Bloodstone #37 | Blightwood pt. 1 | Wachovia

[00:00:00] You're listening to a Saturday Night Gaming Podcast, Bloodstone, run by the Game Master, Scott Hibbard. Hope you enjoy. Good evening, and welcome back.

[00:00:29] Hailstead, we have arrived. You have arrived. I'm no longer a dragon. No. You're not? No. No. He shifted back. I had to drop out in order to place that rift point. When did you stop being an elephant? Turtle. When you left the shrine. Uh, the elephant turtle was... No, I was a rhino at one point. Yeah, that was great. When we were inside Dracula's house.

[00:00:58] Well, we can only make you something else. It's kind of like a bull in a china shop. I'm kind of surprised I didn't manage to break anything. I'm shocked at your sudden interest in diplomacy. Yeah. Everybody started talking to him, and I was like, okay. I don't know. It's just, it's weird. It's like we go with three tiers of killing everything we lay eyes on, and we get to the final tier, and it's like, you know, I think I've had a change of heart.

[00:01:27] Well, that's how it really is in life. You get to a certain point, and you're like, is it really worth the bruises? Some characters have literally changed. No, I haven't. I'm still the same guy that I was at the beginning of this game. Just not mechanically. You're not the same guy, you're the same slime. I've changed so much. Mitosis is fun.

[00:01:57] You have a penis now. Mitosis? Yeah. Mitosis. Mitosis. That's your final form. It's better than my toes. Alright. Well, last time on Bloodstone... Hey! Here's what you need to know. Yeah. Here's your five-minute recap. The party did something far more dangerous than fighting. They negotiated with monsters and walked away breathing. Yeah.

[00:02:26] Kudos to y'all for that. We're finally powerful enough to do that. Yeah, that is true. That would not work to tier three. With their patched Count Dracula still fragile as glass, the group split in two. The Traveler, Lena, and Travion held the shrine, guarding their escape route while recovering from the strain of bending reality itself. Meanwhile, Mike, Ulrich, Greg, and Sybil took to the skies, literally, riding Mike in dragon form over the jagged teeth of Dagger Reach.

[00:02:58] The climb was a battle of its own, with brutal winds nearly tearing them apart mid-air before they descended into Grief's Hollow, a canyon haunted by echoes of every death that it had ever swallowed. Beyond it, they found a bell lark waiting at the edge of a volcanic scar in the world, calm, composed, and holding the bloodstone like a loaded promise. When Veyron and Lilitha at his side and the Rebnaut bound in chains, the stage was set for catastrophe.

[00:03:26] But instead, the party made a deal. Neutral ground. The blooded grove. The bloodstone brought willingly, even a bell lark, ancient and calculating, agreed to the terms. No blades crossed, but every word felt like them. They returned to Castle Dracula with the news, where the Count accepted the arrangement with unsettling ease, already savoring the symmetry of the moment to come. After regrouping, preparing, and marking their path at arcane anchors, the party reunited at

[00:03:54] the shrine, plans aligned, allies gathered, and fate tightening like a drawn bowstring. Now everything points to a single place, the Blighted Grove, where gods, monsters, and mortals are about to stand in the same circle and see who walks out. I put my money on the monsters and the mortals. I'm still looking at the stage and trooping out. You and me. I'd like to wager our hope on that.

[00:04:22] I'm just going to point out. Who's talking? Some of us actually are monsters. Are you the devil talking to me? Or is it Dracula talking to me? Because Dracula's a monster. It's the little dungeon master from that cartoon show. He had just appeared. Some of us are monsters. That's what I'm saying. Who among us is not a monster? Who? Sipa? I'm a guardian spirit. She's a friggin' witch. Ulrich? She's an elven witch. Ulrich is not a monster. He's a winged...

[00:04:52] Yeah, but he's a goody two-shoes. He's not a monster. My ass. He smashes things with a mace all the time. And he's a winged telepath from another dimension. He's definitely doing right, though. Compared to the rest of us? He has never spoken directly telepathically into my life. Yeah, we got two witches, an empty suit of armor, a slain... I'm full of... Another suit of armor. Another suit of armor. No, I'm a suit of armor all the way down. You're a spellcasting vampire.

