High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #1 | The Mists of Barovia

in the mists and shadows of this accursed land despair and death are ruled by one Lord's hand the devil dies and lives again his rage foretold to endeth men under blood-red moon beat wings so soft as darkness falls from castle Ravenloft welcome my dearest guests I am Count Marc Sherlock Humes your host and Dungeon Master for tonight's endeavors I must warn you that our adventures tonight will contain elements of horror and graphic violence as well as adult language around the table I am joined by Tom hazel Rhiannon Gower Kim Richards Chris Trotsky Morrison as we all delve into the curse of strods to start the stream because I want to set the mood welcome everyone to a midweek high rollers D&D campaign the curse of strand it's very exciting we're excited to see everyone joining us are you guys excited I'm excited I'm very excited this dr. pepper practiced murder as we get a lot of questions about it this is not replacing aurorus obviously is a bonus stream we're gonna try and make it available on YouTube and podcast as well it will be every Thursday at 8 o'clock it will be a shorter stream but with no break and that's it pretty much what why you malpractice doctor funny that's pretty funny yes with the jokes and japes out of the way we are going to be playing curse of Strad so obviously as i mentioned the beginning this this adventure does contain elements of horror and there may be quite quite a lot of graphic violence as well as well as maybe some body horror and stuff like that so just as a warning to anybody listening or watching at home if you're brand-new if you've never watched any high rollers before um we did the introductions briefly but welcome I just want to say welcome to you I hope that you enjoy the stream and don't forget to come check us out on Sundays as well which is when we do our main campaign called arrow s but we hope that you enjoy this little foray into Strada there will be some pretty big changes to the module as well with that Sun should we just start playing sure oh my gosh yes oh my god let me do this [Music] it is raining in Baldur's Gate a heavy wet chilling rain that soaks all it touches in cold and misery your destination however is warm and dry and despite the ominous bounces outside suit of animated armor and a half oka woman you feel a sense of relief entering through the worn doors of the elf song tavern it is full rowdy and an ever-present tension of a crowd on edge falls over you sitting by the fire with a deck of cards in hand and four placed neatly in front of him is the man you have been searching for a young man in red clothing with long dark hair trot is there anything you want to describe about yes / yes / is a bard you can tell by the lute and a hanging off his back which he then carefully placed to the side of the table he's looking concerned he's got a youthful face very tanned a very nice black hair definitely conditions you think and he's darting his eyes around the room until he locks with the rest of the party and he's very eager by his body language to bring you to him um but as yes / looks out from the bar you see two pairs uhm entering it slightly different times but very clearly they are travelers they are not groups that would normally frequent this place and the most noticeable are a pair of Dragonborn similar in beaches but very different in coloration and attire re and tallmadge you guys want to describe Zika and zeros generally first okay all right so Zika is a white Dragonborn her scales are very pure white almost pearlescent they reflect rainbow light off them she's dressed in sort of sorcerer garb so she has quite a loose Habad but flows behind her with white lace and ribbons flowing off of the sleeves she has a lot of silver jewelry and she has a necklace or a pendant of three stars joined at the tips and that's the symbol of Lyra very youthful very sprightly yeah Xero's is what can only be described as the polar opposite of that he's a big brooding grumpy looking he's a black dragon born with tin tints of red on his horns he's got like a row of spikes along that wall like bone horns along the side of his face and he is heavily armored and has currently got three great swords on his back the great swords all of the same style are they different styles almost identical to each other like they've just been not super well they've been well cared for but they're just they have been owned Erik yeah there's no like ideal or anything like that that binds them to zeros they are just weapons to him yeah the two of you enter and I would imagine that zeker is the one leading as zeros has kind of been pulled along on this you know even sure what to call it job duty perhaps two zeros but Zika there is somebody here that you that everything matches what you have seen in your visions in your dreams the messages from Lyra have couldn't have been clearer and yeah you see the young man in red sat by the fire the strange cards placed in front of him but you are not the only one who is looking in his direction there are another pair of travelers although these tools seem far less familiar with each other than the two siblings do entering behind them it comes a dark hooded figure with feline features and gold and blackened robes and armor and behind this Tabac see comes a woman scale male armored with a longbow and dusty pink hair following behind them Kym and Katie would you like to describe shadow beyond the veil and Rose please hey will shadow beyond the veil is a debauch see she's based on a sphinx cat in the real world so no fur as such just kind of very dark skin and big eyes she's wearing very simple gold and black robes but the golden markings and joori she has is very elaborate and rich she carries a quarter staff and yeah apart from that she's very very cautious of her surroundings like a bit nervous a bit unsure of herself hmm Rose um so Rose is a human she has sort of long straight dusty pink hair lilac eyes and she wears sort of scale male and a very dark fitted cloak with a big hood and sort of puffy shoulders she carries a longbow the longbow has got sort of silver in the middle of it with some sort of filigree on it and she's also got a short sword at each site she looks quite well armed she looks like she knows how to use those weapons she's probably a little bit cautious as well but tries to definitely give off a vibe that she knows what she's doing and that she's trying to appear more intimidating than maybe she actually is and I think out of everybody here Zero's and Rose you would both know the dangers that taverns of baldur's gate present baldur's gate is a rough city this is a city of thieves of pirates of murderers of scavengers as well as the the laundered elite and the mercenaries that frequent it it and you are if nothing else here to serve certainly as bodyguards for your traveling companions but shadow you to spy the human in your visions given to you by your mistress and you see him exactly as it was in the vision sat by the fire with these four cards placed in front of him and yeah you see everybody everybody locks eyes with one another the tavern is busy but not so busy that it is not difficult to reach your destination I hand it to all of you what would you like to do I'll immediately stand up to attention with the wooden chair scraping with a really pleasant and slam my hands on the table either side of the cards dealt on the table and just lock eyes with the two Dragonborn and then with a sweep of my hand invite them to the table with a knowing nod I guess with the sweep I kind of like almost shoulder in front of Zika is like if he slams the table and stands up quickly if I know this place I like go to quickly defend but almost like look to Zika to wait for command I don't mean any harm please please take a seat I'll put like a reassuring hand on 0:c shoulder that's that's the man I it's fine don't worry good yeah you can also see those of you I think like I think rose and shadow you would notice that as zeros kind of got defensive with a scrape of the chair he was not the only one you see hands dart two belts and knives as people begin scouring around games of dice that have been being played down here in the the main bar come to a scattering halt as everybody kind of looks around and then once it's clear that it's just a man making too much noise activity resumes yeah you see these two Dragonborn heading in the same direction that you appear to be heading as well I think I'd stage whisper into roses ear and say that that's the man I saw in my vision I don't know who the two dragon children are though you didn't get told of Dragonborn I complain you know but the man and the cards on the table that I saw that okay well let's be cautious then if there wasn't any pre warning then this seems a bit strange I take your lead Rose I will walk towards the table okay I will at the moment focus on the two Dragonborn because in my mind looking at the cards these two are pretty certain so yeah I'm like please please have a seat both of you I assume it's it's an honor to meet you both thank you it's an honor to meet you of you I don't know how you appeared in my dreams you I'll be going behind them in car like doing the gentlemanly thing like please hit and then tucking them in and things like that okay your tail I don't know how to I'll let you deal with that that's it's okay don't worry oh just like tuck it to the side and awkwardly just shuffle it I'll put my easel off my back take that off and just put it to the side Zero's respond to this gentle behavior I mean he avoids the touch but like he in the same way that yes but no just a chair I like pull it out slam it into the ground and then just sat with an eye of the entire table like every see specifically Zika easy Michael watching I'd mean no harm trust me you clearly have come here as our fates are intertwined are they not Jenna you can no you overhear this conversation is your kind of lingering at the back like making your way over but yeah it seems that the man the the man in red has not taken notice or at least doesn't seem to pick up on you immediately as it did with the Dragons do you guys say anything cuz you over here like this kind of topic of conversation and I see the cards on the table yes can you see there are four cards laid on the table very very clearly there is one is called the Avenger and it has a woman with a bow upon it the next is called the elementalist and it shows a white dragon summoning some sort of blizzard the next one is called the warrior and it's clearly a powerful humanoid man but with a horned Helmand full plate armor and then the last one is a is called the priest and it is of a person not atabaque see but a human but with very sunken skin and dark eyes and behind them the shadows and the darkness is almost taking the shape of a woman behind it is it that