WWW #48: The Battle of Twelve Brooks Part 2

This is the sound of worlds beyond number. Against an ash choked sky, the wizard's steel, sword of the Citadel, who is, for all intents and purposes, Suvi's mother summons great and awe-inspiring workings of magic and ends a bloodline in seconds, and Suvi stands there, watching her against the sky with awe and shame because I can't decide if I'm going to climb a fucking rope. Everything, every kindness I'm offered, is a balm to a wound that's far too big. My whole life, I've known that if I was not perfect in a moment of crisis, I would be lost, or the people that depend on me would be lost. I have no focus. I have no focus. I can't even do the thing that can help the most. It's not that I don't want to climb the rope. I just don't know if whatever I am now, if I'm too shaken, what if I don't help? I have to help, but if I can't, if I can't be who they need me to be, they've been begging, demanding that I see, and now that I do, I don't know if I'm capable of being the person. That they need. And I look up and I see her. My mother. The magic she wields. It calls me. I made a promise to myself as a child that I would learn enough, that I would be capable of enough. So that this, whatever this is, wouldn't happen again. And maybe it's folly to think that I can free a couple ink demons and snap a staff and be different. And I think about your and his words is sort of take on the world that maybe this is the dream. And it's so sweet until you look around you and you have to ask, who's fucking dream is this? This is the worst thing I've ever seen. And I don't know how to. I don't know how to fight. And I don't know how to run. And I feel like a little girl who doesn't have her mother to cling to anymore. Just freezing and watching. I look at the rope. I have to climb it. Does Sufi climb the rope? Yes. One hand, one foot on the stone, second hand higher up, next foot, first hand reaching over, first foot up again, off the ground, step by step. No one's seen it. The better dream. So the only way is putting one foot in front of the other, one hand reaching over the other, step by step, grasp by grasp through the ash under the orange light. Fighting an empty pit in your stomach, pushing forward, climbing up the rope. Finding focus where there is none. You receive the reward for your bravery. A pitch black hole into the side of a castle, crawling with those who intend to kill your friends. The reward for beginning the journey to the better world is not the better world. The reward for beginning the journey to the better world is every power of nightmare rallying itself against you. Ursulon. Moving further into the darkness, you see this aqueduct below the castle is itself not as old as the original foundations of the castle. This is built into and of a catacombs of ancient kings when this was a stone fortress. So even history here has its layers. However, the masonry of the aqueduct you walk through, the dried and desiccated algae on its walls, you hear honeycombs and thin, bricked over or tiled over areas that you know cover entrances to the old catacombs. You see the mortar rotting within them. You feel like one solid push and you'd be able to move through. But it does create in front of you a aqueduct built into and through a sealed up dungeon. In essence, a honeycomb of twisting passageways in which if it is to be believed there must be some passage through to what you seek. What do you do here in the dark? The silence allows Ursulon to focus on the sound of his breathing and in reconnecting with his body after the flash of emotions that overtook him outside. Ursulon feels the pain caused by the explosion earlier. Looks to see that his cape is badly singed and is going to, I think, remove it while trying to get a sense of kind of making sure that everything is still intact. And after doing that, it's going to produce the watch and is going to kind of like a compass, turn left and right to see how specific that fourth hand can be. Go ahead and give me perception with advantage. Thirteen. The watch point. Sealed up walls. There's something about the road and walking down it. The way deeper into the castle is sealed and the watch cannot point a true path because the true path has not been made yet. No force has made the road to what you seek. Ursulon slides the watch back into his pocket. Forward. It's just going to start moving deeper. Amé, going up the rope and into the darkness, the fox by your side, what do you do? We have to catch up with Ursulon. I think it's pitch black in here. Yeah. So, I rub my hands together and light blossoms forth, a small, tiny ball, and I hold it forth. Illuminating around you, the fox looks up at you and says, do you want me to try to track him down? Yeah. Okay, there'll be some distance between us. I'll try to move fast, but you'll feel like you're way to me, right? Yes. The fox takes off as you walk in with your lamp lit. I'd like a luck check from Ursulon and Amé in this moment. Ten for Ursulon. Six for Amé. Okay. You venture into the catacombs, moving farther and farther in. Ursulon, you're up ahead, moving forward as fast as possible and... A big guy. Fox? No. Amé came. Yeah, yeah, she's on her way. She can't see in the dark, so she had to get a light. Yes. Then we'll wait. You don't want to wait? No. You got any rations from Bracken on you? Ursulon checks his kit. Yeah, it's like a heel of bread in there. Only the stuff they