Probability of Demise

Welcome adventurers to Probability of Demise, the podcast where critical fumbles meet critical facepalms. Join us as we delve into the darkest dungeons, slay the stupidest gremlins, and roll enough ones to make a beholder weep. Forget epic storylines and heroic deeds, here we celebrate the chaotic beauty of bad roles, questionable decisions, and characters with more charisma than sense.

We'll be your dungeon masters of disappointment, guiding you through campaigns where the only guaranteed treasure is a mountain of laughter, and maybe some psychic scarring. So grab your nat 1 dice, strap on your anxiety helmets, and prepare to witness the glorious trainwreck that is our D& D journey.

Because, in the end Even if your character dies face first into a pile of pudding, at least you'll have the Dice God's permission to laugh your ass off.

Hi, welcome to the lovely world of Dice. Probability of demise that you've liked, subscribed, left comments on, and otherwise made sure we feel good about life. Because with just a few moments of your time, you could save a lowly D and D podcaster from the utter nihilistic experience that is faced by those unloved, unliked, and unsubscribed.

In the arms of Word of the Day! That's me. Uh, hello everyone. Uh, I hope you've had, you know, great time since we last, you know, you listened to us. Uh, uh, let's, let's jump right on in. You know the deal. I'm gonna say a word at you, and then say more words to explain the first word. Uh, so that you can use better words in your life.

Word. Does that come with a dice involved, or no? Nah. Today's word. Oh no. Sorry. That is intransigent. Intransigent is a formal word, uh, so you'll sound extra smart when you use it, that describes a person who refuses to compromise or abandon their usually extreme. Position or attitude or feelings towards something.

Uh, used in a sentence,

The intransigent warlord would not budge on his demands, forcing the adventurers to prepare for battle rather than negotiating peace.

What number was that? Oh, I didn't tell you! It was, uh, where's my dice? I rolled it. I know. Let's just not forget. I know. This was the lovely dice that I rolled, everyone. And today, I had rolled number 10.

Speaking of intransigents, you all went and fought, uh, at a small orphanage. I think we were still fighting. You saved two orphans. Weren't we? You are still fighting, yeah. That's true. But, as worries fade over the safety of the orphans, the memory of the recent chaos lingers in the minds of these brave adventurers.

The orphanage, at one point, a place of refuge and warmth, had become a battleground where The forces of order and chaos clashed violently. Gus, Ulua, and Seraphina, along with their allies, faced the relentless onslaught of the Sladee and the cold calculations of the Modron. Gus's quick thinking and persuasive words had temporarily aligned the Modron's purpose with their own, creating a fragile alliance against the Sladee.

Ulua's strategic use of cloud of daggers and magics carved a path through the chaos, allowing the trapped children to escape. To, uh, escape their force capes that they'd created themselves. And then Seraphina, though initially uncertain, found her resolve as she guided the children to safety amidst the turmoil.

Did she? Did she? Cecilia, a fierce and resourceful bar owner, had joined the fray hurling broken glass with deadly precision. The young mages, despite their fear, had bravely supported the party, casting spells to aid in the fight. Yet the cost for their bravery was high. The explosion that rocked the Underworks was a stark reminder of the dangers that are faced in these spaces as one of the young mages sacrificed themselves to save the orphans, to form rear guard, and to hold off the enemy.

Now with the children safe, that immediate threat to their safety seemingly contained, Our heroes stand at a precipice of a new challenge. The battle for the orphans may be won, but the war for Cragside crowds is far from over. The Modron and the Slaadi continue their struggle and the Underworks remain a vulnerable and volatile battleground.

As our adventurers move to protect the children, the question remains, and looms, can you secure the Cragside crowds and protect the city from the encroaching chaos? Or will the forces of disorder overwhelm? Bunge, a floating part of the city, into darkness.

Buh buh buh bum. DUN DUN DUN!

Ulua and Gus, you are still in initiative order. Seraphina, you're the only one who still remains outside of initiative order. You should cast a fireball. You have this moment, Seraphina, as the only person who's not Directly embroiled. Uh. Children have been ushered up the stairs back to where you know that there's another modron lingering and chasing after small, slutty tadpoles.

Stop it! Sorry. Small, slutty tadpoles. Slutty. That's why I chose this enemy for you all. It's the most inappropriate one I could come up with. You know how long I had to google various denizens of the dead? Random planes of the world to come up with a really good, awful BBEG masterclass. So good. So good. So, you know that the I can't believe it took this long.

So, Seraphina, you know that these children are going up to a place where there is possibly a ally slash enemy dealing with the Slaadi. You also know that you have um, the battle in front of you. It is still ongoing, uh, the Madren versus the Slutty, uh, the tenor of this battle is a little bit uncertain, even though there is some lighting in this situation, figuring out which side is winning.

Honestly, is there a side you want to win, um, because at the same time that you have a temporary alliance with the, with the Modron, there's something about the way in which the Modron have interacted with you that does set your nerves, uh, Up, and raise the hair on the back of your head.

Seraphina, is there anything you would like to do? Um,

Uh, I mean, I have two choices. I either stay here, and continue to probably do nothing, or I can go with the kids and make sure they get out okay.

I'm gonna roll the dice, see what happens. So, let's say one of ten. I'll stay 11 to 20. I'll go with the kids. I don't know what to do. I'm gonna go with the kids. So I'm gonna holler and go, I'll make sure the kids get out. Go with the kids. Split the party. Split the party. Leaving your companions behind, you do indeed split the party and you head up the stairs.

Uh, the two young mage's aspirant also follow you up the stairs.

Ulua, you are up. Battle still wages. You can see that your, um, friend, Cecilia, is still engaged in battle, still throwing bits and shards of glass. A couple of the, um, young mages that did not follow, uh, Seraphina up the stairs have stayed behind, just looking for direction it appears. And Gus is actively engaged in managing the magics that Gus has put forth these rainbow walls.

Um, how far Is it easily accessible for me to get within like 30 feet of Celia? Oh yeah. I would say you're probably within 30 feet of her. Okay. Um, I would like to navigate so that I have a clear line of sight to whichever Slaad she is currently fighting. And I would like to attempt to use my whip on it.

