Latest / Rotgrind - Narrative Declaration / The Revolution's Finale
Transcript
- That sounds like something a vampire would say. ASL, doesn't that stand for... Ah, scream loudly! Baldrick's the main character, you heard it here first. I am going to lop off my left hand. Oh my god! I only speed Draconic, Strix, and Radical. As the 11th level Mega Party is defeated by a f***ing door. Who's ready for another exciting episode of Rock Rhymes? It's okay, Speaker. I didn't leave you alone that time. Yay. I didn't. The apartment walls will hold today. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another exciting episode of Rock Rhymes. Just quick things, as you're listening to us. First off, thanks for sharing the show around. Thanks for that. Thank you so much for going over to your buddies and shoving your phone in their face. Like, you know, there's people who are like, hey, look at my kids. And you, like, shove their phone in their faces. Like, now you do that with our show. We appreciate that. Thank you so much. We're the kids. That's just for the word that we exist. But, of course, we have a bunch of our amazing players here. We have to go for time because we had a bunch of technical issues before our stream today. But, of course, we have Odo playing Venus Washbunk. We have our awesome Hulky doing Rahula. We have Speaker doing Tanhauser. We have Salty Bank playing Stont. Also, maybe an old favorite of yours is now coming back, you know, maybe later. Then, of course, I am playing Ornn, the Strict Summoner. We got our amazing Game Master Thurston here coming back with us for another amazing adventure. And, Thurston, what adventures have we been on and what do you have in store for us? Well, in this arc of the campaign, you've gone to the strange land of Golgotha, the wasteland origin homeland of Tanhauser. There, you had a brief stint as retail workers before venturing off into the wasteland to take on one of the great citadel, I guess, city-states, citadel states of Golgotha to wrest it from control of its leading general. Which you did at the end of last session, after a momentous attack on the citadel, after raising, essentially, an army of people and dregs of society and revolutionaries alike. You besieged the citadel, eventually fighting the totally not Baron Harkonnen leader that you, that I blame, that I blame Speaker and Zoran for their dune fixation at that time. I'm sorry. Speaking of jokes, it's so funny. We had to keep doing it. See, I don't get any blame, even though I did three dune references in that run by making Ornithopter fall in and all those. Oh, you don't get to blame for the, because you added to it. You were fine. No, no, no. These people just, yeah, you get a thumbs up. They, they just were like, this character, this, this boss, it's just Baron Harkonnen. They made me add, like, a little nothing burger secondary boss to it. Say it, Zoran. You know you want to. You know you want to. Piter. Piter. They killed me, Piter. I would never love my Twinks again, Piter. Or it's Titer. We need him Titer. For tub guy. Sorry. Titer. But the guy's my parent. No, that's all I had to say. Okay. I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you the floor. I'm just, I refuse to take the blame for, for, for Titer, right? I was, I was part of that, but I was not the progenitor whatsoever. That was all you. I will take, I will take credit for Titer. And, of course, there was tub guy. Titer. Titer. I love Titer. I need you to stop saying that. I'm going back into muting now. I was wondering. I was like, how long can he hold? How long can he hold? Really testing his willpower here. My best. But of God. And, and, and following the defeat of the general, Tannhauser had a, a raw emotional feeling, knowing that the object that you're searching for here, that sort of elemental conduit item that you know you need to collect from across time, and it, it is in this area, but it is deep below, deep into the earth, which was convenient. Because there was an elevator, which you stepped on. And that is where we begin our session. Stepping onto an elevator, into the darkness. Tannhauser, I'm scared of the darkness. For how long has this been a character trait? We've been in plenty of dark places, and you've never expressed this in the past. But I, you know, I would just be trying to, you know, be, be brave in front of you. You don't have to pretend to be Oren. I know you're Oren. You just, it's just like we've been, when was the last time we were in darkness, I was. Actually, every single time we've been in darkness, why never you turn on your flashlight eyes? Shut the hell up, Oren. Okay. Yeah, really, honestly, you're detracting from everybody else here. I don't want to cast light from my eye, Tannhauser. I only have one of them. Listen, it takes a lot of power. I can only do it for a little bit. It doesn't. You just do this. Rahua just snaps his fingers. I cast light. Can you please have Dark Souls elevator sound plays this whole time? Can you have Rahua have, like, that, uh, that beaded, like, string, like, coming under, like, out of his mouth and from the bottom part, so he just, and then you just turn on the light. How many pulls does it require for you until the fan stops in Rahua's head? It's never one. It's never one pull. It's deterministic. It might happen on one. It might happen on three million. You just kind of have to see what happens day by day. If that fan stops, he dies instantly. You cannot ruzz him. I see. He instantly moves on. You should get a new computer. Well, should we get a new cleric? Damn, dude. No. No. No. Our cleric will also kill the horse. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk. The elevator continues. Keep going. Oh. It's not the character. That's because. Oh, I'm sorry, Wadrick. Were you saying something? We just had a whole section when we were in a general store. And if you wanted a torch, you could have gotten a torch. And how, sir, Snot puts a long orangutan-esque arm onto his shoulder. It's just a long orangutan. How does that work? She's small-sized, but she has long arms. So she just puts a hand on his shoulder and looks up at him and goes, That was like a month ago. No, it wasn't. That was several, that was a day. Well, how long ago was it? Everything is 14 years. Dude, we've been out in the desert for quite some time now. How long have we been in this elevator? Uh, it feels like it's been about 20 years, but I think it's been about 30 seconds. Oh my god, is that Horus Lupercal? Not again. Wrong show. Wrong show. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk. Not again. This is going to be a test for a session where I could just GM by making elevator sounds. Keep going. Well, if you think about it, I had, I got to repair my mech. I got to have a nap. I found a snack. This elevator has been going on for quite some time. Speaking of, Mr. Tenhouser, what are we going to find down here? Well, we are currently plummeting into the depths of the Black Papacy. At least that's what I suspect. These are subterranean. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk. Yeah, shut up! These are subterranean. It's actually a guy on the side operating the elevator who's making the ka-chunk shuns. He does. What's your name? Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk! First name is Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, as he falls down. First name is Ka-chunk. These are subterranean vampires that lead an insidious cult to keep the slaves of Golgotha in line. And we are likely plummeting straight into the midst of the true rulers of this citadel. I thought that was a myth. No, they have an embassy. They're everywhere. It's not a myth. I thought it was a myth. Yeah, I've never seen a real vampire before. Well, you're going to. Wait, yes, who did? Well, you did. Well, actually, technically, it was a fake vampire that you saw. When we went to, you know, back when we were under the, the last time we were underground. Yeah. And weren't scared. Yeah. I mean, I'm always scared. Well, you should really, at this point, why are you scared of anything? You killed so many people. I'm scared of losing you guys as my friends. Oh, well, you know, now I feel like the bad guy. I don't, you know. You kind of are. You, I'm snot. I'm sorry, Tanhauser. That's why my archetype for this party is healer. I didn't want to hear it from you, snot, but you know what? I'm sorry, Ruhua. Wait, you're not. I, I mean, apology accepted. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk. Why? I'm fucking sitting here with my head in one hand. I'm just, I'm just sitting here like, did you fuckers miss me? Like, has it been this bad? Looks around. Who's that? Who's that voice? Wouldn't it be nice? He's not revealed yet. Don't worry, his voice isn't. I go back to my. I forgive you. You made me waste a spell slot on you a couple sessions ago. And you know what? I was really chewing on that for quite some time. Why aren't you a horse anymore, by the way? I don't know. How do you do that whole horse thing? Ruhua looks down at his hands. I'm a horse where it counts, Tanhauser. Don't ever see that. On the inside, I wish I was still a horse. You think I'm talking about. You ka-chunk, ka-chunk. Here's a new idea. Why don't we all stop talking? None of you deserve sponsorship. No, even me? Well, you're pretty cool, Vina. Yay. This elevator is tearing us apart. Wait a minute. Is that a feature of the Black Papacy? Is there some kind of gas in the air that makes us argue? No, we finally got to talk to each other, and now it's not working. Wait, you know, Vina, that's actually a very good point. I think that's why they call it Argon. Oh, I push Ruhua off the elevator. Uh, Ruhua, you fall two feet as the elevator finishes. It's the center of the chunk. I don't care. Oh, damn. Fight yourselves. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I need to get stuck on that. Vina, that was really fucked up. You could have killed that guy. Nah, he's been through worse. Also, it's the captain. That guy, what's his name? I was a horse. Well, that's Ruhua. So, that's the captain. Ruhua sticks his eye on him. Hello, I'm Ruhua. Yeah, he says. Hi, I'm Ka-Chunk. I push Ka-Chunk. How are you alive? Been here the whole time. I make the sound effects and I rotate the thing. Well, that's fantastic. Then you can tell us. Where are we? We're on a very serious and dramatic mission. Arn raises a hand. Can I ask him a question? Yes. Mr. Ka-Chunk? Yes? Do you think elevators should be ran by man or machine? I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you, Burr-Boy. Ooh, that's a good question. As a person who operates an elevator on my own, I do think that sometimes an elevator should be operated by a person. Or at least regularly inspected by one to ensure that it won't just kill people randomly. That's a tragedy. Can I use a hero point to declare a narrative declaration? Yes. Sure. I don't even know what it is. I'm already excited. Awesome. Cool. Ka-Chunk is a flesh warp that is pressed underneath this elevator. Oh, yeah. 100%. Yeah. He's like a giant ring. Yeah. No. He's like an ooze morph type thing. Yeah, and he extends and shifts down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's like a massive human worm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like in Dune. Does he have better go get a scotch? Like in Dune. Like in Dune. I guess worms in Dune don't talk. Wait, hold on a second. Who's talking anymore? Oh, God. I don't know. It's some kind of flesh elevator. After getting his answer, Oren will come up to the rest of the party and be like, well, I've never faced any vampires before, but I don't know what quite to expect, but just want to make sure everyone's all topped off. During this time, I'd like to assume I've helped heal everybody and bandage it went up and give them worms. And yeah, you're all healed up and ready for the next encounter. Zoran, real quick. Chat's reminding me I have to take a hero point away from Rahua. Please do that. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. Oh, why am I losing a hero point? Because you did something in a prior session in chat's reminding me, and I trust chat implicitly. Hey, what did you like to know, horse boy? Damn. You're not recovering from that one, okay? I would like to pause it. I raised my little stump arm. Take your solid legs. I would like to pause it. Uh-huh. The people really like to gaslight me, and I think chat's lying. Ooh. Chat, are you going to take that from this fucking asshole? Wow. Law and order, Denton. All right. Speaker, I think Rahua has neither of those. Neither of what? Fucking her asshole? Yeah. True. Well, he did that sentence earlier that did imply the presence of horse-like. On the inside. On the inside. So it's internal, but that doesn't stop it from existing. No, he said it. Rahua turns away from the party. I want to shut up. No, no. Chat's reminded me. You brought up something to do with the fucking cutie mark last session. You, yeah, you're, yeah. That's what chat says. It sounds familiar, too. I don't remember that at all. I'm trusting this one person in chat. You know what? Yes, in my notes here, we discussed what Rahua had as a cutie mark, and I know that I did exclaim that it should be the anarchy symbol. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I really just have to imagine in my heart of hearts that, Salty, as you said, in my notes, we discussed what Rahua's cutie mark would be, but that's the moment Erndel sat back down and started pouring the drink. Almost certainly. Absolutely. Well, Erndel can have all the rights to complain. He shouldn't have left the campaign, allowed me to slip in here. I was overseas. I had no say in the matter. He didn't leave. He was on vacation. I was on vacation, and the thing I learned from this vacation is I should never take vacations. What is a vacation, if not a tactical leave? Yeah, one might say that, Hulky. You know what I'm talking about. I'm looking at you. I'm looking at you, boy. You know what I'm talking about. I know you're looking at me. I told you that you were going to have a good time in Serbia, but no, you just didn't want to listen. Togo is on your head. I don't think we're allowed to talk about Togo. We're not. I don't think we are. I think he should be shot. I agree. Speaking of getting shot. We're going to get shot by some vampires. So what can we expect from this Black Papacy, and especially where do you think they have the stake for Papa, or not Papa Storm. That's a different one for Uncle Blaze. Well, if I had to guess, we are likely to be facing their hordes of deranged acolytes. We can expect numbers, most likely, or a single powerful entity at its circle. I admit, I did not interface much with the Black Papacy, and any who are wise in Golgotha will do the same. They are dark, mysterious, and tolerated only by the whims of Lord Golgotha himself. That sounds like something a vampire would say. Is this real? Is this real? Are you doing this? It did bring us to the vampire's hair. Where, where, where on my body, where my body, where the, I take off the hose. Or like, takes his hand and like, like shoves the mask back on. He's like, let's not do that. Oh yeah, I'm just saying, I'm like, oh, where do I suck the blood? I don't, I don't have that. Doc, that's a myth. Vampires scrape, and then they lick. What? I, well, where's my tongue? Dude in the hole will presumably, I don't want to know. Snog starts walking. Yeah. Uh, I just, uh, turn her helmet around the other way so that the eye holes are on the back of her head, and then I keep walking. I have been forsaken. I'm gone. The light. The light. Around, around you is a, is a stone sort of facade here. It looks like it's been carved expertly with dark stone. However, up ahead is what can only be described as a fluorescent pink glow that permeates through cracks in the walls and what appear to be windows installed at regular points to admit light in. Where does the light come from? She says as she corrects her helmet. That's a great question. Uh, are there any, like, fluorescent, like, mushrooms or anything nearby? Any alternative sources of light? A nuclear radioactive site? No, it just, it just seems to be glowing from within the walls. Orn might like to do a perception check, along with Gorgomonger. Sure. Can I do a crafting check? Yeah. It's awesome. Orn rolls and gets a 30 on the die, and also, if you, if you're wondering, by the way, what, there's no 3D dice rolling, I decided to break it. So, we'll get that fixed next episode. Don't worry. Yeah, every, every, everything went wrong today in terms of