like. Bread. I'll wait. You keep going. Just drop some crumbs. People should do what they want. Ursulon just, I think, honestly cracks a smile. Fox looks up at you, smiles back in the dark, looking up the fangs of a little tiny red-orange predator smiling, and just goes, You want to know something, Ursulon? What is that, Fox? I have a terrible secret. Is that true? Yeah, I haven't told anybody. But are you about to tell me? Oh, yeah. Wow. A great kindness. He looks to the right. He looks to the left. He looks up at you, raises his eyebrows and goes, I think we're about to win. Oh, Fox, Fox, Fox. I'm going to humor you for just a moment. Win what? Big ham. You think there's a big ham on the other end of this? Yeah. Well, I wasn't ready for you to say we were going to win something. I sort of meant win, like we were going to win. You know, like, it's not a concept I grasp super firmly, but I love, Remember at the Ace of Wands in Port Talon, there was those tables down there, and when it stopped rolling, people would be like, Oh, no. And then they had that meant they lost and then some like only once or twice someone would go, Ah, and that was like, I won. You believe we're about to feel that way. Did they get hams? I thought that just feeling happy was the thing. Did they get to feel, or are they feeling happy because of the ham, or are they feeling happy because they won? I think you've asked a very philosophical question, Fox. Okay. Think in some part it is the material goods they've won that gives them joy, But I believe it's also that they think the universe is on their side. Oh, many future hams. Exactly, the beginning of a lifetime of big hams. Oh, that could make you act crazy. Fox, I'm going to continue, but I'll leave a trail of breadcrumbs for you to follow. You got it. I'll be here. I think at that point I've closed some distance. I think a light turns around the corner and the fox turns around and looks at you and says, Boss! Hello? Big hams. Where are their hams? In the future. We've agreed that things feel like they are on our side. Oh, yes! And so it feels like there's hams in our future. Wow, you two have a language all your own. Snakes and the river hams in the future, let's get going. Let us. Suvi, walking into the dark, I would love an investigation check from you. 19. Okay. You begin to follow the path that you feel Ursulon must have traveled down here. You feel the potency of that high, artifice, magic overhead, the purple and green gem, and you can sense in arcane sensibility the presence of nearby wizardcraft. Many wizards are in this castle right now. On a 19, I believe that you follow not any clues or tracking, but simply the path that makes the most sense for Ursulon to have traveled. You don't see any of the walls broken down, and so you think Ursulon will continue forward into the heart of the castle, and that is where you travel to. Ursulon and Amé, I'll need a perception check from you as well, or anything else you would do to attempt to discover what you seek. Only an eight. 24. Okay. 24. Wow. Amé, you walk by one of those sealed up sections of wall, sort of the new brick that has been put up to seal the old catacombs, and from that sealed up wall, there emanates a chill draft. There's something different here. As you go to put your hand in the wall, I will need a dexterity saving throw, difficulty of eight. 10. Your hand goes up, and you do not fall as your hand goes through the wall as immaterial as vapor. Oh, illusory wall. Illusory wall. Strange. Does it feel like it's of the wizards or something older? Is it? On a 24, this feels like wizardcraft to you. Oh, wizards definitely did this. Should we look? I think it's worth investigating, but we should proceed with caution. We should leave something so that Sufi knows that we're going this way. Ursulon takes out the Heel of Bread, leaves some crumbs behind. Both of you step through the illusory wall. You walk through. You come to a chamber of the aqueduct. You see a massive bronze statue of a bullfrog. You see that it sits on a giant lily pad surrounded with the bows of fiddles and some small gatherings of thumb pianos and various small kind of folk instruments in this place. Blue light issues from a single diamond set into its lips, from which hangs a threaded ribbon of paper with lingua arcana written all over it. As you look further down the tunnel, you see another point of blue light, and farther away down that, you see that there is what looks like another statue of a bullfrog. You begin to wonder how extemporaneous or impromptu silence's spell was. There appears to be preparation hidden in the bottom of the castle, arcane spell work interposed with these statues of the Great Spirit that has now been unmade. Sufi, I'm going to need another investigation check from you, and you can roll with advantage. 