"Are you ready to MEET your God?!"

—Keen, played by TJ Storm, Heroes of the Vale, Episode 5

Watch Heroes of the Vale: Episode 5 – "Boom Boom Boom"!

Dramatis Personae

Our heroes are 5th-level characters known as:

• Keen, Eladrin Eldritch Knight Fighter played by TJ Storm
• Briv, Half-Orc Cavalier Fighter played by Adam Bradford
• Orkira, Dragonborn Light Domain Cleric played by Lauren Urban
• Penelope, Halfling Circle of Land Druid played by Hope LaVelle
• Alyndra Alexandria Garanahil Sarrbarand, Lorekeeper of Rime Spiro, Kinscribe of Clan Monkeymouse, High ElfCleric / Wizard played by Jen Kretchmer

Full Summary

The battle with the Destroyer begins! Briv and Keen charge the hulking mass while Orkira buffs and heals her friends. Penelope casts spike growth to try and hurt and slow the Destroyer down, unfortunately catching Briv in the area as well. Alyndra is upset that Rarv has taken this aggressive action and digs into his mind with a mind spike, shouting,“Do you know what you did? Do you know there are consequences?”

Rarv calls out to his fellow kuo-toa for aid. A gigantic kuo-toa named Boom-Boom charges Orkira, but is rebuffed when she calls on her divine light, blinding him. Penelope summons an infestation of bugs to attack and carry off Boom Boom into her spikes. Many other kuo-toa attempting to attack the Heroes are taken out by the Destroyer, and even Rarv doesn’t have much luck with his eldritch blast.

Keen peers deeply into the center of the Destroyer and spots its heart, vulnerable as it is still trying to take form. Climbing the creature he plunges his glaive into the heart and then hangs from it trying to destroy it. Briv climbs up after him and joins his strength to pulling on the weapon. Together, they manage to reach in and tear the monster's heart from its chest. Seizing and roaring in pain, the Destroyer collapses into a pile of the parts it was made from!

Taking the Destroyer's heart in his hands, Keen gives Rarv an ultimatum: if he releases the prisoners and agrees to let them all go, Keen will give him the heart. He gives it to Alyndra to examine as they negotiate, and she manages to erase an arcane rune upon its surface. She feels that this rune was giving the heart power, and that erasing it has disabled the heart, as she feels a jumble of colors and emotions now pouring from it.

Penelope finds a water lily nearby and uses her magic to turn it into a gorgeous pink flower to present to Briv. She feels guilty she hurt him with her spike growth spell and apologizes. Briv tells her it was no matter, and gracefully accepts her flower and apology. She even makes a small flower for Phlo!

Alyndra tries to impress on Rarv how wrong his actions were, trying to turn the bloodbath into a lesson learned. Rarv is conciliatory, conceding defeat and releasing the prisoners. As Alyndra hands over the heart Briv asks Phlo to let loose a Flumph fart. Rarv is distracted by the attack which gives Briv the opportunity to snatch the heart back and destroy it. Rarv is incensed, claiming he’s been betrayed, but Briv intimidates him into backing down.  Everyone in the group have different opinions on Briv’s actions, causing an argument about what was the right things to do.

Soon the conversation turns towards what they should do next. The portal is destroyed, and when Alyndra asks Rarv how they created it, he spitefully spits, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Frustrated, Keen examines the corpse of the Destroyer, finding the head was formed from a dragon skull.  He takes it as a trophy, saying it was a worthy foe but his hunt must continue.

As the Fallcrest townsfolk are gathered up and everyone begins to move out of the swamp, Orkira is approached by an old friend. Kalasar, a gold dragonborn from her former clan, approaches to talk with her. She is surprised and overjoyed as she believed he was dead! Apparently a phoenix came and destroyed the whole town, and Kalasar saw that it was summoned by some human and tiefling cultists. The fact that it was summoned surprises Orkira, as is the fact that their clan might not have been the first to be attacked in this way.

Orkira wishes to talk with Kalasar more about their shared history, but asks to focus on the present issues. Kalasar says that while they were taken prisoner by the kuo-toa he overheard them talking about an abandoned fortress to the North that was “too close to the sun," and points it out in the distant mountain range. Alyndra sends Griff to take a look, finding it deeply ancient and ruined but abandoned and still fortified.

Keen takes charge, splitting the townsfolk into groups based on their abilities and then inspiring them all with a speech. He warns them they are all strangers in a strange land, and that this world is more dangerous than they know. However, they will stick together, they will help each other, and they will make it back home. Fallcrest cheers for him, and follow the group into the mountains.

Hours later at the fortress they find it was apparently abandoned quickly, seemingly having survived a battle many years ago as evident by a crack around the castle itself.  In the center of the fortress they discover a strange room covered with runes with a pedestal in the center. The remains of a broken orb lay around the pedestal, looking remarkably similar to the one Penelope has from Avren’s pack.  Alyndra deduces that the runes are for navigation, like a simplistic but glorified compass. Penelope asks if they should put Avren’s orb on the pedestal, and everyone backs away from the room as Alyndra uses Mage Hand to place the orb.

The ground shakes as if an earthquake hits, but then the dust settles. Looking outside the group watches as the entire fortress is raising up into the sky, flying!

Can our heroes control this new flying fortress called the Stormherald? Will they find a way back home? Tune in Feb 13th for episode 6!

EPILOGUE:  Rarv crawls out of the swamp, dismayed and angry. He’s speaking to a red-cloaked figure with gold runes and a porcelain mask. Larva oozes out from where it’s hands and feet should be. Rarv sadly admits that while he succeeded in bringing everyone out of the Vale he failed in convincing them to join him. He whimpers "I can't believe they betrayed me. I will not let it happen again! But I did as you asked...I am so sorry, Master."“

The mysterious figure replies, “It’s okay, Rarv. They will all join us very soon. For I have foreseen this.” 

Lauren "OboeCrazy" 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 at @OboeCrazy.