Magnificence

—INTRODUCTION—

[Quiet piano music]

Jee: Hello everybody, and welcome to the very first episode of this brand new D&D 5e homebrew campaign. Magnificence, DM'd by yours truly. Hello, welcome. Thank you for joining us. My name is Jee. I will be the dungeon master for this campaign. I'm very excited to get started in this game with all of you. And let's just jump right in. Let's go around and introduce our players to start off. We will get to their character introductions here in just a moment. So let's just start with their names, who they are and what they're about. So, I'm going to go around, as Emma would say, the virtual table here, and just have everyone introduce themselves, starting with Rosie.

Rosalie: Hello, my name is Rosalie, or Rosie for short. She/her pronouns, and I will be playing Sage Xenius, an abjuration wizard with an absolutely massive chip on her shoulder. Very excited to be here. She/her pronouns for my character as well.

Jee: Wonderful. Moving on from there, let's go right to the lovely Emma.

Emma: Oh boy. Hello everybody, my name is Emma. I am the founder and creative director of TTN and finally get to be a player for once. So this is super fun. I am playing today Khuvos Nemenath. He is a Triton wizard, with an adorable little familiar named Kari, who is a flying turtle.

Jee: Wonderful, all right. Moving on to the next person, we have Grace.

Grace: Hello everyone, I'm Grace, she and they pronouns, and I will be playing Cerri, an elvish assassin with a secret.

Jee: Oh, what rogue doesn't have a secret? Going on to the next person on our virtual table, we have Andie.

Andie: Hi, my name's Andie. He/they pronouns. I will be playing Olwen Tanner, also he/they pronouns. The Earth Genasi Ranger that hates all forms of organized government.

Jee: Olwen, as always, displaying icon behavior. Going on to our next player, we have Jacqueline.

Jacqueline: Hey there, I'm Jacqueline. I use she/her pronouns, as does my character, Aelina. Aelina Montsen, who is a voice of the Siren Bard who has some secrets of her own.

Jee: And going to our final player, last but very much not least, we have Winter.

Winter: Hello! I am Mistress Winter, she/her pronouns. I'm a writer, graphic designer, voice actress, and all-around TTRPG hobbyist. I am playing Suda, she/they, an Aasimar hexblade with a lot of childhood trauma.

Jee: Absolutely wonderful. So you have met the Players and met, very briefly, just a bit of the characters that they will be playing. So let's go ahead and get into the game proper.

Jee: Magnificence is a dark fantasy homebrew 5e game dealing with mystery, intrigue, and plenty of adventure. I'm so glad to have you here, both players and audience alike, and please do stick around for the long haul for this merry band of adventurers and their journey into the shadows.

Jee: Finally, one last note before we begin. I just want to give a huge shoutout to Sarsen Games for writing the fantastic sourcebook that we will be using for this campaign, The Oracles of Aughra. It is a book of gods and subclasses made for D&D. The book contains 12 new gods, each with three unique story arcs and combat-ready avatars. There's also over 40 new subclasses to enjoy. And on top of that, they have a couple of other very interesting and very fun source books. So please go check out Sarsen Games, give them some love, and check out some of their other content.

Jee: With that, we are ready to begin our game. So let's finally, finally dive into this magnificent, magnificent world.

4:06
—CAMPAIGN START—

Jee: All there ever is, all there ever was, and all there ever will be is the Empire. Officially called the Kyrfells Empire after its original founder, it is a land most familiar with strife and hardship. A land of dark forces and political sabotage, where winters stretch on for half the year and the sun is near constantly hidden behind clouds of grey. It is a miserable place, but it's home. That much, at least, no one has a choice in.

Jee: See all who live within this cursed land are, in essence, prisoners to it. Surrounding the Empire is a great ring of black, roiling smog, the bars of the cage that hold all within. Sail for a few days out into the sea and you'll come face to face with it. It extends to the highest point in the sky in the coldest depths of the ocean, consuming all who dare come too close. Many have tried to understand it, conquer it, decipher it, but none have succeeded. To this day, nobody knows what lies beyond it. And those who try to pass through would be lucky if their battered, necrotic remains washed back onto shore at all. It is because of this, the borders of this world begin and end at the empire. All there ever is, all there ever was, and all there ever will be.

Jee: Life is difficult enough under these conditions, but things have gotten worse as of late. Murdered heirs, open rebellion, crumbling cities, and a cruel winter lurking on the horizon. To anyone else, well, this would be a time of great catastrophe. But to you, to you, this is just another day in the Empire.

[Background music intensifying]

Jee: We begin our story at the heart of it all, the summit of everything. Seer's Mourning. The capital of the Empire and the seat of the Sovereign. A city that is normally filled with life and chaos is unusually quiet, for today is a day of tribute and grief: the grand funeral of the eldest heirs to the Empire, Archduke Jeanne and his sibling, Duke Sanya of House Shroudmour. The streets are full of mourners on their way towards city center to show respect to the newly ascended sovereign who grieves their murdered siblings. On a day like this, it feels all too easy for things to go wrong.

[Background music fading out]

Jee: Starting with our first character on these crowded streets. It's cold, but not quite winter yet. There's still a bit of warmth in the air, still the tiniest dapple of sunlight pushing its way through the crowds. The streets are busy here in the Lower City. Everyone is moving towards city center to attend the speech of the new sovereign. And among them, though not there officially, there more so out of respect, you could say. Aelina, why don't you introduce your character to us? Give us a description and just kind of let us know what you're doing as you're moving towards the City Center to witness this speech.

Jacqueline: Absolutely. So Aelina is tall. She's not so tall that her head, like, sticks head and shoulders outside of the crowd, but she's definitely got a little bit of height to be able to see what's going on in the flow of people around her. Her hair is pulled back very cleanly into a bun and it's auburn in tone. The thing that you notice the most that she is wearing is a long flowing wool cloak in gray, with the embroidered symbols of House Lendarys around the edge. On the front of the garb there are two golden circles which are connected by a chain that holds that robe on her. It is a formal garment worn by members of the various Houses at formal events.

Jacqueline: And she is moving through the crowd and she has, as you were saying, she's not there formally, but she is being given a little bit of room. People around her are making a little bit of space. And she's just kind of gliding through and is very still in her movement. She's walking, but she's not looking around. She's not acting super aware of her surroundings and just in almost a performative show of this is what we are supposed to do now. So she is moving through the space and making her way to one of the kind of formal areas to observe this thing.

Jee: Yeah, wonderful. This is not your usual haunt. Down here in the lower city is not typically where members of noble houses frequent. But the Sovereign made a point to visit each section of the city to give this speech, and you figure, what could it hurt? There are, of course, throngs of people that are more noble house aligned, they've sort of separated themselves from the rest of the crowd, and you find yourself sort of gravitating to walk with them, whether for safety in numbers or for the feeling of belonging, that's up to Aelina.

Jee: As you're continuing down the streets, it is not totally silent, but there is an air of quiet reverence over everyone. People seem almost afraid to raise their voices too loud, guards are posted up every couple feet, it seems, on every street, watching everyone very closely. It's not often the leader of the Empire comes to this part of the city, and they're going to make sure that the mistake that happens with Gianne and Sanya does not happen again.

Jee: As you're continuing on, you see there are a few… sort of like stands, like marketplace stands that have been set up. People seem to be selling types of prayer beads, small offerings of incense and such to give to the small altar that will be set up where the sovereign is giving their speech. You notice there are also a few stands set up with candles, small lanterns, things to carry lights.

Jacqueline: And as Aelina is walking, she, I pause by one of those stands and I pick up a candle and some incense… a small gold lantern with some elegant scroll work on it. And I pick that up and of course pay the person selling it a few coins to carry along as we go.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. It's only a few copper pieces, nothing too expensive. You take your small offerings and continue on with the crowd. Not everyone is holding offerings, either they can't afford it or they do not care to present them, but many people are holding at the very least candles, as a way to just blend in, or even feign that they're showing respect, just so the guards do not target them as someone who may be opposing such an event. You take your offerings and you continue walking forward. The crowd that you are walking with, people get out of the way almost immediately. So it's not as congested, not as many people bumping into you.

Jee: People hold themselves properly where you stand. So it is very easy to get to the front, where there is a meager fountain that is mostly dried out at this point in time. But a sort of stage has been erected here. There are only a few guards occupying it at the moment. You have to guess this is where the Sovereign will give their speech. At the foot of it, you see it is where all the offerings have been laid. People come forward, lay their offerings and step back, holding their candles and lanterns to provide light around the area.

Jee: It's very early morning, getting into late morning, but still not quite enough to have the sun very high in the sky. So there's still a bit of darkness surrounding the city. So as you go forward, you take your place. There are a few people that seem to recognize you, a few that you recognize, some solitary nods are given to one another. And you stand and you wait for the announcements to begin in your place, ready to go, holding the meager offerings for the deceased nobles.

Jee: Quite the opposite attitude from that of Lady Aelina Montsen – Olwen, why don't you go ahead and describe your character to us, what he is doing as this throng of people is moving forward towards city center.

Andie: Olwen Tanner is of average height for a man. He has long black hair that is tied tight into a ponytail behind his head. There are a few strands of hair that are like out of the ponytail, sort of indicative that he didn't do it well. It's mostly for function rather than for any sort of fashion. He has tanned skin and a large scar across the bridge of his nose. He has a beard that sort of hugs the bottom side of his chin, and he is wearing heavy furs underneath what appears to be a lot of leather garments - leather armor, gauntlets, boots, even little shoulder guards and even hip guards. He is openly carrying weaponry, most prominent of which is a quiver to his side and a bow on his back.

Andie: I think, Olwen, sort of looking at everything around here… has a notebook open and is scribbling in a language that is unintelligible to what he presumes to be most people around here, just trying to see who attended the event, and he is unable to hide just the utter disgust on his face at all of these people coming here to pay respects to someone who definitely did not give two cents about them at all.

Jee: Absolutely. You are making your way through, making notes of people in attendance. Most of who you see are just regular residents of this lower city, or at the very least, as you know it, the Rat’s Maze, due to its design - designed to keep the poorer residents confused and unable to find their way out, so they don't accidentally stumble into higher society. Just another aspect of the city that you despise. It makes your stomach curl.

