I need to get used to announcing these streams earlier so that people will actually be able to plan and visit when we start streaming.
With that said, we'll be streaming tonight, 8/14, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty in about an our at 4:30 PM PST. I'll once-again be the DM this time as the party adventures through The Hoard of the Dragon Queen. I'll be adding a few homebrew details, partly to make the game more interesting, but also because this party is a little too high level for this campaign, so I'm bumping up the threat level in a few key instances. However, in case you missed our last stream on Monday, this is what you missed:
The party spends their downtime relaxing, making money, or scribing spells. Most of the party takes some time to check on Nezznar, who has been taken to Neverwinter prison for his crimes. They find that their recommendations have been taken to heart, and Nezznar has been invited to a work-release program to help the School of Knowledge learn more about necromancy, which is rarely studied in depth. They also meet one of G’houl’s teachers... Professor Raphael, an older Orc who has been learning from Nezznar, the two of them bonded a bit from coming from races that are normally considered villains by default. Soon after this initial meetup, Sister Garael contacts the party, informing them that an exhange has been arranged with the village of Greenest to have Bowgentle’s spellbook sent to the School of Knowledge... however, they need help escorting the book back North, which is where the party comes in.
Garael is met at the School of Knowledge, where Professor Raphael reveals himself to also be a member of the Harpers. He explains the importance of Bowgentle’s spellbook... Bowgentle was a well known and powerful wizard specializing in Conjuration. He was instrumental in crafting spells used to banish powerful, dangerous beings centuries ago. With the party agreeing to the mission, they are taken to a teleportation circle within the School of Knowledge. Reading from a scroll, Professor Raphael is able to activate the circle, sending them instantaneously to the Southern city of Candlekeep. The party is provided with a covered wagon and a pair of horses, which Dahlia immediately dubs Cake and Marmalade.
The ride from Candledeep to Greenest is long and uneventful. As they near their destination Loki drifts to sleep, dreaming of entering the Temple of Tymora in Phandalin, but where the pulpit normally sits instead she finds a poker table. The dealer is a tall, elegant woman who strikes Loki as familiar and comforting. Sitting across from Loki are 5 women wearing long veils in a variety of colors. In the dream she can’t hear anything but her own footsteps. The women each put a gemstone on the table to bet, the colors matching their veils... a ruby... an emerald... onyx... an opal, and finally a blue lapis. When she reaches into her own pouch to bet she finds only one thing inside... the two-headed coin she uses as her holy symbol, and she finally recognizes the dealer... the face perfectly matches the image of Tymora on her holy coin.
The five women are dealt a single hand, face up... The Moon, depicting the moon with a slit down the center, like a serpent’s eye. The Tower, which shows a tall mountain exploding like a volcano, a draconic creature emerging. The Devil, which depicts the silhouette of a dragon with spread wings and five heads. And finally Death, which appears to be an image of a skull at first... but closer inspection reveals it to be a globe of Faerun, with vast swaths of land burned to black cinders creating the illusion of a skull. The women appear to laugh, certain of their victory as they reach forward to claim their prize, but Tymora stops them, as she still needs to deal Loki her hand.
As the women seethe Loki is dealt her hand... The Hermit, depicting a half-elven figure aiming a tall bow at an unseen enemy. The Magician... a green skinned man at a desk, surrounded by scrolls and books, copying information into his own book. Next is the Fool, which shows a blue horned woman kneeling down and offering food to a stray dog. Finally she is given the Wheel of Fortune, showing a large gold coin. However, the face in the center is strange... it seems like each time she tries to focus the face on it changes... it’s an old man... a young woman... human... elf... and finally for just a moment Loki sees her own face. To the anger of the women, Loki is declared the winner. She reaches for the jewels, only able to grasp on... the blue Lapis, which tingles with electrical energy as she picks it up. Before she can take anymore a massive claw slams down on the table. The women’s veils fall revealing scales... massive fangs... and 10 serpentine eyes. They rush forward, and just before they slaughter Loki she’s awoken by the sound of nearby thunder... and finds a small Lapis clutched in her hand.
As they drew closer to Greenest Katniss was on alert thanks to the storm raging above the remote village. It seemed... unnatural. The weather in the surrounding area didn’t seem right for a storm like this, and as they drew clsoer they noticed that there was no rain, only flashes of lightning. Silhoutted in this flash they see a huge, winged creature... the sight of a dragon. G’houl recalls from his studies that a Blue Dragon is capable of creating isolated thunderstorms... but only poweful adult dragons. Cresting a hill they also realize that the dark storm clouds obscured tall black smoke from burning buildings. They take some time to hide their horses and wagon before hurrying into town. They see that, in addition to the dragon flying above and using its lightning breath to destroy buildings, that hordes of kobolds led by cultists and aided by men in armor are ransacking the village. On their way into town they see a young woman desperately battling a group of Kobolds to protect her family. With children in danger, Dahlia doesn’t hesitate a moment, firing on the Kobolds. The party has no trouble clearing out the Kobolds and rescuing the woman, who helps to guide the party to the Keep... a tall, well-guarded structure in the center of town which can provide defense for the remaining citizens.
In the keep they find the man they were sent to find... Lord Stonehill, a bronze Dragonborn and ally of Sildar Hallwinter, who had been informed of the party’s intent to retrieve Bowgentle’s spellbook, which is normally stored in a treeasury on the North end of town. However, when the cultists arrived, the treasury was the first location they ransacked. Looking closer at the cultists, Dahlia recognizes as coming from the same cult as the cultists they met in Conyberry, which worshipped the Dragon Goddess Tiamat. She also realizes that Bowgentle specialized in Conjuration magic... which could be dangerous in the hands of a cult that worships an evil Goddess that’s been sealed in the 9 Hells. Worried, she hurries to the top of the Keep to scan the distance and is lucky enough to see a human woman in elaborate purple robes who, surprisingly, appears to recognize Dahlia, sarcastically waving to her with an ancient-looking spellbook before being escorted out of town by a large group of guards.
Realizing they’re too late to stop the cultists from stealing the book, the priority shifts to helping the people of the town. Lord Stonehill informs them of a hidden tunnel below the Keep that could be used to help more citizens safely escape, but Stonehill himself is injured, and all his men are too busy protecting the keep to open it. As they explore they discover rabid rats, but are able to clear them out. More importantly, they find a group of Kobolds and cultists exploring the area just outside of the “sewer grate” at the end of the tunnel. Realizing they could learn something from them, they attempt to lure one of the Kobolds away to capture it... but a few botched rolls results in it shrieking for help, leading to combat. They’re careful not to harm the Kobolds, instead focused on persuading them to join their side, which is accomplished easy enough with a combination of Dahlia’s high Charisma and fresh jerky from Katniss. The cultists are a greater issue, with one killed as he attempts to flee, with the other trying to hide in the nearby bushes, who ruins his stealth when he angrily attacks one of the Kobolds that the party had convinced to help them search for the cultist. Dahlia thoroughly intimidates the cultist, stabbing him once in the leg, reducing him to a single point of health. Pushed to his limit, he spills his guts... revealing that the cult has been gathering treasure to give as an offering to Tiamat upon her release from the 9 Hells... believing that the loyal will be spared her wrath when she destroys the world and remakes it in her image. He also reveals that their intent is to intimidate the townsfolk... killing just enough to keep the rest of them too afraid to resist. He doesn’t know the full details of their plans, but he does accidentally reveal that the cultists have a clutch of Black Dragon eggs in their possession, and seems certain that they’ll be hatching soon.
The prisoners are quickly taken back to the Keep. The Cultist is immediately given medical attention, while the Kobolds create some chaos. They seem excited to see Stonehill, until they realize he doesn’t have a tail and start mocking him for it, to the confusion of the party. Still, they don’t appear to be causing any real trouble, and the party is sent out again to rescue the villagers who have seemingly become trapped in the nearby Sanctuary. On the way they come across an Ambush Drake, led by a group of Kobolds. The Drake immediately considers them enemies, with Katniss trapping it with an ensaring strike. The Kobolds are ready to attack, but a successful deception check puts them off-guard. Still, the Drake is howling for help, which attracts more kobolds and Drakes, which is where things wait for the party to decide what to do next.
We're streaming again tonight, this time with our usual DM in the homebrew world of Kahenah. We'll be starting at 5pm PST at our home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. As always, here's what you may have missed last week:
Crush takes some time to try and bond with Elonwee. He shares with her the candied strawberries that Ash had given to them, and puts on a bit of a show as he talks about fighting the Brutes. He decides to tell her about the time he fought an Oni with Crash and Duncan… a story he had told to the party at the start of their adventure, where they rescued Jem, who grew up to be Ricky’s ex, after the Oni had used him to lure more children to him for food. After hearing the story she used a spare scrap of paper to write a few words: “Y sAvE mE”. He reminds her about Jem… how he had been used by the Oni, and even though he contributed to the deaths of other children, he didn’t deserve to be punished for something he was forced to do. She’s still shaken by the thought, and when Crush attempts to comfort her she merely shuts down once again.
Once outside, Nimble decides to take Kanec and Azure to a local bar so they can enjoy some “sake bombs”. The sake has little effect on Kanec, but Azure, who rarely drinks, is tipsy after her first drink. They also eat some spicy drinks known as Scorpion Bowls, although Kanec doesn’t hesitate to add some actual scorpion venom. As they continue drinking, Azure manages to get completely drunk. Meanwhile, Ricky and Corrio are enjoying their “date”, focused on checking out the various little food stalls. They make their way to dinghy pier… one of the few isolated locations in the Jade City during the celebration. The two of them enjoy some food and open up about their feelings… discussing family, the future, and trusting each other with their hopes and fears. Ricky talks about how hard it has been ever since losing Crash, who he still calls Noka. As they reminisce, Ricky gently sings, bringing Corrio to tears… but even Corrio isn’t sure why he’s crying.
Ash continues shopping. Trying to remember what it was like for her growing up when she would visit Kirei Midori for festivals like this. As she wanders she stumbles across Fidget and Oyou on their date, hit with a wave of jealousy that she struggles to control. She bumps into a cart, revealing herself to them both. Their conversation is stilted, and Ash hurries away, making her way into the woods. She’s seen by Ricky and Corrio, who can tell she’s upset, but she convinces them she’s just going out into the woods to relax. Still, Corrio remembers that they were told not to let Ash get upset, as it could worsen her condition. The two decide to follow her at a distance, for fear that more yokai may cause her trouble in the woods.
As this is going on, Azure and Nimble drunkenly stumble into the bag, followed by an overwhelmed Kanec. He begs Crush for help, who is used to drunken shenanigans from Ricky. Doing what he usually does, he simply picks up Azure, carrying her to the couch and wrapping her in a blanket, which she immediately dubs a “Purrito”. Kanec is wrestling more with Nimble, who is aggressively flirting with him until Crush steps in and wraps her in a Purrito as well. The two Tabaxi are placated by the blankets, although just before passing out Azure drunkenly admits that she’s had a crush on Kanec for some time, but falls asleep before Kanec can ask follow up questions.
Crush tags out with Kanec, leaving him in the bag to care for Elonwee. Once outside he seeks out the kite vendor, purchasing a koi-shaped kite for Elonwee. As he explores the festival he sees Fidget, who admits that he ignored Ricky’s note telling him to meet with Argus. Noticing the time, they decide it’s time for everyone to head back to the Oriven manor. Oyou volunteers to arrange travel while Fidget guides Crush in the direction Ash went to look for the rest of their party.
Ash has made her way into the woods, finding a secluded space near a river. She methodically folds an origami boat, remembering a superstition her sister-in-law taught her of putting her problems in a boat and letting it go. It gives little comfort, and she weeps as best she could, considering she’s no longer capable of producing tears. Ricky and Corrio are the first to catch up to her… doing their best to comfort Ash. She confesses that she’s upset that Fidget seems to be ignoring her… focused on seducing Oyou… forcing her to be alone around her family, which still makes her uncomfortable.
Just then, Crush and Fidget catch up. Ricky and Corrio quickly take advantage to convince Fidget to stay there alone with Ash while they return to town with Crush… letting Fidget and Ash finally discuss the feelings they’ve been wrestling with. Ash takes Fidget to the riverside, and Fidget admits he doesn’t expect to live much longer… it’s making him rethink a lot of things about himself. Ash, however, admits that she’s afraid of being left alone… especially by Fidget. She finally gets Fidget to realize that he loves her when she talks about the cherry tree in her family’s manor… and the superstition that kissing under it is good luck for marriage. The same tree she took him under the first night they arrived. Finally confessing out loud that she loves him, the two kiss passionately under the moonlight.
This creates some drama, however, when they realize that Oyou has been arranging a cart ride back to the Oriven manor. Ash and Fidget hide in the bag, desperate for some privacy to actually discuss everything that happened recently. This leaves Crush and Ricky to try and explain to Oyou why Fidget isn’t there, and Ricky realizes that telling her the truth is the least cruel option. She’s clearly upset, so Crush and Ricky get Fidget. He’s not happy either, but he also realizes it’s the right thing. He steps out to talk to Oyou, dropping his usual snarky, sarcastic facade to speak to her… man to woman. Neither of them are happy, but they both understand this is the best solution to their problem.
Back at the manor, however, Argus insists on speaking to Fidget and Ash. Argus is clearly infuriated, but Yurei is more willing to listen to reason. Still… tensions are clearly high, and they’re shocked by the revelation that she’s in love with Fidget. Still, Fidget doesn’t lie to them, and considering the condition both Fidget and Ash are in, they understand how they feel about each other.
With Ash’s family placated, Azure is given another prophetic dream in her drunken stupor. She sees visions of two children being assaulted by a group of vague figures wielding halberds. When the children are slaughtered a large figure erupts from nearby brush, viciously slaughtering everyone gathered. She gathers the party together over a dinner created by Ricky and one of the other workers and recounts her dream. The party instantly assumes the vision describes a Reaver’s bloodrage, and they also note that halberds are extremely uncommon as weapons in the country of Kirei Midori. They also use this meeting to discuss their plans for Elonwee, with many of the party members growing increasingly guilty about leaving the young girl restrained with magical shackles. While most of the party is comfortable with the risk of removing the shackles, Ash is adamant that she doesn’t want the young assassin freed around her family, but relents on letting the girl free of her shackles while inside Kanec’s Genie Bag.
We're going to be streaming more Hoard of the Dragon Queen tonight. Come join us at 5PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. As for what happened in the last game...
With the Kobolds and Drakes bearing down on them, Dahlia again leans on her high charisma to deceive them into thinking that they’re fellow mercenaries, ordering them to move to the keep. With a natural 20 she convinces all of them, the kobolds calming the angry drake and following her orders, clearing the way between them and the Sanctuary. Approaching stealthily, Loki takes the time to recount the dream she had of Tymora and Tiamat (with some embellishments of her own). Approaching the Sanctuary from a steep cliffside, G’houl is spotted thanks to a large wizard hat he had recently been gifted, but wasn’t quite used to keeping in mind when hiding. This results in a large scale battle as they find a truly massive group of cultists, kobolds, and drakes assaulting the Sanctuary. A group of cultists are using a large battering ram to try and break down the front door, while in the back a group of kobolds are building a fire to try and smoke out the citizens trapped inside. G’houl focuses on the Kobolds in the back, careful not to use his fire spells recklessly to avoid making the fire worse. Dahlia, meanwhile, uses her Boots of Spring and Leaping to climb on the roof of the sanctuary, using ranged spells to harass their enemies. Katniss uses a combination of her Hail of Thorns and her hordebreaker skill to clear out the cultists wielding the battering ram. Loki, however, chose to stay on the cliffs surrounding the sanctuary, instead sending her Duplicate to ground level, using the Duplicate to deliver her spells. The party’s superior ranged capabilities give them the edge in battle against this veritable horde of enemies, whittling them down slowly until eventually the Kobolds begin to retreat and the last human cultist surrenders.
The Cultist reveals his name as Marcus, a young man who seems overwhelmed, revealing that he joined the cult after being robbed by them on the road. He’s able to reveal important details about the cult, revealing that the woman in purple robes is name Frulam Mondath, a high ranking cult member. He does not know the exact location of the cultist’s camp, but is able to give the party a rough idea of its location. Inside the sanctuary itself they meet Eadyan Falconmoon, a Half-Elf priest of the Goddess Chauntea. He helps the party to calm the remaining citizens inside, which the party is able to lead safely back to the Keep. Once inside they turn Marcus over to Lord Nighthill, who treats the young man with respect, but still doesn’t trust the cultist. The party opts for a short rest before attempting to protect the Mill, which appears to be under attack. However, just as their rest completes the Blue Dragon swoops down, using its breath weapon to slaughter dozens of the guards in a single attack. Enraged, the party unleashes all their skills and magic on the dragon. Rather than face them directly, the Dragon seems frustrated at the unexpected resistance, choosing to fly away rather than put itself in further danger.
With the dragon’s retreat they realize that the small army of cultists seem to be making their escape, but one group remains. G’houl recognizes their leader as a blue Half-Dragon, leading a large cadre of well-trained Winged Kobolds, each carrying more sophisticated weaponry and their faces painted blue. More importantly, they have at spear-point a dwarven woman and her two children. Escobert, the dwarven Keep Master, instantly recognizes them as his own family, putting him into a rage as the guards struggle to hold him back. The Half-Dragon steps forward with a cruel offer... for his own entertainment, he wishes to fight the village’s greatest warrior, or he’ll slaughter the innocent family. Dahlia is enraged, attempting to coerce him into releasing the family while Loki makes plans to send her Duplicate to face the Half-Dragon... but when he makes clear that he demands a one-on-one duel and will kill the family if he detects any trickery she withdraws. Instead, Katniss steps forward to take on the Half-Dragon warrior.
