The audio of this episode can be found directly here; https://tailsfromthedarkdragonsinn.co.uk/campaign-episode-12/
You can find a ‘live transcript’ of the below here; https://youtu.be/uJRR_yXJjJQ
This transcript is colour coded for ease of use. Please download the PDF.
Tobe as played by Liz
Myx as played by Nina
Mhurren as played by Vinny
Erbak as played by Tom
Narrator/Scraw/GM/Everything else as played by Ray
[Audio Description]
{Tone Guide/Sarcasm etc}
[music]
Ray: Hello and welcome to Tails from the Dark Dragons Inn, Episode 18: A Fight for Survival. In just two short weeks, we’ll be bringing Season 1 to a close, but worry not, you’re regularly scheduled episodes will continue undisrupted. We have a couple of side quests lined up for you. That’s material outside of our usual campaign, and honestly I’m so excited to share it with you, because we’ve put together something really special.
Season 2 of the campaign will air during the first week of June, but you can come back for new content every week until then and we’ll still be here.
This week, we have the full crew. I’m Ray, your host and game master. We also have Liz as Tobe, Nina as Myx, Vinny as Mhurren, Tom as Erbak and they are hanging on by a thread. Without further ado, on with the show.
Host: “Oh good! You’re here. Come on. Sit down. I can’t believe I had to wait a whole week. I don’t like the sound of that squid thing.”
Doomsinger: “‘There’s like a squid thing on the ceiling.’ Has ever a more ominous statement been delivered so utterly bereft of gravitas? One can only wonder at the thoughts that were going through his mind at the time.”
Tobe: Considering the state I’m in and the state that other people are in, I’m not exactly confident that attacking this thing is even a good idea, or even just assuming that it’s going to attack us at this point. So … I think I’m just gonna hold an eldritch back for in case it attacks me or anyone else. But, I’m not gonna make the first move against it. Anyone in the party. If it attacks a kobold, I’m not gonna stop it, but {laughs} …
GM: What you are seeing, specifically, is you looked up at the ceiling and you were looking at the stalagmites and they all looked pretty much the same up until you saw an especially large one and you paid close attention, and you saw that it was moving. And as you focused on it, you saw that it was some weird creature of some kind.
Tobe: Staying where I am.
GM: Mhurren, you watch in horror as you suddenly see three long tendrils drop from the ceiling. And yes, Tobe, you recognize this to be an attack by the creature, despite the fact that it is on the opposite side of the room. So, you’re seeing the creature, the stalagmite creature’s main body hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. However, you turn and notice that there are four tendrils dropping from the ceiling.
Mhurren, you see three tendrils dropping from the ceiling and wrapping around Myx and Scraw and the Doomsinger.
Mhurren: Oooh. Okay.
Tobe: What the fuck? {laughs}
GM: You fire your eldritch blast up into the ceiling and it smashes into one of the nearby stalagmites. For a moment, you think you’ve hit the creature, until you see the rock formation fall to the ground and you see that you were just off and you hear in your head a silent [roar]. And all of you, in fact, hear this noise reverberating. It’s not a noise that you hear, but it is a noise you feel. And, Myx, The Doomsinger and Scraw are lifted 25 foot in the air.
Myx: Ehhh.
GM: And Mhurren, you watch as you friends are hoisted off the ground. You turn and see a tendril reaching forwards towards you and you take a step back and swat at it and it retracts violently.
Erbak: Ray, sorry to interrupt and be a pain.
GM: Uh-huh {affirmative}?
Erbak: Scraw’s still stuck to the ground. Does he get any kind of benefit to like?
GM: Nope.
Erbak: No? Aw. I was looking out for him.
GM: In fact, Scraw is reeled in. As the others are pulled up away from the ground, Scraw is reeled in to the creatures face. And it bites down on him.
Myx: “No! Scraw!”
Tobe: Oh, unfortunate.
Mhurren: That’s not nice.
Myx: Finding out he’s allergic to Scraw’s fur.
GM: No, he is not allergic. In fact, Scraw is extra tasty.
Myx: Oh, no!
Tobe: Ouch.
{whistle}
Myx: {groans}
Mhurren: How’s he doing?
GM: Scraw cries out in pain as this abomination slowly starts chewing on him. And Myx, you are grappled and can do nothing but watch as you see Scraw crying out, not having a good time.
Scraw is going to try and escape the grapple from the ceiling. Scraw desperately tries to pull apart the mouth of the creature to get himself free, but completely is unable to do so.
GM: Myx, it is Darconius’s turn. He is still where he was. You told him to wait on the stairs.
Myx: “Darconius, do you, do you know anything about this creature. Do, do you know how we can communicate with it? Because that sound it made, I-I don’t know, uh, w-what we’re supposed to do?”
Darconius: “{stammers} I don’t know anything? What should I do?”
Myx: “Honestly, little buddy …”
Darconius: “Sh-should I help? D-do you need me to rescue you?”
Myx: {laughs}
Darconius: “Don’t die, Myx!”
Myx: {laughs} “I’m gonna try really hard not to die, but for now, I just want you to stay safe, okay?”
Darconius: And then he doesn’t say anything.
Myx: No offense to my teenie tiny dragon baby, I don’t know how much he can help in this particular situation.
GM: You watch from your tendriled position on the ceiling as you see Darconius huddle down on the stair and try to hide away in the corner. He just crouches into himself. His little wings huddle up over his shoulder and you see him lowering his neck and looking up at you, desperation in his eyes.
Myx: Aw. {pained noise} I want to hug my little baby.
GM: Now it’s your turn.
Myx: Yes. I had a plan, but I don’t know if it will work. So, I’m 25 foot in the air. I am gonna use radiant soul. So, my two glorius, iridescent blue-purple wings sprout up from my back and I still can’t …
GM: You focus and with your training that you had with Titania, remember everything she taught you about focusing. And …
Myx: {laughs} Focusing.
GM: … you manage to summon all of your potential latent Aasimar energy and you project these brilliant, blue-purple wings.
Myx: {whispers} Blurple.
