Gotta love adventurers. Always right on time. First and foremost, the dais is still there. But seated on top of it, his legs crossed, is a familiar looking blue inferno wearing a purple vest, some loose fitting slacks, his hands in the pockets, his little vest. There is a large black spike that has been shoved into the center of the dais.
Isaac Allen Burns:Stone is cracked around it and it seems to pulse with this nasty purple energy. Pulses out through the area kept by the dais. You see, three other people. Two of them are dressed in tight fitting black armor, masks sort of covering their face. They stand with rifles similar to what you saw being wielded at the attack in Bracken Road, pointed in your general direction.
Isaac Allen Burns:You see on their knees next to the altar a burlap sack on their head, so you cannot quite see their face. But you see someone with verbal blue skin and feminine features. What have you done? Azh simply smiles. Well, I've done nothing yet.
Joe Diametti:Nothing? You blew up the town.
Isaac Allen Burns:Well, I blew up town hall. There's a difference. That was all I was responsible. An empty town hall. Thank you very much.
Isaac Allen Burns:It's interesting. I went down to where it was reported to be and I saw a corpse of an old fawn. Looked like something important was there, but, yeah, the staff was thing I was looking for was gone. But thankfully, I had a thought. I had this idea that if who I thought had it did have it, they would probably do the thing that they believed was the right thing and bring it back where they probably found out about it.
Isaac Allen Burns:And it seems I was right.
Joe Diametti:What is is is that is that Nepheny? Who? Who's your host what why do you have a hostage?
Isaac Allen Burns:Well, you know, while I was at town hall, someone attacked me and, you know, one thing led to another and now here they are. So, you know, I figured it's good to have some resources in my back pocket. And it's been a real long day, y'all. I'm sure that y'all are tired. You know, I myself have had a long day.
Isaac Allen Burns:A little bit of a disappointing day yesterday, so I'm just gonna lay out. I'm just gonna let y'all know how this is gonna go. Simply put, I cannot let you put that staff in this altar. I simply can't. Now I had a job to do here.
Isaac Allen Burns:I had to take that staff, give it to a certain somebody, and unfortunately, haven't been able to do that yet, which would reflect badly on me. So, you know, I think a fair, equitable trade. You give me the staff, and I'll give you this individual right here, or you can simply turn around and walk away and keep the staff. That's also acceptable. But and he points at his hostage and says, I'll let your imagination do the rest.
Isaac Allen Burns:So what do we say we make this easy? You just drop the staff right there, turn around and walk away.
Joe Diametti:Crank, give him the staff.
Annie Hawthorne:Are you crazy?
Joe Diametti:Nefany is crazy. I don't want her to die. You don't want her to die.
Annie Hawthorne:Of course, I don't want her to die, but we can't give this guy the staff. He's worse than the Apple people.
Rowan Collins:You forgot the preferred option, Ajh.
Isaac Allen Burns:Mhmm. And what's that?
Rowan Collins:We fucking kill you. And
Annie Hawthorne:My eyes are
Rowan Collins:on you. Okay. Jumps in.
Joe Diametti:Everybody's just
Annie Hawthorne:Me too. I'm going unstoppable. I'm going unstoppable. Gonna say, if you want the stuff, you gotta go through me.
Isaac Allen Burns:Alright. Very good. As violent intent from you is felt, I need everyone to do something for me. As this spike pulses with energy, you see Azh's eyes go dark. And can everybody pick up their hope dice for me?
Annie Hawthorne:Oh, no.
Isaac Allen Burns:I would like you to hand your hope dice to me. What? Thank you so much. Give it here. Thank you.
Joe Diametti:Sure. I
Annie Hawthorne:just throw this across the
Joe Diametti:table at you. Do you have it? You got it? Alright. Yes.
Joe Diametti:Let's let's just hand it. Uh-huh. Be nice.
Isaac Allen Burns:So much. Now I would like everyone to pick up a d eight. Isaac, be nice.
Rowan Collins:Isaac's not nice.
Isaac Allen Burns:As an environmental effect, that is now your hope dice.
Rowan Collins:Great. Fantastic.
Isaac Allen Burns:At the same time, I'm going to burn a fear to allow certain individuals to take a reaction that they had prepared. Don't mind me. I'm gonna find out what happens first.
Joe Diametti:Isaac, you wouldn't still happen to be mad about last season, would you?