[00:05:22] A freaking undead vampire necromancer. I think I'm actually the most normal. That's what I'm saying. You and me, the monsters and the mortals walk out together. Of monsters and men? We should run... Oh, wait. So, back at the shrine. Yes. You placed your arcane anchor. Anchor. Yes.

[00:05:53] And you have... Filled them back up. Or in. What did you fill us in on? I filled you up on guardian spirit energy. Thank you. Thank you for that. Also, I told you... Now, what the hell happened while you were gone? Nobody trusts you to make decisions. Why did you do that? We made good decisions. We did. She did, and then you said yes. We spoke words instead of fighting. We used our words... Fighting words. No, we used...

[00:06:22] Nothing would not be taken back. We used words instead of fighting. So, what the hell did you tell him? We told him that if he meets us at the tree that I was born at, then Dracula will also meet us there, and that will be the closest he will ever get to what he wants. Which is a bullet-less skullcap. Got it. Let's go. Let's get the bishop. We also told him that we need both pieces together,

[00:06:51] and then I need to fusion dance with it, so that we can do a ritual to cleanse the tree and get the spirit out of the tree to put back into Dracula's wife's body, so that she will get healthy, so that he will stop keeping all of the spirits here, so that they can go, and then the blight can be freed. Cleansed.

[00:07:20] Sounds like that's all going to go off without a hitch. I think so. But that's why we didn't tell them that you were going to be there, so that you can be our insurance. I will ensure that they die whether we succeed or not. Just wait until we're done. The necromancer has to be there to combine the spirit and the body. Our spirits and bodies combined. The Belarc is actually planning to bring one. A body?

[00:07:50] A necromancer. A necromancer. If it's one of his kids, Jesse or James, they're going to die. Yeah, they have some bodies walking along. We need to let them hit the floor, so it's all good. I think Dracula's planning on bringing his own. All right. He's been getting the blood from somewhere. I don't know where. Well, we need to let them hit the floor, too, so it's all good. I'm going to reach into my nomad pack.

[00:08:17] I'm going to pull out a media player. I'm going to hand it to Ulrich, and I'm going to put it on Deftones Passenger. I'm going to tell him to listen on full volume. Hey, Ulrich. This is a little in there. I dare you to tell him that that's a man purse. I take Aston. It's a mag. It's a mag. What do you all do next? So we need to teleport to Crows Hollows so that we can long rest. Oh, they're mags. What do you want me to do?

[00:08:46] We need to teleport to Crows Hollows so that we can rest. Do we want to do that mechanically? Yes. Because we can do that mechanically, or we can just do it narratively. I don't care. And as much as I like that song, it's a tool song. It's not a Deftones song. A Deftones doesn't cover. I know. It's better. Just because Keenan wrote it and sings on it makes it a tool song, not a Deftones song. Crows Hollows.

[00:09:17] Six, seven. That's the guy who's teleporting us. That's the transporter. I mean, this is the thing. If I'm mechanically doing this, then we may or may not get to Crows Hollow. I don't think I have... Man on your horses, everybody. I don't think I have anything I have that I can help you with. You don't have to roll for it. I'm just confirming that you guys are doing that. It's an arrow. Then it's not mechanical. Then yes. Okay.

[00:09:47] Blue fire everywhere. We made it to the place that you know the best. More importantly, it does not miss a jar of anger. Yay! So as the fire consumes your party. We're all dying now? No. Consumes us. It's the fires of time. Oh, okay. And space. Well, isn't that us just dying eventually? I mean, you know,

[00:10:16] it's just destroying you on an atomic level and then rebuilding you on the other side. Yeah, we did. What could possibly go wrong with doing this? It just separates you from reality and makes you feel an overwhelming sense of apathy. And then you come back to reality with a major migraine. See, I thought we just didn't notice the time in between when we left here and the time when we got there. Also, you will forget some core memory. But you won't remember what it was that you forgot. So, you're welcome.

[00:10:46] Thank you. Oh, wait. We'll go back reverse because it's a time. You arrive at Crow's Hollow. We're back. In the center of the treetop village. We were just here. What? Yeah. Three or four weeks ago. I don't even remember why we left. I've lost all my memories. You're welcome. I don't know why I left a safety. Who are you?

