015 - Bounty Hunters - Attercop

Content Warnings
- Control/compulsion
- Pain/injury
- Spiders
- Body horror
- Sounds of bones breaking

[Show intro plays]

ROVER

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Remains To Be Seen, the DnD show where one group's past could determine the other group's future. I am your host and DM, Rover Elliott, pronouns he/they, and today I am here with...

ANNIE

Annie Ruby, she/her.

ELIZABETH

Elizabeth Simpson, she/her.

Jo Mendacium, all the pronouns.

MIRA

And Mira G, she/her.

ROVER

And who are you guys playing?

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Josie, whose brain is absolutely chock full of lore now.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Corwin, who's read really quite a lot in the last 81 minutes.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Viktor. I'm where I'm supposed to be.

MIRA [as UNA]

And Una, who can speak dead languages?

ROVER

Why can you speak dead languages, Mira? Do you, do you want to explain that for us?

MIRA

So to recap the previous episode—also, dear listener, if you're joining us on this adventure right now, this is at episode 14—

ANNIE

Why?

MIRA

—what are you doing? Go back to the first episode.

ANNIE

Why?

Yeah, what the fuck?

ROVER

Yeah, what the fuck?

ANNIE

We're happy to have you! But what the fuck?

ROVER

This is episode 15!

MIRA

Sorry, this is in episode 15! That's very true. (Laughs) So, what happened in episode 14: we have been given a huge amount of lore thanks to Corwin and Josie, who decided to visit the newspaper archive section of the library. And they have learned a lot of things about Corwin's sister, about Cazur. There has been a lot of natural d20s happening left, right, and center. We have a huge lore dump. If you want to know what it is, go and listen to that episode. In the meantime—and they spent 81, and I need to accentuate that, 81 minutes doing that. Good research. Good research—while Una and Viktor were going to a different section.

Una was hoping to find some archives, administrative archives. Viktor was stealing more books, or presumably planning to steal more books. And Una then saw a blue light, footsteps-like things showing up, followed said footsteps, came out to a completely different section of the library, which conveniently was completely empty. And with a bit of investigation, an illusion has been dropped around a bench that was so inconspicuously placed somewhere in the other room. And Viktor and Una, hand in hand, walked down a very long staircase. And went through a very long corridor, and no it did not take them 81 minutes to do so.

And stumbled upon a...I remember it was being described as a very big door with some kind of arcane lock. Maybe not the spell Arcane Lock, but some kind of magic used to lock it.

ROVER

(Whispering) It definitely was the spell Arcane Lock. Definitely was.

MIRA

It definitely was that spell, thank you.

[Laughter]

And trying to figure out how to open it, Una spoke in a dead tongue that Viktor was able to understand, but not, not knowing themselves what the language was, due to the Comprehend Languages which has been casted with a very good forward thinking from Jo.

I'm clever, what can I say?

MIRA

Yes.

[Laughter]

And a little bit of a discussion was to be had. Una is very confused; she doesn't remember doing it. And then they walked through the door and came into Viktor's happy, question mark, place? Which is shelves upon shelves of books related to Hades, and also what has been described, and how I understood it—it was either a huge statue or a spiraling staircase resembling a dragon.

ROVER

It is, you guys went through the statue, as the illusion of—

MIRA

We went through the statue.

ROVER

Yeah. And then you got into RadCam, which is Radcliffe Camera in Oxford. And along the side of the walls...you know how the building is very circular? It kind of went along the walls, there's just almost a snakelike, but with scales, along the walls, all the way up. And then in the middle, there is the dragon head looking down.

MIRA

With the maw open, yeah.

ROVER

Yeah, the maw open.

MIRA

And Una has realized that there are, in fact, dragons and dungeons. And that's where we left off.

ROVER

Yeah, there are dragons and dungeons! (Laughs) Fantastic. We are picking up with Viktor and Una, who have just stepped foot in RadCam.

[Low, ominous hum begins in the background]

Tightly squeezing your hand, Viktor goes,

JO [as VIKTOR]

I don't think I can ever repay you for this. This is...(laughs) fuck me.

MIRA [as UNA]

I don't think you should be thanking me yet. I...I don't feel at ease at this place right now.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Well, I'll...feel comfortable for both of us.

And he's going to let go of your hand and strut to the nearest bookshelf.

[Jo mimes reaching out to touch a book]

ROVER

Okay. There, there are bookshelves all along the walls, except for the areas where the swirling starts. Other than that, you give me, give me an Investigation roll, Vik.

Investigation? Oh shit. Okay.

ROVER

Una, in the meantime, give me a Wisdom save.

[Elizabeth squeaks in distress]

[Dice clacks]

So I rolled a 17, and I have plus 5 in Investigation. So it's 22.

ELIZABETH

Let's go.

Thank you.

MIRA

The Wisdom save is a 10. (Laughs)

ANNIE

Oof.

ROVER

Good.

(Laughing) No, it's not!

[Laughter]

ANNIE

Ruh-roh.

ELIZABETH

I'm sure this is fine and will have no repercussions.

I have Spare the Dying, it's fine. It's fine. It's fine. I can—

ROVER

I want to start by saying that everything that happens, I have asked people about, and that was all double checked.

[Chuckles and sighs]

MIRA

Permissions have been granted.

ROVER

So.

ANNIE

Read the trigger warnings.

ROVER

Vik...these books are all written in Ancient Draconic. And there are, there are books, there are manuscripts, there are journals. And as you put your hand on one of them—

It's going to be the left hand this time. I don't think he does that on purpose. But it's the left hand.

ROVER

The left hand. And it's like, without hearing it, the moment your, one of your fingers touches the book, there is a, what normally is a daintily hand that you've held before grabs onto your wrist,

[Echoing clang, fading into hollow bells]

and as you look next to you, you can see Una, eyes filled with blue glow.

[Cloth and leather crackling]

And the grip, she shouldn't even have the strength that she is holding this with. And she is just looking at you. And it's almost like this type of blue glow is also, like flame-wise, almost like coming out of her mouth.

Viktor's just grinning, not taking the eyes off of her, slowly raising the other hand to touch a book.

ROVER

Can I have an Intelligence saving throw, Viktor?

Oooh!

ELIZABETH

Oooooh oh oh oh oh.

I'm here to play the game.

[Dice clunks]

Okay, okay, okay, okay. Intelligence is...(laughs) 19 plus 3, which also is a 22.

ELIZABETH

Nice!

ROVER

So you will take half.

[Sound of LOTS of dice being picked up]

Yes.

[Dice clacks and clunks]

MIRA

Ro's like, did I stutter?

ANNIE

Ooh, that's a lot of rattle.

