“Are you ready?”
“Never, and always.”

—Avren and Alyndra

Watch World of Wildemount | D&D Beyond Heroes Episode 9

You can also download our show as a podcast directly or listen on Google Play, iTunes, or Spotify!

The cast of Beyond Heroes, currently level 9:

• Todd Kenreck as the Dungeon Master
• Keen Dayeprath - Eladrin Eldritch Knight Fighter played by TJ Storm
• Briv Steelmarrow - Half-Orc Oath of Heroism Paladin played by Adam Bradford
• Penelope Half-Pint - Halfling Circle of Land Druid played by Hope LaVelle
• Alyndra Alexandria Garanahil Sarrbarand, Lorekeeper of Rime Spiro, Kinscribe of Clan Monkeymouse, Daughter of Oblivion - High Elf Cleric 1/Wizard 8 played by Jen Kretchmer
• Orkira Illdrex - Dragonborn Light Domain Cleric played by Lauren Urban
• Freely - Halfling Lore Bard 3/Paladin 2/Sorcerer 2/Warlock 2 played by B. Dave Walters

Full Summary

High atop a terrifying basalt cliff, surrounded by a crackling storm, a grim death knight wields his sword with horrific accuracy. The battered Heroes watch as Lord Soth plunges his blade into Briv Steelmarrow’s chest, the icy sword stealing the light and life from his eyes. As the half-orc’s body is pushed aside, it's clear this is a losing battle. They know of Lord Soth as a champion of the dragon goddess Tiamat (or perhaps she's called Takhisis?), and his mere presence elicits blood-chilling fear in all who see him.

The only option is to retreat.

In anger Freely leaps forward to smite the death knight! It’s a shower of green and red electricity and the power in his mighty attack leaves a mark, but the legendary knight is undaunted. Keen positions himself to pin Lord Soth against the cliff, using all of his skills to block attacks and prevent their enemy of advancing so everyone can begin to flee. Dashing over to her fallen friend, Orkira grabs one of her few diamonds to cast revivify. Just as she is bringing Briv back to life, Lord Soth creates an explosion of fire and necrotic damage, grievously wounding everyone and plunging both Briv and Penelope into unconsciousness. Clattering from below, thirteen skeletons in similar armor to Lord Soth start to climb towards the Heroes, anxious to join the battle.

A thin, purple line appears nearby and widens into a doorway, an escape route created by Avren that everyone rushes towards. Orkira pumps a cure wounds into Briv as Alyndra does the same for Penelope, but the paladin is pale with black sickly veins and vacant eyes. Pushing the injured half-orc through the door to safety, Orkira pulls out her book to Turn Undead as she tries to keep the exit clear. The skeletons pause for a moment, but a strange green wave washes over them all and they resist the cleric’s attempts to turn them. As Penelope staggers through the door to safety, Alyndra casts storm sphere to try and slow their enemies down. The globe of lightning and thunder joins the storm above them, damaging and slowing Lord Soth and the skeletons. Quickly Freely, Orkira, and Alyndra run to safety.

The eladrin continues to hold the line as his friends run through the dimension door, dodging and parrying with all of his skills. Lord Soth takes a moment to nod at Keen in a strange, respectful acknowledgement of a fellow knight, before slashing with deadly fury. Thanks to his quick reflexes and sentinel abilities, Keen manages to hold off the death knight long enough to verify everyone is safe. Finally the eldritch knight returns the nod of respect, before using misty step to escape through the door just before it closes.

The Heroes appear inside a mechanical marvel of gears and cogs, surrounded by constant ticking and whirring as they are inside a massive clocktower. Orkira has stumbled over to Briv to examine his opaque eyes and catatonic state, and can feel he’s been infected by some sort of undead curse. The cleric attempts lesser restoration as Freely activates his divine sense to examine their unfamiliar surroundings. While Freely can't sense any evil in the place they're in, Briv's cursed state causes him to read to Freely's divine senses as undead. Avren appears before the Heroes again and comes over to assist. He declares that Briv has been cursed by Tiamat herself with a malady that will mean death unless they enlist the help of someone very powerful.

Everyone is quick to pledge to do whatever it takes to save Briv. Avren explains that they’ll need to get assistance from someone named the Living Wish, who can be found by traversing the Endless Stair. It’s a dangerous path, and cannot be skipped even with the Cubic Gate that Alyndra has, but Avren can make sure they find the correct door. This being is the one he made his pact with thousands of years ago as a warlock, and while he can’t go into details, he warns Alyndra that she will soon face some decisions about her family. He cautions that the group will see many disturbing things, but insists that they do not engage with anything and must keep moving. If they do not, then Briv will die and they will all be lost between realms. Then he begins to cast a spell of healing, knitting the wounds they’ve all taken. The magic seems to be cast in reverse, strange and disjointed, something out of time; a form of dunamancy.