When Katniss steps through the front gate the children are released, hesitating for a moment before their mother tells them to hurry inside to their father’s waiting arms. A person of few words, Katniss begins their attack without banter or bargaining. The Half-Dragon starts with a burst of his lightning breath, but Dragonguard, the enchanted breastplate Katniss had recovered from Wave Echo Cave, provides them with defense against his dragon breath. Rather than rely on their marksman skills, Katniss instead faces the Half-Dragon in melee combat using their quarterstaff. This proves to be a futile endeavor as the tall, powerful Half-Dragon is able to out-maneuver and out-attack Katniss in direct combat. When Katniss seems close to making a comeback, he reveals his fighter training, using an action surge to cut her down. Before anyone can react, he pulls out a spear, stabbing her in the side, pinning her to the ground with his weapon. Dahlia rushes out, using Spare the Dying to stabilize Katniss and shout demands at the Half-Dragon, wanting to know his name. However, he ignores her, and his Kobolds make certain not to release their hostage until he’s far out of range and mounting his horse. Once the woman is released, however, Dahlia uses her Wand of Magic Missile to strike the escaping Half-Dragon. Impressed with her moxie, he reveals his name to be Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, and referring to the Blue Dragon that assaulted the town as his brother.
With Katniss still unconscious and most of their spells spent the party can’t take chase. Instead they prioritize returning to the keep to rest and recover for the night. Escobert thanks them profusely for rescuing his family, gifting them two potions of healing for their efforts. Lord Nighthill also reveals that the town had recently been contacted by a member of the Harpers by the name of Leosin who had also expressed concern for the treasures stored in Greenest. Concerned that he may have been casing the place, G’houl contacts his teacher, Professor Rafael, who confirms that Leosin is a well-respected Harper and encourages G’houl to continue researching the cult of Tiamat. The party also uses magic to help cure Nighthill of his visible injuries, and he thanks them by offering some fine brandy for everyone to enjoy now that peace has come to the village. As they relax Dahlia begins to flirt with him after learning he is a widower of many years, noting that his wife was a blue dragonborn... certainly willing to take advantage of his affection for the color blue, spending the night in his office for some privacy.
Morning comes and Lord Nighthill is delivered a head count of villagers following the assault. In the night there were only 12 deaths, but 30 people have gone missing. Rain has put out many of the burning buildings... the damage to buildings far greater than the damage to citizenry. As the party makes plans they realize there are decent odds that their horses may not still be where they left them South of town.
Crits for Breakfast is streaming again tonight at 5pm PST. Join us, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and again as always, here's what happened last time in our usual game:
In the morning they’re woken up by Soba, Ash’s nephew. After a brief discussion the party realizes they need to take care of Elonwee. Stepping into the Genie Bag, they find that Elonwee isn’t in the bed she was left in… instead she has been wandering through the Bag, using the painting supplies to decorate things and entertain herself. Crush is the first to speak to her… admitting that the party is afraid of her, and acknowledging that she’s afraid of them. He offers to undo her shackles, if she can promise not to harm anyone. She agrees, and the shackles are removed. He gives her the fish-shaped kite that he had purchased for her, asking her to use her powers to animate it. She’s ecstatic to finally be able to use her powers, which she’s relied on so thoroughly throughout her life that she feels disabled without it. Ricky volunteers to let Elonwee use him as a puppet so she can speak through him. They question her briefly… about her family, her life… careful not to probe too deeply and upset her. She speaks of her “papa” like he’s the most amazing person in the world, but still shuts down emotionally when questioned about how he treats her when she displeases him. She thinks of assassinations as “chores”, and is afraid to admit what Papa does when she fails. Surprisingly, Ash manages to get on her good side… apologizing for choking her earlier, and offers her the opportunity to take a vacation from “Papa”. However, when Crush asks about how she was tracking them she refuses to say.
Taking Elonwee out of the bag she immediately wants to go outside, since there are practically no plants where she comes from. However, at this point Soba steps out, curious about the young girl. Crush gifts him a carving of Ash that he had made for him, making Elonwee a bit jealous while Ash finds her brother to explain Elonwee’s presence. They’re clearly not happy to have a diseased assassin interacting with their son, especially since the jealous young girl was blowing raspberries at him. Still, Ash is able to convince them that Elonwee is safe, but she does seem inspired by this conversation. She borrows Ricky’s sending feather to contact the Merc she had sold the Hagstone to. Remembering that, in the right hands, the stone could be used to cure literally any disease. The Merc has no intention of selling it, but for 1,000 GP he’s willing to loan it to Ash just long enough to cleanse Elonwee of her disease. She also purchases, as a gift for Elonwee, a large marionette which she immediately animates using her strings… much to the terror of anyone who sees it move.
At this point, the Dentist Ash hired arrives to help modify one of Fidget’s teeth so that he could keep his pearl stored in it, as he did before being transformed into a Reaver, which caused all his teeth to fall out and be replaced with Reaver teeth. Ash asks for Crush’s help to restrain Fidget so he doesn’t hurt himself or the dentist. As Fidget would be immune to the medicines normally used to numb pain, Kanec instead loans him a powerful venom that Reavers use to combat intense pain. Fortunately the Dentist has a syringe to deliver the venom into Fidget’s bloodstream… unfortunately the venom is strong enough that it renders the syringe too dangerous to use and she’s forced to purchase it outright.
Meanwhile, Corrio realizes that Elonwee appears much more healthy and is able to discern that she’s been cured of her disease. Kanec, who had witnessed the exchange between Ash and the Merc, mentions the Hag Stone, not realizing its significance. This comes as a shock to Ash’s brother Argus, who knows that these are deeply cursed and evil items made by hags using the souls of their victims. The thought of his sister using such a dangerous object is deeply disturbing to them, although considering her Undead nature it’s no wonder.
With the dental treatment successful, Crush takes the drugged-out Fidget to the guest room. Bringing Fidget his bag, Fidget reveals that he had purchased baby supplies in anticipation of his children he’s expecting from the Siren Queen. This shakes Ash a bit, especially after her confession to Fidget the previous night. Crush returns to the group as they’re informed about the plans for the night, which requires everyone preparing for a fancy party in Ash’s honor. He realizes that this means Elonwee, whose only possession before meeting the party was the well-worn dress she was wearing, will finally get some more clothes of her own. Crush and Ricky go to speak to Lady Yurei… as a famous clothier, they’re hoping they can help get the young girl not just a fancy dress for the party, but hopefully some clothes she can wear casually. Meanwhile, Azure seeks out Ash, picking her up for a bit of a girl’s hangout time, where Yurei will teach Azure the basics of Needlepoint while sipping wine and gossiping. Elonwee is sent to join the girls, and also to get fitted for clothes. Meanwhile, the boys take a bath to get ready for the party later that night.
We're about to start streaming again! Come join us at Twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! As for last time...
Ricky talks to Crush about his vision of the Night Mother. Crush isn’t able to give much insight, but he encourages Ricky to investigate further… reasoning that they don’t know enough to know if he’s in danger, but also reckoning that Ricky’s abilities have been key to their success, so she can’t be all bad. More worrying, however, Ricky notices pale spots and Crush’s shell, and some of his spikes wearing down. A medical check finds that there’s nothing immediately wrong with him, but the tip of one spike actually snaps off cleanly. Crush resolves to try and keep his shell cleaner, since they can’t figure out what is causing it. Meanwhile, the girls are preparing, with Yurei having gotten into a bit too much wine and getting weepy as they put on makeup.
Once the party starts, they find that the meal is actually fairly modest. No servants, with comfort food that Ash loved when she was Promethea. The party is somber in anticipation of Ash’s impending departure. Yurei, a skilled bard, plays a song on her Shamisen. She also explains the symbolism of the Cherry Blossoms… how they bloom only briefly, their beauty only living for a few days, and how it reminds you that even a life that is short can be beautiful, and sometimes the end only makes something more beautiful. Ash takes some time to speak to Aylus, bonding with her younger brother… trying to leave him with one last positive memory of his sister. Fidget, meanwhile, is still struggling with his emotions… frightened of losing himself to his Blood Rage. Crush offers to help Fidget learn to control his rage, although Kanec warns that it’s risky for a made Reaver to try and use their rage.
As the night draws to a close Ash intends to leave and travel in the dark. Before she leaves she picks up her mechanical bird she had built when she was alive and studying as an artificer. Ash is also gifted a care package including several creature comforts, especially haircare supplies. It doesn’t take long after leaving the protective magic of the Oriven estate for the party to encounter an Oni, although unsurprisingly, at this point a single Oni poses little threat to the party. The party opts to avoid returning to the Jade City, instead traveling around the city and finding a clearing to set up camp. Ash opens her care package, unfurling a large tarp on the ground with Fidget’s help… which immediately springs up into a 10 foot tall tent-like structure, fully stocked with furniture. Unfortunately, the growth of the tent launches Fidget into a nearby tree. Ricky, meanwhile, prepares a fine stew, making a separate batch infused with poison and the enchanted Sune’s Salt… which happens to be a powerful aphrodisiac. He intended this as a gift for Fidget to help him relax after his stressful day, since Reavers are not simply immune to poison, but actually benefit from consuming it. Unfortunately, the same soup is also eaten by his fellow Reaver, Kanec… as well as Azure and Nimble, who’ve trained as monk’s to the level that they’re immune to poison. Things turn awkward quickly as the already-flirty Nimble sets her sights on Kanec, but with some help from the other party members she’s calmed down and put to sleep wrapped in a comforting blanket, or as it’s perhaps better known, a “Purrito”. Kanec is able to get some privacy while it now falls on Crush, Ricky, and Corrio as the only ones left to keep watch.
We took a week off last week for everyone to relax and recover, but we're coming back tonight at 5PM PST for more Hoard of the Dragon Queen! As always, join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and here's what happened in the last HotDQ session:
The morning brings breakfast and discussion about what comes next. Worried that the cultists have abducted citizens, they realize they need to go, and quickly. The party is provided with some supplies, as well as two horses to carry them on their quest. Their first task is to find their wagon that has been left behind south of Greenest, only to find that it’s been stolen. Katniss’s survival skills surmise that it had been loaded up with additional weight before leaving. It’s no trouble for Katniss to track their lost wagon, finding that it’s been commandeered by a few cultists and a large group of kobolds. Using their stolen cultist robes, Dahlia convinces the Kobolds that she’s a half-dragon, instantly getting their adoration, not questioning for a moment when she orders them to kill the human cultists. However, seeing the fear in one of their eyes she calls them off, and the party instead captures and questions the surviving cultists (while those that were killed are eaten by the Ambush Drakes that accompany the kobolds.) In particular they meet a young man named Isaac, who reveals that he was abducted by the cult in the nearby town of Easting. The cult regularly abducts others... torturing and starving them in the process of converting them into cultists... or simply working them to death. He also recognizes the name of Leosin, the half-elf that had been captured by the cult. He reveals that Leosin is kept barely alive and used as an example to keep the other prisoners in line. Dahlia in particular is enraged, as starving others is a sore spot for her, although exactly why hasn’t been revealed yet. Isaac is given supplies and one of the horses and told to return to Greenest. Before he leaves, though, he warns the party about the Rear Guard, which has been set up to attack anyone following the cultists to their camp. In concern, G’houl sends a message to Professor Rafael, requesting assistance... unfortunately, he has no means of sending support, informing G’houl that he is the backup. The group keeps one other cultist tied up in the back of their wagon and bring the Kobolds along.
Dahlia takes a particular interest in the smallest and least aggressive Kobold, who reveals their name to be Deeg. Deeg explains more about the cult... and speaks with glowing praise about the half-dragons, even though it’s clear that they’re abusive to the Kobolds. They spot the Rear Guards’ camp. Approaching stealthily, Dahlia asks Deeg to go sneak inside and bring back any Kobolds inside to meet her. Deeg, surprisingly, does very well on their Charisma check, bringing 8 more Kobolds, some winged, back to meet Dahlia. Between Dahlia’s high charisma and the large supply of jerky Katniss provides, it’s no trouble to get the Kobolds on their side. They’re sent back into the camp to steal weaponry from the humans, with the promise of more jerky for whoever brings back the most. It leads to a slight issue when one Kobold simply beats up the other Kobolds to steal the weapons they stole, but ultimately they do their job well and are rewarded with more jerky. Hoping to lure a guard out to them so they can deal with him in private, they send Deeg to bring him over. Unfortunately, Deeg’s charms don’t work on the guard and they see him backhanding the Kobold. Thi s is too much for Dahlia, who brings Loki along in disguise to confront the guard. Katniss, meanwhile, stealthily follows along, while G’houl opts to stay at a safe distance to avoid being seen. Once inside Dahlia leans on her sensuality... seducing the guard and urging him to bring along any “new recruits”, intending to make sure that none of the enslaved fresh converts get hurt, but it’s revealed that they don’t trust any of the new recruits enough to put them in an important guard camp. The guard strips for Dahlia, removing his armor before Dahlia attacks him with Inflict Wounds. Despite up-casting, the guards are too strong to be killed in a single attack and he screams for help. When an acolyte comes to check he’s captured and intimidated into helping to calm the other approaching cult members while the guard is executed, with Loki shifting to his form and putting on his armor. This is only a temporary solution, as another guard enters and sees through the disguise. A full-on battle ensues, with many of the cultists realizing perhaps too late that their weapons are missing, although the clever-er cultists use flaming sticks from the large bonfire as weapons, starting multiple fires. Some of the cultists attempt to run, but Katniss’s skills as a sniper are too much for them. As G’houl approaches he’s set upon by a guard, who sees the unarmored wizard as an easy target. He’s nearly knocked unconscious, but he chooses to use his Dragon’s Breath spell to get the upper hand, defeating the last guard with the help of a few kobolds slinging stones from the cover of the nearby trees. The Rear Guard is defeated, and the party finds themselves free to explore the camp, along with the help of their steadily growing following of Kobolds.
We'll be streaming at 4:30 PM PST at our usual home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! This is our main campaign, and I know it's been over a week since our last game, so this is what you all may have missed:
In the night Crush notices the fire seeming to put itself out… when relit voices scream and veins of red light appear in the ground. It takes some time and the help of Ricky and Corrio, but they discover a race of tiny people. Corrio is able to speak to them, learning that they’re forest spirits. They realize that some of them got burnt from the campfire, so the group apologizes and opts to go without firelight for the rest of the night. Azure, meanwhile, realizes that she’s feeling the effects of the Sune’s Salt, and she paces the interior of Kanec’s genie bag muttering to herself, conflicted about her feelings for Kanec. She nervously knocks on his door, wanting to speak to Kanec. The two of them are both extremely awkward, unwilling to admit their mutual feelings for each other. Eventually though, Azure finally does make her confession in the most awkward way possible. Not surprisingly the two have an extremely fumbling and confused attempt to flirt, but ultimately Kanec asks to take her out to dinner sometime when they’re not both under the effects of a mystical love salt.
In the morning Ricky and Corrio look for edible berries. They find a healthy bounty, which Corrio believes are tended to by the forest spirits they met last night. Inspired, Ricky makes some truly delicious wildberry pancakes. Elonwee especially is delighted at the sweet breakfast, while Ash and Fidget discuss some of the blueprints she recovered from her time as an artificer, remembering her inventions, including a prosthetic arm she had designed for a woman in Ortheia. With everything packed up, the party opts to walk back to their ship, as they still have several days before it will be ready. This also gives them the opportunity to scavenge for more berries… Azure and Nimble compete a bit to try and gather the most berries.
Meanwhile, Ash contacts her Patron, feeding him the various souls she’s gathered, including the deadly Merrow, multiple Oni, and finally the powerful, corrupt soul of the child-eating Hachisakusama. The act of releasing these souls is a drain on Ash’s body, exhausting and draining her, while her Patron, who was once a spectral skeleton, has gradually recovered skin, organs, hair… now resembling a recently-deceased middle aged human. He seems pleased with Ash’s progress, implying that it’s possible to reverse the monstrous transformation she’s been experiencing. He admits that he finds her beautiful, and he’s been experiencing bodily desires, including hunger. He finishes his visit with a kiss, much to Fidget’s displeasure. The rest of the party is learning to recognize the chill feeling in the air when Ash contacts her Patron… but just to be safe, Crush lights a torch, knowing that the power of Ash’s patron causes fires to burn green. Surprisingly, Elonwee recognizes the effect, and seems frightened by it. He’s unable to ask more questions when the distinct scent of smoke and blood wafts through the air. The party puts Elonwee safely in Kanec’s genie bag and immediately rushes forward… spotting human hunters armed with halberds attacking a remote goblin village. Crush and Azure are the first to run in, trying to intimidate the hunters into leaving, although they don’t listen to reason. Crush manages to knock two of them unconscious, but an enraged Fidget can’t control himself, murdering one of the unconscious hunters in cold blood. As Azure and Kanec battle the leader of the hunters, Crush tries to pin down Fidget. With his own rage, Fidget is able to wrestle his way out of Crush’s grip, dashing toward the Hunter leader, but before he’s able to, Ricky kills him with Heat Metal, before convincing the Goblins that the party isn’t a threat to the goblin village.
As the goblins attempt to escape, another group of hunters arrive. They announce themselves as working for the Shogun, declaring the goblins to be criminals and a nuisance. When confronted about this clearly being a civilian village they scoff, declaring Goblins to simply be monsters, and make clear that they intend to collect heads to prove their bounty. Crush successfully intimidates the leader, but one of his men sees two young goblins fleeing and fires a crossbow bolt in their direction… but Fidget gets in the way, getting shot in the chest… pulling out the bolt and using it to kill the Hunter. This leads to a combat against the Hunters, who refuse to listen to reason. After they’re killed, Fidget tries to speak to the young goblins… and as they speak he collapses in shock. Everyone is baffled, but Crush takes a shot and asks the young boy if he’s Fidget Jr. Everyone is stunned at the revelation as Fidget reunites with his long lost children. The party cleans up the corpses as Nimble panics, realizing this potentially makes the party enemies of the Shogun. She volunteers to help mislead any pursuers, setting fire to the woods in the opposite direction the party is heading.
I'm trying to remember to announce streams sooner so that people can actually plan to join them... so anyway, we're planning to stream again tonight at 5pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! And if you missed our stream last night, here's everything that happened:
Fidget and his children go into Kanec’s Genie Bag to reconnect, while the remaining party members continue their march back to their ship, the Blooming Rose. The journey is long and uneventful for some time, until they come across a group of Kappa while crossing a shallow river. The Kappa are defending their eggs, but luckily Crush is able to speak to them in Aquan and convince them not to attack. The Kappa direct them to the South, but warns them that something powerful and evil is in the way. They are told specifically not to explore the trenches by the river, and not to look behind them, no matter what they hear. Crush bows politely to the Kappa, which bow in response… only to spill water from the bowls in their heads, panicking the Kappa and nearly triggering another fight.
