not No, no, this one is more like you I would say you know that there are you know of a lot of places, you know of places in the woods, and but you also know that there are certainly um many corners and nooks and crannies that um different groups of people use this space for, right? To both be found or not be found. And they want to do things, you know, maybe privately, and this could be one of them. Okay. Can I also say that on our journey to get here, I had used my mini-touch ability to lay my hands on Hilo and clear his stress. Yes, yeah, that's fine. I'll spend too hope to do that and hilo. You can take off the stress. Thank you. So you all kind of I guess then get to this large clearing, you see the smoke, you smell the smells, and you look at it and you do notice all these uh what appears to be way too many chimneys. for uh a given um place and uh there's definitely smoke pouring from you know most of them perhaps not all of them and the odd thing though is that Um as you kind of look at it, um, you get the sense that this place was it it is somewhat um impressive and or um majestic and is meant to kind of like um Maybe even intimidate a little bit when somebody walks into it in this big open area. Um, but you don't see any uh light coming from any of the windows. Do we see any movement at all? Is anything like we see the smoke, obviously that's that's it its own form of movement, but do we see any see or hear anything as we're standing. I picture Sal kind of crouched at the at the entry, like maybe in in or near a bush, um, kind of blending in a little bit in the dusk, but do we see or hear anything? No, in a way that is actually odd. It is strange where you like look in the windows and you kind of see like a room on the immediate other side of the windows. Um but it doesn't appear to be like really like lived in. You get the sense. You're kind of like, hmm. You know, o on the surface, the facade is there of this large mansion, like, you know, manor or whatever, castle. Um, but uh you're like something is is kinda off. Is your initial impression. Uh-huh. Sal would turn to his friend's eyes wide. I don't I don't know what this is, but I don't like it. It's large and far-coding. I must agree. Something is not good here. Um can reach out her arcane sense. Do anything she senses? Um yeah, you can do that. Wonderful! I don't like how you said that with a smile on your face. So as you um reach out and uh feel free to you know correct my flavoring if you'd like because I'm kind of just you know going with what I feel like you know, kind of works for the moment, but um it's almost like you're reaching out with an uh an extra limb, right? That's not visible. And as you go to kind of like feel what's out there, um at first you just get a very general sense of there being a magical presence in the area. And then as you sort of continue to extend it and kind of move it about um suddenly you're struck with a uh deep sense of uh death and um foreboding and fear and you're reminded of something that brings back some horrific um, you know, memories of not long past and you know, you kind of maybe stumble back a bit, and it's like uh s shocking to to know that it is uh almost the same sense you got when you were on the Ashen Crown. And you were sneaking around the boat at night, and you had an individual in black clothing walk by you. In you know, long sleeves, long pants, and uh that same person you ultimately saw on the top of the ship as V-Rex and uh Yeah. Aw man. Wait when she feels this she's like, oh no. Uh I believe we are at our destination. This is I feel what I felt on the ship the man and the room and the note. It's all So led to hear Scorchbourne? Yes, I'm afraid so. Oh, I hope we're not too late. I feel like as soon as I heard that, I would be trying to go in. Like I'd be terrified. Sal would hear Scorchborne and you would immediately stand up out of the bushes. And again, he's trying to look really brave, but you can kind of see him shaking as he uh sneaks down kind of the the path to the door. Like, I don't even know that it's intentional. It's just so much about how the way Sal moves is like even if Sal or sorry, Svetlana is like marching beside him um with uh axe out or anything, Sal is just gonna kinda naturally be pulled into the shadows and be moving in and out of cover because that's just the way that Sal walks. Would you say skulkily? I would s you know what I'm I'm willing to to give a skulk here if necessary. Okay. Just clarify. I have an idea. Um, I see a terrace here, but is there any external facing doors like on the terrace or anywhere that's not like the main front door. No. It is a facade. It is meant to look nice. There is one front door. But there's windows. Mm-hmm. It's definitely windows. Are those those windows on the terrace, did they look big enough that a big fur bulb could fit through them? No. I mean also by the way there they're so so the the the windows there um let's just say you look at them a little bit more and they're decorative. They they don't even open. Okay. So you have to sh you can shatter them by all means. I mean, you know, you you know, you got a big axey axe. Shatter shatter. Yeah, but if I can't fit through them then that's not the There's no point in doing that. I mean you got some other friends you could like stuff through the windows, you know, if you had to, but wait, what? I just was hoping we could maybe have an element of surprise, but if uh I guess I'll relay that to the team. You know, I I think that there may be some windows up there. I don't know if there's a way to sneak up there and maybe get some element of surprise on whoever is