Due to some violent content, Brental discretion is advised. In the year two
hundred and forty seven, in the Age of Judges, Vartan was summoned home
by a letter stating that his father had died under mysterious circumstances. Upon returning
home, Vartan opened his mind to the possibility that his father's death and his
hometown of Eterno was not everything that it appeared to be. Welcome to Ethereal
embrace, I'm Baia, and you're about to hear me say an eyeball second.
For clarity and legal purposes, an eyeball second refers to the time your
eyeball is visible between blinks day four, late morning the Temple of Grayhawk.
Under the door that leads to the basement, there's a pin. The pin
is assumed to set off a trap should you open the basement door. Morsey
just jumped through the portal leading back to the cave entrance, and the portal
closes as Vartan gives more Z the stink eye and the threatening glare. Baya
recognized the trap just before she opened the door and stopped short down below in
the basement. You suspect from glimpsing in the mind of more Zy that there
are two chasms down there, and you assume that Tellmica is still alive.
By a cass ray of frost on the little pin from thirty feet away.
The ray of frost freezes the pin in place. And then what do you
do? Open the door? All right, slowly? Okay, So you
open the door slowly, and the pin is still frozen in place and it
does not shoot up. You can tell that it is connected to something on
the floor that when the pin does eject up, probably something bad will happen,
you know, traps and all. But you're free to go down the
stairs right now if you choose. It's connected to something on the floor.
Yeah, So you've got your door, and you've got your frame, and
then in between the bottom of the door and the frame, or in the
and the floor, there was the pin. And the pin is connected to
something in the floor. So if the door had swung open, the pin
would have popped and something in the floor would set off explosion or who knows,
who knows what. But because it didn't pop up, you are safe,
yes for the time being, because it's frozen. Okay, I'll take
a big step over the general area of the pin, and okay, pull
my long sword out and start heading downstairs. Okay, I still have my
hammer out. I'm gonna step over it as well. I'm worried that this
may melt, so I'm just going to do a can trip for ice knife
and just like set it instead of attacking it, and just going to create
the shard of ice and set it one on each side of the pin to
keep it frozen. Does that work? That works? Yeah, very creative.
I'm good with it. You could have just closed the door, but
this also works. Yeah. All right, So you head downstairs the basement.
As you come down the stairs, they're they're rickety old stairs, wooden
steps that go down and you can hear the creaking noise for each step that
you take as you come down around the basement corner and you can actually see
into the room. It appears that the basement is a catch all for the
temple's general items, so there are wine bottles and crates of candles, dusty
books, old tables, chairs, and other miscellaneous items strewn about the floor
or on old shelves. One entire wall is filled with pickled peppers and jarred
fruits that are sealed in containers and look like they could be from tell me
Ka's gardens. Out back. A low buzzing noise comes from somewhere behind one
of the walls. Go ahead and make a perception check for more details.
And it is lightless down here, so that would give vartan disadvantage. But
you other two are good. Okay, So that's a eighteen awesome all right.
So even though you're struggling to see in the dark basement, you can
make out. At the far back wall of the basement, a large iron
stove is edged into the corner. Shackled is a filthy and almost passed out
Talmika, who is laying on the floor with her head tucked into her arms.
To the left of the steps where you finish coming down, just under
the kitchen of the main floor where you were where you're entered, a large
door is closed with a metal bolt that acts as a hinge. You notice
that as you come down to the stairs, the hinge begins to shake a
little and then disappears completely and the doors start swinging open from the hinged section.
Yeah, I'm imagining, I'm just hearing all this really well, Okay,
do I smell anything, Yeah, I would say you smell. You
smell gross demon smell that you got from that being around the zill All right,
that same kind of odor. I ticket. I'm not worried yet because
my staff has not gone off. Yeah. Uh yeah, so no,
it would make sense. You're well, it would have been better if you
had made your perception check. So the door hinge begins to open, and
you're just as the door swings wide enough open that the buzzing noise gets really
loud, your staff says inside, we both know what's been going on.
We know where gotta play it. Baya is going to immediately just cast fireball,
sorry, towards the buzz Okay, So do you want to like ready
the action that as soon as the door finishes opening, you can cast fireball
right into the buzzing noise. Yeah, I mean I want to like take
an eyeball second to make sure it's not to make sure it's exactly what I'm
assuming is uzz buzzing. I like it, And do you other two want
to do anything to prepare for this door that's like slowly swinging open, like
literally the slowest swing open in the history of the world. Right now,
and Tell Mika is on our side of this door, right chained to that
stove. Yeah. So let's say you guys came in from the westernmost side,
which is where the kitchen was, and he took the steps down.