That sounded like a lot of die. (Sigh) I cannot cast Spare the Dying on myself, by the way.

[MORE dice rattling?!]

ELIZABETH

(Through her teeth) You left the two people who can heal you in the other side of the library!

ANNIE

I know!

I have five healing potions in my pocket right now.

[Dice clunks and clattering]

ROVER

Oh, I rolled garbage!

MIRA

(Big sigh) Oooh.

Oh, thank fuck.

ANNIE

Yes!

ROVER

Holy fuck.

MIRA

My god, the way I held my breath just now.

ELIZABETH

Good!

ANNIE

Whoo!

[Laughter]

ROVER

That, by the way, for everyone, that was eight d6.

[Exclamations of relief and disbelief]

I only have 24 hit points, by the way! (Laughs)

ROVER

Mmhmm.

That's my max. I'm healthy, right now. I was.

ANNIE

So if those all hit 3, you would have been done.

ROVER

No, it wouldn't.

ANNIE

Oh right, half! I forgot.

ROVER

The total damage was 19, which means half is, rounded down, 8. You take 8 necrotic damage.

ANNIE

Ooooh!

(Whispering) Interesting.

ROVER

And the book crumbles under your fingers.

[Sounds of disintegration]

ANNIE

Ooooooooh.

ELIZABETH

Ooooooh.

ROVER

Into pure dust. And you still have Una clamping down around your arm.

[Cloth and leather creaking]

You are going to add to that—

[Dice clattering]

4 piercing damage from the nails that are going into your wrist.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Alright, you take the lead, then. If you're so eager.

MIRA

Question.

ROVER

Yeah.

MIRA

Una is touching Vik's left hand.

ROVER

Left hand.

[Echoing clang of bells and rhythmic screech of instruments]

With the blue glow that is coming off from beneath your glove, and both the shadowy ink and the blue glow seem to swirl around each other on both of your hands.

Oh!

MIRA

Am I able to let go of Vik's hand?

ROVER

Give me a Wisdom saving throw.

[Dice clacks]

MIRA

That is a nat 20.

ROVER

Yes, you can. And you will, from now on, have one Level of Exhaustion.

MIRA

Thank you, DM.

ROVER

Which means, by the way, with one Level of Exhaustion, you can get rid of that, I think, with a long rest. Yeah, you will—that means you have disadvantage on ability checks. If the Exhaustion level goes up, your speed is halved. And it can go up to level 6. Once you're on six, you are dead.

I'm at half my health, by the way. Just in case someone was wondering. I have 12.

MIRA

I'm so sorry.

Amazing.

ANNIE

Yeah, I was just about to say—half health in about three seconds there.

MIRA

So is Una back? Aware?

ROVER

Fully, fully back. The glow disappears, and you, you are aware. Definitely with a natural 20, you are aware.

MIRA [as UNA]

(Breathing heavily) Vik, I'm so sorry.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Don't be.

MIRA [as UNA]

Just don't touch anything.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Yeah, I got the message. You can tell that to your boss, too.

MIRA [as UNA]

What?

JO [as VIKTOR]

Well, I'm assuming that...okay. I tried to not be insensitive about it, but I'm assuming you have something to do with the Cult of Hades, and all the blue glowy stuff and the hand grabbing—

And I feel like, if I may, he has, like, you can see the imprint Una left.

ROVER

Oh, yes.

JO [as VIKTOR]

And I'm assuming, since this happened, something took over.

MIRA [as UNA]

I...trust me, please do trust me when I tell you this, I don't know. I know as much as you do right now.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Oh. Oh no. No no, don't get me wrong. I understand that you have no fucking clue what's going on. I am very pumped about this.

He is genuinely grinning (laughs). He is in pain, but also is like, "this is cool!"

MIRA [as UNA]

Right. Let's take care of that before we do anything else. Do you, can you heal yourself? Or do anything? I don't even know what I've done to you.

JO [as VIKTOR]

I mean...there's five healing potions in my pocket. In case I fall over dead, take them. Before that happens, I guess give me one? But right now, I'd rather see what the fuck we can do here.

MIRA [as UNA]

Um...right. Just please do me a favor and take one now? I would feel so much better about it. In case…

[Ominous, rhythmic hum continues in the background]

Above table, how much is Minor Healing potions?

ROVER

2d4 + 2.

MIRA

You might be able to heal to max.

He's going, he's going to.

[Jo mimes drinking the potion, and rolls for the healing off-audio]

ROVER

Okay. While you do that, I'm going to pop over to our other side over there. Where you guys have just gotten the knowledge that you've gotten in the previous episode.

[Archival ambiance begins: rustling of papers, pencils writing, softs sounds of other people]

ELIZABETH

Yeah. Uh, I think, in response to that, actually, Annie, how would Josie have been looking through these papers? So I'm envisioning: Corwin would have grabbed a stack of them and laid them out on the floor. And she's sat crossed legged on the floor going through things. How is Josie going through things?

ANNIE

Josie would be, would have also kind of pulled a huge stack. Especially with 81 minutes, I think that a big part of that is that we were just grabbing shitloads of it, rather than being discerning. So Josie would have a big pile of it and would have sat at a table and been, like a desk of some sort, and been pulling the ones that are relevant into one pile, and then discarding everything else, and then spreading them out to read them. And I think also, for flavor, she would have, after settling in, she would have taken Jazzy out of her pocket, put him on the table, and just as, whenever she's reading through one, she's just kind of idly petting him with her other hand as she's reading.

[Parrot squawks]

Just not even thinking about it, not noticing that she's doing it.

ROVER

I don't know what birds do when it sounds like they're purring? But that is exactly what's going on.

[Annie laughs. Elizabeth makes parrot-purring noises]

Can I have a Perception check from—that is so cool, by the way.

ANNIE

That was very cool.

ROVER

Jesus christ, I can't do that, that's amazing. Can I have a Perception check from Josie and Corwin?

[Dice clattering]

ANNIE

Mmm.

ELIZABETH

That's an 11 from Corwin.

ANNIE

ROVER

Keep talking.

ANNIE

The good rolls have finally worn off.

ELIZABETH

We're consumed with our studies.

ANNIE

And because it was said in chat, I just do want to mention—I know what having birds is like, not having had them myself, but I know enough people who have.

ROVER

Mmhmm?

ANNIE

That parrot has shit on at least one newspaper.

[Laughter]

100%. There's no possible way it hasn't. But yeah, I think we're gonna, I think...Josie is definitely gonna ask Corwin, like,

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Okay, what'd you find out about your sister? I can't read French, so.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Literally nothing.