[00:11:14] So, it's your ride. I have got this armor. Yes. This, you're about to take a special rest and we're about to go over the mechanics of that and you have your opportunity to do any last minute anything that you need to do before you continue. I'm playing with my enemies. So, with that said, each of the players, each of the PCs, you will clear all HP, all stress, all armor slots. Nice. And you also,

[00:11:44] everybody has six hope. Nice. I clear my stress. So, make sure all that's cleared. But mine goes up to 11. I have cleared my stress. I'm glad you got that, Tony. I guess somebody at least got that. Nice. I got my spinal tap. I was a little bit stressed out after the conversation with the Belar. Actually, I think we had a short rest before we left Dracula

[00:12:14] that last time. Yes. Yes. So, everybody should be cleared on that. Also, in addition to that... Wait, all our stress is cleared? Yes. All stress, all HP, all armor, and you have six... Nobody need my armor. I don't want it cleared. Well, it's clean. It's polished. It's polished. Cool. Both sets. Don't you? This is part of your preparations that you're doing.

[00:12:45] Do I have a house or where do I live? I'm the armor. Am I staying with one of you guys? You actually currently can live in Dante's bar and grill if you want to. I think that's where you were living. You can just run the place. I don't know. Yeah, where's Dante? He went on a different adventure. Is it my bar and grill now? I guess. Dante got married to one of his housewives. He's moved away. He's moved away. He moved to a different place. And I just claimed it?

[00:13:14] Or did he leave it to me? I thought we were... Possession is not intense. We were in charge of that. I'm sorry. I plan on leaving it that way. You're going to leave it to me? Yeah, I'm going to do my will. All right. Wait, what are we leaving? I'm going to go behind the bar and I'm going to like clean glasses. I'm going to pretend to clean them. They're probably already clean. I like doing that. I don't know. They might be dusting. Nobody's been here for three or four weeks. Whatever. Yeah. Well, there's like a... A village. It's been like self-serve. There's just a lot of pollen on it. Don't worry. You're not allergic.

[00:13:45] Cool. I'm immune to pollen. I'll write that down. I should have been on a list. All right. So, in addition to clearing everything, everybody will get, with the exception of Sybil, two downtime actions. You get done. Oh, you get three. With these downtime actions, obviously, you're not clearing anything. You're not gaining hope. You can use it for other things that require downtime.

[00:14:15] Okay. Such as crafting. Crafting. Or if you have class abilities. Yeah. Stuff like that. So, that is up to you. You get to decide how they're used. I am enchanting. I... Can you help me not do the feature until we get to where we're doing? I have to pray to let out that feature to cleanse. I'm going to help him do his enchanting thing.

[00:14:46] Everybody has nice hope. That's once prolonged rest. Oh, yeah. You definitely want to wait. All of those features have been restored. I'm going to help him do his enchanting thing. I know I can't get any help for it, but I can help him prepare. Sure. Since you're going to help him with it, what specifically are you trying to... Just give my war hammer to that. Oh, yeah. In that case, yes, you can use your downtime actions for that. I don't have mecha roll for it since he's assisting

[00:15:15] as well using his downtime. We'll just go ahead and say it's complete. Cool. I guess I can learn to practice my ritual, the blood ritual that I have. I mean, not practice it, but learn the incantation and practice the memory. Yeah. Okay. That's what I'll do. All right. In addition to helping him? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:48] Dan, do you have anything? Nothing I can really work on. Okay. Um, now, so Sybil does have a minor health potion recipe. I can make it and give it to anybody. I can use some of my down times to help her do that. Um, I was about to say, yeah, basically, you can use her downtime because the recipe, she, you have access to the recipe.

[00:16:18] Easiest way to say that. She's in the alchemist shop anyway. Right. You guys are all here together. So there's more... Do you think we can all make one? Uh, for your downtime if you choose to. Yes. If you don't, we can all make an HP potion. Right. What? Pick a number. Sure, I'll make one. Two. You need one of yours for that? I hope I don't. Oh, you just, uh, that'll be bad. So I'll not worry about my spell. I'll go in and make a... You said pick a number. You picked a number? You're fine. I'm all right, man. I can't hurt you on this.