this one this is me this is me I'm gonna just ignore this is me I saw this this this one hell I will pull out a chair at the table for shadow to sit and probably stand behind her I believe that this is also someone you are looking for on top of these Dragonborn who I don't believe we expected yes although it's a little hazy are the decks never lie and I assume the priest yes I please take a seat I saw this I saw this in my dream I saw you I saw you and truth milady please you are also in this deck me you yes you're just as important as the rest I don't quite understand why you'll find out soon enough destiny always has its way of telling people and I'll tell you what I can but we'll have to find out for ourselves won't we I'm just very excited this is all very exciting to syke this there's a bubble of activity around you you can hear the sounds of you know there is laughing and there's joking and a few people singing the clatter of dice in a cup there's life and activity although there is this undertone of violence brimming at the surface of it as in the wrong word or the wrong punch could take this whole place into a very dark nasty place but for now it is a tavern on a rainy night there is a warm fire and good good ale and good wine and that seems to be keeping everybody at bay and but yeah you will take a seat at this table and you see the man in red yeah standing before you that's a boy tell me first you all came here I wish to hear what brought you what pulled you to me um I I was asked to come here by shadow and so naturally I'm curious about what help I could be in this situation but really my duty is to protect her right so your Destiny's already intertwined fascinating and you too mmm bodyguard and I'm like Ward's seeker employer yeah well a little more than that but we're working on it he's like I'm just following just following the vision it's this I've never experienced anything like this before it's I saw lot liar she came to me in in a dream and she showed me this oh god she's right yes she's the joy bringer she's she helped spread like it spreads happiness and joy and she helps me with my art she helps my mother with her singing and her dancing and she's she's also a joy bringer she works with the community but I grew up in and we like to hold festivals and Lyra is the focus of all that yes that that is the warmth that we need to bring to my lands the cleanse it all of you set apart to place this is your land not bit no I mean look around you as much as it is rowdy and pleasant I am NOT from these lands and from somewhere very distant yet quite close you see I see my land is it's dying and there is a a devil which grows strong again and I need you to help me cleanse what is either already dead or about to die I need to have warmth from you and I need your strength okay this this is all very new to me I'll be the first admit it hands up this is this is fresh I'm fresh so but I will try my best I will help you in whatever way I can and 0s will help too right hmm dangerous yes absolutely is not everything that is exciting and transformative and revolutionary not a little dangerous you said it was cursed again it's been cursed in the past it is a long and frankly too long a story for me to remember my people we like to talk about it a little but it is depressing they live amongst it it goes back centuries a curse was put upon our lands and we all fell victim us personally my people the vez Thani we have a good deal with with our Lord there he allows us to leave and come back as we please which is why I'm able to come to you today but something is very wrong and my my leader personally came to me with this task and said that if I was to band these people together that the deck told me that we could help cleanse and make it new again finally after centuries no pressure [Music] reshuffle I can't don't touch them anymore faith is sealed as you as he mentioned says he says the words sealed a song begins to play in the tavern a haunting ghostly voice that seems to rise from nowhere and everywhere at once and the crowd falls completely silent as it begins it is an elven song and its melody is haunting as it is beautiful and you hear whispers of the patrons and of the innkeeper she's never sung this wonderful this is a new song the people take this utterly seriously and in the moments between verses the only sound is the crackle and spitting of the fire and the rain as it drums against the taverns roof those of you that can speak elvish you understand the words you should be able to see in roll20 now but it the melody haunts you as it begins to play you can hear it clearly and the song itself is unusual one you've never heard in these parts of the world before that's all though it continues for a moment and then when it stops tavern is silent for a long time before the life and activity returns to it once more um yes you all heard that right I wasn't I haven't had too much I heard yes understand it what do you mean oh I I language what language was it I understand the language of demons and angels but not this tongue elvish it's is elvish and it are basically you know dr. Bell what I was just talking about so said it'll wear on the nose hmm yes brother drinks blood of kin yes couldn't help notice that line in particular would this be the person that you're talking of potentially it seems very very close does it not my god came to me in a vision she said that your land has been plagued by someone who has embraced undeath and hungers for naught but misery and blood yes that sounds about right sorry about that but hey we're together now and we have warmth we have strength we have a lot ahead of us [Music] where and you you want us to go and fix this curse by dealing with this devil who drinks the blood of his kin well in a manner of speaking yes and also treat me like your equal I am also put to task it wasn't me that set out on this goal I was given this task myself to know I have to try you would know that Ava would be able to give them more information about like how to face the devil and things like that she would she's gonna know the next steps basically your job was to find them and bring them and then Ava will be able to assist them in the next to find the tools necessary I need to take your things are moving quicker than I thought the the reaches of his power I think that song it reaches out to us and we must be quick I'll take you to her my leader madam Eva I am ready she will no more she knows everything she's very very wise please treat her with respect she will kill you but you know she won't directly your destiny will just be to absolutely die at some point it always works out that way just be nice she's lovely okay Xero's also I need to make this precious Nick so you know I'm just gonna stand up and like hold a hand out to syke okay I suggest that means we're ready I'll be ready I'm nodding we already here you want don't drink of water or something it's very dad's where I'm going here you'll know how little song perhaps I'll get up to Luke because I'm clearly nervous about doing this now they'll play a very frantic song hey put a finger on the strings of alle impractical leave now right I give you inspiration one Bartok inspiration for Xerox wonderful yeah enjoy what you have around you because where we're going things aren't so quaint [Music] as you say that as the the Dragonborn lays a finger over the lute strings and yes but kind of gestures to the the world around you you can see that there is a gang of kind of nasty looking thugs one of which has got an eye patch over one eye dresses kind of sailor ish but much too well-armed to just be a sailor they are looking in yes pers direction at the kind of annoyance of the sound that he kind of briefly played and there you can see them whispering to each other and looking in yes pers direction yeah should we expect any trouble here just now yeah I don't know I've never been here yes clearly you're not very aware of your surroundings if we if we're going to leave then we should probably leave now okay sure big fella Xero's lead away and we'll hide in your shadow I will instead like gesture them to me in front of me okay I don't think I could hide all of you I am the shadow self never mind you kind of like mumble to yourselves as zeros kind of herds you out of the tavern having fetched this gathering up your things you head out into the rain and I'm guessing yes / we'll begin to lead you to where a small wagon and a pair of horses a very plain wagon it has a just a very basic canvas covering enough for a few people to sit in the back and one driver which yes / takes up on onto himself and yeah within a few hours you are on the road out of baldur's gate and you know these roads well enough he seems to be leading you south maybe um and night begins to follow ah the mists begin to gather at the edges of the road growing closer as you slowly make your way and the night wears on the fog becomes so thick it hangs in the air and soon you cannot see more than a few feet in front of you the trees and the hills become shapeless ghosts and stretch and move in unnatural ways after a few moments mist bins the trees and the roads are no longer familiar looking behind you you can see that the road is now completely obscured by a wall of fog which looms in place watching you silently like a crowd ahead of you the road curves and above the knowledge swaying trees high are stone buttresses with huge iron gates that hang on the stonework whilst dew and cold cling with an icy grip to the rusted bars to headless statues of armed guardians flank the gate their heads lying among the weeds at their feet they greet you with only cold dead silence the wagon creaks this is a land that you know is not your own welcome my friends welcome to a burro via this is where yes tourism is not great right now but hey was it was it ever I'm sorry it's not it's not the most welcoming of places so far no a few licks of paints here and there some more color a bit more visit on e would have been more welcoming but this was built far beyond my time now it is dead on dying and our Lord suffers and yes our souls are trapped you see why very mistress sent me here yes anyway so how do we want to proceed first can we proceed by elaborating on the trapped Souls potentially that's um yeah it's very important that I feel that we should know a little bit more about that if we're going to be lifting any curses potentially trapped here forever ourselves oh I'd like to know what that entails right yes I've not really um I've buried that one deep in my psyche so that I don't fall apart thinking about you know my soul being here for the rest of eternity and oh you know what I'm getting a little a little flustered thinking about that and I've really suppressed it for years now and he will bring it back you brought it back I'm very sorry I didn't mean to cause alarm simply just trying to learn