ELIZABETH

Corwin is going to look very pale and almost kind of sick at, like, the collection of news that they've gathered. And she's gonna toss down a paper in French.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Nothing. They haven't made any progress at all. This is useless. Tell me you've found anything else?

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Some things, yeah. I'm very interested in, of all the disappearances here, I think the one we haven't given enough attention to is Graham, the prisoner from the Solar Bastion. The circumstances of his arrest and of the news coming out of the Solar Bastion in the past 10 years since then, a lot of it doesn't add up. There's a photo of him being arrested, supposedly recaptured after taking the Deck of Many Things. He doesn't have anything on him in this photo in the newspaper here. He's empty handed. And not resisting.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Really?

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Yeah. And...(sighs) I don't know. It…he seems to have disappeared around the same time as everybody else. I just have a feeling that he might be the key to the rest of him. Do you know what I mean?

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Yeah, no, that makes sense.

ELIZABETH

Corwin is gonna look over your shoulder at the picture. Ro, is there anything, any shenanigans, happening with this picture? Just checking because of weird picture shenanigans earlier.

[Laughter]

ROVER

Which of the pictures? Are we talking about Graham getting pulled away?

ELIZABETH

Yes.

ANNIE

Yeah, Graham getting arrested. The creepy grin.

ELIZABETH

Yeah.

ROVER

Once you trace your fingers over the picture...there is indeed a similar golden line that comes off of it on two places.

[Shimmering chimes]

[Ominous hum begins in the background]

Onto his forehead, up, and then it stops. And then it glows down, and then there is the small, almost pointy tail in a swirl. And it shows him like some kind of demonic, devilish creature, and then it goes away.

[Shimmering chimes]

[Ominous him fades away]

ANNIE

Would it look like Josie's tail?

ROVER

So yeah, I think it would look similar to Josie's tail, yeah. Absolutely.

ANNIE

I would assume.

ELIZABETH

Corwin is going to trace specifically the lines of light, which I'm assuming that Josie can't see?

ROVER

Yeah. I, by the way, want to make clear, because I'm talking devilish creature—we're not talking about the horns going, "haha sideways". We're talking from the middle of the forehead all the way up.

ANNIE

Hmm. Mmhmm!

ELIZABETH

Okay. Oooh, cool. Okay.

ROVER

Not that people are immediately thinking, "Oh, it's immediately a typical devil sign." Because the horns are very much different, and it's more of a Tiefling kind of tail.

ANNIE

Right.

ELIZABETH

Okay. Yeah, so Corwin is going to trace those lines of light.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Josie, tell me that you're seeing this?

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

I'm not...I'm not lying to you, Corwin. I mean, I can't do that.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

There's, there's something else in this picture. It's gold? It almost looks Tiefling-esque? It has these horns coming out from the forehead, and a tail...it's kind of superimposed behind Graham.

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Well...look, I don't see it, but I am starting to think...I won't ask any questions. I promised you I wouldn't, and I won't. But I am gonna ask, as a favor, that even if it makes you a little bit uncomfortable, we might need you to keep looking for these details and explaining them to us. If we can't see them and you can, there's a reason. And unless that reason is, "something is lying to you," we need to know about it.

ELIZABETH

Corwin is, like, fists tight, nails digging into her palm, kind of looking away, like,

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Okay. Yes, of course. Yeah.

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Thank you. I, listen, if anyone knows how much of a problem it is to ask something like that of somebody, it's me. And you will never find out why, but just trust me when I say, I know how hard it is to be asked that, and I appreciate it.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Okay. Thank you, Josie.

ANNIE

Josie, before we get up, is going to try to pocket this paper, by the way, when we're leaving the room.

ROVER

You're pocketing the paper?

ELIZABETH

We're pocketing the paper?

ANNIE

Just this one.

ROVER

Incredible.

ANNIE

Yeah, just—I need that photo to come with us. I need that photo.

ROVER

Okay.

ELIZABETH

Yes.

ROVER

A door closes, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

[Door creaks, clunks shut]

[Laughter]

ANNIE

Oh there definitely wasn't a Tabaxi in the room that neither of us perceived, you know!

ROVER

Can I...

ELIZABETH

That's fine!

ROVER

...have, from Corwin, a Perception check.

[Annie sighs]

What is happening?

ELIZABETH

That's a 9.

Ah! Corwin, please! I love you so much, baby girl, but what the fuck?

ELIZABETH

I know, I'm sorry!

ANNIE

It's karma for the last few episodes!

MIRA

You need Jo's dice!

ELIZABETH

I would roll better if I could!

ROVER

Corwin, maybe this area has always been quite empty. Maybe you just didn't notice that there weren't a lot of people in here, but...eh.

(Whispering) Oh, shit.

ROVER

I mean, you guys were in here for 81 minutes.

ANNIE

Yeah.

ROVER

It makes sense that at some point people left, or you were so engrossed into the stuff that you were reading, that you didn't really notice...

Josie, can I also now have a Perception check from you?

ANNIE

Yeah, you bet.

[Dice tower clacks]

ELIZABETH

Roll better, Josie.

ANNIE

(Triumphantly) 18! That's better!

ELIZABETH

Thank goodness.

ROVER

18? It's silent. Too silent. And you can kind of cast a look around, and there seems to be one person still in the room, like a dark denim jacket on.

Oh!

ROVER

Seems to be wearing an arm band and looking down...

ANNIE

Hell yeah.

Oh.

ROVER

...on the table. There is also two similar people on the balconies that seem to be looking at bookshelves. And you're fairly certain that the armband at the balcony has a chess piece on them. But you're not...

[Jo screams]

I'm so sorry!

[Laughter]

ROVER

You're fairly certain that there is a chess piece on at least one person who's on the balcony, on their armband.

ANNIE

Josie is going to pull the shield and the morningstar out, and just look over at Corwin and say,

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Corwin.

ANNIE

Points to the one nearest us, at the table with their head down, and say,

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Game time.

ELIZABETH

Corwin grabs her halberd and, yeah, gets ready kind of back to back with Josie.

ANNIE

Stanced up.

ELIZABETH

Yep!

ROVER

Okay. They don't move.

ANNIE

Josie will pocket that paper, and then go,

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

If they don't move, we need to go find the others, top priority. If they follow us, we deal with them. But if they just stay here, we know where they are. Don't start something we're not gonna finish. You ready?

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Yeah, let's go.

ROVER

With the 18, I will count that as also being able to see: on the balcony, the wooden pillars that hold the railings of the balcony seem to have scratch marks in them. As in something has scraped against it, as to rip a part of the wood off of it.

Uh uh. No.

ANNIE

Climbing up or down. Something like that.

[Elizabeth makes a scared noise]

ROVER

Yeah. And it seems to be near the person that is on the balcony.

