Last time on Cloudfall. While passing through the somber ruins of lore, the party took the opportunity to scour the towers for any whispers of the fey lords before that knowledge would be lost forever. They struck gold when they found conversations from Diver, Phenom, and Viren as well as a few more royal surprises. Words from Marcus Narapria, the King of Dawn's Edge and the Prince of Lotem. They learned about a pact between Lerion and the other fey lords.
They heard the story of the birth of the clouds and Guy learned that someone from his past life still cares for him. They also found a cloud kip though so far it's a little shy of Aaron. With the satisfaction of knowing their enemies a little deeper, they're moving ahead to the rainy hills and the tower beyond leading back to the clouds. All that lies before them is an unknown invisible monstrosity, and a colossal climb back to their home world. Easy.
The 5 of you, including Huber and Mikey and a brand new cloud kid named Fable, are standing outside of the tower of celestial affairs, where you had just learned about the birth of the clouds from Veerun, of all people. Fae Lord associated with Lyrian hail. You know where you have to go, or in the first time that you exited the Feywild, it was through that tower, which is about a mile away from where you are now across the lake yet. Between you and that lie the rainy hills, Island that recently fell out of the sky.
So that's our way out, and Aaron points to the tall tower?
Yes, ma'am. Do we have to climb out the outside? Because I'm not gonna get very far if if we have to do that.
Oh, me neither.
Doran, I believe you have climbed this once before.
Yeah. Doran said it was I mean, you go inside and it's not great, but he made it
through. They're like an elevator or
You'll see when we get there. And we will get there. We'll it'll be fine. Between few of us, we can carry some if we need to. Let's finish all our broth and
We're not in the warming house anymore.
We're not? Tough to go.
Hey. I brought a thermon.
Thanks. I've just been carrying some in my
mouth. Slowly sitting.
He's got one of the hats that has the 2 cans and then the straws.
Camel bag full of broth.
Because his just his it's how he feeds his head when it's separated from his body more easily.
I did wonder about that. If you're eating broth, where does it go? Oh, I
think I said last time that the the swaddle thing that was holding his head was just soaked in broth.
Oh, gosh.
That looks
Couldn't you just pour it down your flame? You don't need to eat. Right?
I also don't no.
Yeah. It's just for show.
It's about the umami. Mhmm.
Oh. Oh. Umami.
Oh, god.
Dorelin, is it true that you had been in this tower before?
Yes. It's true. A long time ago. Many years. Well, not that many, but I the land looks different now with all of the sky lands falling and so, obviously, it's gonna be a little different. Invisible creature, don't remember seeing that before. I think I was on better terms with as well at that time. We have a few obstacles we may run into here. If we can just get into the building, though, I think we'll be okay.
Yong Doan, make me a promise here and now. If I survive this climb with you, you'll tell me everything about your past. I am infinitely curious, and curious more why you wouldn't tell me. You know I have no biases, no ulterior motives, and yet you withhold.
Yeah, Doran.
I don't know what good it would serve. If we get a moment to take a breath, and you have a jar, I'll share what I can.
Much obliged. Let's see to it that we do make it through this tower then.
Journey, are you still okay with the whole being bait thing for the invisible monster? Or
I mean, yeah. Of course. I I think casting some fire fire on it is the best way to make it seen as much as possible.
Yeah. I think it's a smart plan, and Journey can hold her own. So
Or maybe I could do it because of my shell. Right, guys? I could just go inside and
Mackie, I think it would be best if you stay behind and kept a lookout for anything on our on our tails.
She's right, Mackie.
Also, no going off by ourselves. The changelings are still out there. We have to stick together.
We don't know how many there are. Yeah.
Agreed.
Buddy system.
And the changeling I ran into last time, it did a good job of being Tully. I think they can somehow share forms with each other. I don't know. Any approach of one person should be suspicious. Let's stick together at least with another. I ask questions. Be careful, especially you, Mikey.
What do
you mean especially me? I'm always careful.
You're you're very trusting.
Yeah. Yeah. So
Journey, would you take Pinch with you when you go to be bait?
Sure.
Well thought maybe I could have you, like, launch him on onto it.
Just, like, watching him die?
No. I if it's he's so small and then why am I talking to you like I figured if he's he's small enough that the the big scary thing isn't gonna really notice him, then I can see out of his eyes, so I can always keep an eye on where he is.
That's not a bad idea. If nothing else, maybe we'd have something to attach to him.
And I can cast things through him.
Yeah. I don't know. Alright.
Just a thought. And because if you're getting close, then you can just, like Mhmm. Yeah.
Yeah. Sounds good.
Yeah. Just use the slingshot. I'm just kidding.
No. I just throw them.
I don't have a slingshot. I'm just joking.
Pinches our bravest little soldier.
You do the pinch voice. There you go.
Brave little toasted.
Pinch does a hard salute where he brings his arm to his forehead, and then when he pulls it away, you see some dough kind of like stretch between.
I guess, I have a question. We had talked about maybe trying to get some explanation or some more information from Lenati. Is that something we wanna try and do before we confront this invisible creature?
I suspect that she will find us before we make it to the entrance.
I think if she does show up, I could I could talk to her, and I could take the lead on that.
We should also consider the source of all these tales. Viren, who we heard in the jar, it was her silver tongue that destroyed Lotem. I'm not sure we can trust anything she has to say.
That's true. We kind of talked about how the smoke wasn't black, but she could believe what she was saying.
There's a lot in between a lie and the truth with someone so clever as Viren. I agree with Kai.