Just lending, lending a hand. Roll the attack. Eh, dee dee dee dee. Okay.

New dice. Eeeeee! Let the darkness Alright, alright, alright, alright. That is a 24. Great, that hits. From the new dice? Yes. Roll the damage. Okay, uh Hold on. Alright, so it's just 1d4 plus 6. Okay. Ehh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eeeh. Ooh! Nice. And it's 11 points of slashing damage. Awesome. Any other effects?

Uh, no, I'm not using any. I can't I can use the one, uh, I'm not using any of those yet though. Okay. Okay. And anything else for your turn? Uh, I would like to, uh, use a Bardic Inspiration and, uh, point at Celia and go, You got this! Awesome. Uh, great. Uh, Gus. Yes? You can see that there's a shift in the battle.

It's, I'm gonna just say from the overarching thing, it seems like there's a bit of a stalemate between the Modron And a slutty I'm not gonna play out their attacks because when I rolled dice it was even I got nowhere Okay, I'm going to Have a free action to yell. Sure. I'm gonna yell at those other kids that are trying to stay in fight to get it Okay, like you Kids up the stairs go go go And then I'll like step in front of them as they like, go past me, assuming they listen to me.

Hopefully. But, um, and then I will shoot. What do we got for Slaadi left? What do we have for Slutty Tadpoles? They are such a mess to kind of keep track of. Uh, Tadpoles, you actually just, just saying that you actually, go ahead and roll a perception check. That

is a, a read. Yeah, you don't notice, and I need you to roll a constitution saving throw. Oh boy, I'm gonna get slotted.

That's four. Okay.

I just got a tadpole in me, I fuckin know it. Uh, what are you gonna do for your, that dice? Shame! If I could find my new dices, wouldn't it happen? Your action? I'd be lost in my apartment. Movement. You got a free action. I've moved your position, but that's not much of a movement, so we don't get that against you.

I'm going to use my wall shooting thing once. Okay.

There it is, okay. Um,

does a, oh wait. Yeah, spell attack. Does a 19 hit. Yes.

And then con save 16 for the nearest slobby to me. Okay, um, a lot of billiards here. A lot of them. All of them. 12 damage. 12 damage. Any other effects besides the 12 damage? Um, blinded for one minute. All right. These are blinded, I think. They still have the blind sense, but they are definitely Wait, I lied.

No, blinding is if they stand in the wall. Never mind. Okay.

Great. Uh, you see the battle start to unfold a little bit further for you. The Modron are attacking the Slaadi, and the Slaadi, of course, are Defending, yet also just like chaotically going about these various offenses. And at this point you see a very dark creature step out of the recesses beyond. You hear them croak out some, and because you have Comprehend Languages still up I think, you hear the shouted, and and I hear the what?

Sorry, your, your mic actually capped it. Yeah, you got it. Okay. You hear back, back to the depth. Okay. So as you hear back, back to the depths, you watch as, um, some of the Slutty begin going through various moves to disengage themselves from battle with the Modron. And the Modron are trying to corral and continue to, to engage in battle.

But your wall is kind of blocking their ability to do that. You watch as a couple of Slutty, during this turn, leap through the wall, uncertain of its effect.

Is there any effect on Just, if they go through it, no. If they stop it, yes. And you can tell that the Slutty are in retreat and the Modron look like they're going to be following. The two younglings do you. Follow your directions and begin heading up the stairs. You're only about halfway up. Ulua, is your turn.

Okay. Um. Keep it. I did. I have the slots. I do. Okay. Um. Hang on, I just want to see. That's one action. Okay. Um. Um.

Okay, uh, I would.

So can I see, I can see the creature that gave these orders? Yes. How far away is it? I'd estimate it's like maybe 90 feet away. It's been hanging out in the darkness just beyond sight up until now. Okay, but can I see behind it, like Roll a perception check. Ahem.

21. 21. Uh, it has moved into the light a little bit, uh, and you can vaguely make out that there are some additional creatures just beyond it. You can also see the metalworks that lead into the various control areas of the area. Inside crowds. Um, you may not have ever been down in this area, but this is a mechanical maze down here.

And They are retreating into it. Okay. Um

This is a really stupid idea! I'm gonna do it anyways! I'm gonna cast Dimension Door. And, uh, and come out As far behind it as I can see to give me a little bit of breathing room so I'm not right up in its face. Um, but, because I have to be able to see it, right? Or like, visualize it? Yeah, I mean, your dimension door, you can see enough to build a dimension door behind it, yes, no problem there.

Um, uh, so I'm gonna do that. Ahem. And then I'm going to use my last, uh, Bardic Inspiration, uh, slot to cast Where's the thing? Uh, the negative thing. Uh, to cast Unsettling Words. Um, and look at the, the creature and say, Remind me to never audition you for any show ever. Um, and then, uh, depending on what creatures I can see behind me, I'm going to try to get outside of, like, physical attack distance at least, so that it would have to move towards me.

Okay, so that's a bonus action to do. To move? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm just trying to Pull together all the things that are happening. So, you sent out these words that are meant to unsettle it and cause it to doubt itself. What is the saving throw on that? Uh, it's, oh, um, you have to roll, or no, I roll a d8, and then you have to subtract the number from the next saving throw.

Um, so let me roll that. So that'll be for the next saving throw that they have to make, okay. Yes.

That's not an eight, that's a ten. We're all gonna be great! And have a good time! What the fuck an eight?! Great. Alright. Cool. So you've done that and you're, what are you, where, you said you were moving further? Yeah, uh, basically like, uh, if, depending on how far behind it I got, I want to get outside of like swiping range.

Oh, yeah, easily enough done. There are other creatures in this area. And as, now that you're back here, you can see a little bit more. Do you, I'm going to take a second and let you know what you see.