ANNIE

Would I happen…because I was the one who originally said "spider" at the train, because of the, and the specific thing that I realized was spider was the footprints.

ROVER

Mmhmm.

ANNIE

Is this the same pattern that I'm seeing here?

ROVER

Ehh, probably. It seems very similar.

ANNIE

Okay. Close enough. Yeah.

ROVER

Close enough.

ANNIE

Different material but same pattern. Yeah, okay. Got you.

ROVER

Yeah. Are you guys moving towards the door?

ANNIE

Yeah, I am, without taking my eyes off of the one closest to us, especially if we have to walk past, I am heading back to where we last saw the other two.

ROVER

Corwin, you're also walking backwards?

ELIZABETH

Yes.

ANNIE

(Laughing) We're gonna get jumped.

ELIZABETH

Yeah, Corwin is going to be keeping her eyes on these people. (Laughs) Corwin's going to be keeping her eyes on these people. She will also just quietly cast Create Water on the papers that they've been looking at, just as kind of a, I don't know if it matters that people know?

ANNIE

Fuck it, library!

[Laughter]

ROVER

How do you quickly cast Create Water?

ANNIE

Sploosh!

ELIZABETH

It is a very, very quick spell. She just whispers something in Elvish and water falls in just a little wave splash over those papers.

[Water rushing]

She can control the amount, I believe, so it's just enough to kind of obscure them. Like, she didn't set them on fire, she didn't want to really set off any alarms. She just wanted to kind of make it not easy for someone else to do the same research.

ANNIE

To trace our steps, yeah.

ELIZABETH

Because these people are being sus.

ROVER

Give me another Perception check, both of you.

[Dice clacks]

ELIZABETH

We're so good at these.

ANNIE

Nat fucking 20!

ELIZABETH

Let's freaking—wait—every—okay...I got a 19. Every time Annie rolls a nat 20, I get a 19, I love this.

[Laughter]

ROVER

The both of you, and I say for Josie, you can...now seeing that it has something to do with the spider-like senses, it's almost like behind you, you can hear the tck-tck-tck-tck-tck-tck-tck.

[Fast clicking]

And both of you turn around. And at the door—

[Echoing, rhythmic clanging and suspenseful music begins]

[Bones cracking and tearing]

—is another, the same type, I think it was the horse on the armband, is there, hanging from nothing, in front of the door.

And I need the both of you to roll me an Arcana check before I ask for an Initiative order.

ANNIE

Yeah, let's do it.

[Dice tower clacks]

15.

ELIZABETH

Let me roll this.

[Dice thunks]

ROVER

15?

ANNIE

Yeah.

ROVER

Okay.

ELIZABETH

ROVER

Once Josie kind of notices literally everything that has now been seen, whatever is going on in this archive, there is one large illusion around it. And now I need you guys to roll Initiative, and I will move back towards the other group.

[Dice clacks and clunks]

[Suspenseful music fades away; ominous hum returns]

(Anguished noise)

ROVER

Hey Hades lot! How are you guys doing?

MIRA

(Anguished noise)

Do you think we can ask Hades to save our friends?

MIRA

(Continued anguished noises)

If I ask nicely? I mean I kind of touched his stuff without consent...so...I guess I shouldn't ask...

MIRA

Yeah, I mean, he might not like that.

Okay. Okay.

MIRA

But right. That's above the table, right?

Yeah. Okay.

MIRA

Oh god. Oh god.

Okay. We have no idea what's going on.

MIRA

No.

Oh fuck. Okay. Okay.

MIRA

What was the last thing? Oh, Viktor taking the potion, right?

ROVER

Yeah.

I drank the potion. I'm back to 19.

MIRA

Una would have been literally watching Viktor drink it to make sure that he does. Just like...

MIRA [as UNA]

(Sigh of relief) Thank you.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Stop worrying so much about me. Worry about that stuff—

Gesturing to the books.

JO [as VIKTOR]

—and the shit going on with you, Una. I appreciate the worry, obviously. But...being taken over by something you don't know about is pretty fucking scary.

MIRA [as UNA]

And also using your favorite hand to touch something that you don't know what it does also is not the smartest thing, Viktor.

JO [as VIKTOR]

My favorite hand? What do you mean? Ah.

He holds it up. The marking on his hand has significantly grown overnight.

JO [as VIKTOR]

Not necessarily the favorite. But I didn't do it on purpose. I don't really know why...(sound of exasperation). What the fuck are we doing with the books? Or this place, really?

MIRA

Una would actually take off her gloves now. Cause looking at Vik's hand would make her think, "Oh shit, I probably should examine my own hands!"

[Laughter]

Takes, takes off the gloves.

MIRA [as UNA]

Just...just step back. I would try to touch one of them, and I just don't want you to be too close.

I ready another healing potion.

[Laughter]

JO [as VIKTOR]

Sure. You try, then.

MIRA

Una is going to touch the book with her left hand, which is not her favorite hand. She is right handed. (Laughs) Also, looking at the hand, is anything happening with that hand? Is it more cracked?

ROVER

There is...it is definitely more cracked, and it's also because of the blue glow that both of you can now see, as well, coming, is etched into those cracks.

[Tense, melancholic music begins]

MIRA [as UNA]

Oh, here goes nothing.

MIRA

And then she just reaches out to the closest book, hoping that Viktor is anywhere between 25 to 30 feet away from her.

Oh, is it like the kind of thing where he steps back half a step, and Una's like gesturing for going back further, and he just begrudgingly inches away.

MIRA

Doesn't do anything until, until she's satisfied with the distance.

He's back at the fucking door.

MIRA

Yeah.

Like, at the entrance, like,

JO [as VIKTOR]

Happy? Could you do your thing now?

MIRA

Under her breath, like,

MIRA [as UNA]

Yeah, thank you.

MIRA

And just touch the book. Ahh, do I explode?

[Laughter]

Do I die?

ROVER

It's a book, why would anything happen?

MIRA

Then just going through the motions. Takes the book, tries to read the title?

ROVER

There is no title.

MIRA

Ooh. Opens the book and looks into the book. Just very much like opening it, as if that would help anything, and not really holding it too close to her face (laughs). Although I don't think it will make any difference. And just reads through, or tries to read through? Does it...?

ROVER

Once you open the book, you can feel that same glow coming from your gloves, and it is just, it snaps shut.

[Book thumping shut]

Like your hands, without control, snap shut. Yes. You can hear from within your head,

ROVER [as VOICE IN UNA'S HEAD]

Let's not do this with an outsider involved.

MIRA

Does it sound like a command, or a suggestion?

ROVER

It very much feels like a command.

MIRA [as UNA]

Viktor...