As your group pulls up to the edge of the island, you also realize there's a lot between this island and the next. It's a bigger gap than you thought it was gonna be, about 60 feet across of black water. Thick fog of the mire laying over the water so deep that if you were to fall in, your head wouldn't even clear the fog.
How far is it?
Sixty feet across. Damn.
What if you had to held your head above your shoulders? Maybe.
Well, it looks like we're stuck here forever.
How are we making it through that?
This is the same fog that can cause sickness and despair.
Do you do you want me to make another bridge?
You can just make a bridge?
Oh, yeah. I mean, I have fabricate. I just need something to make it out of. Preferably something I don't have to move.
I've got my vine too that I can throw across as a line for all of us.
What if you threw the vine and then I, like, expanded off of it?
I don't see why not.
Does anyone have a problem with that? Is that yeah. That's good. I don't know why I have no confidence today.
Just do it.
Yeah. I'm gonna throw my vine across the gap. Mhmm. And, well, I guess, I'll let it grow for a while first so that it's the right length and then throw it across so that it's, like, a tight line.
Mhmm. You all see Journee standing there and kind of, like, coiling up her vine on the floor as it, like, grows and grows and grows. And then she keeps, like, looking at the vine and then looking over the gap and just kinda testing how long it's gonna be. Give me a ranged attack on the other island with your Vine.
Let's see how good your Vine is. Okay? How many hits? How many downloads? What did Vine use?
I only got 6 seconds.
15?
Yeah. Easy. It's a little windy. That's the only thing that you have to fight against here. So when you throw it, you all see the Vine kind of, like, cast out across the water and then list off to the right as the wind blows. But still, this thing is eager to grab on to whatever it lands on. You see those little sucker pods kind of ring themselves into the existing grass and roots there, and it makes a strong connection.
Alright, Poppy. Do your thing.
I'll just expand however much I can.
Oh, cool.
I get 8 connected 5 foot cubes of space to work with, so I figured the center, I would, like, wrap in and around itself, like Yeah. Braid it so it's a thicker, like, 5 foot wide path. Yeah. And her roots got it solid on either side. Right? So
you all see as this thing becomes, much heavier with this extra fabricated vine that's going around it, it kind of sags in the middle just a little bit. But at the same time, it widens out to be 3 and a half, 4 feet across in some in some places across the bridge. It's windy. It's dark. You'll die if you fall off. You can walk across this.
It's the best I could do.
It's not bad at all.
Very nice. I'll go first.
To cross this bridge, let's do an athletics skill check. Why? DC 12.
Add 3.
Add 3.
Or wait. Is it it's a check, not a saving throw.
Right.
Okay.
Sorry. You don't get plus 3.
Oh, wait.
Hey. I'm lucky. Yes. I'm rerolling this 1.
Oh, no.
You got a halfling power. Nice.
You got a 1?
I got a 1. So when I roll a 1, I can reroll for an attack ability check or saving throw.
Cool.
And I have to use the new roll.
Yeah. Roll better.
It's a 10.
That's better.
Plus what?
Athletics? Probably not a good one.
That's a negative one. And what do I get for being next to you?
Nothing. That's a 9.
With a natural twenty, Mikey jets out ahead of everybody and just starts sprinting down the bridge.
Oh,
no. You don't. Aaron also got a natural 20. What?
Yeah. He's, like, running with this big stupid smile on his face, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and then he like looks up and just sees you sprinting past him with a little cocky side
eye.
Last one. There's a rotten turtle.
How are you so fast?
Can Doran, given, the circumstances of a check like this, can Doran be on all fours and just, like, nervously, like, shapely, like, going across?
What did you get on your roll?
I haven't rolled yet.
Oh, I see.
Doran has a fear, like
I see.
Great fights still.
It's not even tall.
It we're over an abyss of smoke.
It's a lake.
Lake. I guess it's not that tall, but it's like
Oh, yeah. You're you're probably 15 feet up or so.
Okay.
Yeah. Still, it's still a real height, but it's the it's knowing what's going in there. Doran, if you agree to whimper and crawl on all fours, I'll give you advantage.
Can't let that affect our morale. I'll just I'll just go
Hell yeah. Can I
can I do You
also have to call Tim daddy? Please, Danny.
In what way are you employing acrobatics about this maneuver? If not just the strength of your
shirt foot in this. Rolled yet. You're just arguing.
He's got his hands out like this. He's balancing.
He's gonna roll in. Focusing on the balance. Yes. Okay. Acrobatics.
John, I didn't argue and I have a negative one on my athletics.
And I may argue. It's a 6. God.
And here we are. Alright. We got a 9, a 6. 22.
19.
Alright. You all saunter across the bridge like nothing is difficult and look back.
Who do I gotta grab?
What? We'll say highest roles can say where they are.
I want Poppy to go in front of me.
Sure. Poppy will have you follow behind Mikey and Spirit, but he far outpaced you. So guys behind you, Poppy.
Okay. Yeah. I was at the front with Mikey. Yeah. But maybe if Dorn's struggling, I look back and be like, Dorn.
Mikey sees you kinda double back and go back for Dorn. He goes, yes.
Okay. I think
it would have been last because Journey would want everyone else to go first so that once she crosses, she can grab the rope.
That makes sense. Yeah. You're in the very back of that Journey.
Mhmm. So with a 9, like, what happens?
With a 9, a gust of wind unexpected pushes you off the bridge.
Can I act?
Yeah.
Oh, Bobby.
That's all
you do. You're just real
Oh, no.
Oh, shit.
Awe dang, Bobby.
Guy's gonna use his cloak of wow, that's a lot of ropes. Cool. To grapple Bobby.