GM: Made of just sheer energy and light from the back of your body. And you haven’t done this too many times, so it’s still a really alien feeling to suddenly have what feels like new limbs that you have control over. And, even though you have a little bit of control over your movement now, but you are still being grappled in place, so you can’t actually move away.
You’re supporting your own weight now instead of the tendril supporting you, but it is still grappling you. Also, Tobe, this is for the first time you’ve ever seen your best friend turn into a literal fucking angel.
Myx: I am so shiny.
Tobe:It’s a bit much. {laughs}
{laughs}
Myx: {angelic chorus}
GM: But it is purple.
Tobe: I don’t really think I’m in a frame of mind to think it’s purple. I think I’m in a frame of mind to think, “I’m dying. My friends are grappled and dying and Myx has wings now.”
[roars]
Tobe: And that.
Myx: Myx will be the angel to guide us to the rest of our adventure. I’m going to shout at Tobe because he isn’t grapple. “Tobe! Get away while you can!”
Tobe: Assuming he’s still alive on his turn.
GM: Liz, what does Doomsinger do? {laughs}
Tobe: Panic? Is he grappled?
GM: He is grappled. And he is suspended 25 feet above the ground.
Tobe: Oh, shit. {laughs} {sharp inhale} He’s gonna try and break out of the grapple because he doesn’t want to get chomped on {laughs}.
GM: No, that … That’s totally fair.
Tobe: So, I think he’s just wiggling. {laughs}
Doomsinger: The Doomsinger struggles violently against the tendril that is holding him, but doesn’t seem to make any kind of progress.
Tobe: Is Mhurren grappled as well?
GM: Mhurren is not grappled. Mhurren saw the tentacle at the last minute, took a step back and managed to dodge it.
Mhurren: Just staring at Myx going, “Uhh …” {laughs} ‘Cause she sprouted wings.
GM: She did and she’s grappled 25 foot in the air.
Mhurren: I’m about to talk, but just …
Tobe: Yeah, he’s gonna inspire Mhurren to …
{laughs}
Tobe: … try and save their asses, basically.
Doomsinger: From the grappled position, he turns and looks down at Mhurren who is not grappled. “Mhurren! You’re the only one who can save us. Do it for me!”
{laughs}
GM: What is Mhurren doing?
Mhurren: I assume Scraw is 25 feet up in the air as well?
GM: And inside the mouth of a hideous abomination, yes.
Mhurren: Fuck. {laughs} All right then. Fuck. I’m just going to take a step forward.
GM: So, you take a step forward towards the edge of the platform that you’ve been standing on. Uh, at the top of the stairs.
Mhurren: I’m going to try and shoot at it, not at Scraw, that’s in its mouth.
GM: Yeah, so you pull out one of your darts, you rush forward towards the edge of the chasm and you throw it across the room. It’s quite a large target and it manages to successfully hit its mark. The creature is very much enjoying chewing on Scraw.
{laughs}
Mhurren: And then I shout, “Let them go, you fiend!”
[abominable conversation]
Mhurren: That’s a good retort.
{laughs}
GM: Erbak, it’s your turn. You see that the kobold in the pit below you is just cowering because I will remind you, you have just slaughtered all of its friends.
Erbak: I hiss at him in Draconic. “You, you there. Get me out of this and we’ll maybe we’ll get out of this alive.”
Gregor: {panicked}”No hurt Gregor. No more. No. No hurt Gregor.”
Erbak: “That thing will kill us all unless you help me and my friends get out.”
Gregor: {Confused} “No. No hurt Gregor.”
Erbak: Eh, he’s not responding is he, great. Um, why can’t he be like more of his literate friends? Terrible. I’m going to use my action to try and wrench myself free because I don’t think I’ve got any spells that help me out of this fix so, and I don’t think I can see the thing, can I? I know it’s there, but as far as I’m aware, bear in mind, no darkvision. I mean, I could probably see Myx glowing with her wings.
GM: You can certainly see Myx hanging from a tendril, yes. She’s glowing, but she is not projecting any light around her. So, you can see her for sure.
Erbak: Fair enough. At which point I’m just gonna try and wrench myself out of this tar.
GM: Yeah, you manage to pull yourself free from the glue trap. Taking a step out of the sludge and you find yourself free to move again.
Erbak: I run over to a section between the two glowing lights, not to far off where Myx is.
GM: So, previously Doomsinger had created orbs of light across the platform, so you’re running to an area between the two of them where you can see and within range of Myx, reasonably. Mhurren is on the ground, so you’re directly behind Mhurren, but Doomsinger and Myx appear to be hovering in the air, and you can see both of them, because they are being held above the area that The Doomsinger is lighting up at the moment.
Tobe.
Tobe: I’m gonna retreat back up these stairs about 15 feet and I want to check from where I am to see if the room is still dangerous, because …
GM: You can’t tell for sure, but it doesn’t look like the poison gas has diffused at all.
Tobe: Well, there goes that plan. {laughs} So, it’s basically retreat and die or continue and die. {laughs}
GM: Or option C.
Tobe: Win?
GM: Come up with a better plan.
Tobe: Then I’m going to try and attack it again with eldritch blast. I’m kind of angry that this thing is chewing on Scraw and assaulting my best friend so I just, as I go to cast it …
GM: Furious at the situation and the fact that you’re in so much pain and your inability to rescue Myx from her current situation, you shoot wild and your blast collides with a stalagmite once again.
Tobe: Frustrated, I’m gonna go back down the stairs and head towards this little ridge bit.
GM: Okay, so you head towards the chasm overlooking the darkened area below.
Tobe: I have a plan. It’s probably a bad plan, but we’ll find out later, I guess.
GM: Mhurren, you definitely dodge to one side as a tendril tries to grasp at you once more, and Tobe, you feel something sliding down the back of your neck.
Tobe: Ew.
{laughs}
Myx: I don’t like it when DMs laugh.
GM: The thing that’s sliding down the back of your neck darts forward suddenly and wraps itself around your waist.
Tobe: Gah!
GM: Grappling you.
Myx: No, not Tobe!
GM: And, it hoists you to the ceiling and continues to munch on Scraw.
Myx: “Tobe, what did tell you about getting away?”