So the first thing you can see is that this particular Slotty creature is, um, unlike the ones you've seen before, it is a dark, dark color. It's, it's, uh, skin is much darker. It is taller. And slimmer looking, but not larger than the blue and the red ones that you've seen so far. It's about the same size as the one that had taken over Oxana.

Um, and so it's just a little bit smaller, but for all that it is a lot smaller, it is much more threatening in its appearance. You can see that its claws are sharper, its features are more defined, and there's just something about this that looks like a more finished version. of the creatures that you can see currently battling with the modron.

In addition, you can make out that there are three red slutty that are, kind of, just noting your presence because of the dimension door, and they seem to be acting as some sort of bodyguard. Okay.

Okay. Uh, you hear a shout and the breaking of glass. Thus, you can see the glass shatter, because it is truly these sharp shards of glass that are being flung around still by Cecilia. Um, and you can see the one that had been whipped by Ulua crash down, uh, the whip, the action of the sharp glass, and the attacks by the Modron have disabled yet another one of these, uh, slutty creatures as they try to retreat.

Um, but seeming to not be so successful right now, um, and the Modron are starting to move forward towards your wall of rainbow. Gus, it is your turn. Um, okay, so there's like the big dark mysterious slob who's like directly ahead. Yeah, like just Modron seem to have the other slob sort of in hand. Yeah, very much.

Okay, so I'm going to shoot a bolt at, from the wall at him. Um, does a 22 hit? Yes, a 22 does hit. Okay, I'm hoping that would happen. I rolled, uh, 22 points of damage.

I'm assuming he misses, uh, wait no, there is no saving throw for the bolt this game. No, there's not.

I apologize for making you roll that saving throw last time because there was not one for the launch beam of radiance. Um, yeah. Yeah. That hits, and, uh, I think I have two shots left on my wall, because I think I fired three last time. I think it's six. That hits, and you see it kind of like peel at its skin.

No thank you! Opening it up a bit, um, and then,

anything else for your turn? Uh, things. Um,

I'm good. Um, I'm going to use my bonus action to tell the modron not to stop inside the light. Beautiful. Um, it seems to be computed by that main modron that has all those different pieces and seems to be quickly disseminated through modron. I might have told him that last time, but I don't have a bonus action.

Yep. Uh, as that occurs, uh, You are the closest, and, and the sloth turned with the hip that hit its shoulder area that was all peeled back, the skin peeled back, and to your horror, you watch as that peeled skin begins to knit back together a bit, and then this creature, this amphibian, yet horror, an abomination, looks directly at you for a moment, and you see it wink.

Your way before it turns and it fires fireball back towards the battle area, and it is going to do you just watch the streak of fire leave. Its clawed fingers and an explosion. Uh, Gus Celia. and the Modron commander are all gonna have to do deck saves. Cecilia, I'm assuming, still has her inspiration. Yeah, she be using it.

I've got loop seven.

So you take, Cecilia is going to take 21 damage. You're going to take 22 fire damage, Gus.

Ow, my beard! You watch the Modron. Spin quickly as that fire spirals out and this huge area of the section is on fire and many of the modern troopers are also within that range and that you can see that it's burning some of their metallic carapaces that but that that commander seems to spin really quickly in place and somehow miss most of it.

And then where, what does hit it seems to kind of slide off the armor. It seems to be a bit more resistant to that fire. It just goes like full Neo, like Celia also leaps back in, leaping back. She kind of, you can hear her go, you can hear her humming one of Ulua's songs. And she goes, Huh, wonder where that came from?

And she abandons her chest of glass that she's been throwing from, her box of glasses that she's been throwing from. But she kind of leaps back towards where you are, Gus, up at the base of the stairs.

And the next thing that's gonna happen is Gus, I need you to roll another constitution saving throw, please.

Eight. Okay, cool. Ulua, I need you to roll a constitution saving throw.

Jess, we'll miss you when we're when you become Slaad. I'll kill you right away, don't worry. Thanks. Seraphina's gonna have to deal with all of her friends turning into frogs. Fifteen.

Great, you just saved.

Um, oh, and because you saved, can you roll a perception check? Okay. Uh, my other one. There we go.

Uh, thirteen. Crawling up your leg is a small, Slaadi tadpole. Mm. He hates it and it is the battle continues to wage. You can see the modern horses push in and to maintain their line. Two of them do have to stay within the, um, wall for a moment. And those that do, you can hear. Various exchanges occurring, but it's clear that those two have been blinded.

Is there any other conditions that happen to anything that's stuck in your wall? Don't they take damage? Yeah, they take damage. Uh,

it's 48 radiant damage, uh, and a con 16 saving throw. It happened on the 12th, 17th. The two whose position required them to stay within the wall. In the wall to maintain formation, just crumple and explode in various pieces, bits and pieces of them falling all over the place. It turns inside out. Is that my fault?

And exploded. Ulua, it is your turn. What are you going to do? Um, I am going to take out my whip. And I am going to cast Circle of Death. So Uh, what this looks like is I take out the whip, and I do a huge overhead loop that, even though my whip is only ten feet, extends out to sixty to make a sixty foot radius cube.

Wait, hold on. So it's a hundred and twenty. It's a hundred and twenty. No, no, no. Uh, rate, uh, sorry, let me just, let me just read what it says. Uh, 60 foot radius, sphere. Sorry, I was trying to think of what, uh, what I always get radius and, um, the other one diameter mixed up. So it's 120 to across, right. 'cause radius is from the center.

60 foot radius around you would be 120 feet in the end. Yeah. Yes. And it centers, centers on me. So as I do that, I swing it around and I say in tanzanite name, restore the balance. And I just like whip, crack it down and cast. Uh, Circle of Death, and it's, uh, a con 18 save, con, uh, con save, uh, and that the main guy has to subtract 8, um, and everybody else has to take 8d6 necrotic damage on a failed save and half as much on a successful one, so let me roll that, the 8d6.

roll So let me that. Okay. Actually, it's 10 because I cast it at the 8th level, so it's, uh, Damage increases by 2d6 for each slot level above 6. So, I lied, it's 12d6 then. Do you want 12d6 for every target she hits, or should she roll 12d6 once? It's 12d6 once. Yeah. No, I would never That's a lot of rolling that we don't need to be doing.

