Cursebreaker | 42 - A Bird in Bigby's Hand
Have I told any of you, less time on Cursebreaker.
Hannah / Eryn:I don't think you have.
Tim / GM:The party was invited into the lamp to take a quick nap in their new bedrooms. And good thing we did because what came next was pretty heavy. The mirror like hallways here showed us some of the toughest parts of our past, but with great effort, we were able to accept our imperfect histories and move forward. And that brought us to the door, La Porte de la Nuit, the gates of the underworld. We're
Speaker 3:here for you, Tibio. Let's do this.
Speaker 4:And we roll initiative.
Tim / GM:Yes. We roll roll initiative in just a moment here. Well, hold hold your die. Roll them. Nope.
Tim / GM:Continue to shake your dice through this whole description. Alright. You're on a massive island of tightly packed bones spanning a 100 feet across. In the exact center of the island is a raised mound and a great pale archway made from a single spinal column. A massive raven made of cobbled bones is perched on top of the archway.
Tim / GM:Its talons are crumbling pieces of the gate away as it flaps, showering the area in jagged bones. Roll initiative.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Fuck. My arm started to hurt.
Hannah / Eryn:It was actually hard to concentrate.
John / Doran:10, a 19.
Hannah / Eryn:5,
Tara / Journey:16,
Hannah / Eryn:8.
Tim / GM:So to start us off is Snack with a 19. Tibio.
Speaker 7:Yes, Snack.
Tim / GM:Is this
John / Doran:one of the spies that we must not harm or is this one we can No.
Speaker 7:I believe we are in grave danger now.
John / Doran:Okay. Well
Speaker 7:As they say, go nuts.
John / Doran:Okay. I will, hex this bird. I'm going to give it disadvantage on checks that are related to constitution. K. And then I will, do the old eldritch blast.
John / Doran:Snack extends his hand out and, shoots some purply bright light. We got a 11 for the first one. K. That's, and then a second 11. Okay.
John / Doran:Alright. Okay.
Tim / GM:Snack, whether you're intimidated or just, kind of getting your bearings here, you would take a couple of potshots up at the bird that's perched on this arch. You can tell that it means business and that it is about to choose a target and harm somebody. Even so, your your bolts go completely wide of this thing perched on top. At that very moment, this floor that you're all standing on made of tight packed bones, you hear a light rattling beneath your feet, and you see some of the bones start to shift. I need everybody to make a dexterity save.
Hannah / Eryn:Fuck. Holly got a 16.
John / Doran:20 over here.
Speaker 4:5. 90 1.
Tara / Journey:9.
Tim / GM:Okay. Snack and Holly, notice it soon enough to sidestep what's going on here. Some of the bones reach up and grab some of you by the ankle, immobilizing you in in place. In order to break this, you would just use all of your movement in the next turn to shake out of this. That ain't bad.
John / Doran:We're all spellcasters.
Speaker 4:Yeah. We're all castors.
Tim / GM:Yeah. We're all out of nowhere. Just turret and sit in the same place for a
John / Doran:whole fight. And Bert's Bert's cosplaying as a fighter right now with
Tim / GM:this. How
Speaker 4:close are we all to each other?
Tim / GM:You're probably within, like, 10 feet or so of each other. It's pretty close to this gate, actually. And let's have everybody make a perception check, actually.
John / Doran:A natural 20.
Tim / GM:Oh, shit.
Speaker 4:13. Unnatural 20.
Tim / GM:Okay. 22.
Speaker 8:16.
Tara / Journey:Where were these rolls last time, guys?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I rolled fine last time.
Tim / GM:I rolled 2 rolls. Yeah. A lot of people over here, Holly, Bert, and Snack, all notice, these bones that have reached up. You can see that this black soot like moss is starting to grow out beneath your feet. You've seen this before quite recently.
Tim / GM:Fuck. It's the death of moss.
Speaker 8:Yeah. Okay. Earlier.
Tim / GM:Tibio. Mhmm. You are not focused on the grounds and bones even though did you get caught?
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Even though that seems to be the issue, you're fixated on the gate itself. Okay. As soon as that raven passed through the gate, it turned an ethereal blue, and it left this trail of light as it passed through. And you can see it inside the gate, some 40 feet in, perched on something in complete darkness.
Tim / GM:And it's staring at you.
Speaker 7:Are you able to see that? Do you see the bird? It's still in there.
Tim / GM:And looking in, nobody else can perceive this.
Speaker 8:The big bone bird? I can see it.
Speaker 7:No. The never mind.
Speaker 4:Yeah. We're I mean, I'm kind of tied up right now.
Tim / GM:Tibio, it is your turn.
Speaker 4:Oh, jeez.
Tara / Journey:I shake myself kind of free of what I was paying attention to looking at the door and stuff like that, and I re grab my attention on the big old danger bird ahead of me. And I'm going to cast vicious mockery for the first dang time.
Tim / GM:Alright. Breaking out the bar.
Tara / Journey:And I say, you are sorry excuse for a raven. How dare you?
Speaker 8:Ouch.
Tara / Journey:And then it has to make a wisdom save.
Tim / GM:That's a natural twenty.
Speaker 8:I'm a gray raven. Yeah.
Tim / GM:The raven straightens its tie.
Tara / Journey:It bears on some sunglasses. Yeah. And that is all that I I shake free of the bones as my movement.
Tim / GM:Okay. Next up is Bert, in a way.
Speaker 8:Don't like that.
Tim / GM:Bert, you see from your stuck position, you desperately look up to see if anybody's free to help you out of your current circumstance. And what you end up seeing along the rim of this place is Judge Tonberry. His ghost is staring you down from across the way, and you see him drifting over that black expanse flying on his own power.
Speaker 8:No fair.
Tim / GM:He is very slowly moving towards you.
Speaker 8:Okay.
Tim / GM:Looking past him, you also see the outline of Veronica coming through the wall and also drifting towards you. Now it's your turn.
Speaker 8:I would like to free myself.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. You do so. You shake all the bones off your legs.
Speaker 8:So that uses up on my movement. Correct. Is that, black goo still building up?
Tim / GM:Yes. Right beneath you.
Speaker 8:How far away is Tom Berry right now?
Tim / GM:More than 200 feet away from you.
Speaker 8:Okay. Not sure it matters because he did, like, teleport to stab me last last time. I think I will instead once again cast a spell. K. The spell is called dispel evil and good.
Tim / GM:K. Yeah. Evil and good things have disadvantage against you. Can you also roll a an intelligence check for me?
John / Doran:Can I?
Speaker 8:19.
Tim / GM:Alright. Bert, you noticed that every time you look away from Tonberry, he makes a great amount of distance towards you.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Oh, that's scary.
Speaker 8:I would like to keep looking at him. Yeah.
Tim / GM:I will inform you in advance this will affect your ability to hit things that are not Tonberry.
Speaker 8:Okay.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Thomas is in his own personal battle I mean, Bert. Sorry.
Tim / GM:Well, Thomas. Maybe both? Yeah. Next up, you hear this crumbling and crackling as parts of the archway fall away as the gigantic raven starts tearing at it with its talons. It looks down at all of you, and it does another one of those silent screeches where you can see it sort of sort of You can see it open its mouth wide and try to scream, but nothing comes out, and then you all see this brilliant white light on the opposite end of this, plateau that you're on.
Tim / GM:And you see this this white orb start to burn with the same white fire that you had seen before, and the bones beneath it start to climb and animate. Interesting. It is then going to, take a pass around the room. It, leaves its perch on the archway and flies directly past all of you, being quite clustered at the moment. It shakes jagged bones onto you as it passes overhead flying throughout the room.
Speaker 4:It's not within reaction distance or opportunity attack?
Tim / GM:Not melee distance. Yeah. Still about 20 feet overhead
Speaker 3:as it flies.
Speaker 4:Caster distance.
Tim / GM:Is it when you get an opportunity attack? Yeah. So I think they still have to pass within 5
Hannah / Eryn:feet of
Tim / GM:you to trigger that. But as this thing flies overhead, it is dropping, jagged broken bones onto each of you. Those of you who are still caught in the bones have disadvantage on this
Speaker 4:17?
John / Doran:13.
Speaker 7:18.
