Cursebreaker | 38 - Crossing Over
Last time on Cursebreaker. As we entered the fern glade, Tibio noticed that things were much darker than they once were. Even Tibio's old pal Dimitri wasn't feeling so friendly. Shortly after speaking with him, he burst into flame and tried to incinerate the party. Things only seem to be getting more dire the deeper we go.
Tim / GM:After being judged by the great owl tree and failing to negotiate safe passage across the river, we decided to try crossing without the help of the fey. Holly only made it halfway across the water before something reached up and thrashed her. Forget the faith barrier. We're fighting frightful fish. Tibio, this is a little embarrassing, but my magic recording device, stopped working for a little bit there.
Tim / GM:Could you perhaps, tell me how the fight is going?
Speaker 2:I suppose I can. I I don't know if I remember everything, but Ollie was grabbed by a tentacle and then burnt through his, ghost ax, and it hurt the tentacle a little bit. And then Bert got some of the, surface dots and knew that the monster was about to enslave someone's mind. Snek, blasted it with an eldritch blast and then, poor Holly was, knocked out and fell in the water. And, oh, and also, Dimitri fixed himself and was floating above and was attacking us as well.
Speaker 2:And, I did my best to blight the monster. The fey person, their mind was grabbed by the monster, and then Uli did a magical fire, column tube and blasted it. And then snack summoned Ivy to to help Ollie. And, Ivy sprung into action. And then things were not looking great.
Speaker 2:I don't know. We were
Speaker 3:I don't know. We're in
Speaker 2:a lot of danger, Genie.
Tim / GM:Well, how did it end?
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Tim / GM:You mean it's still going?
Speaker 2:It is right now.
Tim / GM:Oh, boy. So things are not going great. Bert, how are you gonna save the day?
Speaker 4:Okay.
Thomas / Guy:So my primary question is whether Winder has room in his brain for another being to be poking around in there. That can be an open question to you, or you can make me do a check to see if Bert would know it.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Give me an Arcana check.
Thomas / Guy:Great.
Tim / GM:I'll give you the skinny.
Thomas / Guy:Dirty twenty?
Tim / GM:Yeah. You know that that would be a, a fool's errand. Okay. You've ex you've kind of seen it before. You even heard mentioned once that, it's difficult for Joe to control Emery because he has to vie for comp or for control Sure.
Tim / GM:Yeah. With another instinct. So it's pretty common that once something is under control, you can't really override that by also controlling it.
Tara / Journey:Interesting.
Thomas / Guy:Okay. What if I were to dig into the abolets brain?
Tim / GM:There you go.
Speaker 7:Control Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:I'll try that. I'm gonna use channel divinity to
Tara / Journey:No. You.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It's brain. Okay.
Thomas / Guy:So the aboleth has to make a wisdom saving throw.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 7:I'm Robert. You're glitz.
Thomas / Guy:How wise can you be if when you live in a river?
Speaker 7:If when you're
Tim / GM:Pretty wise, it seems. Uh-oh. You said wisdom saving throw? Yep. 21.
Tim / GM:Nope. Uh-oh.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. I don't know if this helps or not, but I'm gonna use my bonus action to cast healing word on Holly.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Nice. Okay.
Speaker 8:I'm a dead fish in the river. TBO will raise me from z dead.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. That's gonna
Thomas / Guy:be that's gonna be a 4th level.
Speaker 8:Is a mermaid.
Tim / GM:That's a big one.
Tara / Journey:Well, above my pay grade, I think.
Speaker 8:Mermaid or nothing.
Speaker 7:Also, how would we travel with a mermaid
Speaker 8:slowly? Fill the the wagon up with water.
Tara / Journey:It's like those limos that have a pool in the back.
Thomas / Guy:You've got 17 more hit points, Holly.
Tim / GM:Wow. Substantial.
Thomas / Guy:Bert's also gonna run down the river just a little bit to, like, try to keep pace with Holly, I guess.
Tim / GM:Yeah. She made some distance Just floating down the river.
Thomas / Guy:Not to get away from the monster. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Of course. Definitely, you're not afraid of
Tim / GM:the monster. You hear Dimitri say, we've got a runner, and, zaps you with a fire ray, Bert. Okay. 24 to hit. Yep.
Tim / GM:And then it's going to use another fire ray on you're on the far side of the river?
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. I'm on the other side with Uli.
Tim / GM:Other one's gonna go with Uli. 18 hit.
Speaker 7:It does hit, but I am resistant.
Tim / GM:Okay. So Bert, you take 6 fire damage. Uli, you take 8 fire damage. Sate.
Speaker 7:Full 8 or is that half?
Tim / GM:That's the full damage.
Speaker 7:Okay. So 4.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I am.
Tim / GM:And, Dimitri kind of stays on top of the 2 of you, and floats towards you. Tibia, it's your turn.
Tara / Journey:Woah. Again? Yep. I am going to cast Webb on Dimitri.
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Tara / Journey:I turned toward him, and I say, we do
Speaker 2:not have time for both of you, and I cast Webb.
Tim / GM:What's the range on Webb?
Speaker 3:Sixty feet.
Tim / GM:Nice. You got him.
Speaker 7:He's on fire. Right?
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Well, that's not helpful then. It's just sticky and on fire.
Tim / GM:Deck save is 16.
Tara / Journey:16? That is my spell save DC. Holy.
Tim / GM:Yeah. So probably, like, the webs get close to it, and then it sort of spins out of the way and, burns up the webs, before they have a chance to land anywhere.
Tara / Journey:That sounds right.
Tim / GM:Alright. Anything else, Tibio?
Tara / Journey:I would like to shimmy on out of there a little bit. Are am I in any sort of situation where an attack of opportunity would occur if I were to book it?
Tim / GM:You are still within slapping distance of the aboleth.
Tara / Journey:Okay. I will not move.
Tim / GM:K. At the end of your turn, it's gonna slap you anyway. Wow. Nice hit. That is a 26.
Speaker 9:You're just making up numbers now.
Tim / GM:It's all plus 9.