Okay, uh, 5, 8,

Ha! Oh, twos. Uh, 8. 10, 12. 14. So that's six. I have, I done 16, 21, 22, 25,

uh, 28, 31. Ooh. And 2, 1 37. Uh, points of necrotic damage on a fail.

37. Yeah, you see, uh, many of the slutty are ripped by necrotic energies, some falling in place. Others continuing to retreat, but definitely crippled for a moment. The one that is directly in front of you. You can see that they're taking the full hit of this magic. But all they seem to do is grin in your direction as they've been pulled back by the Ace of the Whip.

I need you to roll a wisdom saving throw. Okay.

Let me just double check. Hang on. Um, what's the one thing? Um, uh,

Uh, sorry, I'm just trying to find the thing that lets me count. Where is it? There's a thing that lets me count, uh, as Oh, here it is. Silver Tongue, Charisma. Oh, nevermind. Okay, nevermind, nevermind. Something else. Okay. Uh, Wisdom save. Ooh. 16 plus 17.

You feel a kind of a ethereal pull at your mind, but you resist it, and all you really catch is this whisper of, Oh, are you redressing a balance? Are you my herald?

Before this huge weight of attention is shifted away from you. Okay. Um, and, cool, anything else? Um, how far am I away from the thing? From which thing? The big, the big The small one? The small scary one? Yes, that one. Yeah. Uh, you're probably like I meant to say big bad and I just couldn't get that out. I'd say 10 to 15 feet depending on how far away you think you would have been.

Can I make it right at 10? Yeah. Anything else? I don't think so. I don't think there's anything I can do in terms of bonus action otherwise. Okay. Uh, actually, wait, hold on. Nope, I cast, because I cast a spell. Never mind. Okay. Uh, The first hit of that fireball was targeted behind the, um, the beings that, that were defending.

So, seeing how Gus is sparing, how the, uh, While Cecilia's faring, it's a little harder to do now because now there's smoke and fire creating just a kind of a screen situation where you're having a hard time, Ulua, making out what's happening back there. Um, but what you can see is you can see that the darker Slot A is just clearly intending to move towards you in its next turn, which isn't right now.

Um, but you can see that its focus has shifted from the danger behind it. What, what is now the danger behind to the danger in front of it, which is you, um, gus being back amid the smoke. I need you to roll a perception check to see what you can see of what's happening, to see what you can see. Cici, uh, 1919.

Beautiful. With a 19, you can easily make out with the bright flash of the two modern that were destroyed. That the, they're trying to reform that line, but it's on the other side of the wall. So it's a little bit harder to see Quite what's going on? But with your great perception you're able to kind of make out that the smoke gets in the way You can see that there's that darker slutty is still out there As well as a Ulua somewhere off in that space but it's a little bit harder to make her out and you know that you could lose sight of her if she either gets any further or if the contents of this pitched battle become much more disruptive to vision.

At the same time, you can make out that the Modron leader is moving up to the wall themselves, about to cross it. Celia is looking to you for guidance in this moment, and you can tell that in the last round, she definitely was taking a much more defensive stance. She's kind of uncertain what to do now with the orphans saved.

The Modron pushing back, at least it appears they're pushing back the slutty friend behind enemy lines, so to speak. Um,

so is it my turn? Yep. Oh, sorry. Yes, Gus, it's your turn. Okay, I will

use my bonus action to yell out to Ulua. Like, we should get out of here. And then, uh, I will shoot another radiant beam at, dude does a ball.

12 doesn't hit no. You, you hear Ulua, you hear that shout. And then you see a beam kind of ricochet off of some of the metallic substructure here as, um. Gus can't quite make out from the smoke and the brightness of the wall how to exactly get the trajectory. Damn it. I'm part of the conspiracy, don't I?

From before? Oh wait, no, no. Nevermind, maybe I don't. I don't remember now. Yeah, I already shared the result either way, so sorry. Um, but good to keep that in mind. I think you do have it from last session. Um, okay, so anything else you're going to do, you

know, is your action bonus action? I don't know if you want to move at all. Yeah, I'll stay where I'm at.

Uh, Philia looks up to you, Gus, just down. Down. You actually, because the tiering of the, of the terrain here, she's a little bit below, but she's tall enough to be looking at, makes eye contact with you guys. I'm just saying. Is she, is she okay? Is this the plan? There's no plan.

And you can just see her like kind of looking around trying to figure out what to do with herself in this moment. With that, the battle. Can I tell her just to let go after Jess and the kids? Yeah, preacted it. Inform her to go. Yeah. Okay. Um, so she kind of like. Carefully, much more carefully than the younglings that had gone last.

She makes her way facing back towards the threat the entire time. Um, Ulua, you watch the advance of the Modron, their shiny armor, their metallic parts, becoming more clear as they come closer, but at the same time you're being closed in by Slutty on every side. Yes, they're slutty that have been hit by a tremendous weapon But already you can start to see parts of those injuries healing and that darkest slutty just looks at you directly and I need

Of course, I dropped the page

Um

I need you to um Let me see how

this works. I need you to make a Charisma Saving Throw. This is Oh, actually, first I need to see if this hits. Okay. Okay, now I need you to make a Charisma Saving Throw that to hit was 25. I can't help it, that's just how life is. Okay, okay. Uh, Charisma Save? Yeah. Uh, oh my god. 19. 19, you feel yourself being torn from this plane of existence, like you're being dragged off as it reaches up to grab you.

And as that happens, you just push against it with all of your thought being pure charisma, just your ability to slide through slippery situations. Somehow it all comes together and you're able to. voiced off this magical attempt to transport you. But as you voice that off, you see this dark, slutty, and seven of its slutty brethren disappear from sight, leaving behind only five or six.

I also need you to roll a constitution saving throw. Another one!

Another 19. Rolled a 17 that time. That was much nicer. Stupid 12! That tadpole that you saw was, you witnessed it as it tried to stab its little back end pincer into your body. Did the, did the cube not affect, or the sphere not affect it? Would not. Why not? Did it save? No. There's something going on here.