Speaker 8:19.
Hannah / Eryn:13.
Tim / GM:Okay. So we got Holly, I believe, snack. Take the full brunt of this. The rest of you are unscathed. 7 piercing damage as these bones fall across you.
Tim / GM:I love
Speaker 8:when I'm not scathed.
Tim / GM:I love being unscathed. It takes a long loop around the room and then purges itself right back on top of the archway, after passing over you. It is now Uli's turn.
Speaker 4:So Uli does not like being contained. I'm like, let go of me, you bastard. And then I'd like to rage
Tim / GM:Oh, yeah.
Speaker 4:Which would be a free spell and an auto surge.
Tim / GM:Yep.
Speaker 4:And I would like to meta magic careful spell whatever spell I cast, which means up to 3 people would, they would automatically succeed a saving throw against the spell.
Tim / GM:Nice. Yeah. That's perfect for where you're at
Tara / Journey:right now. Yeah.
Speaker 4:And that's only one one sorcery point. And I would like to do shatter with that.
Tim / GM:Yeah. What are you shattering?
Speaker 4:The bones that are holding on to me.
Tim / GM:Okay. Nice.
Speaker 4:I figured that makes sense if they're grabbing me if I just, like Yeah. Yeah. Angry shake. Yeah. And that's a free spell, so I don't have to pay anything for that.
Tim / GM:Yep.
Speaker 4:Okay. But then I auto surge.
Tim / GM:Yep. I'm gonna say those bones don't have anything for a save, really. So go ahead and just give me the damage on that.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. And
Speaker 4:then the 3 closest to me would auto save.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I think you're gonna have to choose somebody here.
Speaker 4:Who's who's around me?
John / Doran:Everybody.
Speaker 4:Bert got out. Right?
Tim / GM:But he didn't move because he's out of movement.
John / Doran:Yes.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 8:I do still have death ward up. I don't know if I should have said that, but I was stabbed.
Speaker 4:Snack is probably made meatier beefier than the others. Okay.
Tim / GM:Snack, you were Forsaken by Uli.
Hannah / Eryn:So we take half damage?
Tim / GM:Yep.
Hannah / Eryn:Yes. And Snack takes full damage?
Speaker 4:What's that damage? Yeah. Sorry. It'd be 3 d 8. Woah.
Hannah / Eryn:We should really try to not hurt each other. Holly yells that to to Uli after she explodes. 15? So it
Speaker 4:would be half so it would be 7 for you. I'm I'm sorry. I'm raging and also surging now.
Tim / GM:Also also everyone is free of their bones after that shatter.
Speaker 4:Because I shed flavor
John / Doran:early. So I took 15 more damage from the player that's on the
Tara / Journey:From his co player.
Tim / GM:Right. I just was confused because we
John / Doran:were fighting a monster.
Tim / GM:But one of the players that's in your party Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:I also released you
Tim / GM:from the ball.
Speaker 7:So one
Tara / Journey:of one of the, like, party members that you travel with and that you've been really good
Speaker 8:friends with us
Tim / GM:for protecting us.
Speaker 4:All of you. I'm not
Tara / Journey:the one whose family you helped save. Okay.
Speaker 4:I'm not gonna spell Skolth anymore.
Tim / GM:That's right. You saved her whole town. Yeah. Yes.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, Lee, that hurt.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry.
Hannah / Eryn:Holly's, like, bleeding a little bit from her forehead from that.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 8:Bur has, like, the mustache is, like
Tim / GM:All wirey?
Speaker 8:Wirey, like, lifting bolts.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I'm auto surging.
Tim / GM:K. All of your ears are ringing also.
Speaker 4:I regain my lowest level expended spell slot.
Speaker 8:Oh, she can she can shatter us again. Yeah. I'm
Tim / GM:gonna do it again.
Tara / Journey:No. That shatter was free.
Speaker 4:So I get back my 4th level spell because that's all I've cast.
Speaker 8:That's a good one.
Speaker 4:So I can still cast a spell, though?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Okay. Because that was a free one. Yep. I'm gonna run up to the bird. Can I reach it?
Tim / GM:It is 20 feet up on the archway.
Speaker 4:Okay. So no.
Tim / GM:I don't think so. Yeah. You could start climbing.
Speaker 4:I don't need to actually touch it. Okay. I would like to scream at it k. And, say something like, don't touch my friends or something. I don't know.
Speaker 8:Don't touch my friends or something.
Speaker 4:You leave them alone. And then, I want to magic missile Okay. At a 4th level.
Tara / Journey:Okay. Spend that yeah. Spend that free 4th level you got back. Yeah. Woof.
Tara / Journey:My guy.
Tim / GM:I think you had 6 darts then. What? Yeah.
Speaker 4:And I don't surge for that one.
Tim / GM:Thank Jesus. It's too much.
Speaker 4:25. Wow. Yeah. 25 magic missile punch damage.
Tim / GM:Cool. And
Speaker 4:then I
Tara / Journey:steam rises from your head Yeah. And shoulders.
Tim / GM:You all see these, lines of energy, just wildly arcing off of Uli's fists and and kind of, swirling through the air up at this skeletal raven, punching holes in its wings and taking chunks out of its beak. And then almost immediately, you see bones fly up from the floor and just replace most of what had just been done to this bird.
Speaker 4:It doesn't do anything.
Speaker 8:Lily, did you do something cool back there?
Speaker 4:You weren't you weren't watching?
Speaker 8:I'm a little tied up.
Hannah / Eryn:What type of damage would would that be?
Tim / GM:Force damage.
Speaker 4:Okay. Yeah.
Tim / GM:A few of you noticed at this time, that there have been spirits drifting into this room. What catches your eye is, ash Muldrift is now coming through the wall. You see she is 3rd in line behind Veronica and Tonberry. It is Holly's turn.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Is there a space that looks less bony?
Tim / GM:No. Literally, everything here is made of solid bone.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Just checking.
Tim / GM:Or packed bones.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Holly is going to kind of just try to move a little bit away from the group so we're just not so clustered. So maybe I'll just move 10 feet away kinda to the, we'll say, the right side of the archway.
Tim / GM:Sure.
Hannah / Eryn:And then I'm going to cast Fantasmal Killer.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 8:Sounds good.
Tara / Journey:Woah. I thought about taking that one.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. So I get to tap into the nightmares
Tara / Journey:of a creature.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. You can see within range.
Speaker 4:Paul is just getting more goth.
Tara / Journey:The nightmares of this bone bird are just real birds.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It's so sad.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. So, basically, it's gonna create an illusion in its mind of its deepest fears. K. Okay. The target must make a wisdom saving throw.
Tim / GM:So far, really good at those. That is a, non natural twenty.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, damn it. Yeah. It was a I
Speaker 8:think you should axe wisdom next time.
John / Doran:Yep. Yep. Yep.
Tara / Journey:Just axe wisdom.
Tim / GM:I know
Speaker 8:that's table talk, but
Tim / GM:Sorry, Holly. What you got? I messed up.
Hannah / Eryn:On a failed save, the target becomes frightened for the duration, which is 1 minute.
Tim / GM:Okay. So it did succeed that one.
Hannah / Eryn:So at the start of its next turn Yeah. It'll make another wisdom saving throw. Turn. My card in front of me says the start. The card has a typo, I think.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. And then I don't know if there's anything
Tim / GM:because I
Hannah / Eryn:can't cast another spell for defense that I could do. I guess I'm just gonna tighten my funeral shroud, like, around me more Yeah. To ensure it's in place. Good timing. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:And that's all Holly's gonna do.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 4:Are we the scary moss? Is that no longer
Tim / GM:Still growing.
Speaker 4:But we aren't trapped in it now.
Tim / GM:You're not trapped in it, but you're still in the same place where it was growing. Actually, Uli, I think because you shattered your way out and then you moved towards the archway, I believe you are probably fine.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Tim / GM:Holly moved. She's fine. The remaining 3 of you have not moved from your spot. So the last thing in this round, the first round of combat, is that burning white orb on the other end of this plateau. You see the bones that were clamoring beneath it have formed into 3 full skeletons that are now marching towards your group.
Tim / GM:It is Snack's turn.