Regrouping to head off again before Briv runs out of time, Alyndra casts a floating disk to carry their injured friend on as they follow Avren to a nearby wall. As he takes a piece of chalk to draw a line on the wall it opens to reveal a doorway to the twisting Endless Stair. After repeating the instructions to not interact with anyone on the journey, Freely laments missing the trip to the plane of Ice Cream and Milkshakes, and is reassured that after this trip they will all deserve a second visit to that happy place. He plows forward, with Keen, Penelope and Alyndra not far behind. Taking a moment to look out the windows, Orkira can see a seemingly endless plane with skeletons of such immense size as to defy logic. In shock she realizes these are the remains of gods and primordials. There is no evidence of a battle, it’s as if the beings just laid down to die. The cleric is disturbed but knows there is not enough time to ask all the questions she has, and when Avren reads the confusion on her face he suggests she asks her questions soon. Orkira insists they’ll have a very long discussion later, and as she enters the doorway he replies that it won’t be very long.

The door closes and disappears behind the Heroes leaving them on a twisting, confusing stairways that branches in all directions and appears to go on infinitely. The materials of the step constantly change; wood, stone, slime, ice, tentacles, and worse. Littered all around are gaunt, listless figures who have lost their way and staring blankly into nothing. Freely makes sure everyone is connected by a length of rope and they begin to climb. The group is overcome with a wave of emotion, a deep depression that pulls from their memories a time they felt lost. Keen sadly thinks about how he lost his friend Avren many years ago, and the being that keeps appearing is a type of ghost. Orkira is reminded of a previous time Briv had died and she was powerless to prevent it or fix him, a depressing moment when she felt helpless to assist or aid anyone. Penelope mourns the death of her tree, Neverember, feeling lost and alone. Alyndra carries the dryad’s prophesy from years ago, afraid some horrible event has yet to happen and there is nothing she can do to stop it or protect herself or her friends. These fears manifest as dark echoes on the stairs, visions that bring despair and hopelessness. The dryad from Alyndra’s fears appears before her with black eyes and an anguished face. It calls her the last of the daughters of Corellon before warning ‘he will find you!’ as a vision of violence appears before her. The elven creator god Corellon seems to be impaled before her eyes as the patron god of the orcs, Gruumsh, runs Corellon through with a wicked blade.

Only Freely manages to shake off the effects, while the others become distracted and weakened by dark thoughts. The halfling watches his friends stare into the void, threatening to sink to the ground, and desperately shakes them out of their stupor. Slowly they refocus on the task at hand, offering reassurances to each other, before once again climbing the stairs. It’s an arduous climb filled with exhaustion and pain as each suffer being drawn into painful memories and fears. Fortunately there is always someone there to resist the effects and bolster spirits, and eventually the group find themselves standing in front of a door that lights up their faces in a greenish golden glow. There’s a moment of apprehension at this being another illusion or trick, but eventually Freely takes the lead and opens the door so they can all leave the Endless Stair.

Pushing through a thick magical barrier the group find themselves in a realm of endless rolling hills and cliffs, once again dotted with the bones of dead gods and primordials. Orkira stops in shock as she no longer can sense the presence of her own god. While there is still fire and magic at her command, the Phoenix is gone. Alyndra can also feel her connection to Oghma is missing, and Freely can tell that his own connections to the divine now emanates from within. Freely and Alyndra are surprised but remain steadfast, but Orkira falls into a panic as she grips her book in fear. The dragonborn despairs at the dead gods around her, and losing her connection to the Phoenix she believes for the second time in her life her god has died. Freely tries to reassure her that everything is okay, encouraging her to cast a spell to prove she still has her powers. The light she casts manifests, but Orkira is unconcerned about her magic and more terrified about what has happened to her friend. Alyndra and Freely urge her to focus on the task at hand, that Briv still needs their help. Clinging to the idea that her connection has just been temporarily disrupted Orkira agrees to continue forward, but she is obviously distraught and afraid.

In front of them is a massive hill of stone, and at the very top a white tree with bright red leaves and flowers stands out against the landscape. As they begin to move towards the tree, Keen softly encourages the catatonic Briv to keep fighting to come back to them. He would want to see the evidence scattered around them that Gods can die, and that only a fellow warrior could appreciate that fact. Freely snatches a loose bone from the ground, a small memento from a long lost deity. The red flowers on the tree makes Penelope think it’s on fire, and she urges the group forward to confirm the plant is not burning.

At the top of the hill Alyndra formally introduces herself and requests aid. A voice from the tree greets her, announcing she is Sofieus and that her father lays below inside the hill. Surprised by this revelation, Freely once again activates his Divine Sense and can feel two interwoven entities, filled with love and kindness and a bit of mischief. With a smile Alyndra introduces her friends to her parents, and explains that Avren is often in several places at the same time. There is a brick lined tunnel leading under the grand tree and Sofieus gently encourages them to go down. In the tunnel Penelope reaches out a hand to gently touch a root of the tree and shares a greeting, and Sofieus says that it is nice to finally meet the druid.