Tara / Journey:26 to hit? Yeah. Yeah. That hits.
Tim / GM:That is 18 bludgeoning damage.
Tara / Journey:Bludgeoning?
Tim / GM:Yes. On the tail attack.
Speaker 3:18.
Tim / GM:And then it is going to take its turn, and it is going to multi attack on the shore. Who do we still got there? We got Tibio.
Speaker 9:Snack is gonna.
Tim / GM:That's right.
Speaker 9:Okay. Snack is gonna refer to all of his actions from now on as legendary actions.
Thomas / Guy:Winder is there?
Tim / GM:Winder is there. Yeah. But he's he's using money for other stuff right now. So we've got, multi attack. You see 3 smaller tentacles, rise out of the water and Tentacles?
Tim / GM:Slap each of you. One of you multiple times. Tibia, you are taking 2 slaps.
Tara / Journey:Can I shield?
Tim / GM:You can. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:I would like to shield.
Tim / GM:Okay. Your AC skyrockets by 5. It goes up by 5.
Tara / Journey:And it increases a little bit.
Tim / GM:The first attack against you, Tibio, is a 12 to hit.
Tara / Journey:Does not hit.
Tim / GM:2nd attack against you. Oh, this would be a close one. Maybe not. 21 yet.
Tara / Journey:That hits.
Tim / GM:And then snack is 21 also.
Speaker 9:That does hit.
Tim / GM:So Tib, you take, 11 bludgeoning damage, and then snack, this one will be for you. That is 16.
Speaker 9:I will use a reaction. Mhmm. Snack is a fronted, being slapped twice, and uses, hellish rebuke.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 9:Yeah. And it will be a deck save
Tim / GM:for the octopus. Bad at those. 2 minus 1 is 1.
Speaker 9:Nice. Got them. Okay. So it's gonna be, 6010 fire damage.
Tim / GM:Woof. What? 3. Just for hitting you, 4, 5.
Speaker 7:He does not like being hit.
Tara / Journey:The only reason we're winning this game is because John is playing.
Speaker 9:Tony. 30, fire damage.
Thomas / Guy:That was good.
Tim / GM:30? Yep. But
Thomas / Guy:the same Remember, we needed 36 fire damage with your whole action. Snack's reaction.
Tim / GM:So Snack, you see these 3 tentacles rise out of the water and 2 of them dart towards Tibeo. He dodges 1 as it comes down for him, and then the second one is right there to smack him to the ground. You're preoccupied with watching Tibio, and then you see a tentacle just bash you out of nowhere as well. With all that wrath building up inside, you you give my hellish rebuke and he bursts into flame and, you see it kind of erupt from inside of his mouth and you even see a few teeth get, like, knocked out of him that go flying up onto the shore. Nice.
Tim / GM:You can tell that this thing is inches from death. It is like open sores all over its body. I need, Tibio and snack to make constitution saving throws.
Tara / Journey:We have advantage. That's right.
Speaker 9:And, is this for concentration, or what is this for?
Tim / GM:No. This is for disease.
Speaker 9:Okay. I got 2 con saves then.
Tim / GM:23. Yep. Yep. Succeeds.
Speaker 8:18.
Tim / GM:Succeeds. Cool.
Thomas / Guy:I don't have to waste a spell slot on restoration.
Speaker 8:Good job. You got those vaccines for for fish disease earlier.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Looks like you guys are gonna be just fine. It is going to
Tara / Journey:Tim, it has a name.
Speaker 7:Abby. And probably mound today. Abby the aboleth.
Tara / Journey:I love that.
Tim / GM:The aboleth actually moves closer to you, and it climbs out of the water onto the shore. Great. You can tell Abby is able to breathe water and air. Seems just fine on land. However, she's very slow.
Tim / GM:Great. It, begins to try to devour winter. Oh. Although it's it's it's action is spent, so it it's not having a great time. Okay.
Speaker 7:He's just like slobbering on it.
Tim / GM:Yeah. He's like you can tell he's like going in for a snack. Next is Ivy. You've all kind of like lost track of her even for just a second. Ivy is running down the course of the river, keeping an eye on Holly the whole way, kind of like watching her trajectory.
Tim / GM:And then she sees Holly kind of, like, suddenly spring alive in the water and start like thrashing about because she's been, resurrected by Bert. Ivy, reaches up high and grabs some of her namesake and, begins, pulling vines and ivy, from the, forest near her and braiding them as best she can and just sort of throwing out this, like, woody whip towards the water, shouting for Holly to grab on.
Speaker 8:Like, dexterity save
Tim / GM:or something? And have you actually make an, strength save? Yeah. Strength? Yeah.
Tim / GM:To fight the current. Okay.
Speaker 8:I rolled a 19, and my strength is plus a 2.
Tim / GM:Cool. So the you hear this vine land right next to you with a slap in the water, and, you reach out and grab onto it with your arm and sort of wrap it around. You feel yourself being rapidly pulled towards the other end of the shore by Ivy who's kind of yanking you in, like, tears in her eyes.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah, Ivy.
Speaker 8:Oh my gosh. Ivy, what are you doing here? Barfs up some water.
Tim / GM:She says, honestly, I have no idea. And, she, like, helps you out of the water. Your heavy clothes, like, weighing you down. And, she seems a little clueless at this point, but she's glad to, have achieved what she came here to do.
Speaker 8:Holly gives her a big hug.
Tara / Journey:Big wet hug.
Tim / GM:Holly, it's your turn now.
Speaker 8:Okay. Which side of the river am I on, and how far away am I from everybody else?
Tim / GM:On the, like, original side. You're maybe only 30 feet downriver from the rest of the people.
Speaker 8:Where's the monster?
Tim / GM:It's actually on the shore on the side that you're on, so 30 feet away from you.
Speaker 8:Who's near the monster?
Tim / GM:Winder, Snack, and Tibio.
Speaker 8:Okay. I won't erupt Earth then. We've
Tara / Journey:already done that
Speaker 8:one. Thanks. I guess I'll cast, witch bolt on the thing. Okay. I'm gonna cast it at a level 4
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 8:Which will add 3 more d twelve.