Rowan Collins:I think Isaac's mad about last date.
Isaac Allen Burns:Not at all. So first and foremost, Pistachio, as you are beginning to charge forward, you take one step towards Azh, and bullets fly out of the trees and bushes as three attacks were made on you. Oh god. One of them was a crit, One of them was a nine, and one was a 10. Do either of those other two hit?
Rowan Collins:Meets it beats it. Right? Yes. Okay. So the 10 hits.
Isaac Allen Burns:Very good. The first hit, which is the 10, That is 11 physical damage. The second one that is a crit, 24 physical damage. Hi. Isaac Allen Burns here.
Isaac Allen Burns:So once again, thresholds still apply. The damage that Pistachio took were from two sources. Pistachio is going to look at those and determine what thresholds they're at. Looking at the damage, you may spend an armor slot once per attack to decrease the threshold by one. So if that 24 was severe damage, you may spend one armor slot to make that major damage.
Rowan Collins:Yep. Yep. Thanks.
Isaac Allen Burns:You cannot use multiple to bring it down more than just one. As that occurs, crank actually, I wanna find out Kapi. In this moment, you had said, give them the staff. Mhmm. What are you doing as you see action start?
Isaac Allen Burns:What is Kapi's move here?
Joe Diametti:Is there any shadows here?
Isaac Allen Burns:I would say it's kinda later in the day, so I'll say that there are some trees around casting some shadows.
Joe Diametti:So I don't think I've ever said what Kapi's subclass is. Uh-huh. So Kapi is a rogue night walker.
Isaac Allen Burns:Oh. And What does that mean?
Joe Diametti:So yeah, the night walker foundation is shadow stepper. So I can move from shadow to shadow. When I move into an area of darkness or a shadow cast by another creature or object, I can mark a stress to disappear from where I am and reappear inside another shadow within far range. When I reappear,
Isaac Allen Burns:I am cloaked. Within far range? Yes. Okay.
Joe Diametti:Yeah. I don't think Kapi even knows that he can do this. I think any magic that Kapi has done, like the reign of blades, as far as he knows comes directly from the ring. Oh. So I think Kapi's freaking out a little bit and while all of this is happening in front of him, he's going to dive into whatever the closest shadow is Mhmm.
Joe Diametti:And disappear and then reappear in a shadow behind everything. The tabernacle ideally closest to the hostage.
Isaac Allen Burns:It's definitely within far range.
Joe Diametti:Perfect.
Isaac Allen Burns:Yeah. So you turn around and run away from the combat towards where the tree line is, where shadows are.
Joe Diametti:Okay. Well, yeah, you don't have say it like that, but yes.
Isaac Allen Burns:No. Yeah. So you're running away from everything.
Joe Diametti:Yes. And
Isaac Allen Burns:then you reappear further from everything, though. And that's good. No. Yeah. I understand.
Isaac Allen Burns:So you're behind everything now.
Joe Diametti:Yes.
Isaac Allen Burns:You see that there's not really any good shadows by the hostage, but you can get to the other side of the clearing where the dais is. That's about close range from the edge of the dais on that side as well.
Joe Diametti:Cool. So I'm a mark a stress and do that.
Isaac Allen Burns:Okay. Kapi, you appear on the other side. Crank, what are you doing?
Annie Hawthorne:I just saw Pistachio got hit a lot. It's true. And I am in unstoppable mode. And I am gonna use my order born feature, which is dedicated. So record three sayings or values your upbringing instilled in you.
Annie Hawthorne:Once per rest, when you describe how you're embodying one of these principles through your current action, you can roll a d 20 as your hope day. Oh. So my values that were instilled in me when I was created for war are protect if you can, avenge if you must, above all, endure. And I am gonna run full tilt at this motherfucker because he just hurt my friend and I'm using avenge.
Isaac Allen Burns:So you are, in this case, running directly at Azh.
Annie Hawthorne:Yes.
Isaac Allen Burns:Very good.
Annie Hawthorne:And I want to attack him.
Isaac Allen Burns:Having expected you to run full tilt at him, Azh brandishes a weapon. I'm going to spend a fear for him to use a reaction here. And Annie, I need an agility reaction roll from you.
Annie Hawthorne:Reaction roll.