Azure doesn’t trust herself to be able to resist the temptation to turn around if she heard sounds behind her, and instead hides in Kanec’s Genie Bag. Ricky, meanwhile, takes his ascot and uses it as a blindfold while Crush assumes it will be easy to simply not look behind him. Ricky rides on Crush’s back, beginning to feel hot breath on the back of his neck. Fingertips touching him. They’re both able to ignore this, but problems arise when they start to hear the voices of their loved ones, urging them to turn around. Ricky hears the voice of his Mother, while Crush hears the voice of his sister, Crash. They’re able to confirm to each other that they’re not hearing the same voices and soldier on. Ricky starts to sing, imbuing his song with a Countercharm to help protect them from attempts to frighten or charm them. It protects Ricky, but when Crush hears his sister cry in pain he’s unable to resist the creatures charm. Turning he actually sees his sister’s face… but attached to a bizarre, fleshy body. The faces of several other people are sprouting form the fleshy mass… along with long, clawed arms, the faces twisting and contorting as the creature attacks, overwhelming even Crush with fear. Going into a rage, Crush sprints to escape the creature while Ricky continues his countercharm. Using his Rage to succeed multiple athletics checks as they run toward a bamboo forest. Bursting through, chopping down bamboo and barreling through the forest as the screaming voices of the bizarre creature slowly quiet in the distance.
Once safe, Crush takes some time to catch his breath. Composing himself and able to deceive Azure into not realizing how terrified he was by the ordeal. Ricky, however, has a large slash across his back from the creature’s attack and goes into the Genie Bag to rest and recover. While this is all going on Ash and Fidget talk to his children, learning that his daughter has earned the name “Sly Smile”, as goblin children aren’t given names at birth. Fidget Jr. and Sly Smile reveal that their original home had been raided by humans, scattering the various goblins across the land. They ended up getting scooped up by a group of Hobgoblins and taken on a raiding party across the sea. They eventually ended up in Kirei Midori, but were forced to escape once again when one of their Hobgoblin leaders tried to sell Sly Smile into slavery… which Fidget Jr. prevents by slitting his throat and escaping into the wilds. The two of them ended up living with a Kirei Midorian Goblin horde for a time… Fidget Jr. proves to be quite the ladies man, and Sly is coming of age… her naturally bald head is seen as exotic by the other men in the horde.
Ricky, Kanec, and Azure start to work on baking a cake while Crush looks for a place to camp. However, he can’t seem to find a place that seems safe with the high Yokai activity… even when Azure helps they can’t seem to find anything. Strangely, he sees a large black dog following them. Vaguely remembering something about Ricky’s dreams involving a black dog, he asks Ricky to come out and look at the creature. However, Ricky clarifies that his dream was about a wolf, but he is able to discern that the dog is stalking them like a hunter following prey. Crush opts to throw a javelin at it, but the simple javelin passes right through the dog like its made of mist. Not wanting to deal with it, Ricky uses polymorph to transform Crush into a Roc while everyone else gets back inside to enjoy some cake. As a Roc Crush is able to cover a vast amount of land, arriving at the port town where the Blooming Rose is docked, but he can also see that a Reaver warship is docked as well.
As Crush lets everyone know Fidget realizes he needs to talk to his children about what the party is doing… the dangerous situation they’re in, the need to leave them behind since they wouldn’t be safe with him. Ash suggests they could send Fidget’s children to the Reaver home country, since they all intend to go there as soon as possible anyway. While Fidget talks more with his children the rest of the party takes advantage of the privacy to discuss their plans for dealing with the Siren Queen. Ricky explains the deal he made with the Merc Merchant, which, in theory, will cause the Siren Queen to instantly birth Fidget’s children. Ash mentions what she bought from the Merc as well… a powerful poison that could weaken the Queen enough to actually harm her. Kanec actually recognizes the poison… it’s derived from the first Reave, dangerous creatures created by the Night Mother which eat Reavers. It’s potent enough that a single drop would kill even the normally poison-immune Reavers, and if it spilled in the ocean it could kill wildlife in a large area. Kanec is scared to use it, but Ash is more than willing to take the risk. They don’t have a complete plan for how to administer it to the Siren Queen, but they now have some hope of killing this powerful creature.
With that resolved, they enter town, making their way to the docks. They see a group of Reavers casually chatting on the docks… Ash and Ricky decide to chat with them while Crush checks on the ship. He finds that Captain Pagonia is in a sour mood after spending a week docked, dealing with the drunkard shipwright that the party had hired, as well as being aggressively flirted with by the nearby Reavers. Still, she’s eager to get back to sea, and wants to help them take on the Siren Queen. Crush also sees that the Ocean Spirit has returned, as Kalea asked it to help ensure their safety. He wants to ask for its help with the Siren, but it has other things to do for the night.
Meanwhile, Ricky and Ash are talking to the Reavers… they discover that one of them is a scholar who is hoping to research other cultures. The entire Warship is on its way back to the Reaver homeland, and already has several children on board. Fidget’s children, since they are technically adults by Goblin standards, negotiate their own plan to travel with the Reavers, but more importantly they need to speak to Elonwee. They are shocked and disgusted to learn that her “Papa” had deliberately mutilated her vocal chords, and surprised to see that, despite her inability to speak, she was never taught sign language. To help their conversation, Ricky again volunteers to let Elonwee control him, using him as her puppet to speak. The Reavers know children well, and are able to connect with the young girl, who seems excited at the promise of a new life. Crush returns at this point to find that Elonwee’s already planning to leave with the Reavers. Crush tells her that the Reavers are good people and will give her the life she deserves. He apologizes that he won’t be there to protect her any more, so as a gift he gives her the 8 Foot Woman’s hat he had taken from the Hachisakusama, affixing it to her back, telling her that she now has a shell of her own. Tearfully they share a hug… unsurprisingly, Azure joins in as well, eventually becoming a large group hug. Ricky makes sure to get contact information from the Reavers, learning that the scholar is known as Komar. They also learn that the Reavers on board have adopted several children already… including Reesa, the young half-hag from the Starlight Children’s Home. They make plans to visit the next morning for one last farewell before everyone goes to the Blooming Rose to sleep.
On the way, Ricky reveals his plan to bless the ship with the Hallow spell… a powerful spell granted by his Dragonmark which could protect the ship itself from the Queen Siren. However, doing so requires not only a large volume of ritual incense, but the spell has a 24 hour casting time, leaving Ricky unable to help with anything else for a day. When the morning comes it falls on Azure to cook breakfast… with Crush’s help she prepares some delicious maple bacon pancakes. The party needs to purchase more incense for Ricky to complete his spell, while Ash and Fidget plan to purchase some gifts for Fidget’s children… in particular, the two of them wear tattered scraps of clothing, and the two of them are only vaguely aware of how money works.
Crits for Breakfast will be back tonight for more Hoard of the Dragon Queen DM'd by me at 4:30 PM PST at our usual place, twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. BTW, here's what happened last time:
After clearing out the Rear Guard the party opts to stay the night in the camp, but run into trouble when more straggling Cultists arrive. Loki is able to successfully impersonate the guards who were there, although the newly arrived cultists admonish her for the lack of guards. He also reveals the greeting the cult members use for each other… With fingers outstretched they hold out their hands palm side out, then drag them across their throats. However, the greeting is recognized by Dahlia, who has seen someone in her past use that greeting before… someone she hates deeply. In a rage she kills the cultist, and from there the rest of the party is able to intimidate the cultist’s hired mercenary into surrendering and giving up information on the camp. They’re assured that the cult’s camp is nearby, and is poorly organized enough that they should be able to enter with only the simplest of disguises… except for Dahlia, who, as a bright blue Tiefling, is an easy person to pick out of a crowd. They continue to plan their infiltration as they rest through the night, until early morning when another group of cultists arrives to “relieve” the rear guard. The party plays along, until the cultists start to abuse the kobolds, which gets them to turn on them instantly, killing them off as well before leaving the Rear Guard camp and continuing towards the cult’s main camp.
With their cart full of stolen treasure and a cadre of Kobolds accompanying them, it’s a minor challenge to pose as cultists making returning to camp. Wearing the elaborate mask and robes of the DragonClaws (a rank within the cult), even Dahlia is able to make her way in with minimal questions. They do notice, however, that all Tieflings in the camp are being questioned, regardless of sex and color. There are also groups of cultists checking each new cult member as they make their way in by cutting their arms and checking their blood. Loki realizes that they’re checking the color of everyone’s blood to see if they’re Changelings… fortunately, they’re confusing Changelings with their close relatives, Dopplegangers, who have tell-tale black blood, while Changelings still have traditional red blood. They also notice that Kobolds are treated as second-class creatures within the camp, and they send their small following of Kobolds into the Kobold section of camp, encouraging them to turn the Kobolds against the cult (not too difficult of a task, as the Kobold’s home caverns have been taken over aggressively by the cult).
As they make their way further inside the cultists are gathered near the prisoner tents, where they see the Half-Elf Leosin strapped to a pole on a small natural hill, next to other poles… one which still has the corpse of a woman left to bake in the sun. They witness the woman they had seen already… Frulam Mondath, and the leader of this small army, a Black Dragonborn known as Rezmir. They witness Rezmir using her claws to slash Leosin, gathering blood on her fingertips as part of a ceremony to christen a young woman to the rank of Dragonclaw. Dahlia successfully insights the young woman, recognizing a disturbing look on the woman’s face… the sight of someone who has done something so horrible, that some part of their mind shuts down in a desperate attempt to save themselves from complete madness. It’s a look that, on some level, is seen on many of the cultists throughout the camp. Using her Message Cantrip, Dahlia is able to contact Leosin, who encourages her to return at sundown so they can speak in privacy, and encourages her to meet the other prisoners.
Insightfully watching the prisoners, they’re able to spot one that seems defiant and, perhaps, could help them rally the other prisoners to their side. After convincing her that it’s not just a trap to lure out dissidents, she introduces herself as Samantha and offers to help the party. Informing them that half the prisoners would be willing to work with them, but they would need a solid plan to convince any of the others into trying to escape. She also warns that some of the prisoners are potentially as much of a threat as the cultists… telling them the story of the woman they saw ascend to Dragonclaw. She was once a prisoner like Samantha, but when one of the cultists took pity on the prisoners and brought them food… in fear of retribution, she reported the cultist to the other cult members… and now the disgraced cultist is the rotting body left tied to the poles. The party slowly becoming convinced that it’s not going to be enough to simply release the prisoners… they need to take down this entire camp.
With that knowledge gained, the party decides to check in on their Kobolds and see how much progress they’ve made gathering more allies among the small creatures. They catch up to Deeg, the small Kobold that Dahlia took a particularly liking to. Deeg eagerly brings them to one of the elderly Kobolds… an aging female Kobold known simply as “Big Momma”. They find Big Momma in a large tent that’s been converted into a sweat lodge to allow their eggs to incubate properly… revealing that their original nest has been taken over to house the cult’s collection of Black Dragon Eggs. Big Momma was forced to help with this, and noticed the Black Dragon eggs were odd… glistening with unusual colors when the light hit them at certain angles, the party comparing it to oil. Dahlia wants to use the cave system in this mountain range to sneak into the main cave, but Big Momma says that the cave tunnels leading back into the main cave have been deliberately collapsed by the cult members. With some convincing, she thinks that they can potentially clear a single path inside with a day of work. Deeg is still uncertain, unable to think of how the small Kobolds could ever stand up against the tall and powerful Half-Dragons… but, as Bards so often do, she inspires the young Kobold, reminding them that a person can be bigger than their physical body.
We took a break over the weekend so that two of our players could attend a funeral, but we're back tonight at 4pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty for more Crits for Breakfast: Sacrament! A lot happened in our last session, and we're gearing up for a pretty big adventure tonight:
Ash and Fidget are shopping for clothes for Fidget’s children, Junior and Sly. Fidget’s daughter, Sly, is confrontational with Ash, while Junior seems just happy to be around his father and to be able to interact with regular society… although the goblin children do draw unpleasant looks from the human merchants. One merchant tries to close his stall before the goblins can get close, but Ash successfully intimidates him into staying open so she can purchase explorer’s pack for the children.
Meanwhile, Crush and Azure bring the incense to Ricky before stepping out to say farewell to Elonwee and Reesa, the half-Hag originally from the Starlight Children’s Home. Reesa has transformed further… her skin turning purple like her nighthag mother, as well as sprouting horns. However, this has also unlocked her latent magical powers, granting her abilities as a sorcerer. The children are both happy to see Crush, and he’s happy to see that Reesa, finally, is able to smile casually. The Reavers caring for them assure the party that the girls will receive protection and a proper education in the Reaver schools. The party warn them about the Siren Queen, which they worry is large enough to be considered an Empress… which are both more powerful, and more evil. They also give advice for Fidget, although there’s little they can do for a made Reaver. However, they do promise to help him, as best they can, when the party tries to speak to the Reaver Warlord, who is supposedly the only person with the means to stabilize Fidget. As everyone prepares to leave Ash makes sure to leave some money behind for Fidget’s children, and seeks information on the Reaver college for her younger brother’s sake. As they shove off, Crush poses for the children on the deck, shouting his catchphrase and waving goodbye to Elonwee and Reesa.
With the ships separating they find that the Blooming Rose is more than ready for returning to sea, leaving little work to be done around. Crush decides to spend time with Ricky, sharpening his axe while Ricky continues the day-long ritual to bless the ship. Azure, meanwhile, goes to the Crow’s Nest to gossip with fellow Tabaxi, first-mate Ivory, about the rowdy adventures from the Reaver ship… the Reavers were clearly infatuated with Captain Pagonia, as a tall, confident, strong woman is perfect for Reaver tastes. Ash and Fidget are trying to share a moment, but the grumpy Pagonia forces them to clear out barnacles once again. As they cleared out barnacles they fell into the water, unknowingly landing on the heads of a group of Tritons. This leads to a screaming argument until Crush steps forward, calming things by speaking in Aquan. He learns that the tritons are also traveling toward Kalea, seeking her aid in dealing with the Queen Siren, that’s been devouring creatures left and right.
Once they know of their mutual enemy, Crush opens up to the Tritons, Eryn and Nalos, about what they know about the Queen Siren. He even reveals the Queen Siren’s connection to Fidget, and how she’s using him to manipulate the party. Nalos nearly attacks Fidget, but Eryn calms him… revealing that Nalos’s brother was killed when the Queen Siren attacked their underwater city. Being out of the water on the deck is uncomfortable for them, and Crush leads them below deck… both to get them out of the sun, and to be able to speak to them openly about their plans for the Queen Siren without worrying about triggering Fidget’s Blood Rage. Nalos again suggests killing Fidget, but Crush makes it clear that, while his connection to the Queen Siren is a curse, it’s also the only thing preventing the Queen Siren from swallowing their ship and being done with it. Still, once they know of the plan to poison the Siren Queen, they seem willing to help, while Crush requests their aid… possibly to find a location to lure the Queen Siren towards where she’ll be weaker, or to call for more help. They seem satisfied with the plan.
Leaving them relax, Crush steps out to spend more time with Ricky… while Fidget is getting increasingly upset as he simmers on the knowledge that the Siren Queen is manipulating him, and blaming himself for what she did to the Tritons. He seems ready to pick a fight, but instead Ash takes him below decks to spend some “private time” together and relax. Unfortunately they make enough noise to embarrass their new guests, and distract Ricky from his spell, although he’s able to maintain concentration. To distract everyone from the noise, Azure and Crush get them to help while preparing dinner. Crush brings the meal to the captain above deck, informing her that the Tritons have agreed to assist with the battle against the Siren Queen. Finally, Ricky completes his ritual, able to finally enjoy some food and chat with the Tritons. Meanwhile… a bird craps on Crush’s head, and he goes below deck to take a bath. While bathing he hears a voice outside the bathroom window… opening it he meets the Spirit of the Air. Thanks Ricky’s Hallow spell, he’s able to understand it as it speaks Avian. He asks the spirit to let Kalea know about the Tritons, and learns that the Queen Siren is the creation of Cheia, the goddess of Chaos. He also learns that the sea and Goddess Hearth can’t help directly, as they represent order, and to defy the natural order would only invite more chaos. He also finally gets an answer about the changes to his shell, which is gradually turning lighter while his spikes are becoming shorter… its the result of trying to cleanse himself of his corruption and sins… a visual representation of his quest to redeem himself.
Content with this information he returns to the group to let them know what he learned. With Fidget leaving to get some sleep they’re able to talk freely about their plans for the Queen Siren. They discuss possible locations to lure the Queen Siren to in order to have an advantage in combat against her… the Tritons try to think of a place with shallows that the Queen Siren wouldn’t know about. Ricky remembers Dawn Island, the still-growing island that rose from the sea as a result of volcanic activity. The Queen Siren wouldn’t know about the island, and the heat and ash would slow her down and weaken her. Their only concern is the fact that the heat would harm the party as well… until they remember the pendants of fire resistance the Merrow carried when they attacked the Leviathan. The Tritons know where a troupe of Merrow can be found, the party making plans to seek them out to look for more pendants. Crush is able to breathe water, and Ash doesn’t need to breathe at all, so the Tritons offer to use magic to allow Ricky and Azure to breathe underwater as well. Unfortunately they do this through a kiss, which Ricky immediately makes awkward by instinctively using tongue, and Azure awkwardly gives her first kiss to a stranger she just met.
Join us again tonight for more Sacrament at 5pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! Things are heating up as the party prepares for their conflict with the Queen Siren. But in case you're wondering how we got to that point, here's what happened last time:
The party makes their way to a location known to have Merrow with the plan to attack some and steal their pendants of fire resistance. Ash hesitates to remove her jacket, not wanting to reveal the results of her Necrotic transformation… which proves prescient, as the Tritons, Eryn and Nalos, are suspicious of her as soon as they see them. Still, they guide the party to the Merrow’s home… a deep trench with simple structures built along the side. Exploring one of the structures, they find Merrow inside who instantly attacks. A fight ensues, with more Merrow arriving every round. Luckily, several of the Merrow are wearing the fire resistant amulets, and the party is powerful enough to clear them out without suffering much damage. The final Merrow finds itself surrounded and attempts to swim away, but Crush’s Sentinel Feat is enough to pin it in place, then slice it in half when his turn comes around. With 5 necklaces procured, they have enough to protect any of the characters who are expected to enter the water.