Tim / GM:Damn.
Speaker 8:I'm gonna use a luck. Can I use a luck for that?
Tim / GM:Yes. You can.
Speaker 8:Shoot. It's a 13.
Tim / GM:Wow. Yeah. I think you need to catch your breath a little bit more. You're still soaking wet, and you try to cast witch bolt. And you see it, like, arc in the grass, and then you try to force it a little harder, and it, like, hits a tree in the water, and you just can't quite get it there.
Tim / GM:Dang. Next up is Uli.
Speaker 8:I cough up more water. Okay. This skull.
Speaker 7:There is Dimitri.
Tim / GM:Right next to Bert and Uli. Yeah. Pretty much floating on top of you. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Are there any sticks or logs or, like, things I could hit with?
Tim / GM:Yeah. There's a lot of, like, nature debris around you. You can pick up a rock or a large branch. Or
Speaker 7:I want a bat. Okay. So I will pick one of those up. Mhmm. I will cast quick and spell, telekinesis.
Speaker 7:Mhmm.
Tim / GM:Those are
Speaker 7:bonus action. Mhmm. And then, I'm gonna try to drown him.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 7:And it makes a strength check against that. And if that doesn't succeed, I wanna hit him How
Thomas / Guy:strong is the like
Speaker 7:a baseball.
Thomas / Guy:The just ahead. Is he headstrong? Mhmm.
Tim / GM:It is as weak as you can possibly be. Bert died. Oh, no.
Speaker 8:I heard that Holly was in danger, but actually, Bert
Tara / Journey:Bert made a bad joke, and then he just died. Okay.
Tim / GM:Flameskull rolled a 4 minus 5 is 1 or negative 1.
Speaker 7:Okay. So I just wanna say fuck you and then, like, like, shove them into the river with telekinesis and, like, try and hold them under.
Tim / GM:You just hear, like, what kids?
Speaker 7:It doesn't cause damage.
Tim / GM:Right.
Speaker 7:What I'm doing doesn't I don't know if him being doused in water does. No. Okay. But I'm basically holding him with concentration for up to 10 minutes.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 7:Just, you know, on as far underwater as I can.
Tim / GM:Okay. So Yeah.
Speaker 7:And then I'll just kinda, like, whip the bat around for fun. Okay.
Tim / GM:You do the little twilight Yeah.
Speaker 7:The bat trick. Jasper trick.
Tim / GM:I'm gonna have the aboleth take a legendary action. It is going to take a sip of winder. Yeah. No say. If you just see it kind of, like, get like, it swells up huge, like it's taking a big breath, and it is pulling something out of Winder.
Tim / GM:And you can see, Winder kind of thrash again and loses a bit more of his life essence, and the epauleth gains that life essence.
Speaker 7:Is this like the Dementor's kiss speech? Pretty much.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Or like, the soul eater in Shang Chi.
Tim / GM:Yes. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 9:In a way, we're killing wonder.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 7:Yeah.
Tim / GM:Top of the roundest snack.
Speaker 9:Yeah. I'm just gonna do the old 2 eldritch blasts. Am I in, like, melee range, Or can I be Yeah? After this? Okay.
Speaker 9:So yeah. Eldritch blast, then blast again. First one, is gonna be, like, a 28. Yep. 2nd one, 25 Yep.
Speaker 9:To 24. Sorry.
Tim / GM:Oh, 24. No.
Speaker 9:Yep. Yep. 21 damage for the first attack. 15 for the second. And then, I'm also going to try one more time with the tail whip.
Tim / GM:It is dead. I'm gonna try
Speaker 7:one
Speaker 9:more time. What? Gross.
Tim / GM:You're not
Speaker 7:yeah. That was the least climactic way
Tim / GM:to say
Speaker 7:this. You're dead. It is?
Speaker 9:Yeah. Tail whip. So yeah. Yep. I jump in the air, with my jump ring.
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Speaker 9:It's very high. Yeah. And then I just kind of, and then I quickly accelerate towards the ground, spinning with the tail at the last second and allowed crack,
Thomas / Guy:and natural won.
Tara / Journey:Wow. That's incredible. That's a beautiful buildup to a terrible world. Wow.
Tim / GM:So, yeah, I think, so, Snack, you point at this thing and hit it with an Eldridge bolt as it's, like, harvesting life essence out of winter, Tibio, you see a hole blast out of this thing on the other side where the Eldridge bolt goes through, and then you see it, like, fall limp to the ground. And you know it's, like, good. The fight's over. Like, the the skull is underwater. We're gonna be fine.
Tara / Journey:I can tell when something's dead.
Tim / GM:Yeah. And then you look back at Snack TV, like, good job. And you see another Eldritch Bolt, like, racing toward it, and it, like, goes and just makes a separate hole and just blasts a new gore trail on the other side of this thing. And so this giant, like, popped gummy bears, like, laying on the ground. Snack flies up in the air with his jump ring and then just crashes down into the pile.
Tim / GM:And times the tail whips so poorly that he just belly flops into the gore. Oh, good
Speaker 7:thing there's a bath right here.
Speaker 8:Those are Uli's pants.
Speaker 7:He can keep them. Hey, guys. The skull, I'm holding him. The Gentry is underwater.
Thomas / Guy:Can you bring it out of the water just a little bit?
Speaker 7:Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:Okay. Let me use my second channel, divinity, to think about all the great sports stars of, Tildry. Yep. All my favorite sports
Tara / Journey:It's 1 guy. It's the 1 sport guy.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. There's Your
Tim / GM:your favorite sports guy from Tildry is Uli who has the champion gloves.
Speaker 7:I was thinking maybe someone who worked for the paper reporting on
Tara / Journey:reporting on sports. Yeah. He actually plays sports. He just reported on them really well. Anyway, what's the move?
Thomas / Guy:Tibia, I think this belongs to you. So Bert's gonna take a running kick and kick Dimitri's skull across the river.
Tim / GM:And punt it? Okay.
Speaker 7:And I maintain telekinesis, but not, like, keep it.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Okay.