Isaac Allen Burns:Indeed. So you will not get hope or fear for this. This will simply be a roll of your d 20 and your d 12, and you will tell me what you get. You do want, in this case, higher than a 20.
Annie Hawthorne:That's a nine on a nine. Crit.
Isaac Allen Burns:Crank, you see as you start running, Azh pulls out a weapon. You recognize this weapon. On that crit, I will say that you recognize this. This was a weapon specifically designed during the civil war against your kind. This is a net that arcs with electricity to shut down the systems of mark twos.
Isaac Allen Burns:You see as he points this at you and fires. The memory of these come rushing back in your unstoppable mode, and you know that touching this would be very bad for you, and you are able to dodge out of the way just in time as he fires.
Annie Hawthorne:Very good. Continue your move. I wanna attack him, but is my d 20 spent now?
Isaac Allen Burns:What does it say? Can you read out the ability for me?
Annie Hawthorne:It says once per rest when you describe how you're embodying one of these principles through your current action, you can roll a d 20 as your hope. So I think I that's that's spent.
Isaac Allen Burns:Well, here's what I will say. Well, it's tough because as a reaction roll, that probably should have been spent on the attack roll itself.
Annie Hawthorne:That's what I was trying to do.
Isaac Allen Burns:So I'm gonna say, here's what I'll rule. You may instead choose to keep that result and roll an attack as normal, d eight as your hope dice, or you can keep that for now and roll regular for that dodge. If you succeed on it, you can continue. But if you fail, then you will lose that d 20. So either keep the crit on the dodge and attack normal, or risk dodging it as normal to get a crit on edge.
Annie Hawthorne:Man, that is a pickle.
Isaac Allen Burns:The real question is, do you think you can crit again? Because either you need to roll a 20 on your agility or you need to crit.
Annie Hawthorne:I would have to roll a 12 and an eight to go to 20, so I'm not gonna do it. Okay. So I'm just gonna attack him with my d eight as my hope die. I'd like to use battle born as my experience.
Isaac Allen Burns:Very good. Because you are defending yourself. In this case, you use that momentary burst of energy flashing back in time. Adrian's face appears on Pistachio as you rush forward towards the thing attacking.
Annie Hawthorne:What do we got? 15 with hope.
Isaac Allen Burns:15 with hope. That will unfortunately miss. Because this is a miss, he gets to use a reaction to counterattack you.
Joe Diametti:I'm scared.
Annie Hawthorne:I'm scared too.
Joe Diametti:I should be.
Isaac Allen Burns:Unfortunately, he is going to miss. You've taken him off guard by dodging the attack, so he is just able to get out of the way as you swing on him.
Annie Hawthorne:Can I mark trust to hit him again?
Isaac Allen Burns:You may mark his trust to hit him again.
Annie Hawthorne:Or try to hit him again.
Isaac Allen Burns:As you reel back to strike again, he says, you need to let the staff go, Frank. It's only going to ruin you.
Annie Hawthorne:I'm just gonna say don't hurt my friends. 16 with fear.
Isaac Allen Burns:16 with fear. That unfortunately will miss. Thank you for the fear. Does a 12 hit your evasion? Yes.
Isaac Allen Burns:Just so everyone is aware, the damage that I am rolling for this is rolled by their hope dice.
Joe Diametti:No.
Isaac Allen Burns:You see, as you swing once, he's off balance. You swing again like a seasoned veteran. He moves your hand out of the way smoothly. You see his hand glows with this dark purple energy, very similar to what you see in the spike, and he sends a strike to your stomach. And it's 29 magic damage.
Annie Hawthorne:Okay. I'm unstoppable, so I reduce the severity of that. Oh, wait. It's magic damage. Never mind.
Annie Hawthorne:No, I don't. It's only physical damage. So that's three HP gone.
Isaac Allen Burns:He strikes hard and says, they can go free if you just give me the staff. Pistachio, you have been immediately struck by multiple bullets. You see Kapi has vanished. You see Crank has run up to engage Azh. What are you gonna do?
Rowan Collins:I think Pistachio is, you know, not processing any of the things and has blamed Azh for everything in their heart of hearts and is not thinking rationally. I do think that hurt though. So almost in reaction to that, their magic is going a little bit wild. And first, one beetle likes comes onto their face and then another beetle starts sticking onto them. And then like a swarm of armored, what looks like scarabs swarm around them as like an armor, which is I'm using conjure swarm.