25. You stop at a small scattering of breadcrumbs and feel a draft coming from a wall. Okay, there's no universe in which they didn't go down that hallway, and I step through. Sufi, you step into the hall and behold, Barcelona and Amé investigating a statue at the end of the hallway. I'm going to wait for like three seconds to see if someone on the shorter side runs up and touches something. Ercelon sees it and is fully ready to restrain Amé. Ercelon and Amé, go ahead and give me presumption checks. Ten. Natural 20. Hey! You look here and see Amé quite unusually. The stone behind the statue is smooth shale. It's one of the only large pieces of stonework you've seen. The wall is completely smooth behind the statue of Frog. On that 20, is there any other question you have about this space? On the 22, you turn to see Sufi at the end of the hallway. Hi. Hi. You didn't touch anything. No, I am a model of restraint. Okay. Ercelon's going to turn to Sufi. Thank you for coming. I'm sorry for making you think I ever wouldn't. But thank you for letting me choose. I choose to be here. I'm glad. This means a great deal to me. I wouldn't want to do it without you. Um, what is this? And why is this wall? There's something strange about it, and it's not like the others. Cheap links. And cast-a-tech magic. Uh, ambient transmutation, and there's a residue of a pretty consistent stream of transmutation effects on the wall about human size, about human size and height in the area behind the wall. Go ahead and give me an arcana check. 22. You recognize the residue from- this is a constant source of mischief from more senior, but still young mages of the citadel, as the residue of the Passwall spell. The mages that move through this space, Passwall allows you to pass through relatively thinner, smaller walls. It is a spell by which a wizard makes their body momentarily immaterial to pass through solid objects as if a specter. Okay, I know, I know what this is. The space was created. The children will be through there, but because the space was created, there is no way to get there other than to pass through that wall. I don't have the magic to do it, but that means we're not going to find a door. Hmm. Uh, Ursulon is going to, like, I think more intently focus his divine sense on the wall. Very little spiritual energy comes back to you from that wall. I think you feel hackles raise. There's a sense of trickery here, dishonesty, trap. You look at that diamond and that bullfrog. It's identical to that other statue down the hall. These statues were built in mimicry of sacred places kept by the Grinneau, and they were built in a foundry to make a trap. And this is all sacrilege. There is something here like a knife being plunged into the heart of the world, and you remember the man who said that to you. I don't have any, I don't have any item or thing that gives me, that gives me the ability to grant you what you asked, but my heart is telling me that this was made by some clever person who thought they could recreate that which is very real to take advantage of the spirit. Yes, these are statues. Spirits come when they're called, when they're fed and capitulated to. Put enough of them here, you draw it in. I'm going to look at this row of statues. You said there's a row? The tunnel continues to another statue, yeah. I'm going to indicate with my head that I'm going to move down towards the other statue and I go examine it. Great, give me another luck check. 18. Okay, great. You move down through that space, you get to the next statue. I don't touch it. You don't touch it. I put my hands behind my back and I nod meaningfully at my friends. You look down here, you see this one has a normal wall of masonry. It doesn't appear to have a changed wall behind it, so as uniform as it is with the other one, it appears to be in a different chamber down here in the aqueduct. I will say partway through the passageway here, you do see another one of those sealed up catacomb entrances that for better or worse doesn't have a draft coming out of it. It looks to be like a genuine sealed up place, kind of a moldering patch in the wall, but it's in this deeper heart of the castle down here. How moldering is it? Pretty moldering. The mortar is like chipped and cracking apart and the bricks look old and porous. Could we get through that wall and break our way into that room from the side? Do you think? Potentially. I place my hand on the moldering wall next to the shale one. Can it give way with just a push or will it take something sturdier? It'll take something sturdier, but it's not strong. Okay, Ursulun? Yes. Can you help me get through this wall? Talk to me. Oh, um, I think that we might be able to push down this wall and access this chamber from the other side. Okay. Powerful mages moved through these walls. So powerful mages are guarding one of ours on the other side. Are you ready for what happens when you push through the wall? As ready as I'll ever be. This is a trap! This was a trap for a great spirit who might still be back there or whatever vestige of him is behind there and is being guarded by powerful wizards. Spirits are... Don't underestimate wizards with time we win. This was a plan long in the making and perfectly executed. Do I get a sense we could chip away at the wall, maybe not take the whole thing down, but create a hole small enough to get it... Remove a brick. Yeah, potentially. I'm gonna get out my builder's knife. Okay, great. And I think work, just an element of the mortar. Not a full push, but just something where I sense it's weak. Give me a tool check, difficulty 15. 