tech, so we do apologize. Uh, so if you're watching this, going like, why is it just stuff as it was? That, it, everything broke, so we do apologize. And Gorgomonger got a 20 on the die. Or got a 20 total for perception. Okay. Um, Orn, as you're looking at this light, what you're able to detect is that it's, the light isn't constant. It's like there's movement in the light, as though the light were being strained through, like, a fluid or something along those lines. Can I, um, like, suddenly want to do a crafting check. I don't want to stop that first. Uh, after a salty crafting check, I would like to do a nature to kind of determine, like, are we in a fluid tank of some sort, you know? Okay. Give me, give me that crafting check, yeah. Uh, yeah. So, I also have, just in case it might be useful, I have a crafter's appraisal, allowing me to identify at least magical items, uh, with a crafting check, if need be. In case you want to fluff that in some kind of way. I also remember have Lord Goblin, Golgoth, and Warfare. Uh, but I will roll my crafting check, and I roll a total of 29, uh, because I got a 7. It's, it's, it's enough to, to confirm that whatever this substance is, which you can't quite identify, there is some kind of fluid moving through the walls here that's emanating this, this illumination. Wall. As Oren's looking around, he's like, I think we're, I, I think we're in a ball of goop. That's a 23 on the nature check. If we all had an alchemist or something around us, that would be super useful. 23 is not quite enough, Oren, to let you know what this is. This is, this is incredibly weird and off-putting. Like, yeah. And the, the way that it's moving, it's, it could be a natural phenomenon in the walls, it could be, like, part of some, some larger sort of apparatus here that's not natural. You're just not sure. Yeah. Or at least the rest of the party. It's very off-putting now that you know that the light is, like, has this filter in, like, you can almost see the, the light undulating. Could I take a, take a look at it with a, um, uh, arcane? Or, absolutely. Uh, occultism would be. All right, let's rock. That is a 32. There is often a, a, a thing associated with Golgotha, a, a, a resource, a lifeblood, if you will, um, which is used as a trading commodity. Um, it's, you know, thought to be more akin to gasoline. Or, you know, the black blood of Golgotha. Um, this might be the progenitor of that truth. This almost takes some of the sort of embellished versions of, like, Golgothan oil and makes them strangely real. I see. So what I'm staring at right now is earth blood. No way. That's right. No way. I've seen things called people car over, flood that stuff, like, that stuff burns, that stuff burns, that stuff put in fuel tanks. It doesn't move like this, unless something's in it. Part of me is curious enough to want to fling a match into this. Uh, the other part of me is smart enough not to, uh, do that. But I do think about it, at least. It would be really funny, right? It would be a related question. Uh, what's your backup character like? Yeah, well, you know, I'm sure we'll figure out if we can match into this. Hey, thanks for playing Rucker and everybody. I can see the comments already. God, who would have thought that they would have ended their show in a message about fossil fuels? God. True. Then it, afterwards, it will just be Balin, a Baldrick adventure. Where all of us play support characters to Baldrick. I don't think, I don't think Baldrick can carry it on his own. I need other, I need people who are convincing and entertaining people to be around the void of charisma that is Baldrick. They're all just other characters with different shaped bucket helmets. Yeah, where all those wanted posters actually were real. There was the triangle guy and the circle guy. I'm going back to the cellar. Get me out of here. So, Oren kind of, like, begins to walk forward at this point. He's kind of, like, in wonderment looking all around. He's like, wow. You know, like, since he hasn't detected any vampires, you know, with his Gorgamonger and Oren vision. He's just like, he's like, I wonder what they do down here, Mr. Chanhauser. Nothing good, I can tell you that for free. You know what? If this is really his earthblood. She walks up to one of the windows and just puts a hand on it. Is it, like, warm? It's not warm, but you can almost feel, like, a pulsing sound. Or a sensation, I should say. She pulls her hand away really quick and goes, if all of this is real earthblood, and I don't know the purity of it, but if it's, like, real, real good stuff. She turns to, like, Oren, and then to Veena, and then she doesn't look at Chanhauser for too long. She understands that he knows. Like, this amount could, like, buy a city-state on its own. Easy. And then fuel it. This is, like, not life-changing amounts of it for one person. This is, like, life-changing amounts for thousands of people. Perhaps once we've eliminated whoever dwells down here, we can send this to the rebels and use it to fund our various revolutionary activities. Who knew that fracking would be the hero of this story? That's what I'm always saying. Yeah. Is it? Yeah. I think it's odd there's nobody inside that's basically a place of worship, that it seems. Oren approaches the altar itself, motioning everyone forward. So to give some background, as you're traveling through here, it's not like this is just a single, like, large area. This is, like, multiple tunnels. Uh, you're passing through various, sort of, um, like, open, open sites that appear to be worshiping areas. Um, so there are, like, stone pews. But it's not, like, one central area. You're, you're going down a hall, and there's, like, dozens of these empty, uh, almost church-like, uh, mega rooms. So, Tanny? Yes? Are there supposed to be people here? I would imagine so. But there isn't, is notable and disturbing. Should we call out? Hey, Tannhazard, give me a fortitude safe. Yeah, you got it, boss. Huh? Thanks. Here we go. Uh, 37. Nice. Uh, you feel this, like, slight, um, chest pain. You kind of recoil a bit. Doesn't, doesn't hurt. Just like a sudden shock. As you feel a similar sensation to when you arrived in Golgotha, this sort of pull, uh, from the, the main arterial hall that heads further into this sort of fluo-pink, uh, dark-lit darkness. Uh, but deep, deeper down, you, you can sense something is pulling at you. There's something in this room. Something pulling at me! Something dark. Where in the room about, do you think, uh, I can, can I sense this, uh, bullshit happening? It's, it's like, it's like down this main arterial hall, so all of these little sub-chapels and whatnot are off of this hall. Like, going down the main hall, which is going far off into, in, into darkness, um, is, is where you, you feel this, this pull. There's something waiting for us, down the end of that hallway. Oh. Alright. Like good? Or like bad? Like bad. Oh, no, I don't like that. No, I'm not a fan of it either. Well, regardless, we're all here, we're all here together. We can take it on. Well said. Let us away! And I will, uh, begin, uh, leading the charge down the evil hallway. Alright, you, you. You can just very quickly dip into one of the side rooms, the, like, offshoots of the main arterial hallway. Um, and it's gonna try to be a little stealthy with it. Okay, yeah, yeah, give me, uh, give me a stealth check. That's a, I'll give you a 23. That's not very good. Yeah, you have this weird feeling that even though you're alone in these, these, like, these side rooms that you're kind of maneuvering through, you, you feel like you're being watched. E-B-G-B's. Tannhauser, you continue to lead the way until you find at the end of the hall, and this, this sight sort of sets you back because you're not sure what to do. There is a vast stone door that is sealed shut. It's probably 20 feet tall and perhaps 15 to 20 feet wide. It's engraved with tiny sigils and then sort of a mosaic around it that depicts what appears to be like a, a, a darkened sun. The, the, the doorway itself doesn't have any of the sort of pink neon glow, but around it does, which sort of almost by proximity illuminates some of the, the crevices and runes in the door with side light that makes them seem to glow, even though they aren't. Oh. Is there a, is there a, is there a, is it legible what's engraved in the door? Um, it is, it is some kind of ancient, like, runic form, some magical script, perhaps. Um, I guess, do any of you speak necrol? Ooh. Necro? Ooh, no. Not in this campaign. No. Absolutely not. Okay. I only speak draconic, strix, and radical. Radical. Radical. Crackatola, dude. Crackatola. Hell yeah. That's what happens when he's kicked the table at night. Well, you know what it is, what's noting? Oh, no, I'm like. I got that, finally. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Why are you in the background? I finally, I'm like, fuck you, dude. Hey, good job being on point on that, by the way. There is no stop. Good job. Rua, get a hero point. Let's go. I'll get a hero point back. It's not, it's not a break, thank you. No, you're fine. I will say, at the start of this campaign, I asked Thurston, hey, what languages are, like, common to Golgotha? And he said, you don't need to worry about that. And I have, like, five unallocated languages. You know, speaking of unallocated languages, I do have two other unallocated languages after I recently. Ooh, this is, like, the third time you've pulled this at this campaign. I... Well, you've never made me allocate them. Takes off glasses. Oh, actually. Stares at you. I wanna, I wanna be... Stares into your soul. I'm looks at Speaker D. I'm gonna be on Speaker's side, actually. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm, cause... Cause it's the problem I have with Raku, cause by the time we, you get to that point of, like, what language should be affected, you're like, ah, fuck. Yeah. So it's... I will also say... It's hard to be predictable. If he is studying these guys, if there is a language that he should have studied, it is the language of his enemies. That's true. At that end, Dinosaur, which I did learn at the beginning of this. I mean, knew all along. That's true. That one, though. That one's already been... That one's... I'm sorry, but you can't take that away from me. Yeah. Thurston, kill this guy. Yeah. True. Then resurrect him as a vampire. Then kill him again. Oh. Fuckers have hero points. The Creases J's. Yeah, but we don't wanna use them. Okay. Well, then don't read it, though. Voice in the air. I get back, and I have to endure watching this. You don't get back! You're not back! People pay for this! I grab Speaker very tightly, and his head turns into a crushed matchstick. I need you to understand. I can't do this. I'm going to explode. I have to say something occasionally. And head over. Goodbye. Goodbye. Press the button. Erdil, I pass you my iconic Rahua crack pipe, and I encourage you to take a hit. What did that look like? You need, you guys need to just, you guys need to just, you guys need to just kill. So, uh... Statistically, most of the party has been at least once. I fully apologize, Thurston. We're out of the... Uh-huh. Looking at the door with Necron on it. He gets back on track. Sorry. Oh, so I'm sorry. Not everybody has died. Uh, I think that Death's George, Vina over here, uh, is an outlier and should not be counted. Uh-huh. Oh, shit. Oh, fuck. I misread how the spell works. I actually can't use it at all. Uh-oh. Never mind. What? Okay. I was going to use safe passage, and I was like, oh, cool. I'll use safe passage and make it 10 foot wide, 10 foot tall, 60 foot long section of terrain that's safe to travel through. But I realized it just makes that section of that safe to travel through, and it doesn't make a little hole in the wall like I thought it did. So it would not help in this case. Yeah, you're going to need some way to get through this door. An explosive expert would have been really useful right here. Yes, if only we knew someone like that. Hmm. And, like, someone with alchemy could probably figure out what all this earthblood is all about, right? Probably, yeah. Hmm. Hmm. Someone with more. I hand Snot a pickaxe. Time to get chipping. Okay, boss. And I start chipping away at the door. Do I see if there is, like, a, like, is the door locked? Or is it, um, like, sealed shut? It's sealed. There's not, like, a lock on it. It's just, like, closed shut. Um, could I, could I use thievery to look for a place on this door where I could find an angle? You know, find a place where I could, um, slot something in, or just a place to push to open this door? Yeah, roll. Can I do the same with crafting? Yeah. Yeah. Can I roll the stair at the door? I have not rolled above a 10. That is a 26. We're gonna have a 28. Welcome back, Odo. I also got a 26. You know, um. My luck's reset. Hold on. Rolls George is coming through. Yeah, see that current. Ask God for help. If it's not a crit, you die. That's true. Don't worry. I believe. I got the crafting check. Hold on. Here we go. Craft it. Oh, yeah. You die. Okay. It's all coming together. It's all coming back to you. That's what I... So... You know, like, the whole program Boomerang? When they said the catch rate? It's all coming back to you. It took me so long to go, Oh, that's what that means. Yeah. Five person I stopped you. Go ahead. I just, like... This is the scene, right? Is four people, like, I don't know, hands on their chins, like, looking at this door, like, heads going side to side, debating how best to... How best to handle this situation. You know, an 11th level party stopped by a door. It's a big door. Welcome back to Rock Grind, everyone. It's a door here. It has words on it. I'm picking away at it. Yeah, we'll get to it. It's not... Give me a... Nice check. Yeah. Got you, boss. I roll a total of 25. Give me a fortitude save. Heck yeah. All right. I roll a fortitude save for a total of 32. You're, like, very industrious at this. Like, you're... You've got, like, a good... Maybe four inches off of this door, maybe. Is there any machinery this deep in? Or is it, like, just stone? It's just stone. And the rest of you that are looking at it now with your various checks are like, hmm, there's probably some kind of magical trigger or some magical, like, inlay in the door, and there's probably some magical way to open this. That couldn't possibly be true. Snod turns around and goes... Can I make a... Wait a... Well, Snod, you're going to... You're going to say something first, Snod. Go ahead. Yeah, you want to magic this up, buddy. I could magic it. Can I... Can I make a crafting check to determine... Yeah, put your hand in the hole. The thickness of the door. Put your hand in the hole. Put your hand in the hole. It will be so much better. All my work is not for nothing. And she walks out of the hole and starts cuffing up her black lung. Oh, I... Damn, Sister, I mean, Do you have coal? It's all fuel. It's all fuel. It's all fuel. If one... If one piece of fire damage is done in this area, we're all dying. It's... It's not her... It's not coal. Her lungs just did that. Oh, okay. That's fine. I can live with that. Thirsten, can I attempt to glean how thick this door actually is? What kind of check are you going to give me? I would like to give you... You think crafting would apply here? You know, you already gave me a crafting check above. What if I gave you... Okay. Now, it's... It's all Earthblood all the way down. And, in a way, it's part of the world. And I could gauge relative density and thickness because it's more natural. Could I get a nature check, perhaps? Sorry, sorry. I need to prove... Can I do a backflip? Can I do a backflip? Yeah, give me an acrobat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three acrobatics. As a fucking door defeats all of you. As the 11th level, like, mega party is defeated by a fucking door. I am. And to be fair to us, we've been rolling really bad. Oh, so bad, Thurston, please. Thurston, it's a massive, cool, magical vampire door fueled by gas. We're in for the vibes, not the obstacles. Exactly. Okay. Okay. Okay. Anyway, I got 41. I need to point this out. I need to point this out. This is me being, like, a petty, catty bitch, right? Yeah. Okay. In Starfinder. Yeah? Yes. There's a cantrip that exists. Yeah? Uh-huh. It's called Measure. It's a one-action cantrip where you learn the approximate measurements of creatures and objects you can observe. That's awesome, Thurston. That's great. Hey, uh... What does that have to do with the door? Yeah. Everyone online is like, this thing is stupid. And