Jee: You continue walking through, taking note of the residents. As I said, it's most of the Rats Maze residents. Those of noble standing that you see seem to be representatives that were sent ahead. Not entire noble houses are in attendance. A few people sent ahead to represent their noble house and maybe a few extra on the side who were merely curious at the affairs happening today.

Jee: You see the same small sort of market stands set up, prayer beads and incense. There are quite a few tables on this side where the poorer residents are walking holding those candles. They don't seem to be charging people for them. They are merely just handing them out to anyone who wants them. Very handcrafted, very simply made, tall single wick candles that they're lighting and handing to someone and then going on to the next person and handing them out as people begin to move up towards this fountain in the center where the stage has been set up.

Jee: You'll pass by a few of these tables if there's anything you want to pick up. Other than that, you kind of have to elbow and muscle your way through this congestion of people to get to the front to better observe the villainy that is happening here.

Andie: As I pass by the table with one of the candles, do I get handed one, like, as I pass it?

Jee: If you approach to get one, they'll hand one out. They're mostly just holding them out for anyone to grab and take as they go by.

Andie: I'll grab one and pocket it without lighting it.

Jee: You take it, you snuff out the flame [sfx of extinguishing flame] that they've lit and you just pocket it. Nobody pays attention, nobody cares. There's a lot happening today. So you take the candle and continue moving forward.

Jee: It is difficult for you to get to the very front. There's definitely a greater guard presence for the side of the people that are residents of the Rat's Maze. They don't want them getting too close. People who want to give offerings are seen handing it off to smaller court members dressed in their noble finery who deliver it to the altar for them amongst the other nobles. People of your standing aren't allowed that close, of course, but you understand. You make your way forward and it's a bit harder to see. There's a lot of people around you. You kind of have to stand and peer over some heads and shoulders, but you have a fairly okay view of the stage. You see a couple of lesser noble people begin to take to the stage as they seem to be preparing. You have to guess that the sovereign will arrive any moment now.

Jee: Going from there, we go to our next character, who isn't necessarily here to see the events, more so just happens to be in the area, which, of course they are. This place, unlike those people in the noble line here to visit and make an appearance, This place is their home. Cerri, would you please introduce yourself? Let us know what you're getting up to. Describe your character.

Grace: Cerri is sort of moving through the crowd. She's, you know, as you said, this is her home. She has known these streets her whole life. She could walk through them blindfolded if she really wanted to. There's a little bit of an enjoyment of the spectacle, a little bit of a disdain for the spectacle as well. So moving through the crowd, she's a medium height, very slight build, a sort of gauntness that hints maybe she didn't have quite enough to eat as a child through some pretty crucial growth phases.

Grace: Pale skin, long dark hair pulled into a tight braid, dark, well-worn but very tidy and high quality clothing, a large cloak. Someone closely observing her might notice a sword hilt peeking out from underneath the cloak or the shape of a knife underneath her pants, but she does try to keep her weapons hidden, knowing that there are more guards than usual in this part of town. She does not want to draw attention to herself. Holding a candle in a way that suggests she's almost forgotten it's in her hand. One eye out for maybe some easy pickpocketing targets if one should walk right in front of her. It's almost a habit as opposed to a real need. Just a little bit of fun to keep the day interesting.

Grace: Moving towards the sort of central area where the speaking will be happening, she'd like to find a darker corner, an edge, no desire to be in the middle of the crowd, but certainly somewhere she could see what's happening and just sort of keep an eye on all of these extra bodies invading her home.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Easy enough to hug the wall of some nearby buildings. The buildings here in the Rats Maze are built very, very closely together, taking up as much space as possible to fit as many people as possible in this area. There's alleyways aplenty that you can set yourself up in the mouth of and just observe quietly and safely from the comfort of the shadows. And you have a good enough view over the throng of people standing there, holding your candle in a lackluster manner, observing the festivities.

Jee: You see more guard movement up ahead as the stage begins to clear. People begin to set up the altar in a very performative way, making it look as nice as they can. They're definitely preparing for someone and you know exactly who that someone is.

Jee: Going on to our next character. Lacking all of the excitement that some of the other people hold, and mostly in general just maybe a bit tired after a recent journey. Walking side by side with– not quite a partner, but more so associates. A taller tanned woman with shaggy black hair and large burn scars across her face and shoulder, holding what looks to be a criminal of sorts, shackled up, holding him tightly by the shackles and just guiding him through. Suda, Why don't you go ahead and just introduce yourself, coming off of this latest job, what you're looking like, how you're feeling.

Winter: Suda is rugged and road-worn in an oddly handsome way. Using her stature and just forward confidence to maneuver through the crowd, urging people almost subconsciously to get out the way, as they're escorting their latest bounty. She will occasionally brush back her dirty platinum blonde hair that's swept to one side, revealing heterochromic eyes. One iris, this shimmering gold, one that is an empty black. Taking that moment to sweep the crowd, keeping a vigilant eye out for any threats. This prisoner had friends, and we want to make sure that we get the reward before any of them find out that we have them.

Winter: She wears this leather overcoat embroidered with a green spider and a series of chevrons under it, and while she doesn't carry a weapon visibly, there is this just veil of deeper shadow around her if people look close enough.

Jee: Your associate - not quite partner, a fellow bounty hunter. You know her as Gen Warren, aka Little Dragon. She wears a somewhat different coat than yours, but with a very similar insignia. The insignia that you know as the Jade Crawlers, a league of elite bounty hunters. She's roughly handling this prisoner that you two have brought in. Neither one of you honestly remembering that this whole affair was happening today. You're just going about business as usual and happened to walk into this more so. Again, pushes the prisoner ahead a bit and cranes her neck to look over the crowd before glancing over to you.

Gen: Look, I'm just… I'm just going to drag him ahead, turn him in. This place is a fucking nightmare right now. I'm gonna take him over to the upper city, turn him into the noble that's wanted him in. Do you want to just meet back at that one tavern? I'll bring back the reward and we'll just see what else is on our plates.

Suda: Sounds good to me. Just make sure you keep an eye out. I think I spot an apothecary. I think I'm gonna step in real quick. If I can, these people are in my way.

Gen: Yes, yes. And it's not just this morning, it's gonna take a fucking day for them to clear out. [Suda groaning] Cause you know the nobles, they're gonna be leaving all of their garbage and offerings on the streets for us to clean up, and–

Suda: Us? No, no. [Gen and Suda laughing] I'm way past the manual labor. That's why I do what I do.

Gen: There you go.

Suda: But I really hope this is a one day thing cause I could not handle it if it is… Multi-day.

Gen: You should have been here during the fucking ascension of the sovereign. It went on for days. I barely slept. It was the worst fucking thing in the world.

Suda: Do you still have that one job that's in Westbrooke down the way? Because I would rather take that in some backwater than deal with this.

Gen: Yeah, let's turn this in and then get the fuck out of Seer’s Mourning. I don't care to be here while all of these big events are happening.

Gen: Alright, well, I'll meet you later. I'm gonna turn him in, get our pay, twist a couple arms to maybe get a better tip this time. And I'll meet you later.

Suda: See ya, LD.

Gen: Be safe, Black Eye.

Jee: And she takes the prisoner and pushes him through, and soon, very quickly, disappears as she heads to the Upper City to turn in your latest bounty, with the promise of returning later to split the reward. You've worked with her long enough, you know she's good for it, you're not too worried. So, what are you doing now that you are left in this crowd just with time to fill until your partner returns with the reward?

Winter: True to what I said, Suda is going to disappear and slip into the crowd heading for a nearby apothecary hoping that they are open.

Jee: Absolutely. You are moving through. It is a lot of throwing elbows to try to get through, if your stern look isn't enough. Those who have a bit of a tougher constitution who dare to stand in your way, you have to physically move. But you do eventually come to one of the smaller apothecary shops, just a very tiny two-story building with all kinds of plants and accoutrement hanging in the window.

Jee: You approach and you do see that it is closed. Along this main road, you have to guess that most, if not all, of these shops along this main road are closed. And you would have to really delve out into the city, but given the number of people that are here, you have to guess a lot of places are closed down for this event.

Winter: Suda stops at the door, sees the closed sign, curses, pulls out a small pouch, and opens it to see how much of the herb she needs is she has left. And it's only a few flakes or so.

Suda: Gods bless. Alright. You know what? One night it'll be fine. I'll be alright.

Winter: And will head back into the crowd trying to see if she gets lucky and finds another bounty.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Just keeping an eye out to see if there happens to be a criminal with shackles still on his wrists running by, by chance that you could quickly grab just for an extra bit of money.

Winter: Well, I know that there are a couple of wanted posters that Suda's got in her head.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely.

Winter: And, you know, if they're accurate enough, she might be able to pick somebody out of the crowd.

Jee: Oh, yeah. Moving through the crowd, not really with the intention of witnessing the events, more so just trying to get on with your damn life. There are many people, you know, hawking their goods, trying to get people to buy their little offerings. You do notice the people passing out the lanterns and candles and such. They are holding them out, not necessarily charging people for use of these candles, but are putting them in the hands of nearly everyone that passes by. You feel free to take or partake in any of them that you pass by. Other than that, just sort of keeping an eye out for any wanted posters to see what your day is going to look like today, tomorrow, and the next.

Winter: Sure. If any of the religious accouterments are offered, she stares down the offeror and tries to intimidate them into backing off.

Jee: Easily enough an intimidating figure. These are a couple of older folk and maybe some teens that are just trying to make a quick buck off of such a big event with such a big crowd, seeing the stern look in your eyes, quickly recoil and decide, better not.

Jee: Continuing on, let's go to our next character. Maybe a tad overwhelmed, a tad out of place, more than a tad. Very much out of place. A literal fish out of water. Let’s take a look at Khuvos. Describe to us your character, what he looks like, what he's doing, and just kinda how he's feeling stepping into this giant city full of people.

Emma: Khuvos is, as you said, Jee, a literal fish out of water in this instance. He's been in cities before but he never likes being away from the sea for long and this is definitely one of those instances where, along with a giant crowd of people, he is really not in a great place. He's sort of, as a nervous tick, has been running his hands through his slicked back, seaweed green hair, just trying to find somewhere that's a little out of the way of this giant throng of people.

Emma: Those looking at him from the outside would see this five foot tall little Triton boy in these royal blue conclave robes. Teal blue skin with scales around sort of the sides of his face and almost little scars where it looks like they've started to fall off, at like the tops of his wrists before the rest of his shirt covers the rest of his arms. He looks very regal due to the conclave garb but definitely doesn't feel it, as he's almost trying to stay as out of sight as he possibly can being a blue man in a sea of other people.