Okay. Okay. Do you want to roll a medicine check? Or an Arcana check to see what's happening. Uh, Let's see if either of those are decent for me. They're the same. Um, I guess maybe if it's not going to impede on my my economy, my action economy, then I would like to do it. But if it's going to take up action economy, then no.

Not right now. I would say that in a heated battle, you wouldn't. Spend the time to figure this out, especially if it's not a strong area for you. Yeah. I think that makes the most sense, narratively. One time, back in 1976, I believe I read a book that says that. It's kind of like brushing off the spider or throwing a slug off of your leg in the moment and going, Ooh, is this a poisonous slug?

Yeah. Yeah. Um, Is it my turn? Yeah. Okay. You also see many of the modron are closing in. A couple more Slaadi go down, a couple more modron go down. The wall that Gus put up is behind all of these creatures. It's also almost gone. It's like, It's like, panel at this point. Yeah, there's one shot left in that wall.

Okay, and then, uh, yeah, so Ulua is at the top with your turn. Okay, uh, I am going to cast, where is it, where is it, where is it, where is it, where is it, Um, Let me just double check.

Okay, I am going to cast Hypnotic Pattern. And basically I'm going to take the, the sleeves that I have that are on my outfit that essentially are just kind of like, uh, they're attachments that are not actually attached to my dress. And I'm just going to start kind of like, weaving them in the air kind of like, you know, um, like silks do, like silk fans, that kind of thing.

Um, And, uh, it's a 30 foot cube, uh, or rather, yeah, within range of me, so I would do it towards everybody. And then, um, anyone who sees it has to make a wisdom save of 15, uh, or be charmed, in which case they are incapacitated and a speed of zero.

Okay, you are going to catch some of the Modron in this. Is that a problem for you, or do you want to cast the location of this spell to be such that it would just be Slaadi? I would prefer that if possible. Um, but I, I just, I, it's hard for me to conceptualize that in this moment. We're just looking at the spell being cast a little bit deeper into the cavernous space.

Um, because if you cast it like right centered where you are, you're going to catch the Modron. Okay. tweak your location a bit. Not your, your personal location, because you have a range of 120 foot. Right. With this spell, but just placing it such, um, yeah. Okay, great. So you've just tried to charm a bunch of creatures, and I'm going to see if they have, they do!

So I think it's roll with advantage.

Oops.

Okay. What saving throw was it? A wisdom 15. Even with advantage they didn't do so hot.

You see a couple of them shake off this illusion and they go to leap, uh, deeper into the space. But there are four of them that are still here that very much become dazed by this ability. And they seem to be just. Drawn to those colorful colors. You also feel the creature on your leg fall off. Thank fuck.

Mushroom eyes. I'm getting there. Um. Pretty sure mine's living in my underwear by now. Not an image I needed. Not an image I needed. Um. Um.

Oh, Gus hacking, , slutty, slutty,

Um, uh, at which point, once, once the spell takes hold, I am going to make a break for, um, Gus and Celia, uh, as best I can, navigating a, I guess, closest to the Slade that are charms as they won't try to attack me. Uh, as I go by. Does that make sense? Yeah, I think you can navigate quite easily and with the temporary truce between you and the Modron, you can use your full movement to get pretty far.

Um, so that, yeah, that's an effective, so you're moving over towards where Gus and Celia are. Mm hmm. And I can't cast Healing Word because I cast a spell, right? Yeah, if you had cast a cantrip, you could have cast a leveled spell. Um, yeah, I think, Gus, you see through the smoke, the bright flashes, what's left of your wall, you see Ulua poke out the other side of the wall, and like, it's the Modron are to either side of her.

She's just standing on this side of the wall. She's just come through the wall far enough to be seen by you. Um, But the Modron are still pressing forward, it looks like, and there's, uh, still a, um, the, the, the commanding Modron has moved past your wall as well, and there still seems to be, like, cohesion to their force, but it looks like the Slaadi have broke.

Okay. It is your turn. Um, I will shoot my last chunk of wall, Radiant Beam, at, uh, like, the closest. Slaad to Ulua, even if it's running away. Yeah. Does 15 hit?

Gee, that's actually a really good question. Cause I think these ones, the only ones that are left are the blues. It exactly hits. Yay. Uh, 14, 15 damage. 15 damage. You, you see that this creature that has been hit so many times and it's been Every few seconds has recovered. A little bit of whatever has been going on for it is, um, your hit on it just kind of makes it drag its leg for a second, then it seems to be trying to get back up to continue running.

Um, and do you have any other bonus actions or, um,

well that's all good because the mod immediately go to cut into it. They're spinning blades emerging from various component parts. And begin chopping at this creature, slowly tearing it down to nothing. You do see one that might have escaped deeper in, but the modern are continuing their advance. Those that were charmed, Ulua, by you, are being decimated as they are.

Completely vulnerable to these attacks, being incapacitated as they are. And those first few moments is enough for them to be with how few are left. To be just overwhelmed by the number of modern that are here in the modern continue to advance down deep into the mechanical depths, uh, or at least that is what their intent looks like.

It's going to be, um, the modern commanding unit of whatever sort that is, has already moved further in deeper into the space. Um, and I think Gus, you hear. Some sort of command, but it's hard to distinguish over the sounds of battle and ongoing fighting and the noises that are being generated, but it sounded vaguely like We will return for you.

Are they revealing that at us or at the Modron? The Modron said that we will return for you. Oh. The way in which it said that, though, does give you a moment of pause. Go ahead and roll an insight check really quick. We'll see, I'm pretty dumb today.

13. It just similar to how others have experienced the Madrin so far, it just sets your hair on end, can feel the nape of your neck. Prickle as there seems to be more meaning to that than just that they will return.

Alright, uh, and Gus, unless you're going to pursue the bloody and the Madrin, you can step out of combat order now. Yeah. The battle recedes from you all. Celia is looking at you both. Oh, that was good. Right? Um. I think that's what do. I think we have two problems now, but we need to warn Stinky Reap before he gets to that city, if it's not too late.