how we can help this land of course curses we don't want those this is a little much for me right now honestly you should really speak to my leader I think we should go to our camp first and she'll have all the calming influence that we need going forth the wagon has a slight bump as it goes over loose stones in the muddy ground and here the way the horse is kind of heavy breaths as it pulls the wagon behind them and as you approach you finally see these huge gates that you can in clance you glimpsed it over the treeline itself as you make your way through and it looks something like this so the huge gates then they loom up enormous Li towering above you and as you draw closer the gates with a heaving sigh like a ghost or like a long-held breath a creak open out towards you you see no signs of anyone pulling levers or winches or any signs of life to open the gates but open they do as the wagon begins making its way down the road ahead between them I'm just sketching it like furiously ok so you have like a sketchbook as you're drawing and yes Iike as she you look up and you begin sketching you notice that up until these gates the land doesn't look particularly diseased it's dark and this fog I think that you and shadow would know and actually these rose as well the three of you this mist this is not just fog there is a presence there is sense of a living element to this mist it's like it's watching you you can feel this this oppressive eyes just on you all the time and you can almost see faces and hands moving amongst the mist itself and as you step through as the wagon makes its way beneath between two doors and through the gate you hear as they begin shutting completely on their own behind you this long wail like a rusted chain echoing out across the land the four here turns to a dark gray green the grass is wilted and brown dying in many places the trees are gnarled and twisted in a way that you've never quite seen before and the road just continues through this dense heavy wood as the wagon struggles on for a brief few moments longer no I didn't care about the surroundings I'm just like yeah looking at the other three shadow yes purim rosewood like sneering eyes with zeros yes anything if he's looking at you would he notice you guys doing anything cor like behaving in certain ways um I think Rose would probably be she's not looking at him in a nasty way but she's noticed that he's watching as well so she's watching back so that she knows that shadow is safe in a way because he's been the most hostile so far so she's sort of a bit on edge but trying to remain looking the moment Rose later looks back at me is when I kind of like lock eyes and then just stay that way and maybe even like start to sit forward a little bit more [Laughter] just keep looking back but she wouldn't go any go like he did she wore aggressive really smile slightly and continue looking at him so you just kind of meet the challenge but don't escalate it yeah kill em with kindness whilst the two of you enjoy this tense moment of the the the fighters stare Syke and shadow you're kind of keeping your eyes closer on the road as yes but I think you were trying to say something as well yes well I need you about say something do not let up your defenses everything is wrong here and everything is tainted in some way so be on your guard that's all I'm saying and it's very hard to see much further you know this mist is kind of all around you and it it coats everything and that it's so oppressively dark and that it's hard to really see too far down the road you travel for an hour or so when shadow and rose you cannot ignore the strong scent of rot and death and animals and as the wagon begins to turn a corner around through this kind of winding forest trail you can see that the road up ahead there is activity there is something going on you guys both want to make a perception checks in fact Rose you are looking more at 0 so I have shadow make this so you you yeah staring at it you don't seem to pick out too many of the details yes / and zeker actually you guys can make the checks as well as yes Brian good thing is watching the road and then zeker you were sketching everything cuz you you came in say I'd like to think shadow is my distracted by just kind of trying to get the lay of the land like just I said she doesn't have fur but her probably like her hackles are have risen and she's that she's very onto the back yeah and you still noticed like there is this smell of death and rotten and beasts like animals I can smell the strong like you know your beast eale sense kind of pulls in what's that on that perception seeker so that's the 17 plus 3 okay it's a 20 mile in yes / Oh reception interception I know you're trying to run the stream as well if you could spend one more plate yeah I got the nine yes but you're keeping your eye on the road but your nerves like you're kind of just looking down at the road and the horses rather than what's up ahead of you because you know how these roads can be and you you know so much is playing on your mind and these strangers that you've brought into your lands and all the different things that are going on but zeker you kind of staring out into the darkness there is a brief moment where this very overcast sky the clouds part just enough that the moon illuminates a bit more of the road that allows you to see it and up ahead perhaps not more than sort of like 80 feet there is you see a body on the ground and a pack of about five wolves around it and they're kind of tearing at the body one has like various arms in its mouth another is eating into the flesh itself these big bites and you can see flesh and blood being torn out by these blood-soaked fangs and Moors and standing behind this scene completely either oblivious or you don't know but there is a figure stood with their back to the whole thing there just kind of stood looking away from you as this this man is being eaten you're not sure if he's alive or if it's a dead body he's being torn apart by these wolves and yes / if he doesn't kind of like he'll realize quite late if you know you don't say and I think he's not gonna really realize until you're basically on top of them okay I'll like moved to the front of the wagon up to WestBow and just tap him on the shoulder and say something's wrong yes but this this hello this there's somebody up ahead he's he's being attacked by wolves by the looks I don't know you begin to now hear like that well well I'll pull on the reins yeah you pull in the rain to the horses like kind of come through it but the horse is oddly don't seem spooked like it's they just kind of come to you normal stop and then yeah you all see this sire this this sight a young man probably about yes pers age dressed in a very similar fashion is yeah being torn apart by these wolves long dead now you can see the bodies have died probably days ago and the only thing you would probably notice is there's a crumpled letter still they clutched in his hand but the wolves are like biting legs and tearing flesh and feeding one of the wolves looks particularly large and then stood behind them is wearing some sort of cloak is a figure just stood looking back down the road towards the way you were going I'll uh turn around quickly looking into the wagons like everyone draw arms something is wrong okay I'll break yeah and yeah I'll stomp out torille one of the three broad swords yeah it comes out so you you will get off the wagon at this point are you some of you staying in the wagon or okay so rows and zeros have gotten out but seeker shadow and yes / staying in the wagon I will jump out grabbing the tip swords that by me unsheath them both and then jump off okay the three of you jump off and as your boots hit into the kind of wet mud and it's kind of like slopping sound as your boots squelch in the Wolves kind of very slowly turn their heads up bearing these red coated mouths as their fangs drip with flesh and blood they just begin growling but they don't move and then you just see a single hand come up from the figure and then it turns and stood before you is a tall darkly handsome man in a piece of red breastplate a large verb like wolf's fur mantle with a big billowing red cape behind him his skin is pale and his hair is long and dark but not as long as yes purrs and a pair of very cold very dead eyes stares back at you so seems that I have some guests and he steps towards you and yes / there is no mistaking who this man is this loves both soulful and falling to her knee he looked he sees this and he's like you know your place miss Donna you've done well so introductions are necessary I am Count Strad von czarevitch and this is my kingdom he kind of looks down at you all so you are the latest pawns in this game a tragedy and he just looks at you for a moment as if waiting for a response yes we are Lords we mean no harm I apologize if we intruded upon anything that you were doing I I'm sorry sorry sorry no my boy there is no reason to apologize I do so love having guests I must warn you of only one thing traveler you will find no respite here whatever purpose this miss Donna has brought you here for you will not see it succeed this is my realm it obeys my rules as will you do not meddle in my affairs your stay will not be unpleasant then he begins to just he looks down at the body looks back at you that the games begin and in in a flash his body seems to split into hundreds of different pieces that all seem to form into bats as this swirling storm of beasts and furs and wings flies up into the air and disappears down the road all four backwards onto my back and just panting heavily no I will see my are your why this is the pronoun that he want us to do yes exactly you don't understand you don't know who that is that was him the Lord of this land he controls everything life and mostly death we're all dead I don't know why she said me can I go over - yes / and I'm taking a poll on where I think human hearts are and cast calm emotions okay yeah perfect and I'm just gonna whisper calm yourself s / calm you are no good in this emotional state thank you all that fear you felt is gone yes / yeah you'd probably see it oh I've got a bit Larry you'd probably see a golden kind of just what like a wave of lights just kind of go out for my poor and pass all over yes fur and then come back into into shadow and you probably see me shiver a little bit first and then this is that's why the cards picked you I assume the Wolves begin to dissipate and you can see them making their way back into the forest watching you warily but the wolves begin so Rose is watching the Wolves intently with her her hand is on her beau she's got an arrow drawn and she's glaring at them and she looks very angry yeah the you can see Rose like these these wolves are not acting like a beasts they are following orders these wolves if these were natural wolves they would have attacked