19 on the die. Hell yeah. You remove a brick. As you do, you feel something click in your watch. First lawn takes it out. You look with your dark vision through the hole in the wall and see an ancient catacomb lined with spaces for the honored dead. Through there, this place that was disrupted to build the original aqueducts, you see your watch and its fourth hand pointing into what you now see as a pathway. Sufi, you see a hole in the wall. Okay, hold on. Task. Uh, and I... Yeah. I need to know what's happening in there. Can you give me a lay of the land? Skitters through. Sufi, you send your vision into task. Getting down through the catacombs, task moves and finds another opening where bricks have naturally fallen in the interior chamber. A deep water chamber where six massive aqueducts come to fill in the chamber from on high. That, of course, now is no more no water rushes through here. You see a massive steel cage at the base of this water chamber. You've seen chambers like this before in great cities or marvelous buildings where the flow of water comes in from sluices way on high to potentially fill up a large chamber. The ceiling is some 50 feet up above the ground. The steel cage at the bottom is wrought of refined spell steel. You see pontoons around the base of it. At one point this floated on water that was present here and is no longer. The doors of this cage are locked once, twice, thrice, spells placed over them. You see multiple members of the Azure Battalion stationed at the bottom here. You see a staircase rising up, the sort of like steel staircase rising up to a steel platform near one of the aqueduct entrances. And within that cage you see four score and some of huddled, frightened children. Limbs draped over shoulders, heads pressed together in the dark with a distant, thunderous blow of an explosion. A whimper arises from the children here, some of whom are as young as five years old. The oldest, somewhere near early adolescence, go to comfort them, huddling together. You see that in the cold and dank of this strange and hideous chamber, these children of the Grinneau wait for the inevitable, as even their guards do not know what to do with them now that wonders have been worked. You see the lingua arcana inscribed on the walls of this chamber, your theory exactly accurate with one small addendum. A plan was flawlessly executed, the trap was laid, just wasn't for you. And here in this space, these children of the Grinneau await the fate that a block of cheese awaits after the mouse has been caught. The name of the Great Bullfrog in as many appellations as could be found inscribed by wizards of the Citadel here in this place, for the working of magic that was witnessed by those soldiers you met in Bracken, for silence to come and paint the final stroke of this great and mighty spell. The children here to be rescued by the spirit who gave them his gift, gift of strength and song and swimming in deep rivers. The task looks out from an opening, seven or eight bricks having fallen out of the catacombs, some, let's call it 30 feet up on the side of the chambers you look down and see frightened azure battalion soldiers. You see one of them says, we're gonna die down here, you know that right, we're gonna die down here in this pit. You see another one says, our orders are to stay here and secure the chamber. Once the Citadel is done with the ritual, you see the other battalion soldiers says they are done with the ritual, they're done with it. We need to get away. And you see that another azure battalion soldier says, well, we can't, we can't get away and gestures to the children. And you see that the panicking soldier turns on him and says, are you stupid? What, what, you know how to open that fucking lock? You want to drown down here with them or die in the rubble when the castle falls? Let's get out of here or at least go join our brethren on the front lines for God's sakes. They've forgotten about us down in this pit. Let's go. And you see that the other azure battalion says, we can't just go and once again gestures like he doesn't even understand what he means at the children in the cage here. The most panicked soldier wheels on the one that keeps gesturing to the children and goes, these are your kids? Are these your kids here? Well, you got a problem. They've been here for a while, right? What's your problem? And you see the soldier backs off and says, I just think if we're going to leave, we got a soldier that has not spoken appears behind that soldier and clubs him over the back of the head unconscious, looks at the panicking one and says, you're right, we're leaving. Kill the kids. What do you do? I pull my vision out of task. They're going to kill the kids now. Ercelon physically runs through the wall with everything in his spirit. You Kool-Aid man through the wall, barrel, no role necessary. Powerful legs. You feel your breath behind you. Freedom. This is your calling. Nothing will bind you. Nothing will hold you back and those children will be free. Coold, stone, scatters, all of you roll initiative. 16. 18. Amé. You see, Ercelon is sailing out in midair through the chamber and all of you can leap out with him if you wish. Yes, I leap out as well into the passage. Ercelon, leaping forward, you and Amé each take five points of falling damage as you land hard on the stone of the basin. Ercelon, five ready actions are coming right for you. Four bolts of flame. Hit the front of your shield. One strikes true underneath for 16 points of damage on a critical hit. Oh, God, where does he take that fire? Where did it come from? It came from that most panicked soldier in the front. I hold his gaze and I say, go. Go now. These children are no longer any business of yours. You can turn your comrades, run to your homes, but whatever you do, you have to leave. Give me persuasion with disadvantage. 