I can, I can try. What do I need to say? Uh, just tell him to turn around and meet up with us and we'll explain. It's dumb, it's dangerous. Okay. Um, I'll cast Sending. Although we have new information, I guess. Cool. So you cast Sending. Having your head moment. Stickybeak, don't go to the city.

We have new info.

Turn back. We

We'll need to negotiate with them. I think I had like five left, but I'm not gonna go any farther than that.

You get back, Ulua. Can't talk. I think the Modrons are here to kill us. In the bone. Don't make me use up all my spell slots.

Fuckin upcast sending!

They are here to restore order. From the chaos the Slaadi are creating. Abort recon mission. Get out. Now.

They don't understand

organic creatures.

I'm already in. Stubborn ass bird. Gotta tell you, they're not just after those. This used to be one of the floating cities. They're after everything here.

Cool. Awesome. Great. Be back soon!

Well, apparently he's already there. Um, he says that this used to be one of our floating cities, I guess. Or, one of the floating cities. The part didn't really Wasn't Well, not a lot of context given. Uh, he said he'll be back soon, but he's refusing to come back now. So, uh And abort the mission, so.

Well. Right now I want to eat, and I need to sleep. But first, and I like, go and do a medicine check on my leg where the tadpole was. Go ahead and roll the medicine check. Uh,

E. Eleven! Eleven! You see puncture marks, but you don't have a lot of knowledge around this particular thing, even though you've looked into research for what it looks like an actual body to be compromised. is a big question for you. It's difficult to tell you, but there are puncture marks in your leg.

Everybody, and I just kind of like hold up my leg and go, see this? Check. Everybody do a check. And you say that and your voice echoes up the hallway a little bit. Seraphina, you've been up here. The Modron that was chasing the little uh, smaller caterpillar. Salamanderesque creatures or tadpoleesque creatures isn't in the room anymore.

It's gone upstairs. You can hear it crashing around upstairs. Did you, as battle seemed to come to an end, did you usher the children out of the orphanage or are you staying inside this main room? Um, no, I would have gotten them out, like fully out so that they can start going like home, home. And once everyone is out and clear, I would have started to head down to where I was last.

Okay, um, You get, you get them all out and you, you say to yourself, you just need to go home, home. And these faces look at you and look behind you. Oh my god, this is their home. There it is. Oh my god. Okay, not home, home. Well, some of them live at the academy, some of them are orphans, right? Some of them did live at the academy before it was closed down.

Um, okay, uh, okay. Everyone go to, and then I'm gonna give the address of where my, like, workroom is. Slash the shop. And I'll go,

this is so bad.

I'm gonna just tell them to go there and go down to my workstation. How many are there? There's, uh, Close to 16 teens to children. Oh my god.

Okay, I'm gonna tell them to go there, and I'm gonna say, If the workstation isn't big enough to hold all of you, You older kids, go upstairs, and ask if you can help with anything. Stay there, till we come get you. Alright, so yeah, you send off all of these kids. I don't know what I'm doing. You're doing great, sweetie.

You would have returned back to The, the building to go find your friends? Um,

No, I want to go upstairs, but yes, I go to where the others are. Okay. Yeah, you, you, you go back down a little bit, and just as you're starting to head back down the stairs, you hear Ulua say something about, If you have this, look for this, check your body for this. And you are restored to each other. Look, nothing bad happened when you split the party.

Can I run to her leg and look at it? And I would like to do a medicine check. Yeah, you can roll that medicine check. Great. I look at, I look at Celia and I go, Do you have any, do you have any goods? She's been, like, ever since you shouted that out, she's been checking herself. And I go, alright, turn around.

Bam, bam, bam, bam! No. No, just very good. Okay, this is a check. Medicine.

21 with a 21. You can see that somehow a lot of several attempts for her leg to be infected. You can remember from the book and for whatever reason, your mega mind situation is able to take the pictures from a book and apply them to a human rendition where it's actually occurred. The reality is there and you can see that no, there is no sign of infection on Ulua.

Celia spends around saying, I don't have anything. I, I kiss Ulua's forehead and I go, You're not infected. Okay, uh, and I turn to see you and I go, You're good? You're good? Yeah, yeah, I'm good. What about you, buddy? Is that me, buddy? Yeah, that's you. Okay. I guess I will do a medicine check on myself? Is that how we're doing this?

As he's doing that, I'm, I'm going to start like, Like pulling up his sleeves and like, checking his legs and And being all up in his business. The first step is to look to see if you have any of these marks. But go ahead and roll a perception check, or investigation check, depending on what you're doing.

Investigate! So I guess I'll go, like, systematically, like, divide my body, like, into quadrants and, like, do, I got a 14 for investigations, if I 17. Okay. I'm not very well with Ulua and Gus, you find the ones that are on a parent's easily accessible skin.

The ones? Like there's more than one? There's multiple bite marks. And I, I wave Seraphina over and I go, what about these ones?

I'mma look. Okay. Come on, good die. Come on. Is it? Is it? Okay. Plus two? Plus two. Nineteen? Okay. It looks like Gus has gotten infected. One of the bites is just it's showing all the bad signs. I don't know if any of you have ever checked for ticks and then for Lyme's disease afterwards you see the bullet eyed bruise situation.

It's a very similar type of evaluation here where it's very similar. Seraphina, you're like, Oh crap, he's got it. I immediately pull out. I don't know if this is going to work, but I'm a try. I immediately pull out the, the, the vial, the lesser restoration thing that I was given and I shove it in his mouth.

Uh, Gus, if you'd like to keep your teeth, roll us. Roll a dexterity saving throw. Are you accepting the manhandling? Um, of all the dex saves today, this is the one I pass. I got an 18. Oh, I guess. But I guess I'll keep my teeth. You don't break any teeth. It's all, it's all good. But there's definitely, your throat might be a little raw.