you guys like that the second that you didn't like draw fire and weapons and things like that they would have been on you but the fact that they just waited and then as soon as their master seemingly left they're just off into the woods I mean I drew a sword yeah well you had like one of you armed but yeah like that's one saying if these were normal wolves they they probably would have attacked but the fact is is they did yeah no I'm doing exactly the same as Rose like right next to it yeah do you have many wolves in this land I don't have any he has all of them buy all of them how many do we mean I don't know we tend to avoid them there's a lot and they all al to him yes fur speak calmly who is this man that we just met why are you so scared of him without him [Music] none of this would be the way it is his power his grip on burrow via its held tight is his land his power for what I'm told these mists are also his the death they aren't dying it's all him for centuries he has reigned everything he does is out to get us I'm sorry friends I've brought you to your death [Music] so he knows you came to fetch us to kill him I don't know what madam eva had in store for me but nothing goes without him knowing maybe he thinks this is all futile or maybe were I don't know her plan we need to go speak to her straight away I agree me too this is this is bad he was there waiting for us I've never seen them before so hardened completely night the Wolves yeah they've now reached and the edges of they've they've disappeared into these knobs thick woods on either side of the road and the woods are thick and massive you can see that they stretch on maybe four miles here the only thing left is this body this savaged brutally ripped apart body and it's still just like clutching this letter yeah can I approach that and take the letter from its hand yeah sure absolutely it's um blood-stained crumpled um but sealed still and it bears a strange seal upon it well Rosa's taking the letter can I start to I guess tend to the body like turn it over close the eyes just try and cover it as best I can and say some prayers yeah absolutely yeah so you begin this kind of process yeah Rose will nod at shadow in thanks for what she's doing Zero's and zika while they're doing that were you guys did I'll turn to yes fer and ask what game you must understand my big imposing friend you are but an ant on the heel of Strad you are nothing none of us mean anything he is a god in his lands we are a pawn on the chess table and he is having fun with us why would he do that why would anyone do that I don't know he's beyond any of us madam Eva again she will no more why he is like this why he has been terrorizing a lance putting us in fear for so long why you I don't know oh can you touch me again Kat please I think it's wearing off one moment friend I am dealing with this poor soul here oh can I as you are trying to make the letter as well well she's tenderly I shall gain a lot opening the letter yeah as you begin opening the letter shadow the body is completely savaged it looks like it's yet died two wolves has been has been probably here for a few days and you notice that yeah like the wolves there's something you would notice it almost immediately is that this body has been dead longer than those wolves and Stroud were here as if he waited and then set the wolves on it just as you arrived you get the sense that he was waiting with this body specifically for the moment you would all arrive and then he commanded the wolves to start eating X all of their their bites and that the bite marks are fresher than what killed him and as you are doing that can you make a make an initiative roll for me please everybody just shadow for now [Music] they'll be a seven well you're lucky because you notice in just just with enough time the body you hear it as it reaches for you as this spark of undeath takes it and it goes to grab you what you want to do I guess can i hiss and pull back I'm dead and yes I guess yeah immediately I would probably cast guiding bolts sure yeah just cast it so apologies my first time being a cleric so range spell attack should have a bonus there did that do it yes so I rolled a six so here is unfortunately yeah D twenty plus four you rolled it to and then got plus four so you'd have advantage because technically yeah this thing is pretty slow so roll again it's pretty slow and it's prone you're aware of it like I'll definitely give you advances it's almost like a surprise fifteen I'm a second on my second roll yeah so this times the radiant energy blasts into it for twelve points of damage sorry I know you were about to read that out so the radiant energy kind of comes out as you stand up quickly and it strikes into the the creatures body it seems to kind of like shudder on the ground and parts of its flesh have been blown away but it still kind of reaches up for you and then so this is a surprise around so it'll go and then everybody else will basically get a chance for it to to go the next attack roll gets advantage on it that's well remembered so does would a twelve hit you know would a five hit you that's also a no-no and then only there's a natural twenty hit you yes it does yes twenty-three that's gonna be five plus or so that is eight points of damage as this creature tries to grab you like it tries to swipe you with these claws like these not like it's basically tries to like grab you and punch you twice and then it seeks its it's rotten teeth and half of its jaw is hanging off one of its eyes is being pulled out of its socket and it clamps down onto your arm and you feel it it's human teeth bite into the flesh and almost try and rip part of your flesh off but you managed to kind of pull it away at the last second I'm not gonna have you guys roll initiative because this thing is so slow I'm just gonna say everybody take a turn against this thing because it's so slow so we'll just start with shadow and then we'll just go round in clockwise I guess or I guess let the two fighters would probably react faster so shadow and then as your awesome race yeah you see this thing just kind of like just start biting into shadow so I'm right next to it so I'm going to pull out my short-sword and fourteen plus seven to eight plus five with your shorts or don't forget because it's your longbow gets an extra plus two so two plus three I think yeah so oh wait no sorry I wrote the wrong thing I wrote the wrong dice I'm a d6 race yeah you're looking at them and yeah one plus three four yeah you stab into it and you kind of see it shuffle for a moment you almost tear through one of its arms but it doesn't quite get all the way through being a piercing stabbing motion it kind of and it sucks on there's still fresh blood in this body it's it's been dead long enough that the blood comes out is this thick black sludge it's it's you know Connor it's a congeal then it's become kind of putrid in its own body over the last few days and it doesn't spray so much as it just off begins to leak out and it's covered all of the the blade itself or this Vick icarus blood then I guess like zero so you want to do something yeah I'm gonna action search okay just wail on this thing okay she's just who's shopping up slams natural ones naked oh my god Wow is this thing ain't hard to hear second one of the titles that second ones are twelve twelve were here Oh wonderful so 2d six plus four so eleven damage I can't reroll that too from one to two so I'll do that although it's five nine thirteen thirteen points in damage can you roll a d20 for me Oh God okay that's twelve ignore that for my God my no more view you sever one of these creatures legs as you chop down with the great sword it just Cleaves one of its legs off entirely and their leg kind of goes scattering behind you with the force of the blow but the creature even though that blood is leaking out of it still just got enough energy that it's trying to claw again towards shadow and get a grip on them but one of its it's now kind of like hobbling on the ground only able to pull itself along with one leg in its arms as it makes its way across anybody else want to do anything you know I can cast a ray of Frost at it sure I guess the leg by the way as you severed it you think you kind of watch the leg go skittering along the mud and then within a second the leg kind of like writes itself and it begins what does it was it looked like when you cast this rail for us Zeke is really genuinely terrified like this is awful for her yeah so you want to take to try and be oh yeah go on then yeah some IKEA laws are trimming I'm trying to like summon the warm energy of Lyra to guide me but I'm just really struggling with it it's just it's too much just and it's like I think that the zombie looks up at you and you can see it's jus kind of slacked and it kind of unhinges for a moment in its jaw like the flesh rips away as it kind of looks over and you can't help but see the kind of shape of the man who would have once been there this young man probably no older than yes per these bright eyes would have once been where this now half empty socket and this glassy undead eye remains and just that image in the fear already feeling the bolt just goes wide as this rage strikes across the ground shadowy yes / I will pick up my two swords in karma and I will very dexterously spin towards it and aim for its head with my sword and dagger which is a little longer go for it I'm using my mobility okay it's just a regular deep 22 get +5 13 battle hip lovely be four plus three for the first one as if it's with your rapier it's a d8 it's your dagger they're on one one but that's the dagger I guess 11 and 16 oh yeah you need to roll to hit again to see if roll20 yeah with this I think yes but you kind of launch forward the rapier skewers through the throat you bring the dagger down on the side of the head and with enough force you can kind of rip kind of separating their kind of head and the the neck from from each other as it completely comes loose and the creature just kind of falls back to unto true death as it's lamp slumps in the mud you're the final slice I say go to rest brother oh yeah you can't help but notice the same astana clothing on this young man but yeah it falls falls to the ground lifeless as the mist enshrouds all around that's why and then Rose if you still turn your attention to the letter yes that's what it says yeah read this if you scroll down you should be able to read the text of it thank you so you can view read out loud Katy and then podcast listeners came their way says okay hail to thee of might and fouler I a lowly servant of barodia sent to honor thee we plead for thy so desperately needed assistance the love of my life Arina kalyana has been afflicted by an evil so deadly that even the good people of our village cannot protect her she languishes from her wound and i would have her saved from this menace