Tara / Journey:Bend it like Beckham.
Thomas / Guy:And, I am proficient in athletics for the next minute.
Tim / GM:Oh, okay.
Speaker 7:I was gonna say, yeah.
Thomas / Guy:18.
Tim / GM:Alright. The power comes from the back leg. Yeah. You, you nailed Dimitri. Give me a a d four bludgeoning damage.
Tara / Journey:Bert inexplicably kicks from his hip Yeah. And powers through.
Thomas / Guy:I rolled a 3.
Tim / GM:Okay. Alright. So this thing, takes just a tick of damage, as it goes sailing across the river, and it lands on the shore right next to you, Tibia, near the gore pile, not on it. It's Dimitri's turn. So on each turn, it will you're supposed to make a safe to maintain the grip.
Speaker 7:Okay. I have advantage on magic concentration saves because I have war caster.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Boof.
Speaker 7:10.
Thomas / Guy:Was that with advantage?
Speaker 7:Yeah. I rolled a 2 and a 3. Oh. I have a plus 7 to those, but
Tim / GM:so, yeah, it lands at your feet, Tibio, and then you see it kind of, like, float up a little bit, and it looks straight into your dreamy eyes and blasts you 1. Blast you 2, actually.
Tara / Journey:I cast shield.
Tim / GM:Of course, you do.
Tara / Journey:That's my go to move.
Tim / GM:2 fire rays coming right at your eyes. Same role on both of them. 13.
Tara / Journey:Fuck. They don't hit.
Tim / GM:Cool. Alright.
Speaker 7:You're not blind.
Tim / GM:Yeah. So this thing like raises up pretty much eye level with you.
Tara / Journey:It's gone cross eyed.
Tim / GM:Yeah. And it just like cross eyed laser beams into your eyes. And you can just see these flame trails drag across your shield spell. And this thing is furious that it, it cannot get to you at all. Go ahead, Tibia.
Thomas / Guy:After getting kicked, his eyes are like
Tim / GM:Yep.
Tara / Journey:I am going to cast vampiric touch.
Tim / GM:K.
Tara / Journey:13.
Tim / GM:The hits?
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. Great.
Tara / Journey:And on a hit, the target takes 3 d 6 necrotic damage, and I regain that amount of hit points. Half of it. I regain half of that.
Speaker 7:God. 4.
Tara / Journey:Wow. He takes 4 damage.
Speaker 9:It's a level 3 spell.
Speaker 8:You regain 2.
Tim / GM:Actually, Tibia, you regain 1. You can see that even that amount of necrotic damage had less of an effect than you would have expected.
Speaker 8:Jesus. Right now. Tabio's greatest weakness is the dead.
Tim / GM:The dead. Sit dead. Where's his weakness? I'm gonna give a snack an opportunity to go here. We actually skipped you earlier in this round.
Speaker 9:Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna use my action to, investigate Okay. With inside the obelisk.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Mhmm. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 9:I'm looking for anything that I can arguably use to make this seem intentional, where I am right now. So anything at 8, maybe? We'll see.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 9:Oh, nice. Yes. What? Alright. Investigate.
Speaker 9:18.
Tim / GM:While in there, you noticed that it has this sort of bladder that is filled with a viscous mucus that seems to dissolve things, that could be useful.
Speaker 9:Oh, yeah. I'll cut it out and come out. Okay.
Speaker 7:An acid bag.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You have an acid bladder.
Speaker 4:Allies, this is what I was looking for. That's why I went in here.
Speaker 7:We totally believe you.
Tara / Journey:I'm still eyes locked. It's Dimitri.
Speaker 9:Okay. Yeah. And I see that, and I drop the sack. And that's my it'll be my turn.
Tim / GM:Okay. Ivy is going to kind of approach this group and just point to the flame skull and ask Holly, what is that?
Speaker 8:Flameskull. I don't know. Do you know any spells that can hurt it?
Tim / GM:Yeah. She, bends over and picks up a rock, and she she says, it's called throw a rock at it.
Tara / Journey:Well She
Tim / GM:hits it. Yeah. That's, one bludgeoning damage as she just pegs it with a rock from 30 feet away. Damage. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Nice. 999-9999 overkill. So next up is Holly.
Speaker 8:Holly is gonna cast witch bolt for real this time.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 8:17.
Tim / GM:Hits.
Speaker 8:Yes. Finally. Okay. I wanted to cast that level 4 again. Sorry.
Speaker 8:I didn't say that.
Tim / GM:Sure you did.
Speaker 8:But I did. So that is 4 d 12, lightning damage. Mhmm. 15 damage, lightning damage.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. The, arc makes a connection and starts just pouring energy into this thing. You see it lose a little bit of altitude as it takes the brunt of this damage, and you can see that it is, bloodied, as much as a skull can be bloody. Next is Uli.
Speaker 7:Uli is, stuck across the river, but who is around the skull?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Tim and Snack.
Speaker 7:Could I cast shatter just a little bit further back Mhmm. Just to get the skull? Yeah. Okay. I'd like to cast it at a 3rd level.
Speaker 7:K. Anyone within the radius makes a con save.
Tim / GM:19.
Speaker 7:Yeah. That makes it but it takes half damage. Okay. So it would take I rolled the worst. So it would take 3 damage.
Speaker 7:I rolled 6.
Tara / Journey:We're all very tired after the aboleth. What? Very tired.
Speaker 7:I don't know how that was so bad.
Thomas / Guy:Just, like, taking turns, like, dunking. Squat.
Speaker 9:Using our highest level spells. Yeah.
Speaker 7:I rolled the highest I rolled was a 2.
Speaker 9:Same. That was pretty brutal.
Tim / GM:Jesus. That's the
Tara / Journey:same shit that happened to me over here.
Speaker 9:You guys gotta get cantrips.
Speaker 8:Oh, fuck you. Alright.
Speaker 7:You'll get to talk to us.
Tim / GM:Yeah. We are we are back to snack.
Speaker 9:Okay. Elden blast. The skull. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:Roll a 1.
Speaker 9:19 to hit.