Rowan Collins:So I've marked distress to essentially give myself beetle armor. So that has kind of gone on at the same time, almost instinctually. But I think the moment and the thing that they were actively trying to do was they were actively going to jump into a beast form. So that happens in reaction. Nice.
Rowan Collins:And then you see, again, this they are just looking and thinking about the thing that will, like, hurt this thing the most. And they recall the boy air and how fucking terrifying that was. And as they turn this time into a fucked up Johto bear.
Joe Diametti:Oh, no. Johto bear?
Isaac Allen Burns:The Johto bear. A roar echoes.
Rowan Collins:Roar. And then they're gonna go on a rampage. Oh. So they're gonna attack the thing that is whoever is closest to them. I don't know if that's Azh or if you said there was a couple other people front of them.
Isaac Allen Burns:Now that an attack has occurred, yeah, as you swing to the side, you see that there is one guy up in a tree. You see there are two others in a brush dressed in the similar black armor to the other people that are beside the Dais here.
Rowan Collins:Okay. So the closest person to them is not Azh. It's like It's one
Isaac Allen Burns:of the other people.
Rowan Collins:Alright. So whoever is closest is there just gonna go into melee with them and just start sowing in.
Isaac Allen Burns:Swing away.
Rowan Collins:That is an 18.
Isaac Allen Burns:That will hit.
Rowan Collins:With fear. Nice. And 12 physical damage as the Johto Bearclaw just, like, rends into this thing, and they're like
Isaac Allen Burns:Nice. You see you see you rend into this person's armor. He is kinda bloody. He didn't like that. That wasn't good for him.
Isaac Allen Burns:As you start attacking one of the people at the side who ambushed you, Kapi, we cut over to you. You have just appeared in the shadows. You see both of your companions engaged with the enemy. You also see one of the other individuals in black armor has pointed their rifle at the hostage. Mhmm.
Joe Diametti:So I am cloaked.
Isaac Allen Burns:You are cloaked.
Joe Diametti:Okay. So Kapi's behind all of this watching. Mhmm. And I think he looks at Crank having the toughest time he's ever had. And he looks at Pistachio, who's just turned into a bear, and also is barely hanging on after being damaged, and then this hostage.
Joe Diametti:And I think, at least for the time being, can he analyze the situation and try to see what work? Yeah?
Isaac Allen Burns:Go ahead. Give me an instinct roll.
Joe Diametti:Can I use, like, Cyrus, like, Kapi? Because I figure he's like, what would Kapi or what would Cyrus do? What would Cyrus do?
Isaac Allen Burns:Yeah. Absolutely. Cool. Go ahead, roll.
Joe Diametti:What'd you say? Instinct? Instinct. Plus zero, a five, and a seven with fear.
Isaac Allen Burns:Fear. Thank you. 12 with fear. You are looking at this situation. From the little bit that you interacted with Azh, you know that he is incredibly dangerous.
Isaac Allen Burns:He's not wielding a weapon, but the rest of the people around are. Speaking of weapon, the thing that you hone in on is the individual pointing a rifle at the hostage is not looking at the hostage. They are looking at where you were, and they're looking around where you were really confused. This is incredibly dangerous. The other thing that I think pops into your mind on a 12 is that where is Percival?
Isaac Allen Burns:Right. You don't know where Percival is. And your eyes settle upon the spike in the middle of the ground. You're not quite able to figure out what, but it almost seems related.
Joe Diametti:Okay.
Isaac Allen Burns:But those are the things that you have.
Joe Diametti:Okay. So with that being said, I am going to I don't know what this is gonna equal, but I'm gonna go try to come out of cloaked, body slam the guy with the gun that's not paying attention, and almost use that momentum to get towards the spear in the middle where I can hopefully pull it out of the center.
Isaac Allen Burns:Okay. So you're gonna go for
Joe Diametti:the spear. Yeah. But I was trying to knock the guys So you from pointing a gun at the hostage.
Isaac Allen Burns:Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So you're trying to just shove them to the side. Okay.
Isaac Allen Burns:Go ahead and do are you using a weapon at all? Or are just really, like, just shoving?
Joe Diametti:I'm just going to shove. I didn't bring the Halberd with me. And Okay.
Isaac Allen Burns:We'll say in this case then, we'll make it a strength check.
Joe Diametti:K.