[00:16:49] And vault. This is my loadout and my vault. Yes. I use both of mine to do a potion. And they need to look different than those. So, here's my vault. I figured, great. If anybody needs one of them, here's your pot. Do it. If anybody needs one of them, I can use both of my downtimes for that. Although, every time I think of a healing potion, I think of that main thing. every time I take a healing potion. Five. Six. Five.

[00:17:19] Can I tithe twice? Or just once? Uh, it's per downtime action, right? Per. Yeah, per... It says, it says, I think the word is, during a rest, spend one of your downtime actions to tithe to your place. Yeah. You can use them multiple times. Just use a downtime action. We need our tokens for phantom. So, you can use both of them if you want. Do it now. We need our tokens for phantom. The wild. I need eight. And she needs seven. Do you have enough of green? What does the speed of the wild do? I do not. Okay. Once. That's okay.

[00:17:49] I'll take white. Oh, alright. Miss Jessica. She does seven green, and I'll take eight whites. What does the speed of the wild do? That's what she says. I have eight, exactly. It lets me get tokens equal to the number of sage domain codes in my loadout and vault. When I make spuff-ass roll, I can spend any number of tokens to gain a plus one for each token spent to my spellcasting roll. No, I think I like the blood one better.

[00:18:19] Because I could have taken that too. Yeah. But if you don't have any sage domain cards, or you don't have their mini, it's in. Yeah, no, I think I have one or two. Yeah, that would be great. But I have more blood than I have. Yeah, I have like... I have more blood than I do. Because I started sage and bone, and then I added blood. Yeah. So... Yeah, next time, I'm going to start out dread. Because this is one, two, three, four. So it turns out dread's a lot more fun.

[00:18:48] I do like this system a lot, though. He does? Oh, yeah. He does? It's very, very fun. It's not more fun. It allows you to be creative. They call me judge. That's what? That's it. yes. Okay. All right. So, does everybody use their... So, hold on, what do I write down on my inventory about the potion? Use both your downtime actions to make them? To make one for each? Do I get one? If you get my drift. One per downtime action, so yeah. So you get two. If you want to... Okay. Well, I don't need it.

[00:19:16] I can't do anything else with my downtime actions, right? I don't know if you have any special cards that allow you to. Like, for instance, the warlock can use a downtime to get fame. So, I just get two. But then I decided it was going to be... What do they do to you? He goes 1d4. That's all they do. You consume it, he goes 1d4. For each of my friends. And, as a reminder, for all consumables, your maximum you can hold it one time is five.

[00:19:47] Wow. I think I only have three. I'm up to three potions now. So, just, I don't think anybody's, at that limit, but just so you know. I'm at five. There we go. Somebody has to test the limits. Five of one item. Of one type. Yeah. Of one type? Yes. No. I have been continually forgetting that I have a... Yeah, you can only have five of one kind. Five of a kind. Is that a... That's a thing we can just do

[00:20:16] as long as it's our spotlight, right? The hell... It works just like... So, if you're taking an action already, you can pop a potion as part of your action. I'm okay. Yeah. If all you're doing is popping a potion, you're going to have to roll. Yeah. Because, the enemies are not staying still, waiting for you to do your thing. This isn't Final Fantasy. All right. I told you, I told you, I told you, okay, you're in the middle of combat. You're not just going to wait for you to pop a health potion. So, if that's the only thing you're doing, you're going to have to roll

[00:20:45] in order to avoid attacks while taking a health potion, basically. Query. So. Query. But, yeah, that's all consumables. if the consumable is part of an action, then it's consumed as part of the... Whatever you do is the action. So, you do the action, then you also consume. And my feasts of Zuria, that counts as, like, a healing potion, right? So, like, I would do the same thing. I would eat it, and then do it. Um, I'm not sure. It's a...