meanwhile, like, Hulky's like, how can I figure out the dimensions of this door? If I only had a measure! That's right. Um, could I try a solution? Sure. All right. I just want to make sure I'm not stepping on anybody's toes. Everyone's kind of tried the first things that came to mind, right? We did our best. I agree. Please save me from picking my way through the door. Yeah, I'm going to spend a hero point to find the service entrance. The service entrance. Okay, okay. We need Balderbeck. Okay, give me, give me. Take the hero point. Take the hero point off the board, please. Thanos is here. Okay. Take the hero point. Hey, guys! I assume, I assume Thanos are at this point you're going to, you're going to start, like, going in through some of those, like, side chapels being like, there's got to be something I miss. We can't be. Actually, I would prefer it just kind of be in the same room. Just a giant glowing sign, maybe, that says, like, black papacy staff only. It's like the OSHA mandated exit sign over the emergency exit. Yeah, yeah. There's, like, there's, like, lights actually drawing our attention. We just, we just first looked at this door and it kind of captured us. Okay. Okay. Okay. This is the worst, best game ever. It's, it's, I, the monkey's paw curls. Oh, we are so good at Pathfinder. We are so good at Pathfinder. There's also a door on the service entrance. It's a different part of this one. I hope it's thicker. Hey, hey, Thurston. Mm-hmm. Can I, can I step in for a moment here? Please. So, Tannhauser, you find the service entrance door, right? Yeah. You see that it has a similar door locking it from the large door, correct? Yeah. Someone will have to use their hero point to get rid of that. No. See, because that door opens from the other side. You, you know, if you figure this out, because on the other side of that door is Baldrick. what are you doing here? I thought you were dead. What? No. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I thought you were back at the airship. Sorry, it was the other one. Who's this? Orin knocks loudly on the door. Which door are you knocking on? The one that opened? The service entrance door or the main one? The main one. I don't know about that. that's up to Thurston at this point. Like, very loud. You can knock on the Kong Kong Kong. That's what Baldrick you walk out to see is the loud service entrance being banged on by Orin. Is Baldrick here? Yes, he walks out from inside the opening service entrance. Oh, oh, thank God, Baldrick. Yeah, you, you guys kind of left me on the ship for quite a long time. I had to try and find my way down here by the time I caught up to you, the elevator was already gone. So, we're holding down the fort. I left it up to some of the other people on board. Hey, yo, you're a goblin too? No. Who are you? It's not a goblin. This is new Baldrick. I, why? Why? My name is not a goblin. It's not a goblin. Yeah, the, the ships should, the ships should be fine for now. I'm just down here for a quick jaunt because it, well, I figured you guys might actually need some assistance whatever's going on down here and, well, you know. He turns around and motions to the literal, like, closet-sized service entrance that exists here and the room itself is, like, maybe a 5x5x10 foot-sized room with a vent. And there is, there is a single, there's a single vent duct that is lying on the floor from inside. Well, unless you're some kind of alchemist specialist or an explosive guy, I don't know what help you're gonna be. None of us can figure this out. No, I could do that. What? Yeah, one side. What? And Baldrick steps, steps, a little bit past snot at this point and he begins rooting around on his bag. What are you guys stuck on here? I can hear you through the door. I was just kind of waiting for one of you to approach it, so. The big door. The door, yeah. The big door. It's a pretty pernicious, heavy door that is apparently enchanted by ancient vampire magic that, frankly, it would be difficult for anyone to crack. You really can't blame us at all. That's true. You, all right, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna clarify something here. You got held up by this door. Massive door, yeah. I know it's, I know it's a massive door, I can see it's a massive door. The problem is, it's, did you not bring anything with you guys to open anything down here? It doesn't have a lock, so I'm, I'm, I'm a limb pass. We just came here from, from having to kill a general. It was a lot of work to get here. I almost died then. These are two valid questions though. Okay, okay, I can, you, you had a hard time, I'll make this easy for you. Give me a second. And Baldrick, like, crouches down. He crouches down and opens up like his pack and he begins cobbling a few things together. So what does this guy do? He's an alchemist. It's pretty cool. Why? I can hear you talking, you know, this thing is not render me deaf. It doesn't? Oh. Why didn't we have that guy? Wait, I, so who has just been doing ASL for like the entire, series of rock grinds for nothing? His idea, his idea, like to his face, he couldn't hear me through the helmet if his flap wasn't facing me. His idea of ASL is just speaking. I mean, you know, it works for most people. Why wouldn't it work for the deaf? That's what I think Rahua thinks. Well, yeah, doesn't ASL, doesn't that stand for, ah, scream loudly. I love you, Hulky. You're the best. Thurston, I would like to craft a coring charge, but I'm noting that this door is probably a fair bit thicker than usual. Can I do something to sweeten the deal and perhaps craft some kind of better coring charge? Because I think the normal one probably won't cut it. Also, we are surrounded by a bunch of flammable goo. How do you know it's flammable? They said it was earthblood, which is flammable. Baldrick, do you want to give me a crafting check on the earthblood? Earthblood this, earthblood that. Let me take a look at this crap. Baldrick will stand over next to the, uh, the wall and here, the wall, the window, whatever we're calling it, and he's going to very carefully inspect the, uh, thing. I have a question, Thurston. Yes. What bonus, do I get any bonuses for knowing anything about this kind of stuff? Probably not at this juncture because if it is whatever earthblood is specifically, I'm just going based off of crafting, right? Yeah, not, not off this one, but give me the check. We'll see how it, let's see, let's see how my first roll in several months goes. Yay. Oh no. 27. You stare at it. Can I roll it? Actually, I'm going to use a hero point to reroll that. You can. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks. So he's got to roll above a 28. Nice. You stare at it. You see the undulation, undulating movements. You recognize the consistency inside. The illumination throws off lesser minds, but Baldrick is far superior. Don't say that. You can tell that the, the, the, the, like the equations dance to the air in front of your bucket visor. Don't turn me into, don't turn me into Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock. I'll punch you. At that point, Ruhua gets a text message and it pops up on the screen. And then we cut back to you. Yeah. Thank you. And, Baldrick, you recognize that a few things. This, this substance is, is magically infused. And generally, a lot of magically infused, how chemicals aren't particularly flammable. And if they are, they're sort of just like immediate combustion. It's not like it would spread through everything and explode the whole underground system. That would be, that would be a very big defense flaw for them. So it probably wouldn't work like that. Because the second someone throws a single match in. Yeah, exactly. But you can also tell that the door and the construction of the door, as, as, you know, you're, you're, you've got like a, like, triangles now coming into your equation. The construction of the door showcases that none of this substance is entering into it. So setting up a courting charge near the center of the door to build a passage for all of you to go through wouldn't even hit any of this liquid anyways. And even if the liquid were to be contacted, it's not like the whole installation would occur. I was kind of hoping everything would explode, but I guess I'll do that. That works for me. It sure would solve one