John / Doran:Snack is not concerned with these skeletons. He has hexed this bird, and we'll do a couple more eldritch blasts. This time, he, takes some steps forward and, and then and then tries to do it. Okay. Oof.
John / Doran:We got a 23 to
Tim / GM:hit. Yeah. Okay. Oof. Talking about oof.
John / Doran:19. Also hits. Oof for the bird. This
Tim / GM:yeah. This guy's very empathetic now.
John / Doran:27 damage. Nice damage. Jesus. So oh, I was going to say this. I, forgot to mention.
John / Doran:He does, kind of, like, grab with his other hand onto the bracer and tries to, like, channel, radiant energy.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dragon bracer.
John / Doran:Yeah. So some of it's radiant. Some of it's necrotic, actually. So if you need to know those
Tim / GM:Yeah. I do need the breakdown this time, actually.
John / Doran:Okay. 8 necrotic. K. And then the rest was radiant.
Tim / GM:Okay. And you said it was, 27 total? So, much bigger reaction than you than you were expecting, Snack. You fire off an Eldritch blast and you go wait, and then you put your hand on the bracer and the Eldridge bolt comes back. And then it gets radiant, and then you shoot it out again.
Tim / GM:And, yeah, it it blasts a gaping hole in this thing's wing, and then the other bolt, clips the other wing clean off. And then they just immediately reform with bones that pull from the ground and give this thing its shape back. It's it's becoming obvious by the minute that you guys are making no headway against this thing.
Speaker 8:Sounds like everybody's doing cool stuff when I can't see it.
Tim / GM:Just eyes locked on Tonbridge.
John / Doran:We just need to get through all of these bones, Bert, and then then we should be able to do some damage.
Speaker 8:Like a billion bones in here.
Speaker 4:There has to be another way.
Tim / GM:The bird makes another silent screech, and another orb begins to burn brightly, on another sort of cardinal point of this pinnacle. So there's one on, like, the far east, and now there's a burning white orb on the far north, and the bones begin to rumble beneath it and form into skeletons.
Speaker 4:Tibio. Yes. Do you know anything about this?
Tara / Journey:Do I know anything about this? No. Like,
Tim / GM:for as much as Sacra and your family could teach you about what is to come here, they could not tell you the exact challenges you're going to face. Tibeo, it is your turn.
Speaker 8:Was there anything about floating orbs in your parents' poem?
Tara / Journey:There's a PPS, and it said, there's floating orbs. Watch yourself. Okay. I walk away from the moldy spot.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Good.
Tara / Journey:I look around and I see that there are things skeletons kind of popping up all around.
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Tara / Journey:And I I back up, like, toward the door. Mhmm. So my back is to it. Mhmm. And then I cast danse macaque.
Tara / Journey:As I outstretch my arms and fingers, like, little threads of magic, like dark blue and purple and black and kind of like clouds come out of my hands and reach out, like, little fingers towards all of these, like, skeletons and bones all around me. And, up to 5 small or medium corpses stand up and become undead. Okay. I don't understand how the
Tim / GM:I think it's just your based on your availability of corpses, because typically, you wouldn't have so many, but you've got infinite corpses down here.
Tara / Journey:Sure. Oh, I see.
Tim / GM:You reach out with these, dark lines of energy, and you see finger bones and hands reach up and sort of grab hands and grasp these tendrils. And from them, you seem you're, like, pulling these skeletons out of the ground as they raise, and you can see they're kind of coated in Tibeo's energy. What do you command those skeletons to do?
Speaker 7:Defend us.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I'm gonna say one skeleton marches out to each of you and just becomes your personal bodyguard.
Speaker 4:Really? Bodyguard.
Tim / GM:Anything else, Tibia?
Tara / Journey:I guess I so I've defended my friends. I have one skeleton next to me still. Mhmm. I look around and I see that the chaos is just growing and growing and growing. I look to all of you guys, and I say, I'll be right back.
Tara / Journey:And then I jump in the door. Tibio. Tibbs.
Tim / GM:Alright. You all see Tibio disappear.
Speaker 8:No. We don't. What? I don't see it.
Tim / GM:Oh, it's all. Sorry.
John / Doran:I'm 4 in the other
Tim / GM:direction. Yeah. Or 3 of you, I guess. See Tibio disappear into the inky black.
Tara / Journey:I also put my the skeleton that I had with me, I put him in front of the door, like, blocking it.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. None of you can perceive anything beyond the door. You can just see Tibio kind of fade into darkness and is gone.
Hannah / Eryn:Are all the skeletons he was controlling still going?
Tim / GM:Yep. Selective.
Speaker 8:Did Tibbs come in the door?
Speaker 4:Yep. Yeah. It looks like it. We don't follow him. Right?
Speaker 4:Do we follow him?
Hannah / Eryn:He put up his skeleton in front
Speaker 8:of it. You gotta buy him
Tim / GM:time, whatever he's doing. Bert Tonberry is creeping towards you ever so slowly. Seems to be the slowest of all of these spirits such that Ash has even passed him now. He is still locked on you and is creeping towards you.
Speaker 8:Can I kinda tell what Veronica and Ash are doing? I'm really worried about Veronica.
Tim / GM:It seems like all 3 of them are being drawn towards the center of this room in a way that they can't control.
Speaker 8:Okay.
Tim / GM:Veronica, following Tonberry, passes him up, moves towards you, Bert, and is almost close enough to touch you as she passes by. And she just kind of smiles at you, and she seems to not grasp what's going on around her. And she floats almost like she's in a lazy river or something towards the gate in the center. It's your turn, Bert.
Speaker 4:Is she making a swirl?
Hannah / Eryn:She's looking
Tim / GM:like a little floaty. Yeah.
Speaker 8:Bert will shuffle to the side k. Away from the black stuff. Mhmm.
Speaker 9:They're going into the gate.
Speaker 8:It's probably good. I was hoping for a little assist. Veronica, can you hear me?
Tim / GM:She pays you no mind whatsoever. Yeah. She can't hear you.
Speaker 8:Alright. Well, is Tom Berry in range for a brain goer attack?
Tim / GM:I'd say Tom Berry is about 60 feet from you at present.
Speaker 8:Great. So I'm shuffling away from the the necro stuff. Yep. It's clear the other spirits are going into the gate, but I want to just make sure that, yes, Tom Berry is going after me and not going toward the gate.
Tim / GM:Okay. Makes sense. You're checking if he's changing trajectory? Yeah. Yeah.
Tim / GM:He does. Yep. He follows me directly. Yep.
Speaker 8:Okay. Bert is going to close his eyes for, like, 2 seconds
Tim / GM:and then reopen his eyes. Okay.
Tara / Journey:Have you
Speaker 4:not blinked this whole time?
Tim / GM:I realistically, I don't know how to handle that, but I'll say Tonberry's within 30 feet of you now.
Speaker 8:Great.
Speaker 4:That's a great loop, though.
Tim / GM:Cheeky fucker. Yeah.
Speaker 8:And you hit him with the old brain gore.
Tim / GM:Close your eyes for one second too long. You're like, too much too much.
Speaker 8:Go back go back. 23 to hit.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I'm gonna say that hits.
Speaker 8:20 damage.
Tim / GM:Okay. Pretty good one. So you see that this cleaves through Tonberry, and it does, like, cut his ghostly form. You can see it sort of sheer through his elbow and just kind of, like, like, separates his arm, and then it just kind of, like, forms back out of mist. So it's done him no real corporeal harm, but you do get the fading thoughts of somebody long dead.
Speaker 8:Give it to me.
Tim / GM:It's it's a little much to take in, so much in fact that I'm going to have you take, some psychic damage. Great.
Speaker 4:Wow.
Tim / GM:That is 9 psychic damage, Bert.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:As the thoughts of a dead person roll into you.
Tara / Journey:Also, cut my ghostly form is the name of my 2007 emo band.
Tim / GM:Brilliant. His not the first time I've done that. Tonberry's surface thoughts are as follows. He is desperate to find Orzo and to complete the ritual.
Speaker 8:Oh.
Tim / GM:Seeing you, he is driven to fury, knowing that you're the one who caused his premature death. And he will do anything to kill you where you stand.
Tara / Journey:Well, that answers that fucking question of whether he was, like, in it or a witless Yeah. Victim. Uh-huh.