Tobe: “There was … {stammer} Where was I supposed to go? Back into the room full of certain death?”
Myx: “I don’t know, just not here.”
Scraw: Scraw cries out in pain louder now as he desperately struggles against the creature’s teeth that are driving themselves into him. Instead of trying to free himself, he is instead going to just pull out his glaive and start stabbing it.
Myx: “You go, Scraw!”
Mhurren: “Cut that tongue off!”
Myx: “Rip it off and wear it as a necklace!”
GM: As you hear [roars] ricocheting through your mind. Myx, it is Darconius’s turn.
Myx: “Um, Darconius. I-I need your help.”
Darconius: “What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything.”
Myx: “You see how Scraw is being held up by a tentacle, like me? Can you sting the tentacle that’s holding up Scraw, and can you sting it around where it has Scraw. Like d-don’t sting Scraw.”
Darconius: “I’ll try.”
Myx: “But weaken the tentacle that’s holding him.”
Darconius: So, as Darconius soars across the room, flapping his little wings as fast as he is able.
Myx: Dang it.
Darconius: He flies across the room and he stabs against the tentacle repeatedly, but his sting just doesn’t appear to be able to penetrate the tough hide of this creature.
Myx: {sighs} Okay.
Darconius: He doesn’t stop trying. He’s grappling onto the tentacle and stabbing it over and over again, but the creature seems unfazed.
GM: It’s your turn, Myx. What do you do?
Myx: I want to try and break free of my grapple. Agh.
Mhurren: Oh.
{laughs}
GM: You try to put your hands down on the tentacle and wrench it free and as you do so, you actually feel it squeezing you tighter and you watch as the creature’s gaze switches focus from Scraw to you.
Myx: “Don’t even think about it, buddy.”
GM: Doomsinger, what does Doomsinger do?
Tobe: He’s going to try and firebolt it in the face anyway, ’cause he’s still stuck. he doesn’t like the fact that he’s still grappled by this creature.
GM: He fires a firebolt but with the creature shaking him with its tentacle, the firebolt goes wide and collides into a nearby stalagmite.
Tobe: He’s going to try and inspire Myx.
GM: Mhurren.
Mhurren: Okay. There are a few kobolds that scrambled up from the pit. I would like to run over and check their bodies if …
GM: So, you run over to the other edge of the platform and start investigating the bodies of the kobolds.
Mhurren: I’m just trying to find one of those bomb things.
GM: Glue bombs or fire bombs? You pat the creatures down and as you do so, you find in their pockets the smashed remains of the bottles that were on their person. With the violence and the force with which they were killed, there’s no way any small pots were going to be able to survive that ferocity, I’m afraid. Although, from where you are, you do see that down in the pit where the last remaining kobold is, thanks to Doomsinger’s illuminated light spell over the area, you do actually catch a glimpse of what appears to be another jar down there. So, you manage to just quickly jump down, land next to the pot of glue and you recover it. And that is exactly what it is. It is a pot of some kind of sticky substance.
Mhurren: Glue. Okay.
GM: Almost cement like, but cannot recover back onto the platform at this point.
Mhurren: {laughs}
Gregor: You do see that there is still a remaining surviving kobold in this pit with you now and he is cowering and crouched against the wall and he has his hands over the back of his head. He’s just repeating over and over again, “No hurt Gregor. No hurt Gregor.”
Mhurren: I can’t get back up so … So, I’ll just stand there. I turn to the kobold and I’ll just stay, “Stay right there.”
Gregor: He doesn’t have any response to that. Cowering, crouched down, has his hands over the back of his head and saying, “No hurt Gregor. No hurt Gregor.”
GM: Erbak.
Erbak: Right. I think from seeing all the general blasts and screeching and Scraw spinning stabbing, I’ve got a rough idea where this thing is. I call out to everyone in common, having heard Scraw screeching and stabbing, I yell out, “Brace yourselves,” to everyone in common and I cast sleep. Okay, I’m gonna shoot in its general direction because it’s got a decent aura. Now, as much as I hate to tell everyone is, it does target the person with the lowest HP first. I’m really hoping its the roper, but it’s probably Scraw.
GM: Myx, you hear Erbak shout, “Everyone brace yourselves!” And then you watch as Darconius drops from the ceiling.
Myx: “No!”
GM: And Scraw goes limp.
Myx: “No … Oh, god.”
{laughs}
GM: And the creature goes, [hiss roar].
Myx: “What did you do to my dragon baby?!”
{laughs}
Erbak: “Well, I’m sorry. He didn’t realize he was in the way of my spell! Maybe if you cast light on him!”
Myx: “Well, maybe I should have.”
Erbak: Either way, this thing is very annoying. Well, I don’t hear a crashing noise or anything like that, so I’m guessing whatever is still there. So, I’m going to move.
GM: You do hear a light thump, [thump], in the center of the room as something small hits the ground.
Myx: {groans}
Erbak: Well, at least the falling damage will wake it up.
GM: Good point. Falling damage.
{laughs}
Myx: Oh, no!
Tobe: I was waiting for that.
Myx: You and your big mouth.
GM: Darconius does not wake up.
Myx: Wah! Mmm. Myx is wriggling. Wriggling in the tendrils.
Mhurren: It lands on a bed of mushrooms that cushions its fall.
GM: Myx.
Myx: Mmm?
GM: As you watch Darconius fall from the ceiling, you hear a [fwumph ] … as it hits the ground.
Myx: Oh, no.
GM: And you sense that Darconius is no longer there.
Myx: Aw … Continued wiggling, wriggling actually. Not wiggling. Wriggling. “When I get out of this!” This is aimed at the creature, not Erbak. Myx does not want …
GM: Because she doesn’t realize what Erbak has done, I imagine.
Myx: Well, she would have seen it. She has darkvision.
GM: It’s not a visible spell.
Myx: She continues cursing at the creature and swearing her vengeance when she’s free.
Tobe: So, basically, from everyone who can see this perspective, Darconius just dropped dead. {laughs}
GM: Dropped from the ceiling, hit the ground and vanished.
Tobe: For no reason. {laughs}
Erbak: Anyway, I’m moving towards the door before I end my turn. Just between those light orbs, because I don’t want to be seen.