Emma: I also realized I forgot in my intro– she/her pronouns for me, he/him pronouns for Khuvos. But yeah, so he would probably, just out of respect, go over and accept some of the like candles that they're handing out, wanting to give a good impression for him being here but he has no love for the Empire and would stay as out of the way of the main throng of people as possible so that once this whole show is over he can slip away and deal with the mission that he was sent here to do in the first place.

Emma: And so, once he finds sort of an out of the way spot, he would sort of lean on the staff that he's carrying, which is like a full length, almost as tall as he is, black staff with a bit of blue flame at the end that he's sort of dimmed down out of, again, out of respect for the mourning that is going on for the rest of the people who are here for, actually, for those that passed.

Jee: Absolutely. You are definitely trying your best to blend in and be subtle, as subtle as you can, for a number of reasons. The biggest one is that you're in the Empire's capital, and you are wearing the robes of the Conclave. To say the two organizations are at a tense standstill would be a lengthy understatement. Not to the point where you would be openly attacked, but you still are a little fearful. You have your mission. You know who you are meant to see.

Jee: Best you know, the man you are seeking, Ushed Grumeno, the half-orc gentleman that you need to speak to about this missing shipment. You know that his shop is somewhere in the Upper City, which means you'll have to wait for the festivities here to conclude, to continue on through the city, to attend to your duties. As you're standing against the wall, this candle in your hand, a bit of parchment between your hand and the candle so the dripping wax doesn't get all over your hand.

Jee: You feel a warm glow almost from the pocket in one of your robes. The pocket where you know you keep the twin sending stone that the Magister assigned for you before you departed. You know that this indicates that a message is coming in. Taking the sending stone, listening to the message, you hear your Magister's voice. Magister Kieran Wyncrooke, the one– you are his direct charge. He's directly responsible for you. You hear his voice come in softly in a telepathic message in your head.

Kieran, echoing: Checking in, making sure you're alive. Notify me once you speak to Ushed, and if there are any problems. Be safe, child.

Emma: And as the message ends, he would respond in kind.

Khuvos, echoing: Will do. I'm in the lower city now. It seems that the mourning is a bigger affair than I expected and I can't quite slip by, so once I do, I will make my way up to speak to him. I will update you when I do."

Jee: I'm not bothering to count 25 words per message, so both of them are totally fine. [Jee and Emma laughing] But the message goes through without a problem. He checks in with you, not super often, but occasionally. Like he said, he's directly responsible for you and he wants to make sure you don't die, so your family doesn't show up on his doorstep later demanding what happened. Pretty cold man, but he helps you out when you need it, and what more can you ask for, really?

Jee: You settle yourself up against the wall, holding the candle and the staff, watching this strange city. Though it is daunting and a bit intimidating, it's also rather exciting. This is the first time you've ever been to the capital of the Empire, the place that you call home, the place everyone calls home. And though, of course, it absolutely has its faults, there's something uniquely grand about it.

Jee: Something just about the people and the buildings, the gathering that's happening around here. It's... no matter how you feel about it, it's still a large, opulent thing that you can't help but admire just a little bit. Even though, you know, at least as the Conclave says, it is the root of all evil that resides here.

Jee: Going on to our final character. Not very new to this area, not native, but having been here for a little while, following a magical caravan that has settled down in the city for the time being. Sage, why don't you introduce your character, what she looks like, how she's feeling?

Rosalie: So Sage is striking something of a halfway point between those who are sticking out a little more than they'd like and also those who are more familiar. She is more among the commonfolk, but still part of the procession. You see she has wavy auburn hair that looks brown in most lights, but just, when the light is just golden enough does look to be red or orange. She's wearing a plain ivory blouse with these bishop sleeves. You can see a little bit of embroidery at the buttoned cuffs, but largely her clothing– she's wearing a long skirt and a woolen vest over it. Very practical, mostly plain, just enough detail to not look like a worksman. Not at the height of fashion, but blending in.

Rosalie: She's five foot four. You see, as she's offered one of these candles, she politely turns it down and instead pulls a stick of incense out of her own cross-body satchel and uses the flame that she was offered to light that instead as she's moving forward with this procession.

Jee : Most of the members of your caravan have broken off to attend to their own business. Most of them don't have too much interest or they just wanted a better vantage point. Point is, you are more or less by yourself. The older woman who more or less leads this particular caravan is the only one that somewhat remains by your side. A very, very short, maybe 4'11" woman with tanned, wrinkled skin and very, very long, entirely gray curly hair that just cascades down her back and over her shoulders. Magda, you know her as. The de facto leader of this particular caravan and, like you, a current member of the Darkforge Coven.

Jee : She stands next to you, digging through her bag, and occasionally glances up and squints, not really caring about the reverent atmosphere of the moment, though, you know her, she doesn't really care about much at all, as she said herself,

Magda: I'm too old to really pay attention to the attitude of those around me.

Rosalie: She sets her own priorities. [Jee laughing]

Jee : Looks around and glances over at you.

Magda: There was this one tavern I was gonna go to. There… There's something around here. I think it's on this main street. I'm gonna fucking knock some heads together if it's closed, I'll tell you that. [Magda cackling]

Sage: I was going to say, is it even going to be open today?

Magda: Eh, probably not! I’ll find my way in, though, I always do! [giggling] I’m a little squirrely! [clears throat] Go about, enjoy the day– Difficult to say, nobody really says that at a funeral– Don’t enjoy the day, I guess you could say, but! Take a gander around, enjoy the sights! Once this whole affair is done, we're all going to gather together and kind of decide where we want to go next. So if you have any ideas, let us know. We'll throw you the name in the hat. [coughing and hacking] I'm going to go find a drink. See you later. Be safe. See you later, darling. OK.

Jee: Waddles off.

Rosalie: Of course. They strike a very contrasting image. Sage looks very stern and serious and tired. And here's Magna just… a firecracker of an old woman.

Jee: Yeah, doesn't give a bother what anyone else thinks of her, looks at her. Throws mad elbow to get through the crowd, fully pushing down like, a child to get through. Like… [laughing] Just does not care, going her own way, just steamrolling her way through the crowd. You have to assume when she said she's gonna go find a drink, she's gonna find… hopefully some place that's open, but knowing her, you know, more likely she's gonna break in somewhere.

Jee: So she departs, leaving you on your own. The caravan has been in the city for a few weeks now, witnessing the ascension of the sovereign, a momentous occasion, big moments for history. And you know the plan is to depart after these funeral proceedings, though nobody really knows where. That's sort of the glory of this caravan. So what are you doing now that you're left to your own devices here in this crowd?

Jee: You see the stage way up ahead is set perfectly, and it is empty and silent, and you have to guess, in just a moment, the sovereign will finally take stage.

Rosalie: Yeah, I think continuing forward with this procession, the tail end of it with the more common folk here, I don't know if Sage would be able to fully approach where Aelina is leaving her offerings, but if she can reach that place, or if there is a place where some more common folk are leaving their offerings instead, without access to that place directly by the stage, she's going to take her incense and leave it in the appropriate place, quietly, silently, to herself, reciting a little blessing to Galijust and Linquilla both. Just seems to be going through a little bit of a routine as she's asking for… a guide for these sovereigns to… follow the path of justice and for things to be peaceful and still for the people that they are protecting, or should be.

Jee: Absolutely. It takes a moment to get more towards the front. As you're moving through the chaos, ducking under raised arms and squeezing between two shoulders, making your way through in a very planned way, bumping into as little people as possible, to preserve the incense in your hand as you recite the prayer, in a sense to the incense, to your offering. You reach the front and you do notice that as the nobles are going directly up to the altar to leave their offerings, guards and the courtiers of types are the ones taking from common folk like you who want to give offerings. They take them and put them at the altar for you rather than allowing you to approach directly.

Jee: But they will absolutely take the incense you offer, and lay it down in a large bronze bowl that lays in the middle in the front and set it with all other incense and similar types of offerings in this large burning bowl, essentially. And the incense is laid and you are now towards the front. As you observe, guards begin to stand at attention and the air grows quiet and solemn. And you see, all of you see, as the Sovereign begins to take the stage.

Jee: Sovereign Azhli, newly ascended, newly orphaned, newly everything. Despite all this, they stand tall and they stand proud and they stand with fury in their face. People know this individual as the Blade of Horizons, commonly. They are a wicked swordsman. They wield a blade like it is an extension of their arm. And those of you who are close enough to see the Sovereign's face know that they have never wanted to wield a blade against someone as much as they do, the person who took their family. The Sovereign dressed in long robes of golden finery, their long pin-straight dark black hair, delicately styled over their shoulders. They have a sharp, angular face, half elven features like the rest of their family.

Jee: They climb the stage and take center and quietly raise a hand to silence the crowd. And like a candle blowing out under a short breath, silence falls over the crowd as people begin to listen, whether out of respect or fear or just curious as to what they have to say. Sovereign Azhli of House Shroudmour waits a long moment, staring down at the altar, all the offerings laid out for their murdered siblings, until finally, finally, they begin to speak.

[Music begins, starting softly with piano then adding orchestral layers]

Azhli: My elder brother, Gianne, and my elder sibling, Sanya – they wanted for nothing but to serve this Empire. They accepted their duties diligently and without hesitation, and they were slain, alone in the dark. I will grieve. Believe me, dear citizens, I will grieve. But that grief is on hold. I will bite it back as long as I need to. Not a tear shall be shed, not a psalm shall be spoken, not until the culprit is brought to face me directly.

Azhli: The force of hundreds of generations of the noble House Shroudmour - hundreds of generations of ancestors, the founders of this empire, my family. All more furious than the last – they are the ones that fuel me now. And when I insert a blade into your traitorous heart, it is they who will guide my hand. When I crush your bones in my palm, it is they who will lend me strength. My fury and my grief is evident. I need not enunciate it. Simply put, you out there who are listening, you have taken my family from me. That will not be taken lightly.

Azhli: And now, if you please, a stretch of silence as we bid farewell. Archduke Gianne Dovar Ragaemion Rhisadaegarys of House Shroudmour. Duke Sanya Saenenna Nathaleya Alenis of House Shroudmour. Rest well.