Speaker 8:Those are some nasty thoughts.
Tim / GM:Next up is the bird. Alright. The bird is going to take a dive. We got 1, 2, 3, and 4. Bert.
Tim / GM:Uh-oh. You see the bird take one great flap, raise up into the air, and then descend directly on you, beak first, and wings tucked aerodynamically behind it and crashes into you.
John / Doran:Is this guy undead?
Tim / GM:It is. Yes. Great. Oh, it's got disadvantage again. Sure does.
Tara / Journey:Alright. Hayes.
Tim / GM:17 to hit.
Speaker 8:No. It's too late for me to use shield. Right?
Tim / GM:No? No?
Speaker 8:Yes. I would like to use shield. Okay.
Tim / GM:And does that Do it. Pump your AC over?
John / Doran:Yep.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. It, gets right up against you. And, I'm gonna say in order to shield yourself, you're going to have to take your eyes off Tonberry for a second.
Speaker 8:Oh,
Tim / GM:sure. Yeah. Okay. Good. So you shield yourself against the bird.
Tim / GM:It dives towards you. You see its open beak try to clamp down on you, and you can hear the straining of your shield as it almost gives away underneath its beak, and then it gives up and flies back to its perch.
Tara / Journey:Uh-oh. Bert is trapped between a bird and a tom berry.
Speaker 4:What is this fight?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Next up is Uli.
Speaker 4:Oh, I forgot I was playing.
Tara / Journey:It's good that we're all so excited for what's going on with other people that we forget what we're doing.
Speaker 8:That's a good sign.
Tara / Journey:It's unprofessional, but it's entertaining.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm sorry.
Tara / Journey:No. No. No. We're all doing it, except for John.
Tim / GM:John is terminally professional.
Speaker 7:It's too good.
Tim / GM:He doesn't have to do it.
Tara / Journey:And he doesn't need
Speaker 4:to do
Tara / Journey:anything else. There's no treatment.
John / Doran:I do make up rules, though. So there's that.
Speaker 4:How far away am I from the closest living being?
Tim / GM:You're fairly close. People have scattered a little bit. Holly moved away. I think snack has stayed in his exact position.
John / Doran:I did step forward Okay.
Tim / GM:To get him. Good. Yep.
Speaker 8:Yep. I'm, like, toward one of the edges, I guess.
Tim / GM:Have you moved since the beginning of this?
Speaker 8:Yeah. I shuffled away.
Tim / GM:That's right. I remember you saying that.
Speaker 8:Yep. Okay.
Tim / GM:Just gonna I
Speaker 8:did the Bert shuffle.
Tim / GM:Double checking where you're all at here.
Speaker 8:My, signature move?
Tim / GM:Yes. Down down do your thing. Read a book. I am Bert.
John / Doran:Okay.
Speaker 4:I want I can I try and banish Tom Berry?
Tim / GM:Perhaps.
Speaker 4:Like, will it send him anywhere into death, maybe?
Tim / GM:You you would send them to the plane they belong to.
Speaker 4:Are we in the plane he belongs to?
Tim / GM:You, I'm gonna say no. He is destined for another plane at the moment.
Speaker 4:Is that a bad if he goes to that plane, is that bad?
Hannah / Eryn:Banish him, Holly yells
Tim / GM:across. If you're thinking of banishing him, do it.
Hannah / Eryn:He's No. His knife is saying that.
Speaker 8:His knife is probably like Did
Tara / Journey:I banish him?
Speaker 8:Right right here currently
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 8:By Britsnake.
Tara / Journey:Yes.
Tim / GM:Yes, Banish?
Speaker 7:Yes, that.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 4:And I would like to bend luck so that he has a d four penalty to that save.
Tim / GM:Okay. Damn.
Speaker 4:The Prisma save.
Tim / GM:Okay. Ready? 10 total.
Speaker 4:Against my spell safe, TCG fails. K. So he
Hannah / Eryn:gets banished.
Speaker 8:You're banished. Alright.
Speaker 4:If the target's native to a different plane of existence than the one you're on, the target is banished with a faint popping noise returning to its home plane. If the spell ends before a minute has passed, the target reappears. Otherwise, they'd stay there permanently.
Tim / GM:Cool. Okay. Oh, good. Bert, you hear this loud as Tonberry just disappears, and you didn't realize until then how fucking close he was to you. You see this this glass like blade that was maybe 6 inches from your face just shatter and disappear.
Tim / GM:I I will tell you, you got off so legendarily lucky with his first attack in the hallway. He rolled That
Speaker 8:was lucky?
Tim / GM:Yes. He rolled, I believe, 4 or 5 ones out of 8. Oh. Yeah. So, anyway, Tonberry has disappeared.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, thank god. Lily.
Speaker 4:I, I didn't know I could do that. Where'd you send him? Not here. Wherever he's supposed to be, I think.
Speaker 8:That's good enough for me. Remind me to tell you something about him later.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Yeah. You've redeemed yourself for hurting us all.
Speaker 4:I I said I was sorry.
Tim / GM:You all see, Ash Muldriff, drifting closer and closer, and she actually passes Veronica to be the first one to pass through the gate. She reaches the center of this room and disappears into the black gate. The skeleton tries as best as it can to stop the spirit, but it can't.
Tara / Journey:Skeleton's like, no. Stop.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Next up is Holly.
Hannah / Eryn:Wait. The crow didn't roll at the end of its turn for phantasmal killer.
Tim / GM:You're right. It didn't. So hot. Good catch. Thank you.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm sorry.
Speaker 8:I have
Tim / GM:it written in giant letters and phantasmal killer. 13 total.
Hannah / Eryn:Is that against my spell save?
Tim / GM:Yes. Your spell save.
Hannah / Eryn:That fails. Awesome. Okay. 4
Speaker 8:d 10 psychic damage?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. 4 d 10 psychic to that burb. Okay. It is 23.
Tim / GM:Nice.
Hannah / Eryn:Do I add anything to that damage?
Tim / GM:You do not. Okay. That is 23.
Hannah / Eryn:Psychic damage.
Tim / GM:Alright. From the psychic damage, you see this whole bird lose its composure. All of the bones fall to pieces, like it can't hold itself together, and then they all just sort of grab each other and stand back up, and it starts to reform again.
Speaker 4:Ugh.
Tim / GM:Next is
Hannah / Eryn:Can I tell if it got hurt at all from it?
Tim / GM:It it did momentarily. That that was profoundly effective on the bird. However, the pain that you inflicted did not last. It it seems to have a nearly infinite pool of life to pull upon here.
Hannah / Eryn:I think I'm going to drop that concentrate spiel
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:And cast big Bigby's hand.
Tim / GM:Okay. To do what?
Hannah / Eryn:To create a giant hand to attack skeletons.
Tim / GM:Okay. Okay.
Speaker 8:Scoop them up.
Hannah / Eryn:Scoop them up.
Speaker 8:Two scoops of skeletons.
Hannah / Eryn:I could also try to hold the bird if I wanted to, but we'll see. Okay. But first, I gotta create the hand.
Speaker 4:A bird in the big bee's hand.
Tim / GM:A bird in the hand.
Tara / Journey:It's It's like little bunny fufu.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Popping them on the hips.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. I create a large hand of shimmery translucent force in an unoccupied space I can see within range. It moves at my command mimicking the movements of my own hand.
Speaker 8:High five
Speaker 4:yourself. And then the ring slaps it better.
Hannah / Eryn:I think Uli is closest to me, so I'm gonna yell over to Uli and ask, Uli, I never used this spell before. And I'm, like, shaking my hands out open palm in front of me, and the hand is just the giant hand is now shaking around in the air. Woah.
Speaker 4:Well, do something cool with it.
Hannah / Eryn:Should I grab the bird or push some skeletons into the pit?
Speaker 4:I've, the bird seems to be probably the the bigger problem.
Hannah / Eryn:I don't know if I can hurt it, but I can hold it in place. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 4:Just, like, smack it around a bit. Sure. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Holly, like, looks at her hand her palm of her hand, her real hand, and then she's like, reaches out. It's like some VR, like she's wearing an Oculus VR thing, and she just reaches up, and the hand is going up to the top of the tower to try to grasp the grapple
Tim / GM:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:The bird.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:It is a what size creature is it?