Once back on the ship the party prepares to travel to Dawn Island for their final showdown with the Siren Queen. When Corrio gives Ricky a towel to dry off, he chooses to do so as seductively as possible… with a natural 20 in performance getting Corrio… and several other crewmates... extremely flustered. Meanwhile, Crush speaks to Captain Pagonia, learning that they’re still 3 days away. They discuss their plans for the battle, and decide on a Yin-Yang symbol created in the sky by Ricky’s magic as a visual cue to start battle in the case that an audible message can’t be sent… which leads to a short conversation about the symbol, and its significance to Crush and his sister.
Below Deck, Ash is trying to take a bath with Fidget, but Azure is already in there… washing herself and enjoying the fact that she’s still able to breathe in water. They settle for going to their room for some fun, but get interrupted when Ricky asks Ash if she’ll let him cast Identify on her… hoping the spell would let him learn about her patron while bypassing the restrictions that prevent her from speaking his name. To his surprise, the spell is actually working, seeing a green rope of energy connecting Ash to her Patron… until suddenly he’s blasted with electrical energy as he hears her patron’s voice ordering him to stop. In a huff, Ash pulls on her clothes and marches for the door… but before she does green necrotic energy suddenly absorbs her, pulling her into her bag of holding, where she keeps the skull she uses to channel her patron.
Ash appears in a black void… the darkness fading to reveal a grand throne room, with her patron sitting on a large throne, served by a female servant as the sounds of a great storm rage somewhere outside the room. Ash manages to maintain composure while her Patron interrogates her about Ricky. He makes clear that, if Ricky attempts something like that again, he’ll turn Ricky into a zombie minion. Before Ash is sent away, she sees a human man in elaborate robes entering her Patron’s throneroom… wearing the garb of her patron’s worshipper. Her patron refers to him as Zephyr… with Zephyr delivering more souls to her Patron. He’s unimpressed with the souls delivered by Zephyr, letting him know that Ash provides much better souls, to Zephyr’s annoyance. When Ash asks if her patron can do something about her monstrous hands, he reminds her that she had already agreed to do anything for revenge, regardless of consequence. Ordering her to not contact him again unless she has an appropriately delicious soul to share.
When Ash returns she still tries to play it cool, but Fidget is clearly shook. Taking Ricky to the kitchen to panic about what happened, where Ricky immediately finds a bottle of his extra potent rum to share with Fidget. The two drink to calm their nerves as they try to figure out who her Patron is, and what kind of danger he poses to Ash… and who knows how many others. As Fidget drinks he yells angry at an invisible figure… using his Sune’s mirror, Ricky is able to get a peek at a mysterious, evilly grinning figure. The yelling attracts Azure and Crush… Azure sees Fidget actually weeping, while Crush asks Ricky about what happened. In Halfling, a language shared by Ricky, Crush, and Azure, Ricky explains what he learned and they theorize on who the patron could be… and what that figure is that’s harassing Fidget. Crush wonders if the figure is the Night Mother, although Ricky’s look was so fleeting he can’t be certain. Crush thinks there’s two possibilities… either the Night Mother is fooling Ricky into thinking she’s not who she really is… or there’s another creature that’s posing as the Night Mother and torturing Reavers. Still uncertain, Ricky intends to get blind stinking drunk to avoid the problem entirely, but Azure instead convinces him to attempt to meditate… and forces Crush to join in as well. Surprisingly, Crush and Ricky do well in their attempts to meditate, zoning out for nearly an hour… Crush ruminating on the nature of balance and his place on the ocean, while Ricky meditates on the stars, finding comfort as he envisions the new moon… the night where the stars shine brightest.
Ash, meanwhile, sees Fidget sleeping and uses the privacy to contact her Patron, opting to use the Sending spell now that her Patron has a physical form somewhere to contact. She informs him about the Queen Siren, knowing that her Patron would love to consume such a potent, corrupt soul… but also knowing that her body couldn’t possibly hold a soul of that strength, considering how overwhelmed she had been just consuming the Hachisakusama’s soul. Her Patron is intrigued by the opportunity, telling Ash to summon him directly when the time comes. The rest of the party relaxes with dinner… Ricky and Azure making ramen, with fruit tarts for dessert. Azure and Kanec share an extremely awkward moment of flirtation as they share an extra tart at the end of the night.
We took a short break this weekend due to a family tragedy, but nothing soothes a broken heart like some good old escapism. So come join us at 4pm PST for more Hoard of the Dragon Queen at our usual place, Twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Anyway, if you missed our last game, here's what happened:
Stepping out of the makeshift nest the Kobolds have made for their displaced eggs, the party is approached by a cultist, seeking to speak to Dahlia, who is disguised as a high ranking cult member. The woman is seeking help for her son, Travis, who is being disobedient and troublesome. She also reveals that they had forced their son to be tied to the stakes to try and torture him into obedience, and worries that the “knife ears” had gotten into his head. In general, her and her husband are both casually racist and clearly dismissive of their son. Dahlia manages to convince them to let her speak to Travis alone… finding the young man terrified of her… acting like a cornered animal. She has a little trouble getting him to open up, as he’s certain this is all just a trick to lure out dissidents, but when she reveals her face he realizes she’s the tiefling the cult has been looking for. He reveals that he has a small group of friends who had been looking for ways to escape… in particular, they were hoping to use the natural caves and tunnels to escape, but one of his friends was seen by Kobolds in a place she wasn’t supposed to be, and her friends were forced to execute her through stoning. Katniss, meanwhile, stays with the parents as they go to get food… the cultists fed a basic stew seemingly made by just having a large boiling pot that whatever food they get is thrown into. They listen in on them as they gossip about disobedient children, brag about how much they were able to grab in the raid, and lament the presence of the hunters… especially a group of Goblinoids, that they’re certain are just here to steal things from the “church”.
Dahlia brings Travis back to speak to her allies, revealing their plan to have the Kobolds they’ve allied with lead any dissidents they can to safety. Travis is certain of a small group that he knows would be willing to escape and promises to find more. With Travis inspired by Dahlia, Katniss decides they want to check in on the Goblinoid hunters they had heard about. They’re easy to find… they’re loud and are largely avoided even by the other hunters. They find the leaders to be a pair of women… a friendly female bugbear named Kreeg, and a stoic female Hobgoblin known as Shi-Laa. Katniss quickly endears themself to Kreeg by helping her repair a malfunctioning crossbow. Using Katniss’s survival skills, they convince the goblinoid hunters to let them join the hunters when they go out for that night’s hunt. Katniss remains with the hunters to help them prepare, while the rest of the party goes to speak to Big Mama and inform her about the plan to help the dissidents escape. Guiding a group safely out of the mountain wouldn’t be difficult for the kobolds… although when she’s reminded the escaping people would mostly be human she remembers that this means a lot of the smaller paths wouldn’t be available, but is still certain a guide could lead the people out. Dahlia also asks to bring Deeg with her, so that he’ll be able to convey messages for her.
As the sun begins to set the hunters make their way out to start their hunts, with Katniss joining the Goblinoid group, while the cover of darkness allows the remaining party members to speak to Leosin. They find him being fed what seems to be the only meal allowed… a single cracker along with a minuscule shotglass of water. Starvation is still a strong trigger for Dahlia, so before anything she makes certain to feed Leosin a proper meal. However, when feeding him water Leosin is a bit too eager, choking on the water and attracting a guard to investigate. Luckily, Dahlia and Loki are able to convince him that they’re simply there to torture the prisoner for their own amusement, which the guard joins along with, but is otherwise convinced to leave them be. Once left alone Leosin speaks openly… revealing that this camp alone is only a small fraction of the cult’s power. He’s been researching them intently for the Harpers, following them as he tries to locate their leadership. He’s aware that a message the cult had received a month ago fired them up, and they were particularly interested in the village of Greenest, but he doesn’t know why. When the party explains about Bowgentle’s spellbook, Leosin doesn’t have any insight on its significance… although G’houl theorizes Bowgentle’s research into banishing powerful creatures could perhaps be reversed… maybe even leading to the return of Tiamat herself. Leosin advises the party to not try and shut down the cult here, as they need to follow them to the cult’s real base of operations. He still insists on being kept as a prisoner to follow them directly, but Dahlia is able to convince him that he’s too injured to continue, and promises that their party will take over for him from here. They make plans to help him escape, revealing their alliance with the Kobolds. They ask Deeg if the Kobolds could literally dig a hole under Leosin and have him escape that way… Deeg knows the layout of the cave systems well enough to know there’s a tunnel that passes under Leosin they could easily use to help him escape, and they can have it ready around the same time they open the path into their home caves.
Meanwhile, Katniss is at home in the mountains, using their familiarity to their advantage and hunt a huge, ten-point buck. The Goblinoids are more than impressed, happy to be the last group of hunters to leave that night, but the first to return with an impressive kill. Just to make sure they’ll have some extra food, Katniss makes a point to hunt a nice fat pheasant. Katniss convinces them that, with a buck this size, they could “accidentally” cut off some excess meat when skinning it to keep for themslves, endearing them even further to the Goblinoids. While Katniss is making their way back to camp the other party members are making their way to the prisoner camp, seeking out Samantha, the halfling woman they had met earlier in the day. Samantha is shocked that they can get the Kobolds to work against the dragons, but once she’s informed of the plan she’s certain she can get the other prisoners to unite and escape. The plan is made to escape through a cave that the prisoners have been using as a makeshift bathroom, with the party realizing that, despite his goofy personality and occasional bone-headed decisions… Deeg knows the caves intimately and easily plans out a full escape route from memory, including which traps need to be disabled or avoided. G’houl also sends a message to Lord Nighthill in Greenest, informing him of the plan and asking him to send armed soldiers to help escort the prisoners back to Greenest, which Lord Nighthill is happy to do.
The party returns to the hunter’s camp to reconvene with Katniss, who has learned that the Goblinoids have no loyalty to the cult, only interested in their payments for their work. The goblinoids also don’t know what’s in the cave, but they have heard rumors about a black dragon of some kind. Instead, they simply deliver any food they gather to guards, who take it in for them. Katniss and Dahlia are able to convince the guard to pay the goblinoids extra for the size of the kill they brought back, much to Kreeg’s delight. They’re also able to convince the guard to let them follow them to the cave, but he’s not willing to let them inside. Once at the cave itself they find the way inside guarded by two Dragon Wings, a higher ranked cult member even exceeding Dahlia’s disguise as a Dragon Claw. They’re all hoping to get at least some sense of the layout inside, but the guards very aggressively keep them away. Annoyed, Dahlia hits one of the guards with Vicious Mockery as they leave, but the guard makes a successful intelligence check to realize what happened. Before he can call for help, however, Loki hits him with Charm Person. There’s still some conflict with the other guard, who can’t understand why his partner is suddenly so enamored with Loki (who is currently disguised as a male cultist), but they’re able to lead him away… choosing the toilet cave as a private location to interrogate him. The charmed guard is happy to tell them the layout of the cavern, and warn them about some of the traps and dangers. While charmed, he doesn’t resist their orders to strip and allow himself to be tied up. When the spell expires he realizes what Loki had done and tries to escape. Dahlia uses a scroll of silence to prevent him from calling for help but, to their surprise, the Dragon Wing’s eyes flash in multiple colors and he begins to levitate. With the silence spell and his hands bound they’re certain it isn’t a proper spell, but rather an ability seemingly granted by their connection to Tiamat. Still, the guard is surrounded by skilled warriors and he’s killed before he can escape the area of silence. While Katniss dismembers the body, Loki upgrades her disguise to pose as the Dragon Wing… only for them to realize they never asked his name. Dahlia thinks to cast Detect Thoughts, sneaking back to the cave entrance and reading the thoughts of the guard they had left behind, eventually discerning that the Dragon Wing they had just killed was named “Malcolm”.
We had a long delay on this due to the aforementioned family tragedy, and we're coming back tonight with a short session of Hoard of the Dragon Queen. The players are near the end of a dungeon, and close to a level up, so we're going to play for a couple hours just to sort of knock the cobwebs loose so we'll be warmed up to start up Kahenah later this weekend. As always, join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 5pm PST. Also, here's what happened last time:
As night falls, G’houl’s professor, Raphael, uses Sending to contact G’houl for an update on his quest, as well as to let him know that he’s made contact in the relatively nearby city of Elturel for more assistance, although the distance is still too great for them to help any time soon. The party sets up tents between the main cultist camp and the hunters’ tents, and enjoys a full night’s rest. When morning comes they find the entire camp in chaos… the deaths of the Rearguard has finally been realized, and the entire camp is preparing to leave by sundown. The camp’s leader, Rezmir the black half-dragon, has already left. They also learn that a small contingent of cultists are going to be left behind to care for the Black Dragon eggs, which are too close to hatching to safely transport. Although this creates some concern for their plan, the chaos opens up the possibility for the prisoners and dissenters they’ve befriended to leave early.
Cult members largely don’t trust the prisoners enough to let them directly handle the treasure as it’s loaded into carts… instead a pair of DragonClaws are inspecting the prisoners, seeing which are hearty enough to be worth the effort of bringing along, and which would be better served left behind to do manual labor until they serve their true intended purpose: food for the black dragon hatchlings. With Loki disguised as a DragonWing, a higher ranking cult member, she tries to assert her authority and force the DragonClaws away. Unfortunately, low rolls prevent the DragonClaws from simply leaving the project to the party, but does buy them an hour alone with the prisoners to “evaluate” them. With this tight window a plan is quickly hatched… send Deeg to have the Kobolds create a landslide with the many loose rock traps the Kobolds already have set up around the camp, then blow the alarm horn at the front watchtower, drawing attention away and allowing the prisoners to escape. Once Deeg is sent away they suddenly realize that they still haven’t gotten the dissenters yet, but luckily G’houl is able to use Sending to contact Travis, who has already taken advantage of the chaos to gather a group of dissenters eager to escape the cult. With the sound of the horn as their signal, it’s a small effort to get everyone free through the makeshift bathroom cave the prisoners have been using as the Kobolds lead them through the mountain to their freedom.
This still leaves the issue of Leosin… the original plan to dig him out from underneath now in jeopardy, since it will be several hours before the tunnel is ready for him, and he’d be too weak to travel on his own. Luckily, the winged Kobold, Gak, finds the party to inform them of the success, and she’s asked if she can provide a similar distraction by the other watchtower, creating the illusion that small earthquakes are beginning to knock the loose stones free. Gak gives them a 20 minute window to complete her task… just enough time to deal with the DragonClaws who are returning, expecting to find prisoners separated into those worthy of travel, and those worthy to be meat.
The DragonClaws are none too happy as the party tries to give them the runaround when it comes time to speak to the prisoners. Luckily the party mostly manages to seem merely incompetent rather than deliberately misleading them… but things take a sharp turn when G’houl manages to less-than-subtly attempt to use Prestidigitation to make one of the DragonClaws smell like he soiled himself. This nearly leads to a fight, with the DragonClaw slapping G’houl in the face with the broad side of his scimitar. Luckily, Dahlia is able to soothe the confusion and lead the DragonClaws into an empty tent, while their guard remains outside with Katniss. Seeing the empty tent is enough to make the DragonClaws realize they’ve been had, and a fight erupts. A quick use of the Sleep Spell by G’houl takes out the DragonClaws, but it takes the rest of the party to kill the Veteran before he can escape and call for more assistance. With the DragonClaws eliminated there is now no one to realize, at least for some time, that the prisoners are missing. However, they also realize they only have minutes before Gak’s mission is complete.
In need of Stealth, Loki uses her Trickster powers to cast Pass Without a Trace as they make their way to Leosin. Dahlia uses her Message Cantrip to contact him, and when they arrive they find the Half-Elven monk already using a knife he had hidden to cut himself free. Again they make their way to the “poop hole”, with Leosin intent on joining the party as they enter the dragon hatchery. G’houl is able to discern that Leosin is still suffering 3 level exhaustion, and while his speed as a monk may allow him to catch up with the fleeing prisoners, he’s in no shape to take on a proper battle. It takes some convincing, but Leosin relents and is soon joined by Gak, who agrees to lead Leosin to join the others, and also contacts other Kobolds to arrange another rock slide to block the entrance to the poop hole. With the rock slide mostly blocking the cave entrance, the party has just a sliver of light to observe, seeing that Leosin’s disappearance has only created more chaos in the camp. After a few hours Deeg returns, ready to lead them to the path the Kobolds have dug back into their home.
The tunnels leading to the entrance are winding, confusing, and often difficult to crawl through. Tired of her disguise, with its many pronged mask and decorative, but functionally useless pauldrons, Loki returns to her true form and her preferred clothing. Dahlia as well forfeits her disguise, as it no longer serves any purpose. Finding the Kobolds digging through a collapsed wall, the small creatures are expertly able to pick out rocks, slowly uncovering the way inside without making noise. Katniss opts to assist, their long arms and taller form able to assist the Kobolds enough to reduce the work load by a few hours. The party’s reward is a rush of foul smelling air as they realize the Kobolds have dug their way into a garbage pit… which is soon found to be filled with Troglodytes, foul-smelling beast-like creatures who mindlessly eat anything they can get in their wide mouths. A short battle ensues, but the violent creatures are no match for the party. Making their way out they remember the rough layout they were given by Malcolm, and know they’re heading into a chamber they were warned is full of Stirges, mixed in with a massive hoard of bats coating the ceiling. Moving stealthily, they avoid awakening the nocturnal creatures, finding their way instead to the meat storage chamber, which is unusually cold and helps keep the meat from rotting as quickly. Katniss notices the leather strips which serve as a curtain have poison spikes embedded in them, and uses a conveniently placed spear to open the way. Unfortunately, there’s nothing of value in the pantry, but as they make their way back across the Stirge chamber they realize they’re heading to the Kobold barracks, where winged Kobolds are training Guard Drakes. Remembering the bone flutes they had seen used to command the drakes before, the party makes their way back to the pantry, blowing the bone flutes to attempt to lure the Drakes into the room full of bats and stirges. Unfortunately, Dahlia can’t quite hit the specific notes needed to attract them, and instead three winged kobolds go to investigate the sound. A failed stealth check gets G’houl face-to-face with the Kobolds, which attack the instant he speaks to them in common instead of Draconic. Fortunately, G’houl moves faster than the Kobolds, instantly neutralizing them with another sleep spell. With Dahlia feeling sorry for the Kobolds, knowing the abuse they regularly receive, she wants to leave them be, hoping the poisoned curtain will be enough to keep them trapped in there until the hatchery can be freed.