19. You speak plainly in this moment. It is not their turn. They've used their reactions firing on you, leaping into this space. Ercelon, that is your turn. I think Ercelon gives up one last roar and disappears. You vanish. The children in the HR hall looking up, shocked, amazed. Something is happening. They don't know what they look afraid. And that is going to be the soldiers. Oh, sorry, Dima. Sorry. Yeah. If you'll allow. Yeah. If they do not turn the minute they have the moment, it will be a second level divine smite. Or I will move to strike the one who struck me. Hell yeah. You'll see the one in the front lowers his staff at Aame and says, surrender on your knees. Fucking world. It's on. Go ahead. Take your attack with advantage. Does a 13 hit a 13 hits. You sense that you may not need to use smite on these guys. I'm going to use smite on the first one anyway. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Great. 15 points of damage. Decapitated. Your sword wave breaker is the first thing to materialize from invisibility as he screams. At the witch of the world's heart. His scream is choked off in blood in his throat as his head leaves his shoulders. That is your first attack. I'll wheel around on anyone who still has a staff raised. There's the unconscious one and the remaining four do. Great. 19 on the die. 12 points of damage. And the sword comes around slashing through the ribs, spilling blood across the core. Dead. Two soldiers dead in one round. It is their turn. Only three are left standing. Ame, I'm going to ask you for another persuasion check with advantage. Nonverbal. But just give me a persuasion with advantage. Trying to beat a 20. 14 plus 6 for a dirty 20. Ame, as Ursulon emerges from hiding a clearly a spirit. The wind has kicked up in here. As Ursulon takes the one leading the threat against you and severs his head from his shoulders. He has survived the fall. He has survived a mortal blow to the chest of arcane flame. Wheels around on three soldiers with a seeming certainty that this battle will resolve against their favor. The soldiers turn to look at you. What expression do they see on your face? It's an odd expression of almost serenity. But gold in my eyes that flashes are clearly inhuman. They run. They run as fast as they can. They run for the step. Drop their staves. Scramble as fast as they can. Ursulon, you can get an attack of opportunity on them if you would like. They're not worth it. Ursulon, you turn and see the children of the Grinneau looking up at you. The spirit whose gift they carry is gone from this world and with it the hope that they would ever see an honored friend again. You have proved them wrong and they look at you with wonder filled with a painful hope to be plucked so deeply from the pit of despair and of fear. What do they see and what do you do? Ursulon sheathes his sword, looks to the children and begins to approach the cage. You see a massive locked gate, arcane lock, magic and enchantment. The cleverness and craft of the Citadel, binding these children here as you approach. I kneel down. Hello. My name is Ursulon. I've come to bring you home. The children step forward, looking to each other, speaking in toroi back and forth. You hear Ursulon, Ursulon, Ursulon. Perhaps the smallest child here in Imperial goes, thank you Ursulon. Looking at the lock before you, you see that magic twisted in there. This thing that is a binding. Ursulon what would you like to do? I think Ursulon grabs the lock in his hands and again that white clear sense channels from his chest into his fingertips and he wrenches it open. Um, Suvi and Amé, both of you are buffeted backward by the power of the wind. You hear distant song and the shrieks of children playing. For a moment, the children of the Grinneau feel the spirits of children marching under a great bear. The freedom of play and song and chase. Wild wind, the wind of rushing through tall fields of grass under open sky. The feel of deep forest glades and the sprinting of paws upon mossy surfaces. That lock shatters. And as it does, the spell flees in terror of the spirit of freedom before it. The door not only flings open, but flings such that it twists and peels the spell steel back, wrenching the cage apart like a mighty beast clawing open a fruit to get at the treasure inside. The cage is unmade, the lock shattered and the children rush forward. The small ones unthinkingly and from a place of such deep intuition that it can barely be said to be a conscious choice, cling to your legs for safety as the others help corral and speak in toroy to the other children. You don't understand their language, but you understand what they are saying. The spirits have come to guide us home. Suvi and Ami, is there anything you do in this space now with Ursulina here? The children are free, but you are in a deep pit and you watch as those Azure battalion soldiers flee up through the aqueduct towards the activity in the rest of the castle. Suvi is immediately taking off behind those battalion soldiers. There was that moment of hesitation. Can't let it get out. I'm going to run them down. Suvi tears off after the Azure Battalion, Ami and Ursulina. With the children here, what do you say? What do you do? I immediately take a look at the door on the cage. Could it be fitted with a knob? No. We have to press on. We need to find a door. Your eyes are better than mine. If you lead, I can keep them in line. Alright. We go up. Much more slowly than your companion. You make your way up. As you get to the top