Yeah. Let us never forget the guy's wearing no less than 2 cloaks Yeah. At a time.
Cool guy, 2 cloaks.
Cool. Read off,
once per day bonus action. Open the cloak to launch way too many ropes that grapples a target within 10 feet that fails a DC 17 deck save.
Okay. You can elect to fail that, Bobby?
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. Can
I can I go or
Yeah?
Sure. I wanna I wanna use my, shopping flashback.
Yeah. Woah. Yeah.
I was gonna use mine this episode too.
I was gonna joke that
I bought a boat. Oh, yeah. I just carried
a boat.
Yeah. Let's hear
it. How come no one's talked about my boat?
Yeah. They never acknowledge that Dorn's in a mech suit this whole time.
Don't don't guess too many things. You might get it.
Yeah. Okay. You all see Guy turn on the bridge towards Poppy and just kind of, what do you shout, Guy? Woah. At the same time, he's like whipping open his cloak like Wanna Buy a Watch style. And you all see this thick tangle of ropes. It looks it's like 4 feet across by 4 feet tall. This brick of ropes that shoots out from Guy's torso. It looks completely illogical. These ropes grab Poppy and wrap her to the point where you can no longer see her.
The ropes go limp and kind of slack and fall, and Guy reaches out and grabs a fistful of ropes. And you just see this tangled octopus.
Are you okay, Poppy? No. Very good.
Doran, likewise. That same gust, you were balancing with your arms far out to your side, and you just list it way too far to one side. Alright.
Your fall. Mid fall, I'm gonna use my, shopping flashback to try to purchase an item here. Okay. Help me out of this little situation.
We're in back seat. Everything is easy and fun.
Yep. Lot of cats.
People are asking you for autographs left and right.
I can't wait for the shopping flashback music.
Signing, trying trying to, like, look at the shops and stuff as I'm doing and, like, keep things things. Yeah. Yep. And, yeah, I just I happen to see a, like, a a a new high-tech glider shop. Okay.
And I I can't help but, peruse a little, and I head inside. Looking over all these machinations and things, I I found an ultralight stealth glider. It's actually 2 mundane looking bracers, but if you shoot your hands up fast and then connect with a t, it will, like, form like the frame of a glider. And then you can just extend your arms out back and then have a glider.
So you got your eyes on one of the newest models.
Yeah. Ultralight, is it still sturdy? Terrible?
It's as hard as they come.
Nice. Okay.
I'm sold.
Hey. You're Doran. Right? Like, the hero fighter?
Well, not I mean, I try not to fight too much.
Oh, that's right. That's the old guy. You're the smooth talker.
I'm not the scared dude.
Alright. I'll try. Okay. I'll try. So the ultralights. Yeah. These are brand new just in.
Yeah. I like how they just looks like normal bracelet. Nobody's gonna even ask what what I'm wearing. It's not even gonna, like, rise to
Oh, that would be a good clip. You pretend to fall off your little ship.
Oh, yeah. That'd be a good gag or something like that.
That's right. You just pretend it won't fall and nobody knows I got these.
It's not because I'm afraid of falling
and
tend to fall a lot, which is not helpful for not being afraid of it. So yeah. No. I exactly.
What's a strange level of candor? I
don't know. You're just very, approachable.
Disarming. I know. Speaking of which, how much you got to spend today,
buddy boy?
I, checked my pockets, and I I can't quite see. It's, like, behind the counter a bit. So what what is the price for these?
Normally, we're gonna ask 300, but seeing as how you save my little butt, all of our butts.
I love it.
Save your own butts.
We'll call it 200, and I'll take it up with the boss. 200? 200 for an ultralight. You better take that deal and get out of here.
That's great. I pull out the purse, and, oh, you know what? Just to sweeten the deal, since you're so kind to do a discount like this, do you want this owl? If if if you look at 3 times, it turns into an owl and it produces, like, kinda bad candy. But
Listen. I'm not gonna split hairs here, but there's a lot of shit on this owl. Like, a lot of sticky stuff with prongs, and it's clearly been wet and rolling around in your bags for a long time. Yeah. As much as I appreciate the stardom, this is gross.
Yeah. The candy kinda leaks out on its own a little, I noticed over time, which is Yeah. Yeah. You sure you don't want it? Yeah. Okay.
Hey, Doran? Yeah. Take a hint with the owl. Just keep it. Okay. Okay.
Okay. Fine. 200. Here you go. Great. These fit awesome. Looks so good. Back. Alright. Right.
Oh my god.
Yep. So as I start falling Yeah. I shoot my arms out down by my side and out extends these, carbon weave poles. And then I connect them together by shooting my hands up from that. The actual sail piece unravels quickly, shoot my hands behind my back, and then I'm able to catch that wind that was mentioned earlier and, shoot off into the air. And then I'm able to, like, easily glide back to the other side. No problem. No rolls.
Guy is untangling, Poppy from the rope as he's watching this happen. Oh.
Give me acrobatics with proficiency.
Great. 12. Yeah.
Easy enough. It's an it's a simple glide. Nice. Yep. Okay. Windy enough to catch you and throw you back up on the other side.
As I land, like I I struggle a bit to get unattached. Like, hey, Aaron, can you help? Sorry. Your hands
are stuck together over your head. Just like, yay.
I went for the Superman again, Alright.
It's just a good opportunity to try it out. Like, I I didn't fall or anything, but thank you.
Hi, Fel.
Poppy, I'm glad you're okay.
And I'm not afraid to admit it because I'm not a coward.