You came down kind of in the middle of the basement, just the way
that the stairs work, and so back towards the west end of that building
is where these creatures are. And then on the far wall away from that
is where Tell Mika's chained out. Okay, so you guys are in between
the chasms, and tell Meca, Okay, I'm going to ready sacred flame
to cast on one of them when I see it. Is there any way
I can get in a position to swing my hammer or do I need to
like ready a javelin? I would ready a javelin, Okay, Yeah,
I'm gonna ready a javelin then, especially with Baya's fireball. Yeah, I'm
popping. I'm popping my hammer and my left left hand and I pull out
a javelin with my right and I got it ready to throw. Okay.
Cool. So the door finishes opening up just as it swings up this large
chasm creature, the ones that you saw from the book. So these giant
insectoid creatures with giant long cone needle noses and big wings starts taking off right
out the door in your direction. But as soon as the door opens by
you unleash your fireball. So as she's like holding the fireball, it's getting
bigger and bigger in her hand. Cheese about to like, how do you
Each creature in a twenty foot radius sphere centered on that point must make a
dexterity saving throw of sixteen. One of them failed, so we'll call this
Johnny Johnny Chasm die or failed. And then Bobby Chasm critically failed and got
two ones in a row. So I am going to I mean, like,
normally, just critically failing out a dexterity save is not gonna do too
much. It just means that you're fireball hit them. But I'm gonna let
you do full on max damage to this. Oh damn second one, Bobby
Chasm takes forty eight damage and his cousin takes twenty seven. Holy cow,
that was a lot, all right, and then you other two. Let's
let's go ahead and go to ovic. So I kissed sacred flame on Bobby.
You gotta make a deck save or take two D eight fire damage or
radiant damage, and it's fourteen is the save. He rolled a twelve,
so he takes the damage. So it's just like a pillar of fire drops
down on his head and engulfs him and he takes seven points of damage.
Okay, ouch, So Bobby got straight wrecked coming out of the front door
with all sorts of fire and then Vartan, it's over to you and your
javelin. Uh, Bobby's lit up, Bobby's fretty let up. Okay,
So no disadvantage on this attack, all right? Yes, okay, thirteen
to hit. That is a miss. Oh, so you throw your jablin
and it just flies right in between where Johnny and Bobby are flying right now.
And let's roll for initiative, all right, sixteen thirteen by his gut
advantage, right because we're staff of warning. Yes, Johnny got twenty and
Bobby got four or bobby all right, So Johnny goes first and he buzzes
out. Oh and and I believe, oh, Vic, you casted something
at before you came down the stairs into the basement that was supposed to last
for a while, the bond thing. Yes, I did it lasts ten
minutes? Okay, and everybody gets extra D four They can add to an
attack roll, an ability to check, or a saving throw. So if
we want a retcon uh his attack he gives, you can add a D
four to that. Sixteen sixteen changes that to a hit. Yep, woo
woo woo woop. Eleven damage to Bobby. Okay, he's still up,
but he is on fire and now has a javelin in him. Okay,
all right, So the door zoe open up wide. Johnny comes out,
and then right behind him Bobby comes out and a fireball, a sacred flame,
sacred flame, Hannah, javelin all fly and Johnny bails out to the
left of the door right as he flies out, so he just skirts out
of the way, and all three of those things just blast right into Bobby's
face. Bobby chaz him. But Johnny, now that he's out, is
going to turn and fly directly at Vartan. And you hear this droning noise,
all of you hear it. And I need a DC twelve constitution saved.
How many how many inspiration do I have? One or two? I
don't remember how many you had from last time? I think you've used quite
a few. I have used a lot. I think you guys know all
got I know I've gotten one back since I've used them, but I don't
remember if I had. I think I used them all up, so i'd
be at one. Yeah, I think you're at one for figuring out tell
Miko was or for confirming that Telbico was more as God buy a field.
I got a fifteen on my safe. I got a buy at eleven and
that was including did you that work for saves? She has a plus six
to constitution. Just it's not Roland all tonight. You can add a D
four. I think she did. Oh it was dre She's so sad about
it. I'm using my inspiration point all right now. My D four might
help. But I need a four, and I got a four exactly.