problem to blow up this entire place, but I feel like it would create a fun new problem. Vina, Vina, Vina, Baldrick just took toughness. He can take it. You know what? Causing a massive earth shattering nuclear, nuclear level explosion can in fact be negated by just being a tough guy. I understand. That is true. It's true. I went from having 112 health to 140. It was incredible. Yeah, sure. Anyway. All right. In that case, I will prep a single coring charge and just cobble everything together using my usual reagents and infused goods until there is just a simple sack filled with all kinds of small bottles and catalysts that Baldrick kind of just walks over to the door after looking it up and down left to right knocking his knuckle against it for a moment and then just squarely planting it in the center. You guys might want to get behind something like usual. That isn't me or Ruhua. I missed you, Baldrick. I get behind Ruhua. I just said not to do that. Well, but I thought it was reverse psychology. No, I'm saying get behind something. I'm not structurally sound enough. I'm saying get behind something so the blast doesn't knock you on your ass. All right, I'll get behind something. I get behind Ruhua again. It's going to be bad. All right. Well, it's not not going to be colossal. I've only messed with it a little bit. Corring charges meant for break taking down buildings, blowing holes in walls. Orange starts going behind something, but he kind of quickly pitter-patters to Baldrick and gives him a hug going, I missed you, Baldrick. He's like, thanks for catching up with us. And he scurries back behind like one of the altars. Yeah, you guys didn't make it easy on me. Well, we didn't exactly have it easy up until this point. Yeah. It's good that you're at least back along with the gang. You're going to have to do some explaining to do. I got no idea what you guys have been up to this entire goddamn time. I was a horse! Snot walks away from Baldrick, walks up to Ruhua and goes, You kept away the guy who can make alchemy shit, blows up buildings, and in general, looks like that. She points over to him from me. Baldrick raises a hand and waves at the two of you. To be fair, he is also the most qualified among us to keep the airship functioning properly. It's true. He's only real mechanic. He knows what to do. Yeah, speaking of, have any of you seen anything that could suffice as a coolant hose? Because one up there ruptured. Hmm. I've had to hold the thing together with bailing wire, and if it doesn't get fixed soon, it's going to, well, probably be really bad. I don't know what happens when a core made of souls overheats, but... I can fix that. Orrin panics and begins skittering back to the airship. Wait, Orrin, no! I don't want the answer to explode! You need a hose first! Wait, hold on, I have one. Wait, you could always, you could go buy one at the store that we worked at. I'm sure we still get an employee discount. Orrin skitters away to the airship. Is he going to fly up the elevator shaft with his big wings? I mean, he'd probably just make the elevator go back up. I mean, it went back up for you. But then you'd make us wait for the elevator to come back down. I'll just press the button to make it go down. You fight. So I think we take a long breath. There he goes, looking for hos. There he goes. Fuck you, Zolti. He's a real one. Proud of him. All right. As we prepare the door, we're briefly going to go over to Orrin. Kachunk, Kachunk. Hi, Mr. Kachunk. Would you like to go up? Yes, please. Oh, God. Thank you. Kachunk, Kachunk. The elevator begins rising. Orrin stands on it alone. This is like a big picture of a big elevator and just a little guy. This is just like Dark Souls when my fucking friends would send it back up when it's like, hang on, I need to get out of the I need to get out of the swamp and it's in Dark Souls fucking three and it's like, I got to get up on the elevator. You prick, I need to get out of here. Oh, well, Kachunk, Kachunk. Yeah, that is good. That is a good question. I can't remember. Hey, Mr. Kachunk, how do you open the big stone door down there? Should have asked that before you turned the elevator on. No, this is funnier. This is funnier because I'll know the answer and go, oh, I guess I'll figure it out. And I'm not even going to answer it to you vocally. We're just going to cut back to that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, opening that door is so easy. And then it just comes back to us sitting and staring at it. The frame goes where it's like a pan out and it's like, oh, that's how you do it. And then he's gone. Perfect. You just cut back. No, here's the smash cut. Oh, so that's how you do and you are cutting back to Baldrick literally injecting the activating agent into the one into the one jar like, all right. He's going to look back and see everyone hiding behind the pews, I assume. This looks like this. Yep. All right. You want to give me one more crafting check here to see your souping up of the bomb. Sure. I'll give that a shot with a 37. Woo. All right. I am. Listen, I lucked out because at a level 11, I was like, give me one more skill. I was like, all right, I'm an expert of crafting now. Do you happen to have the number for coring charge, by the way, Thurston? Because I, we don't have it anymore because the swap over removed them all. one sec. However, Baldrick will shout out fire in the hall and he will immediately leap over and mantle whatever pew is closest and land on top of snot. roll me 10d8. You got it. 54. That's a good roll. All right. I also have demolition, so that will go significantly higher. I just need to demolition charge. Yeah. Yeah, it just allows you to ignore more. Okay. Yeah. Ignore more I get you. I get you. All right. There's a kind of hissing. It's a contained blast. Yeah, shape charge. I wish we had a big explosion noise, but it's fine. I'll have to. As the explosion sort of dissipates, you see something strange. coming coming through the hole from the hole. You see that there is like an orange light that penetrates. It's just coming from is it like wafting through or is it just light? it's light from the other side. So what's with the light? No clue. By the way, that was beautiful. Thanks. Could you get out from under me, please? Of course. squishes herself from out from under him. The liquid. The liquid. Crawls along the floor like the grudge. The grudge. I do have like, I do have, let's see if I actually do have it. I think I did pick it. No, sadly not. Fuck it then. Snod will start to scamper towards the orange light. I'll check it out. Hey, where the for fuck? Come on, you three. If they didn't already know we're here, they definitely do now. I just assume, Snod, that your mech suit construct can be deployed via Pokeball if you need to. That's the assumption I was going off of as well. Yeah, no, like, yeah, I imagine the idea that she's always dragging it behind her like she's at the airport with her luggage. Like it's in a compact form. Yeah, then you like kick it and it goes like a transformer. That's a feat for everyone who wants to play an inventor back at home. Yeah. Is it? Yeah. That's so funny. Snod says, I'm going to turn into a truck now. Burk. Dude, that is Tannhauser. That is literally what her mech is. Tannhauser, as the door is blown, like a section, I should say, but a five-foot section is blown up, but you feel a just like overwhelming attraction to enter. we must move forward. Something in my bones is telling me this is the way. I'd certainly hope so, considering we just blew a hole through it, but I got no idea where we're going. I'll move forward. I'll find the path forward. The path is clear. you go through first, Tannhauser, followed by your allies. As you enter this chamber, you find that it is bathed in this orange-red light. The orange coming from the far end of the chamber, which itself has stone pews. Unlike the other off- sections you've seen, though, this place has a fine red carpet, though you can tell that the carpeting in here isn't red from color, it's red from blood stained. The pews here are similarly stained, as there is sloshes of blood that have been spattered around the room, and at the far end opposite the way you're entering from past lines of pews are two things. One, a robed figure that has almost