Poppy's head is just the only thing you can see about the ropes. Yeah.
Still Boy, you tight had my arms. Why are you
Stop wiggling, Poppy.
Are we all over? Are we all okay? Is everyone here?
I'm winding the rope up the vine up behind me.
We're all here. It was
Huber, you made it over just fine? Yeah.
I don't know what your all problem was. It was fucking easy.
Oh.
And I'm 34.
What? Okay. Huber.
Hopefully, that's the hardest part of our journey.
Doren, these gliders, you've been holding out on me.
It's it's a little dorky, so I didn't wanna
Aaron's kinda turning over the bracer on your wrist and looking at it more closely. And then says, I thought you were just trying to pull another gambeson, like fashion statement. But now it makes a lot more sense.
So it is a it's fashionable then? Or
Oh, no. I did think you were gonna ask for a, like, a wingsuit gambeson though.
Oh, my
guess my forehead.
My guess was a propeller beanie. Yes.
Oh, my god. If only you'd like my character too. Alright.
Go go Dorn Propeller.
Alright, Journey. I think it's time.
Yeah. I guess, see you on the other side.
Wait. Take pinch.
Oh, that's right.
Journey, you are alone walking ahead of your party. I stopped talking a while ago because everyone is tense. Everyone's on high alert. You see lush fields of tall grass, knee high on Guy. As you probably expected, the landscape here is made of gentle rolling hills, as the name Rainy Hills would imply.
Now all steeply angled as one edge of the island dips into the lake, getting lower and lower as it moves towards the tower. And wherever the skyline meets that black water, you see a creeping blight soaking into the grass like poison veins. You see the wind blow again and the trees bow. This time, you don't see anything indicating where a giant invisible thing might be.
I'd like to do a survival check to see if I can track this creature.
Okay.
Is it a fae creature?
I think that would be your assumption.
Okay. I have advantage on survival checks to track my favorite enemies, and my and fey are one of my favorite enemies. K. So I guess, mechanically
That's so interesting, because I have to say you don't have advantage.
Okay. Woah.
What are your other favorite enemies?
Humanoids.
As Journey kinda gets down to doing business, I'll, strum the lid a little bit and give a part of inspiration.
Oh, thank you. Yep. One of
the last things you hear is you walk away. Mhmm.
24.
The 24 you successfully track this creature. The first thing you realize by the deep holes that are left everywhere on this island about the width of a soup can and about as deep. And what you're tracking, it's a massive insect.
Why would you do this to me? Okay. I would like to try and, I guess, sneak up on it
k.
To get close enough to Casper Fire.
On this island, there are little pockets of trees every now and then, but it's otherwise sparse and open. You see in one of these pockets, the light is distorted a little bit. What this thing is doing is partially magical, partially not. It's natural camouflage that works with the weave. You know it's right there. When you blink, it moves. And it's fast. And your heart pounds as you whirl around and try to track it down again. You know you're near this thing, but you know that it sees you also.
I'm gonna shout and then run.
Are you gonna cast fairy fire on it?
As I run.
Okay.
So I'm gonna cast it in front of me knowing that it's coming toward me.
Okay.
So yeah.
Range on fairy fire?
It is 60 feet, and it's a 20 foot cube within range.
That's within range. What's the, save on that?
It is a DC 14 deck save.
Hold on. How close are the rest of us?
A little more than a 100 feet away on the other side. Okay. Never mind then.
So So I'm running back toward my party.
K. Alright. You can all hear and see Journey still. She stopped a little ways out. You saw her slowly scan the horizon.
She looked down and saw something on the ground, kind of analyze the dirt and looked up again, and you know that she locked eyes with it. She's completely tense for just a second as she makes a decision. You see her throw her hands out to both sides and turns and screams. You all see her charging toward her as if bursting through glass made of fire. A giant mantis becomes wreathed in flame. 2 giant scythe like claws hanging off the front of it. Journey, I need you to make a dexterity save.
Okay.
Use your bar dick inspo.
15.
That is not enough. Journey, you fall into a hole. This island, likewise, is riddled with rifts just like the last one, and you should make a strength save. As you look down, as you're falling into this, you see the water of the mire below you.
I'm gonna have pinch cast fly on her.
Oh, that was a 14 for the save.
That does not succeed.
You can, did you do the
Yeah. The party can again.
Oh. Oh. 24.
That does succeed.
Or wait. 22? 22.
22. Okay. Yeah. Also succeeds. In that last moment, you throw it, flail your arms, and you grab onto some roots, and you feel your fingers just clawing through dirt until you can grab onto something and yank yourself back up to the edge, pulling yourself up to the edge of this thing. Do you still wanna cast fly on her?
Not unless she's, like, falling falling.
Yeah. You see her, like, just kind of, like, drop altitude into the ground as if she had fallen into the dirt itself, and then she kind of, like, hits her chest on the edge and scrabbles up again. This mantis behind her charging forward. Everybody roll initiative.
Yes.
Wow. Alright. Erin.
19.
Damn. Journey.
22. Damn.
Guy. 19.
Right. No damn for him?
Yeah. What the hell?
Well, it's alright. It's like
it's not
how These
are the people with Dex scores.
I don't have one of those.
Before that reason, guy, you will go after Aaron.
Okay. Thank you
for outing yourself.
Give me
a Doran.
30 no. 5. 5.
That's a negative damn. No damn. Man. Nat 20, bitch. Am I gonna dam?
What's your total?
You
don't give a name. Teen?
21. Okay. Damn. But it's a nat 20. I wanna go first.
Oh, I see.