Sneaking again through the Stirge chamber, Katniss, being of a much more practical mindset, spots a trio of Kobolds and instantly uses their mastery as a sharpshooter as well as their training as a hunter to use their hordebreaker to instantly eliminate the three kobolds. Unfortunately, no one spots the trap left by the kobolds near the entrance.... a simple pit trap that would be harmless to the flying creatures. Although Katniss and Dahlia both manage to avoid falling in, the noise attracts the Guard Drakes and another fight ensues. The Guard Drakes roar for their masters’ attention, but instead only manage to whip up the horde of bats into a frenzy. The Guard Drakes are tough, but Loki uses her duplicate to distract them, the hungry beasts not intelligent enough to see past the illusion. However, the Kobolds G’houl had put to sleep earlier have awoken, working their way through the mass of bats and shouting for help. A flood of winged Kobolds come rushing from deeper in the chamber. Well-trained and conditioned to love combat... they mindlessly throw themselves at the party. Dahlia uses her Spirit Guardians (taking the form of swirling pixies) to protect herself, but even she is shocked and horrifed at the way the Kobolds, with no regard for their own life, rush headlong into the area of the Spirit Guardians, dying in heaps with nothing but rage and hate in their eyes. The cleverness and ingenuity she had begun to see in Kobolds long ago beaten out of them and replaced with a mindless lust for combat.
With the grim work done, they continue past the Kobold barracks, having been informed that this will lead them to the egg hatchery. Dahlia’s Spirit Guardians still active, they choose to move quickly to take advantage of the defenses the spell offers... a decision reached quickly when Katniss recognizes the voice of Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, the blue half-dragon who had defeated them in Greenest. Opting for stealth, this time it’s Loki who can’t quite move silently enough, and instead they find Cyanwrath eagerly waiting for them... flanked by a human barbarian and at his feet another winged Kobold beaten nearly to death, seemingly his sparring partner. Langdedrosa greets them eagerly, challenging the clearly angered Dahlia to single combat, but Dahlia has no interest in giving him the satisfaction and a battle erupts. Dahlia attempts to convince the Kobold to join them, even sparing him from being targeted by her Spirit Guardians, but the Kobold ignores her, rushing forward with its spear... and missing. Disappointed in his subordinate’s failure, Langdedrosa steps into the range of the Spirit Guardians, exhaling his deadly lightning breath and breaking Dahlia’s concentration on the spell... then using his action Surge to rain powerful sword blows down on Dahlia. When Katniss enters combat by moving their Hunter’s Mark to Langdedrosa and unloading Sharpshooter shots against him, Langdedrosa is enraged to realize that Katniss held back in their original duel. G’houl, meanwhile, embues Dahlia with power of Dragon’s Breath, granting her the power of cold... the cold, icy sensation in her lungs reminding her of dark memories from her past. It seems she won’t be able to use that power against Cyanwrath, however, as G’houl follows it up with a fireball, sculpting the spell harmlessly around Dahlia and knocking the half-dragon unconscious.
In that moment, however, Loki alone sees a fleeting image... a woman in black, wearing a wide-brimmed hat that obscures her features catching Cyanwrath’s body. For but an instant she’s reminded of her vision on the way to Greenest... of the card game against the 5 veiled women... Tymora bringing her face-to-face against Tiamat herself. And rather than falter, Cyanwrath remains standing... but his bravado and pride seem gone. Instead his eyes turn black and he moves to unleash a cone of acid breath... an ability normally reserved for Black Dragons. Indeed, his lips are visibly burnt by it, teeth falling from his gums. The blast of acidic energy is enough to down both Dahlia and G’houl, but G’houl’s orcish strength keeps him from falling unconscious or losing concentration on the Dragon Breath spell. Loki uses her magic to revive Dahlia, who still has the power of G’houl’s Dragon Breath in her lungs, using it to exhale a blast of freezing cold breath at Cyanwrath... he falters backward. Spititng up spurts of fire, poison, and ice... each spurt damaging only himself before landing in a heap on the ground, soundly defeated once and for all. With the Half-Dragon dead Loki recounts what she had seen before, and the party remembers the Dragonwing they had killed, who also could call upon abilities bestowed by Tiamat, and realize they may encounter more such abilities going forward.
With Cyanwrath dead they finally examine the room he was in, realizing that it’s some combination of training room and temple to Tiamat... although the carvings and figurines are biased in favor of Black Dragons over all others. They find a treasure chest tucked into a corner, but make a high enough investigation to realize it’s trapped, and don’t want to risk triggering it without the key. Instead they find some simple furs laid down as mats and opt for a short rest. During this time, Katniss asks Dahlia why she seems so upset, not just by the general awfulness of the cult, but seemed particularly upset any time someone is found starving or even why the sight of the cult’s salute triggered immediate rage.
With some convincing, Dahlia opens up to the party about her life back home. At one point her family’s hometown was brutally taken over by a cruel Baron, who starved his subjects to keep them under his thumb. When her father tried to object the Baron had him killed, and her family brought to him as prisoners to toy with at his leisure. In that time she found that the Baron would occasionally greet specific business partners using the salute she had seen the cultists use for each other. At an upsettingly young age, the older man took lustful interest in Dahlia and, for the sake of her family’s safety, she played along. Over time convincing the man she hated above all else that she truly loved him... gaining his trust until he eventually took her as his bride. Taking her way on a romantic trip to a secluded cabin by a beautiful snowy lake, she led her husband to the water side... using the icy cold magic granted to her by her Tiefling relation to the devil Levistus, she froze him below the waters, drowning him cold and alone, where no one would ever look for him. Expecting scorn for the cruel and manipulative way she had killed her husband, she instead finds understanding in her party, with Katniss hinting that Dahlia may not be alone in executing someone who had deeply wronged them somewhere in the wilds...
During this time they find a group of Kobolds attemping (badly) to sneak out. Caught by the party, with some convincing they reveal that they were a group of caretakers who had been forced to care for the Black Dragon eggs after the Kobold eggs were forcibly removed. They also reveal that Langdedrosa had told them that Big Momma, the Kobold matriarch, was dead, and that all the Kobold eggs had been smashed. They don’t believe Dahlia’s attempts to convince them otherwise, but Katniss knows that Kobold’s have an exceptionally strong sense of smell, and allows them to smell Katniss where they had come in contact with Big Momma. Recognizing her scent, the Kobolds are convinced to help the party. Offering to guide them into the egg chamber in the hopes of reclaiming their lost hatchery and returning to the relatively peaceful life they once led.
It's been two weeks since we've managed to play our main campaign of Sacrament, but we'll be back in full force tonight at 4:30 PM PST! Join us, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, where you may have missed all the excitement in our last session:
After her awkward interaction with Kanec, Azure seeks out Ricky’s advice for flirting, with the two of them spending some time practicing for her sake. In the morning, Crush discusses tactics with Nalos for their battle with the Queen Siren, and he encourages him to debate it with the whole party. After successfully convincing Fidget to go topside to harass the Captain, they make plans for the Siren Queen… planning to induce birth with the help of the Merc merchant, then feed the Siren Queen the poison, and use the chaos to lure her into the volcanic Dawn Isle, beaching her and allowing the party to battle against her as the poison weakens her. The problem is… they don’t know how to feed her the poison. After much discussion the plan finalizes on hiding the poison vial in a heart, then tempting her to “steal” it by pretending it’s a delicacy that they’re not letting her have to make her want it even more. To accomplish this, Ricky prepares a delicious sauce to glaze the heart with to make it even more tempting. The party also decides that they’ll simply be pretending to be working on a surprise baby shower for Fidget, to explain both why they’re sneaking around, and also why they would have a delicacy prepared for eating.
Everyone keeps busy… Azure employs Ash’s help to get her hands on Fidget’s armor, modifying it to Reaver specifics for carrying their children. Ricky and Corrio finally start to talk about their relationship… with Ricky clearly jealous that Corrio contacts Veerek, the firbolg druid who is helping the party travel to the feywild, using the sending spell. Crush, however, focuses on mastering the use of the canons and preparing the ship for conflict. As they near the island Fidget comes back to the upper decks, shocked to see a baby shower set up for him. He’s immediately suspicious, but Crush and Ricky are able to convince him that it’s an attempt to help him feel better following his various emotional outbursts. It’s enough to quell his worry, which Crush interrupts by attempting to kiss Fidget, claiming it’s an Aquan tradition. This immediately confuses Fidget, but Crush instead suggests that the female Triton, Eryn, delivers the kiss instead. And while it ends up being extremely confusing for Fidget, it was all a plan to grant Fidget the benefits of Breathe Water, which the Tritons can deliver via a kiss. Meanwhile, Ricky manages to summon the Merc, with Ash using him to purchase a human heart.
With everything in place, Crush takes a hook from his fishing tackle… dragging it across Fidget’s skin to get his blood on it before throwing it into the sea to attract the Siren Queen. When she arrives the Merc casts a powerful, but unknown spell that induces birth, much to the shock and confusion of the Siren Queen. Fidget is drawn to his child… swimming deep below the water, finding one child born as a Reaver. Enraged, she readies to destroy the ship, until Ricky offers her the human heart, slathered in the sauce he had prepared earlier… and with the poison vial hidden inside. The poison instantly damages her, slowing and weakening her as she howls for assistance from her children. Siren appear and begin attacking the ship. Ricky’s Hallow spell protects the majority of the crew from the siren songs, but the sheer number of Sirens attacking the ship is overwhelming, and the Queen Siren, even weakened, is as big as a mountain. With her jaws closing slowly, the party unleashes everything they have on her. It’s a struggle to resist her as the party needs to keep her from destroying the ship outright until Fidget returns… in particular, Ash hits the Siren Queen with Contagion, the poison weakening her enough for the spell to take hold, blinding her. Using her warlock powers, Ash is able to temporarily see through Fidget’s eyes… seeing that he is now the father of three children… one male Reaver, a female siren, and what appears to be a fish that clings to his daughter. After a few rounds, Fidget finally breaks the surface with only his son, as Reavers do not form the same intense bond with siren children. Ash leaps off of the side of the ship, casting Fly on herself and Fidget as soon as they come in contact, guiding him back to the deck. Once on the ship the call is instantly made to fire the cannons downward into the Siren’s mouth, while Corrio and the Tritons use their ability to manipulate water to launch the ship at full speed, making their way to Dawn Isle.
Meanwhile, Fidget’s new son is struggling to breathe. He’s brought into Kanec’s Genie bag, where Kanec, like all Reavers, has supplies for children. Ricky joins him, casting Enhance Ability on himself to help with his medicine checks. He’s able to discern that the newborn’s breathing passage is clogged, which he’s able to clear, allowing Fidget’s new son to take his first breaths.
During this, Crush hurries below deck to repair the damage dealt by the Queen’s fangs. As the ship unfurls its sails he has just enough time to repair the ship before the Siren Queen recovers enough to take chase. With the giant maw closing they attempt to slow her with canon fire and spells, but Ricky takes the initiative to watch ahead. Guiding Captain Pagonia to avoid slamming into the volcanic isle… although the blinded Siren Queen isn’t so lucky. She beaches herself on a lava flow… the molten lava burning her to death, as the contagion disease paired with the deadly Reave poison weakens her too much to return to land. While the remaining sirens escape the boiling water, Ash uses Fly to get to the Siren Queen… using her Sending to summon her patron. The party is far enough away that they can’t see him clearly in the smoke and steam… except for Crush, who’s able to focus enough to see his true form… a tall, pale, gaunt human man with long black hair. But perhaps most unique is an iron crown he wears on his head, and multicolored lodestones that float magically around his head. Ricky, still angered at Ash’s patron for attacking him and Ash earlier, polymorphs into a Roc and flies toward them both… but Ash sends him a message, warning him to protect Ricky from her obscenely powerful patron. Her Patron absorbs not only the Queen Siren’s soul, but the souls of many of the sirens who boiled to death in the water.
With the Queen Siren defeated Ash returns… although her return isn’t warmly greeted, with everyone on the ship uncertain whether her Patron will ultimately prove to be a greater threat than the Queen Siren was in the first place. The Tritons in particular no longer feel safe traveling with Ash, and although they’re grateful for the party’s help in killing the monster that had devastated their home city, they return to the water without taking time to celebrate. With them gone, the focus shifts to Fidget’s newborn child… and the reveal that he had a daughter as well seen holding a fish. Azure reminds everyone that these twin children are actually immature Siren Queens… the two children sharing an inseparable bond, until one day they will both fuse… the fish growing exponentially into the giant body of a Siren Queen, with the siren form remaining as the “lure”. Although Kanec does mention that it takes centuries for a Siren Queen to fully mature.
Still, the focus is on Fidget’s new son. There’s a brief discussion about the child’s name… Goblin culture holding that children aren’t to be named at birth, but rather earn a name through their actions. Reavers, however, have a much more intense bond immediately. Before they can debate it too deeply, Fidget suddenly realizes that there’s no milk for his son on the ship… and while Crush doesn’t see the problem (being a reptile and all), most of the crew panic while Ricky pulls out his sending feather and asks the Merc to return and sell them some milk.
You can tell we're back to normal now that we're doing 3 streams in one weekend. Come join us tonight at 4:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. We were expecting a slow game last time since we just finished a large boss fight, but things managed to still get wild. Read on in case you missed it:
Ricky convinces the Merc merchant that, in exchange for the treasure left behind in the body of the Queen Siren (which is currently being cooked in a lava flow), the party could be provided with some store credit. The first purchase made is a magical goat… Thaco the Dancing Goat (an in-joke for the players, as Thaco was the pet goat of one of the players in an earlier campaign), while Ricky purchases a magical necklace that allows him to speak to animals. Ash purchases another gift for the child… a magical necklace that will make the child immune to necrotic damage… protecting the child from the damage of her necrotic touch. Crush simply wants a pair of Bracers of Defense, while Corrio wants a Sending Feather of his own, as well as papers to use them with. Azure, for her part, simply wants a ring to increase her defense… although once everyone seems satisfied with their purchases, Ricky goes in for a set of Glamored Studded Leather Armor, as well as getting the gloves Azure had given him enchanted as Gloves of Thievery.
As they’re readying to leave, Crush and Azure are tasked with swabbing the deck… although Crush decides to attach his 25 pound hunting trap to his mop in order to get some exercise. Ricky speaks to Ash… admitting that he overestimated his abilities when he tried to confront her patron, but makes it clear that he won’t hold back if her patron oversteps his bounds. Ash, however, admits that she wishes she could do the same, but she knows better. Content at the agreement, such as it is, Ash visits Kanec’s genie egg to feed her snake… using her recently unlocked eldritch invocations to speak to her snake directly. With an extremely lucky animal handling roll, she comes to an agreement with her snake… it agrees to stop biting her in exchange for regular feeding and protection. The snake also reveals that it’s female, and has recently laid some unfertilized eggs. Meanwhile, Ricky tries to talk to Corrio, but gets immediately flustered when Corrio mentions that he’s still in regular contact with Verek the firbolg druid.
To distract himself, Ricky tries to help Fidget care for his new son… although his idea of entertaining the baby is to wave his singing dagger around to play some music, which instantly draws the ire of both Fidget and the goat, Thaco, who is intelligent enough to recognize a blade and know it’s not something to be given to children. Azure investigates, agreeing that the baby doesn’t need to play with a knife, and also finds Ash approaching as well, and offers to make Ash some new gloves, since her hands have been becoming gradually more monstrous… but remembering Ash’s advice about money, she does so while also charging Ash $300 for the work.
With dinner served the party discusses names for Fidget’s child. Fidget is hesitant to name the child, as goblin children are usually named after several years, since goblin children often fail to survive long, and their names are very descriptive.. Crush mentions that Tortle names are often more aspirational, rather than literal… his own birth name, Kaa, is the sound of gentle waves. But he also admits that Tortles don’t put much weight on names… few adult Tortles maintain their birth names, but often end up with more descriptive names as they grow up. Ash backs him up, mentioning that Elves are given a “child name” at birth, and don’t earn an adult name until later in the day. The discussion also shifts to the fact that Fidget’s child doesn’t have a crib… and although several suggestions are put forth, Crush instead volunteers to build the child a crib using some of the ship’s spare material. He has a brief discussion with Captain Pagonia, who explains that she doesn’t fully trust Ash, especially after seeing Ash’s patron. Ricky convinces Corrio to spend some time alone as a bit of a date… but things take a turn when Corrio mentions the research he’s been doing. He mentions that something as powerful as the Siren Queen would leave behind a power vacuum, and her death would draw the attention of something more powerful and deadly. The Siren Queen was one of many beings the ancient Grimveils had, very deliberately, sealed away, rather than simply kill outright, not unlike Leviathan, the ancient, giant Dragon Turtle. Upon the Siren Queen’s death, they notice that the phrase written in the Reaver tongue appears to be scratched off of the shield’s exterior… and Corrio worries that the Siren Queen may have arranged her own death, or was manipulated into dying by another force which wanted to take advantage of her death.