JO [as VIKTOR]

You didn't explode. I'm so happy for you.

MIRA [as UNA]

Yeah.

JO [as VIKTOR]

I mean, it kind of did though.

MIRA [as UNA]

And also, I didn't expect for the book to be so...snappy. I really do not trust doing anything else whilst you are around. Cause if I am trying to open a book and it closes on me, with my own hands, and given what I've just done to you, I...maybe you should go and fetch the others? Maybe they could make sense out of all of this. And I will try and not explode, I guess.

He looks up at the dragon head at the ceiling, like,

JO [as VIKTOR]

I guess you gotta invite a god to dinner first or something. Try not to get eaten by them. Do we have any way of communication? Do you have any way of communication?

MIRA [as UNA]

Oh, I—uh huh, I do.

(Laughs) Jo asks, knowing what's going on there.

MIRA

So, to answer Viktor's question, you would hear Una's voice, and I hope it's only Una's voice, in your head. Cause I am gonna use another ability that my rogue has, which is called Psychic Whispers, meaning that I can establish a telepathic communication between myself and others. It is a magic action, but I choose one of more creatures I can see. Well, I can only see Viktor, up to a number equal to my proficiency. And then I need to roll a die to establish how long the communication's going to be for.

So, Psionic die...and I get 1...at level 3, I get four d6s. So let me...

[Dice clunks]

It's a 6, so that means that for the remainder of 6 hours, that chosen creature can speak with me telepathically, send and receive messages, up, whenever they are within one mile away from me.

Ah!

ELIZABETH

Wow!

Ah, this is so good!

ROVER

Incredible.

MIRA

So it would be like,

MIRA [as UNA]

(Telepathically) I think this should help.

MIRA

And it's like a voice of Una in your head.

ROVER

Mmhmm.

Is it just Una's voice? I'm now paranoid.

ROVER

(Innocently) Why, why would it not be just Una's voice? What are you talking about? It's, it's just Una.

JO [as VIKTOR]

That's helpful. Alright. Don't explode.

And I head out back to where we came from.

MIRA [as UNA]

Sweet of you to worry.

ROVER

You can fade through the statue and go down into the tunnel.

Oh, shit! Wait, I'm so sorry. He pushes the healing potion into your hand and then leaves.

MIRA [as UNA]

Oh!

ANNIE

Good call.

ELIZABETH

Good! Good job! Proud!

MIRA [as UNA]

Thank you.

MIRA

Pockets it in an easy to reach place.

ROVER

I want everyone, once again, to deafen, except for Una.

[Everyone deafens. Annie, Jo, and Elizabeth can no longer hear the conversation.]

So, you are alone in the knowledge of the Cult of Hades.

MIRA

If she has a chance before anything happens, she would just very sarcastically, just go,

MIRA [as UNA]

Satisfied?

ROVER

You can hear, from the Draconic statue above your head,

ROVER [as STATUE]

Very satisfied. Now, where shall we begin?

MIRA [as UNA]

What, what is it that you want from me? I guess we could start there? Wha—we could also start with who are you?

ROVER [as STATUE]

Your family made a promise to me. You are such a being of purpose. So, so good for the family. I need an archivist to keep this going.

MIRA [as UNA]

So...a custodian? Of what, exactly? I'm a scribe. I know how to use weapons. I don't know who I am, other than that. What use do you have from me?

ROVER [as STATUE]

All of the knowledge you need is right here. Every single bit of it. And you, my custodian are—not to be, you know, stereotypical in any way—you are the chosen one. Not by me. If I would have chosen anyone, it would not have been you, but your family took a lot of pride in you. And I will make sure that your family lives on, no matter what happens.

MIRA [as UNA]

Where are they?

ROVER [as STATUE]

How am I supposed to know? I have been silenced for many years.

MIRA [as UNA]

By who?

ROVER [as STATUE]

Who knows? I am unsure, and maybe, maybe the answer lies here. And I will not have some outsider touch any divine knowledge that are not meant for them.

MIRA [as UNA]

Well, if it means hurting them, I think that was a good enough deterrent. I can try and not let them do that. I don't necessarily want to hurt them again. Um, did you do this to me? Did you put me away?

ROVER [as STATUE]

As powerful as I am, I did not. I had no control over this. But maybe that was good, for once. It would have been sad if all of my people were dead.

MIRA [as UNA]

I died, didn't I?

ROVER [as STATUE]

Possibly.

MIRA [as UNA]

That's wrong. I don't...if I agree to work with you, can you, in turn, help me?

ROVER [as STATUE]

I am a god. Of course I will help you. Why would I not?

MIRA [as UNA]

Well, why would you not, I guess. Just don't hurt the...well, calling them friends so soon might be a bit much, but don't hurt the people I'm currently with. They also might be useful to, to you, to me, I don't know. It's just the whole mess I need to figure out. And I can't do it by myself.

ROVER [as STATUE]

As long as they do not touch anything sacred, that is supposed to be yours, I will keep them alive and protect you, while you protect me.

MIRA [as UNA]

That's a deal.

ROVER [as STATUE]

Fantastic.

ROVER

All of the books in the entire space fall out one by one.

[Books falling in quick succession]

And then they open. And this large, blue lights come out and start flaming together.

[Chiming bell, followed by crackling flames]

[Haunting, choral singing begins]

And as one, seem to almost engulf you in the space. Your eyes glowing completely blue, and while that happens, there is suddenly this pull from the open maw of the dragon, pulling all of that blue light out.

[Whoosh; flames and choir cease]

[Ominous hum continues]

You now no longer have exhaustion.

MIRA [as UNA]

Oh! Okay.

ROVER

And you get a +2 on Constitution. A +2 on your score, not your modifier.

MIRA

Yeah. So I've got 14, I'm gonna up it to 16.

ROVER

16, yes.

MIRA

So that's gonna bring up the modifier by 1.

ROVER

You feel stronger. You know things. And all of the knowledge that feels like there was at first nothing, feels like there is so, so much. And you can't understand it, but you know that you can't understand it yet. And that at some point, you will understand what is going on and what you need to do.

[Everyone un-deafens. Annie, Jo, Lizzy, and Mira are all able to hear and speak once again.]

[Ominous hum fades; suspenseful music begins again]

So, the Initiative order is: the door person and the table person, I will give them the same Initiative order, they rolled a natural 20.

ANNIE

Of course they did.

ROVER

Then we have Corwin with her 21. The balcony people rolled a 17. And then there's Josie with a 3.

ANNIE

Good ole 3.

ROVER

Good ole 3.

ELIZABETH

Cool. Cool cool cool.

ROVER

So…

Ro?

ROVER

Yes?