[00:21:14] It's a consumable. Hold the bottle. Hold the bottle. Yeah. One second. You're like, shh, pull off this big tank flop. It doesn't specify that I can't use it as a regular. It just says that it gives all my HP and stress, and then I pull it to game. The plates can't move. Yeah, you just eat this meal, clear all HP and stress and get one new four hopes. So, you just consume it. And then I can still do an action in the battle. Yeah, like, if you're already taking an action, for instance, Coroso Spit, you can use Coroso Spit

[00:21:42] and then use the Feast of Zuria. Or by the other side. No, no. Yeah, I mean, as long as you are taking action, yeah. If the only thing you're going to do is use the consumable, you have to roll for it. But if you're doing something else with it, then yeah. Pop a soldier pill, shoot the people in the face. And I still have, remember, I still have this one. Tony, I said I'm down because here. I still have this one.

[00:22:12] Scott, a question. Before we go, that ambulance that I made way back when I didn't go to church? Yeah. Can you remind me what that is? And then once I'm there, they're... Good question. Yeah, but I can't... It's a messenger. It's an LCS message. Because I do not remember. I might be able to... Give me a second. Let me pull it up. I think I did put it in your inventory,

[00:22:42] so let me pull it up on your sheet here and now grab ours. Snag it for you. I know what you're trying to do. Hey, to be honest, Scott, there really was no backlash on that comment. Yeah. So that comment didn't age well. Much like mine. It's an 8 tick down with difficulty 14 and the wraps... The Braith Band

[00:23:10] has a 15 tick counter with difficulty 12. Oh, you got it already? Yeah. Okay. So you don't need me to send it? It's more powerful than the line. So it says Soulstone has an 8 tick down. It says Saturday. 8 tick down with difficulty 14. Oh, no, no, this is something different. So, you make this forecast roll against a target within far range. On a success, spend a hope to call forth a dice to attack them and deal with D10 magic damage using proficiency.

[00:23:40] The target must succeed on reaction roll to steal themselves from the attack or mark 1d4 stress. After you attack, the bound spirit dissipates and the stone becomes empty. During your downtime, you may spend a downtime action and recharge the Soulstone by binding the spirit to it. The Soulstone may be improved upon by doing the whole countdown. Okay. Each success grants the Soulstone additional soul. It can store up to a maximum of five souls to start. Extra soul. So, basically, yeah, and we'll say you've had this for weeks now.

[00:24:10] Right. So, you have five souls in there. Okay. Go. But I will screenshot this and send it to you so you can reference it. Absolutely. There you go. That looks like John Cena holding John Cena. All right. What? There's no end. I believe all the downtime has been completed.

[00:24:38] Am I still making the roll off of my instinct since that is my spellcasting trait while I'm in beast form? Beast mode. Any spellcasting that you do is off your trait. If I'm working the ritual, but I'm essentially part of the focus of the spell at this point? It still will be as well as a trait instinct. Okay. So, if I mythic form,

[00:25:08] mythic beast a cat then I would have plus three instinct. Mm-hmm. So, my instinct would be nine instead of six. That sounds favorite. Yeah. And whenever I help an ally I roll a d8 as my advantage die instead of a d6. Nice. So, essentially I'm about the

[00:25:37] size of his companion. Yeah. And I'm also a guardian beast. Like it. Like a spirit beast basically. Beast. It's like this character's make room. Does the raif stone get more powerful the more soldier has it? It gives you more useless to God. Because each time you use it expends the use out of kind of, yes. Oh, gotcha. Right. I can initiate the technique. Yeah.

[00:26:07] That gives me two of them. And then I can help three more people. Cat, dog, rabbit, et cetera. There's a lot in that et cetera area. Basically, household friend. Hmm. I could probably convince you that it would be nice of you to be a rept. I mean, it's the year I was born. If you had all part of your druids, you could go gorilla, cheetah,

[00:26:37] rhino, velociraptor. It has to be the household one for the instinct. Oh, then you can't even mix them. And it also gives me companions. You could do a tiger with a falcon. A gorilla raptor. I can do the mythic chimera. What kind of house y'all living in? I could do the mythic chimera, but this version upgrades one creature by plus two to whatever

[00:27:06] its primary stat is, which the cat is instinct, which is my spoken. When you transform into your cat, I just need you to do one thing. Meow. No. I just need you to say Maximals Maximize. That's it. That's all I need you to do. Or we're attached. And roll out. Maximize and roll out. Alright. That's not