Jee: They put a hand over their mouth for a moment, as if biting back more words or tears or fury. Definitely choked up with emotion, too much for them to be able to hide, despite their noble upbringing to do just that. They glance away for a moment from the altar, as if too much to look at. And the streets are silent.

Jee: It is a silence that stretches on, a silence that carries the knowledge of what happens, this grave transgression, the two eldest heirs to the empire, murdered, slaughtered, cut to ribbons in the rat's maze, the capital of the city, and just left there, alone and in the dark. Everyone knows that whoever did it, whenever they are caught, they will be made the greatest example of what happens when one crosses the Empire.

Jee: And the silence continues to stretch on as people hold their candles, hold their offerings. And it's at this moment, I would like to ask those of you, players, who are holding one of these candles– I believe that is Cerri, Aelina, and Khuvos – Make me a constitution saving throw. First roll of the game, baby!

Jacqueline: I knew it. I knew there was something about those candles.

Rosalie: I actually didn't!

Winter: I'm so glad I turned them down.

Jee: So I'll go one at a time. Khuvos, what was your save?

Emma: Well, thankfully my dice like me today. That's a nat 19 plus 3 for 22.

Jee: Amazing… For 22. Aelina?

Jacqueline: 12 plus 1 for 13.

Jee: 13. And Cerri?

Grace: That's a 4 plus 4 for an 8.

Jee: For 8. Wonderful.

[Tense, droning orchestral music fades in]

Jee: Aelina and Cerri, you feel it at the same time you notice several others in the crowd seem to feel the same thing. The wick that burns, it has an acrid smell. It assaults your nostrils, it is sour, it bites, and it immediately brings pain to your head. And the pain fogs your mind, your vision, your hearing, everything is blurry. It's as if you're underwater for a moment and then it sharpens. Not into focus, but it sharpens into what best can be described as the deepest unfiltered rage that you have felt.

Jee: You see people around you feel the same anger. They begin to drop what's in their hands, candles, lanterns shatter against the ground. A chorus of noise begins to build up and you realize where it's coming from. [Yelling sfx in the distance] It's yelling from way in the back of the crowd, someone screaming for help. And then it happens again, closer to you, yelling for help.

Jee: And those of you who do not feel this rage in your body, you begin to think what's going on? Was there something poisoning the candles? Are these people beginning to drop? But then you see the poisoned individuals. They do not drop. They lunge. Neighbor and neighbor and stranger – they all begin to attack one another. As the crowd erupts into chaos, the sovereign at the front is quickly ushered away by guards as chaos begins to break out.

Jee: A towns-wide brawl begins to break out. It is not just punching, it is not flailing. People are biting, they're going for throats, they're digging nails in, they are trying to kill. They have lost all control of themselves. The two of you that are under effect of this poison, I need you both to make an attack roll. This will affect the person nearest to you. After that, we are going to go into initiative.

Grace: Ooh, spicy! Damn, that's a natural 20 for 25. [Jee laughing] I'm about to murder a civilian, I guess.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. So we'll start with you. What is Cerri's immediate go-to for her regular weapon?

Grace: I think feeling the surge of this effect, it's a lot less calculated. So she'll immediately pull one of the daggers that she keeps hidden under a sleeve. Just sort of slides, almost effortlessly, mindlessly, into her hand, like instinct, as she just lashes out at the person next to her.

Jee: Great. I'm just gonna roll a luck check real quick for you just to see who is nearest to you. [Jee laughing] Okay, you can feel a little less bad. You turn and you take out your blade with practiced precision, but also just the manic rage that has suddenly uncontrollably filled your body - and you reach out towards a guard, you grab the front of his armor and you just drive the knife in right into the clavicle, right underneath the collarbone. It goes in deep down to the hilt. And as you pull it out, it tears. He… Go ahead and roll for damage. Let's see if you just one shot this guy.

Grace: Okay, so I'm rolling my crit and I'm adding sneak attack to it.

Jee: Yeah, definitely a sneak attack.

Grace: 23 points of damage.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. You dig this blade in and just the blood immediately spurts all forward onto his armor, onto your face and hands. And he just drops like a sack of rocks.

Jee: Aelina, what's your attack before we go into initiative?

Jacqueline: Aelina carries a dagger with her. She has it in her waist, but given what is going on and the place where her deepest anger comes from, she is most likely to reach out with mind sliver. [Jee making a sound of agreement] That's her go-to. And so I think tears are just, they start to stream down her face and it's like she can't even really, she can't feel them. She's not aware of them, but there are tears creating these tracks down her face. And then she like, shuts her eyes for a moment and then opens them. And whoever she is focused on in that moment feels these sharp slivers coming into their head.

Jee: Great.

Jacqueline: And that's an int save of 14 for them.

Jee: I rolled the exact same number as Karadwin, so you actually also just straight up attack a guard.

Jacqueline: Great.

Jee: So they do fail.

Jacqueline: All right, so they get 1d6. It's a 3.

Jee: Yeah, absolutely. Takes that damage. You see like his nose immediately begins bleeding as he puts a hand to his head Just in immense pain, like, got spiked with the worst migraine of all time, out of nowhere.

Jee: So with those first two attacks to kick us off… Everyone, let's go ahead and roll initiative!

52:22
—COMBAT START—

Jee: So all of you gathered around – there's plenty of just regular villagers, shopkeepers, guards and such that don't appear to be currently infected as we are heading into initiative, and they are clearing the area. So the battle map that we have in front of us, there are currently five infected persons that you can see varying between villagers, shopkeep, nobles, guards, a couple of each essentially.

Jee: So let's go ahead and get everyone's initiative order so we can begin. I will just start from highest to lowest. So anyone that happens to be 20 through 25. [cricket sfx] 15 through 20. [cricket sfx] 10 through 15.

Andie: 14.

Grace: 11.

Andie, like the Fonz: Ayyyy.

Jee: 14 for Olwen and 11 for, was that for Sage?

Grace: Cerri.

Jee: That was Cerri. I can't see people. Five through 10.

Emma: Nine for Khuvos.

Jacqueline: Six for Aelina.

Rosalie: Five for Sage.

Jee: And Suda, what was yours?

Winter: Four.

Jee, laughing: Amazing.

Winter, cheerfully: I rolled a natural one.

Multiple players, laughing: Oh no!

Grace: I thought my eight was bad.

Emma: We're doing great, guys.

Andie: It's okay, it's out of the way. The one's out of the way.

Winter: You know what, it totally checks with Suda though. Like, she is removed from the situation enough that she's now just taking stock of it and like, what the fuck is going on here?

Andie, laughing: Why are people killing each other over here?

Jee: Amazing. Okay, first we actually have some of the poisoned individuals. So just for reference for the two of our characters who are currently technically poisoned, you two will be remaking that save at the start of every turn. If you do not make that save, you are just essentially attacking the person closest to you through whatever means you like.

Jee: So we are going to start with some of our poisoned individuals. So you guys see Cerri, Suda, and Aelina, you guys are closest towards the front. You see two of the ones in the front begin to move forward. Suda, one does move directly towards you and is going to make an attack. [Laughs] That does not hit.

Winter: Well, I was gonna make note that that shadowy cloak that she has is her mage armor. She's had it on from previously, just for reference.

Jee: Wonderful, yeah, he rolls a five. You see what appears to be like, a town like, butcher of some kind. You are looking around in confusion of what's happening and you turn to the left to see running towards you, like cleaver raised high over his head, yelling as he runs towards you, swipes down but misses as you deftly go out of the way.

Jee: Next enemy is going to be going directly for Khuvos. Khuvos, you see actually what looks to be an infected guard. So this tall, heavily armored man begins running towards you with a sword held high above his head.

Khuvos: Well, fuck.

Jee: [laughing] Oh, Jesus Christ. So he swings down, but in his manic rage swings wide and his sword lands in like, a crate next to you and gets stuck as he rolls a nat one to attack you.

Emma: Whew.

Jee: Lucky lucky boy. Wonderful. Okay, uh, next up is Olwen.

Andie: Just taking like, note of the situation here. What's it seeming like? Everyone's like fleeing, right? And people are just like, stuck or?

Jee: You see– majority of people fleeing. You see, those who are attacking are like, rabid, almost. Go ahead and give me... I'll just give you this at the top of your turn. I'll say give me an insight check just to see if you can discern cause.

Andie: Yeah, like what the fuck, what just happened?

Jee: How it all devolved into this.

Andie: That is 17 plus 2 for 19.

Jee: Wonderful. Yeah, absolutely. You catch eye – Not only do you see some of the people who are beginning to go into this manic rage still holding some of the candles in their hands, but you also see some of the people who were manning the little tables and stations that were handing out these candles. They have a look of … not success on their face, but they look frantic. They're looking towards the stage where the sovereign was quickly ushered away, and they begin moving forward as if trying to catch them. This was definitely planned, and you have to guess this was something against the empire, and it was planned poorly.

Andie: Do I see like, where those people are?

Jee: Like people who were holding out candles?

Andie: Yeah.

Jee: Yeah. There's a couple of them. They don't seem to be part of the fight at this moment. There's, from what you can see, three of them currently. A lot of them seem to be like, younger people. Not quite children, but like, teen, late teen age. And they look out of their elements. And they are moving quickly to try to salvage what's happening here. But you do see three of them, kind of beginning to try and fix what they've caused.

Andie: I don't think there's time to chase after them now, but I'm going to take note of their appearance. And Olwen is going to move towards the right here, behind– This is a tent, right?

Jee: Yes, you are– you're standing near next to like, one of the like shop tent places, one of the carts.

Andie: Okay. Olwen is going to move to the right, behind here towards the right of Khuvos . Do I see this – I have a clear shot on this one?

Jee: Oh yeah, absolutely. The one currently engaging with Khuvos, you move behind Khuvos around and you can see the one engaging with Khuvos with his sword stuck in a crate.

Andie: I am going to fire an arrow at the one that has their sword stuck on the crate. So Olwen's going to reach back, notch an arrow, fire it towards the thing, as he yells to Khuvos,

Olwen: You, Conclave brat! What's going on?

Emma: And Khuvos, who has just ducked a sword, kind of looks up. Brows briefly furrow at the “Conclave brat” comment, but kind of shakes it off and just goes,

Khuvos: I don't know, they just started attacking.

Andie: That is 12 to hit.

Jee: That does not hit.

Andie: Okay. And I am going to then, as like the arrow sort of goes a little bit wide, Olwen's red eyes begin to expand and turn ruby-like as I'm going to use Merge with Stone to cast Blade Ward on myself.