skeletal fingers and looks up with an emaciated face, something, an appearance you've seen before long ago, and behind it, floating almost impossibly in the air, behind an altar that separates it and the robed figure, it appears to be a miniature sun. And as you enter and see all of this, as you enter and you see all of this, the robed figure looks up at you, and in a rasping voice, you haven't heard for some time, you hear, I have been expecting you. and let's take a break here. Let's go stretch our leggies. Now that is a guy we haven't seen in a while, huh? The guy from the start, from the start. That's our old guy. We end as we began. You ever wonder how we can afford all this amazing art and keep the production going and narrative declaration? Well, it's because of you. Either you're a member of Patreon, a YouTube member, or a Twitch subscriber, all the way to just someone who's just willing to watch the shows whenever they come out for free and then telling people that we exist, it's thanks to you that narrative declaration is able to grow to the size it is today. And if you want to really help it grow even more, all the revenue that we get from our merch store at narrative declaration. shop, where you can pick up game mats, t-shirts, posters, all sorts of things, that also goes directly into supporting artists, animators, editors, players, game masters, anybody, anybody who helps make everything to be due here successful. So thank you so much to you for supporting the show, either it's monetarily or just with your time. Thank you so much and enjoy the show. So then I started blasting. No, really? You just blasted like that? You were just, that just happened? It did. It's a medical condition, Thurston, and healthcare is not cheap here in the US. So yeah, I did. I blasted everywhere, all over everything. Are you happy to hear about that? Does that make you feel good? No, as a Canadian that makes me actually deeply sad for you and I kind of want to give you a hug. So shall we talk to the flame, the fume congregant, please? Because I'm actually intrigued as to what he has to say. That sounds like a good idea. Yeah. He stands there at the opposite end, like beneath this sort of smoldering sun that kind of burns behind him, giving the room this strange orange glow compared to the fluorescent pink you've been deluged with since entering this subterranean realm. Identify yourself. you know me as I know you. Den Ozer, you remember that temple we fell into? Yes, I do. I've got that eerie feeling now as I did then. Spoke with him before. I know that. He's just rather far away. I wanted to make sure. Why don't we get closer? This is a manifestation of what? Papa Blaze? Uncle Blaze, but yeah. Why don't we get closer then? Hey, Thurston, do I know this guy? No. No, you have no idea what this is. Like, this is just like a charred flesh humanoid in robes. This thing is incredibly strange and out of place. Like, it's not even a member of the Black Papacy, so it wouldn't be in any of your, like, children's, you know, children's novels about the Black Papacy. So from Snot's perspective, not only did Baldrick come in, push all this through, saved us, essentially, went through this, and when we enter the door and this thing goes, I know you as you know me, and then Baldrick explains it, Snot has realized he's the captain. Oh, fuck. He's the guy. We're the side crew. No, don't tell me. Ah. Baldrick's the main character. You heard it here first. Fuck. Don't do this to me. Grow up. Don't do this to me. I have no charisma on Baldrick. He has no charisma at all, because I deferred it to go to Vena, because I was tired of playing the face. Load-bearing charisma character. Fuck me. I literally hid my face with a bucket. Fuck. That was here. What? Can we talk to this guy? Who is this guy? Well, don't expect enlightening conversation. I mean, it's in the light. This is likely an aspect of one of the elemental gods sealed away. When last we spoke to them, I received a vision, if I recall correctly. Snott leans against her mech and looks at him like, huh? Hmm? You just said some shit, Tenhelzer. Have you been keeping things away from me? Have you just not mentioned that? There's a lot of things that have happened to me in my life. I mean, I'm mostly robot. Yeah, but you could have mentioned, like, you know, locked away deities and stuff like that. I'm pretty sure we did mention it at least once. Look, we're ignoring the important thing in the room, which is to say, and Baldrick points over to the fume congregant, him, and also, he points his fingers slightly further upward at the giant glaring orb that is filling the room with a horrible orange light. I'll begin moving forward to go meet with the flame man. How far up can I go before you start combat, Thurston? I'm not going to run all the way up to him, but I will try to keep pace with Tenhauser. Move where you need to. Move where you think conversation would be fine. No. What? Tenhauser being 70 feet away from me. This is about probably where I'd be comfortable speaking with this guy. With the sun in your face. Assuming like I don't begin catching a flame and thousands of evil gargoyles begin picking away at my flesh. Give me a fortitude save, Tenhauser. I'd love to. That's going to be a 34. Your flesh is intact. You feel the heat, though. like this thing is radiating. Not as much as it probably should, but definitely hot. What has brought you here? Speak now and clearly that I may free you. I was always here. as I left you a message. So I waited here for you to come and fulfill it. I see. Well, we are here now. What would you have us do behind me? Like, and you could tell, obviously, like, referencing the sphere of molten energy. That is what you will need. An essence to brave the flames. But to take it, you must sacrifice. what must I sacrifice? What will you sacrifice? The strength of the flame is dependent on the amount sacrificed. What you give is what you will receive. Should you offer something paltry? The defense is offered will be equally paltry. I don't like saying it, but I'm kind of happy that the poultry boy ain't here. What's up? That's a different word, different word. He said paltry, not poultry. Oh. there must sacrifice something of value. Must only I do this? It is yours, your choice to take this waited for you as each other waits for another. must this thing be tangible? What is tangible for such a sacrifice? let me show you. I am going to reach into my jacket and I am finding actually that I am lacking an accoutrement for this, which I don't believe is true. I mean, I even have a sword on my on my art, but it seems like I don't have one in my inventory. Ray. Um, I'll turn around. Vina. Can you take your old character sheet? It probably is my old character sheet. I need to borrow your blade for a moment. Sure. Vina's gonna, uh, you know, turn it over and pass the handle to him. Excellent. I'm going to place my hand on the pew and I am going to lop off my left hand. Oh, my God. All right. All right. We want to help him with that. Um, okay. Let him cook. There's a, there's a ca-thunk as the, as the blade goes deep and through. It doesn't hurt as much as the old one used to. And I suppose I could always find a new one to replace what I've lost. But a hand is still a hand. My body is still my body, even enmeshed in steel. I'll present the severed hand to the fume congregant. Yeah. Um, so you walk closer? I, I'll, I'll not walk closer just yet. I'll hold it and I'll say, is this a worthy sacrifice? If it is what you choose, then it is what you choose. But is it paltry? I can get another hand. I would only be losing it until I found another one. I need to know how much do you need of me? That is what I'm willing to give, to take what is needed to fight the foe that I must. If you question it, is it worthy? He makes a good point. I'll drop my hand uselessly on the floor. Makes like a sickly wet sound as it thumps onto, onto the, like, the bloodied carpet. Um, as, as it happens, as though, like, explaining this room, the, the remaining blood fluid that pumps into your hand is almost sucked up immediately by the ravenous carpet, adding to its crimson stain. Ugh! These damn fools! What is this place? It is a temple. older than the bones built around it. These are the places you must seek. The temples