As Crush and Kanec work together to build a crib, they notice an unpleasant shiver going up their spines. As Crush looks around for any dangers, he notices that the stars aren’t visible in the sky. However, it’s obvious there are no clouds, since the full moon is visible… although crush also realizes that this night isn’t supposed to have a full moon. Not wanting to risk anything, Crush rings the emergency bell, summoning everyone. As the party rushes up they gather in the area of Ricky’s Hallow spell, where they watch as the moon in the sky… blinks. Suddenly, everyone on deck falls asleep… except, of course, for those protected by the magic of the Grimveil pendants. A figure of a tall, elegant woman with strange clothing forms in front of them. She teases them… mocking the party, claiming that they are doing exactly as she wants. She also warns them not to continue to harm her children… and Crush remembers what he had been told by the Water Spirit how creatures like the Queen Siren are the children of Kaya, the Goddess of Chaos. She’s surprised that he recognizes her, mockingly stating that he’s smarter than he looks. Kaya displays amazing powers… boiling the seas with lava, destroying and reconstructing the boat simply to show that she can. Despite her open threats the party refuses to submit to her, but they also know better than to try to attack her. Amused at their reactions, she decides to leave them a parting gift… returning the ship, intact, to natural seas… but not before creating a hurricane and forcefully triggering Kanec’s bloodrage… The party is left struggling between trying to knock Kanec unconscious before he harms himself or others, and waking the ship’s crew to deal with the coming storm. Kanec is powerful, but heavily outnumbered… but a greater challenge arises when a massive wave washes over the ship. While most of the party is able to remain upright, Fidget is washed off the side of the boat… still holding his infant child. As everyone panics, Corrio holds tight to his holy symbol of Eldath, imploring his Goddess to intervene and fortunately… she does. Eldath glows with such warm, yet bright light that the area lights up as though it’s midday. Fidget is returned unharmed, the unnatural hurricane subsides, and all but the undead Ash are recovered of all damage. Eldath’s aura of peace is also more than enough to cure Kanec of his bloodrage. As a final gift, Eldath moves the ship further along, so that their week long voyage to Kalea’s island, and its portal to the feywild, will pass in a single night.
CfB will be streaming more Horde of the Dragon Queen tonight! Things are basically back to normal for our group, so come join us at our usual hangout, twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 4pm PST
As always, here's what happened last time our Horde team played:
With the help of the Kobold eggkeepers, the party parlays with the dangerous Roper that lives int he hatchery. To the shock of everyone, the Roper reveals itself capable of speech, and eager to devour the party members. Luckily, feeding it Langdedrosa’s body is enough to get it to listen to the party’s plan. Dahlia is able to convince it to instead eat the many dead kobolds left earlier in the cavern... and although it doesn’t stay to help with the black dragon eggs (or the drakes protecting them), it does agree that it will leave them and any living kobolds alone. Katniss is able to use their Sharpshooter skills to almost instantly clear out one of the guard drakes, but the other is able to catch up to them and deal a devastating critical bite attack before being defeated with a rush of Magic Missile attacks.
Wth the drakes cleared out the party destroys the black dragon eggs, only to be shocked as the nearly-developed dragons spill out along with rancid, stinking yolk. The creatures are mutated... developing malformed heads of other colored dragons at the bases of their necks, clearly altered by the power of the five-headed Tiamat. A successful medicine check reveals that the creatures would grow in intense pain to match their increase in power... making the party realize that killing them is as much an act of mercy for the unborn dragons as it is a means to protect the world from their influence. With the monstrosities destroyed, the party gets the Eggkeepers to guide them to a hidden tunnel leading to the room of Frulam Mondath, the human cultist who appears to hold the highest rank of those left to watch over the hatchery. The eggkeepers leave to clean the hatchery of the corrupting corpses of the black dragon hatchlings and prepare it for the return of the Kobold’s own eggs.
Spying on Frulam, Katniss finds her playing with a magical Dragon Chess set. While Frulam is distracted, the party rushes her, hoping to knock her unconscious before she can call for help. Katniss takes the initiative to grab Frulam’s weapon before she can arm herself, while everyone else slams her with multiples castings of magic missile. Knowing she’s outnumbered, Frulam surrenders... mocking the party for seeming to only know one spell. It takes some persuasion to get her to open up, but Frulam reveals she was only ever with the cult to take advantage of the powers it grants, and resents being left behind to care for the dragon hatchlings, certain that the creatures are as much a danger to her as to the cult’s intended victims. However, she’s also fully aware that she’ll be blamed for the hatchlings’ deaths, making the cult a greater threat to her now than the party. She allows the party to examine the paperwork left behind... Rezmir was careful not to leave any specific information written down... only revealing that the hoard is being transported north to somewhere or someone named “Naerytar”. Katniss recognizes this as an Elven surname that normally translates as “Kind Archer”, made up of the terms “Naery”, meaning Bow, and “Rytar”, meaning Gentle. Recognizing that as the name of the Wizard whose spellbook they were sent to recover. Unfortunately, Frulam has no idea who or what Naerytar refers to, and the party is left simply to puzzle over this information.
Loki takes an immediate interest in Frulam’s finely crafted magical Dragon Chess set... not because she’s intersted in the game (she doesn’t even know how to play Dragon Chess), but she instantly recognizes it as extremely valuable. However, since the rest of the party is still trying to stay on Frulam’s good side, they actively discourage her in her attempts to convince Frulam to relinquish it to her. Instead, Frulam shows them her key to the trapped chest left in Langdedrosa’s training room, allowing them to recover some of the stolen treasure from Greenest (although Loki was hoping to keep it for herself), with Frulam revealing that she had kept a few treasures as a nest egg in case she ever needed to escape the cult. Once they’re satisfied with what they were able to recover, the party uses their disguises to have Frulam escort them out of the cave directly, where they find that the camp has been thoroughly emptied, as most of the cultists have left in a caravan to deliver the hoard to its destination.
Before leaving, Dahlia makes certain to check on Big Mama and the other kobolds. Although the cultists have reduced to around a dozen cultmembers, Dahlia is still worried for the well-being of the small creatures. However, Big Mama assures her that the Kobolds are ready and able to protect their home. Even rejecting Dahlia’s offer to loan them her wand of magic missiles, reminding her that they can’t just rely on the generosity of passing adventurers when it comes to protecting their homes. As Frulam gathers horses, Deeg comes to speak to Dahlia... revealing that, despite initially trusting her because she pretended to be a Half-Dragon, he’s realized that she was lying, but he still likes her, and doesn’t feel the need to live a life in service of dragons. Dahlia encourages him, reminding him that, even if he’s small, he’s a dragon in his own right deep down. Inspired, Deeg affectionately nuzzles her (the Kobold equivalent of a hug) before the party rides off... realizing by coincidence that they’ve been reunited with Cake and Marmalade, the two horses they originally left with.
We're back to our homebrew campaign, Sacrament, tonight. Join our party as we make our way into the feywild... join us in 10 minutes at 4:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and read on to see what happened last time:
As the party rests for the night, Ricky receives a prophetic dream… seeing a vision of a mysterious Being confronted by vague figures in the woods. The mysterious Being releases strange, inverted shadows and in the chaos the men end up stabbing each other. Shocked, he shares his dream, although no one knows what it could mean. Saying their goodbyes to the ship’s crew, who are planning to return to Lady Annabelle in Dawsberry while the main party adventures in the feywild, the Blooming Rose is left as the party members swim, run, or simply sail from the large ship to Kalea’s island.
Upon arrival things quickly turn awkward as Ricky is visibly jealous when Verek, the firbolg druid who had assisted Kalea in opening the portal the feywild, gives Corrio a gift of flowers. As the party is prepared they’re reminded of the rules of the feywild… never make any deals, never thank anyone, never accept food or dance with a fairy. And importantly, don’t tell anyone your real name. As part of this the party needs to come up with aliases for themselves… Ricky immediately proclaims he wants to be Bilbo Swaggins, and Verek’s warning that this is an extremely common alias with Halflings in the feywild that only confirms to Ricky that it’s a good name, since it’s so popular. Crush briefly considers staying with Crush, since it’s technically a nickname in the first place, but since Tortles often accept new names as their true names he doesn’t want to take any risks and goes by Big Guy, which many party members affectionately call him already. In that same vein, Azure decides to go by Kitten, which Fidget and Ricky also regularly call her. Kanec, Corrio, and Fidget all choose to go by names similar to their own… Nick, Rio, and Fig, respectively. The last holdout is Ash who, like Crush, is technically going by a nickname in the first place. Still, there’s a debate on whether that’s true, considering Ash has been her name for her entire Undeath, while her true name of Promethea is only a memory from the life she once led. She rejects a number of suggestions until Crush proposes simply calling her “The Lady”, which appeals to her desire for both mystery and authority.
Before leaving the island Crush asks to speak to Kalea in private… confirming with her that the changes to his shell aren’t a result of any illness, but instead of a visual indication of sins being cleansed from his body. Still, he feels uncertain… worried that the spirit of the ocean and indeed the Goddess of the planet itself, Hearth, are simply settling for him since the one truly worthy, his sister Crash, has been killed. Kalea assures him that Crash lives on through Crush, and that the spirits of all Tortles live on in the sea, guiding future generations. Comforted by her words, he leaves with her a carving he had made of Crash earlier… knowing that hatchling Tortles sometimes visit her island, wanting her to give it to the next one to visit and tell them about Crash and the selfless life she led.
Finally, Verek leads the party into the feywild… a fantastical land of mystery, where a simple toadstool might by the home of a fairy, and many of the trees are actually dryads. As the druid of the land, Verek is respected by the citizens of the feywild, who greet him eagerly, curious about his strange guests. While Verek is invited into a particularly massive tree to diagnose an illness, the party is left alone when they see an invisible creature devour a nearby fairy. In shock, they investigate… to their shock, they discover what appears to be an infant. The baby has green hair, budding horns, and insectoid wings. Most prominent, however, is the baby’s mouth… not only does it have rows of extremely sharp teeth, but the baby’s mouth is capable of opening frighteningly wide. The party attempts to track where the baby came from, but they realize the baby is already capable of flight, making it difficult to follow exactly what direction it came from.
Fortunately, Verek returns and not only is able to identify the infant as a “Fairy Eater”, he also knows the child’s parents and helps guide the party to reuniting them. To the surprise of the players, it’s two characters from our previous campaign… Nitara the Half-Orc fighter and Trilby, a mysterious being known as a Quantzi who had learned how to travel across dimensions. Reunited with their daughter, now revealed to be named Alcina, they thank the party for protecting her and have a brief argument about responsibility before exiting to another dimension.
Verek continues to lead the party onward, guiding them through glittering forests, past impossibly tall trees and towards a land of perpetual night. They near a small village on the outskirts of the night, but doing so requires leaping off of a tall cliff to bounce off of giant mushrooms at the bottom. Verek leaps casually, landing perfectly. Ricky… not so much. He avoids taking any damage, but still doesn’t land elegantly. The other party members hesitate, and the normally gungho Crush opts to leap last, worried that his substantial weight will simply break the mushroom. Ash, not interested in any of this, simply casts fly on herself, Fidget, and Crush while the rest of the party takes the leap… although Crush still opts to fall the last 10 feet, not wanting to be a spoilsport about the whole thing.
Approaching the village, they find that it’s mostly filled with creatures from the Material Plane, spotting halflings, dwarves, and elves. Tortles, however, are still uncommon, and Crush is briefly mistaken for some kind of water spirit. One fairy, however, takes particular umbrage with Ash, sensing her undead nature. However, Crush steps forward, simply stating, “She’s The Lady” in a tone that implied they ought to know who she is and, in embarrassment, pretends to recognize and flies away, spreading the rumor of “The Lady” come to visit Verek. With that, Verek leads the party to his home, which is grown into a living tree that has agreed to warp itself to accommodate a home for Verek. It’s surprisingly well crafted… the floor set with tiles, naturally grown doors decorated with metal, and objects made of iron to prevent fairies from stealing them.
Once everyone is inside and relaxed with some tea, Verek reveals that guards are going to arrive soon to investigate the Undead elf that’s been traveling through town. When asked why he didn’t warn them about this ahead of time, he said he didn’t want to worry everyone before they got some tea. Not surprisingly, guards arrive soon… informing the party that Ash is to remain in house arrest in Verek’s home while Verek is taken to explain himself… allowed to bring one person with him, despite Ricky’s jealousy he recommends that Corrio accompany him, as a Cleric who was recently visited by his Goddess is something of an authority in situations like this.
Left to their own devices the party splits up into groups to gather intel in their quest to rescue Gilly, Ricky’s aunt who is being held in the Unseelie Court. Ricky and Crush stick together to speak to some of the halflings they had seen, while Kanec and Fidget use Fidget’s newborn to speak with ladies. Ash, meanwhile, is stuck in Verek’s home, and Azure stays with her so she can focus on her leatherworking… in particular, she’s working on a pair of gloves that will fit Ash’s further undead mutations. Crush and Ricky manage to find another Halfling… also going by the name Bilbo Swaggins. Ricky is able to convince him that they’re related, gathering intel on the area, getting some idea of who to speak to, and informed about an upcoming performance by Diva Le Luna, a famous singer in the Feywild. They also learn that the halflings of House Gallande, the ancient Halfling house that Ricky inherited his Mark of Hospitality from, has a home in the Feywild… but it’s an enchanted home that travels on giant legs, making it difficult to find. Meanwhile, as Azure was about to start her leatherworking she realizes that she had left all her workable leather in Kanec’s Genie Bag. Azure rushes out so she can catch up with Kanec before he gets too far away… but once left alone Ash is surprised to find her patron manifesting. His body full restored, the seemingly human man intent to speak to Ash in private.
I've actually finished writing the previous episode summary a bit earlier, so I can announce the next stream early enough for people to actually plan to join us. We'll be streaming again tonight at 4:30 PM PST for our homebrew campaign, Sacrament. As always, join us tonight at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and read on to see what happened in last night's stream:
Ash’s patron manifests in front of her, revealing that he no longer requires the skull Ash carries as a focus in order to communicate with her. He teases Ash for her situation… held in house arrest, body slowly rotting away. He offers her the opportunity for a second chance at life… real power, but he doesn’t say the cost. Before she can answer, Azure finishes retrieving her leatherworking supplies, with Fidget in particular panicking at the thought of Ash being left alone. As they make their way back they find the door locked… and Ash’s Patron hides by converting his body into energy and hiding in her body, allowing her to absorb him the same way she absorbs souls. Letting the party inside, Ricky is suspicious about why it took Ash so long to open the door, and notices that she’s acting differently than usual. The party discusses what they learned… about the Diva De Luna’s performance coming the next day, and about how House Gallande, the Halfling house that Ricky inherited his Dragonmark from, travels through the Feywild in a walking mansion, which makes it very difficult to find them. Ricky, however, pressures Ash, trying to get her to admit what she’s been doing, and threatening to cast Identify on her again, but Ash instead storms out to another room so she can release her Patron without the party seeing.
Fidget in particular is upset at Ricky for confronting Ash so aggressively, and Ricky admits that he overstepped. Still, he’s worried that Ash’s patron is watching them, and is manipulating Ash. He’s not wrong, as Ash realizes her Patron is powerful enough to possess her without any chance to resist. She still doesn’t open up to everyone, but uses the Message spell to communicate with Fidget. Ricky changes the topic when the topic of drugs comes up, and he realizes that his “cousin” ripped him off, selling a miniscule amount of Blue Pixie Mushrooms for a greatly inflated price. Angrily, Ricky starts to work on a scheme, pulling out mundane mushrooms and beginning to paint them in an attempt to pass them off as a new breed of blue pixie. Ricky and Crush set off, intent to use the junk mushrooms to rip off Bilbo Swaggins.
As the two of them leave together, their journey is interrupted by the sight of a Blink Dog running past. Ricky immediately loses interest in anything else, wanting instead to follow the Blink Dog. They find that it’s heading toward a trio of figures sitting around a magical fire… a dryad, a nymph, and a pixie, all with Blink Dogs. Ricky ingratiates himself to them by getting along with a Blink Dog puppy, and they take advantage to ask them more about the rumors going through town. They find that “The Lady,” AKA Ash, is considered a Blight… a dangerous creature that has the potential to destroy life. They also learn about the trial that Verek and Corrio have been taken to… the two of them put through a Test of Truth, where failure will result in death. Ricky and Crush push things a bit too far with their questioning, and are forced to reveal their reason for being in the Feywild. When they ask about who could possibly bridge the gap between the Seelie and Unseelie court, they’re told of one person who freely travels between the two: The Diva de Luna, a popular singer planning a concert nearby the next day, and who is popular enough that both courts are eager to host her performances. Satisfied with what they’ve learned, Ricky thanks the Pixie out of habit, unfortunately promising a favor to her in the process.
Meanwhile, Ash is tired of keeping secrets… now openly admitting to Azure and Fidget that her patron has been able to manifest himself. Also admitting that her patron is able to possess her or see through her eyes. Azure feels awkward with this conversation, opting instead to leave with the baby to the other room. Ash and Fidget continue to discuss her patron… his ability to manifest in protected homes, his ability to travel casually in the feywild without fear, even entering the courts. But also… that when Ash was briefly able to see through his eyes, he was unable to see in the dark… implying that he’s fully and properly human. All of this has Fidget feeling twitchy… he goes into Verek’s bedroom to meet with his son. Ash follows, exhausted after the sensation of being controlled by her Patron, and immediately falls asleep.
While they’re discussing this, Ricky and Crush confront Bilbo Swaggins. Ricky successfully convinces his “cousin” that he’s incredibly high, and offers to sell him this strange new breed for Blue Pixie for a mere 200 gp, double what Ricky had paid for the drugs he had purchased earlier. Crush plays along, discouraging Ricky from selling them for such a pittance, but Ricky assures him that family comes first. Ricky is incredibly convincing, and Bilbo is left thinking he’s swindled Ricky yet again as he pays 20 platinum for the baggy of virtually worthless mushrooms. However, as they’re making their way to interview more people, they realize that Kanec has gone missing… and Ricky hasn’t seen Omelette since letting him run free to stretch his legs. They return to the last place they had seen him, and talk to the Dryad they had met earlier… she seems confused, as she saw Kanec leaving with a second tall, dark figure who appeared to accompany them. Crush is about to go back to get the rest of the party to help, but Ricky reminds him that he’s got a feather of sending… unfortunately, the person he chooses to message is Ash, who lies unconscious, unaware of the notes magically appearing on her face. Crush tracks Kanec, following the path toward a large party, with Ricky immediately making sure to sing a countercharm, aware of the dangers of Fey music.