Jee: Wonderful. Cerridwen, you are next. Let's look at the map just for reference. The, actually the closest person to you would be the butcher attacking Suda.

Grace: Mm-hmm. And did you say that save against the poison, is that top of my turn or end of my turn?

Jee: Top of your turn.

Grace: Okay. Would I actually have advantage on it?

Jee: Yeah, you have advantage.

Grace: I'm supposed to have advantage on saves against being poisoned. Okay. Well, we'll try that first. [dice clacking]

Jee: It's a little bit of different poison, but it's still poison.

Grace: So that's a 16.

Jee: Wonderful. You stop, take a breath, and focus, and clear your mind, and are suddenly out of your fog and aware of what's happening to you. You still feel pain and aching in your body. You have to guess you shrugged off this berserk effect, but you still feel something within you. But that's a question for later. For now, you're under attack.

Cerridwen: Future problem.

Grace: So I guess I'd like to see that Butcher still seems to be… affected, right, by whatever I seem to have just shaken off, then I'm still gonna attack the person who seems to be not themselves. I will draw my sword, move down a little towards this butcher, attacking someone I recognize as a Jade Crawler. I see the insignia and, you know, I respect, you know, what I consider to be honest work. [pause] [Snorts with laughter] Can't roll for beans, honestly.

Jee: You nat 20'd on your first attack against some random guard.

Grace: Against some random guard, but that's 13 to hit the butcher.

Jee: That does hit actually. He's just a guy.

Grace: Just some guy. Not for much longer. This is a new turn, so I will use my sneak attack.

Jee: Hell yeah.

Grace: I'm glad I rolled well the one time. Eight points of damage.

Jee: Yeah, you surge forward and deliver a nasty slash with your sword into this butcher's side. And though he very clearly feels the pain of it and just… the amount of damage it did to him, is still just going forward as it's possessed by something almost.

Grace: Okay, that was only five, ten feet of movement, so I will bonus action disengage and step back ten feet or so and yell,

Cerridwen: Crawler, do something!

Jee: Amazing. Next up, we have another one of our infected enemies, which is… our guy at the back of the crowd who is going to surge forward towards Sage. [pause] I'm rolling like absolute shit for all these enemies. That's a four to hit you, Sage. I don't think that hits.

Rosalie: It does not, no. [Jee laughs]

Jee: Yeah, and that's what he can do is attack. So he uses his turn to move towards you and misses his attack. We are going to go to Khuvos.

Emma: Oh, joy. So… Seeing as Olwen missed this dude that is right in front of him, he's not gonna waste any time. He's way too close to the fighting for his comfort. He's just gonna go ahead and … let's go with a Frostbite. He needs to make a con save for that one.

Jee: Wonderful. That is a natural 19.

Emma: Oof, that succeeds. Let’s see… Yeah, there’s no half damage on the succeeded save, so.

Jee: Yeah, it's, this is not like a regular villager, this is more of a guard, and when you try to hit it just does not get through the armor that he's wearing.

Emma: Like, that cold patch appears there but doesn't quite sink through, and he just kind of realizes that and is like, “oh shit”.

Jee: Wonderful. Anything else from you, Khuvos?

Emma: No, he's kind of stuck, and it's just gonna, having attempted that look at Olwen, like, “think you can aim a little better than that?” [Jee laughing] Not necessarily saying it, but like a silent look of “help”.

Jee: Wonderful. Aelina, you are up next. Coincidentally, the one closest to you is another one of the infected enemies. You see, to be like a lesser, like, noble house patron, not really any one of consequence, but you do recognize them and that is the one closest to you.

Jacqueline: Alright. Well, first I have to do the con save, right?

Jee: Yes.

Jacqueline: [Dice clacking] Oh, yeah, no, I failed that. I rolled a two.

Jee: Yeah. [laughs] make your attack.

Jacqueline: I think she kind of looks up again. She's done the first one and hit that guy. And her head like, turns sharply to her left, or excuse me, to her right. And she just kind of locks eyes with them and starts whispering something under her breath, and muttering something under her breath. And dissonant whispers start to try and weave their way into their head. They need to make a wisdom saving throw and beat a 14.

Jee: That is a natural two, so they do not succeed.

Jacqueline: All right. They get 3d6 of psychic damage.

Jee: Oh boy.

Jacqueline: Nine points of damage. And then they need to move– must use their reaction if available to move as far away as they can, not into obviously dangerous ground.

Jee: Of course. You send that spell towards this individual, towards this lesser noble patron. And you see um, it is an older woman who wields like, a knife she had hidden somewhere in her pants and turns to you and raises the knife as if about to attack, but you are quicker than her. You get there first. You hit her with this Dissonant Whispers as she runs forward, and it pitches her backwards as the psychic energy hits her in the head, and she collapses, dead.

Jacqueline; I think that's all I am going to do this turn.

Jee: Wonderful. Sage, you are up next.

Rosalie: Okay, so this person who was trying to swing on me does not seem to be super competent. And I think in this moment Sage is looking for the place in this plaza that has the greatest concentration of chaos, people in danger, people– violence, et cetera. I would like to find that place and cast Sleep on a 20 foot radius here. I believe I can probably get two people plus Aelina here, it looks like in that 20 foot radius? So I roll 5d8 and the people with less HP fall asleep first. [dice clacking] So I don't know… how much is Aelina's max HP?

Jee: Are you centering this on Aelina?

Rosalie: I am centering it kind of in the middle of this like, biggest concentration of people here. I'm actually not centering it on someone in particular. I'm centering it so that I can get as many people as possible in that circle.

Jee: So you sort of center it in the middle of where it's sort of a triangle formation of Aelina and two of the infected enemies in the center of those three so you can hit all three. I see.

Rosalie: Yes, that's correct. I rolled 15 hit points worth.

Jee: All right, wonderful. Those two enemies are uninjured. So starting from the lowest, correct?

Rosalie: Mm-hmm.

Jee: So the one furthest from where all of this is happening, up near the fountain, you see another sort of like, lesser noble patron. He does fall asleep. So he falls under the effects of sleep. Yeah, and that would be the only one.

Rosalie: So the people in that area, you just feel that sense of heaviness, like when you're unintentionally falling asleep in a dark theater, in the car, in the middle of class, when you just... you're not wanting to sleep in this moment, but you feel your head fall. And I think Aelina and the other one feels that sense of falling and then jerking back up as they resist it. That is going to be my turn. I'm not gonna take any movement or bonus actions here right now.

Jee: Wonderful, yeah. The one enemy up towards the fountain falls asleep and the others are alright.

Jacqueline: Question for DM, do we know where that came from?

Rosalie: You would have been able to see Sage actually unbutton the cuff of that blouse and pulled out a thin wooden wand, and it has the verbal, somatic, and material components. So if you're paying attention, it's clear she was casting a spell.

Jee: Hell yeah. Up next we have Suda.

Winter: Initially, Suda is alert to the sudden disturbance. And watches as this wave of violence just crashes literally right in front of her, the butcher slashing at her, then this… I do have a question for Cerri or DM. Is there any telling, anything, because you recognize me as a Crawler, but is there anything that would give me an indication of your particular brand of career?

Grace: I think that would depend on [clears throat] how familiar you are with my organization. We do not have a terribly visible insignia. There is some pretty elaborate embroidery on the edges of both of Cerri's sleeves. That's quite subtle, but if you know what to look for and you know what that means, then you know what I do.

Winter: Can I roll something for that? Is that like, history…?

Jee: I think just given your character and your background and occupation, you do recognize it. Whether that's something you want me to share with the class, Cerri. [laughing] Or just let Winter know privately.

Grace: You can share it with the class, why not?

Jee: Suda, you do recognize it as the subtle embroidery of the Reavers. And what you know of the Reavers is maybe a bit more than average people know. To the public, the Reavers are a bumbling group of would-be assassins that are not very good at it. You know that's a front. They are good at it when they need to be, and the point is that people always look the other direction, or when they look their way it is with disdain and doubt.

Winter: So, more a question for the DM. Is there anything is there like, shorthand or like a tongue-in-cheek way to refer to a Reaver?

Jee: Not one that you necessarily know of. They don't really use too many code names in a way that the Crawlers do.

Winter: Okay. The sudden slice of a sword knocks Suda into action after being swiped at. And… she doesn't have time to manifest her blade in this moment and be able to attack. So instead, she's gonna fire from the hip, as it were, with an Eldritch Blast.

Jee: Hell yeah.

Winter: And I know it's a disadvantage being in five feet, but that is a 14.

Jee: That will just barely not hit.

Winter: Bummer.

Jee: Anything else from Suda?

Winter: No. So I guess in that instance, her aim is absolutely off as she summons a mote of shadowy tendrils that explode outward past the butcher's side, and she readies to defend herself.

Jee: Wonderful. Continuing through the initiative, the next enemy up is the one that is asleep by the fountain. So he is snoozin’ away, and we will jump right back up to the top of the initiative order. So this one right next to Suda, he's just going to make another wild attack. So a dirty, narsty 20. Is that gonna hit your AC? I know it's gonna. I just like to ask.

Winter: Yes, yes it will. Though, as a reaction, I'm going to cast Shield.

Jee: Wonderful.

Winter: So as the– attacking with like a blade of some sort, like a cleaver?

Jee: Yeah, just big old butcher cleaver.

Winter: Summons up shadow in front of her and it goes completely opaque, momentarily, as the cleaver meets it and is deflected, because that will put her AC at 21.

Jee: Yeah, it– Ting! Just bounces off, and you see the butcher just frothing at the mouth filled with rage as his attack is deflected. It's kind of unfortunate that the beefiest one that I have here is the one that's on Khuvos. [laughing]

Emma: Who has an AC of 11.

Jee: Yeah, so he's gonna attack. Here we go, I found my lucky dice that's actually making enemies hit. Hey, does an 18 hit?

Emma: Yeah, yeah it does. [laughs nervously]

Winter: Got Mage Armor, bro?

Emma: No, I don't, actually. I took Blade Ward instead!

Jee: Oh no! Alright, great, so he is going to attack.

Grace: Well, it was fun to have two wizards in the party for a little while.

Jee: [dice clacking] Yeah, it was fun while it lasted. Bye, Khuvos! [laughing nervously] Oh my god, sorry, I rolled a lot of damage.