of the gate here, Ursulina, the wind kicks up again suddenly in this space. And you see stepping out from the shadows. For a moment, it looks like a massive heron, like a water bird. And suddenly you see steps and bows in front of you, looking up and goes, Whoa! Brother, have you saved the children of the Grinneau? Yes. My name is Ursulina. I am Kaur, the heron spirit. These waters have vanished from this place. We felt the wind of a great spirit of freedom approaching. Do you require assistance in this way to find a means of escape? Yes. We have a plan, but we need help keeping the children. Do you speak Turoi? He says something and nods his head in the language you don't speak. Understood. Please help me corral the children. I'm going to help my friend. We are going to discover. We only need a door. I know of a door, right this way! And you see he points in a direction outside of the Aqueduct Chamber here. Suvi, you are peeling off as fast as you can after the Azure Battalion swiftly, swiftly, swiftly. Go ahead and give me athletics. 12. 12. Taking off after them, trying to run them down. You see them peeling around a corner, but you can see that corner leads to a larger colonnade where you think you'll get a clear line of sight on them. As you turn around the corner, I am going to need a dexterity saving throw from you. 18. You rush around the corner past a lit torch. As your shadow, which is behind you, catches up with you, you know, moving past a source of light, it eventually is right next to you. As it comes right next to you, your shadow turns, reaches out, attempts to grab your throat and slam you into the wall. And you duck quickly, tumbling under and past the light as the shadows of this place do in fact betray you. Behind you, you hear a voice saying, surrender and sworn steps from the shadows. 19. Huh. Well, that's the first time in a while I didn't hear you coming. 20. You're under arrest. You know that. I know. He is going to advance towards you and call out soldiers. Form up. And you hear boots coming from the direction that the Azure Battalion has just run in. And he is going to reach out and cast a whole person at you. Give me a wisdom saving throw. 14. Your body seizes in paralysis. He steps forward, sliding manacles from his belt. Give me an insight check. 12. Paralyzed as you are, there is tremendous pain as he slams your arms behind your back, manacles you. Reaches to his belt. A necklace around your neck goes and a gorgeous gilded tongue filigree. He jams into your mouth attached to the chain as you feel the lingua arcana written on the golden shape. Bind your mouth shut. You look at him and he hits you with a message cantrip. Why? My question exactly. He begins to march you down the corridor. Ursulon, Ami, you get to the top with these children. As you get up here to the top, Ami, you see that Kahar is running alongside Ursulon and says, What is your plan of egress? How did you plan to get the children out of here? I have a doorknob that can create a portal to another safe place for them. We'll put them through and then remove the doorknob and then the three of us will exit elsewhere. You need a door? Yes. This way, this way, follow me. He begins to rush off with you into the castle. Is there anything that you guys are doing as you're shepherding the kids alone? Do I have any idea of soldiers or movement within the castle? Yes, many, many and much. What's closest? Give me a perception check. 15. 15. You hear activity straight ahead. You see that Kahar is pointing in the direction of a nearby door and he is pointing right to where you hear soldiers' footsteps, like a lot of activity. Oh gosh. Do you have a plan about how to avoid the soldiers that are right ahead of us? Soldiers right ahead of us. Yes. This way. Oh, sorry. Then we better go this way. And you see that he points to the right. Can I inside check? Yeah, give me an inside check. 18 on the die plus 7 for 25. 25. Aame, you see a very frightened heron spirit who appeared in the moment of Ursulon's triumph, who was trying to help you find a door. He appeared right as the children were freed and he was looking around. He looks confused. You see him go like left to right. Everybody's going to flip a coin. There's a... On a 25 inside check, Aame, that he's offering so much help. And I think you remember something. He says like we might as well flip a coin going left and right. A coin. You remember that Ursulon had a magic coin. I have actually a few things and I'm just going to pull out some of this stuff I got from Kalaya. Flip this coin. And I flip the coin. Tails! Every time. If a mortal flips it, it's tails. If a spirit flips it, it's heads. She stole it from the Citadel. Ursulon, you have a coin. Oh, and you have a knife that can lead us to an exit? Um, yes. You bring out your gifts. I produce the knife and the coin. Here, take them, children. This way, this way. What does the knife say? Do you spin it? Yes. The knife points to the right. Here, flip this. He flips it. Tails, we go left. Excellent. You go on ahead. He says, well let's all go together. Quickly, this way. So, Kahar has flipped the coin. It has landed on Tails. And he is prepared to go left. He says, okay, so he has turned his back on me? Yes, he has. Okay, at that point, I hit him with sleep. Go ahead and roll your D8. 40 points. 