Speaker 8:Oh, god. You fuck you. Now we want John to end this. Yes. But still,
Tara / Journey:Well, I'm just, like, slapping it like,
Speaker 7:my pride hurts.
Speaker 9:13 damage for the first one.
Tim / GM:Yep. Is it still alive? It is still alive. What?
Speaker 7:Also, back
Speaker 9:to snacking. 17 to hit.
Tim / GM:There you go. Yep. It's
Speaker 9:6, 10, 15. Oh, no. I'm sorry.
Tim / GM:Burn it up.
Speaker 9:That's 11. Baby. 11 damage. Alright.
Speaker 7:Snack. I
Tim / GM:kill you.
Tara / Journey:The snake
Speaker 7:does tech. Snake attacks.
Tim / GM:You, blast it with an eldritch bolt. The first one kind of sends it spinning. The second one comes straight for its forehead, and it just goes, not again, and explodes into pieces. Whoo.
Speaker 9:Snek swings with his tail up again and misses.
Tim / GM:Gotta learn how to use that thing. Yeah. The pieces of Dimitri fall into the river.
Tara / Journey:Well, crap. I gather them with my necromancy and put them back in the fucking bag. K.
Speaker 8:Don't you think we shouldn't maybe have that thing around? It killed me.
Speaker 3:I I I do not blame Dimitri.
Speaker 2:There is something wrong here, and he is connected to it.
Speaker 8:Yeah. But maybe just leave him in the river river until we figure it out.
Speaker 3:Well, I do not want to lose the pieces.
Speaker 8:I mean, but we're all gonna go back to the Earth. Anyway. Holly almost drowned, so she's a little delirious.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. Okay. Over there?
Speaker 8:Yeah. Come across.
Speaker 4:Before we do that, Holly, this is probably the last time you'll see Ivy. You know, we haven't even gotten into the fern glade and almost died. And what you did almost well, you you almost died.
Tim / GM:And Ivy just says the fern glade and kinda looks around.
Speaker 8:Holly just gives Ivy a little, like, shove on her shoulder. Kinda just like sisterly. Just like, get out of here. Thanks for your help.
Tim / GM:Yeah. And, you should come back home soon. We've actually, we have been setting aside money for you, but we're making money hand over fist right now. And, well, life is good, Holly. I I we've probably got at least I don't know.
Tim / GM:And then she disappears.
Speaker 8:Oh, man. Well, I'm glad to hear things are going well back home, at least. One less thing to worry about.
Thomas / Guy:How's that Winder guy doing?
Tim / GM:Winder is holding his head, still kind of like rocking back and forth sitting on the ground, but you can tell that he's in control of his faculties now.
Thomas / Guy:Guy who overcharged us for the boat and almost died because of it.
Speaker 7:I think he should give us a boat for helping.
Tara / Journey:Tibeo goes and kneels in front of Winder and, like, tries to, like, hold his hands and say, like,
Speaker 2:excuse me. Are you okay?
Tim / GM:He kind of, like, shoos your hands away, and he says, hey. It would be fun. And he, like, stands up and says, I have no reason or method with which to fight you. And he just kind of like gestures towards the leaf boats.
Tara / Journey:Tibia starts walking toward the boat, but then turns around and looks at him and goes,
Speaker 3:did you know that that was in there?
Tim / GM:It wouldn't attack the leaves. It thought they were just leaf, but, it attacked everybody else.
Speaker 8:Holly hops in the boat.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It's not too difficult, actually. They do, of course, travel downriver as they go, but it does a fine job of getting you across.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I cross as well.
Tim / GM:K. You're all, on the other side, and, that is one of 3 rivers down.
Speaker 7:At fuck. Fuck.
Speaker 8:Is it possible to take a leaf with us and, like, flip it over our heads so we can just portage a leaf? Yeah. Okay. I want a portage a leaf. Sure.
Speaker 8:Snack, help me with this. Uli?
Speaker 7:I mean, I can just pick it up by myself.
Speaker 8:And then Holly is, like, trying to still support it in the middle, but she's too short to, like, reach where her snack and leaf or snack and leaf. Wow. Where snack
Tim / GM:and Oole now are. You continue through the woods for a while. You notice that the fog is getting consistently thicker and closer to the path the farther you go, and it is opaque. It is very dense, thick white fog. But you do eventually come on to the second river, and it is so quiet here.
Tim / GM:The the water is like barely moving in this river. This river is also much smaller than the previous one. This is maybe 15, 20 feet across. And there are 3 wooden foot bridges that cross over this river. Standing at the other side of the shore is a fey person.
Speaker 7:I'm gonna pick up a rock and throw it into the river Okay. And wait. Mhmm.
Tim / GM:Okay. The, fae person comes up to the bridge and sort of looks over it at where you had thrown the rock and looks up at you. She says, what did you expect to happen?
Speaker 7:Just can never be too careful. Are there any very large fish in this one?
Tim / GM:There's some large fish, And you see, like, large fish.
Speaker 7:Vibe check.
Tara / Journey:Her or the river?
Speaker 7:Her. A natural one.
Tim / GM:She wants to be your friend. Yes.
Speaker 8:Holly helps put the leaf down in the river and says, alright. Let's cross it.
Speaker 7:There are bridges.
Speaker 8:Yeah. We should probably gonna try to
Speaker 7:charge us for the bridge crossing with our souls.
Tara / Journey:Tivia wants to does, like, a little cast around with Ranni's radius for dark magic and curses.
Tim / GM:I think you get the sense that, like, this forest is cursed.
Tara / Journey:So I'm just overwhelmed by that, and I can't sense anything in particular here.
Tim / GM:It's I mean, it's, yeah, it's it's pervasive, but it's not, I wouldn't say overwhelming. It just kind of is, you know, it's really set in across here. You don't think she's cursed though.
Tara / Journey:Okay. There's just like
Tim / GM:These bridges are for luck, and you're going to need luck if you want to make it through the fog. What? So
Thomas / Guy:is is one bridge more lucky than the others?