{laughs}
GM: You run past Myx and The Doomsinger who are grappled and suspended from the ceiling towards Tobe and the stairs and the exit.
Erbak: There.
GM: Tobe.
Tobe: If I recall correctly, I’m grappled.
GM: You are.
Tobe: Okie-dokie.
GM: And you are suspended from the air.
Tobe: Great. So, no matter what happens really, I’m probably a bit fucked, because I’m not sure I’d survive falling, but fuck it … It’s better than being eaten. I’m gonna use primal savagery and just try and dig my nails into this thing to get it to let me go.
GM: So, you, with the fury of the total lack of control over your situation, I imagine, you channel that into magical energy which elongates your tiefling claws and you begin hacking away at the tendril that has hold of you.
Tobe: It’s less of a hacking and more of a when a cat sinks its claws into something. It’s more like that.
GM: So, you dig your fingers into the creature’s tendril and it kind of just makes your fingers hurt.
Tobe: It doesn’t care and I’m still angry. {laughs}
GM: It’s almost like it’s made of stone and you’re trying to dig through stone with your hands.
Tobe: If I could kick it, I would kick it. But, I imagine my legs are just flailing in the air.
GM: Yeah. Tobe is being suspended from the ceiling and he’s thrashing against this thing, impotently. The roper keeps munching on Scraw.
Erbak, so you don’t need darkvision anymore because you’re standing in the light.
Erbak: Yep.
GM: And a tendril reaches down from the ceiling, wraps itself around you.
Erbak: Oh joy.
GM: And hoists you up.
Erbak: Hmm. That’s awkward.
GM: And it continues to munch on Scraw.
Scraw: Scraw wakes up.
{laughs}
Erbak: I thought he would. So, it worked out.
Tobe: In the worst way possible. {laughs}
GM: Yeah, being continuously munched on. It’s okay, though. He’s not awake for very long.
Tobe: {groan laughs} No.
Myx: Mmm, Scraw.
Scraw: He wakes up, {screams in pain, sputtering cough}, as he falls deep into unconsciousness.
Mhurren: Shit.
GM: And now he’s gotta roll a death save.
Myx: Oh no.
GM: That’s a 2.
Tobe: Oh, fuck.
GM: But, you know, he’s in the mouth of a creature. Myx.
Myx: Yes? She’s seeing what’s happening to Scraw and feeling just really helpless because she couldn’t get to him sooner and Darconius is poofed, just poofed and Tobe is, everyone is, nothing is going well tonight. For now, once again, I am going to try and eldritch blast the tentacle that’s holding me so I can try and … Basically I’m trying to break free still. Argh!
GM: Oh.
Myx: Nnng! Fuck! I’m {frustrated growl}. That 20 should have been mine. Fuck.
GM: You fire off eldritch blast directly at the face of the creature as it’s munching on Scraw, as it’s biting down, and it seems just totally unfazed. The magic seems to dissipate against its skin.
Myx: I need to save Scraw. This is not going well.
GM: Liz, what does The Doomsinger do?
Tobe: Frustrated at everyone’s failure to do anything, also to stand tall.
Myx: You mean ineptitude.
{laughs}
Tobe: Everyone just sucks, including him.
Doomsinger: “Why are you all so utterly useless? This is why I didn’t tell them we were here.”
Tobe: And he’s going to attempt to blind the creature by moving all of his dancing lights into its face.
GM: Okay, so The Doomsinger moves the lights into the face of the creature. He rushes them all forwards suddenly, and amasses them into one large light and places it directly in front of the creature’s eye.
You see it, from where you are, squint away and reel back. It doesn’t let any of you go, but you do feel the grapple weaken slightly and it’s almost as though it’s got a weaker hold on you.
Tobe: For his main action, he’s going to try and escape.
Myx: {singing} Go, Doomie, go. Doo-doo-do-do.
Doomsinger: After summoning all his will to drive these lights into this creature’s face, he feels the tendril loosening around him and he pushes back. He lands heavily on the ground.
Mhurren: Geez.
Doomsinger: And, in fact, he’s being held over the stairs.
Tobe: Oh, fuck. It’s okay.
Doomsinger: And his knees slam into the steps that the lands on and as he gets shakily to his feet, he is not prone, but probably didn’t feel too great.
{laughs}
GM: Mhurren.
Mhurren: Okay. I’m still in the pit. I recovered a glue bomb, so I’m going to scramble back up and rush back over to the top of the steps. And, I’ve got the glue bomb. The lights are right in the creature’s face. I’m just gonna try and chuck it as hard as I can. Right, I’m trying to go for the eyes.
GM: Okay, so you throw this glue jar in a long arc across the room and it collides against the skin of the creature and shatters because this creature is almost literally made of stone. You watch as the sludge moves slowly down its face and begins almost immediately to harden as it does, indeed, cover the creature’s eye. And you hear [hissing roar, abominable conversation].
Mhurren: Was that in common?
GM: It’s all in your mind, so yes.
Mhurren: Okay. {laughs}
Myx: Go, Mhurren, go.
Mhurren: Christ. Fuck. {laughs}
Erbak: Well he can’t see you now, at least. Hopefully.
Mhurren: I see The Doomsinger down on the step.
Doomsinger: And he looks up at you with a small grin. “That was well done, but I’m not sure what we’re doing next.”
Mhurren: “We’re going to get ourselves out of this mess.”
Doomsinger: “Let us hope.”
Mhurren: And then I ready another dart.
Gregor: With this, the kobold rushes up out of the pit and he shouts over to you all, “No! No more! Gregor will stop. No.” And he’s just putting his hands out in front of him in a surrendering position. “No hurt Tuka anymore. No.”
Myx: “Tuka?”
Erbak: “What?”
Gregor: “No hurt Gregor. No hurt Tuka. Stop. Leave.”
Mhurren: “Well, then get it to stop attacking us.”
Gregor: “Put, put, put, put down your weapons. I will make Tuka stop. Please do not hurt.”
Mhurren: Did he just ask me to drop my weapon?
GM: Motioning for you to back away and put your weapon down.
Mhurren: Okay. I’ll drop my mace.