Journey, do you yield 1st place?
Absolutely. Because I'm crawling out of a hole.
Alright. We've got our initiative. For the rest of you, the arena that you're on. You're on a steep hill that is headed down toward a shallow swamp. That's where the lake overflows onto the island. Across that swamp is the tower. It's a very short distance. First up, we have Poppy. Is it Poppy? Poppy, when you look up at this giant mantis sprinting towards Journey with both claws raised, the first thing you notice, this thing is dripping with shadows.
How close is he to Inch?
Very close, within 30 feet.
Can I use pinch to cast blindness on it?
I
think it can only do ranged touch stuff.
Can I use my turn to throw pinch?
Yes. If you go first.
I would seed my
I you you you you the floor.
That's 18.
That hits.
Great. And I stick good old pinch to that.
This, hulking mantis is generally dark, covered in shadow, occasionally glimmering with this green and violet flame of the fairy fire that's kind of licking off of it. Now, also, it's got a little doughboy stuck to its forehead. It doesn't even know it's there. We're
filming a story after.
Guys, the mantis is gonna be there. Go ahead, Journey.
Yeah. So I pull myself out of this hole in the ground Mhmm. And I say into the echo bells, I'm gonna throw a pinch now. And I fucking throw him.
Alright. Can we get a pinch flying
sound? Alright. That is a ranged attack with advantage. That's very fire. Very fire on him. Yeah. Oh, that's what oh.
You all have advantage on your attacks.
Oh. Oh, sick.
Fire is good as hell.
So is that my action?
That is your action. That's some attack. Yep.
Okay. You
have a second attack.
Oh, shit. I do. Yeah. I'll shoot it with my bow. That's 25 to hit.
Yeah. That hits.
Sixteen damage.
That's with your, luminous branch bow?
Yes. But I didn't draw it back.
Okay. You all see Journey pull herself up out of that hole, kind of sitting on the edge of that thing as she's standing up, throws pinch, sticks right in between its giant bug eyes. It's got these 2 little pinhole eyes, just tiny tiny little eyes that, like, immediately, like, swivel around and look straight down. But Pinch, again, is stuck right between those eyes. You
can't see it.
After that, Gurnee stands to her full height, draws back the bow, and gets a clean shot a little lower, kind of in the mouth mandible area, and, sees some dark goo kind of spritz out of it when it hits. Ew. This thing is mortal and it is hurt. Next up is Poppy.
I am gonna, as my action, use shock and grasp, electric range Okay. Right betwixt to the eyeballs. Perfect. And I believe that is a melee spell attack against the target, and it's advantage because of fairy fire.
Yep. Jesus. That's unbelievable.
Nat 20, bitch. Wow. Woah. I'll
never roll another
one. Well, maybe
I just had to, threaten it or Yeah. Something. Roll another one.
Yeah, please. No. 14. And he just kills it.
Just one hit wonder. 1 hit wonder bread.
Oh, man. The execution.
Okay. So that is a crit. 21. Very nice.
This thing is not resistant to electricity because you all see that coursing through its body as it briefly convulses. You see it raise its scythe like hands to try to scratch at whatever is in between its eyes. It doesn't do much.
And then I think Poppy would move a little closer just to get in better range.
Okay. You are 90 feet from it right now, Poppy.
I will move my walking speed, which is 20. K.
Alright. It's Aaron.
Yes. Genius. Alright. Aaron's gonna find a place to hide within range. K. Probably try to get in a tree. I like trees. Yeah. I have a climbing ability, so I'll just get up in a nearby oak tree.
And what is the range that you need here?
It's not this doesn't say, so it's, like, unlimited, I think. No.
You're looking
to A 100 a 120 feet.
Oh, great. Yeah.
You can
just There's no price tag, so it's free. Right?
And then I'm just gonna aim my Diablo's machinations crossbow. Sure. Or do I have to roll to hide?
Yes. You do have to roll a self check, but you've got advantage in this case. K. It doesn't even really know you're there.
Stealth check.
If this revolve state, you are not in the red thing.
Hey. Nice.
I mean, it's fucking, like, crazy, man.
Oh, what? Cool.
The boss is dead already.
It's not insane.
I see. It's like no big deal.
I rolled a 30.
Yeah. What the fuck?
I rolled a 19. I have a plus 11 still.
You all look up and you're like, Eren. Shit. Shit. Where's Eren?
You guys forgot who Eren was.
They bailed.
Who's Eren?
Okay. I'm gonna shoot my crossbow bolt now that I'm hidden from god and the DM. 16 to hit.
That hits.
Oh, yay. Nice.
Okay. So it's going to be 26 damage. Okay. It says I can immediately I can double tap with this crossbow, so I can hit with disadvantage this time.
But you've got advantage.
So just 1?
Just a regular roll.
Just a straight roll. Yep. Sweet. Love fairy fire. 16 again.
Hits.
10 damage for the second attack. K. The double tap. And that is Eren's turn.
You all see multiple projectiles getting launched into this thing, after that little electrical convulsion. There's a glimmer of hope that this thing might die before it gets
to you as things
have in the past. Maybe.
At least no one's trying to talk
to it.
Erin, after your turn and the amount of pain that this thing has felt, you see it raise one of its scythe claws, and it drops it into the ground so deeply that the ground splits. Journey, you need to make a deck save.
Love that. 17?
Piece of pizza.
Piece of pizza.
Piece of pizza. Yay. Meets it, beats it, pizza, pizza.
Meets a pizza. Meets a pizza.
Alright. You are going to take half.