Um, somebody went a little further than nostril level. Deep throat at a lesser restoration. And you can feel the effects of that lesser restoration. suffuse your body and, and, you know, it wasn't so dang expensive. This would be a great cure for arthritis. How, how are the, how, how are they looking? You can watch the bruising that was the telltale for the bacteriophage fade.

Almost immediately with this magical potion.

Uh, and I just kind of like, I just turned to Seraphina and I just like, I just grab her face and I kiss her and I'm like, Oh my God, thank you.

And then I realized what I did and I'm like, I'm sorry. Um, I guess they're back.

We're gonna need a moment as these two are doing that. Cecilia leans over to you. Wasn't what I think it was. Was it? Yeah, just saying. Maybe one of them seems to know it, but, what? Potion. They're always clueless about their own. And she picks up the empty vial, sniffs it, and goes, Oh, that's good stuff. I honestly don't remember where that even came from.

She gave us each something. Wasn't it her?

Oh, yeah, Suya did. Oh, don't you hear me yawning for her? She must really like you.

Um, I guess so.

Eh. Uh, thanks, Sheriff Renown. Yep. For making sure that a schlod does not pop out of my chest at some point. Absolutely. Is there just like an absolute way to confirm?

Yeah, roll a history check. Okay. Since you did read into those books.

Yeah, 20. Oh, thank god, because I rolled 22. I rolled a 14.

You remember from what you were reading that there's something about getting it taken care of quickly and early before you die being key because the only thing, and it kind of hits you as you're looking at this, the only thing that can reverse the transformation after a full infection has occurred is a wish spell.

Um,

okay, but In terms of, before that, like, we did the right thing to, to heal it? You feel like this was a very successful way to do it. Okay. Alright, uh, You caught it before transformation, and you dealt with it. Okay. Decisively. Alright, um, As much as she is enjoying the moment with Seraphina, uh, Ulua's just gonna kind of, uh, Slowly sink to her knees, and just be like, Okay, yes, I know we need to get out of here, but, what just happened?

Uh. Is that Modron still like zipping around in this room up here? He's upstairs. No. Up, upstairs. You're still at the downstairs area, cause, uh. I came down. Jason, you kind of like, bleh, shouted up, but you haven't, like, at least unless you think you have, you haven't actually gone back up to that main room yet.

Okay,

so

There are Slaadi corpses laying about. A couple of Modron components scattered about. Little, may I grab some of the components? , to start

enter my basket. It goes, and it's not a basket 'cause I don't have a basket, but it goes into like pockets. All your pockets. All your pockets. Roll it, roll an investigation early quick as you're doing this, as you're collecting random bits and bobs and she,

oh no.

That's a very large number. So that was a nat 20? Yes. That was a nat 20? Okay, this only would occur on a natural 20. As you're collecting the various pieces, and there's just interesting bits and bobs here. As you're collecting them, you pick up one art that somehow survived the destruction of its host, and you can see that it is still powered.

It has, as you're collecting the pieces, it has the telltale signature of magic infusing something. This was a manufactured creature. And the signature of that magic in very clear, orderly lines is inscribed upon this component, this cylindrical component. And even as you're observing the cylinder, you see it.

Change shape slightly. Becoming slightly more, um, Slightly more hexagonal in its pieces. Slightly more angular.

Can't, wait. So, uh, wait. So there's writing on it? There appears to be some sort of writing on it. I cast Comprehend Languages! Hehehehehehe

Oh, I have to twirl my charm and then I cast it. Um, you're looking at this and it's not a language. Dang it. This is, this is much more in your zone of things. My zone of things? This is a, this is some sort of program. This is instructions of some sort, but not in language. It's not spoken language. It's like It's like the diagrams you used when you first were beginning your practice as an artificer.

I immediately, like, black out and start focusing just on this thing. Like, I just get, you know, like in movies how, like, it just, like, zones in on just like that. Little visions.

Awesome. Um, I'll have you do some rolls and, uh, it'll be fun, but, uh, Ulua and Gus as the two remaining functional people as Seraphina is deeply entranced by some Bob. Between going from a kiss of her crush to now finding this. She's doomed. She has broken down. Best day ever! Is there anything to loot in this room?

There are the corpses of several, there are the corpses of several Slutty, and you can see that this is a mechanical space. I mean, if you want some dustbins and stuff like that, but the most interesting objects here are the Slutty bodies. Um, the modern bodies might have been interesting, but somebody's already digging around in the parts and pieces.

Slutty body! Uh, I rolled a 19 on my investigation check. For the Slaadi Buddies. It's so nice to get you showed. So many times I get to sing today. Check the Slaadi bodies. Check the Slaadi bodies. There isn't anybody. There isn't anybody. There isn't anybody.

Oh man. So as you kind of look around, you see that um, In this base form, they're mostly just, you know, salamanderesque amphibian bodies with horrific protrusions and such. And these are all fairly large, but you see that on a couple of them, there's embedded in their skull, this small gemstone. Ooh!

I pull it out. You pull and it, there's like a pressure or a suction. But when you pull it out, you can see that there are symbols carved into it. Is it

a language? Language. It's not a language. But you do have comprehend languages up. So go ahead and roll an intelligence check. Um, you could use, uh, history. Because you have read some of these books.

Ten.

You know, if you get back to those books, that you can make sense of this. There was something about these. I will steal all the gems that are available and then I will go back upstairs. Yeah, I mean, working quickly, you're able to pull the skulls of these amphibious creatures.

A handful of these gems.

Okay! How many is a handful? Like, five? But, uh, there's probably only like five of them that are intact enough to be extracted.

Two, three, four, five. Done. Ulua, you've kissed and then been ignored. Cecilia is standing next to you, kind of smirking a bit, but not in an obnoxious way. I'm like still just kind of like sitting on my heels. Um, just trying to like, I'm just Like in that complete like mental post adrenaline daze, you know, um, and I just kind of like notice her and I go,

thanks for coming with, I don't know that we would have made it out of there without you. Thank you for that. And whatever that was, and I point to the empty vial.