GM: So, you all are struggling against this creature. I don’t know how many of you are even probably paying attention to this exchange, but Mhurren, you hear the kobold just go, “Tuka! [abominable conversation]” And you hear, in your head, it doesn’t sound like words, it just sounds like fury and rage and confusion and the kobold continues muttering this [abominable conversation]. And the only word that you seem to be able to catch is Tuka and eventually, Tobe, Myx, Erbak, you are lowered to the floor, not altogether gently, as you manage to catch yourselves just as you land. It’s one of those things where you’re dropped, just as you expect to be put down, you’re dropped from about five foot up and it’s just enough to leave you off balance and you hit the ground and you fall on your ass. So, you don’t take a huge amount of damage, but it’s not comfortable.
And Mhurren, you watch as one of the tendrils is reaching down towards the kobold and he takes it in his hands and he holds it against him and pats it gently and he’s just continuing to mutter and whisper.
Scraw has been dropped. You watch as Scraw falls from the creature’s mouth, hit the ground and you hear an almighty crack.
Tobe: Ew.
GM: As his skull bounces off the stone.
Myx: Mm.
Mhurren: Oh, shit.
{laughs}
GM: As he bounces off the stone, his eyes open and he goes, “{riotous shouting} What!? Oh, ow, ugh, ahhh, oh.”
{laughs}
Myx: Poor Scraw.
Mhurren: This poor sod.
Tobe: He’s literally knocked back to consciousness. {laughs}
Mhurren: He’s just a ragdoll right now.
GM: You see him, Mhurren, from your vantage point, looking around frantically for his weapon.
Scraw: “Glaive! I need my glaive.”
Mhurren: I shout down, “Scraw. It’s over.”
Scraw: “No it’s not!”
{laughs}
GM: And you look across and you see that there are two drakes circling in on the lower floor there, closing in on him.
[music]
Mhurren: Shit.
Narrator 26:44 : Hey there, friend, you look like you need a coffee. Why don’t you take a quick moment to settle down, throw the kettle on, get yourself a hot steamy brew, and in the meantime, here’s something just a little bit different.
[phone ringing]
L&L Narrator: You’ve reached the Love and Luck Podcast.
[music]
[voicemail beep]
[phone ringing]
[phone connection clicks]
Cain: Hi, you’ve reached Cain Baxter. I’m not available at the moment, so, please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
[voicemail beep]
Jason : Hey, my name’s Jason. I got your number from Boris. He said you were my type and single and I thought, screw it, why not give you a call? Want to meet up sometime and see if we hit it off or whatever? My number’s 0456-038-767. Hit me up if you’re interested.
[phone disconnect]
[phone ringing]
Jason: Hey, it’s Jason. Leave a message.
[voicemail beep]
Cain: Uh, hi. It’s Cain. I actually kind of thought Boris was kidding when he asked if he could give my number to someone. So, I was kind of surprised to get your message. Um, I’m glad to hear from you though. I’m not normally one for blind dates, but sure, let’s give it a try. Um, in case you need my number again. It’s 0456-039-068, although, I guess you probably already have it since you were the one who called me first. Anyway, uh, yeah, call me if you like.
[phone disconnect]
[music]
L&L Narrator: Love and Luck is a slice of life, queer, love story podcast told via voicemails. Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast app to listen or check out our website at loveandluckpodcast.com.
[music]
Erbak: All those lights on are at the center aren’t they?
GM: Yeah, you can see one of them, certainly. There’s a drake right by the bottom of the stairs there and you can definitely see him. You can’t see Scraw, but you have all heard Scraw screaming that it’s not over and that he needs his weapon. That said, Myx, what do you do?
Myx: I want to get Scraw away from where he is. I want to pick him up and fly him off, away.
GM: You probably have enough speed to get down to him, but not enough to take him away, mainly because of the fact that Scraw ain’t light. Scraw is 200 pounds worth of bugbear.
Myx: In that case, I am going to …
GM: So, Scraw, when he got up from being unconscious, found his glaive and then moved away to the nearest lower edge wall to give himself as much distance as possible from the enemies, because as much as he enjoys a good ruck, Scraw’s smart enough to know when he’s in a position of precarious danger. They are very obviously aggressively moving towards Scraw, who is on his last legs.
Myx: I will hit the one closest to me and Scraw.
GM: The one that is at the bottom of the stairs that you are currently flying above.
Myx: Yep.
{chorus of joyful exclamations}
GM: Good job.
{sung tunes of rejoicing}
Myx: Okay, cool.
GM: It’s Langdedrosa all over again.
{laughs}
Myx: Yeah, man.
GM: You focus all of your energy into a bolt of lightning that you cast forward from the heavens, as it were, down onto the drake, and it looks up, roars and looks up at you and tries to snap at the air below you. So, what does Doomie do?
Tobe: He’s gonna back up so that he’s not standing on the stairs anymore and he’s next to Mhurren instead.
Doomsinger: “Priest, get down there and protect me.”
Tobe: {laughs} And then he’s gonna cast firebolt on the furthest drake.
GM: The one on the opposite side of the abyss area.
Tobe: Yeah, because while the other one is closer, he doesn’t want the other one getting upon them without them doing anything about it first.
{laughs}
GM: Classic Doomsinger.
Myx: Oh, my god.
{laughs}
Doomsinger: You watch as The Doomsinger backs up up the stairs and analyzes the situation tactically, focuses with his arm outstretched and snaps his fingers as he goes, “{singing to the tune of ‘sex on fire’} Yeah, oh. You’re lizard’s on fire.”
{laughs}
GM: And then the tiniest little flame leaps forwards from his fingers and shoots across and smacks it in the face and it snaps. And it actually turns and snaps and closes its mouth around the flame. The flame is snuffed out immediately, and it makes a little face of discomfort as the flame dies in its mouth.
Doomsinger: Like, “So, I’m a little rusty.”
Myx: “A little?”
Mhurren: “Seems you really do need my protection.”
GM: Yeah, this creep show’s just going to run up on Scraw.
Mhurren: He’s having a rough day. {laughs}
Myx: “You leave him alone!”
Mhurren: Fucking hell.