I did not think a DC twelve constitutions stay would be this difficult for you
three. I got it. Okay. So for Baya, you hear this
droning noise after the fireball goes off, and you get dizzy, very dizzy.
The whole room starts spinning and then you fall to the floor unconscious.
Okay, So it flies directly at Vartan and it makes its attack against you,
and it is it's needle nose. It's down right at your chest,
and it rolled a twenty four to hit that hits. Oh boy, that
is sixteen piercing damage plus twenty four necrotic damage. All right, coach,
and the targets hit point maximum is reduced reduced by an amount equal to the
necrotic damage taken. Damn, that's holy shit. Okay, that's that's forty
HP right, well, yes, but but you hold on, hold on,
hold, Oh it's necrotic. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah,
the necrotic damage was twenty four, and your maximum hit points are reduced by
twenty four. Now, so I'm down. You only had forty hit points.
I had forty five, but my max is lowered now, so your
max. Yeah, but that doesn't you'd still have five hit points. Okay,
so I still have five? Yeah, you got five hit points,
but you can only get healed back up to whatever min twenty twenty one?
How would that go away? All? Right? Over? Ye, Vartan's
right next to me, right, okay. As an action, all right,
I'm going to cast guiding Bolt at a third level, um, Johnny,
which is the one that just attacked Vartan right, yep, okay,
twenty three to hit it goes. That's kind of weak. Twenty three damage,
that's kind of weak. I was I was expecting more, I guess
on sixty six, I was hoping for better. So yeah, twenty three
damage's basically just looks like lightning, like Emperor Pelpatine style. Lightning shoots out
of my hands and hits Johnny in the face, and the bright light and
everything else lights Johnny up and it makes a ghastly screech in pain as the
lightning hits it zaps it. And now, thanks to guiding Bolt, the
next attack on Johnny gets advantaged no matter what. And that's my turn,
and I can see I can see this chasm in front of me. Okay,
So I don't know if we're gonna make it out of this alive or
at least, but I want to do something. I want to U use
a bonus action to deduce weakness. I'm gonna add my wisdom modifier to my
attack role or no, no, no, it would add to my damage
um until the end of my current turn. When I hit a creature with
a weapon attack during this time, you learn one of the creatures traits actions
since damage, vulnerabilities, resistances, or immunities. The GM chooses which information
you gain, but I can request one type to prioritize. So if I
hit it, okay, since I don't have a javelin in my hand,
I'm grabbing my axe and I'm just slamming down two handing it. Okay,
it's twenty eight to hit eighteen damage eighteen damage to Johnny. And we'll say
that with that hit as good as it was, you learn two things that
or you recall two things about it, one from the book that you looked
at before. If it creature that does get incapacitated or knocked unconscious by that
droning noise, takes any kind of damage from the creature, they will wake
up. Other than that, they'll be asleep for ten minutes. Okay,
not asleep, but unconscious for ten minutes. They have to take damage it
all or just damage from the creature. Damage at all, okay, any
damage at all, will wake on. The second thing you glean is that
they don't have any damage vulnerabilities to them, but they do have damage resistances
to cold fire and lightning. So I keep that weapon damage through the rest
of my turn. It's it goes until the end of my turn. Okay,
cool, where I can have my wisdom. That's twenty seven to hit
that hits. That's seventeen damage and action searge. Okay, and can I
see bio, Yeah, you can see her. How far away is she
from me? She's like right next to you. You guys are all kind
of standing next to each other when the door started to creak open, and
you all prepared one thing to do. So she's within ten feet. Okay,
I'm going to I'm just gonna like try and hit her with just like
the the handle of my hammer and try and do minimum damage. All right.
I think it's an automatic crip. Yeah, yeah, I think she's
incapacitated. I think that's sixteen plus nine. So I mean you should just
bend down, kick down and slap her. Yeah, that's just your strength,
your strength dage. No no, no, no, I was gonna
say, and im and I'm not trying to do a bunch of damage.
So just one smacking her is one plus your strength modifier plus four. Yeah,
so be five. So even five doubled on a crip would only be
ten ten damage. Actually, it would only be six damage because you don't
double the modifier the CRP, you just add up. You just double the
bass. Okay, you're gonna need as much life as you can get at
this, all right, Sorry, go ahead at him? Uh and then
yeah, I'm gonna take another swing at him two handed, Johnny, that's
twenty one to hit. Yeah, okay, twenty one damage. Okay,
that oh never mind. Note, Sorry, I got your hopes up,
so that is your return unless you've got anything else. Oh no, that's
that's it. And don't forget to side note. I know you used your
bonus action to glimpse of vulnerability on that, but you can use bonus actions
fur balls. Justice does have the ability where it has life steal on it
to regain HP. Don't forget. Yeah, yeah, I know. I
looked at it and I saw that it. It's a bonus action to use
it too, yep, Okay, cool. I just wanted to make sure.