Tim / GM:Huge? Large.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. I can do huge or smaller. So that There
Tim / GM:you go. That's good. You got it all.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. You have to do a strength save.
Tim / GM:That is a 17 total.
Hannah / Eryn:Nope. But it has a And It has a strength of plus 8. Oh, Jesus.
Tim / GM:Okay. What are you doing?
Hannah / Eryn:This is my one level
Speaker 8:It's a strong hand.
Tim / GM:Oh, no.
Hannah / Eryn:I have 2 level 5. This is a level 5 spell. And then I'm going to so I'm going to grab it, and I'm gonna guess I'm gonna crush it. I can't really move it, it says. I'm just grappling it.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. But I'm gonna try to crush it with bludgeoning damage. K. To d6. 11.
Tim / GM:11 bludgeoning damage? Yeah. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:I crushed it. And it's grappled now.
Tim / GM:Yes. Alright. You all see the raven's wings kind of tighten in around its body as this hand grabs it, and it sort of elongates as it's being squeezed and crushed by a giant hand, and, it it seems rather helpless at the moment, actually. You all hear the crunching of bones and see some powdery dust fall to the floor as this thing is being controlled. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:I got that burb. Good job, Holly. Thanks for your help, Ollie. Holly's just, like, holding her hands, probably clutched in front of her.
Tim / GM:At that moment, one of these skeletons is close enough to Bert to begin thrashing him, that walked out from the burning white orb.
Tara / Journey:Keep in mind, guarding guardian skellas.
Tim / GM:Well, that's right. Yeah. Let's have those go on your initiative to attack things and stuff like that.
Tara / Journey:Okay.
Tim / GM:Okay? Bert, that is a natural twenty.
Speaker 8:Is it an undead?
Tim / GM:It is undead. It's got best spell for this place. Sorry, Bert. That's, that's a 9.
Speaker 8:Okay. Great.
Tim / GM:Great. Probably not a
Speaker 8:That's a mess.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 8:Myself's shield up
Tim / GM:until Oh, that's right. Jesus. Alright. So skeleton does nothing. And there are, I'm gonna have a skeleton on snack as well.
Tim / GM:Snack that is an 11 to hit. Nope. Great. Alright. And a skeleton on Uli, is a 12 to hit.
Speaker 8:Uli? I think that's it.
Speaker 4:That's a hit. Yes. Gotcha. God, I'm so fucking weak.
Tim / GM:Got him. That is 4 bludgeoning damage.
Speaker 8:Put some clothes on, Uli.
Tim / GM:You see there are more skeletons pulling out from that first orb and the second orb. They are continuing to generate, 3 skeletons per orb per turn. And at the very end of the round, who, if anyone, is still in their original spot? I don't think anyone at this point.
Hannah / Eryn:The very beginning of the battle, you mean?
Speaker 4:Yep. No. Yeah. No.
Tim / GM:Okay. You all hear this very subtle among all the chaos of battle, and these moldy spots have grown out to about a 5 foot radius and puffed, and the mold disappears. Wait.
Hannah / Eryn:Did it go into spores in the air?
Tim / GM:No. No. No. Oh, wait. It just kind of disappeared.
Tim / GM:Yep. Disappeared from where it was. So those spots are no longer hazardous.
Speaker 4:Disappeared from where it was.
Tim / GM:Yeah. That's ominous. It is, the beginning of a new round. I need everyone who is in this room to make a dexterity saving through.
Speaker 8:I hate it.
Speaker 4:16?
Speaker 8:Dirty 20.
Hannah / Eryn:14, but I'm gonna use a luck to try to get higher.
Speaker 8:Nope. 14. 14 would do it.
Tim / GM:Snack? 11. Okay. No snack and no holly.
Hannah / Eryn:Yep. And they used a whole luck and rolled a 7.
Tim / GM:Once again, bones have reached up from the floor to grasp at your legs, to immobilize you and hold you in place as that mold begins to grow beneath you once more, snack, it is your go.
John / Doran:If if there's a small, like, cluster of skeletons Yeah. Snack's less interested in the bird now that's grabbed. So I'm going to use, my cloak of brimstone to, misty step 60 feet.
Tim / GM:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
John / Doran:I'm planning to just, like, kind of appear in the air Mhmm. And then just, like, cast, like, a a fire breath. Okay. Officially, it's a line, but, I
Tim / GM:mean Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can line them up.
John / Doran:Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll just kinda blast a 30 foot line, try to hit some skellies.
Tim / GM:Okay. I'll say this is on the 3 that have just emerged. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
John / Doran:Nice. Okay. So they make a deck save. Okay.
Tim / GM:I'm gonna roll as a group. Not bad, actually. That would be an 18 total for that group.
John / Doran:Saves. So I'm guessing it's half damage?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Tim / GM:Correct. We've looked at that before.
Speaker 8:Okay.
John / Doran:9, fire damage. Okay. And, that's replacing one attack. So then I will use, eldritch blast to just do the orbs look menacing?
Tim / GM:The orbs look, substantial and corporeal.
John / Doran:Snack does not know these words. He just shoots a skeleton. Okay. Yep. So we got a, 15 to hit.
Tim / GM:Yep. On one skeletons, definitely hits.
John / Doran:Okay. 14, radiant damage if we still count for it. Okay. Okay.
Tim / GM:So you can tell that, even the fire breath was enough to bring these skeletons beyond bloodied.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:The radiant damage on top of that just incinerates one of the skeletons as it passes through them, almost like it didn't collide with anything. Yeah.
John / Doran:Alright. That's my turn.
Tim / GM:Okay. Tibio.
Speaker 8:Hey. What's up?
Tim / GM:After stepping into this place
Speaker 4:Oh, fuck.
Tim / GM:The this new environment is illuminated for you. Turns out it's not just shadow beyond this place. It's just that you can't see into it. Once you're in here, it's not unlike a terrestrial cave. You can tell that there's a ceiling above you and a floor beneath you.
Tim / GM:About 40 feet ahead of you, is a small ethereal blue raven that is perched on this spire of rocks, almost the same exact way that the raven is perched on the archway. After being in there for just a couple seconds, you hear this and you look to see what it is. Tonberry has appeared directly beside you.
Speaker 4:Oh, great.
Tim / GM:And you can see he is wielding this corporeal form. You've even seen Tonberry as a ghost, but you've in his corporeal form. You've even seen Tonberry as a ghost, but you've never seen him like this. He looks absolutely out of his fucking mind. His beard is just frazzled out and going crazy.
Tim / GM:He is lit up white as if he has begun the curse breaking effect. You can see the magic fading off of him, and he looks at you with these trembling eyes. I
Tara / Journey:cast shield on myself and just wait.
Tim / GM:Do you see he kind of, like, looks at you and then he looks out over this abyss that's in front of both of you, Maybe just beyond that 40 or 60 feet to the raven is a sheer cliff face. This cave is more or less an infinite cylinder. Stretching below and above you is just blackness and among this blackness is a galaxy of little points of light that seem to be moving in unison. This constant stream of coherent energy that flows through this place. It's all very new and it doesn't quite make sense.
Tim / GM:You can't even tell which way is up in this place, conclusively. At that moment, you see Ash Muldrift effuse through the gate as well and kind of plop herself right beside you.
Tara / Journey:Hello?
Tim / GM:Ash looks to you and says,
Speaker 9:thank you. I remember you.
Speaker 7:Yes. I we met earlier in the hallway of mirrors, and, I told you that your daughter is safe and that you can move on.
Tim / GM:She kind of smiles at that, and you see, like, a large chunk of her just disappear as she continues to smile at you. You can see that chunk of her is joining this mass of light out in the center of the room.
Tara / Journey:I exhale a little bit, and I smile.
Speaker 7:Be at peace.
Tim / GM:She just, like, sits cross legged on the floor and just kind of waits, and you see her slowly kind of disintegrate over time. Tonberry watches this happen, and then he seems to gain some kind of realization.
Speaker 8:Of the living. It's time.
Tara / Journey:I kind of edge nearer the Raven in that whole situation over there. And I I say,
Speaker 7:I'm sorry, judge Dunbarry. It is it is over. It is too late. It is done.