there is much wealth in this community I offer all that might be had to thee and thy fellows if thou shalt that answer my desperate plea come quickly for his/her time is at hand all that I have shall be thine coley an in derivate burgomaster I see I will probably pass this to yes / thank you I don't know who this person is do you know of them know if I heard of this before you you'd know the burgomaster of he's the burger master of Poirot V of the village of burrow via one of the three main settlements basically um so yeah you know the burger master I don't think you would know who Irena is maybe you might have heard that you might be just like I think it's her daughter or something like that is his daughter but you know the burger master he's he's supposed to be a fight an actual good man in burrow via he's caring and tries to do the right things he's one of the rare good ones yeah I'd say that's probably what you know about him i relay that information say mmm this is it's clearly important if Stroud were here to place this you know I feel like it's part of the yeah and I look at zeroes the game so to speak but this is important someone dear to him is afflicted well it sounds like finding her would be a good good option to see what she has been affected by maybe we should go to your master and then onwards to find arena yeah well you will need to pass through the village of Poirot via to reach the camp where Madame Eva is yes that's the H with that is we will be passing through his village anyway so maybe we'll find out soon enough we must be cautious this body this theatrics with the wolves it was placed here by this Strad for us to find this letter he knows what it says he knows that we will go on this path yes yes he will and he'll know everything and frankly I don't know what to do other than help people in need so I wish I had more for you all we go but first I must properly send this poor soul to the fugue plane excuse me and then I'll go back to tending to the body and piecing it back together you might not have much luck with that poor fellow but give it a go you might have more power who knows good luck the dead so what does it ill have the rights so what does it look like when shadow does this like what is shadows method of Earth you know sending the body off do you do anything to like bury it is it like just a prayer over the body pulling it back together I think if nobody stops me I will prove me reach into my pack and pull out a very ornate shovel head that I attached my quarterstaff and start digging a hole by the roadside and if nobody stops me I'll just carry on doing that and you know bearing the poor soul as together as I can obviously I probably don't have time to stitch him back together but if I did I probably would take you about the big like a shallow grave and kind of put the bodies in and stuff like that I think she starts doing that I like turned to syke say she wastes her time and I'll open the wagon door for her and they just go back to sitting there just kind of sit have like a sit down probably help shadow to speed up the process of burying the body I respect your your dealings with the dead but I urge you to make a little more haste because there's a lot more death coming up and what the body is doing there what's not you could always help but I've had my fair share of burying my friends thank you at least teach me a little of the ways of the funeral rites of this Vichy Thani so I can get this right was a vicious tart well yeah I would say like the vez Tanner and the Peruvian funeral methods are burned the bodies because they know that if you just bury them they not sometimes come back to life so I think it's more funeral pyres than burials let there be no trace of what once lived so that it doesn't come back in a way it didn't intend mmm in which case I'll stop I'll stop burying it and yes at five I think I've got a tinderbox and stuff like that and I'll build a quick funeral pyre and yeah say some prayers and yeah I send this poor soul on their way I think that would be the vistara method I think the Burrow viens still bury their dead because of old customs but the vez Thani would probably burn their living because they know better yeah okay you guys spend that time doing that yeah and you are you you feel satisfied in what you've done and the road continues on the wagon continues making its way down this old road until eventually tall shapes begin to loom out of the dense fog that surrounds everything here the muddy ground gives way to slick wet cobblestones and the tall shapes become recognizable as village houses the windows of each stare out at you with pools of blackness for eyes and the silence of this place weighs on you heavily until the sound of a solemn church bell rings once twice and then fades away to more silence you make your way through the twisted narrow village it's it's a village more than a town but the Taos is here are packed tightly enough together there are clear streets there is no defensible wall it is all sort of Mick amongst each other and you can see that on a small hill there is a church with a bell tower and what appears to be a cemetery behind it and as you make your way through the only building that you can see with any obvious life is there appears to be an inn where a sickly glow of yellow light is escaping from the cracks beneath the door and the seams have boarded up windows everywhere else is near dead silent if there are people in these houses you will need to get a lot closer to find out it's late it's your late evening you know you're getting close to sort of like you know it's hard to tell because the night so overcast the moon really only comes out in these short bursts but maybe you're like approaching sort of like 10:00 p.m. ish it's it's late evening and yeah there's just no sign of life whatsoever apart from this one building this in that you can see directly on your way shall we find somewhere to stay stay you want to stay somewhere well what do you propose we do you know this land we're we're strangers here we we need to know what to do next Ravi this village is a wonderful place full of life and happiness I wish it is not that the people here are strange and they are not vez Thani we must be cautious around them some are not who they once were or have been who they were for a long time but aren't aware of it that sort of thing so more of those zombie people no not quite there is some people that's you'll see you'll see I don't know if I want to see yes bear I'll be honest with you I wish I didn't have to show your zika but they're going to be here and it will make themselves okay it's gone okay you said joy and warmth since your cartel lira was it think of her yeah I'll try a spell try we need her here right now yeah hi it's also quite late evening so obviously a few guys you know we'll need to eat at some point you might have trail rations so you can keep going but yeah the wagon creaks its way through there kind of main road leading through town and as it draws closer to this in building you see the door kind of cracks open a little bit and a another vist Anna of Astana man very similar to yes but kind of wearing the same red and yellows kind of pokes his head out he has like a thin mustache and turning into a sort of goatee his hair is shorter and sort of like cropped at the the sides as he looks out and he calls he's just looks up he's like hey is that wine are you bringing wine oh one second do I have wine I can't remember her I start rummaging through my know do you mind standing up a second there's a storage chest under you uh I think I've got wine yes here we go oh come bring it in we all did this ages ago but we've been waiting on our delivery oh I mean come come turn around of Winker everybody else and hop off okay what's that supposed to rush you guys soon what what what is that what is the wink what is that supposed to mean are you sure that you were definitely this man it doesn't seem like he knows what to do or who to trust I don't know who to trust here you could trust me well I know that but beyond that well you asked you said I don't know who to trust and I'm said right here next to yours not like I buried your brother or anything's fine I know I I didn't mean to be found I'm well aware I just I it's a very strange place shadow it's a strange time - try the man who is talking - yes what kind of looks up is he kind of sees you rose and before he sees the other nonhumans ah and he's like ah lady come on come inside and have a drink it's cold you should be traveling around at night anyway all of you oh my and he kind of sees the rescue he's like you're not from your your outsiders you should come in now what he says okay so gingerly start making my way up come come come come ah is he looks at you yes but he's just like you can leave the wagon around the back if you need to come in have some wine it out of shouldn't be outside not here in burrow via in the village why are you not with why you in perova in the village we only in Oh is our in right yes interesting choice I know you are travelling in the companion also bringing what is this dragons that walk on two legs and a cat and a cat that stands as tall as a man ah yes you must come in come in any gestures into the you heard the man let's go to zero just for ease for some advice or just for something I'll just nod that's it okay ashes you inside and inside you find I mean to call it well first of all as you're making your way in you can see that above the doorway there is a sign and that's hangs kind of askew it looks like it's it's fallen into disrepair and the name of the tavern is it was originally called the blood of the vine but somebody has scratched out the F and replaced it with an N so it actually is called the blood on the vine tab you can see that there is these grapes these blood red grapes kind of standing as the main symbol but as you are hush-hush 'red inside there is a fire it doesn't give off much warmth but it's far better than the cold of being outside and you can see that there are three individuals kind of huddled inside and then a very large burly bartender who seems to be at the back and the three individuals all appear to be vishton li like yes / and when you motion inside you can see there are two women one appears to be the man's wife and then the other you assume is their daughter and he gestures you inside he's just like ah welcome welcome travelers huh my name is a lenka this is my wife Mirabelle and our daughter saw Soria this is our this is our in um what a Wotton what by the Dark Lord has brought you here to this place fate and mostly conference you are here we are so lucky you'll be able among friends here thank you yes yes you are among friends here in this place is is well not safe but the devil does not bother us here it is you our visitors we do not often offer a free drink but perhaps a wine for at least one