Tim / GM:She moves very, very slowly, almost like cloth moves underwater. It it looks like she is underwater at all times. She looks up towards you and says, none are more lucky than others, but you must choose 1 or you may be lost to the fog.
Thomas / Guy:You know anything about this?
Tara / Journey:Do I know
Speaker 2:anything about this?
Tim / GM:Again, this is a case where, like, you could just walk across the bridges before. There never used to be people taking tolls at every opportunity. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:This is not what I experienced on my way out. I don't know what kind of luck there is associated with these bridges. They were just for walking before,
Tara / Journey:and Tibio just is a little flabbergasted and just goes and crosses the middle bridge.
Tim / GM:She is kind of standing at the end of the middle bridge, and she says, you've chosen to give your strength. What strength will you give me? She wants to take some of your ability points in order to cross this bridge.
Speaker 8:Don't do it. Get my boat. And Holly gestures towards my leaf boat.
Thomas / Guy:Are you not at all put off by what happened last time we tried to cross this river without following their stupid rules?
Speaker 8:Listen. We turned out fine. If we get lost to the fog, at least we'll be lost together.
Speaker 7:We almost didn't turn out fine.
Thomas / Guy:That was, like, number one rule of this forest was don't go into the fog.
Speaker 8:We're not gonna go into the Also don't separate. Yeah. So we should go in the boat together.
Speaker 7:Holly, if you want to cross by boat, go right ahead. I'm gonna take the right bridge.
Tara / Journey:I've paused where I am. Once she said what she wanted, I was kinda like,
Thomas / Guy:what?
Speaker 8:Holly has an idea that strikes her. She wants to see if she can see any threads of magic in the weave here that, like, would indicate any sort of path or, like, danger or she's just trying to, like, see if she can see what the magic looks like to give any indication of how to move forward safely, I guess.
Thomas / Guy:What if I use some of these and Bert pulls out tarot cards?
Tim / GM:Okay. We got a lot going on right now. Yeah. Holly, when you try to look at the weave here, it's something of a low pressure zone. There's so little magic to go around in the Fernglady right now.
Tim / GM:It almost looks like it's completely bare or you can't see the weave at all. Like, you lost the ability. But eventually, you do see, like, traces of magic that still are in this place. Tibeo, she clarifies that she doesn't want your strength per se. She wants your best ability.
Tim / GM:She wants to take what you are best at in the world.
Thomas / Guy:I was gonna say for a strength score. Whatever.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. My strength score was already 0. So I was like, okay. I Tibio tilts his head and looks at her, and he says,
Speaker 3:my name is Tibio Fermer, and I'm returning home to fix this place, and that is all I have to give. And he steps off
Tara / Journey:of the bridge, back off the bridge, like, no. Not no deal.
Tim / GM:Make a, persuasion check.
Speaker 2:Okeydokey. Do
Speaker 8:you still have your inspiration?
Tara / Journey:Can can I use her for that? Yeah. That is 18.
Tim / GM:Okay. She nods her head at the other end of the bridge and says, you intend to change all this?
Speaker 3:I am here to hide what has been wronged.
Tim / GM:Then you will need your strength. She takes a step to the side of the bridge and gestures as if you're allowed to cross.
Tara / Journey:I cross.
Tim / GM:As for the rest of you, I won't accept the same excuse.
Speaker 7:Of course
Thomas / Guy:not. Alright. I wanna do a augury to see what would happen if we cross the river without using the bridges. Okay. Nice.
Tim / GM:It's been a long time since you've seen those cards.
Thomas / Guy:Yep. I couldn't remember, they're Ronnies. Right?
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:But I can't remember her real name. Veronica. Veronica. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Alright. So I think you pull off a, you pull a tarot card off the top of the deck and flip it over. And again, instead of seeing any depictive image, you would instead see a Times New Roman headline.
Speaker 9:That's right.
Tim / GM:I forgot. It says, renowned heroes lost to the mist. Search search parties begin to form. Oh, shit.
Tara / Journey:Are we renowned? That's neat. Yeah. People would search for us? Aw.
Speaker 8:Alright. You getting in the boat, Bert?
Thomas / Guy:Holly, I hate to say it, but I think we gotta follow their dumb rules. Lady, will you at least tell us what we're giving up by crossing each bridge?
Tim / GM:That seems only fair. This bridge, she points to 1 on her left. She says, to cross this bridge, you must pay me in years.
Tara / Journey:Her left is our right.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I'll I'll clarify when you go to cross.
Speaker 8:So the one I'm on Yes.
Tim / GM:The one you're on would cost you age. She points to the center one and says, were you to travel this bridge, you would owe me your strongest ability and you would lose some of that. And if you were to travel this bridge and she smiles a little bit and she says, well, all you'd have to give me is your name.
Thomas / Guy:That's a no on that one. Right, Tibeo?
Speaker 3:Oui, that is a no.
Speaker 8:What happens, lady? If all of our strong we're very well balanced and all of our top skills are equally as strong.
Tim / GM:If you consider yourself multitalented, I would take any of them. Your choice.
Speaker 8:Oh, okay. Great.
Thomas / Guy:That is a good question, Holly. Thank you. How many years are we talking about on this right bridge?
Tim / GM:For someone like yourself, I would ask 10 years.
Thomas / Guy:10? No. Wowzers.
Speaker 7:Like you want 10 of my years and I go back 10 years? Or I would go forward 10 years?
Tim / GM:You would go forward 10 years, and I would go backward 10 years.
Thomas / Guy:You're probably already ahead of me, but I would recommend no curse breaker take this bridge. You're gonna need those ears.
Tara / Journey:True. Yeah. Holly's already older.
Speaker 8:I'm only in my forties.
Speaker 4:But we must cross these bridges then. That's right. I can't really explain it, but I
Thomas / Guy:think something bad's gonna happen if we try to cheat the system.
Speaker 4:Snack will go through the center bridge.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 4:Snack, would you like to cross this bridge?
Tim / GM:And what is your talent?
Speaker 4:I do this, and then I
Speaker 9:shoot like eldritch blast, like, in all directions.
Tim / GM:Very well. You will give me some of your magic prowess.