No. Thank you. Well,
that's only 6 bludgeon damage. The ground splits, and it it's kind of aiming directly towards you, Journey. This thing pretty much splits underneath you so that you're falling once again into the lake. But you've kinda been through this before at this point, so you scrabble off onto the grass before anything really bad happens, just sort of scraping your knee as you do.
Did Did you already have it for me? I did. Okay. Great.
Take 6 damage, but no worries if not.
Alright. Then we will go to guy. Okay.
Guy puts his hands in front of his head
Yep.
Strapped to his chest, and he spits, kinda rubs his hands together.
Sure.
Reaches into his head flame to pull out, once again, the prince Lotem sword Yeah. And takes a running charge toward the mantis.
Okay.
I will do a great sword of Lotem attack.
It's gonna be a while before you get there. Is it? It's 90 feet away. It's 90 feet away. And I don't think anyone moved out to be closer to Journey.
That's sure true.
Does he have to, like, jump over a ravine?
I mean, you can, like, watch out for it at
this point. Walk around it? Okay.
I kinda forgot that it was far away.
The one downfall with the bait planes.
Yep.
Guy, if you wait a moment, I can get us there.
That would be swell.
Just hold that action.
Guy starts running and then immediately oh, oh, oh, okay. Okay.
Like, red light. Green light. Yeah. Red light. Green light.
I guess I'll hold an attack action.
Yeah. Doreen, you see, Guy's got a lot of gas right now, but he might be tuckered out by the time he gets there. Like, that's the ways away.
Guys got a lot of
gas right now.
Oh. Alright.
Mikey is up next. He's gonna do his darn best, the fireball. Go, Mikey. Go. However, a 13 does not hit. You just see it turn into a little puff of sparks as it collides with the carapace and does nothing here. Huber beckons Mikey to back up. It is now Mantis' turn.
It was nice knowing everybody.
Yeah. Mantis closes the gap on journey. It is large enough to essentially stand over those ravines instead of fall into them. Journey is going to make an attack on you with both, scythe claws. Mhmm. 16 to hit.
That hits?
24 to hit.
Hits. Alright. Need some dice?
Need, 3 d tens from you.
That's rude.
Three additional d tens?
I'm not gonna give you one of my d tens to roll damage to me.
With which to kill you?
Yeah. No. I am I am I'm not a child.
39 slashing damage. Oh.
It's incredibly rude. Can you tank a bit more?
I can. Okay.
I can. I'll be okay. I'm gonna Maybe not. I already did.
12 to hit.
Does not hit.
Alright. You all see the mantis approach Journey and with a final lurch, it brings both scythe claws out far to the sides and then together in an x pattern to try to assassinate Journey. It hits, it clips her, and she kind of like spins off, and you see it raise its right claw and stab it into the ground narrowly missing Journey attempting to pin her on the second attack. After that Journey, it's going to continue on towards your party.
Okay. Great. It
takes another 10 feet away from you. As you duck out of the way, it's no longer interested in trying to get down into the dirt to kill you. It sees other prey.
Okay.
Do I get an opportunity attack?
Yes. It moved away from you.
Love that. Hunter's mark. No. I couldn't do hunter's mark because I had fairy fire on.
Is that already concentration, fairy fire?
Yeah. Okay.
So you have to roll per attack per concentration each time you took damage.
So 3 checks of 10.
Thanks, everybody.
You're going to 10.
We're doing our d and d taxes tonight.
12 for the first roll. Yep. 17 the second. 3 for the 3rd.
No plus?
That was with the plus. Wow. I rolled a 2.
Even more terrifying after that. We'll see the fairy fire disappear. This thing is once again invisible. God, you lost track. Damn it. Doran, your turn.
Okay.
Does that mean I don't get an opportunity to attack because I can't see it anymore? True. Okay.
Well, you can make an attack with the
Spanish. Okay. I'll do that.
Can we still see pinch?
Yes. Oh,
cool. Pinch is on his head.
Yeah. Just aim at pinch.
It's not nothing.
Don't aim at any. Aim below pinch.
K. So not disadvantage?
It's fair to say.
Okay.
Yes.
Good job, pinch.
It's not gonna be it. 10 or 12. It's not good.
No. Not nearly.
That's all I got.
K. You see pinch float away as this invisible creature, lumbers toward your party, leaving us to Doran. For now, I'll let you make attacks without disadvantage on this thing. It's a large creature, and it pinches stuck to it.
Okay. So I I can kinda get a sense of where it is. Yep. I grab a guy by the arm. We just jump through a dimension door portal. Yeah. And I'm gonna have us be, like, above it. He's gonna come down able to, like, swing as we're falling.
Okay. Any bonus action or anything out of you, Dorn, before you yield the turn to Guy? No.
I think with that, we can go with Guy.
The mid air strum?
I I'll finish my turn after he goes, basically.
Go with God.
We're falling. Oh, okay. Little warning would have been nice. I thought I thought you'd love this guy. I don't know.
I hope there's a mantis under here. Alright. Attack.
Wow. No.
Natural one.
Oh, no. Why do you look at it multiple ways? Like
In case it changed.
Hey. We started real strong.
Guy. Yeah? I don't know what to do with you. Alright.
It was a pretty good opportunity.
It was.
It could have been like Zelda and Link in the video game and the swords and the dragon's head.
Thanks for helping me stall Hannah. Mhmm. Alright. So what happens here is, Doran, you would dimension door above the invisible mantis.
Right. Perfect landing. Right?
Right. You kind of misjudged which side of pinch you should be on. So, Guy, you take a 15 foot fall onto the grass. You're gonna take a little bit of bludgeoning damage as you fall here.