glass for you each that would be most kind he kind of looks to everybody else like yes I think I would miss please water thank you just just water you are definitely not from barovia young lady here we drink wine and it is good wine here and not much of it left but we have some and what about you the dress the dragons that walk like men and women this yeast I've never seen like one of your kind before one is got sparkling the Allah forbids on it [Music] do you paint is this is this a canvas is yes yes I'm an artist you're in oh yeah yes yes of course we would love that mean me and my wife and daughters absolutely Hey a little bit of color and life in this place would be most welcome I'll be honored to oh yes well let me fetch a wine and he goes to the bar and you can see the barman it's very different he doesn't dress like these three the barman wears these drab grays and browns a large a heavyset man he just is cleaning glasses and then he finishes cleaning one puts it on the Shelf picks up the next one cleans it puts it back doesn't say a word you don't see him speak to anyone you don't see him do anything except clean glasses and if you watch him for a time he finishes cleaning the last glass on the shelf he puts it back he seems to look around then he goes back to the very first glass that is already clean and he cleans it again and he just does this over and over and over you see the vez tani elenco alengka walks up to him he's like Eric bottle bring us a bottle of the of the mash and he just kind of looks up and you can see he's just really sad looking eyes yes he just reaches up takes a bottle it's glasses for everybody who wants one pause pause pause pause puts the wine back when you see the vest on he kind of gathers it up he's like talkative as ever and he kind of comes back to you on it's like I here we go on wine one line of wine and a water I guess for this young lady yes comments it ah it is good to have other people around it has been particularly dark days of late there's okay friends they are fists Ani like me you can trust this bit yes yes of course yes you can trust us here in Peru via we are the only people who is so left well not all there are still some Peruvians who have a bit of life to them your your barkeep doesn't doesn't seem fist Ani Oh Erik no he's a Peruvian and well he's not quite all there if you know what I mean was he always like this to do yes is it something to do with the the curse but we have heard about I mean if you aim if you infer that was he always like this yes he is soulless he does not have his soul don't know what else to tell you yes he's a chef does one lose that well the mists your soul can't get through them so they here and there's not enough of the living ones left I mean mastani like this held this handsome young man and he points to yes per myself and and how kind we can come and go we can meet people in other worlds worlds like the ones you've come from and we can have children and we can do all sorts of fun things but if you get my meaning any kind of winks his wife when he says that but the burro viens well there's only so many souls here so not every child gets to have one some of them grow up a little bit like Alrich here I mean he's technically alive he's not a zombie or anything like that but it's just nothing to him he just I tell him to do something he does it no complaints but just doesn't get any joy he can that's it very yeah don't know what else to tell you so he is born like this yes yes several children like him sad I know tragic but this is the this is what perova is the Peruvians made their choice they should not have killed the Lord when they did like Ronnie we know better yes yes I shouldn't have killed the Lord is that that a different Lord to the one that we have seen yes / this one is one Lord of these lands only one only one now and always and yes yes it's a long story I mean the details are scattered but the Istana know a little bit more I'm not a very good storyteller I must admit I wish I was but I'm not really but madamme even knows how to tell it but what I remember our Dark Lord comes from a royal line and he he made a dark pact gained some powers or something and the people killed him for it and the windows while he's talking because I'm paranoid the windows are already closed they're like a bard with heavy wooden bars like they've been nailed in there's no shutters or glass here it's all just heavy woods which you can see it when he speaks he his voice does drop yeah I'll just look around making sure there's no like points of entry from the outside world to listen sure yeah ah he just kind of leans in and his voice goes dark he watches us from the castle you might not be able to see it from here but if you go up to the cemetery you can see it castle Ravenloft they call it it looks down out upon all of the lands he commands his kingdom these people are his people what a lovely lot they are - oh yes we are would you believe it oh we just never mind he kind of looks at you oddly and kind of waits for a moment but scum friends where are you from what are your names at least tell me that it's been so long since we've heard new names to say you are very wise shadow beyond the veil a strange name but then you are a strange creature I can imagine can we shorten that somehow shadow paps or veil that is acceptable either very strange and you can see the daughter of this mastani is looking at shadow like cat pet but it's kind of like watching with eyes wide the wife is very quiet and just kind of sips a glass of wine slowly kind of smiling as her husband talks and speaks to you but nothing - doesn't really jump into the conversation but he Alankar kind of like gestures from from shadow and what of you my dear chronic friends what are your names my name is Zika piston and this is this is eros mist and he's my brother I didn't know your siblings Wow yeah yeah no wait you have both you are what you are not but we're brother and sisters zero sits it's fine it's fine your blood yeah that makes so you are related yes right strangers I'll never get you working on it sounds good I think you should and what a view long lady they the water drinker you'll be drinking wine before you leave Peruvian I promise you that well the way things are going maybe so yes I'm Rosalyn Andy rose now that is a good name that is a fine name yes very good well we are honored to have you and what about you of Astana brother what's your name I don't think we've met before yes / pleasure to meet you it's good to see so much dhania in this village you choose a strange place to hold a business well you know the people here they need wine everybody needs wine we figured that this was a good way to do it and besides with with the girl growing up we didn't want to be roaming around too much longer we've we've done our traveling we've we've done our duty to the Lord shall we say and he kind of gives you a knowing look with that yes / like he kind of like you know what I mean wing a wink but as you are as he kind of finishes that conversation there is a loud knocking at the door and the all the kind of jovial welcoming this shoots out of the vist on his face as he looks at it like suddenly and you hear a kind of rot like a very kind of dry voice like hello hello is anyone there it's it's me its its father Don Ameche I was ringing the bell it is time for evening prayer but perhaps you didn't hear it I really think that we should we should all gather for a prayer to the morning Lord this evening more than ever please hello anyone and you see the Restonic kind of looking at each other and looking at yes but like how we do do we open the door I don't like the sound of it but we must hit father is that really you yes yes it is me I know it is strange to be out of this late but but nobody came to monitor the evening prayer I really feel that you should the morning Lord will bless us he will pretend to stand up and walk over to the door I won't open it but I'll just get close to the door and just leave and then you hear like the shuffling of feet scurrying away this voice this unexpected deep growling voice enough to scare whoever was outside away and I turn around like adjust my chainmail and then come and sit down well zero soul Zika drink by the way because there is a glass of wine in front of you but I don't know if you guys would drink it Zico did you drink oh I'll drink I love the wine yeah I'll take holding mine but I haven't been doing anything so the moment she finishes hers I then just pass that and put that in front of her as well okay you get another one I mean it's okay wine it's not amazing but it's strong and right now a drink is kind of warming at least kind of staves off some of the fear I just know - a doe drink yeah I'm kind of staring at the barkeeper and I'm kind of doing little experiments like if I move one of his glasses to the other side or if I just you know just kind of I'm just trying to the fact he has no soul I don't yeah so like you kind of moved the glass and he's like he looks at you he's done and he kind of gets up and he picks it and takes it back to its spot and cleans it up do a link or but what is it what is it like not having a soul fine what do you aspire to he just looks at you and it's a sad look you can just see there's just nothing there's no ambition there's no joy there's very little the only emotion you can really pick up on his fear when the door like when he looked as scared as everybody else did but there's no joy he just is like to survive what's the glass back takes the next cleans that that's that black next one can I go try and take his hand and just hold his hand and no he doesn't know he won't let he snatched his hand away like stop just leave hi my heart breaks for you a friend he kind of looks at you for a moment then you will not fare well in Bolivia and then he goes turns his back and goes to like carry something to the back room as this all goes down and the evening continues a lunker kind of like you know it doesn't offer you any more wine but the fire is at least warm and you can hear you know the sound of like shuffling around and things like that the evening is progressing you really hear any noises from other houses no other guests come into the into the tavern until around what you must think is about midnight when there is an ear piercing scream the echoes through the entire town even with the windows barred and the door shut you can't help and it's it's a genuine woman's scream of panic and fear and then you begin to hear the clash of what sounds like maybe blades or like creatures growling and scrabbling coming from outside and you see the vist Danny look around just like ah none of our business and he begins shuffling his family out to probably the stairs that lead up to their living quarters I was in the middle of like doing my paint oh sorry you go what do you mean none of our business none of