40 points? With 35 hit points, Kahar strides forward. The second that he turns his back to lead the way, Ame grabs him by the neck and shakes him. You shake the Heron disguise off of this man. Herons eat frogs. And as he moves forward, he is the strongest herbal scent of like deep chamomile and wild pine. Just an intoxicating sleepy brew of flower and herb. As boom, this Citadel wizard collapses to the ground, put to sleep by a witch who had his number. Witch of the world's heart, your suspicion has rewarded you and your cunning has just saved the children of the Grinnell. Let's go. Barreling to the right, the antler dagger is exactly the tool you need by the shortest possible path spinning the antler dagger. You find in a servant's quarter of the old castle a simple door towards a bedroom, towards a servant's bedroom. All right. Erslun, help me out with this. Yeah. Children, everyone into the bedroom, into the bedroom. Everyone, you see the fox goes in and says, you are about to meet several people. An anxious child who unbelievably is a witch. A goat who's also a doctor. A very busy woman who's also a bee. A scarecrow who thinks he's so cute. The children are going to pour into this room together. Aame, I am going to need this craft check and we are going to roll a luck check in this moment. It takes ten minutes to install this. You do not want a one through four. If this takes ten minutes, would I have time upstairs? I want to try to like pratfall in order to give task cover. Yes. To slip back and get back to Aame and Erslun. No roll necessary. Task. With some great deal of sorrow, it will be said. And you see the task as he vanishes on the floor and only your sight turns and momentarily endangers his critical mission to spin his little head at you and vanish into the shadows. Aame, you're getting to help action from Erslun here. You are installing these doorknobs as fast as you possibly can. Nineteen. You work as fast as you can. No one has ever installed a doorknob with the stakes this high and your hands are careful and sure, as your beloved true friend Suvi said. Slow as smooth, smooth as fast. Alright, I quickly scrawl a note on some loose paper and I hand it to one of the older children. Thank you. Where are we going? To Tomah. Where? To Tomah. Oh, okay. Um, okay. You'll be alright. Nifl'll take care of you. Okay. And you... open the door and suddenly it is a beautiful afternoon in the cottage, a completely different time of day. Gorgeous sunlight and you hear off in the kitchen, summer is coming in, everything is blue. Nifl! Ame! There's a bunch of children coming through. Please take care of them. They have a note for you. I have to go. Please guard the door. Do not let anybody come after these children. You see that the children rush forward into the space and you see that one of them, again, these children have known only fear, sorry, they rush into the hallway and take a moment and you see that there's one young girl who smacks the oldest boy there on the arm and she goes, God! And she turns around, children in the hallway turn to look at you, Erselon, you, Ame. You see all of them do a deep, bow-legged bow like the legs of a frog, nod their heads. Thank you. Oh, Ame returns this bow-legged bow. May the spirits keep you. You will be home soon. You see that they smile and the littlest kid looks over at Nifl in the kitchen and goes, Snacks! And you see the kids rush off towards the kitchen, just ravenously hungry. Nifl goes, Huh? All right, I'll put out a spread. I, I, I, I, I. And you close the door and as you open it again without speaking the password. So now putting the lion-knocker there means you can open it and have access to the hallway again and be in the castle again. You see the task skitters into the room. Task, we're Suvi. An image of Suvi being dragged to the top of the castle by Swarn surrounded by Imperial soldiers. Huh? Suvi, you are dragged to the top of the castle. You arrive at the parapets overlooking everything. You've been in the belly of this castle for some time. You look out, fire and ruin. Distantly, a few dreadnoughts beat as much of a retreat as they can, Imperial ships gunning down on them. The light of the tower prevails. At the top of the parapet, you see wizards at the ready, amongst them silver. From the clouds, a spiral rope ladder descends and drops. Steel, sort of the Citadel. The Citadel. Holds your gaze for the first time since she granted you the meridian and sent you to the far north. She moves forward and embraces you. She whispers in your ear, hold up your chin, smile, look proud. You understand? I know it. She turns to regard silver and sworn. The mission was a success. To archmage apprentice Skye is credit for this victory given. Three cheers for the wizard Skye! From the small skeletal crew of wizards herein gathered on this parapet, does the cheer go up? Wasting away on the winds of ash as the Imperial army busies itself, first and foremost, with running down every last member of the army of Gautama that they can hear. She turns to look at you in the moment of this tales creation. Your friends, they're here in the castle. I think, can I less for steel I need an, can I make an insight check on this group gathered? Yeah. Give me an insight check. I don't know if it's, is this working? Is this, oh shit, 21. 