Emma: Oh fuck, okay. How bad is it?

Jee: So Khuvos, you see this guard wielding a wicked-looking greatsword, raises it over his head after he yanks it free from the crate, and just brings it down. You do not move out of the way fast enough, and take 12 points of slashing damage. And as the blade meets your flesh and carves into like your upper arm, your upper shoulder area, I would like you to make me an additional constitution saving throw.

Emma: Well, okay.

Winter: Sushi, anyone?

Jee, laughing: No!

Emma: Ouch! Winter!

Jee: Ow!

Emma: That hurts more by the fact that that's a five because that's a natural two plus three.

Multiple players: Oh no! [laughing]

Rosalie: Okay, I was coming in that direction anyway.

Jee: Good news and bad news, Khuvos. The poison effect from earlier that tried to take over you from that poisoned wick in the candle, it is back, and it is familiar, and it is stronger than before. When the blade carved into you, your blood was spilled. This individual attacking you, they almost feel like a carrier for it now. And carving you open and spilling that blood, it just came at you for another round. You do fail the save. However, this indirect contact, you are not under the berserk condition, however.

Jee: You are technically infected, which again, we will get to in a moment, but you are not currently under this berserked effect. So you do feel it, you do feel the pain and the mind fog, but you don't feel the uncontrollable manic rage to fight.

Emma: Okay.

Jee: Indirect contact and infection, Khuvos. Have fun with that. Olwen, you're up next!

Andie: Olwen seeing the– what appears to him as mostly a child, nearly get cleaved into is going to just like curse underneath his breath. I'm going to put away my bow for now. And he's going to run forward ten, over this tent, slide behind the thing. I forget, we get– we have flanking rules, right?

Jee: Yeah. Flanking offers advantage because that's fun.

Andie: Okay. He's going to switch out his longbow for a shortsword and he is going to whisper words in druidic onto his sword as little frozen vines begin to encircle the hilt, and I am going to cast Ensnaring Strike.

Jee: Hell yes.

Andie: That is a 15 to hit.

Jee: That does not hit, unfortunately.

Andie: Okay, I'm going to end my turn there, staying in melee with it to hopefully, like, spread out his attention a little bit. I still have concentration on Ensnaring Strike. The next time that I do hit, it'll still apply.

Jee: Wonderful, okay.

Winter: I am so concerned.

Jee: This is the beefiest guy. It's just really unfortunate that he was closest to Khuvos. Cerridwen, you are up next.

Grace: Okay, for a moment she thought about going to save the small blue child, but there's a mountain man also doing that. And this Crawler, usually, you know, the Jade Crawlers are supposed to be, you know, good at what they do. This one? I don't know, might need some more help. So we're gonna run up again, yes, behind flanking, and take another swipe with the sword. [dice clacking] Oof! Goodness, okay, so that's dirty 20 to hit.

Jee: Absolutely hits.

Grace: And then we will hit them with that sword and a sneak attack again. Ten points of damage.

Jee: Coming to this Crawler's rescue, why don't you go ahead and describe this kill for us?

Grace: I think we're gonna go with, I mean, really similar to last time. There are a few just really efficient ways that they know how to kill people. So we're coming up behind with a shortsword and just like [makes a whooshing noise] straight through the back, you know, sliding between some ribs, into in the general direction of their heart. We're doing the, you know, just in and out, shh, shh, till they drop.

Jee: Yep, easy. You drop this butcher and Suda, you see the butcher drops and you're standing face to face with this Reaver now, after just, not hitting very well on your last couple of shots.

Winter: To be fair, I only got one shot. Just saying. [Jee, Winter, and Grace laughing]

Grace: But it wasn't a very good one, was it?

Jee: Pride's a little hurt.

Winter: Maybe a little bit.

Grace: So Cerri will just sort of… I mean, nod at this [Crawler] and then turn to face... Yes, there is still the small blue child being attacked. So she will use her remaining 25 feet of movement to head in that direction.

Jee: Wonderful, yeah. So you move towards the big beefy guard attacking Khuvos. This butcher is no more.

Jacqueline: Which makes you the closest person to Aelina.

Jee: I know, isn't that so fun how that works out.

Grace: I meant to do that.

Jee: So we have our individual attacking. Looks to be another guard type, not really like a heavy fighter, like the one on Khuvos, but our guy on Sage. He is going to make another attack against you.

Rosalie: All right.

Jee: Does a 17 hit?

Rosalie: I cast Shield, so no. [Jee making a ‘ping’ noise] You realize– it's almost completely imperceptible usually, but you see that there was this… almost like a heat shimmer around Sage's body as her mage armor, and that like, almost solidifies into a silvery aura, clinging very closely to her skin as she casts Shield here.

Jee: Amazing.

Rosalie: And that makes my AC 18 until my next turn.

Jee: Awesome, yeah. You deflect this blow just from like a regular longsword attack. And that is the end of that guard's turn. Khuvos, you're up next.

Emma: Oh joy. So I think, seeing this, Khuvos realizes that he's either going to get cut to ribbons very fast, as he doesn't really have much of a way to escape here, or he's gonna need to pull out the big guns here. So he's going to use one of his second level spells and cast Maximillian's Earthen Grasp.

Emma: So you all would just watch as he's clutching at his sliced arm trying to get the bleeding to slow down. He does sort of start chanting under his breath, fighting through the pain. And you would see the cobblestones sort of raise up and form like, a large hand. And so, to read off the spell, you choose a five foot square unoccupied space on the ground that you can see within range. So I'll choose a square, that square directly to the left of… That guy? To place that in.

Emma: A Medium hand made from compacted soil rises there and reaches for one creature you can see within 5 feet of it. The target must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, that target takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage and is restrained for the spell's duration.

Jee: Wonderful. How much damage was it initially again?

Emma: It's 2d6 on a failed save.

Jee: Okay. So let me roll that save. What kind of save was it?

Emma: A Strength save, DC 13.

Jee: No, that is an 18.

Emma: Great. So, that doesn't really work, but the hand does stay there. So…

Jee: Wonderful. So that hand is summoned. All right. And if that's all for your turn?

Emma: Yeah, I think Khuvos isn't willing to risk any attacks of opportunity or risk getting slashed like that again. So he's just going to stay put.

Jee: Wonderful. Aelina, you are up next.

Jacqueline: All right, let's see if it continues. [dice clacking] I almost want it to. Seven plus… This was a con?

Jee: Yes.

Jacqueline: Eight.

Jee, laughing: No, unfortunately you do not save.

Jacqueline: Well, I'm going to assume that this rage, like the longer it goes, the deeper it gets. And now there is someone within 10 feet of her.

Jee: Yes.

Jacqueline: So she is lost in this. It's not even really Aelina anymore. She's back in one of the darkest times and moments of her life. And so she had been looking over to the right, but she heard this movement behind her, so she turns and her eyes lock on Cerri. And as her eyes meet Cerri, dark wings start to sprout out from behind her back and encircle her as her necrotic shroud pops out.

Jacqueline: So Cerri, you need to make a charisma saving throw of 14, or you become frightened of me.

Grace: How did you know what my best stat is? [Jee and Jacqueline laughing]

Jacqueline: You could still pass it. It's not that high.

Grace: You know, I could. It's only a 12.

Jacqueline: You are frightened of me.

Jee: Cerri, when that effect goes over you, you feel – hard to breathe. You smell soil. And that's it.

Jacqueline: And then again, because of the attacking– and I would have to attack the person closest to me with this, right?

Jee: Yes.

Jacqueline: Cool. So necrotic shroud comes out, and then after the shroud comes out… Aelina starts to whisper under her breath and the only person who can hear it is Cerri. And she then casts, still at first level, Dissonant Whispers on Cerri. It's a wisdom save of 14.

Grace: 14, exactly.

Jee: Hell yeah.

Jacqueline: All right, so in that case, you take half and you don't have to move, but you take, it's 3d6.

Jee: That's a hell of a spell, damn.

Jacqueline: Yeah. All right, you take four points of damage and that's psychic damage. Oh, and… because of the Necrotic Shroud, you get two additional points of damage, Necrotic.

Jee: Wonderful. I was about to say, I wasn't expecting PVP this early, but honestly, yes I was. Uh. [laughing]

Rosalie: You knew what you were doing!

Jee: I knew what I was setting up. It's okay.

Rosalie: And we love it.

Grace: You poisoned us. What did you want?

Jee: It's okay. It'll be fine. How many times have you made this save by the way, Aelina? Was this your third time?

Jacqueline: I think that was my third time, yeah.

Jee: Okay, gotcha.

Jacqueline: And Cerri, since you have eye contact with Aelina, you see that just her face is wet with tears. And she is like, if you have any sense of these things, you know this is someone who is in the deepest depths of pain that someone could possibly be in.

Grace: I know what trauma looks like on a face.

Jacqueline: Yeah, yeah.

Jee: Aelina, since that was your third save, I rolled individually for everyone, by the way, just so you wouldn't be stuck in this forever. Since this was your third save and it is the end of your turn, that effect is going to wear off at the end of your turn. You still feel it somewhere deep within you, but the mania and the rage has faded away after this final attack against what is, in this case, an ally. So you no longer have to make those saves at the beginning. Amazing. Sage, you are up next.

Rosalie: Oh, goodness, I forgot that I get a turn. [Jee laughing] I say that as if I haven't been planning this since last round. Okay. Sage is much more concerned about other people than herself. She's like, I can take care of my own shit. She is going to just run away from this guy– not run away. She's running towards Khuvos because she sees this prefect that is– very much does not seem to know what to do when shit is getting real.

Rosalie: So she is going to move towards Khuvos here, can't get all the way there with her movement. But she can get, if we rewind, what feels like ages ago, but was a whole 12 seconds ago, that very first infected person who was killed by the Dissonant Whispers. I believe that their body would be laying on the ground around the place that Sage is able to reach with her regular movement.

Jee: Yes, nearby the fountain, between the fountain and Aelina, kind of nearby.

Rosalie: Okay, so first when she gets there, she is going to reach out with her bonus action and extend that arcane ward that clings to her body towards Khuvos. Khuvos, you have plus two to your AC, as long as I am concentrating on this.

Jee: And just to clarify, you are moving, taking the opportunity attack from the one next to you-

Rosalie: Yes. If you would like to roll the opportunity attack, please feel free.

Jee: Absolutely terrible. Five. So it misses.