[00:27:36] actually the sound of you. Now that is completed. Yes. This is your last place of safety. We saw the butterfly flap by in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Autosave? You can't go back from here. Oh no, you can't. This is your last autosave point. Yeah. Also,

[00:28:06] he gave us the opportunity for potions. So if we don't use them, that's all. I gave you full health, full hope. I'm assuming welcome to the gauntlet. I'm assuming I can't trade one of these health potions in for a stress potion. Wait, do you have muscle? I use stress way more than health. I have a thing for that. I have a calming pendant.

[00:28:36] Yeah. I have a little brown bag. I lost it whenever I fell all over the Grand Canyon. Yeah, yeah, that's true. It went somewhere. It's probably still out there. Probably still in our hair. Can't get it down. That's hers. All right, so before we move forward and

[00:29:06] you guys leave Crows Hollow, when you enter the Blightwood, there will be no opportunities to rest there. You cannot rest within the Blightwood. Unless I create a calming area of nature, which I can do only one time. Well, yeah, you still will be able to rest,

[00:29:36] because that area might be, you know, sanctified, but things can still come across. Exactly, there's nothing we're running up. In other words, you can make an oasis, but it's merely a mirage. But also, this would be multi, not scene, which one I'm looking for, multi, stage, multi-stage. It's a multi-stage set up. Okay. Okay? So,

[00:30:06] just so you understand this and how this works with your guys session per stage. Correct. So, if it takes three sessions for one stage, you've got one team up in three sessions. On the contrary, if you complete one stage in a session and used it, you get your team up refreshed for the

[00:30:36] next stage. Nice. Works both ways. Okay. That's important for you guys to understand, because here's another thing, is your resources are going to be important. You're not going to be able to refill them. So, manage your resources, use up all of our resources in the first session. Got it. So, I say all that in the front end to prepare you. What you do with that information is completely easy. Hey, witches,

[00:31:06] don't forget the hex. Yeah. Oh, we won't. Possibly even triple hex. Triple hex. That's my experience. That is her experience, yeah. Ben Basel is going to come in here and talk about the power of family. Is that triple hex? yeah. Is Paragon's changing? Yes. That was part of my downtime. Okay. What did you select? What are you focusing on? Beating the bag? Restoring the forest? Sure. I mean,

[00:31:36] that is what we're about to go out and try to do. All right. So, without further ado. Do I have to do that? Do I have to spend the whole now to change it? Or just once everything starts? I'm one with the forest and the forest is with me. Do you mean to get the d20? Oh, no, no, we should do it whenever you want to. The only thing you have to do for downtime was select whatever it was you're focusing on. So, whenever you take an action that aligns with that, then you may go ahead and activate that time. Nice.

[00:32:09] Yeah, not right? Would be really nice. Fine, I gotta get that out. I take it the party is prepared and leaves Crow's Hollow to the meeting. No, I gotta

[00:32:39] like this whole line. I gotta new bar to manage. What? Oh, I need to find someone to help manage it. I've decided instead I'm just gonna go work for the blacksmith and now I need to go complete my side quest. Well, I have obligations. You got a part-time job. I ruined one of Sean's games one time because I would not leave my hometown because the master blacksmith that I was apprenticed under was destroyed out of fire. Oh, no.

[00:33:09] Like somebody came and killed him and that was supposed to start the quest and instead I had to stay here because now they only have me. Yeah, who has other slime? No, that was a different character. Spooky. Spooky. Spooky. All right, so collectively did party leaves Crow's Hollow? Yes.

[00:33:39] Yes. I am walking that way. Off we go into the green your earth. Off to see the wizard. I am not yet peaceful. The not-so-wonderful wizard of Oz. Have you seen Wicked? No. All right. Here we

[00:34:08] go. Good old Jeff. As you travel through Grawhaven, the air grows warmer, but not comfortably so as the warmth of decay of compost of earth has forgotten winter. Smells like home. As you get closer to the blightwood, the ground becomes soft beneath your boots,

[00:34:38] spongy like a pun. Their roots twist in unnatural patterns, rising like patient wrists waiting to grasp. You have approached the threshold of the blightwood, a forest that does not grow but spreads, a forest that does not breathe but consumes, a forest that remembers every footstep and every trespass. I noticed we got here a whole lot faster than we did the first time we came. It's almost like it got closer to us.