21. Silver knows what you said to him. Sworn is without Cyril's letter. And you see simply disappointed. Steel looks at you with a mixture of certainty, Resolute-ness, pride, And a smile like you're not well and things are gonna get better. Unable to speak. This feels like lying to injury when people want to underestimate you. You let them. So I stand, I shake off the anxiety and fear and resignation and stand proud into her question. I nod, slowly hoping that I've bought enough time. I'm going to do my best to buy enough time for them to get out. I know how long the doorknobs take. You see that steel nods and turns to the wizard Slate. Tall, Lieutenant of the sword. You see Slate walks off into the castle. Steel says, it's time to go home. I think with that she just blinks and there is a tear. There's relief. Maybe this dream, whatever I was on the way to being, can be done too. Do I have a link, a mental link with a task at all? Or is the distance too far? Yes, you have a mental link with a task. Okay, wherever task is now, actively projecting Slate walking. As Ursulaan and Amé, you take off down the hall as fast as you can. Task, in the immediacy of you walking, taking your first steps down the hallway, my task projects. Suvi going aboard the epiphany. It's done. And the wizard Slate marching into the castle. And then if I can chase it with five words, this is a trap. Run. Amé and Ursulaan, what do you do? I'm not sure there's anything left for us to do here, Amé. I said I wouldn't leave her again. I said there's always a way. If we're clever enough, we can go after them. Amé, give me an insight check. Natural 20. Oh, fuck. Fuck. Buckle up, everybody. Fucking buckle up. Watch what happens now. Amé, you're the bridge between worlds. You have to be. You have to find the right answer. You have to be kind and you have to be cunning. You have to be suspicious and you have to do the right thing. Ursulaan's quest, his purpose, his mission, is to protect the children of the Grinneau. You have not yet disassembled the door. Let me be clear. Through that door are 80 hungry frightened children who, yes, have neif, but they do not have their guardian. That is where Ursulaan's heart lies. Your truth, your other true friend, has just been carried aboard a ship. You have seen Sufi work great magic. You have seen Ursulaan bend steel with the power of the spirit. Are you not a true witch is magic not yours? You promised you wouldn't abandon Sufi again. But those children need Ursulaan. He has his mission. He came here to do one thing and that was save them. The children need their great spirit. You go. And you? I'll follow you later with Sufi. I love you. And are you? Ami, you close the door. Leaving these doorknobs here means their wizard can find them. They can break it. They can find a way to break the enchantment. Ursulaan is safely through. As you step through Ursulaan, you feel spirit fill Wren's cottage. And you look down at children on a carpet as frightened as you were the first time you were there. They look up and smile. You are going to bring them home. Sufi, you board the epiphany once more. Your mother's hand at your back. Ami, you look at these doorknobs. You might not have another 10 minutes to set them up, but you can't leave them here. What an impossible choice. Should you analyze and think about what is right to do here in this moment? Fox looks up. What do you want to do, boss? We go get Sufi. Yeah! He does a little flip. Ami, you break the doorknobs off the door and push them back in your bag. You are not going to leave this trap here. Give me an investigation check with advantage right now as you rush out of here. 17. Rushing through here as fast as you can. Servants quarters, servants quarters. These are the people, the people that keep a castle running. The people unseen, common folk. You run by and as funny as it is, you see rolling pins. You see thatch. You see the work of kitchens behind you. You hear armored steps. Chum, chum, chum. Friends, your presence is requested by the sword of the Citadel. Where are you hiding, friends? Ami, you rush into a kitchen. Wide, shattered windows looking out over ash and wasteland and you see in the distance the epiphany headed south for the Citadel, vanishing into orange clouds. I look around. There's a hearth. And where there's a hearth, there is a brew. As Slate rounds the corner, looking to you with a counterspell at the ready, ready for combat, she smiles. Ami, pleasure seeing you here. Is your friend bare around? I stand by the hearth. Calm, serene. In front of a simple black hawthorn stick with twigs strapped to it with leather. And in the wood grain, she feels knots, grooves. The twigs I can smell from here. It's like cinnamon. It's like autumn. It's like home. There is exactly where he needs to be. And so am I. I take a running leap out the window. You grab the broom and in craft beyond any wizard's ability to counter, you seize this humble servant of the castle, a broom, the name of whose maker you do not know. Perhaps in long years of Ami Wish of Toma, she will never know because a broom does not serve for glory. It serves for the world's heart because every hearth needs a sweeping and every witch needs to fly. Ami, I'd like you to level up to level five if you'd be so kind. Let's go! You stride the broom. You feel yourself weightless, powerful. Fast, faster, faster than the ship before you. Taking off! Ami, 12 Brooks vanishes from underneath you. And from your satchel, where Fox pokes his head out. fades fades fades fades fades fades fades fades and scored by Taylor Moore at Fortunate Horse with additional sound design from Michael Delphi Studios. For even more like this, join us on our Patreon. We'll see you there.