Despite Ricky’s help, the disorienting music and large crowd is enough to confuse Crush. Most worryingly, however, he sees a sign warning that this is an adults-only event, and any children will be sold. Panicked, since Crush doesn’t realize the remaining party members haven’t seen Ricky’s notes yet, he tells Ricky to send a message to Fidget, but Ricky can’t stop playing his countercharm, so Crush needs to write the message himself. Unfortunately, with the crowd jostling him his warning arrives as mostly scribbled nonsense, but it’s enough to get Fidget to investigate further, finding the notes left on Ash’s face. Luckily, he interprets the warning accurately enough to leave his son with Ash as he and Azure rush to catch up. Ash takes the initiative to send a message to Kanec, where he reveals that he’s traveling with someone who claims to be a friend of Ash’s, and Ash immediately orders him to stay where he is while the rest of the party looks for him.
The wild party is disorienting and crowded. Ricky continues to focus on playing his countercharm, but as a result he also draws a crowd of fey and other denizens. While Fidget and Azure are still catching up, Crush spots some market stalls set up… and immediately starts making his way toward the snack stall, knowing Kanec’s love of snacking. Fidget is able to smoothly move through the crowd, easily spotting Ricky on Crush’s back… especially because Ricky has started stripping as fey throw necklaces of beads at him. Azure isn’t so lucky, stumbling, getting pulled into conga lines and otherwise pushed around by the crowd. Eventually the party finds Kanec waiting obediently while munching on snacks and holding Omelette the Emu. With the wild crowd creating chaos there’s not much opportunity to speak, but as they attempt to leave the intent of the party becomes clear… a large stage carriage arrives, carrying a beautiful woman who sings gorgeously, surrounded by sparkling and swirling magic effects. There before them stands the Diva De Luna… with Crush able to see through the effects to recognize who he knows as “The Lovely Miss Elizabeth”, also known As Liz Tosscobble… Ricky’s mother. Knowing she’s a fan, Crush tries to get her attention with his trademark “OHHH YEEAH!”, but unfortunately the chaos of the party is too much for her to hear. Ricky attempts to cast invisibility on himself to sneak past the guards as she’s escorted into a nearby theater, but unfortunately he can’t get past the crowd to even attempt to get inside. The rest of the party realizes there’s virtually no chance of getting through the crowd to speak to Liz… but Ricky remembers his feather of sending. He sends a simple message, “Mom, I’m outside”, then attempts to get her attention by playing music as loud and intensely as possible, but as before, his performance is lost in the chaos.
Unable to connect to his mother, who he hasn’t seen in over a decade, Ricky turns invisible once again, quietly riding Crush’s shell as everyone returns to Verik’s house to discuss everything they’ve learned. Kanec is interrogated on who he was talking to… the physical description of a tall, pale, dapper dressed human with long dark hair and a mustache, which Ash immediately recognizes as her Patron. There’s panic in the group, unsure of what it means to have Ash’s patron expressing so much direct interest in the group. Crush reasons that, considering the power of Ash’s patron, if he had ill-intent he could have simply forced Kanec to do anything he wanted… the fact that he tried to get along with Kanec and, apparently, spent a good amount of time talking about Reavers, implies that there’s some other motivation.
The discussion is slowed, however, as everyone is also dealing with Ricky’s incredibly obvious depression. While everyone struggles to get him to open, it’s actually Ash who manages to punch through his defenses… reminding him of the way he had convinced her to open up to her family, despite Ash being in an even worse situation than Ricky had been in. Ricky finally opens up, revealing that, when his parents had divorced, his father insisted on keeping Ricky. And now, seeing her as a wildly successful and popular musician, Ricky believes that this was the life she should have had all along… a life she gave up to raise him. He’s convinced himself that he ruined that for her, and is worried that he’ll ruin it for her again if he speaks to her. Everyone rallies around… Kanec, Ash, and Fidget especially reminding him how they’d all give almost anything to have the chance to speak to their mothers again, since each of them lost their mother tragically. As Ricky is coming back, Kanec pulls him into a tight hug, which leads to a group hug with Crush and Azure… and a comforting shoulder pat from Fidget, while Ash opts to simply stroke Ricky’s hair using a nearby broom.
With the group finally calmed, Crush brings up the detail that, should Corrio fail his Trial of Truth, he will be killed. He was told that astral projection is used to hold the trial in an alternate plane, but doesn’t know what that means… fortunately, Azure’s training in the art of the Astral self makes her familiar with astral projection… albeit only in theory. Still, she’s aware that, when astral projecting, the spirit is still connected to the material plane by an invisible tether… and if that tether is severed, the physical body will die instantly. She also knows that those astral projecting cannot be reached by Sending Spells, unless the caster is also astral projecting at the time.
With the night growing late and realizing there’s nothing more they can do at this time, the party puts their faith in Corrio… both to survive his own trial, and to protect Ash from the ire of the Seelie court. Crush, as usual, simply sleeps on the floor. Most of the party instead opts to sleep in Kanec’s Genie Bag… although Ricky chooses to steal Verek’s bed for the night, expressing a mix of excitement and concern that the bed would be great for having sex in.
I'll be DMing my party through more Horde of the Dragon Queen tonight in about an hour at 4:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Even if you're familiar with Horde of the Dragon Queen, you might still enjoy this story, as there's a good amount of homebrewing and creative choices for the party... although part of that is because the players are starting at level 5, with some details needing to scale up to compensate. Just for example, read ahead to see what our party got up to in our last HotDQ session last Friday:
As the party makes their escape on horseback, Dahlia forces Frulam to ride with her, tying the former cultist’s hands and pressing her for more information on Frulam and how she found herself in the thrall of the cult. Frulam is tight lipped, but with some pressuring (and with food and drink provided), she reveals that she was originally from Waterdeep, and was actually the daughter of a priestess of Chauntea, the Goddess of the Harvest. She became disillusioned with the church, believing it to be a lot of pretty words and symbolic gestures, but deep down all they want is money. She admits that Tiamat, at least, is honest about what she wants: power and treasure. Although she didn’t actively enjoy torturing or manipulating people, she’s still indifferent to them, not caring about others and only interested in making sure her own life is comfortable and easy. Dahlia takes pity on “Lamb”, as she takes to calling her, which only annoys Frulam further before she insists on going to sleep. She’s forced to share a bedroll with Dahlia who, despite her sympathy for Frulam, still doesn’t trust the openly violent and potentially sociopathic cultist.
Things take a turn at night when Dahlia is woken by the movement of Frulam, who is attempting ot leave her tent. When Dahlia grapples her she’s shocked to see Frulam’s eyes glowing, her body moving unnaturally in a manner reminiscent of how Langdedrosa moved after dying and having his corpse manipulated by Tiamat. A battle ensues as the party struggles with how to defeat Frulam without killing her, especially with everyone spent on spell slots and low on resources. Using the command spell to awaken Frulam unfortunately only causes her eyes to open, a panicked expression on her face as she finds herself unable to control her own body. Like Langdedrosa, she is forced to breathe dragon’s breath... erupting with a cone of fire against Loki and G’houl that harms her as much as it does them. Battling with a spiritual weapons as her arms are still bound, G’houl realizes the only chance the party has is to knock her unconscious. When she’s looking rough she unleashes Spirit Guardians, taking the form of multicolored miniature dragons that swirl and bite... knocking G’houl unconscious, but also causing the dragons to swarm her as well, nearly killing her outright. To everyone’s shock, her Spiritual Weapon remains even after she falls unconscious. Unsure what to do, Katniss prioritized stabilizing G’houl, while Loki casts Blink, entering the Ethereal Plane in the hopes of finding an answer. In the black and white, misty realm of the Ethereal Plane she sees what looks like black smoke swirling around Frulam... but more importantly, she sees a shadowy figure made of swirling shadows holding Frulam’s spiritual weapon... recognizing the figure as Langdedrosa... even his lingering spirit manipulated by Tiamat. The rest of the party is helpless to do anything as the partially incorporeal spiritual weapon morphs into a replica of Langdedrosa’s spear, floating through the air before stabbing into Frulam’s chest, killing her. In her last moments Frulam stares with tears in her eyes pleadingly to Dahlia... too injured to speak, Dahlia’s able to read her lips as she mouths her final words... “Waterdeep... Mama...” Then her eyes darting down to her own boot. Dahlia checks Frulam’s boot, finding that she had hidden there a memento from the life she had once led... a crudely carved wooden amulet of a lamb, with the symbol of Chauntea etched into one side.
As Frulam lays dead Dahlia curses Tiamat, uselessly threatening the dark Goddess. Returning to the material plane, Loki remembers a scroll of revivify she had found in Wave Echo Cave, the scroll dissolving as Loki uses it to focus the powers of Tymora into Frulam’s corpse. With a pained gasp, Frulam sits up in shock. Her body her’s to control once again. The normally cold and indifferent Frulam now openly weeping... having a panic attack as she tears off her purple robes, struggling as, despite everything that happened, her hands are still tied at the wrist. Ffter everything Frulam has been through, Dahlia cuts her free, trusting that the frightened young woman won’t turn on the party. Frulam’s lips and throat are still burnt from the fire breath she was forced to exhale, only able to communicate with Dahlia, who is able to read her lips to understand what she’s trying to say. While G’houl is laid down to rest and recover, Frulam refuses to sleep... afraid that she’ll be taken over again by Tiamat. Dahlia returns her symbol of Chauntea, and Loki does her best to bless Frulam, allowing her to hold her golden coin of Tymora. Frulam clutches both holy symbols desperately as the conscious party members take turns keeping watch with her until morning comes, and everyone makes plans to return to Greenest which, thanks to the party, has an intact temple of Chauntea they could bring Frulam to.
Approaching Greenest they’re greeted with awe and joy as the heroes of Greenest return. They plan to head straight to the Temple of Chauntea, asking an eager young guard to tell Lord Nighthill to meet them there. As they approach the temple Frulam sheepishly hides her face, worried of being recognized by the people she’s wronged. However, she sits up in silent awe as they approach the temple, staring intently at the symbol of Chauntea. They are greeted by Brother Falconmoon, the local priest, who escorts them to his private office so they can explain Frulam and why they need his help. He assures them that the temple is sacred ground and Tiamat would be unable to influence Frulam here, and despite her life of cruelty and crimes, he assures that Chauntea cares for all Lost Lambs... the specific phrase causing Frulam to start to cry again, much to Falconmoon’s confusion. The peaceful resolution hits a snag, however, when Nighthill finds them, accompanied by Leosin. At first he thinks the party has simply captured Frulam, but becomes upset when they reveal their intent to forgive her for her crimes. He reminds them that she oversaw the torture and deaths of many, including his own torture while in the Cult’s clutches. It takes some convincing, but he eventually relents, admitting that the party has proven him wrong before. Nighthill as well, despite holding no ill-will toward Frulam, agrees it would be best to keep her under guard. Frulam, for her part, gives her magic Dragon Chess set to Loki... confessing that she had murdered its original owner simply to take it for herself, and no longer wanted the reminder in her possession. In exchange, however, Loki gives Frulam a platinum ring she had recovered from Wave Echo Cave, telling her that she could have a reminder of a positive memory instead. G’houl also takes the time to cast Sending to contact Professor Raphael, who congratulates him for his success, and instructs him to seek Onthar Frume in Elturel. This aligns perfectly with Leosin’s plan to take a ferry across Chionthar river to reach Baldur’s Gate before the cult does... there’s also a contingent or refugees requiring escort toward Easting which will be leaving first thing in the morning. As the sun begins to set, Nighthill invites the party to his manor, where he has spare rooms and food to share. Nighthill is not an extravagant man... his home is largely practical, with most creature comforts actually kept in guest rooms. He provides a simple but comforting meal of pork, baked potatoes, and vegetable hash, as well as a warm bath and has a page provide clothes washing. However, as Dahlia retires once again to join Nighthill in his bedroom, Katniss and G’houl choose to return to the sanctuary, hoping to research any information they have on Tiamat and to get some idea of Tiamat’s nature and how they could possibly stand against her.
They learn that Tiamat was banished from the material plane Eons ago, in a time when Gods and Titans still walked the Earth. Her corruption for centuries held in check by her brother, Bahamut, the sibling Gods warring for dominance. In the end, a coalition of Gods banished her and other Gods of Darkness and evil, and themselves chose to leave the material plane, as their power and influence only created more chaos in the Material Plane. The Gods can now only influence the world in relatively small ways, for if the Gods were to return fully to the Material Plane they risk opening a door that cannot be easily closed, and which could bring evil with it. Tiamat is particularly dangerous, because despite being a Goddess, she is closer than almost any other god to the elements of the Material Plane... making it less challenging for her to breach the dimensions than many other Gods. If she were to return fully to the Material plane, nothing short of the Gods themselves could stop her. However, opening the door across dimensions and returning to the Material plane would plunge the world back into chaos, undoing centuries of progress as the War of the Gods would return to the Material Plane. Specifics about the Cult or how Tiamat’s powers could manifest aren’t well-documented, and when Katniss uses their knowledge of the Undead to try and decipher what happened with Langdedrosa they find little to elaborate, only pulling from their own knowledge that some Undead are granted a spark of false life to animate their corpse, while others are simply corpses manipulated by a powerful puppet master.
In the morning Dahlia and Loki enjoy a hearty breakfast with Lord Nighthill, who gifts Dahlia a bottle of his favorite fine Scotch to remember him by. Katniss and G’houl, however, receive a much more modest, but no less filling breakfast of oatmeal and sausage shared with the refugees staying in the Sanctuary. G’houl takes some time to seek out Frulam, promising to assist her the same way he did Nezznar, the Black Spider, by helping him to share his unique skills with the School of Knowledge. Frulam is intrigued by this, but is afraid to leave the sanctuary and the protection of Chauntea. She also keeps to herself, playing Dragon Chess with herself using a mundane wooden set, certain that it would only make things worse if the people she tortured knew she was there. G’houl understands her fears, but encourages her to open up to others, and maybe teach some of the other citizens to play the complicated game. She warns G’houl that others will attempt to take advantage of his kindness, and that if they extend the same sympathy they’ve given her to everyone in the cult they’ll lose sight of their goal and may fail. She also reveals one last detail... the warning the cult had received about G’houl and his party, along with the information about Bowgentle’s spellbook, had come from an informant the cult had in the Lord’s Alliance. Katniss stealthily listens in on this information, and when they and G’houl make their way to meet up with the rest of the party, Katniss wonders aloud who the informant could be... but with the size of the Lord’s Alliance there’s no way to really know who could have leaked the information.
Meeting in the center of town, a large crowd has gathered to watch as the Heroes of Greenest arrive to lead a caravan of refugees back home. They reconnect with Isaac, the young man they had met on the trail of the cult, with the same group of Kobolds where they first met Deeg. He’s taking lead of the caravan, happy to spend more time with the people who rescued him. On the way out of town they see many of the people they rescued... Travis who led the deserters out of the cultist’s camp seems to have taken on an apprenticeship with the town blacksmith. The Kobolds the party had captured on their first night venture out in the day and shout for good luck... when they hear Katniss reply in Draconic they shout out draconic blessing... “May you fly with the speed of Dragons!”. Even Samantha, the plucky halfling who rallied the prisoners, manages to run up and say her farewells... asking if she can keep the dagger Dahlia had given her, which Dahlia is happy to leave with her. At Dahlia’s insistence, Leosin is required to sit in the back of their covered wagon to rest. The travel is peaceful, with the party given plenty of time to mingle with their fans... that is, until they see an overturned cart in the distance, with Katniss and Dahlia both noticing hulking figures unsuccessfully hiding nearby, seeming to set up an ambush.
As the caravan slows to a crawl a voice screams out in orcish to attack. Emerging from behind large boulders come two trolls guided by orcs... one of the trolls, however, has 4 arms. G’houl’s knowledge of Arcana helps him to remember that Trolls have a supernatural ability to heal from injury, but as a result they’re also prone to mutations, such as the additional arms... he also remembers that this healing factor can be halted using fire. With the party fully healed and ready with spell slots, this resulted in Loki and G’houl both unleashing powerful Fireball spells, while G’houl once again grants Dahlia the power of the Dragon’s Breath spell, givign her the ability to breathe fire. Despite Dahlia’s protests, Leosin stops resting to help fight as well... although he still managed to miss more than hit, and wasn’t able to stun his target. G’houl is nearly knocked unconscious by the 4-armed troll, only saved by the Mage Armor and Shield spells granted by his Staff of Defense. Still, it’s Katniss’s sharpshooter skills that deals the final blow against each troll, while the Orcs find themselves defeated almost as an after-thought from Area of Effect spells.
With the sun setting, the party approaches the Chionthar river, finding a small trade outpost, as well as a ferry dock. Surprisingly, they find a gnome wearing a tall red hat with short white beard sitting on a giant toadstool and smoking a long pipe. He’s the dockmaster, helping the party to rent a ferry to take them to Elturel, which is able to accomodate their horses as well. The party separates from the refugees, with Dahlia giving Isaac one last hug before they continue their adventure on the safer roads, making their way to the town of Easting, while the party meets Captain Charles who pilots them down the Chionthar river to Elturel and, eventually, Baldur’s Gate.
Crits for Breakfast is streaming again tonight at 4:30 PM PST. Things are getting wild as the party gets ready to Steal the Show in the Feywild at our usual hangout, twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. To understand what I'm referencing, here's what happened the last time we played:
After a night of uneasy rest, Ricky magically creates breakfast for the party while Crush checks outside, confirming that the snipers are still in the trees, ready to attack Ash if she tries to leave Verek’s house. Everyone relaxes for a bit, checking on Fidget’s son, and in general readying for the day. As Crush goes into Kanec’s Genie Bag to continue working on the crib for Fidget’s son, Ricky hears a knock a the door… he’s greeted by guards, who inform him that the trial with Corrio is still ongoing, and all of the guests are required to stay in Verek’s home until released. There’s also concern, because they’re told Verek is returning and is extremely weak after his trial… and Corrio is being drained even further.