your business there are people out there in need then I suggest you go and help them shadow beyond the veil and then he's like you'll have to finish your painting another time missus Iike my family needs to get safe and he begins taking them upstairs and he did you notice he doesn't wait for you as soon as him and his family upstairs the the door that's like the little kind of like ladders that lead up to the second floor is pulled up and shut happen often around here this the screams do we know what that is do you know what it could be should we help it's probably someone being killed or butchered by someone thinkable horrible creature of the night well then shouldn't we help well that is why another scream echoes as yes / speaks another kind of like this time it's joined by like this the sound of like a man in battle kind of like oh come on you get away the hand that was dealt for me it's for this purpose then I will follow your lead if you are truly the soldier or the Avenger I can t elementor's til the priest I look at all of them this is for my own I need help it's not Delta long I think anytime there's a scream anyone that's like looking at me there is like a wince like a very very subtle wince but otherwise like after each scream I'm kind of looking at Zika like waiting for them to be told what to do waiting for a command yeah if you want to save a life maybe now's the time to do it I'm gonna go towards the door okay never again pulling out a gear okay yeah you open the door and yeah you can definitely hear the sounds of fighting coming from not too far away I will start following rows where she goes I go okay yeah so it's coming out out of the tavern itself it's down a street a bit you know kind of like a narrow row of houses to your left there appears to be a large house at the end of the row of the streets this one yeah if you scroll down a bit trot you should be able to see the ish one here this large house you can see that there is a ring there's like an iron fence that surrounds this large mansion the fencing has been twisted and torn there are stones loose and broken and you can hear the sound of thumping against wooden walls and a kind of cackling screech coming from creatures somewhere around the house and you can see that some of the windows have been broken and things like that so Rose you begin making your way that way go on when we were kind of waiting in the end after our conversations with that count as a short rest sure you can take a short rest yeah yeah absolutely that's a short rest she had like two hours of like sitting around doing drinking wine and enjoying a fire to do that and lots of it dice it like a zombie yeah so yeah you hear this kind of terrifying screech Rose begins making away for the door was anyone else doing I'm following race gay matter of Astana prayer under my breath and walk out as well throwing my swords leaving the to drag inside for now alum I like a clutch my um Lyra necklace and just much myself just this is the fate we give and then so be it then I'll look to 0 sand gesture him to come with me reluctantly so be it so be it in that case I'll walk ahead of her and wait her to follow me and then draw the sword ok I know you you begin running towards this house which isn't too far away it's a short dash down the street and you can see that you see for the first time a couple of the houses you know no light inside but you can see a couple of like haunted faces similar to the barkeeps in the the tavern kind of staring and looking out trying to see what's going on but not coming anywhere near the doors as you rush down you can see that a small group of husked kind of shambling corpses are slamming on this huge pair of doors that lead into the mansion there's maybe about six of them kind of like hmm kind of gripping onto it trying to pull the board's free up above there is at least a couple of the windows half the boards have been ripped free and you can see flying demons or Devils you're not quite sure that they have these spined wings and Tails and they're kind of darting backwards and forwards as a crossbow ball flies out of one of the windows nearly impaling one as it sends it spiralling it turns and flings its tails to these spines but thud to the windows as you begin running up and the sound of your armor and your weapons kind of hitting against each other a quite a handsome looking burro vien man this one full of life there's no mistaking that this peruvian is completely different to the one that you met in the bar he's blonde hair kind of streaking down down to his shoulders you can see that he's wearing sort of chainmail shirt and he has a sword in one hand kind of risks looking out of the the window for a moment and he looks down he sees Yui hey are you there please please help us I will pay you or something but we need your help there's a back door around the other side come in as quickly as you can my father is waiting there please and then he kind of has to duck inside like arena No and you can see him like lunge for somebody and pulls them back to the back door every night interesting yeah okay so following his instructions you run round the side of the building making your way kind of almost like slipping through a gap where this iron fence is being torn apart and you can see that there is a barred back door as you reach it a small slot kind of slides open and you see the wild eyes of an older looking middle-aged man as he looks out he's just like you know are you going to help us we wanted please let sim but he throws it open and you see quite a portly man wearing a velvet vest and he isn't wearing at any armor but you can see that he has what appears to be like a silver hammer in his hands he's like inside quickly he's above us now okay [Music] he pulls you all inside into a a fairly well furnished manor house into what appears to be like a kitchen and then he slams the door and bolts it with numerous times these big heavy steel bolts and then puts a chair in front of the door as well and it's just like those the Devils they are trying to kill me and my son so that he can get her and he kind of pulls you out he doesn't he doesn't even stop to really look at you he just makes his way upstairs not even looking behind him and as you can hear the sounds of something being smashed and broken and then you hear the voice we are meant to be come to me now come and then you just hear alike get away from her your devil and then things being thrown around and smashed yeah and yeah you guys make your way upstairs I'm assuming yeah you can see that the door looking from where you are this corridor that leads from the back door to where the front entrance the entry hall maybe and you can start to see that some of these creatures they're zombies have actually ripped like holes in the door and there's these bloody stumps of fingers that have been worn almost like broken in half as they've tried to pull the wood itself apart and they're beginning to kind of look through and you can see these haunted faces of armored zombies I'm breaking the wood as they go well we won't take them long before they break through can I use my channel divinity and turn undead so you're gonna go up to the door and then you're gonna turn on dead yes please okay well one you tell us how you'll tell them dead work so you'd probably see me reaching to look at my robe and pull out a holy symbol that you can't quite see and then I'd press it against the door and stop muttering words of a prayer technically mark you need to make a wisdom saving throw of DC 12 for every teacher within thirty feet and what you'd see is probably similar to what you saw before with the Esper like a kind of golden blast kind of just come out and cover the door with kind of strange runes and etchings and symbols of a scarab beetle okay and then what was the DC again kim 1212 okay so you hear and and at the moment I think you just frighten them away I don't think you destroy them at your current level no they yeah they try and move as far away as far away from me as they can so you hear yeah you hear this kind of inhaling of breath like a food as these creatures begin shielding their eyes from this and it is a light but I guess there'd be like a heavy darkness around you as well Kim like the darkness yeah in a round edges you see yeah a heavy darkness like clawing around shadow making the area around her darker but then the light pressed against the door becomes incredibly bright as it burns for a brief moment and yes you hear the sound of these creatures retreating away from the door so that's what shadow does as shadow moves as she moves up to the door and does this the rest of you rush upstairs and you follow the older gentleman into quite a large bedroom with a big four-poster bed a desk where there are these almost little quite precious little dolls like or like a child's dolls that have been set out but they don't look like they've been touched in years and years and years and on the bed in kind of a nightgown clutching what appears to be a holy symbol in one hand and a knife in the other is a quite striking woman with dark skin and dark kind of almost reddish hair and she's staring at this window that's been ripped open and floating outside the window you see the same a man that you saw on the beats themselves you see counts trod himself card come to invite me in Irina and you can see that holding her back is a the muscular blonde handsome Peruvian you saw before he's physically holding this woman back and kind of trying to turn her away and he's got his hand over her mouth but the other windows breaking through them are these three-spined devils they're clawed hands and almost like hawk like features they're like kind of smashing round and that's probably where we're gonna roll initiative next yeah the curl strands but otherwise we're gonna have to jump in and do a thing we're gonna have to roll the combat yeah busy man love it yeah creepy as hell and I love it I did for it and just to make a point you know obviously it's a brand new campaign it's a very big toning shift people are gonna have to get into their characters we're gonna have to kind of get settled it's a new thing for us so yeah but I think that yeah it's it's set things up and yeah things will kick off more extremely from now on and those of you who know cursive Strad will know that I've already just did things ever so slightly tiny tweaks yeah I wanted to make a point about that if you do know Curtis rod please try your best do not spoil this for experiencing place for the first time just like us well most of us so try not spoil it people are going on this journey with us mega tonal [ __ ] hey yeah yeah also remember this isn't the usual high roller style normally we're at a table doing a row us but this is a a situation but if you are new to high rollers and want to start with our actual campaign watch arose from sessions from