GM: The drake …
Erbak: What is happening to him?
GM: … that was furthest away that just ate fire …
{laughs}
GM: … is going to run up to Scraw and bite at his heels, unsuccessfully.
Myx: Phew.
GM: And then Scraw smacks his jaw away with the glaive, with the butt end of the stick, smashing into his jaw. The creature bites at it, unable to get close to him. It then whips around and slams its tail into his side. Scraw is knocked sideways into the wall behind him and you see, Mhurren, his head hit the stone as his body slumps to the ground.
Mhurren: Ah, Christ.
Myx: {sighs} We almost had it.
Erbak: Again, all I can hear is Scraw screaming.
GM: And now it’s your turn, Mhurren.
Mhurren: Fuck, shit. I shout, “Gregori, help us!” And then I jump down, right next to Scraw’s and then I’m just gonna try and attack this drake here.
GM: Sure, so you’re attacking the drake that just took Scraw out.
Mhurren: I picked up my mace before I …
GM: You picked up your mace and you jumped down into the pit. You land strongly on two feet and two handed bring your mace down into the skull in one fell swoop, just a big overarching, [yells] as you leap down to Scraw’s defense. You slam the mace into the top of its skull.
Mhurren: And then I’m gonna try an unarmed strike. Ugh.
GM: So, the second time you’re fist follows through and it just scrapes against the armor of the creature who’s still looking fierce and ready to attack.
Mhurren: “Gregori!” I think that was his name? {laughs}
Gregor: “Gregor.”
Mhurren: “I’m sorry. Gregor!” {laughs}
GM: You hear, “Tuka! [abominable conversation].” Erbak.
Erbak: Okay. I’m gonna gingerly step ahead in the direction of the screaming and the slamming and the general sounds of a bugbear being torn up.
GM: So, you move towards the edge of the platform?
Erbak: Yeah, quite gingerly. Because, obviously, vision is difficult.
GM: So, you can see the light radiating down is not only revealing the edge of the platform, but as you get closer, revealing that there is in fact two drakes, one of which is squaring up against Mhurren and Scraw, and the other one is walking towards the base of the stairs.
Erbak: I will take a step back.
GM: And you notice, also, the one walking towards the end of the stairs has a bolt of blue energy spiraling around it.
Erbak: Huh. That’s fascinating, but I’ll investigate it later. Right now, we’ve got to make sure these things aren’t moving when we investigate them. So, {clears throat} I stretch out my hand and I launch out a chill touch towards the one squaring off against Mhurren.
GM: You reach out and try to narrow your focus on the drake that’s in the distance. It looks though, that with its position in the room, it’s very hard for you to actually see where it is. You can see a vague outline of a drake when you take the step back. And as you loose your spell towards it, you’re actually not entirely certain that it made contact.
Tobe.
Tobe: Well, I think hobble would probably be more accurate description of how I’m moving along the edge of this ridge and cast eldritch blast on the drake heading towards the stairs.
GM: Doesn’t hit. You watch as …
Tobe: {groans}
GM: … you eldritch blast the creature and you realize that ever since you’ve changed the way you cast this spell, it doesn’t seem to had any effect on anything. You’re wondering whether or not the change was worth making in the first place.
You guys watch as four tendrils drop from the ceiling and lash out around the drakes.
Mhurren: Nice.
GM: Eventually finding purchase, the two drakes are both grappled by the tendrils and brought up from the ground as they’re roaring and snapping their jaws. The roper brings one of them close and the one that you were facing, Mhurren, you watch as the roper brings it up to its jaws, bites down and literally tears the creature in half, throwing the other half of the drake back to the floor.
{laughs}
Mhurren: Sick.
GM: The other drake is still thrashing and struggling against the tendril that has gripped it.
Myx: Nasty.
Scraw: Scraw is going to make a death save. Natural 20, again.
{laughs}
Myx: Yay, Scraw!
Mhurren: Fucking hell.
Tobe: Hooray!
Erbak: He’s good at not dying.
Mhurren: He’s on a rollercoaster.
Scraw: He blinks. You see him look up at you. He’s like, “M-m-m-m-Mhurren?” And then you see him turn and look at half of a drake and then he looks back at you and he goes, “Mhurren! {impressed}”
Mhurren: “Scraw! {relieved} Good to have you back, again!”
GM: The drake violently thrashes in the tendril that is holding it and you see it bite down on the tendril, rip away at it and actually the roper let’s it go. It then falls the 25 foot to the ground. [angry roaring]. It bites down, thrashes around, is released and hits the ground and stops moving.
Mhurren: Result. A preferable one, at that.
Scraw: “I-I-I feel rough. This is …”
Mhurren: “Let me help you up.” And I go and help Scraw up.
Scraw: “Thank you.”
Mhurren: I look at him and I go, “It really is over now, I think.” {laughs}
Scraw: “It’s very appreciated.” Takes your hand and allows you to pull him up and uses his glaive to support him on the other side. “I don’t feel great. I might even be ready for some of the doctor’s medicine.”
Mhurren: “We’ll get to that at some point.”
Myx: “Guys, what just happened?”
Tobe: “I don’t know.”
Myx: “Why are we not tendriled?”
Mhurren: I go and help Scraw up the steps.
Scraw: Scraw is walking with you.
GM: As you are helping Scraw towards the stairs and past the remains of the drake, which you notice now, the tendrils are slowly regrappling and drawing up from the ground, looking around the area you’re currently standing in, you notice some very distinctive shapes. You see a lot of rocks and stones down here. However, you also notice two very large, roughly three, three and a half foot tall, somewhat egg shaped objects.
Mhurren: Oh shit. I just pat him so he’s on his way and then I walk back down.
Scraw: He seems to be fine walking on his own. He’s supporting himself. As he shakes out the recent borderline death state out of his limbs, he seems to get some of his movement back. He’s still very obviously walking stiffly but he seems like he’s surviving.
Mhurren: Towards the object.
GM: There are four pillars in this room and you notice that over here to the closest pillar to the stairs, as you get closer, you see that this is very obviously an egg. It is a radiant, crystalline blue and it has what appears to be almost rock like formations growing out of it’s base. It is three and a half foot tall. It’s at least two foot in diameter and it looks like it weighs a ton.
