VIBI-06

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### Summary

Hearing someone screaming from the shed, the party come to the conclusion that this isn't their problem. Hecktor reluctantly fights an angel while Pip is more concerned about the monster comma Frankenstein.

### Intro

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> *Though you see no water for miles around you, you are, like me, nonetheless marooned. We are castaways in this terrible bad dream somebody decided to name 'Barovia'. To switch up the metaphor, we are imprisoned, and the fog is the bars of our cell, and our jailor is Baron Von Strahd. As far as I can tell there's no way to escape other than possibly by dying. Maybe by being eaten by a wolf let's say!*
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### Recap

The episode begins with A’Gogash choosing to strike the monster he and Pip Mandarin are facing a second time despite Pip's warnings that simple bludgeoning damage will have no effect. To everyone's surprise this attack has some limited effect. Pip scrambles through Emanuel deMonster trying to confirm his suspicions. The monster makes a critical hit, doing quadruple damage until Jackson plays a Good Boy card to halve the damage.

(This has the effect of Pip receiving only 16 instead of 32 damage, which is deducted from his maximum. A second attack does another 11 points, also from Pip's maximum, bringing his actual HP to 20, and maximum to 30, when it is usually 72.)

The monster's heartbeat is audible and races at an increasing pace.

Pip and A'Gogash work together to defeat the monster at last; the final blow comes from Pip's crossbow, which misses once, then destroys Brother Valen's head on the second shot.

From his body Pip harvests:

* Death Night's Woad
* Flumph Spores
* three doses of Lichen Hide
* four doses of Shambling Moss
* two doses of Ghoul Ghast/Grave Dancer innards

Hecktor returns to the graveyard to see the aftermath of the fight. He can tell Pip's life force has been drained.

> "When the living and doing heart of a mortal creature is slowed to stopping by the evil thoughts of man, it is possible for such a personage to appeal to the violent villainous gods of the undead for reprieve and unholy life. When said requests are-eth granted it is said that a Wight is created. While no longer alive these beings are also far from death and sit somewhere-eth betwixt the two, as the Wight 'tis not truly dead.... [...] A victim shall find... [...] In combat a Wight is capable of draining the force of life from the victim to continue the beating of its own heart."
> Emanuel DeMonster, Dark Places Edition "Undead-comma-Wight"
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Hecktor, Pip, and Ezmerelda d'Avenir speculate on the timeline for when Brother Valen may have had his heart stopped to "save" him. Hecktor reaches into the Wight's chest cavity and within it is evident that the organs are all intact and are all completely charcoal black. They examine the heart, which appears to have been beating recently. Ezmerelda confirms the blackening is the result of being a Wight.

Hecktor reports on the state of the Belview family and that they proclaim themselves to have been "cured" of an "affliction." As Pip flips through his copy of Emanuel DeMonster, Ezmerelda reveals a pocket sized version on a chain around her neck, and confirms that the Belview "Mongrelfolk" do not feature within the book. Hecktor shares that he asked Otto and Zygfrek Belview how to get on the Abbot's good side, and they told him to find "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue" and "A good face." Ezmerelda finds this particularly interesting (and not in a good way).

Hecktor wonders if this refers to faces from the people whose graves are being defiled.

[00:11:17]

### Word Count

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