Isaac Allen Burns:So go ahead and do a strength check. I'll say that since you're cloaked, I will give you advantage since you're sort of coming upon this person suddenly.
Joe Diametti:K. Strength is plus zero.
Isaac Allen Burns:What do we got?
Joe Diametti:20 with fear.
Rowan Collins:Nice.
Isaac Allen Burns:Thank you so much. And that will work. You run up, you shove this individual, you hear a, and they get pushed to the ground. Very good. And you're running towards the spear?
Isaac Allen Burns:Yes. So you run past Crank and Azh. And as you descend upon the spear, what's the plan here? Are you just gonna pick it up and try and pull it out?
Joe Diametti:Or Yes.
Isaac Allen Burns:Okay. As you jump towards that Crank, you and Azh are locked in. Azh has said, give up the staff. You can go free. How does Crank respond?
Annie Hawthorne:Crank isn't thinking right now k. About anything but violence.
Isaac Allen Burns:Okay.
Annie Hawthorne:And, like, his entire purpose is to protect and to take any damage that anyone else might take on himself. So he's just gonna keep going and keep trying to hit him.
Isaac Allen Burns:Do it up.
Annie Hawthorne:15 with hope. Get a hope.
Rowan Collins:Get your hope. Get a hope. Get out of my hope.
Joe Diametti:Get a hope.
Isaac Allen Burns:Crank, that misses. Yep. As you swing again wildly, your fists are like a boxer's. Right? You're putting your full strength in each of them.
Isaac Allen Burns:And Azh, almost expecting these wild swings, moves out of the way and counter attacks. Alright. He misses on that one.
Annie Hawthorne:Really?
Isaac Allen Burns:He does. You know? How did
Joe Diametti:he roll?
Isaac Allen Burns:He rolled a one.
Annie Hawthorne:Oh, nice. Yeah. That definitely misses.
Isaac Allen Burns:He rolled a natural one.
Annie Hawthorne:I'm gonna take another stress and try to hit him again.
Isaac Allen Burns:Nice. He's going for what he's, like, expecting as a weak point, but you're a robot, so it doesn't quite so he, like, hits it, but it doesn't
Annie Hawthorne:do any damage. I wanna use my experience again of Battleborn.
Isaac Allen Burns:Do it. Spend that hope. Roll again.
Annie Hawthorne:That's a crit.
Isaac Allen Burns:There it is. Yo. Nice roll damage.
Annie Hawthorne:Alright. Well, I do two d eight now, so that's 16 plus five is 21 plus four is 25 plus seven is 32 because I took a domain card called body basher and I add my strength to my damage. So 32.
Joe Diametti:Wowza.
Isaac Allen Burns:Nice. You deal major damage and hit him.
Annie Hawthorne:Major damage at 32.
Joe Diametti:What?
Rowan Collins:I think we're fucked, guys.
Isaac Allen Burns:Frank, you swing and crack him across the chin. His head whips to the side. I just whipped my head to the side, which is why the mic went back. He whips to the side. He swings back with a smile on his face and blood trickling down the side of his mouth and says, it's a long road to ruin, Crank.
Isaac Allen Burns:I'd hate to see you walk down it. And as he looks, he looks past you back at Kapi. And Kapi, as your hands grab this bike, I need you to give me a presence reaction roll. And by all nine gods, roll good.
Joe Diametti:Okay. My presence is a plus two. 15 with fear.
Rowan Collins:You know, I don't like watching Isaac take these little gems from us.
Isaac Allen Burns:I don't give me so much
Joe Diametti:gave me a small dice.
Isaac Allen Burns:Kathy, you grab the spear and, like, Excalibur, I pull it out,
Joe Diametti:and we all win happily ever after. Thank you for joining, everyone. This is our episode of Dunnovel.
Isaac Allen Burns:Everyone, see you next week. Kappy, you pull out the spear, and you see Azh, and he says, oh, I'm defeated. And he falls dead. And you see Nefany gets up and takes off the burlap sack and says, Kappy, I love you. And you she runs up and gives you a big hug and a kiss.
Isaac Allen Burns:Yeah. Everyone else sees Kappy grab onto the spear, and no sooner does he do so. There is a pulse of dark energy. Like touching a live wire, Kapi freezes up. Great.
Isaac Allen Burns:Once again, I get to roll their hope dice as damage.