Speaker 4:I see. I don't know how to do that.
Tim / GM:Just cross the bridge. Okay.
Speaker 9:I scuttle across.
Speaker 7:Just cross the bridge.
Tim / GM:When you take your last step across the bridge, you you just feel like the wind knocked out of you, and you hear inside the lamp like, oh, and then Genie, like, pops his head on and says, snack, what just happened?
Speaker 4:I crossed a bridge, Genie.
Tim / GM:He says, I feel and he, like, holds up one arm to, like, flex his bicep, and you see the muscle lump, like, just fall to the
Speaker 7:side. He
Tim / GM:says, what is going on?
Speaker 4:I think we exchanged some, powers for safe passage. Per Bert's recommendation.
Tim / GM:He, looks around at this sort of very, like, serene, but, like, deadly looking scene with this calm river beneath you. And he says, I trust you really had no other choice. I'm sorry you had to go through that snack.
Speaker 4:Yes. I had to do it this way. Otherwise, I'd have to give them my name.
Tim / GM:What?
Speaker 4:Well, apparently, that's really bad.
Speaker 9:Don't know.
Tim / GM:I don't know, snack. This kinda sucks.
Thomas / Guy:Well, everybody wish me 10 happy birthdays. Brit's going over the age bridge. Okay. Gnomes live well, let me cross the bridge before I tell you how long gnomes live.
Tim / GM:I think you you lose about 5, like, human maturity years. So your hair grows a little bit grayer, mustache gets a little more wiry. That's about it. You'll be fine.
Thomas / Guy:Not bad. Not bad.
Speaker 7:What do you do with the names? Do you write them down? You have a collection?
Tim / GM:We write them down in a little book, and then we close the book and go to bed.
Speaker 7:And what are you doing with the names?
Speaker 2:Only it is not a good idea to give the fairy a name.
Speaker 7:What are they gonna do?
Speaker 3:Name as bearer.
Tim / GM:Well, first of all, the name tells me where you are and how to find you, and it also tells me that I can tell you to do whatever I like.
Speaker 7:I don't see how that's comparable to any of these other things.
Tim / GM:Well, I have a good collection of names. I might not ever use yours.
Speaker 7:And do you know if a name has validity?
Tim / GM:There will be no mistakes. If you intend to give me your name, I will be sure that it is your true name.
Speaker 7:Alright. I could be 36. That's fine. And I walk down the age bridge.
Tim / GM:Okay. So, Uli, you actually lose, 4 years off your life having a much shorter lifespan than everybody else. Well, not much, but shorter.
Tara / Journey:You lose the amount of yours relative to your race's aging.
Speaker 7:Do they not live that long?
Tim / GM:Half orcs, I believe, are comparable to humans, but slightly lessened by the influence of an orc, which is something like 35 is death, I think.
Thomas / Guy:I think they have a death wish?
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Gnomes live really long.
Thomas / Guy:Gnomes was, 350 to 500 years old.
Tim / GM:Oh, so it's much longer.
Speaker 8:Okay. Hey yo.
Tim / GM:So by rights, it should be even less than that of a cost, Uli. But we'll settle on 4.
Speaker 7:Everyone, I am now 30.
Tara / Journey:Congrats. Thanks.
Tim / GM:Billy's like, and we are crossing the bridge.
Thomas / Guy:This is just like that M. Night Shyamalan movie.
Tim / GM:The bridge that makes
Tara / Journey:you old.
Speaker 7:Is this, forever?
Tim / GM:Yes. All of this is forever.
Speaker 7:I just want I I'm so curious how you got this power and why. Who let you do this?
Tim / GM:It's not a matter of permission, more of a matter of lack of authority.
Speaker 7:Right. I'm just wondering how you have any say in how lost I get in the mist, but that's fine.
Tim / GM:Are you all across at this point?
Speaker 8:Not Holly. Holly snuck across while everyone was talking
Speaker 7:on the boat. Okay.
Speaker 8:No. Holly, while everyone was talking, though, she was, doing something sneaky, and she cast mislead on herself, to create to herself become invisible
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 8:And create a double Mhmm. In her place.
Thomas / Guy:Mhmm. And an empty boat crosses.
Speaker 8:Yeah. No. No. No. No.
Speaker 8:Invisible Holly is going to try to cross a bridge at the same time as visible. Basically, I'm trying to fool the elf lady and saying, oh, yeah. I'm gonna give you my name, and then it's my double doing that while I cross another bridge.
Tim / GM:Got it. And which bridge are you gonna cross?
Speaker 8:I'm gonna cross the, strength bridge.
Tim / GM:Okay. She says to Holly's illusion, you choose to give me your name. Yes? No, Holly.
Speaker 3:Holly, this is a very bad idea.
Speaker 8:I mean, I'm just kinda curious to see what happens.
Speaker 2:That is
Speaker 3:a worse idea.
Thomas / Guy:I can't say I'm not curious either, but
Speaker 8:I mean, what's in a name? Really? Most things
Thomas / Guy:magically Apparently.
Tim / GM:And what is your name? Holly Hyacinth.
Speaker 8:She just says Dolly Hyacinth instead of Holly Hyacinth.
Speaker 4:Oh, any relation to Dolly pace?
Speaker 7:When you marry an elf, you take their first name.
Tim / GM:Oh, Lord.
Tara / Journey:I know. Anyway.
Tim / GM:You see her kind of mouth the name once, and then she says it out loud. Dolly Hyacinth. And she kind of, like, looks at your illusion up and down. She says, no. I don't think that's it.
Speaker 8:My illusion says, oh, you're right. I actually changed my mind. I'd rather give you my age. And she backs off the name bridge and does age instead.
Tim / GM:Alright. So at the age bridge, she says, very well, change of heart. From you, I would expect 5 years.
Speaker 8:Illusionary Holly says, okay, and walks across the bridge. Okay.
Tim / GM:Yeah. She takes a step onto the end of the bridge. Are you gonna, at the same time, like, move across, or what do you think?