episode zero you've got like sixty five to go yes fine and you don't have to see how normal set that like I said we do normally play a table obviously with kovat we're all playing remotely but we are making the most of it but it also means that we get to do this in the bonus stream which we normally wouldn't be out here because we don't have jobs busy but now we're all at home we need social interaction and this is it yeah this is always hey I'm gonna read some render oh thank you very much almost but not quite caught up on a roast made it to episode 56 so this is my first time watching your life I love you all thank you very much you're getting that you'll get so so close Bidoof curse estrade hype may our sexy vampire overlord be shipped with star Bane for all the turn voyage 82 with $32 e dues thank you very much hi there take this token of my gratitude for the countless hours of joy you give me and an extra big thank you for Mark who inspires me to DM for my Shadowrun group even though it still scares the [ __ ] out of me every time it scares me to dude every time I sit down I'm always nervous say yeah gaming Adam first time donor sadly it's not going well for me as schools have been shut down and online courses aren't working for me so I frozen in all subjects which sucks as I'm in my last year we are trying to find solutions but it's hard this does help so thank you we believe yeah I believe we all believe yeah posh pingu with no message thank you very much hyper ear with a 1/5 on dough stay and watch but I've had a few morning shifts and I've got another one tomorrow so I'll have to rest really looking forward to see the new characters PS also Kym shadow beyond the veil really pleases my inner goth my this is my inner goth and outer goth yeah goes to sprinkles hey guys loving the suspense and the mood of the campaign so far so so so hyped also small question for mark if you're a Pokemon what type would you be me I don't know Bulbasaur guess it's the best one and then finally stay sane and wash those damn hands you nasty night jar lovely lovely night jar 18 plus graphic descriptions of gore oops guess I won't be sleeping on Thursdays for the foreseeable future love you guys in your life will get love you Tina thank you one thing I wanted to do is we're not as restricted by finishing up in times and stuff go on Tom there's a couple more carry on okay right now I thought you said you last one you said last one no I didn't he's a raging Rhino Kyle March live today but I'm still wrapping around the creatures of scare me the most so you haven't already do a cracking job good luck and don't die immediately I'll speed up then Risha night sorry I said speed up but then could pronounce that name more high rollaz definitely helps out during these times plus I can actually watch live been listening via podcast thank you Tom hope you guys are doing all well love from Canada Jimmy Kiba with a hundo shop Strad mark thank you very much Schuyler and sub-group loving the new series liberals characters needed eyes superb hope you're all well and staying safe Kerwin a you with a no hand oh hi team got up early and Australia to throw a live donor in after several years of voting love you all stay strong stay safe Stacey stay safe disome oh hey high rollers first time in a while getting to donate more important than ever considering everything going on I'm enjoying the stream with a few friends on discord gotta say it looks like Tommy's crying out to say more hats off to RP Tom oh no I'm enjoying was very little yeah I want to do a look at most game things say shirt Rand Oracle with a hundred and twenty four dollars Thank You men first time watching life love cursive Strada you guys inspired me to start my own D&D group where I live in this whole situation has made so much better by extra high rollers content love you all distance hugs X distance hug Xen blaster hug with 6666 well I called it on the chaos twin stream Mary and Thomas siblings I'm so happy and I'm already invested yeah I'm already invested in everybody's new characters I can already tell that mark a true master will make the whole group manic and paranoid sorry these keep coming in though I thought there were less Varys $10 no message thank you very much Hobbs the tiger holy crap I love this I can't wait for more much darkness it's great thank you and that's the end of it as limited in time the one thing I did want to do you can keep everyone up tracks I know you're busy trying to play around your overlays you worked hard on but I wanted to basically just do like a little postgame like you did what was what were people's favorite moments are there any like things that you you're thinking character wise that you want to explore more like is there anything like yeah like stuff like that like for example like Tom that was a great donated like question like do do you feel like there was more you wanted to say but you've kind of committed to this very terse quiet character or you just like glad that you can kind of absorb everything in oh man oh this is so much fun I didn't expect to enjoy zeroes as much as I do cuz for me like a lot of the time I spend playing eros I spend thinking about what I want to say next as quill in this all I have to think about is that one word that he's gonna say that entire sake and so much opportunity to just watch everything properly and just sit here looking grumpy ah nice he's so cool now perfect what about anybody else anything in it gone I just like him I like zero C's cool yeah one thing I want to point out is is trot ran cursed rad for me and quite a few people a few years ago as an offline stream thing and obviously you know playing this now as a module I know trot has got a lot of knowledge about the system and stuff like that which is why that we kind of chat about him playing avestan ease so that gives him a reason to know more stuff but also I'm gonna try and change things so that there are still surprises for him and I think that the stuff I'm gonna do will be stuff that trop can enjoy and kind of dig into because it is quite a big narrative shift for some of the stuff so some stuff all like the locations will be the same but quite a lot the stuff that's gone on there will be a chance which I appreciate and also and you know you can only do straw in one way that we only did it one way and visited locations so I'll be interested maybe the rest of the world you know yeah stuff that we never got to see and stuff like that that when when you were running for us and I you know and I just want to make that clear because like I was inspired by trot running it because he did such a great game running it for us that I've always wanted to run everyone else say no and like I genuinely like want to you know shout out that because I think it's important to recognize that so okay Aliyah Cheers Thanks Rek more Katie any kind of bits that stood out or things that you want to dig into the character a bit more meeting stride for the first time was the best yeah might meet quite a bit so meeting Wolf's right away for Rose was an interesting one yeah yeah there's a reason yeah they might even be yeah there's there's worse things than regular wolves here in bar over here as well so yeah who'da thunk it perfect well next week we'll kick off I think for me it was just going up the doors being leave campaign is it it lends itself to some really atmospheric roleplay like and there's a lot of like moments of that tension and like little sound effects and building pressure and outside forces coming in and always on edge I like it but lion this is something which the book Chris Perkins highlights quite a lot is you can't have it too dark all the time so I think having a character like yes but having character like zeros who can lighten the mood like with a joke or like by being a terse [ __ ] that's gonna be a good thing to like free there's other ways you can if you have tension all the time it will lose its impact so but I did want to set this whole start up is like yeah there's there's a lot kicking off here and stuff like that so totes yes lots of lots of subs as well so thank you guys for all of those tons of subs and a ton of gifted subs as well so thank you if you have gifted a ton of subs as well perfect love you nice anything anything more anything more no Lola anyone thinking that this is real I did I must admit one thing flying was one of those big collared cloaks and I was gonna win so I can get it for you yeah if you if you make me like a big straw like in my art Nina did for me with like the big collar a hundred percent wear that we play one hundred percent all right perfect well thank you guys for playing thank you audience for watching thank you for supporting here on on the high rollers twitch we will be back next Thursday to continue we're starting off with a combat how about that get to find out a little bit more about Irena and all of the stuff going on there as well very good try so let's draw thanks guys I mean yeah you're gonna this is one thing like you're gonna keep seeing him you're gonna keep seeing him from the start oh yeah it's his land dude like you're in his now sew up all the time I'll tell you one thing I had it prepared that like because I kind of gave you a pause and if any like I kind of almost saw like zeros trying to like square up to him or give him [ __ ] or like somebody like saying something insulting I had a whole thing planned if you did please do I would have loved he's gonna be fighting me what's gonna inflate him in and kill him yeah well no I'm gonna I'm out showing it now I just wanted to do like another postgame thing cuz I think it's a nice thing to do no yeah all of you at home we will see you on Sunday at 5 o'clock for our regular game arose and that's on the yogscast which and hopefully here on high rollers as well so you can check that out there we will see you then please do spread the word like always I always say this if you can't sub if you can't donate that's fine the best way you can support us and to the stream is spreading the word post about it on like the DND reddit post about it on the RPG reddit's send it to your mates on Facebook all of that stuff that's genuinely the best way you can help so from that take care look after yourselves stay healthy stay safe and don't wash your hair no invites draw hooded well in your house [Music]

Channel: High Rollers DnD

Views: 243,307

Keywords: high rollers, high roller dnd, dnd, dungeons and dragons, critical role, 5e, wizards, wizards of the coast, mark hulmes, yogscast kim, yogscast, trott, hat films, chris trott, tom hazell, katie morrison, trailer, channel, youtube, twitch, stream, aerois, lightfall, campaign, rhi, rhi gower, rhiannon gower, kim richards, curse of strahd, new, barovia, Baron Vargas Vallakovich, horror

Id: DKp_OhRpzZw

Length: 121min 59sec (7319 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 13 2020