Tim / GM:He looks up at you and he says, it is done.
Speaker 8:It's over. You've lost Orzo.
Tim / GM:And he's just calling into the void beneath him.
Speaker 7:These powers that you have aligned with, they will not win. Sir, you must let go.
Tim / GM:You can see pieces of Tonberry fading away as he continues to scream into the distance beneath him, and then you hear,
Speaker 9:I'm so glad to meet you. You have shown us strength and cleverness and powerful force of will.
Tim / GM:The, raven has turned towards
Tara / Journey:you. I turn toward the raven.
Speaker 9:We are proud to have you as a guardian of the underworld.
Tim / GM:And at that, you can see maybe 40 or 50 other ravens just briefly come into view, and then they seem to join that pool of light in the middle. He says, you will,
Speaker 9:of course, have control over the comings and goings of this place. You must always watch over it, and you're of course, due your title. Tibio Femur, king of bones and guardian of the underworld. I,
Speaker 7:I did not want to be king of anything. I just I just want to help.
Tim / GM:It changes its form when you begin speaking back to it. It it more resembles you now, much more of a gnome. Instead, now it's got this, kind of feathered cowl that covers its face, but it has grown into a humanoid shape.
Speaker 9:It says, as you know, Tibio, we're in trouble. There's something scary that comes through these tears. And it kind
Tim / GM:of gestures out to this, gestures out to this, that pool of light in the center again and once more you can see these these tears that are leaking into this place. It looks down at Tonberry briefly and it just kind of shakes his head as if to say don't worry about him. He'll be soon. Okay.
Speaker 9:You must have questions for me.
Speaker 7:Yes. I how how do I fix this? I I wish to repair this damage. How can I fix it? Is it something I can do here?
Speaker 7:Is it something I must go? I know there is a problem in Windhoorn and I know that the curse breakers are working towards so much, and I want to make sure that the solution is sustainable.
Speaker 9:Perhaps it can be done from here, but this is no place for mortals.
Speaker 7:I see. So I will I will have to go again to repair things from the mortal plane.
Speaker 9:Yes. But I'm afraid there are the damage is far too widespread, even now.
Tim / GM:And it's right. You look over this Milky Way of tears in the underworld. You don't know how you could even way of tears in the underworld. You don't know how you could even begin to repair this.
Speaker 7:I I'm not enough. Not not by myself. Maybe maybe that's the way. Maybe it's the curse breakers.
Speaker 9:What about your parents?
Speaker 7:My parents, they are they are gone. They are dead. Have you seen them here?
Speaker 9:No.
Tara / Journey:No. They have
Speaker 9:not passed through.
Speaker 7:How is that possible?
Speaker 9:Another mystery.
Speaker 7:I I have to find them.
Speaker 9:Tibio, there's something here that we are afraid of.
Speaker 7:What is it? What can I do?
Tim / GM:It, looks up at you one more time and says, Tibio, it's coming.
Tara / Journey:I look around and reach out with my necromantic powers.
Tim / GM:You look back towards Tonberry, and though he's about half gone at this point, he is still screaming over the edge of this cliff. And looking down, you can see exactly what he's screaming at. There's, of course, thousands of tears in this place, but there is one that is 1,000 times larger than any others. You see this shimmering pool of silvery lights at the bottom of this cylinder that seems to roil and splash, and suddenly something gargantuan begins crawling out of it into the underworld, and it races towards you. Tonberry stands and says,
Speaker 3:yes. I return. Finally.
Tara / Journey:Do I get a feel that this is the same sort of thing that the curses are made of? It's the same
Speaker 7:same deal?
Tara / Journey:Yep. Same deal? Okay.
Tim / GM:Yep. Very familiar.
Tara / Journey:Okay. I'm, like, nervous about doing I'm nervous about doing violence in this place.
Tim / GM:This figure reaches the edge of the cliff and becomes enormous in your field of view, without a thought, it reaches down and grabs the raven you're talking to, and it just bites it in half. No. It reaches over towards Tonberry and just crushes him in his hands Oops. And then begins slurping whatever ectoplasm is left over
Speaker 7:from him. No. Stop. Stop.
Tim / GM:And then it looks down at you and it reaches towards you and it can't seem to get a hold of you. It is Bert's turn.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, wait. She has to do skeletons.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah.
Tim / GM:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Defense of Defender skeletons. Yeah. In the real world.
Tim / GM:Yep.
Tara / Journey:Spellies. Yeah. So the skeletons are just going to follow the letter of my commands, basically. Anything that has attacked or is aggressive towards my buds, they are going to attack.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. Let's have them attack those skellies then.
Tara / Journey:So I would just roll it like I'm the DM. Mhmm. I'm the DM now. 23 to hit.
Tim / GM:Yeah. We'll say that's against Bert's assailant.
John / Doran:Yeah.
Tara / Journey:6.
Tim / GM:Bert, your skelly is nearly bloodied.
Speaker 4:Fractured?
Tim / GM:Fractured.
Speaker 3:Nearly fractured.
Tara / Journey:Am I gonna do that once per Yeah. Skelly? Okay. 2nd skelly. Who wants a skelly?
Tim / GM:Say snack.
Tara / Journey:Sure.
Hannah / Eryn:16 to hit.
Tim / GM:Also hits.
Hannah / Eryn:8 damage.
Tim / GM:Cracked Skelly and Uli.
Speaker 7:15 to hit.
John / Doran:Also hits.
Tara / Journey:Five damage.
Tim / GM:Not quite Cracked Skelly. K.
Tara / Journey:And then is there anything that has is is looking askance at Holly?
Tim / GM:Not really. I mean, the bird is pretty much I mean, it's been grappled by Holly at
Speaker 8:the moment. Skeletons we got out right now?
Tim / GM:So there are 6 in total. There are 3 that are clustered. Well, I guess, Snack deleted one of them. Yeah. Yeah.
Tim / GM:So there's 2 that snack are is still on that are both half dead and then 3 that are half dead at each Bert, Uli, and snack.
Tara / Journey:Okay. The skeleton that is near Holly just kind of rattles its arms at the bird. K.
Hannah / Eryn:Get off my lawn. Yeah. Alright.
Tim / GM:Now we're on bird, I believe.
Speaker 8:Okay. Holly, how are you holding up? You still got that thing pinned down?
Hannah / Eryn:I think so. At least for another 55 seconds. Yeah.
Speaker 8:Just gotta wait till Tibio gets back. I'll hold them off. I will take out my ingress ink and draw a circle around the other orb, the one that Snack's not near.
Tim / GM:Okay. Nice.
Speaker 8:And I imagine some skeletons will take some attacks of opportunity as I'm walking around it.
Tim / GM:You've got one that is on you that is definitely going to.
Speaker 8:Okay.
Tim / GM:That would be a 14 to hit Burt.
Speaker 8:That is a miss even without the shield spell. God.
Speaker 4:How are you better at AC than me?
Tim / GM:No. They're pretty.
Tara / Journey:He's wearing more clothes.
Speaker 8:And I have a cloak with plus 1 AC to give me 15.
Speaker 4:Next item grab, I need something crazy.
Tim / GM:Bert, you draw a circle around this orb on the floor, and a wall of text, surrounds this thing. You are hoping that that will hold long enough to keep these skeletons at bay. It is the bird's turn, and the bird is going to fight the grapple.
Speaker 4:Bird, bird, bird.
Tim / GM:I need you to make a contested grapple with Bigsby's stats.
Speaker 4:It's got real good strength.
Tim / GM:It does.
Hannah / Eryn:So I added strength modifier to it?
Tim / GM:Yes.
Hannah / Eryn:Non natural twenty.
Speaker 8:Jesus. Nice.
Hannah / Eryn:Is that plus 8?
Tim / GM:Bird continues to be grappled.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, he's a very strong hand.
Tim / GM:So being that it can't physically move anywhere, the bird is going to let out a silent screech and form a third orb.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm I'm gonna pinch its beak with my forefingers.
Speaker 8:Oh, that's where the orbs are coming from.
Tim / GM:The beak. Yeah. So there's one protected orb, one orb that snack is on, and a third orb that is unguarded at the moment. Uli.