Why not?
That is 2 bludgeoning damage. As you collide with the ground Yep. Your sword straight out in striking pose, you obliterate that grass.
Doran, you missed.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, sorry.
Do you have a second attack? Yeah. That thing is not too far from you.
He yanks the sword out of the grass.
Yeah. He
goes for a second attack. Okay. Yeah. I'm gonna use channel of divinity to add 10.
Yep. Please.
There
it is. Cool. So, 21.
That hits. Give me damage on that.
Great. And then I have a spiritual weapon follow-up. Oh, okay.
Thanks. Seventeen damage.
Wow. Yeah. You all see Guy lean back with his sword, heaving it out of the ground, and putting some real stank on it for the second hit. You see his sword start to glow as he puts, a channel divinity into it, and the light coming off of that helps him see the kind of reflected blur of this invisible mantis in front of him. He squints his eyes and just crashes his blade into this thing's leg. Follow-up with that spiritual weapon.
17. That hits. Boom. Nine damage.
Alright. You all see this kind of graceful militant ballet between guy and a spiritual weapon where they seem to be working almost in tandem like like he had done this before.
Can I finish my Oh?
Turn? Sorry.
Yeah. I also had to fall 15 feet.
Do you
want me to roll damage for that?
No. I'm gonna roll damage for that. Oh. No. Sick bludgeoning damage. Woah. Wow.
I would never have done that to myself. I, looked at Journey. How's Journey looking?
Journey's on a knee just breathing real heavy, looking real mad.
You did great. I'll try to get you a window to do that again. K? And I'm gonna use unsettling words on the the insect. K. So a bonus action, unsettling words. Basically, it's like Bard inspiration, except it's gonna be a subtracted from the next saving throw it tries to make. Cool. How much? 8. Mine
8. Minus 8 to whatever
shit's next save is. So kinda queuing that up for fairy fire.
Gotcha.
That'll end my turn. Okay. Alright.
At the end of that round, Doran, Aaron comes running up right beside you. And she goes, we gotta we gotta go.
Go where? I thought you were up
in the tree. I can't. I can't. We gotta go. Okay. She grabs you by the arm and kind of starts, like, running, like off to the right of the island where you guys haven't been yet. It's just kind of beside the point of this whole fight into those trees.
Mechanically, can I get, like, an insight check against this deception? My passive wisdom insight is an 18.
So Damn. Okay. Wow.
So I'm gonna I'm playing her along because I know what this is.
Okay. Yeah. It's pulling at you, and Dorn, you immediately recognize that it is not vocalizing outside of a couple key phrases that it might have heard.
Okay. So I'm I'm pretending to be cooperative, but I'm going I'm not moving as fast as I turn to make me.
Yeah. It keeps kinda looking back and going, come on. Slow it on. I'm gonna trip. Help. Come on.
And I can't do anything else, but
Yeah. That's kinda the end of that right there.
Okay.
What's everybody else's, passive insight?
14.
9, baby. 13.
13.
Okay. So everyone but Guy sees what's going on here, notices that this is a changeling.
That was not the time, lovebirds.
Alright. We are back to the top of the round with the journey.
Kaprow. Top of the round.
Top of the round to you.
Mom's your uncle.
Yeah. I'm gonna cast Faerie Fire.
Yep. That save one more time.
14, wisdom. It has disadvantage.
But actually, like, 22.
Lucky. That is a, a 11.
It's lit up again. Alright.
Reactivated. It's, like, got a 19 on the first rolls.
Okay. For my bonus action, I'm going to wild shape into a direwolf.
Cool. Oh. Sweet.
So I'm sitting there, and I'm just I throw out my arm again and cast fire fairy fire one more time. And then I breathe really heavy, and I think I cannot take any more damage like this. And I you see Jurney kind of launch herself into the air, and when she lands, she's a
direwolf. Alright. That's very cool. It's a Animorphs cover.
Yes. Oh my god. The middle one is really weird.
Alright. That's the end of your turn?
Yeah. I think I would move to be still behind the creature. Yeah. But a little off to the side so that I'm not its direct target. K. Poppy.
Okay. How close am I again?
It's closing the distance, so now you're more like 60 feet from it.
Sweet. Okay. Then I can use my witch and aid mixer. Nice. To cast a closer cantrip on pinch k. I'm going to cast create bonfire. Oh, nice. And I'll say, burn them up, baby. And he goes, crispy.
Yeah. Pinch ignites. You all see on top of that fairy fire now, there's a real actual fire burning on top of this mantis.
And for the next 3 rounds, he does.
I believe it's 2 d 4 at the end of his turns, and then 2 d 6 has punches.
Yes. Punches 2 d 6, 2 d 4 each round to nearby foes. Cool.
Do you wanna punch him right now? Yeah. Alright. Give me those attacks.
I would like to say canonically, he's not punching, he's slapping. Mhmm. Of course. Yeah. So it's 2 d 6 fire.
I'll make the attacks first.
Oh, right. Well, I didn't let's just ignore those. Dirty 20.
Still hits.
That's 7?
7 fire damage there? Yes. Yep.
And then at the end of my turn, it would be
That extra 2 d 4? Yeah. And that just happened. So go ahead and roll
that. Okay. 5.
Alright.
Fire.
You got him.
Anything else, Poppy? Any movement?
I'm gonna, like, plop down shield up.
Oh, cool. Yeah. Just hide behind it. Yeah.
And just, like, keep peeking out from around it, but I I don't wanna get scythe.
Sure. Aaron, it's on you.