Rosalie: Yes. I'm not the most dexterous person, actually. I'm kind of relying on the fact that this person does not have all their facilities. So.

Jee: You're getting lucky as hell.

Rosalie: And then with my action, Sage is actually going to kind of crouch down for a moment and check this person's pulse, tosee if I can help stabilize them, if they can be saved.

Jee: The one that got hit with the Dissonant Whispers?

Rosalie: Yes, that's correct.

Jee: I will say, because you used your action for the arcane ward, correct?

Rosalie: I used my bonus action for that.

Jee: Your bonus action, okay wonderful. So yeah, you can go ahead and use your action to perform a medicine check.

Rosalie: Yes. Well, I have a thing that Sage doesn't know she has.

Jee: Oh boy.

Rosalie: That cantrip I have for my variant human feat. So I will take my action and stabilize this person.

Jee: Wonderful.

Rosalie: Sage, for all intents and purposes, is like, let me check this person's pulse. Does not realize that maybe some of that silvery light that's clinging to her may infuse this person a little bit, stabilize them, they are still unconscious.

Jee: So they are stabilized, and if that is the end of your turn, we will go on to Suda.

Winter: So I wanna caveat my next action with– Suda's not a very intuitive person. Doesn't have a lot of insight on stuff. She's gonna react on instinct, and in this moment, her pride, more than anything else. So Aelina, I want to apologize ahead of time.

Jee: Oh no!

Jacqueline: Nope! She was clearly casting bad things and has dark shit on her and has like, even if it has faded at this point, she's still in like the aftereffects of trauma memories. So like, yep.

Winter: Yep. So Suda does witness this casting and these spells going off and one, to prove herself to the assassin, and two, to kind of get back on a good standing, steps around the boxes, gathers up that shadow one more time and fires an Eldritch Blast at Aelina. Now, I will caveat that if I somehow do enough damage to put you to zero, she's going for the non-lethal hit. More force than damage. Which uh… 18.

Jacqueline: Reaction, Silvery Barbs.

Winter: Ooh, [dice clacking] 16.

Jacqueline: 16 still hits.

Jee: Damn, who are you giving advantage to?

Jacqueline: I'm giving advantage to, given what's just gone down and I feel kind of bad about the thing with Cerri, I'm gonna give it to Cerri.

Jee: Wonderful. Yeah, you give them advantage.

Winter: That's gonna be eight damage as the shadows rocket across the distance between us and… and not an audible like, crack of thunder. It's actually the inverse. It's a crack of silence that all sound gets pushed away very briefly and then comes back.

Jee: Wonderful. So that is it for Suda's turn. The other enemy up by the fountain is still asleep. The next enemy is dead. Next we have our beefy beefy boy.

Andie, laughing: He has choices now. Let's see.

Jee: From the just berserk mode, the effects of this poison, it is the one closest to, but there is Khuvos, Olwen, and the earthen hand surrounding this guard now.

Emma: And just to clarify, that hand is medium size.

Jee: Gotcha.

Emma: So it's not like some massive, massive hand, but it's about the size of a person, so.

Jee: Gotcha, that's still a pretty big damn hand. In the rage and just bloodlust, and also just maybe a little bit of mercy on my part. [laughing] It is– this guard is going to be attacking the thing last attacking it, in a case of it being surrounded. So turning its attention from this little Triton boy [laughing] fully grown, fully grown, he is fully grown. He's just short. Will turn his attention over to this very large earthen hand. I assume you have any sort of stats for it, but this guard is going to make an attack against it.

Jee: [dice clacking] Damn, well, it's not gonna hit. I am– dog shit, absolutely terrible. That's a six to hit. [laughing] This guard is not thinking strategically and swings the great sword into this pile of rubble shaped like a hand and just… nothing happens. It connects, but it's just rubble. It's not even a sentient thing. It's just a pile of rubble that Khuvos is controlling. So there is no effect on his attack.

Jee: Very useful in the sense that you made him waste an attack, though. So there you go. Olwen, you are up next.

Andie: Olwen sort of like, holding his sword and trying to focus on fighting this uh, like, manic guard. He sees Khuvos still standing there. From like, a little gap in the fight. His eyebrows are gonna like, furrow slightly and Olwen is going to move five feet over here. And he is going to call out to Khuvos and he is going to say,

Olwen: 'You stupid conclave brat, go find a better place to die!

Andie: And I'm going to kick him in the chest and shove him five feet away. [Jee laughing] Because it's forced movement, he doesn't get triggered– it doesn't trigger an opportunity attack.

Jee: Amazing. So, Olwen quickly navigating to flank with the earthen hand rather than flanking with Khuvos, puts a foot in his chest. Not in a way to like, you know, be a dick about it, but just like, “hey move, you're gonna die”. While being a dick about it. [laughing]

Andie: Yeah, I'm gonna move him five feet over here, like one to the right and one down.

Jee: I can guess what the results are gonna be, but I'm gonna have both of you just make an athletics– Khuvos to stand your ground and Olwen to throw this kid.

Emma: Okay.

Andie: Okay. Do I get advantage because he's being harrowed by the thing? [laughing]

Emma: It literally doesn't matter. I rolled a nat 1.

Andie: Okay.

Jee: He's a wizard boy. He's not strong.

Emma: Khuvos is tiny and he is frail. That's not going to happen. [laughing]

Jee: He's a five foot underwater wizard boy. Like it's– come on. Yeah. No matter what you roll, yeah, you successfully push him away five feet. So you are out of range of the berserk guard.

Andie: Alright, and I'm going to like, move one down. My eyes are going to go ruby-like again as I cast another Blade Ward. I'm going to slam my two swords together, looking towards the guard, and Olwen's sort of going to goad it a little bit, and he's going to yell out,

Olwen: Come on, you imperial dog, fight me!

Jee: Beautiful. Cerridwen, you are up next. Currently what's left is, just because Aelina was directly attacking you, you do see, like, almost the wind out of her sails after that last attack. It's... you don't know exactly what's going on, but you feel the threat has, at the very least, lessened. You see the one lesser noble up by the fountain who is dead asleep, the one, um, sort of near some random crates and barrels where Sage was once standing, less armored guard who is still in throes of this poison, and the one really big beefy guy, currently people trying and so far failing to take it down.

Grace: I think she's still going to sort of acknowledge like, alright, this real angry dude does seem to have a pretty good hand on it, which I do appreciate. And sort of feeling that almost little extra little surge of something from this advantage granted by silvery barbs. You know, cleaning up loose ends is what they do best. So Cerri is gonna turn and head for the guard that was attacking Sage previously down by these crates. And I will take a strike with my sword.

Jee: Hell yeah.

Grace: For a 21 to hit.

Jee: Oh absolutely.

Grace: And so we will sword and sneak attack. Ten points of damage.

Jee: Oh yeah. You cleave into this guard – still up but very much hurt.

Grace: Okay and because I have the two-weapon fighting, I have my knife in my offhand, I will just take another slash just with the dagger that I have to attack with that… That is a natural 19 to hit, and that's just gonna be… four points of damage.

Jee: Four points. You finish this final guard off. Getting your kill count up. Immediately! [laughing] You're already up three. Just instantly. Yeah, you take out this guard, you fell him, and he is no more.

Grace: Let's see. And then I think she'll move over here, moving towards this beefy guard, and just in case this real angry dude doesn't quite have a lock on it. Pretty confident, but you know, there's a small, a small frail person over here who seems to really need a little bit of assistance. So we'll head in that direction.

Jee: Absolutely. Next up in the order, that one guard is dead, so we're gonna go to Khuvos.

Emma: Perfect. At that, having stumbled back and having Olwen take that protective stance in front of him, he is going to sort of grit out,

Khuvos: Do you want my help or not?

Emma: And with that, is going to control the hand to reach out again, and again, attempt to grasp and restrain this big beefy guard. So that is again a strength save on that one.

Jee: Finally. This guy is beefy and strong, but natural two doesn't do much to help that. So he does fail the save. In twisting around, everyone moving around him trying to focus on an enemy to attack takes his attention off the hand long enough to get a bit of surprise on him.

Emma: Perfect. So it grabs on and he takes… [dice clacking] seven points of bludgeoning damage and is restrained in the spot as Khuvos, with his free hand that's not holding his injured shoulder, moves his hand to sort of direct where it should move and brings it forward to sort of grasp onto this guard from behind and hold it there as some of the armor starts to crunch.

Jee: Oh yeah, the armor that this guard is wearing, you do hear it begin to whine and crunch under the weight of this hand. Just for reference, now that he is restrained for all of you going forward, your attack rolls against this heavy guard have advantage until he is not restrained anymore. All right. So next up we have Aelina.

Jacqueline: All right. So first off, bonus action. As soon as the effect wears off, Necrotic Shroud sucks back in. So that is gone. And then I'm going to say, she's still thrown by what's happened, like the actual rage has worn off, but again, she's still in the like, after effects of that moment, but there's still something going on. There's still chaos around, there's still someone threatening other people. So she is going to toss, I think just a mind sliver at that guard that we've all been fighting against. So he's got an int 14 save.

Winter: I did wanna say, is there any reaction to me straight up walloping you?

Jacqueline: Oh, there is a call. [unsure noises] Yeah, no, that's right. Actually, no, I'm gonna take that back if I may retcon that, DM?

Jee: Yeah.

Jacqueline: And she's not sure what's going on at this point. This is not a safe place. She's going to cast, like slam a hand against her chest and cast invisibility. So she goes invisible.

Jee: All right, yeah, wonderful. Is that-

Jacqueline: That's a level two.

Jee: With Mind Sliver, is Mind Sliver a bonus action?

Jacqueline: No, Mind Sliver is not. So she does not cast Mind Sliver. The bonus action was to–was to pull back the shroud.

Jee: Gotcha, gotcha. So your action is to just go invisible.

Jacqueline: My action is to go invisible.

Jee: Got it, got it, got it. Okay, wonderful. Yeah, so you pull back the shroud and go invisible and that's the end of your turn?

Jacqueline: I mean, she's got movement. So I think she's going to, no one can see her doing this obviously. She just gonna move over that way. No one can see her obviously.

Jee: Okay, wonderful. So you go invisible and disappear from the battlefield. Sage, you are up next.