inside, but I will not fit, so I I have to go through the front door. Um, but I am I am pretty s like big and I'm not so worried about myself, but maybe for our smaller friends Um you guys can sneak if you if you need to. Um I assume by I will I will go front. I assume by now Sal would be at the front door. Can he quietly check the knob? Definitely. Is it locked? I'm right behind him. Door door is very window. Well the door is very much open. The window is all none of them open. They're all just like decorative. They're all just like plain panes. Plain plain panes of glass. Wonderful. Openable? No. No. Can she use her sticky fingers to just like do the thing where she just like lifts it out of the Okay, so hear me out. Hear me out. Sticky finger, cinder grasp all the way around it. Ah yeah. Carve out a piece of pull out the glass. Yes. Yes. That is what I was picturing in my head. I got you. I mean you might need a roll for that one, but If you hit it though, it's gonna be incredible. I mean I just didn't know. If not to get shot glass in my hand. I was gonna say, if you fail, it's uh The dried cactuses wish they could. That's what I'll say. You tell me Ca Sal's opening going to open the door. Sal was just a little bit more. Meanwhile, he's just look he's looking back at everybody else to see what's happening. Okay. Oh go. Yeah, I think I think I think Bogurt's gonna try um I guess cut through the pain with Cinder Grasp I mean you you tell me um so what's your um spellcast rate? Instinct. Do an instinct roll, you got plus three. Got speed. That's a lot of good stuff. It's a six it's a sixteen with fear. Sixteen with fear. I'm praying for her. I add four to the I can pray even harder if I need to. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean I just I don't want you to it's fine. Um so you um No, it it's if you got something else in mind, that's fine. No, no, it's just that um the so you you Go ahead. I mean, I don't know how how would you do it? You describe for me how would this look on the the cinder grasp on the window? Um But Bowie's gonna go for like where the glass meets the frame and try and melt that away rather than the actual the actual glass itself, the like the area around the glass and just try stick both of her hands to the paint and lift it out into the side. She's just kinda wobbling while she does it. Um you puts down very gent very gently. I love this. And then straight through the window. Amazing So now the window pane's open. Yep. Right? Sal's still at the door ready, not opening it. Checked it. It's unlocked. So I mean, is somebody going in the window? Are somebody opening the door? Like, I mean, um We look at each other and go Um by the way, and actually um as you because you you place the window down the pane shatters, makes a bunch of noise. You roll the fear. Yeah, that figures. I mean so At least you're not hurt. Um okay, so Boga's outside the window. Uh but Bog is just kinda froze in place. And just kind of looks at the party like uh just kinda ch kinda shakes her hands off. It's okay, Boga. Good distraction. Come back us down It was a good old double double back. It was the good old double double double fake, right? You sneak in there really that's the actual distraction, not the sneak, and then you're gonna go in the front door to throw them off. Sal swings the door open? He is he is as obscured as he can be on this entryway, but he swings the door open. Um so Sal is the only one in there? I was following right behind him, so I'm probably not as absurd. Yeah, so Sal, so Svetlana is going in, um, and anybody else? I mean, well I'm not gonna stay out here. Yes. Right. Hilo's going in. Anybody else? Because Bo Bog is gonna hop down and join them. And Bogo's gonna go hop down and join them. Alright. Yeah, Arian Pazu also bringing up the room. Okay. So as you open the door, it suddenly dawns on you that this is or Sal, I should say, right? Because Sal was kind of investigating beforehand. This is why this place looked so strange before. Sal opens up the door and the walls are much more narrow than you thought. And it doesn't make sense with the large facade in front of the building. What suddenly clicks is that that was all fake. It is there to impress and to intimidate. And then this uh hallway is much more um narrow um than you would have thought. And you're grabbed immediately by a large statue directly in front of you, as though a hand is reaching up out of the earth, and there's flames, actually torches, coming from each you know, one of the fingers and that that large expanse is a a ruse just to um impress and um you know intimidate He's grabbed metaphorically? Yeah, am I actually grabbed by a statue? Oh no, no, no. Turn a phrase. Um and uh suddenly you're in a small, tiny room with large hand statue in front of you. You can see two doors going off to either side in the distance. And uh it dawns on you that you're like, oh, this is probably the place because it is both hidden, and who would have a gigantic um, you know, kind of like Statue just like that. You know, you you see the the torches on all sides of you. You see the hand grasping flames surrounding it, knowing um that this um must be the place where the Scorchborn are, and that this must be the place where you will find Maz in whatever condition. Or however, she has left. And we can probably stop there for today. Wonderful. I gotta hand it to you. No. Good place to stop. Sal's gonna step back out, look at the building, and step back in and go They blazing saddles us. Doctor Who does. They got us with the blazing saddles. Yep. It's actually no it's a tartus. It's a TARDIS. It's definitely a TARS. Yeah.