Annie Hawthorne:All three of them. All three d twelves. What?
Isaac Allen Burns:Kapi, take 26 magical damage, and you are vulnerable. This is direct damage, which means that it cannot be decreased by armor slots. Okay.
Joe Diametti:Well, then I'll mark that's, I mean, severe, so I'll mark my three HP.
Isaac Allen Burns:Pistachio, because you're sort of within view of this, this is behind Krank at this point, and you're sort of focused on this other corner, you see Kapi freeze up. That pulse goes out, shoots into him, and you feel like with maybe a little more gumption, perhaps Kapi would have absorbed that to the point that it wouldn't have affected everybody, but it blew right through him. You see parts of him almost disintegrate away as he grabs on to this intense relic. What are you gonna do? This guy in front of you who you've been attacking has turned to you and looks about ready to attack back.
Isaac Allen Burns:But what are you gonna do here?
Rowan Collins:I think Pistachio was enraged. But seeing Kapi get almost dead himself is freaking out a little bit more and taking a second to, like, actually assess the situation. They look over at Crank. Crank, how bad do you look?
Annie Hawthorne:I've got five HP left, so I'm doing alright.
Rowan Collins:Where on the battlefield is this guy versus, like, where the staff?
Isaac Allen Burns:So you're within close range of the dais. I'm gonna say at this point, you are far from where the staff is because Crank has run forward further than, like, 30 feet at this point to get to Azh based on where you started and where you are at. Now you've kinda gone to the side to attack this guy. At 12:00 is the altar. At halfway between twelve and the very center is Azh and Crank.
Isaac Allen Burns:The hostage is at 11:00. You are at, like, off the clock in the direction of five. Okay. You are far away. If you wanna get up to crank, it will require a roll.
Rowan Collins:And to get up with Kapi would also require a roll.
Isaac Allen Burns:Yes.
Rowan Collins:Okay. Here's what Pistachio is gonna do. Pistachio cannot get to crank and is not gonna let both Kapi and crank go down. I think Pistachio is picking up what Kapi is doing and realizing that's probably the smarter move. So they're gonna use their fawn Caprin leap to leap anywhere within close range without having to roll for it, to bound kind of over the sky that they were gonna attack and kinda get to where Kapi is, which they can still do in their beast form.
Rowan Collins:And they're gonna use their order born, which is a single sacrifice saves many To roll with a d 20 to try and pull this thing out.
Joe Diametti:Okay. What?
Isaac Allen Burns:Do it up. Presents roll.
Rowan Collins:And 19 with hope.
Isaac Allen Burns:19 with hope.
Joe Diametti:He's still smiling. It's not good.
Annie Hawthorne:It's not good.
Joe Diametti:We had to get a 20.
Isaac Allen Burns:Pistachio, you go to grab onto this thing, and you rolled with hope. This unfortunately will not decrease the countdown that is on this spike for it to get pulled out based on your actions, which was very astute of you. However, because you rolled with hope, you may choose to take the brunt of the damage here. However, the effects of this effect, the effect of this decrease in your hope, this weakening of your systems, this feebleness in your arms, that can be allayed from your allies for their next role. You may choose to do that.
Rowan Collins:Yeah. I think Pistachio will choose to do that.
Isaac Allen Burns:Very good. You will take more damage if you do this. Just to be clear, I'm going to reroll the lowest d 12 that I have here as an indication of the extra oomph that you are receiving here.
Rowan Collins:Okay. Okay.
Joe Diametti:Very good. And I'm in another reality right now, basically. Yeah. You're seeing Pistachio grab the
Isaac Allen Burns:You're like a split second of this. Once Pistachio grabs it, you will come back to reality and see what's going on. There's 23 magic damage to you, Pistachio. Crank and Kapi, you feel like a weight lifted off your shoulders for just the very moment, like the brief moment where a migraine subsides before coming back. You feel lighter.
Isaac Allen Burns:Kapi, you come to your hands feel like they have been burned, like you've touched a stove for a little too long, and you see Pistachio next to you. Pistachio, are you still up? Are you still alive?
Rowan Collins:Pistachio is still alive thanks to my extra HP.
Isaac Allen Burns:Pistachio is really messed up, but you see holding on to this sphere, trying to pull it out, but it is magically embedded into this place of power. At that same time, Kapi, as you come to, you notice all of the guns on all of you. And I'm now going to spend this fear as they fire upon you. This one that I got from Pistachio, I'm gonna fire at Pistachio.