I know. Sometimes the equipment perks get get lost in the shovel.
All right. So now it's Bobby's turn. So Bobby's gonna go, and
Bobby's gonna fly around you guys to go do what Bobby was commanded to do,
and Bobby is very upset and still on fire somewhat and flying the full
sixty or a full one hundred and twenty feet around you the long way so
that you can't take a cheap shot on poor Bobby. But Bobby's heading right
towards tell Mika, and then it's back to the top of the order with
Johnny, and Johnny is going to attack a second time against Vartan. Hold
on a second. I'm going to enact my protective bond. When a creature
affected by your emboldening bond, which is what I cast before he came downstairs,
is about to take damage, a second bonded creature within thirty feet of
the first can use its reaction to teleport to an unoccupied space within five feet
and take the damage instead. So Ovic is going to do that to protect
Vartan. Ovic will take the shot instead. Okay, that's cool. So
does a fifteen hit Ovic? It does not nice, all right, So
it goes to shoot its needle down and hit Vartan, and just as it
does, Ovic appears right next to Vartan and redirects the needle from from hitting
either of you. And that is I think that's all Johnny can do on
his turn. All right, I'm going to take my comically large sword and
smash Johnny in the face. I don't know if this this will help.
Probably not thirteen that missus. So you take your comically large sword and just
swing right past him, hit the floor, large sparks, shoot up,
and buy a year on the ground. Still, but you're awake. What
do you want to do? I want to m hmm. How far away
is Bobby? Bobby's halfway between you and tell Meca now, so he's about
twenty five feet away from you, um, and about forty five feet away
from Tellmica. Hm. Because if I stand up, that takes my movement.
Yeah. Um, she's gonna stand up, and she is going to
She's gonna cast mind spike, which is psychic damage at Bobby. Okay,
he needs to Oh I would relay the damage vulnerabilities I forgot about that or
not resistance their resistances. Um, the target must make a wisdom saving throw.
Oh poor Bobby. Oh my tune at one's backed back again. Some
max damage on this and his resistance? Yeah yeah, no, just max
damage twice in a row with Bobby. All right, that is twenty four
damage. That is a psychic mind spike that kills Bobby. So what does
that look like? It's basically um coming out of her staff, and it's
the lyrics to the Rick Roll song in a spike form, just penetrating his
mind. And it's the last words he'll ever hear. All right, So
he's he's beelining it right toward tell Mika and all of the all of a
sudden he hears we're no strangers to low rules, and so too in his
head just goes boom and explode, crashes right into the ground. That's great,
all right? Yeah, anything else you want to do there? Stand
up? Is the other other guy in front of me? Like? Is
he close? Yeah? He's real glose, He's like within ten feet of
you. She is going to actually use something called quicken spell. So um
that spell that she did, she spends two sorcery points to change that to
a bonus action, and then she is going to use her quarterstaff to try
and hit this other guy in front of her. Okay, okay, yeah,
I'll use twin spell. So that's going to cost me. I did
that at was that second level? Yeah? Okay, yep, So have
the other one take a wisdom saving throw. It failed, thirteen damage a
full commitments. What I'm thinking of? You wouldn't get this from any other
guy. Boom It's head also explodes. Oh man, all right, so
you just Rick rolled two demons to death. Thank god. I'm not sure
how good that was good? Yeah, yeah, we'll run over to tell
me. Ka. Thank you for listening to this episode of Ethereal Embrace and
a Fool's Quest production. Vartian, the fur bag Fighter is voiced and played
by Adam Culbertson. Bay A Rustin, the half Elf Sorcerer is voiced and
played by Tisha Ovic. The te Fling Cleric is voiced and played by Chris
Johnson and I am Nico your GM. Please remember to drop us a five
star rating and review on your favorite podcatcher. Music provided in part by Midnight
Syndicate, makers of the original Dudgeons and Dragons soundtrack. If you would like
to follow us on social media or say hello to the cast, details on
where to find us will be in this episode's notes. Remember be safe,
we love you all, and stay foolish.