Should I also roll Initiative to see when Viktor arrives?

ROVER

Yeah, do that. Roll me Initiative, and then I'll say when you add into it.

Yeah yeah yeah, sure.

ROVER

I will say, there is at least two rounds with just them, and then...

Ah, people don't die. I have the healing potion. I have Spare the Dying. I can save you.

ELIZABETH

It's okay!

ANNIE

We both have healing spells!

ELIZABETH

Yeah, both of us can heal, we'll be okay.

ROVER

Okay!

ANNIE

I'll just turn into a bear, I'll double my hit points. It's fine.

15.

ROVER

15, okay. The person that is in front of you, head still down, but suddenly the head tilts up,

[Drum beat; tense, rhythmic music begins]

the eyes open, and it's like this, this fear, not that they are trying to scare you, but that they are kind of terrified themselves, before they are gonna do two attacks with something you currently can't see. Which is rolled with Advantage.

ELIZABETH

Sure, that's fine.

ROVER

Which still, I don't think really matters for Josie. Josie, what is your AC?

ANNIE

17.

ROVER

So that is one miss, and then there's one going for Corwin. Corwin, what is your AC?

[Dice clacks]

ELIZABETH

15. Cause she can't hold her shield with the Halberd.

ROVER

(Gasps) I am already not picking these dice! I hate them. Rolling with Advantage, that is insane.

ANNIE

(Laughs) Whoo!

ROVER

It climbs towards you, and you're not too sure, it seems like, definitely Josie can tell...it feels like there is a wind coming past you, as if something is trying to go past you with a move, but you can't really see it. The person behind you at the table doesn't move, the only movement that they do is crank their head behind them,

[Bones and flesh cracking and straining]

and in a twist, kind of moves around. Corwin, that is your turn.

ELIZABETH

Ooooh. Alright, Corwin is...

ROVER

It's levitating, by the way. It's very much levitating.

ELIZABETH

(Whispers) Oh gosh.

ANNIE

Whoo hoo!

ELIZABETH

That's fine! Corwin is going to cast Dreadful Aspect, which is one of her Channel Divinities.

ROVER

Ooh! Tell us what that looks like.

ELIZABETH

So she is going to kind of, like, take a deep breath and draw herself up. But this is a silent spell, but essentially, she...it channels all of the darkest emotions of an oathbreaker, and kind of surrounds her with this aura of just menace and anger and fury and hate.

[Echoing scream, fading into a whoosh of magic]

She has never used this before, but she summons it, and essentially, everyone who is not Josie in this room needs to make a DC 15 Wisdom save or have the Frightened condition for one minute.

ROVER

What was the area of affect again?

ELIZABETH

Within 30 feet.

ROVER

Within 30 feet. So I will say that is definitely the person in front of you and at the table. I will not count the balcony folks.

ELIZABETH

Sure.

[Dice thunks]

ROVER

One of them makes it, the one who's in front of you. The person on the table, at the table, doesn't. Tell me what happens.

ELIZABETH

Excellent. So they are now mechanically Frightened of me for one minute.

[Echoing scream, fading into a whoosh of magic]

I was looking up the Frightened condition. A Frightened creature has Disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while I am within their line of sight. They also cannot willingly move closer to the source of the fear. So they cannot willingly move closer to me or Josie, since Josie's right next to me.

ROVER

Okay.

ELIZABETH

That will be her whole action, but she will whisper to Josie,

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Stay next to me. They can't come closer, or at least that one can't.

ROVER

Okay. Was that your entire turn?

ELIZABETH

I think that's all...yes, yeah. Because I won't want to move. We're kind of optimally placed.

ROVER

Okay. The balcony folks: one of them kind of like leans back and grabs the side of the railing, and their legs flip over it as if they're crawling out of it. And you can see those gashes in the wooden railing scratch into more of them, as if it's actually climbing down. And it levitates downwards. And both of these are doing this while climbing on the side of the railing toward you with their arms, and their legs are still levitating. And their heads are still tilted down, eyes closed.

That is Josie.

ANNIE

Alright. So. Lot of things I could do here. If Josie were to attempt a spell attack on not one of the ones that is levitating, but directly beneath and past it—I'm trying to hit the thing carrying them. Like, if I'm aiming at a spot directly beneath their feet, or directly next to them or whatever, rather than at them, how much penalty am I undertaking for shooting kind of blind.

ROVER

You're gonna be rolling with Disadvantage, I think.

ANNIE

And that would be it?

ROVER

Yeah, I think that would be it.

ANNIE

Okay. Um...okay. And so you said there was: the first attacks that missed, a thing, like there was wind going past us?

ROVER

Yeah, like something, there was a movement happening just before you, that just didn't hit you.

ANNIE

Right, and then there's, there's more climbing down the pillar with these.

ROVER

Yeah.

ANNIE

Did it look like, does it look like each one of them has a separate thing holding it, or is one thing holding two of them? If I could tell? Is, are the footsteps down both?

ROVER

There's two different ones.

ANNIE

Right. Okay. Damn, they've each got one.

ROVER

Because the balconies are far enough away from each other that they are two different ones.

ANNIE

Okay. That sucks, that they, okay...should be alright. Let's see. I am going to attempt, on the one closest to us, the one that attacked...

ROVER

Yeah.

ANNIE

I am going to attempt to hit it with Starry Wisp.

ELIZABETH

Oooh.

ROVER

Ooh, okay, tell me what it looks like, and tell me what it does.

ANNIE

Well, let me—should I roll first, and then...?

ROVER

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. First let's do that.

[Dice tower clacks]

ANNIE

Let's do that. Okay. Disadvantage.

[Dice tower clackety clacks continue]

Oh my god, I rolled 15 twice. That's a fucking 21. I got a +6 on spell attacks.

ROVER

Yeah, hits!

ELIZABETH

Yes!

ANNIE

Yeah, great! Okay, so Starry Wisp—she basically, as she's standing there, the leg comes down in front of her, and she kind of steps back for a second, and then just looks toward where she thinks this spider will be, puts the morning star forward, and just yells something very quick in Druidic. And out of the, out of the end of the morning star, since that's what she's holding right now, there comes just a quick beam of pure moonlight that looks, that just goes, you know,

[Fast, electric zap]

like a laser shot, basically, off and directly into where the spider is.

ROVER

Cool.

ANNIE

Now, the fun thing about starry wisp is: on hit, the target takes 1d8 Radiant damage, which I will roll in a moment. And until the end of my next turn, it emits dim light in a 10-foot radius and cannot be invisible.

ELIZABETH

Ooh!

ANNIE

I'm so glad I hit this!

ELIZABETH

Nice!

ANNIE

I am so glad I hit this!