Joe Diametti:I think he's looking and he's just
Annie Hawthorne:Where am I?
Joe Diametti:Yeah. I was gonna say, can I wait? Can I shield Pistachio?
Isaac Allen Burns:So because you're just coming out of it and, Crank, we already elected that you're a little further from them right now, you are locked in with Azh.
Joe Diametti:Can I
Isaac Allen Burns:shield? Sure, Kapi. I will say you can shield from this.
Joe Diametti:No. Shield Pistachio.
Isaac Allen Burns:Yeah. You are taking the hit for Pistachio. You jump in the way.
Joe Diametti:Yeah. I look I look I come out of it and I look up and I see all the guns and I see Crank over there and I see Pistachio just all messed up and just yeah, like instantly like put my whole body in jacket over.
Isaac Allen Burns:You put your whole body on pistachio as they fire upon you. First one is 14.
Joe Diametti:And Okay. You can
Isaac Allen Burns:use an armor slot on this one.
Joe Diametti:Okay. I'm going to.
Isaac Allen Burns:The second one is 15. Okay.
Joe Diametti:And I can't I can only use one armor slot per
Isaac Allen Burns:Attack.
Joe Diametti:So I can use it on now again?
Isaac Allen Burns:You use each arm you can use one armor slot in each of the separate attacks, but those are separate attacks.
Joe Diametti:They don't
Isaac Allen Burns:add together.
Joe Diametti:Got you. So
Isaac Allen Burns:It's two separate ones.
Joe Diametti:So it it it's just it popped up and said death move. Wait. Can I mark stress instead or no?
Annie Hawthorne:HP How much HP do you have?
Joe Diametti:Well, right now, none.
Annie Hawthorne:Oh, shit.
Isaac Allen Burns:Kapi, as you approach your mortal coil, you have a choice here. You may choose if death takes you or if you continue to live another day. You may either go out in a blaze of glory. What this means is that you are going to embrace death. You may take an action.
Isaac Allen Burns:The result of it will be treated as a critical success, and then Kapi will die. Woah. You may risk it all. In this case, you will roll your duality dice. And if your hope dice is higher than your fear dice, your character is going to stay on their feet, clear an amount of hit points or stress equal to the value of that hope dice.
Isaac Allen Burns:However, if your fear dice is higher, your character will unfortunately die. If you critically succeed, something else will happen. Or you can choose to avoid death. This is the equivalent of simply going unconscious, but you may receive a scar for doing so.
Joe Diametti:Do I gamble?
Rowan Collins:No, man.
Joe Diametti:Don't Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'll go unconscious.
Isaac Allen Burns:Okay. When you go unconscious, what I need you to do is I need you to roll your hope downs. If the value is equal to or under your level, you will gain a scar, which if you gain a scar, we'll talk about. But just know that because you are now level two, you need to roll a three or higher to not receive a scar.
Joe Diametti:Okay. That's a four.
Isaac Allen Burns:Very close. You hold on to Pistachio as you feel the bites of these bullets stab into you like knives. And I ask you, Joe, in this moment, where do your eyes go as you feel your consciousness slipping away?
Joe Diametti:I think they look over at Crank. Or I actually, I think they just look down at Pistachio. And I think they're happy and proud that they did something good for once.
Isaac Allen Burns:Nice. As you hold on to Pistachio, your consciousness fades out. And two shots were fired at you, another shot hits you. And Pistachio, in this moment of, like, holding on, you feel yourself go limp. Crank, in your unstoppable, the connection that you have with them, something is very bad.
Isaac Allen Burns:Azh, at this point, is sort of dodging your attacks has just been punched. I'm gonna spend a fear, and I'm gonna roll an attack. This is not an attack to hit you. This is an attack to get the staff off of your back. Let's find out if you can do it.
Isaac Allen Burns:That is a 14. K? That hits your evasion. In this case, he instead of doing damage, I'm gonna say that he is able to get around you, grab onto the staff, yank it off of you. You feel this separation to the staff, and you're deep within your soul, you feel this breaking of this connection you had to it.