What was it that you shouted? In Tanzanite's name? Yes. Um, so

And I just kind of like, hold up my whip and I go, Somehow, um, This is connected to Tanzanite, um, And I had a dream about her Bless. Last night, recently, she was in my dream, talking to me, um, so, I figured she would approve of me using it to try to restore balance of the lives that the Slot E were taking, so, I don't know, that's just And I just went with it.

So, you found, and, and dead, even. Wow. And that's how you spoke to Oksana?

I didn't speak directly to Oksana. She had already moved on, but Tanzanite assured me that the message that I gave, which was that I would take care of our sisters in the house and continue on her legacy, she assured me Could you have chosen, like, the Goddess of Vine? I

I didn't choose any of this. I Or you could have chosen that Boozy Party Magic God. Boozy Party Magic. I don't remember what his name is.

Boozy Party I mean, I feel like I'm gonna walk up, like, past him on the steps. I'm gonna be like, Asher. Just keep walking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Asher. Boozy Party Magic. I mean, I I don't think I I would have never thought of him that way. But I Yeah, I I mean, I guess. Boozy Party Magic. I mean, he, he wanted, well, it doesn't matter.

It makes my head hurt. I'm very tired. Um. We should, we should go. I agree. Before those robots come back. Is robot a word we have in our lexicon? Yeah. When those automatons come back.

Yeah. So, heading out, where do you all go? Um, and. How do you get Jess to go with you? I mean, that's, that's the next step. I would have kind of just like dragged myself to my feet and I would have kind of walked over to where she was. And I'm assuming she's just kind of, she's not still moving. She's sedentary.

You are in one spot. Seraphina, would you have held still after finding this really awesome thing? Yeah, for sure. And with the time that has passed, it's actually changed shape more and it's, uh, Become a twelve sided shape. Awww! And, uh, I just kind of, uh, slowly put my hand in front of her face. And then as I do that, I just kind of put my hand on the side of her face and, like, turn her face so that it's and then I wait to see if her eyes peel away from the object and look at me.

Very patiently.

And when she doesn't It would just be, like, a solid, very uncomfortable amount of time. Heh heh. And like, just as I go to kiss her, that's, that's when she like, finally breaks out and I go, Play with it later. We need to leave. Where are the kids? My workstation.

Where, where that thing attacked us?

Yeah, we got attacked by something at your, it, yeah. I'm not crazy, right? We've never been to Jess's workstation. Yes, we have! Oh no, is it her brother's place that we went to? Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Sorry. All right. All right. Okay. Sorry. Scratch that. Okay. Okay, then, uh, we should go there. Oh, you're trying to go send them to your brother's office.

Well, not really. Not really, I think it's still in shambles. Yeah, I don't know if it's even We might have been evicted from it. I haven't paid rent. Um, but, uh, okay. Then we should see them settled. I got in touch with Sticky Beak. Um, But I need to rest, uh, and we need to figure out how to help those kids because they obviously can't stay here.

Uh, and I kind of like start to like lift her up so that she starts and then like start guiding her towards the stairs. Um, as we walk over there, I, I look around her at Celia and I go, So the kids are Okay, they are at and then I just kind of stop and I in that moment I go hang on and I just kind of pause and in my head I say it a little prayer I guess to Tanzanite that, um, the one boy who sacrificed himself that his soul, uh, goes through peacefully, um, or whatever that's worth.

Um, and then I kind of shake myself off and I, uh, I continue on and I look at Celia and I go, We need to figure out what to do with them. They obviously can't stay here.

Do you know anybody who would take them in? I mean, I could maybe take some of them at the house, but I can't fit however many of them there were. I can't fit all of them.

Are you asking me if I will take them in? No, I'm asking you for your advice because you were one of them. No, no, it just, um It wasn't, of course, I mean like one or two if they could maybe like be of help. Maybe some of the older ones. But, I think Like apprentices, the ones that aren't doing magic. I don't know.

I'm just I don't do I don't do you know I don't do that whole child situation

We could pick up we could pick up some tents put them up for now on my land

You know, I thought about sending them to your house, and I didn't know if I could so I sent them to my workshop I should have done that. At least it's out of the city and safe from all of the Well, yes, I think before we send them that way, we should also check them and hope none of them are infected, but, and I turned to Sue yet and I go, uh, do you have any more of those potions or know where I can, or we could get some just in case it might not be bad to have a couple of those handy.

Okay.

Okay. So. In my history rolling tonight, or do I need to roll again to know what the gestation time is for slot egg, or slot tadpole, whatever. I think it's technically the infection version, right? Or I guess, we don't know, there's multiple versions, there's the scratch, there's Yeah, you know that there's multiple versions, you know that there's the, um, there's the scratch, there is, um, having an egg implanted in you.

But whatever this tadpole situation was, it looked like it was more along the lines of the scratch.

Do I know how long the infection takes to like, run its course and kill somebody?

Um, it actually is until they die, so it's one of those things that just pulls away at their life force slowly, mechanically, until you get to zero health points. Gotcha.

Okay. Um, okay. Um, why don't we, is, is the market on the way to, um, Seraphina's workshop, is there a market on the way? Her workshop is in the middle of the market. That's what I thought, okay. As we go to go there, when we get to the market, I would like to use Locate Object to see if any of those, any more of those are nearby.

The best uses of Locate Object ever. And as you head off, leaving the crag side crowds behind, to whatever sort of Rubble happens beneath the surface of that floating city because that is one unfinished bit of business. You head into the market area and we will pick this back up from there. Hope you all enjoyed and had a beautiful and wonderful experience.

Just don't leave right away because we need to do some rolls. Uh, secret secrets are no fun. It's for everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. Please like, subscribe, and leave comments. We really appreciate your support and we hope to, um, Just have a magical, wonderful day. We hope you find your own pod!

Find your own pod. But you know what? If you ever want to join our pod, please reach out, because we, you know. We're on loan. We're loaners.

I don't know what We're slotty. We're open. If you ever want to come play with us, please reach out. We're open to pod via pod moments. Thanks! We love meeting new people. Okay, bye. Okay, that's inappropriate ending. Bye bye.