Episode 286 - Preparing to Enter the Shadows

Now that our course is set we actually have to figure out how to get to the ding dang Shadowfell. It isn’t easy! Plus we need time to catch our breath while in Pelor’s Hope. Toby is hard at work on a solution thanks to the aide of the some of the greatest minds in Drunkeros while the rest of the gang spent time with old friends or made new, bitter rivals. The Die is Cast. The Iron is Hot. Let’s get ready to enter a horrible dangerous plane of existence that we absolutely shouldn’t go to unless all of existence is under assault.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Ros has just entered the room! She heard they needed a spy. Ros meets Lahni and Rowan, and then tells Aludra that she's taken care of "that thing" she told her to take care of. They then proceed to the matter at hand; they need to find Adira Harper, and they need Ros to do it. Ros agrees to help, and Toby asks Eckhart Dayhammer if Bigby could help, perhaps by casting *Gate* to bring Adira to them. Ros thinks Adira wouldn't be on the side of the enemy, as she is good, prompting a lot of suspicion from Nika/Jaela. Adira was, after all, behind the whole New Stigia situation, and even put Brain Bombs in Aludra and Thom Vidalis' heads. Jaela and Aludra talk about it, Aludra saying that they can send her on this mission now, and maybe do some *Zone of Truthing* later. Toby wants to use *Plane Shift* to pop on over to the Shadowfell, but needs an item attuned to said Shadowfell in order to do so. Another idea is to go to the Astral Plane, and in there, there are pools/portals to other planes, as seen in Episode 242. There's also an idea to go to the White Spire to find out where to get an attuned item. He does that, while the others go off and do their own thing.

Rowan goes off with Queen Ashayara Dayne, her half-sister. Ashayara Dayne asks about the late King Titus Harper, and Rowan admits that Harper said Ashayara Dayne was a great mother and queen. They invite in Jumbles, the court jester for Pelor's Hope. Skud and Lahni hang out. Skud wants to find a skeleton fight club, and Lahni helps by quickly running to all the bars and their seedy basements to find it. They go there, and as soon as they open the door, someone almost punches her in the face, but misses. Lahni calms the person with her feet, but he wants to get punched in the face, so she does that, and the dude buys them drinks. It's weird.

Getting to the Monster Fight Club, Skud uses his skeleton bones to form a mech suit around himself, and fights the first monster, a giant lava rock monster. He defeats it, and wins a lot of money. Then, a nasally voice speaks up, congratulating Skud, and offering him a true challenge: to fight him an *his* skeletons. Unfortunatly, Barry gets the drop on ol' Skud, and defeats him. He leaves, promising to see Skud around, while Skud curses Barry in the tavern.

Meanwhile, Toby has been searching through the library, and has found some information about shifting planes. Wonderous items, alternate paths and all that. He also hears rumors about a small cult of worshippers of Torog, living in an abandoned prison on the outskirts of town. It's likely that they would have one or more items attuned to the Shadowfell. Also, Jaela has had some dealing with the Raven Queen before, and she has a comb from her, that Toby could use, or something. I'm a little confused about how this works. Jaela goes to the White Spire to find Toby and tell him about it. The Gnome casts *Detect Magic* on it, and detects a lot of Necromancy magic. Also, Toby and Jaela reconnect. It's a nice moment! She leaves him with a small purple teddy bear that may not be a troll doll. Alone, Toby begins getting to work, attuning an expensive fork to the magic of the Shadowfell, using Jaela's Raven Queen's comb. He uses his proficiency with Shadowfell magic to do it, and enlists the help of several smarties within the White Spire. He stays up a total of 24 hours to do it, but eventually, it is done. They have the attuned fork. Toby takes a short rest, and then the gang meets to say goodbye to everybody. They do, and then teleport into the Shadowfell.

They can't believe what they see there!

### Short

There is a lot of discussion as to what to do next. Toby decides to go to the library to research, while Rowan spends time with her sister Ashayara Dayne, and Lahni and Skud go find a Monster Fight Club to fight in. Skud meets his rival, Barry, and is defeated by him. Jaela gives Toby a comb that is attuned to the realm of the Raven Queen, and Toby is able to attune it instead to the Shadowfell. Everyone says their goodbyes and shifts over to the Shadowfell, and are shocked at what they find there.

## **Trivia**

* There's a court jester for Pelor's Hope, named Jumbles!
* There is a tavern called Gritty's Tavern, where the Monster Fight Club happens
* Skud says he's a wizard, but he's a monk. Is he multiclassing again?
	+ Skud is a Cleric/Wizard. He was a monk in that he lived in a monastery, not class-wise
* Skud can use his skeleton bones as a mech suit, but to do so, he "has to" be fully nude
* The library that could help Toby has been missing for three weeks
* Toby's feeling weird, because he's been sleeping a lot lately to get his powerful spell slots back

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey / Queen Aludra Wyrmsbane
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain / Jaela

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Ros
* Eckhart Dayhammer
* Frank Ubell
* Queen Ashayara Dayne
* Jumbles
* Barry

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Pelor's Hope
		- Gritty's Tavern
		- White Spire
* The Shadowfell

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Find Pelor
	+ [Active] - Go to the Shadowfell and find Adira Harper
* [Active] - Find out who killed Tilly and Donnybrooke
	+ [Active] - Find and question Josail Longshadow
		- [Active] - Go to Grull, in the Shadowfell
* [On Hold] - Find Lannie Caplain
	+ [On Hold] - Investigate Galanthis
* [Optional] - Find a way to pay back the Ferrim Pecunia bank of Pelor's Hope
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Great Colosseum in Caer
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Oracle's strange prophecies

### **Quotes**

**"If you're very sneaky, I go very fast. Maybe together we can be fast and sneaky, just like... a fart that comes right out yer butt whenever yer not really errr expecting it, but it just slips right out."** ~ *Lahni, unfortunately*

**"Well.................... He wins."** ~ *Bachmann describing Skud's status in the Monster Fight Club*

**"Do you want me to kill him?"** ~ *An overeager Jaela*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Jennifer - 5
	+ Tim - 13
	+ Bachmann - 15
	+ **Nika - 17**

* **Lahni** rolls *Perception* to find the skeleton fight clubs - 22
	+ There's no such thing, but there is one for monsters and fantasy shit in general

* **Lahni** makes an Attack roll to roundhouse kick someone, but then stop and lightly carress their face with her toes - 15+11
	+ Hit - she shushes him with her toe

* **Skud** rolls *History* to see who the nasally voice belongs to - Nat20
	+ This is Barry, the greatest skeleton trainer in all the realms

* **Toby** rolls an *Investigation* to research plane shifting - 27
	+ He learns of a bunch of things, including the worshippers of Torog rumor

* **Toby** casts *Detect Magic* on Jaela's comb, and rolls for some reason - 13
	+ Necromancy

* **Toby** rolls *Arcana* to try to attune to the Shadowfell - 24
	+ He is successful, it takes him a full 24 hours
		- He rolls a d4 to see how exhausted he is - 3