Speaker 4:Fuck. What's near me? There's a Skelly?
Tim / GM:You got one Skelly near you. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Where's the orb that isn't guarded?
Tim / GM:We'll say it's kind of like on the other side of the archway.
Speaker 4:How far?
Tim / GM:All of the orbs are on, like, the farthest end, like, in the kind of the four cardinal directions of this plateau. If you're in the center of it, it would be 50 feet from you.
Speaker 4:Okay. So I could, like, peer around the arch?
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Are there any big bones on the floor near me, like like a thigh bone?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Are there any bones?
Speaker 4:Are there any bones around?
Tim / GM:Yeah. You've got a giant's tibia at your disposal.
Speaker 4:He's needs a break. I would like to meta magic. Mhmm. Bonus action, magic missile at the orb.
Tim / GM:K.
Speaker 4:I'll just do it as a normal one. I do not surge 12 force damage at the orb Okay. As a bonus action. And as a normal action, I wanna pick up a Tibia. Mhmm.
Tim / GM:I want
Speaker 4:a Tibio Mhmm. And smack the Skelly.
Tim / GM:Okay. Sorry. One more time. What was the damage on the orb?
Speaker 4:12. 12. Okay. Like, I forgot already.
Tim / GM:So when you impact that orb, you actually see it shake violently with each impact, and it gets smaller and smaller, and the flame grows weaker and weaker
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 8:And almost
Tim / GM:winks out of existence.
Speaker 4:And and then I smack a skelly. K. Which is, in improvised 12?
Tim / GM:12 does hit.
Speaker 4:Sweet 6.
Tim / GM:And this is on the Skelly that was on you? Yeah. Still not dead. Sorry.
Speaker 4:I used my left hand.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Okay. Alright.
Speaker 4:Alright. And then, I think that's my turn.
Tim / GM:Okay. Tibeo, from where you are, you see ash, completely, disintegrate, into this collective pool of light in the center, and then we're back to Holly.
Hannah / Eryn:Can I do a check, like, an arcane check to tell if it's Spinkawing is a magic spell? Like, can I tell that? Yeah.
Tim / GM:Give me an arcana check.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. 22.
Tim / GM:I'm gonna say it's magic. Yeah. Okay. Yep. It's a spell that it's casting when it does that shriek motion.
Hannah / Eryn:Great. Okay. Answers all my questions. I'm gonna squeeze it
Tim / GM:k.
Hannah / Eryn:With my grasping hand
Tim / GM:Mhmm.
Hannah / Eryn:And do 2 d 6 plus my spell casting modifier, bludgeoning damage again, just because I'm mad at this burb. K. We do. Oh, 17 damage. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Crush damage. So with my action, I am going to cast, I think I'll cast magic missile.
Speaker 4:I'm the only one who can use that spell.
Tim / GM:You okay with that?
Speaker 7:I also
Tara / Journey:have magic missile.
Tim / GM:That's right.
Hannah / Eryn:I think I'll do 3 at the nearest orb to me that I can see.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I'll attack the 1, maybe Uli's vibe
Tim / GM:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:More.
Tim / GM:And what's your damage on that?
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, 9 damage total.
Tim / GM:Okay. With that, that orb actually gets smaller with every impact. And then on the last missile, you see it completely disappear, and the skeletons that were reaching up below it all fall back to the ground.
Hannah / Eryn:Hey. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And just for flavor, Holly was grasping her hand up in the air, grasping the crow, and then out of her pocket, she pulls a little crystal and she goes pew pew pew and shoots it.
Hannah / Eryn:Right? Little beams out of her crystal magic missiles.
Tim / GM:Doing work.
Hannah / Eryn:And she's just like, yeah. Double fisting the damage. Thank you.
Tim / GM:Alright.
Tara / Journey:That's the
Hannah / Eryn:end of my turn.
Speaker 4:Okay. Oh, I did not move,
Hannah / Eryn:and I was grappled by that stuff, by the way.
Tim / GM:Okay. The summoned skeletons, do not come out of the 3rd, orb that just came up. They do come out of the first one. As expected, they are now tight packed in this little 5 foot circle stacked on top of each other, and they seem to be fighting each other to try to get out
Tara / Journey:of this. Nicely
Tim / GM:done. The 2 skeletons that are still alive near snack both attempt to thrash him. Snack that
Tara / Journey:is Attempt being the operative word.
Tim / GM:Oh, shit. There's a 13 and a 9 to hit snack.
John / Doran:13 might hit. Thirteen hits.
Speaker 8:Yes.
Hannah / Eryn:I was gonna say, you could just lap one
Speaker 8:of them.
Tim / GM:Wow. I'm sorry. I'm eager to hurt you guys. 4 damage to the snag. K.
Hannah / Eryn:The most damage I've taken is still from Uli. Yeah.
Tim / GM:No. Same here. Same here.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry.
Tim / GM:Wait. Actually, Holly, now that you say that, at the end of the round, who hasn't moved since they were grappled?
Hannah / Eryn:It was just me because snack Missy stepped away.
Tim / GM:That's right.
Hannah / Eryn:Missy. Alright. Misty steps. Right?
Speaker 4:That's who Missy's
Tim / GM:step is.
Tara / Journey:Missy's step is just a really funny idea.
Tim / GM:Holly
Hannah / Eryn:Yes.
Tim / GM:You have got the bird completely controlled with one hand, and you've got the new orb completely controlled with the other hand. Statistically speaking, half of this battlefield is being dominated by you alone. And then you hear and the mold beneath you plumes upward. You take 50 necrotic damage. Hey.
Hannah / Eryn:But half it because I'm about my shroud.
Speaker 8:I was ready for that.
Speaker 4:Tim wants to kill us so bad.
Tim / GM:I want one big hit.
Speaker 4:Miss Missy Steph and Lester restorations.
Tim / GM:Missy and Lester will definitely be characters like that. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:So I take 25 to
Tim / GM:25 bullshit damage.
Hannah / Eryn:Hey. I am getting there.
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And their son, Ray of Frost.
Tara / Journey:Raymond Frost. Raymond Frost.
Tim / GM:Alright. At the beginning of the round, Holly, I do need you to make a concentration save. Because you took 25 damage, you've got a, I believe you have to beat a d c 12 concentration check to maintain the grasp.
Speaker 4:Ham is just shaking your head.
Tara / Journey:Ham is like,
Hannah / Eryn:no. I'm not doing this. Everyone's nodding at me like, yep. That's just what happens. And I'm like, I have never heard this rule in D and D before.
Tim / GM:Now that I'm now that I'm guessing.
Tara / Journey:If you take damage, you have to just cons and turn and save.
Hannah / Eryn:Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.
Hannah / Eryn:So I just do a a b 20?
Tim / GM:Yep. And then this is gonna come from your constitution modifier. So I
Hannah / Eryn:think it's just 13. Right, Thomas?
Speaker 8:Mhmm. Oh, for god's sake.
Tim / GM:Alright. You succeeded by 1.
Tara / Journey:You are concentrating hard as hell.
Hannah / Eryn:Yep. You don't fuck with me.
Speaker 4:Your butt cheeks are so clenched. They are very clenched.
Tara / Journey:She tight. She's not gonna poop for
Tim / GM:a week.
Speaker 4:She tight.
Tim / GM:Alright. You know what? No. Oh,
Tara / Journey:no. Too squirrelly, guys. Too squirrelly.
Tim / GM:You see the bird, screech again?
Hannah / Eryn:No. Counterspell.
John / Doran:I don't know if you can counterspell it
Speaker 8:because you might
Tara / Journey:have to spell. Spell is?
John / Doran:No. No. It's because it's, it's like a it's not like an arcane spell. It's like an ability.
Hannah / Eryn:No. It's why I asked
Tim / GM:him Yeah. She did ask before if it was a a magic spell.
Hannah / Eryn:I was like, can I tell if it's an ability of this creature or if it's, like, casting a spell? Dang. And he said it's casting a spell. Yep.
Tim / GM:I did.
Tara / Journey:That's right. Isn't a spell don't you have to know the spell to counter it?
Hannah / Eryn:I didn't read it.
Tim / GM:Let me look.
Speaker 8:That's, like, part of it. There might be, like, other rules for if you don't know a spell.