Aaron's gonna hide. Bonus action hide.
Yep.
I'm actually trying to hide from the changeling. I don't know if that matters.
Not the mantis?
It's a 17 to hide.
Alright. You were heading for both.
Great. Aaron's holding the crossbow in front of them Mhmm. Sort of aiming at the mantis. And then to the side with my Ganymede eyes, I can see Doran getting pulled
Yeah.
By another Aaron. Yeah. And my eyes just go into little slits, like, slits,
like, fuck you.
And I turn the crossbow Yeah. 90 degrees and aim it right at the changeling that looks like me.
Yep.
I'm gonna shoot it.
Easier target for sure.
And it's
gonna be double because I'm
You're heading. Advantage. Yeah. Advantage?
Yep. Oh, 15 to try to hit.
Yep. It's a change line.
Nice. Oh,
boy.
Horrible. I rolled 3 ones, so 15 damage. So 15 damage on my first attack.
K.
And then I'm gonna do the double tap again Yeah. And just do a second attack right away.
This one you do have disadvantage on.
Yep. 16. Hits. Nice. 11 damage.
Wow. Sweet. Cool.
Doran, you just hear this Help. Help me. As it's talking, this changeling, you see its skin start to melt, almost like slough off, and then you start to see smoke come out of its nose, and then its eyes and ears, and then just out of its skin, if using. You see this thing reverting back into a changeling form. It doesn't have the capacity to keep this up anymore. It might be fading into unconsciousness. It's at the edge.
K. Bam.
Alright. Nice. After Aaron is Guy. Great.
Guy is focused on the giant insect.
Yes.
You have advantage again.
That's great. Alright. I'm, gonna go for those back legs, I guess.
Yeah. Fully visible this time.
Natural twenty. Nice.
Man. Woah. Hell, yeah.
Finally, guy.
Get
them. And rolling again. No. 1st attack, double dice not like double the roll. Right? Right. Right. Oh, sounds like errands.
Just 2 arrows this time.
16 damage. I'd like to put a little smite on that though.
Okay. I was just gonna ask.
An extra 20 damage.
Wow. Alright. Guy, you cleave off the leg that you were aiming for here. You feel it kind of lurch and list to the side trying to catch itself and reacquaint with the world,
with Let's see if I can get, all 3 legs in a row.
Okay. On that side.
I liked it.
No.
Natural key on it. Oh.
Oh. Oh. Oh my
god.
What? Holy fuck.
It happened.
You guys did happen.
That never happened. That was insane.
Oh, no. I can't handle them.
Do it. Oh my
god. What?
Is it
3 twenties? Yes.
Holy shit.
Oh my god.
Guy. You're a witch guy. What the fuck? Oh
my god. Holy fuck. Yes, Guy. What?
Holy shit. Sorry. You're gonna go for all
6 weeks. Three natural twenties in a row.
Oh my god. I'm so sweaty all of a sudden. Oh my god.
Thomas is the only one who's done this twice.
Twice. Yeah.
I've done it twice.
And this isn't even with way to die anymore.
We're gonna stop playing. We're going to a casino. Okay?
Yeah. No shit.
I'll break this tree.
What the hell?
They don't go buy a lottery ticket.
Shit. Guy, you reel back with your blade. Sorry. Is this the same turn where you had, like, charged it up with a smite till
it's Yeah. Yes. Done.
This is my second out of 3 tanks.
Yeah. With that You pour your smite into this thing causing your sword to ignite with green flame. You chop off this thing's first leg from the back, and you start working your way up towards the other side. Everybody goes silent and looks towards Guy as his flame burns brighter and brighter, hacking off the second leg. Guy, memories flowing through you of everything that had recently happened.
On the other side of this, you see working in tandem your spiritual weapon. The blade of Prince Andric Lotem is chopping off the blades on the other side. The 2 of you work together to level this thing back down to the ground. You whirl your great sword behind you, Guy. The mantis legless in front of you. What do you do?
Guy finishes his charge and is breathing heavy. The floating sword of Prince Lotem catches up to him behind him. And as the mantis is kind of staggering behind him from the weight of the attack, Prince Lotem's sword just kinda taps it on the head.
And it
falls over.
That's all it takes. You see this thing fall to the ground with a colossal shudder. You see a ripple around the island as the weight of it causes the water to fluctuate. You have downed a great beast. Oh. Oh, no. What? Oh.
Oh, because it was corrupt when it fell from the skyline.
Oh my god.
Wow. I have, like, full body chills.
Did we fuck up?
No. It was corrupted.
Yeah. Okay. All things considered, we end it right here.
Oh my god.
Holy fuck. Oh my god.
How
do we end these? Thank you all so much for listening. I'm Tim no? Is that it? No. You're Yeah.
That's great. That's it.
Thank you all so much for listening. I'm Tim, your GM and sponsor of Guy.
Oh god. I'm Hannah playing Aaron.
I'm Tara. Awoo. Immediately
embarrassed from that. I'm
Thomas, 3 twenties Guy.
Yes. Thomas, did you do it? A piece? I
I think it was a Richard Nixon.
You have
to do threes. Oh. There you go.
I'm a mere mortal. I'm John, and I play Doran. Yeah.
I'm Meggie, and I play Poppy. And I knew you guys first.
Thank you all so much for listening. Share the show with people we Tara, you do it.
Share the show with people you love.
How you do it?
I love me some peeps.
Share the show with people you love. We'll see you next time.
Oh my god.
The best day ever.
Holy fuck, Thomas.
I can't do that happen.
That was insane.
I'm occasionally getting it rolling.