ROVER

Roll me the damage while I explain what this creature looks like.

[Dice clacks]

ANNIE

Do I add anything, by the way? To the damage? I don't know what modifiers I use for this.

ROVER

Good question. I don't think so. With magic, I think it's just the, the spell.

ANNIE

That's what I thought. Yeah, I think it would say in the spell. So that's just 2 damage.

ROVER

So...you hit it. And when that dim light radiates from it, you can finally see how this thing is moving. Trigger warning for body horror. You can see how it's holding itself. How it is levitating.

[Bones pop, flesh creaks]

As a ribcage that shouldn't be on the outside holds them up at the front, at the back.

[Cracking and crunching of bones]

And from the back, at the spine, are eight bones of spider legs coming up, pulling them around from side to side, as the body only moves with what the spider legs could. And you can see also that the rib cage can, the ribs are opening itself for a moment before closing back in on the body. You can see the gashes that were made in this body, not bleeding anymore, but it's definitely there. This was a person who became death itself, to quote someone from the Protectors' side, listeners.

And yeah, you hit them for 2 damage. Okay.

ANNIE

Alright. Not the end of my turn quite yet. Josie's gonna like, as soon as it's revealed and she sees what's going on right there, she's just gonna go,

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

There you are, motherfucker.

ANNIE

And then step back and Wildshape into a bear. It's a bonus action.

[Bear roars]

ROVER

Incredible!

ELIZABETH

Nice!

Ahhh!

ELIZABETH

Whoooo.

ROVER

Alright, cool.

Amazing.

ELIZABETH

Amazing.

ROVER

It's the turn of Table and Door Fella.

[Laughter]

Who...Table Fella, I can't do anything because of the Frightened condition.

ELIZABETH

You can, it's just with Disadvantage.

ROVER

Yeah, but I can't move closer.

ELIZABETH

Ooh, yes. But you can't move closer.

Yep. You can't do shit.

[Laughter]

ROVER

I can't do shit. No, I think...I think while the others are climbing down, this one climbs over the table and then, you obviously, for this one, you can't see the legs, and for the one in front of you either, but the one at the table climbs up onto the railing. And...like normally, with spiders, it can be really, really fast. But with this, it feels like they actively have to drag the body up, so it's a bit slower. And the one in front of you is obviously going to try and attack both of you again. You can't see its legs yet.

[Dice thunks]

So, that is a hit on Josie.

ANNIE

Oh ho! Wait, actually, hold on.

[Dice thunks]

ROVER

And...yeah?

ANNIE

Oh, sorry, finish what you're saying. But it might not be a hit on me. I have Brown Bear AC now, so. I gotta double check.

ROVER

Oh yeah! Of course. What is your AC again Corwin?

ELIZABETH

Corwin's is 15.

ROVER

Oh yeah no this hits! Okay.

[Elizabeth laughs in terror]

ANNIE

Oh, yeah no it definitely hits me.

ROVER

Okay. Josie gets a scratch from something piercing along her back,

[Sound of an impact on flesh]

while Corwin gets one across her arm.

[Sound of slashing]

ELIZABETH

This is fine, this is fine. This is fine!

MIRA

It's okay.

ROVER

So that is 16 damage on Corwin.

[Dice clacks]

And...19 damage for Josie.

ANNIE

That's okay. Do you want to know something—

ELIZABETH

Actually—

ANNIE

Oh sorry, go ahead first.

ELIZABETH

I was gonna say, as a Reaction, cause Corwin and Josie are still right next to each other. Because Josie is right there, Corwin can, as a Reaction, intercept that damage and reduce it...

ANNIE

If you can reduce it without taking more yourself, that's fine. I have, I get triple my druid level in temporary hit points when I Wildshape to anything.

ELIZABETH

It's reducing without taking any.

ANNIE

Okay, then yes. Then yeah, go ahead.

ELIZABETH

But that is wicked!

ROVER

Okay. Okay.

ELIZABETH

But yes yes yes. This is just truly, just kind of like half-blocking it a little.

ROVER

Yeah yeah yeah. How much can you reduce it by?

ELIZABETH

1d10 plus 2.

ROVER

Roll me a d10.

[Dice thunks]

ELIZABETH

ANNIE

Great!

ROVER

Ooh! So you take 10 damage instead.

ANNIE

I am now down 1 from my starting. That's perfect. (Laughs)

ROVER

Okay, cool. Corwin, this is your turn again.

ELIZABETH

Corwin kind of staggers and very quickly does her best to regain her feet. She is going to slash at that one, that is closest to us, with her halberd.

[Dice clacks]

That's a nat 20 to hit. So a 25 total.

ANNIE

Crit! Crit! Crit!

Let's go!

ROVER

That's a critical.

ELIZABETH

That's a crit!

ANNIE

First crit! Yes!

ELIZABETH

How do we handle crits, Ro? Do we do double damage dice?

ROVER

We do double, we roll twice basically.

ELIZABETH

Oh awesome. Okay perfect. So that is, with her Halberd, that's 1d10 +3, so it'll be 2d10 +3.

[Dice thunks]

Is it plus 6? Oh lovely. Okay, that's 10 damage on the first roll.

[More dice thunks]

9 damage on the second. So 19 + 6. So 25 damage.

[Sound of a blade slashing]

ANNIE

(Claps) Mmm! One short of the max!

ELIZABETH

Plus! Plus!

[Choral singing begins]

Smite. Smite. Smite. Smite. Smite. Smite. Do it.

ELIZABETH

That is crazy. Crit damage, let's go baby! Yup, smite smite smite smite smite.

[Laughter]

Plus she is going to use Divine Smite as a bonus action, which auto hits and is an additional 2d8 Radiant damage.

ANNIE

Holy shit!

[Dice thunks]

ELIZABETH

Um, so that's 5 plus 3. So 8 Radiant damage.

[Shining chime]

[Laughter]

ROVER

(Quietly) Okay.

[Laughter]

MIRA

(Laughing) I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

ROVER

There's a reason I put four of them in this room.

ANNIE

Uh huh.

[Laughter]

ROVER

Okay. Yeah. Perfect.

ELIZABETH

And that is Corwin's turn. That's her reaction, action, and bonus action.

ANNIE

Oh! Oh shit! Were you attacking the one that hit me or you?

ELIZABETH

There was only one. It hit both of us.

ANNIE

Oh, it hit both of us? Okay.

ROVER

Yeah.

ANNIE

Okay.

ROVER

Two attacks.

ANNIE

Damn. Alright. Well then I am going to, unless you...I think that...I could have cast Hellish Rebuke. But I'll leave it alone for this time. No, I couldn't have! I'm in bear form. Nevermind. I could not have cast Hellish Rebuke. (Claps)We're good. Nevermind.