[00:35:09] Right? You didn't have to go as far to get to it. That means we have to go further in it. Well, he did just say it doesn't grow, it consumes. That means we have to go further inside it. Don't know. As you arrive at the meeting point, which is right at the border of Grawhaven and Blakewood, where two tips touch. You see familiar faces? Yes.

[00:35:40] But not quite. You see Count Dracula not alone. He has an envoy of vampires with him. That makes sense. In addition, I would too if I was rolling into a squad and the bellarch and his squad. Because I'm assuming it's the same round shine and mist blocks a lot of it.

[00:36:09] Actually, it's Grawhaven period, but yeah, especially Blakewood. But, knowing that, you see him levitating next to him. It's a coffin. glass. No, but, or it's very innate. It's white with gold accents. And it has the cross on the top of it. Does it say

[00:36:39] gentle repose was cast here? Only I can read that. in Phyrex. Yeah. Ah, yes. And then you see another familiar face standing next to him. Yes. You see Victor. Hey, father and son reunited. Oh, they're getting along now? Look at you guys, reuniting families. And it

[00:37:09] feels so good. And levitating next to him is a great sword. Wait, a great sword is standing next to there? No, it's just a sword, but it's really great. It's levitating, it's floating. It's not a bastard sword, though. Well, so it's only one-handed. Okay. Because he knows who his father and mother are.

[00:37:42] It was Cassian wedlock. My name is John Sword. Sorry, blacksmith. My father was married. So you see the path as it goes into the lightwood. And then on one side of the path is Dracula and Victor and the envoy vampires. On the other side of the path, it's like almost the path itself is the boundary, is the bellwark. Along

[00:38:11] with none of his bishops. Oh, yeah, don't need the bishops. Because you got Lilitha with her undead. And then you also have Veyron with his homunculi. And everybody's favorite that's looking at Sybil with intense glare, the revnaut. Still chained. Yeah. At least for a moment. We're not worried about him. As long as the bellwark

[00:38:41] holds to his part of the bargain, then everything's fine. And if you can't trust a bellwark, who can you trust? Trust a bully, man. We'll figure it all out as we go. As your party arrives, you see Lilitha, she spots Traveler. And she goes, Brother, look who's finally arrived.

[00:39:11] Somebody who brought enough bullets for all you crazy sons of bitches. It's the brother and sister. Is it inside you? Hell's teeth. And then you hear Veyron, he goes, oh sister, he's speaking your language. Magnum cartridge, I choose you. You see her as she looks at you after making that comment and you see her eyes line up. And you can tell she's getting excited about this. Oh no, she's a goth mommy.

[00:39:41] She's into it. She's like, you're going to get me some pain. Get her done. She can already raise the dead. Yep. Oh, is this? But rigor mortis set in. It's all stiff. Anyway. Jesus Christ. No. Alright.

[00:40:10] She is on the bishop's side. Your party has arrived. But when we show up, we do like this. get this party started. Yeah. Everyone walks straight through the middle and start walking into the woods. Don't even recognize either side. Just keep walking. If they want this done, they'll do it. You must whip it. We need to show them that we don't need them.

[00:40:40] We just need the stuff they're brought. We don't need you guys. We don't need you guys. Alright. It will be a lot easier if you come home. That's a nice gamble. Yeah. So, you continue past. I'm going off of instant. Yeah.