Under the heart of the tree the Heroes find a lich, the skeleton form of Avren wrapped in the roots of the tree. He is perfectly preserved and intertwined with the tree, but there’s no evil or cold emanating from this lich. Avren greets them reassuringly, though Freely is on his guard and Orkira is upset to see her friend in undead form again. Avren explains that there are many realities, many probabilities, many potentials, and that one of those potentials was a boy who cast wish asking to be real. He is a living spell, a closed loop of potentiality and reality, and he and Sofieus fell in love. Now they will not exist without each other, and live together intertwined. This realm is a place that gods fear to tread and have no power, but come when they have grown tired. Many come to live a life without immortality so they can grow old and pass away, but some are tricked into coming here so they can be killed. This inspires Freely to wonder if there is a way to lure Lord Soth to this plane so they can slay him. Avren confirms that’s possible, but healing Briv must take priority.

When Freely wonders how they can know if this is really Avren, Keen explains that this is the cause of his sadness and why he remains quiet and watchful when they meet someone who claims to be Avren. The lich smiles and says he has always been Keen’s friend, that they met when he was very young. Alyndra points out that just as the eladrin has his seasons and changes, so does her father. This seems to appease Freely, who finally sheathes his sword and shakes Avren’s hand and sums up the strange situation they have found themselves. “Our friend, Alyndra, is half-lich half-tree, we’re somewhere out of time where gods go to die, and our buddy is still poisoned, so all right! What’s next? Yeah, where we going?” Noticing their cleric is still antsy and uncomfortable, Freely demands that the demigod bring the Phoenix back. While no gods are allowed any power in this plane, Avren reassures that Orkira’s connection to the Phoenix will return as soon as they leave. This calms the dragonborn down a bit as she now knows her deity hasn’t died, but is still anxious to heal Briv and leave.

Freely heads back outside, trying to give his wizard friend some time alone with her parents before they leave. Glancing around he discovers a beautiful short sword, encrusted in runes and gems. It calls to him, and he sends a message to Penelope warning her about his actions just before he picks up the sword. Instantly his eyes roll back in his head and he falls unconscious!

Alyndra takes a moment to gather some dirt in a vial to take with her, having learned from one of the clans she lived with that home is a concept not a place, and that having a piece with you means you are always home. As she tucks the dirt away in her armor, Avren apologizes for never telling her the full truth. He was afraid that knowing would make her a target, and hoped to protect his daughter. A root from Sofieus reaches out to touch Penelope on the shoulder, telling her how proud she is of the druid and how well she had done even after having been through so much. Penelope is overjoyed to be friends with the dryad and her face is filled with a grin. Keen is doing his best to stealthily move around Avren, burying seven gold coins into the dirt in a half circle. Thinking he is being very clever he is excited for what will happen when the gold coins take root and grow. Avren does his best to pretend not to notice the eladrin’s antics, but eventually approaches him to thank him for being a true and faithful friend who brightened up his soul when they first met. Handing over a pine cone that appears to be glowing, he tells Keen to plant it in a place he wants to spend time in. 

Wandering back inside is Freely, at first a little dazed but finally snapping out of it, still holding the sword he found. As his friends question what he has discovered, Avren explains it’s a powerful sentient blade that used to belong to a god. The halfling is excited, though Avren advises the group to keep an eye on him just in case.

The group are being sent to Exandria, another world where they will be able to find solutions. They are being sent to a place north of Wildemount, the Isles of Oblivion, where they need the Heroes’ help. Exandria is different in many ways, with different rules and a place where gods are not welcome. Despite any attempts to get details about the future or his plans, Avren refuses, claiming that he’s doing his best to keep the bigger picture in mind. However his ultimate allegiance is to protecting his existence with Sofieus, and he will not allow anything to jeopardize that life. But he knows they will help many people, and hopes they have some fun in the process. He creates a shimmering portal to this new world, and warns that leaving Exandria might be difficult so they might be in this new world a while. Freely heads through first, with Orkira carrying the healing but still unconscious Briv close behind as she is anxious to get her friends back. Penelope takes a last moment to compliment the dryad on how beautiful the tree is, and with gratitude Sofieus gifts her a staff created from her own roots and calls her a good friend. Penelope hugs the staff in glee as she passes through the portal, followed by Keen after he bows to the demigods. Finally Alyndra says her farewells, and Avren tells his daughter how proud he is of her, before she joins her friends in the portal.

After a strange trip through a tunnel of time and light the Heroes appear along the side of a chilly ocean filled with blocks of ice. Beyond a shimmering barrier a continent stretches before them, and around a chain of islands with the lights of a town blinking nearby. But the peaceful view is broken by a horrifying, dark creature perched on a nearby cliff. A shadowy, dragon-like creature lets out a hiss, peering down at them as prey.

The gloomstalker leaps towards them to attack!

The Heroes have taken their first steps on Exandria, but will they survive to explore? Find out as our Wildemount miniseries continues on January 29th at 2pm PT on twitch.tv/dndbeyond!

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Lauren "Oboe" Urban is the Community Manager for D&D Beyond, as well as a professional classical musician on oboe and English Horn. When she's not playing a Bard in real life she's a prolific Dungeon Master and player on a variety of livestreams and podcasts. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband Luke where they spend their free time playing video games and drinking tea. The best way to keep up with Lauren's busy schedule is to follow her on Twitter @OboeLauren!