The other shape you saw was against another pillar on the other side of the room.
Myx: Can I see this?
GM: You can see Mhurren.
Mhurren: As I’m walking over I say, “Friends, you all need to come down here.”
Tobe: As he says that, I’m gonna say The Doomsinger actually does spread the lights out.
Doomsinger: He moves all of the lights down into the lowered area and he makes them roughly 15 foot apart in a square to cover the area as much as possible.
GM: As you all start …
Myx: Yeah.
GM: your spell is coming to an end, your wings start to slowly start to, you notice the feathers that form the light in your wings begin to drift away one by one as your wings become smaller and smaller, and you feel them supporting your weight less and less.
Erbak: I’m just gonna stand on the edge looking down.
Myx: Flying down to see what Mhurren’s talking about.
Erbak: I don’t really fancy dropping right down whilst that thing is still up there.
GM: So, you all make your way down to the pit.
Scraw: Scraw is just going to stay at the top. He’s had enough for one day.
Erbak: I’m going to go tend to him, actually.
Tobe: Tobe’s gonna hang with him because he doesn’t want any more nasty surprises {laughs} down there.
GM: Yeah, you go down into the pit. {laughs} Literally no one else goes. Mhurren’s like, “Friends, we need to blah blah.”
Tobe: I’m sitting with my feet over the edge.
GM: You can see from where you’re sitting that Mhurren appears to be inspecting a large crystalline blue egg.
Gregor: The kobold walks over to you, still cradling the tendril that’s hanging from the ceiling and he says to you all as a group, “This is why you came to Gregor home?”
Tobe: “If that is what I think it is, then yes, that’s why we’re here.”
Gregor: “You no hurt Tuka. You no hurt Gregor. You take nasty things and go.”
Tobe: “You don’t want them here anymore?”
Gregor: “Not me. Dragon lady will have problem, but that’s your problem, not Gregor.”
Tobe: “I think the biggest issue is gonna be getting that out of here.”
Gregor: He just shrugs, walks away to the other side of the platform and slinks down next to the body of one of his friends and starts trying to tend to his remains.
GM: Myx, Mhurren, you are looking at a crystalline blue egg. Mhurren you did notice there was another shape in the other side of the room.
Myx: Myx is mesmerized by this. She’s getting really excited, because she thinks this is finally what they’ve been looking for, what she’s been after. The thing, its a egg. It’s a dragon egg. Also, can I see the other glowy thing?
GM: Myx. As you look around the lower floor of this area, you are currently looking at a blue crystalline egg. As you wander around the room to look for more detail, you find another egg that is bright red. It’s got a multifaceted ruby texture to it that are almost like reptile scales across the surface. This one’s in plain sight. What you notice as you approach this egg, however, is that in the back of the room, there is another egg. This one’s larger. It’s closer to four and a half foot, almost three foot around and it’s all black. It’s onyx. It’s almost like it’s made of onyx glass. It’s completely black. It absorbs all the light in the area around it. Nothing bounces off it. There is almost a light directly above it and it just seems to blend in the shadow perfectly behind it. You get the impression that Mhurren hasn’t noticed this one.
Myx: Does it have the same almost reptilian texture as the other two eggs?
GM: Not exactly, but it is a gemstone like surface. The blue egg wasn’t reptilian. It looks like a giant gemstone, but is clearly not made of stone.
Myx: I assume Myx at least believes the other two, the glowing ones, are dragon eggs.
GM: This is almost certainly a dragon egg. And based on what you’re seeing with the others, there’s probably a pretty good chance that the color of these eggs is directly related to the type of dragon that is within them. You know that the blue egg is likely Lennithon’s, but the other two probably have nothing to do with him.
Myx: Oh, my god. How many eggs can I hold?
GM: One.
Myx: Just one.
GM: With the thing that she gave you?
Myx: Yeah.
GM: Yeah, just one.
Myx: Okay. Whilst I can, I am going to casually look like I’m just looking around, and make my way over to the onyx egg.
GM: It’s a deception, with advantage, because nobody in the party has any idea that you are here to do anything other than help them get what they want. You move over to the onyx egg.
Myx: “Oh!” Picking up rocks and you know, just trying to feel around and not acting suspicious in any way shape or form and whilst everyone I imagine, because they can’t see this, are looking at the two glowing sources of the blue egg and the red egg, I want to place the … like a lasso?
GM: Yeah, it’s a plant like lasso.
Myx: I want to place this around the onyx egg.
GM: You take it out of your pocket as quickly as you can and you slip the plant lasso around the top of the egg and as you do so, the rope expands and it just slips down around the outside of the egg and it becomes wider and broader until it’s sitting right around the middle.
Myx: Myx is so excited. This is happening. She’s doing it!
GM: Once it gets there, it begins to contract and tighten and you watch as this almost stone like surface briefly begins to bow in the middle, like it’s going to snap.
Myx: Oh no.
GM: And then the structure begins to change and shrink until it’s small enough that it fits in the palm of your hand.
Myx: {gasps}
GM: With the lasso attached.
Myx: “{excited} I did it, Titania. I know you can’t hear me, but I did it! {excited noise}” And Myx quickly takes it and puts it into one of the pouches that are just attached to her belt and brushes herself off and goes to walk over and wander to the red egg.
GM: Mhurren. You’re inspecting the egg like structure. The one that’s directly in front of you, the blue crystalline looking egg is every obviously an egg. And as you put your hands on it, you feel the surface and it’s almost like there’s a voice in there. It’s not saying words. It doesn’t have language, necessarily, but it feels draconic.
Mhurren: Okay.
GM: And you can feel a mental connection with something inside there. And you are almost certain that this creature is the progeny of Lennithon. As you look around the room, you see also that there’s another egg that is red and it is much more crystalline. It looks a lot like a multifaceted ruby, but it is egg shaped and the ruby facets are all reptilian in nature. And as you approach it, you see that they are very leathery and it also appears to be a dragon egg. As you place your hands on it, you feel the warmth intensely on your hands and you feel that same mental connection.