[00:41:11] We put down like a smelly barrier around the tree to make sure that we're going to made it to the tree yet. Why do we have a smelly barrier? You guys have just now crossed the threshold into Blightwood. I have time to drink more water. Tony, I'm going to walk up to you. I'll get the smelly barrier into control. I'm going to walk up to you and ask you to lightly in your ear. I'm going to throw a rave, but who do you think I should

[00:41:47] know if a wraith would work against the ravena personally. I don't like him because he's just silly. I'd say don't strike first. I thought he was on our side right now. Okay, I'm going to ready an action to throw a rave. Ready the action to throw it at the girl. Okay, that's who I was thinking too, but I just wanted to verify. Right now, everybody's cooperating. We should maintain that as long as we can. It's just a

[00:42:17] plan. They're starting to talk comment before you are going to do it. That's what I'm saying. They're already starting to talk dirty. But the point is they're talking. Once they get their minds distracted by controlling whatever spells they're trying to do, then I think we should just shoot them all in the head. I'm agreeing. I think that's great. When

[00:42:47] Travion and Traveler agree, that's called TNT. I thought y'all wanted to be able to leave. done on light. We can't leave until this ritual gets done. I thought we were just trying to enter the blightwood. Why are y'all fucking it up? sealed here. I'm just trying to remind Dan that if he wants to make the chaos rolls, I get crazier and then he pays attention and does the spell. If I

[00:43:16] say let's mine the rules, he says let's chop the tree down. I know, it's the counter-opposal. I'm opposing you. The moment the party crosses the threshold from the short wall into blightwood, the air changes. The wind dies, the birds vanish, the fog thickens into a cold cleaning shroud.

[00:43:45] The trees here are wrong. Their bark blackened, their branches skeletal, their leaves slick. The ground pulses faintly beneath your boots as though the forest itself had a heartbeat. In the heads, the twisted silhouettes of dying trees, you see it. A wall of corrupted bramble blocking your path. Thick as iron and vanged black rot, blocking the only path deeper into the grove. It shifts, it then the forest

[00:44:15] answers. This is what you see. Remember these guys. A deep groan rolls through the blightwood like the sound of a mountain waking. From the roots of toppled oak a massive

[00:44:45] figure rises, moss-covered, bark-skinned, glowing-eyed, a grove-ward. That's where I am in a donatary. Oh great, and elemental. Once a guardian spirit of Graulhaven sacred grove is now twisted by the blight's hunger. Its wooden limbs creak as it steps forward, each movement slow but impossibly heavy. Its voice is a rumble of earth and sorrow. Behind it, the corrupted bramble tightens, thorns lengthening like drawn blades. And then you see

[00:45:14] its buddy. Buddy system. We don't even get to fight humans first. We need to fight elementals. The soil splits, roots tear upward, bones clatter, shadow spills like ink. A rock-bound rises from the earth, a shambling mass of roots, bone, and decay, its hollow eyes burning with hunger. Another follows, and another. The ground around the party warps, sickening as the rock-bound

[00:45:44] presence spreads corruption like wildfire. The grove-ward enlifts an arm, and the rock-bound answer with a chorus of wit, rattling moans. The path is sealed. There's no negotiation, only violence. A sudden gust of cold wind sweeps through the clearing, and then figures step from the fog. Count Dracula, tall and regal, cloak trailing like living smoke. Victor Bellasson, blade-drawn, eyes burning will resolve. Debellarque,

[00:46:14] with bloodstone amuling pulsating from his rod. Lilith, her hands wreathed in violet flame. Veyron, clutching vials that hiss with volatile power, and the bound revenants, spectral chains dragging across the roots. Each stands ready for battle, each has come for their own reasons, but all we know, no one passes the blightwood without blood. The rock-bound

[00:46:44] surge forward, the grove-wardens slam their arms into the ground, and the bramble-wall tightens, stealing the grove like a tomb. Dracula bears his veins, Victor levitates his blade, Lilith whispers a curse, Veyron and corks a vial that screams. The bell-ward raises the rod, its crimson glow pulsating like a heartbeat. The party stands at the center of it all, surrounded by allies, enemies, and spirits of the land itself. The blightwood does not yield.

[00:47:14] If you want to reach a blight oak, you must carve your way through. The grove-warden roars, the rock-bound charge, and the bramble-wall pulses with corruption. The battle for the heart of Wachobia begins. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode. If you did, head over to our website, saturdaynightgamingllc.com, for some more fun content. Also, make sure to like, share, and subscribe on all of our social media platforms. I hope you have a fantastic week, and until next time, this is

[00:47:43] Laura Hibbard with Saturday Night Gaming signing off.