Rosalie: Okay, so I may ask if I may do something that is not rules as written here. Sage is not very combat brained. She is built to avoid it at most costs. She can protect herself when the need comes up, but I think right now her focus this whole time has been getting the people who can't protect themselves to safety this whole time. Prestidigitation does let you snuff out flames. Can I try and get as many of those candles around here as possible extinguished as I can?

Jee: You certainly could. I will say at this point in the initiative, the people who have not been infected or are not part of the fight have more or less fled. Any candles or any things that were being held were dropped. If there are some still lit, they're on the ground. So it's not necessarily as much of a problem anymore as the people who are already infected.

Rosalie: Got it. Well, what I will do is I will, if there's one nearby, step on it to make sure it's extinguished and pick it up and pocket it to examine later. May I do that as an object interaction?

Jee: Yeah! There’s a bunch of em.

Rosalie: All right. And then I will, in Aelina's absence, I suppose Mind Sliver this gentleman here who has been attacking this prefect who… why the fuck are you here? [Jee laughing]

Jee: Yeah, and that's an intelligence save?

Rosalie: So… Int save. my DC is 14
.
Jee: Yeah, that is a very terrible fail.

Rosalie: That is going to be five psychic damage and subtracts a D4 from the next saving throw.

Jee: Ooh!

Rosalie: And that is going to be my turn. I am still concentrating on extending that ward out to Khuvos, so.

Jee: Wonderful. Suda, you're up next.

Winter: [laughs] In the chaos of everything, Suda was already gathering shadow for a second Eldritch Blast at Aelina. Stepping further around the boxes, and right where Aelina disappeared, just so happened to be the direction of that guard who's still remaining. And it's 120 foot blast. So I'm going after the guard, [laughs] essentially.

Jee: Love it.

Winter: 19.

Jee: Oh yeah, that hits.

Winter: Only three damage. So a bit of a grazing hit there.

Jee: Little bit of a bruise. Yeah, wonderful. Okay, anything else from you?

Winter: Nope, that's it.

Jee: That enemy is asleep, and we're back up to the Heavy Guard. Restrained, cannot move. Reminds me, Khuvos is… does he remake the save?

Emma: To break out the Restrained target can use its action to make a Strength check against your Spell Save DC, yes.

Jee: Okay, gotcha.

Emma: So that's a DC 13.

Jee: Yeah, he's gonna try to just brute force his way out. Oh yeah, he's pretty good at Strength, so he very quickly just, [makes noises] Just starts grabbing at the fingers of this earthen hand and just starts fully breaking them apart. Just the brute force and anger and strength. It's a bit of a frightening sight to see. So just breaks free and just continues his attacking. Does not have anything to do after that safe has been made, but is now no longer restrained. So attacks against him no longer have an advantage. Olwen, you are up next.

Andie: Olwen is going to take his two short swords now and is going to start stabbing the guard.

Jee: Hell yeah. Do it.

Andie: A dream come true. [Jee laughing] That is a 19 to hit on the first one. He needs to make another strength saving throw or be restrained. [laughs]

Jee: All right. Was that 1d4… that was just on his next save, right?

Rosalie: Yes, it was just on the one.

Jee: Okay. What was the DC for that strength?

Andie: This is 12. This is only 12.

Jee: He does fail. He rolls really bad on strength again.

Andie: Okay, so as Olwen reaches back and stabs him with the first short sword, the frozen vines explode out of the hill as they begin to wrap around his body and sort of tighten around him as thorns begin to break. At the start of his turn, he'll take another d6 of piercing damage, and he needs to use his action to try and break free from this one.

Jee: Okay, so he is restrained again essentially with this ensnaring. Does he take any damage from this initial one?

Andie: He does take damage, yes. He takes 9 points of damage.

Jee: Ooh, nice. He's looking pretty hurt.

Andie: And then I will take my second swing with my other shortsword. [dice clacking] That is a 20 to hit, and he will only take 4 damage from this one. So Olwen is just there with his sword as the vines are wrapping around him, just stabbing it repeatedly in the gut. I imagine Olwen a little shorter, so he's really leaning into this guy and stabbing like… [Jee laughing] underneath the arms.

Jee: No, definitely. He's pretty hurt now. Cerridwen, you are up next. And he is restrained again, so advantage against him again.

Grace: Would I, because this sleeping person is up by the fountain in my line of sight, would I clock them as some kind of threat included in this sort of chaos that's happening? Or am I just like, yeah, someone hit the ground over there?

Jee: You do see them, though they are asleep, they still twitch with that like rabid rage. So they are still technically a threat, just for now subdued.

Grace: I'm gonna go stab the person on the ground. [Jee laughing] Again, angry beefy dude seems to have like, kind of a handle on this guard, you know, there's– they’re restrained, the guard looks pretty beat up. So, and I have exactly 35 feet of movement to get up next to the fountain. And… I am gonna take a sword swing. [dice clacking]

Grace: [wheeze-laughs] And even though I had advantage, I'm assuming because they're asleep, I rolled two fours. So… [laughs] Suda can't see me, right?

Jee: Yeah, you missed. Yeah, there's a bit of loose rubble and you trip. [laughs] Suda, what's your passive perception? [laughs]

Winter: Nine?

Jee: Yeah, Suda doesn't see you. [Laughs]

Grace: Okay.

Winter: No, I'm not paying attention. [Laughs]

Jee: Yeah, you trip a little bit and like quickly, okay, nobody saw that and quickly recover.

Grace: Gonna catch myself on the edge of the fountain, look around, no one saw me. So I will sort of, I will just hold my position there, you know, weapons up. This person is still unconscious, there's some stuff happening behind me. So yeah, putting my back to the fountain and sort of keeping an eye on the remaining combatants and recovering a little bit of my dignity.

Jee: [laughs] Absolutely. So, that guard is dead…, Khuvos, you're up next. This big heavy guy is pretty hurt.

Emma: Yeah, I've still got the hand there. He's not really looking to drop concentration on this because this was a pretty major spell for him to cast. So he's just gonna go back in and sort of, after the fingers were ripped off of it, he's going to essentially just recongeal the soil, form it back and go in again. So that's another strength save for him.

Jee: [laughs] Jesus, he's rolling terribly. That's a fail. So is he double restrained?

Emma: I don't know if you can be double restrained, but it would restrain him and also again begin to crush the armor.

Jee: Love that.

Andie: If I can hop in, the way double restraint works is that both effects are on there. If he breaks out of one, he's still restrained by the other. [laughs]

Jee: Yeah, so he's gonna have to use his next two turns if he wants to try to break out and yeah, he's stuck.

Emma: And that's another seven points of bludgeoning damage.

Rosalie: I get the feeling he's not gonna have two more turns. I don't know, guys.

Jee: Yeah, he– that was seven points?

Emma: Uh-huh.

Jee: Yeah, he ain't gonna have two more turns. [Players laughing] Wonderful. Aelina, you're up next. Invisible, beside some crates near the fountain.

Jacqueline: Invisible and very, I mean, am I right in thinking that she's still in a, like, what the F is going on? I just got hit by something. Like, does she know that folks… that she was super angry and is she able to recognize that that's what's been happening?

Jee: Yeah, you can recognize something infected you and though it still remains, it's not active right now.

Jacqueline: Okay, and can see that other people are… Basically I'm trying to get at, can she tell…?

Jee: Yeah, you catch up.

Jacqueline: Okay, cool. And like certain people– who is allies and who is not in this moment, it's flipped back to what it should be.

Jee: Oh yes.

Jacqueline: All right, then in that case, I think just from where she has taken refuge as an invisible person, she is going to throw a mind sliver at the beefy dude.

Jee: Hell yeah.

Jacqueline: So that beefy dude must make an intelligence save of 14.

Jee: [pause] [laughs] No.

Jacqueline: No? All right, then this is one D6 of psychic for four points of damage.

Jee: Aelina, how do you want to do this?

Jacqueline: Oh, oh my. I get the first one of the– Oh! Okay. Well. So, she looks and her hand…, no one can see this obviously, because she's invisible, but her hand goes to clasp the signet ring that hangs on a chain around her neck. It's been pulled out by all the movement and it goes to clasp it. And she looks at him and her eyes go silvery reflective with purple and blue woven into it and a little bit of red and…

Jacqueline: She looks and again, it's this eye contact thing, it's connection, and in this person's mind it's like there are little sharp tacks that have just rooted inside of their brain, and like, there's first the pressure of them, and then they slam in. Little barbs that go hard.

Jee: Amazing. Olwen and Khuvos who are next to this like heavy guard it goes from him like raging against the vines and the earthen grasp, swinging his sword wildly and frantically, almost foaming at the mouth, just pure unfiltered rage and bloodlust coursing through his body. And he is grabbing and pulling and yanking and fighting against all the things holding him back. And all of a sudden he pitches forward and stops and his whole body trembles and the sword falls from his hand and clatters to the ground. And he just slowly, eyes still wide open, slumps against the things holding him restrained, and is no more.

Jee: Now technically there's still one more enemy but that enemy is asleep. [laughs] And how long does that last, Sage, please remind me?

Rosalie: It lasts for one minute total. So I believe we have another seven rounds? Six maybe? Six or seven?

Jee: Yeah absolutely. So I will, just for sake of brevity, conclude this current combat for now, as the– all the most threatening enemies are no more. And standing in the aftermath of this attack, this area has been essentially completely cleared at this point by all the panic and everything happening. And in the aftermath of this, in the still early hours of the morning, all of you looking at the bloodshed that was left behind here, it's strange. This came out of nowhere, and none of you really know what to think of it, but Cerridwen, this is familiar.

Jee: A sort of… ritualistic way to decide who is worthy. Something that you are very familiar with. Something that you yourself went through. Sending young, would-be assassins towards an impossible mark. That much, that makes sense to you. The question that rests with you is, why the funeral? Why the Sovereign? Why would the Reavers draw attention to themselves now? And that, my friends, is where we're going to end today's session.

Jee: Thank you everyone so much for listening so far. I hope you enjoyed this rather action-packed first episode of our campaign. Very much quite a lot of fun. We had a little bit of PVP, a little bit of Constitution saving throws, all fantastic things to do in D&D.

[Piano music fading in]

Jee: We will leave you all here today in hopes that you will join us next time for the next session continuing this campaign as we join our brand new adventurers as they officially begin their journey, meet one another, and look into this mysterious poison spread by these would-be assassins. What does it all mean? Who does it all lead back to? That, we will find out in the next session. Goodbye everyone!