Tim / GM:On on normal day, I wouldn't take you up on that.
Hannah / Eryn:Oh, no. It's about what level spell it is.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:If the creature is casting a spell at 3rd level or lower, it's fails and has no effect. If it's casting a spell of 4th level or higher, make an ability check to use my spell casting ability.
Tim / GM:Okay. I'm gonna say, yeah, it's a 5th level spell then.
Speaker 8:Okay.
Tim / GM:It's a level bajillion spell.
Speaker 4:I rolled
Hannah / Eryn:I rolled really high. What is it? I rolled a 19.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I said level 50.
Hannah / Eryn:The DC is 10 plus the spells level.
Speaker 9:Yeah. I know.
Speaker 8:I know. I know. I know.
Speaker 7:Got it.
Tim / GM:Holly, you've got this thing, like, crushed in one hand. You just quelled, an orb on the other side of the room with magic missile, and you see another orb begin to form. And your veins are beginning to pop out as you sweat profusely, just controlling the entire battlefield.
Speaker 4:Oh, he is so infuriating.
Hannah / Eryn:Can Holly just start, like, having a little bit of her hair just, like, start to float in the air? Kinda like I think
Speaker 8:so. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:She's so, like, electrically charged with magic right now.
Tim / GM:Going full witch.
Hannah / Eryn:Full jiggly. Yep. Okay. That's all for my counter spell. That's all.
Speaker 4:It was, like, 700 hours. No. It's not even my turn. Oh my god.
Tim / GM:It is Snack's turn.
John / Doran:Okay. I need to kill more skeletons.
Hannah / Eryn:Kill the orb snacks.
John / Doran:27 for the first skeleton. Eldritch Blast? Yeah. Hits. 15 for the second.
John / Doran:Okay. So first Skelly, we got a 6, 10, 14 damage. Obliterated. 2nd one, we got 8 damage. Likewise.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:Yep. It is Tibio's turn.
Tara / Journey:Oh, fuck. Okay.
Tim / GM:You see this colossal, it looks like a curse, like you've seen multiple times before, and you've seen this specific one. It is Orzo, the dwarf with the exceptionally long cape that has risen into this space.
Speaker 3:You think me evil? None of it matters, Fimur. Soon we will all be free from the fear of death. Soon we will be as one. Why do you fight to prolong the suffering of so many?
Speaker 7:I do not care if you are evil. That does not matter to me at all. But you are doing harm to those who are alive, and there is a natural order that I must keep.
Speaker 3:So there will be no difference. No death. No pain. You wish pain for your people?
Speaker 7:Pain is a part of life. And you cannot have no life, no death. It is both or nothing at all.
Speaker 3:For you, it is death.
Tim / GM:And you hear this. As it, begins to, reach down towards you. And this, you do feel.
Tara / Journey:Okay. I cast blight.
Tim / GM:Okay. Just fighting back however you can.
Tara / Journey:I'm trying to, like yeah. I'm trying to new use necromancy to kind of siphon off some of its power. I'm not necessarily trying to take anything into myself.
Tim / GM:Okay. When you cast Blight, you can see the magic much more clearly here than you could in the mortal plane. Almost like the smoke and mirrors are kind of done away with here, you can actually see the blight sort of leave your fingertips like you couldn't normally, and you see it transfer towards him and then you see him just sort of swat his hand at the spell as it comes near him. And, he begins he continues to, kind of pull on your soul. At the same time, you hear, oh, shut the hell up.
Tim / GM:And you see Veronica step forward and you can see she's pointing a finger towards Orzo and you can see her finger start to disappear with the last bit of her own soul. She is casting the final curse breaking spell to try to deal harm to Orzo. You can see here just rapidly disappearing as she pours herself into this thin beam that seems to tear through part of him.
Tara / Journey:Lou. I am going to join her in her curse breaking.
Tim / GM:Okay. So you begin the curse breaker spell?
Tara / Journey:Yep. I tapped the first circle.
Tim / GM:Is unlike anything you have felt thus far. When you tap the first circle and bait the curse, so to speak Mhmm. You become white and you sort of join the rest of the figures here. You can see now that these are the shapeless will of consciousness left over. Every little speck of light is a soul that has assimilated into the grand beyond together and they seem familiar to you now that you've joined them.
Tim / GM:You can kind of feel your entire ancestry is in this place, and the ancestry of the entire planet has gathered here as it waits to be reborn. What do you do next?
Tara / Journey:I give it all I got.
Tim / GM:Go ahead and roll to hit.
Tara / Journey:16.
Tim / GM:16 does not hit or so.
Tara / Journey:The inspiration. I have inspiration. Sorry.
Tim / GM:We're talking from the top. I will allow.
Tara / Journey:A whisper from
Tim / GM:the top. Fine. Yeah. Go ahead.
Tara / Journey:What do I add?
Tim / GM:You just roll again. Advantage. Oh, lord.
Speaker 7:Please see bottom.
Tara / Journey:Same exact roll. Damn.
Tim / GM:You almost cast the spell and then take a second to realign your aim and try again, and you really pour yourself into it this time, and you see Orzo just smirk at you and sidestep. As large as he is, it seems no challenge for him to conquer you in this space. You feel all of your magic leave you until you have absolutely nothing left. Bert, it's your turn.
Speaker 8:Well, with things got things under control out here pretty much, I'm sure Tibia is only moments away from completing his destiny.
Tim / GM:Just like waiting for him to come out of the gate.
Speaker 8:Are there any skeletons left that are out?
Tim / GM:Yes. There's one attacking Uli. That is the only remaining skeleton to my memory.
Hannah / Eryn:Bert, you think, you think Timmy is okay in there?
Speaker 8:I don't know. It didn't seem like he wanted us to follow him. Maybe I should check on him.
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. Sure. Whatever. And Holly's just still, like, 2 arms up
Speaker 4:in the air.
Tim / GM:Whatever you say.
Speaker 8:Dear, Octavio.
Tim / GM:As soon as you begin writing, Bert, you see this little warning icon display on the page. Uh-oh. And it says, recipient cannot be found.
Speaker 8:Oh, jeez.
Tim / GM:This might have come up before, but Whisper Quill does not work transplanar.
Speaker 8:Okay. Maybe I'll just, take a peek. So Bert casts arcane eye and sends it into the portal?
Tim / GM:Okay.
Speaker 8:Oh, nope. It does say it can enter another plane of existence.
Tim / GM:Oh. Anyway, wings out of existence. Oh. Well, that's that, I guess. Anything else, Bert?
Speaker 8:I'll take that skeleton. Okay. Well, shoot. 15.
Tim / GM:Alright. 15 does hit Uli's skeleton. Not her skeleton. The skeleton sets.
Speaker 4:I know. Burked.
Speaker 9:My bones.
Speaker 8:I'm a I must kill every skeleton. Ten damage.
Tim / GM:That is enough. Alright. Uly, the skeleton is dispatched, the the true boss of this place.
Speaker 4:That one skeleton.
Tim / GM:And then, Bert, is that it for your turn?
Speaker 8:That's it.
Tim / GM:Okay. After Bert's turn, it is Bert's turn.
Hannah / Eryn:Counterspell. No. I was kidding. Yeah.
Tim / GM:Counterspell and it dies. The bird on the archway is furious. It cannot move, it cannot attack any of you, it cannot do what it is supposed to do here. And so instead, it does the only thing it can do. With its talons, it begins to clutch and tear at the gate, and you all hear a As the shadows in the gate disappear and you see through it clearly, The gate begins to crumble and fall to pieces beneath its feet.
Tim / GM:You are alone in here, Tibio. The gate behind you is no more.
Speaker 7:Oh no, fuck.
Tim / GM:And we'll end it there.
Speaker 7:Oops. What the fuck?
Tim / GM:Oh no.
Speaker 8:Thanks so
Tim / GM:much for listening. I'm Tim, your DM and your genie.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm Hannah playing Holly Hyacinth.
Speaker 8:I'm Thomas. I play Engelbert f f Wisherspoon.
Tara / Journey:I'm Tara, and I play Tibio Femur.
John / Doran:I'm John. I play Snack the kobold.
Speaker 4:And I'm Maggie playing Uli.