Isaac Allen Burns:In a strange way though, kind of like coming out from underwater, your senses come to in a moment. You're not out of unstoppable or anything, but there was something weighing down on you that is no more. In this moment, Craig, as you whip around as Azh is behind you, you see Pistachio and Kapi over this spike. You see Azh directly in front of you. He has the staff.
Isaac Allen Burns:He's holding it kind of behind him and his hand is held out towards you, sort of in like a defensive stance. And he looks at you with all of the graveness possible and says, take your friends and leave. How does Frank respond?
Annie Hawthorne:I mean, there are some things that are more important than a staff and my friends are what's more important. So I'm just gonna go to them, and I'm gonna see if I can pick them up away from the spike, and I'm gonna try to get them away.
Isaac Allen Burns:You grab on to them, to Pistachio who has been hurt very bad by this thing and Kapi who is unconscious, bleeding out. You pick them up both in your arms. You are strong enough to do so, and you run. Kapi or Pistachio, do you look back at the dais?
Joe Diametti:I mean, I'm out.
Rowan Collins:So Pistachio, I think, had, like is still awake, or did they get hit by that last one?
Isaac Allen Burns:Pessentially got hit by nothing because Kapi took
Rowan Collins:the bullet. I think they had bellowed when Kapi, like, fell. And so their eyes go from Kapi, who is unconscious now that Crank has pulled them up, to looking back to, like, seeing what like, at the diocese at as just to get, like, one last look at it.
Isaac Allen Burns:Make a instinct check here as you are looking out.
Rowan Collins:Are we still affected by the negative?
Isaac Allen Burns:As you are running away, in this point, the further you get from the spike, as you get out of the clearing, you feel that weight leave you. You are no longer under the effect of it.
Rowan Collins:Can I have my hope die
Isaac Allen Burns:back then? Which one is yours?
Rowan Collins:Thank you.
Isaac Allen Burns:Go ahead. Pass that out to everybody.
Joe Diametti:High hope, guys. Alright.
Rowan Collins:I wanted that before. 21 with fear.
Isaac Allen Burns:Oh, with fear. Pistachio, as you look up, your eyes attuned like that of a hunter to the smallest details. You see Azh looking at the three of you running away. There is not a shred of victory on his face, but almost resignation. The face of someone who's disappointed in what occurred, but still has a job to do.
Isaac Allen Burns:At the same time, you look over at the hostage, and in the brief moments that you're running away, you see that they rock back on their heels and stand up. Their arms come out from behind them as though they were never bound at all. And you see the burlap sack come off and see a face of a beardless, hairless dwarf.
Rowan Collins:I think Pistachio, again, is just like the bellow as they, like, come out of beef's form is just like a
Annie Hawthorne:Fuck.
Isaac Allen Burns:As you run through the trees, the three of you, you sort of I'm gonna say in this point, Pistachio, the emotion that you're feeling, the wounds sort of take over and you begin to lose consciousness. As the three of you are going away, Azh sighs heavily, does a weird whistle and you hear a buzzing as a creature about the size of a horse with iridescent wings comes out from a bit of distance and lands. These saddles upon the back of this flicker fly that Azh and company use as a mount. Azh looks over at a soldier dressed in black who's currently dusting themselves off and standing up. He looks and says, what did I tell you?
Isaac Allen Burns:You weren't as close to him as they were. You see the soldier sighs, pulls off their helmet to reveal Nepheny.
Joe Diametti:You son of a bitch.
Isaac Allen Burns:She glowers and says, I don't believe everything that you've said to me, but this is my only shot getting out of here anymore. So fine. You were right about him. He nods sadly, and him, the other members of the crew hop on a flicker fly, head off. The spike in the ground remains.
Isaac Allen Burns:As the three of you head back to town, that is where we will end this session
Joe Diametti:Unbelievable.
Isaac Allen Burns:Of Dodoborne . In the next session, we will awaken three weeks from this moment. We will be in Algenabai, which is the place that you had indicated that you would go next time, and we will find out what's been going on these last three weeks. And with a defeated squawk on three. One two three.
Isaac Allen Burns:Hey. It's a podcast. I just wanna check-in. Is everyone okay? That was a lot.
Isaac Allen Burns:That was tough.
Annie Hawthorne:I'm okay.
Joe Diametti:I'm good. I'm good. That was
Annie Hawthorne:I was sitting here the whole time going, if Crank went down, that would be such a good narrative moment. Yo. But it didn't happen.
Joe Diametti:My god.