Mhurren: And this is with the red one?
GM: The red one, yeah. It doesn’t have the same energy as Lennithon. It doesn’t have the same energy as Lennithon’s progeny did. It definitely feels draconic but it doesn’t have the same energy signature as it were.
Mhurren: Hmm.
GM: This is certainly a dragon, but it isn’t necessarily the dragon you were looking for.
Mhurren: The first egg was the blue one.
GM: The blue one felt distinctly familiar. It resonated in the same way that Lennithon did with you.
Mhurren: Could only assume that the blue egg is Lennithon’s progeny.
GM: You don’t even need to assume it. You somehow inherently know that this is Lennithon’s progeny.
Mhurren: Right. Now there’s a second egg of a different color. Looking at either egg do they look like they’re nestled in?
GM: So, Vinny just asked if the eggs were nestled in. So, one thing you all notice about this room is that it’s really warm. It’s very humid and it’s just hot.
Myx: {whispers} Incubating.
GM: The eggs do appear to be wedged in where they are, but not necessarily fixed. The stone that you see around the base of the eggs is actually coming from the eggs itself. The structures are growing on the eggs. They are not part of the stone surrounding. In fact, the stone around it is actually very common, ordinary rock.
Tobe: So, it’s like it’s growing out of the eggs almost?
GM: The crystalline structures are definitely coming from the eggs themselves, yes.
Mhurren: But it doesn’t look like I could easily pick it up off the ground.
GM: It looks like it will be pretty heavy, but it doesn’t look like it’s fixed in place. Like, it’s not attached.
Myx: How many of us would it take to carry an egg out of here? {laughs}
GM: I don’t know. How strong do you think you are and how uninterrupted do you think your journey will be?
Myx: That depends, I guess.
Tobe: I don’t believe it would be an uninterrupted. I think, by now, someone else has probably come in.
GM: Erbak, from what you can tell, Scraw does not appear to be bleeding out. He has definitely sustained heavy injuries and he is looking extremely rough for it, but it seems mostly like a stammer situation. He’s just been beaten into unconsciousness several times, but yes, Erbak, you get done doctoring Scraw and if you wish to you may join the others to investigate seeing as they’ve been doddling around there for awhile without screaming. You assume there’s probably no danger.
Erbak: I’m going to get very excited seeing this egg. Just going to approach it and just try and assess as much as I can of it, without touching it, because, you know. This thing is crazy and it looks like it’s alive and holy, this is an egg, and it’s … Look at it.
Myx: I want Darconius here so he can see this but I can’t summon him.
GM: Nope, you cannot.
Myx: Noooo. {laughs}
GM: Erbak, what you can tell about this is you haven’t spent a lot of time looking at creatures like this in this state before. Ultimately, this is an egg. It appears to have generated an almost stonelike texture in various portions but it is very clearly still a natural substance. It’s almost as though the reproduction phase of the dragons, given the fact that they have a history of having to protect their lands and not be with their hoard, it’s almost as though evolutionarily, the eggs have developed an ability to take on crystalline form to fit in with a dragon hoard as a method of camouflaging defense.
It obviously adds some extra level of security and stability, due to the crystalline structure of the outside, but in order to really ascertain anything more, you would probably need to dissect this.
Erbak: Hmm. “Ah. It has just occurred to me, how will we get these two things out of here?”
Scraw: Scraw stretches. “{moans} I’ll help. I can carry anything.”
Myx: “Are you sure about that right now?”
Tobe: I put my hand on his shoulder and push him down to keep him sat down. {laughs}
Scraw: You try to push him down and he turns and glares at you, and says, “Look, is the egg gonna fight me? Because if it’s not, I can carry it. It’s fine.”
Tobe: “Are you sure you can carry it in your condition?”
Scraw: “Can you carry it in any condition?”
Myx: {laughs} Scraw is sassy.
Scraw: “Be my guest. Don’t drop it.”
Tobe: “But no. I’m not volunteering to carry …”
Scraw: “You might end up someone’s lunch, because you’re so afraid of dragons, they might eat you.”
Tobe: I hit him. {laughs}
Myx: “Children, this isn’t the time!”
Erbak: You knock him unconscious again?
Mhurren: I just want to try to pick up the blue egg and then shout for someone to grab the other one.
GM: You manage to lift it about a foot and you get it about a foot off the ground and you have to put it back down. You can lift it, but there’s no way you’re going to be carrying that on your own. It weighs an absolute metric fuckton. You could probably carry it with support.
You try and swat at Scraw who’s sitting on the ground and who’s got his hand out to you, Tobe. “Can you lift it? Can you lift it in any condition?” You try and swat at him and that hand that’s out, calling you out, just swats up and smacks your hand away. “Don’t even.”
Mhurren: “Scraw, maybe help me with this one?” {laughs}
Scraw: “Yes, very well.” He comes down and he is just going to get really angry. {yells} And he just lifts it on his own. You’re trying to assist it and he smacks you away with one hand as he furiously wraps his arms around it and goes, {shout grunts}. He hoists it off the ground with a Nat 20. {laughs} So, “Where do you want it?”
Mhurren: “Out of the cave.”
Scraw: “Tobe! Do you want to carry this for a bit? I think my arms are getting tired.”
Myx: The sass.
Tobe: {laughs} I don’t say anything but I do flip him off.
[music]
Ray: And that’s all we had time for this week. Thanks for listening. Join us next week for the penultimate episode of Season 1. Episode 19: Kill Your Darlings. Before I let you go, I’d like to let you know about a Kickstarter. Nina, or the lovely lady you know as Myx in our world goes by the online handle Pearlesqued. She’s an artist and this Tuesday on May 1st, she’ll be launching a Kickstarter for a series of LGBTQA+ moth themed enamel pins. And whilst that’s a mouthful, we’d love to have your support. So, swing on over to kickstarter.pearlesqued.uk and check it out. That’s kickstarter.p-e-a-r-l-e-s-q-u-e-d.uk.
The song that you heard at the beginning of this episode was extravaganza by TRG Banks and the song you are now hearing is While You Are Here by Ending Satellites. Until next time, travel safe, and remember The Scales of Justice are here for you, always.