ELIZABETH

Ah.

(Laughs) Bear-ish rebuke.

[Laughter]

MIRA

Bear-ly rebuked? Sorry.

ROVER

Can you remind me...how long does Frightened last?

ELIZABETH

It lasts for one minute, which will be...(wrongly) Is that 6 rounds?

ANNIE

(Correctly) 10 rounds.

ELIZABETH

10 rounds, thank you.

ROVER

10 rounds. Fucking hell. Okay.

ELIZABETH

Ro, do you want to track that on your end, or would you like me to track that on my end?

ROVER

You track it on your end please. That would be lovely.

ELIZABETH

Yep. Got it.

ROVER

Cool. So the two that were climbing down from the balcony, one of them is gonna climb towards Corwin, and the other is gonna climb towards Josie.

ELIZABETH

Rude.

ROVER

The one that you can see the body of is going to go for Josie, while the other one is going for Corwin. They climb down and you can now see the spider legs as they try to slash and pierce at you.

[Dice clacks]

First one misses.

[Annie laughs]

Second one definitely hits.

ANNIE

Excellent. This was attacking me, you said?

ROVER

This was attacking you, Josie. So the first one, once again that pressure, that wind going past you. And the other one slashes at your arm for (dice clacks)...oh that's nothing, 10 damage.

[Sound of slashing into flesh]

ANNIE

Yep, we're alright.

ELIZABETH

Yeah, Corwin's gonna use her reaction on that as well, so she intercepts 3 of that damage.

ROVER

So yeah, take 7 damage. Then we have two more attacks on Corwin from the other one.

[Dice clacks]

That is one hit.

[Dice clacks]

And that is a crit.

Ahh!!

ELIZABETH

Ooooh. (Laughs nervously)

I'm running so fast, guys.

ELIZABETH

I'm sure this is fine.

I'm running so fast.

MIRA

I'm also on my way!

ROVER

Okay. So the first normal hit is, so let me explain it. It's 2d8 per hit, plus 5.

ELIZABETH

Okay. Okay.

ROVER

So the second one is going to be 4d8 +5.

Plus 10, right? That doubles as well, no?

ELIZABETH

Plus 10, cause you told us to double the weapon damage.

ROVER

The plus doesn't double.

Oooh!

ROVER

The plus is just the force with what happens. It's just the dice.

Oh, then—

ELIZABETH

Okay then, point of fact, we double it with my crit damage, so you need to add 3 back to the person that I injured. Sorry about that, Ro.

ROVER

That's fine. That's fine, I think with one hit. No, you're all good. Alright so, that is 11 for the first hit.

ELIZABETH

Okay.

[Sound of slashing]

ROVER

And then the crit.

Please roll shit. Please roll shit. Please roll shit. Two 1s, two 1s, two 1s. (Sighs) Oh, this is long math.

ROVER

How many hit points do you have, Corwin?

ELIZABETH

Currently? 4.

ROVER

Remind me how many max hit points you had?

ELIZABETH

31.

ROVER

Okay.

ELIZABETH

(Gasps) Did we—? Ohhhhhhh!

ROVER

Okay, okay, no no no no no. Okay.

MIRA

That's, that's an instant—Oh no.

ROVER

Hold up. Hold up.

ELIZABETH

It's okay! It's okay! Tell it to me. I'm here to play the game.

ROVER

You take another 22 damage.

[Sound of an impact on flesh]

ELIZABETH

Ooooooh!

Okay, we're good.

ANNIE

18 under, yeah.

ROVER

Which brings you down onto the ground. And this is Josie's turn before we end the episode.

ANNIE

Hold on a second. I'm just checking something really quick here. I forget, when someone's in dying state, can I use healing magic to at least stabilize? Is that part of the thing? I'm trying to remember if that's Pathfinder or...

ROVER

You can stabilize with a DC10 medicine check.

ANNIE

Or with...

ROVER

You can also do, if you have it, or with a healing thing.

ANNIE

Spell.

ROVER

Healing spell. Yeah.

ANNIE

Okay, because one of the three spells that I can cast in animal form is Cure Wounds, so.

ROVER

Mmhmm. She is in 5 foot, so...you could.

ANNIE

Yeah. Yeah, okay. I am gonna cast Cure Wounds, then. That is…

[Lifesaving dice tower clacks]

Okay.

[Dice clacks continue]

Nice. I just healed for 18.

[Cascading chime]

ELIZABETH

Wonderful. Okay so…

ROVER

You're back up.

ELIZABETH

Okay, I was gonna say, I don't know how this works. So am I back up on 0? Or am I back up on 18? Cause I was at -18.

ROVER

18. You're back up on 18.

ELIZABETH

Cool. Thanks Josie! Thanks Annie!

ROVER

Yeah, you, because you did go down, you are still prone, but you have 18 hit points back.

ELIZABETH

Do I get a scar?

ROVER

Yes, you do.

ANNIE

Josie's gonna say,

ANNIE [as JOSIE]

Not getting out of it this easy. Back on your feet.

ELIZABETH [as CORWIN]

Ready when you are. Thanks for that.

ROVER

And with that, we end this episode before we go into the finale of the prologue.

ANNIE

Ahhhhh finale! (Screams)

ELIZABETH

(Stressed noise)

MIRA

Ahh, so stressed!

ANNIE

(Stressed noise)

ELIZABETH

Oooohhh.

ROVER

Thank you all so much for listening, and we'll see you next week for the Protectors, and what happens on the Bounty Hunters side in the finale for the prologue remains to be seen.

We have to wait two weeks to know. We have to wait two weeks. This is horror!

[Laughter]

ELIZABETH

This is an attack on us personally!

I hate everything!

ROVER

Buh-bye everyone.

ALL

Bye!

MIRA

Bye I guess, byeee.

ROVER

Bye bye.

[Show outro plays]

ROVER

Remains To Be Seen is an original podcast created by Dyaflame Studios and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution non-commercial share-alike 4.0 international license.

Today’s episode was produced by Anusia Battersby and edited by Rover Elliott and Jo Mendacium. It starred:

Elizabeth Simpson as Corwin Duvall
Jo Mendacium as Viktor Valthayne
Annie Ruby as Josie
Mirah Fae as Una
and Rover Elliott as the Dungeon Master

The intro and outro were composed by We Talk of Dreams, and the transcript was written by Elizabeth Simpson.

To get in touch with us and keep up to date with our antics, follow us on Instagram, BlueSky and TikTok @ DyaflameStudios or view our website at www.dyaflame.com

Check out our show notes for additional credits, links and transcripts.