to upend the stakes. but it waits still. What will you sacrifice? I offer a pledge then. That shall be my sacrifice. for years I have toiled as a murderer in these sands. I have brought death by blade by axe. And I will swear an oath as my sacrifice by the light of this shackled sun. Nevermore shall I take a life with blade and hand. my hand is gone and nevermore will I grip a sword in my palm. That is my pledge. That is my sacrifice. That one who lived by the blade shall no longer wield it. Now grant me your protection. Come. Come and seal it in the blood that flows from your stump. I will do this. Give me another fortitude save. Sure thing. Egg shield! Whoa! Bless you! Bless you! Yeah, you just sneeze all over. It's like when you look into the sun randomly and you like get an overwhelming sensation and you need to sneeze. Is that only me? That is only you, I'm afraid. Oh no, my nerve damage. I was saying, go to the doctor, but I know you've already been going to the doctor. Salty, add it to the notes for your doctor. Tanhauser, as you approach, the sphere begins to flare. All of you in the room feel the heat, but Tanhauser, you manage to move your way, kind of trudging through it. and as you do, um, you take no damage, but it's, it pushes you, um, and you, you see the hand, the skeletal hand of the fume congregant, like reaching out, one, one finger sort of dancing in the air. Um, your allies who stand behind the pews, um, behind you see this intensity flaring up, and as they see it, they also would see on the ground, your, your hand, your severed hand crisps and turns into dust flying back on the air, some kind of extra intensity placed on that as you make the final step towards this, this robed figure, whose single finger is outstretched. what must I do? what must I do? you have done what you will do, and we shall see if it is worth. and his hand taps the stump you have, and you feel this blinding, sharp pain go through your body. You feel all of what remains of your nerve endings alight and on fire. It's probably the most alive you've felt since your accident that transformed you. But with that comes something else, some other something, something wrong that, like, this fire that is burning through your body now is unnatural and shouldn't be there. And as that happens, there is this moment where it sets in and you can recoil back, breathing slightly, and immediately at the end of that, the congregant crumbles into dust, the same as your hand, dissipating before you. And as it does so, your severed hand reconstitutes, but does so only as a skeletal bone that you seem to maintain control over. There is no flesh on it. it is simply bone that is now animate to your will, almost in mockery to the metal components of your body and the full flesh with which you have. And as that happens, almost like going through the fume congregant, the sphere channels itself through him and into you and into your body and in a sudden, almost seismic shake, the sphere simply disappears. What a mess. Hey, Gamebester, I have super cool cooling gloves on me and my mech. Can, now that the big ball is gone, can I run up and cool down Tannhauser as much as possible? Yeah, absolutely. Awesome. She's gonna run in with her mech, like, as quickly as possible and try to cool this guy down as we saw him be fucking lit a flame. Are you good? Are you good? Yes, yes, yes, I'm, I still stand. Yeah, that pain, I haven't felt anything like it in quite some time. Brother, that was the most cold golden shit I've ever seen, and I've seen so much sand. Thank you. I, now look and I realize I now have a cool skeleton hand. You're like the skeleton warrior. I need to invest in a glove, I think. I think you're gonna need to explain to me what the hell you just did. I saw some sort of oath for protection. I tried to give them my hand, they wouldn't, well, I had doubt, unless it wouldn't have been a worthy offering. So instead, I am now seemingly to gain protection from these scouring flames. I am now obligated to no longer wield a weapon. Whoa. But you can't kill people anymore. Gee, well, obviously, yes. never again shall I do it with my hands. It must not be done with a blade. That's so sad. Well, as long as I find it appropriate, I guess I don't really care. You still feeling all right over there? yes. Yes. But the conflagration, it did bid me base that the rest of us are likely to be called upon to make this sacrifice. Not you, Snot, though you're great still. Whoa. What? Well, if you do find a weird god that requires me to do a sacrifice, you can tell him that I'm not here, okay? if a god tells me to get you, I'm gonna let you know about it. That would be weird. I don't fuck around with gods for a reason, you know? Hennessy. Wrong. Blasphemous. I didn't say anything. It's all those guys hungering for snot. Baldrick, now, I'm gonna preempt this, Baldrick's gonna pull out the grenade launcher. Yeah, three figures float into the room. Those guys look so sick. Yeah. Uh-oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They float into the room. They have strange, almost mechanical backpacks that pump this neon pink fluid around their bodies. Their faces are this emaciated gray ash, and they wear steel plates of some manner. Their hands are outstretched like claws, their bottom where the robes should touch the floor is instead like a smoky color. And Snot and Tannhauser, you recognize them as congregants of the Black Papacy. Oh, that looks so sick. That's fire. This place is sealed, sealed. You should not be here. We close this for a reason, heresy. All right, these three figures float into the chamber. And they don't look too happy with you, everybody. Why were you keeping this sun in your deep catacombs? Um, they look up, and as they sort of make eye contact, you hear them speak off from each of them slightly. This is not ours. We sealed this place. It is not ours. It is older, not ours. You must not know. They must not know. We are the oldest. That is what they must think. You must die. After you, scum. I think they're mad about their door. I'd be mad too. True. I think the existence of this place hints at the fact that they haven't exactly been truthful with their congregants. We got speaker coughing, we got Roshi. Roshi! Maybe so. I may just roll some perception initiative, and I, you know, other people can roll maybe some appropriate initiative scores. DMs, there's stuff. Yeah. Rahua, roll. I'm going to roll. I got you. That's for what people roll an initiative. Yeah, I roll. Let's go from the top of the order down. Vina, what did you get? I got 25. And then Rahua, what did you get? I got 25. Yeah, but your tech sucks. You suck. Baldrick, what do you get? Shut up. 24. And then 10, I got a 20. And then it's not a goblin. I got a 20 like an OG. It's a dirty 20. He'll feed 20. And with that, as you see these creatures floating towards you, the first one raises its hand. Uh-oh. And that's what we're going to call for today. Oh, okay. That makes sense. Sorry for sudden fucking rapid death cough. Oh my God. It is. I had that happen. I had that happen during an interview I had at Gen Con. It was like the most embarrassing thing because I'm just like, let me shove water in my mouth. And I'm like, I swear I'm not sick. there's just something in my throat that is not going away. Thanks, EM world. You guys are cool. I did. I scared people that during my vacation to where I have a perpetual cough that just won't go away. And at the start of like, cough, cough, don't worry, I'm not sick. But then I secret, but the COVID secretly was on the way. So the COVID got through and using cough as a disguise. So I got everybody. But thank you guys so much for watching this lovely episode of Rock Ryan. Please follow everybody on the socials down below and stuff like that so we can save them for time for this here because there's so many technical issues. If you really want to support the show, please come over and help us out at patreon.com or being a member on YouTube. You can watch the bots there along with on Twitch by being a Twitch member and stuff like that. Please come over. Come say hi. We greatly appreciate your time everybody. Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you guys next time. Another episode of Rock Ryan. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.