Speaker 8:Yeah. Just I mean, I'm just been I think the whole time since I became invisible, I've been trying to cross while everything while I was controlling the illusion of doing all this. So
Tim / GM:Yeah. You see the illusion step across and nothing really seems to happen to it, and then you step across and nothing seems to really happen to you.
Speaker 8:And then I'm gonna stay invisible as long as possible, but have my illusion come to just be overlay on me. Yeah. But I'm still really invisible. Okay.
Tim / GM:She gives a little smile to your whole party and then does a little, almost like she's waving a blessing over the whole party. And she says, I wish you the best of luck in the fog. You've you've earned some luck here. But to answer your question, I really don't control the fog. It really is just luck.
Tim / GM:Boo. Cool.
Tara / Journey:Cool. Cool. Cool.
Speaker 7:What's your name? What do you want me to call you?
Tim / GM:I didn't think of a name before I met any of you. So I'm gonna ask you to name me.
Tara / Journey:Patricia.
Tim / GM:Patricia. Patricia.
Speaker 7:Don't know why that was the first name in my head.
Tim / GM:She says, I am Patricia. I chose a human name.
Speaker 9:I married a human.
Speaker 7:It's spelled very Elven. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:And they wouldn't say No. She she
Tim / GM:she made up a fake, like, shitty human name so that she doesn't have to give you her fay name. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Right. I'm just gonna commit her to memory.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Thomas / Guy:Pat, I'd love to hear some stats on how many people choose which bridge, you know?
Tim / GM:She points at the backsides of the, like, main rails of the bridge, and she shows you the scratched tally in each of them. And, it seems pretty much everybody chooses pretty much everybody chooses a name.
Thomas / Guy:Name,
Tim / GM:Yeah. Almost everyone. Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:Brett writes that down.
Speaker 7:I'm just I I'm over people being able to control people.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. You, got any tips for this last river? Maybe we have to give up a body part or, our favorite memory.
Tim / GM:I should have known that you're headed towards the last river. I might have been able to warn you away from it. You see, there's no chance that any of you are going to make it across the last river alive.
Speaker 7:Why?
Tim / GM:The river itself is quite deadly. It always has been. And she looks towards Tibio. And, Tibio, you can confirm that. This this river is a drowner.
Speaker 3:Yes. It is quite deadly, I agree.
Tim / GM:I'm sorry to say there's just no way you'll ever pass it.
Speaker 7:Sounds like a challenge. Let's go party.
Thomas / Guy:Yes. Tibio, you know, I try to keep an open mind, but this place sucks.
Speaker 3:It was not like this before I left, Bert. This is something very sick. There is something very wrong. I understand if you wish to return home to Tilderie or
Thomas / Guy:Well, we've made it this far.
Speaker 4:But, may I see your cards, please?
Thomas / Guy:Oh, sure.
Speaker 4:Oh, well, if you don't mind, I was wondering,
Thomas / Guy:Oh, did you want me to make a reading for you?
Speaker 4:Well, please stop eavesdropping, Patricia. But if we if we kill Patricia, do we get our powers back? She stole from us. She stole life. That's not fair.
Speaker 4:That's not just.
Speaker 7:I think we willingly gave it up, actually.
Thomas / Guy:It's true. We did seek passage across the river and that was the cost that we agreed to. I don't like it, but it's not like she stole it from us.
Speaker 7:Does she do refunds?
Thomas / Guy:Well, Tibio, maybe when you fix everything that's wrong with this wacky place, maybe we'll get some of it back.
Speaker 3:Possibly. I do not know the depth of the issue, and I will not be able to make any fixes until I am home.
Speaker 4:I think Snack has heard enough. Patricia, come here. You may listen now.
Speaker 7:Patrice.
Tim / GM:Oh, now I may listen. Yes.
Speaker 4:If we shall free this place of the, corruption, we request you return the things you stole from
Tim / GM:us. Not stole, no.
Speaker 4:I misspoke. I'm new at this. You must We request you return the things we sacrificed.
Tim / GM:If it happens that you are able to restore this place, then she shrugs. Yes. I'll give it all back.
Speaker 9:Wonderful.
Speaker 7:Give your word.
Tim / GM:You have my word.
Speaker 7:Thank you.
Tim / GM:If my name ain't Patricia.
Speaker 7:No. Don't swear on your name. We know it's fake.
Speaker 4:Wonderful. Well, Bert, we need to give Patricia a tattoo, I believe, so that we can summon her, to set things straight. Can we do that, Patricia?
Tim / GM:I think not. Oh, well. My people will be able to find you. Don't worry about that.
Thomas / Guy:Wonderful. Well, I hope we never see you again, Patricia.
Speaker 8:Come on, everyone. Let's get out of here.
Tim / GM:She just gives you, like, the salute send off.
Speaker 8:Mhmm. Holly's trying to assure everyone quickly away before her spells start to wane.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Oh, sure.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You're you're well out of eyesight by the time you, give up the invisibility. So, you are, out of eyesight. You're away from this bridge. The fog is getting thick to the point where it's pretty much just this path is available to you.
Tim / GM:You can see, like, tree branches just poking out of the fog into your immediate vicinity, but you can't see much beyond that.
Speaker 7:I think we should hold hands, guys.
Speaker 3:Yes, I agree. Be very careful here. Do not stray from the bath. Okay.
Speaker 7:Snack, t b o?
Speaker 4:I have for my tail.
Tim / GM:You're all kind of, like, walking in a in a chain like that. And, at one point, Bert, you look over your shoulder and see that the fog is kind of collapsing in behind you. Yeah. And looking ahead of you, you know, you can see maybe 15 feet up ahead. And every time you look back, the fog seems closer, until it becomes apparent that you are in the fog.
Tim / GM:Thanks so much for listening. I'm Tim, your DM and your genie.
Speaker 8:I'm Hannah playing Holly Hyacinth.
Thomas / Guy:I'm Thomas. I play Engelbert FF Wisherspoon.
Tara / Journey:I'm Tara, and I play Tibio Femur.
Speaker 9:I'm John. I play Snack the Cobalt.
Speaker 7:And I'm Maggie playing Uli.