As they debate whether they need to sneak out to rescue Corrio, they’re visited by a female half-elf… she calls herself Grove, and speaks as an emissary for the High Druid, who is holding Corrio. She grills the party for information, seeming less interested in the specifics of their answers than she is in seeing if they’ll lie to her in the first place. The party answers honestly, although Ash’s inability to give certain information bodes poorly for the party. By the end of her interview she seems satisfied that Corrio will be released soon… but she’s also fairly certain that Ash’s fate has been sealed.
Once she leaves, the party immediately starts to make plans on how they’re going to escape with Ash unharmed. Verek subtly implies that, if they were to make themselves enemies of the Seelie court, it would help them in their plan to reach the Unseelie court. Ash is struck with an appropriately dramatic idea… “kidnapping” The Diva De Luna. She’s a popular performer for both the Seelie and Unseelie court. She can guide the party to where they need to go and, perhaps most importantly, Ricky and Crush both know that she loves drama enough to willingly play along with this plan for the sheer show of it. Corrio returns mostly unharmed, but exhausted. He lets the party know that everyone is free to leave… except for Ash, with her fate left uncertain until the next day, as the druids will be too busy tonight attending the concert. Plans are made for how to arrange the “kidnapping” and make it look like part of the show, and to escape using the power of the Genie Bag and Azure’s intense speed. The planning takes a long time, and Azure spends that time also working to complete the leather gloves and accouterments she’s been working on for Ash to wear, since they’re appropriately sinister to match the Undead’s fashion sense. With the work complete, the party makes their way out to sneak into the concert and enact their plan.
Ricky spent a number of spell slots throughout the day, so he opts to get some rest using the limited uses of his blanket of rest. Ash, Fidget, and Kanec also opt to stay in the bag so that the smallest number of people possible need to stay outside. This leaves Crush and Azure to find a way in… as a crowd is waiting to enter the concert, Crush tries to find a way in through the back disguised as workers. He spots a guard, who is distinguished by his garish sash… he also sees the Diva’s cart nearby… reasoning that there might be more sashes inside, he asks Fidget to check inside to see if he can find any. Unfortunately, he doesn’t account for magical alarms… with sounds blaring Fidget is sent running, trying to get lost in the crowd. He’s not doing great job until he ducks into a building to hide. Azure tries to get him to leave through a window into the Genie Bag, but someone else is in the house, preventing Fidget from escaping. Crush is sent to the front door, posing as a lost delivery man… unfortunately, his poor deception has the occupant accusing him of being a lazy peeping tom. Still, it’s enough distraction for Fidget to escape into the Genie Bag. Frustrated, Ash wakes up Ricky, throwing him out of the bag and telling him to take care of this problem.
Ricky and Azure sneak into Diva De Luna’s cart… but manage to trigger the alarm as well. When the cart is swarmed with guards Crush deliberately trips and falls loudly, trying to make it look like he’s running from the scene of the crime. When guards tackle him he pretends to only speak Aquan, requiring a water sprite guard to translate. He convinces them that he was simply frightened by the high-pitched sound, as he’s from the ocean and it sounded like a Siren. Then when the guards told him to stop he didn’t understand them and tried to run away. He keeps the guards busy enough for Ricky to search the carriage… unfortunately, he doesn’t manage to prevent a guard from returning to find Ricky, but luckily Ricky already has a plan… he’s found a daring costume left behind in the cart, and manages to pass himself off as an overwhelmed tailor’s apprentice sent to deliver the dress to the Diva personally… along with his Tabaxi delivery person. The guards are convinced, allowing both Rick and Azure inside… along with the Genie Bag, which Azure is still carrying.
Once inside they reveal Fidget and Kanec, claiming that they’re dancers being delivered as well… much to the surprise of everyone present, but Ricky is able to smoothly talk through the confusion. Uncertain of the new dancers, but very certain of their appropriate physique, the Diva de Luna herself comes back stage to change between songs and takes some time to evaluate the new dancers. Ricky, however, still isn’t ready to speak to his mother… opting instead to hide behind Kanec. With the help of Ricky’s Enhance Ability spell, the two are able to pass the test to prove their skill at dancing. Satisfied, the Diva returns to the stage, and everything is set in place for the “kidnapping”… everything, except for Crush, who, as far as anyone else can tell, has been captured by the guards.
Fortunately, Crush manages to threaten the guards into letting him into the show… not with violence, but with threats of suing them for injury in his wrongful arrest. As the guards are from the Diva’s personal entourage, many of whom are from the material plane, where such laws are actually enforced, they take this very seriously and offer Crush the opportunity to meet the Diva during the halftime show… as well as giving him a complimentary drink in a commemorative glass and what amounts to a t-shirt with the Diva’s face on it. Once allowed inside, the party is gathered and ready to enact their plan… capturing the Diva, then escaping to the Unseelie court, where Gilly and her husband Henri wait, under the control of the demon Jarnen and his wife, the Unseelie Archfey Gwendola.
I need to get used to announcing these streams earlier so that people will actually be able to plan and visit when we start streaming.
With that said, we'll be streaming tonight, 8/14, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty in about an our at 4:30 PM PST. I'll once-again be the DM this time as the party adventures through The Hoard of the Dragon Queen. I'll be adding a few homebrew details, partly to make the game more interesting, but also because this party is a little too high level for this campaign, so I'm bumping up the threat level in a few key instances. However, in case you missed our last stream on Monday, this is what you missed:
The party spends their downtime relaxing, making money, or scribing spells. Most of the party takes some time to check on Nezznar, who has been taken to Neverwinter prison for his crimes. They find that their recommendations have been taken to heart, and Nezznar has been invited to a work-release program to help the School of Knowledge learn more about necromancy, which is rarely studied in depth. They also meet one of G’houl’s teachers... Professor Raphael, an older Orc who has been learning from Nezznar, the two of them bonded a bit from coming from races that are normally considered villains by default. Soon after this initial meetup, Sister Garael contacts the party, informing them that an exhange has been arranged with the village of Greenest to have Bowgentle’s spellbook sent to the School of Knowledge... however, they need help escorting the book back North, which is where the party comes in.
Garael is met at the School of Knowledge, where Professor Raphael reveals himself to also be a member of the Harpers. He explains the importance of Bowgentle’s spellbook... Bowgentle was a well known and powerful wizard specializing in Conjuration. He was instrumental in crafting spells used to banish powerful, dangerous beings centuries ago. With the party agreeing to the mission, they are taken to a teleportation circle within the School of Knowledge. Reading from a scroll, Professor Raphael is able to activate the circle, sending them instantaneously to the Southern city of Candlekeep. The party is provided with a covered wagon and a pair of horses, which Dahlia immediately dubs Cake and Marmalade.
The ride from Candledeep to Greenest is long and uneventful. As they near their destination Loki drifts to sleep, dreaming of entering the Temple of Tymora in Phandalin, but where the pulpit normally sits instead she finds a poker table. The dealer is a tall, elegant woman who strikes Loki as familiar and comforting. Sitting across from Loki are 5 women wearing long veils in a variety of colors. In the dream she can’t hear anything but her own footsteps. The women each put a gemstone on the table to bet, the colors matching their veils... a ruby... an emerald... onyx... an opal, and finally a blue lapis. When she reaches into her own pouch to bet she finds only one thing inside... the two-headed coin she uses as her holy symbol, and she finally recognizes the dealer... the face perfectly matches the image of Tymora on her holy coin.
The five women are dealt a single hand, face up... The Moon, depicting the moon with a slit down the center, like a serpent’s eye. The Tower, which shows a tall mountain exploding like a volcano, a draconic creature emerging. The Devil, which depicts the silhouette of a dragon with spread wings and five heads. And finally Death, which appears to be an image of a skull at first... but closer inspection reveals it to be a globe of Faerun, with vast swaths of land burned to black cinders creating the illusion of a skull. The women appear to laugh, certain of their victory as they reach forward to claim their prize, but Tymora stops them, as she still needs to deal Loki her hand.
As the women seethe Loki is dealt her hand... The Hermit, depicting a half-elven figure aiming a tall bow at an unseen enemy. The Magician... a green skinned man at a desk, surrounded by scrolls and books, copying information into his own book. Next is the Fool, which shows a blue horned woman kneeling down and offering food to a stray dog. Finally she is given the Wheel of Fortune, showing a large gold coin. However, the face in the center is strange... it seems like each time she tries to focus the face on it changes... it’s an old man... a young woman... human... elf... and finally for just a moment Loki sees her own face. To the anger of the women, Loki is declared the winner. She reaches for the jewels, only able to grasp on... the blue Lapis, which tingles with electrical energy as she picks it up. Before she can take anymore a massive claw slams down on the table. The women’s veils fall revealing scales... massive fangs... and 10 serpentine eyes. They rush forward, and just before they slaughter Loki she’s awoken by the sound of nearby thunder... and finds a small Lapis clutched in her hand.
As they drew closer to Greenest Katniss was on alert thanks to the storm raging above the remote village. It seemed... unnatural. The weather in the surrounding area didn’t seem right for a storm like this, and as they drew clsoer they noticed that there was no rain, only flashes of lightning. Silhoutted in this flash they see a huge, winged creature... the sight of a dragon. G’houl recalls from his studies that a Blue Dragon is capable of creating isolated thunderstorms... but only poweful adult dragons. Cresting a hill they also realize that the dark storm clouds obscured tall black smoke from burning buildings. They take some time to hide their horses and wagon before hurrying into town. They see that, in addition to the dragon flying above and using its lightning breath to destroy buildings, that hordes of kobolds led by cultists and aided by men in armor are ransacking the village. On their way into town they see a young woman desperately battling a group of Kobolds to protect her family. With children in danger, Dahlia doesn’t hesitate a moment, firing on the Kobolds. The party has no trouble clearing out the Kobolds and rescuing the woman, who helps to guide the party to the Keep... a tall, well-guarded structure in the center of town which can provide defense for the remaining citizens.
In the keep they find the man they were sent to find... Lord Stonehill, a bronze Dragonborn and ally of Sildar Hallwinter, who had been informed of the party’s intent to retrieve Bowgentle’s spellbook, which is normally stored in a treeasury on the North end of town. However, when the cultists arrived, the treasury was the first location they ransacked. Looking closer at the cultists, Dahlia recognizes as coming from the same cult as the cultists they met in Conyberry, which worshipped the Dragon Goddess Tiamat. She also realizes that Bowgentle specialized in Conjuration magic... which could be dangerous in the hands of a cult that worships an evil Goddess that’s been sealed in the 9 Hells. Worried, she hurries to the top of the Keep to scan the distance and is lucky enough to see a human woman in elaborate purple robes who, surprisingly, appears to recognize Dahlia, sarcastically waving to her with an ancient-looking spellbook before being escorted out of town by a large group of guards.
Realizing they’re too late to stop the cultists from stealing the book, the priority shifts to helping the people of the town. Lord Stonehill informs them of a hidden tunnel below the Keep that could be used to help more citizens safely escape, but Stonehill himself is injured, and all his men are too busy protecting the keep to open it. As they explore they discover rabid rats, but are able to clear them out. More importantly, they find a group of Kobolds and cultists exploring the area just outside of the “sewer grate” at the end of the tunnel. Realizing they could learn something from them, they attempt to lure one of the Kobolds away to capture it... but a few botched rolls results in it shrieking for help, leading to combat. They’re careful not to harm the Kobolds, instead focused on persuading them to join their side, which is accomplished easy enough with a combination of Dahlia’s high Charisma and fresh jerky from Katniss. The cultists are a greater issue, with one killed as he attempts to flee, with the other trying to hide in the nearby bushes, who ruins his stealth when he angrily attacks one of the Kobolds that the party had convinced to help them search for the cultist. Dahlia thoroughly intimidates the cultist, stabbing him once in the leg, reducing him to a single point of health. Pushed to his limit, he spills his guts... revealing that the cult has been gathering treasure to give as an offering to Tiamat upon her release from the 9 Hells... believing that the loyal will be spared her wrath when she destroys the world and remakes it in her image. He also reveals that their intent is to intimidate the townsfolk... killing just enough to keep the rest of them too afraid to resist. He doesn’t know the full details of their plans, but he does accidentally reveal that the cultists have a clutch of Black Dragon eggs in their possession, and seems certain that they’ll be hatching soon.
The prisoners are quickly taken back to the Keep. The Cultist is immediately given medical attention, while the Kobolds create some chaos. They seem excited to see Stonehill, until they realize he doesn’t have a tail and start mocking him for it, to the confusion of the party. Still, they don’t appear to be causing any real trouble, and the party is sent out again to rescue the villagers who have seemingly become trapped in the nearby Sanctuary. On the way they come across an Ambush Drake, led by a group of Kobolds. The Drake immediately considers them enemies, with Katniss trapping it with an ensaring strike. The Kobolds are ready to attack, but a successful deception check puts them off-guard. Still, the Drake is howling for help, which attracts more kobolds and Drakes, which is where things wait for the party to decide what to do next.
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We're streaming again tonight, this time with our usual DM in the homebrew world of Kahenah. We'll be starting at 5pm PST at our home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. As always, here's what you may have missed last week:
Crush takes some time to try and bond with Elonwee. He shares with her the candied strawberries that Ash had given to them, and puts on a bit of a show as he talks about fighting the Brutes. He decides to tell her about the time he fought an Oni with Crash and Duncan… a story he had told to the party at the start of their adventure, where they rescued Jem, who grew up to be Ricky’s ex, after the Oni had used him to lure more children to him for food. After hearing the story she used a spare scrap of paper to write a few words: “Y sAvE mE”. He reminds her about Jem… how he had been used by the Oni, and even though he contributed to the deaths of other children, he didn’t deserve to be punished for something he was forced to do. She’s still shaken by the thought, and when Crush attempts to comfort her she merely shuts down once again.
Once outside, Nimble decides to take Kanec and Azure to a local bar so they can enjoy some “sake bombs”. The sake has little effect on Kanec, but Azure, who rarely drinks, is tipsy after her first drink. They also eat some spicy drinks known as Scorpion Bowls, although Kanec doesn’t hesitate to add some actual scorpion venom. As they continue drinking, Azure manages to get completely drunk. Meanwhile, Ricky and Corrio are enjoying their “date”, focused on checking out the various little food stalls. They make their way to dinghy pier… one of the few isolated locations in the Jade City during the celebration. The two of them enjoy some food and open up about their feelings… discussing family, the future, and trusting each other with their hopes and fears. Ricky talks about how hard it has been ever since losing Crash, who he still calls Noka. As they reminisce, Ricky gently sings, bringing Corrio to tears… but even Corrio isn’t sure why he’s crying.
Ash continues shopping. Trying to remember what it was like for her growing up when she would visit Kirei Midori for festivals like this. As she wanders she stumbles across Fidget and Oyou on their date, hit with a wave of jealousy that she struggles to control. She bumps into a cart, revealing herself to them both. Their conversation is stilted, and Ash hurries away, making her way into the woods. She’s seen by Ricky and Corrio, who can tell she’s upset, but she convinces them she’s just going out into the woods to relax. Still, Corrio remembers that they were told not to let Ash get upset, as it could worsen her condition. The two decide to follow her at a distance, for fear that more yokai may cause her trouble in the woods.
As this is going on, Azure and Nimble drunkenly stumble into the bag, followed by an overwhelmed Kanec. He begs Crush for help, who is used to drunken shenanigans from Ricky. Doing what he usually does, he simply picks up Azure, carrying her to the couch and wrapping her in a blanket, which she immediately dubs a “Purrito”. Kanec is wrestling more with Nimble, who is aggressively flirting with him until Crush steps in and wraps her in a Purrito as well. The two Tabaxi are placated by the blankets, although just before passing out Azure drunkenly admits that she’s had a crush on Kanec for some time, but falls asleep before Kanec can ask follow up questions.
Crush tags out with Kanec, leaving him in the bag to care for Elonwee. Once outside he seeks out the kite vendor, purchasing a koi-shaped kite for Elonwee. As he explores the festival he sees Fidget, who admits that he ignored Ricky’s note telling him to meet with Argus. Noticing the time, they decide it’s time for everyone to head back to the Oriven manor. Oyou volunteers to arrange travel while Fidget guides Crush in the direction Ash went to look for the rest of their party.
Ash has made her way into the woods, finding a secluded space near a river. She methodically folds an origami boat, remembering a superstition her sister-in-law taught her of putting her problems in a boat and letting it go. It gives little comfort, and she weeps as best she could, considering she’s no longer capable of producing tears. Ricky and Corrio are the first to catch up to her… doing their best to comfort Ash. She confesses that she’s upset that Fidget seems to be ignoring her… focused on seducing Oyou… forcing her to be alone around her family, which still makes her uncomfortable.
Just then, Crush and Fidget catch up. Ricky and Corrio quickly take advantage to convince Fidget to stay there alone with Ash while they return to town with Crush… letting Fidget and Ash finally discuss the feelings they’ve been wrestling with. Ash takes Fidget to the riverside, and Fidget admits he doesn’t expect to live much longer… it’s making him rethink a lot of things about himself. Ash, however, admits that she’s afraid of being left alone… especially by Fidget. She finally gets Fidget to realize that he loves her when she talks about the cherry tree in her family’s manor… and the superstition that kissing under it is good luck for marriage. The same tree she took him under the first night they arrived. Finally confessing out loud that she loves him, the two kiss passionately under the moonlight.
This creates some drama, however, when they realize that Oyou has been arranging a cart ride back to the Oriven manor. Ash and Fidget hide in the bag, desperate for some privacy to actually discuss everything that happened recently. This leaves Crush and Ricky to try and explain to Oyou why Fidget isn’t there, and Ricky realizes that telling her the truth is the least cruel option. She’s clearly upset, so Crush and Ricky get Fidget. He’s not happy either, but he also realizes it’s the right thing. He steps out to talk to Oyou, dropping his usual snarky, sarcastic facade to speak to her… man to woman. Neither of them are happy, but they both understand this is the best solution to their problem.
Back at the manor, however, Argus insists on speaking to Fidget and Ash. Argus is clearly infuriated, but Yurei is more willing to listen to reason. Still… tensions are clearly high, and they’re shocked by the revelation that she’s in love with Fidget. Still, Fidget doesn’t lie to them, and considering the condition both Fidget and Ash are in, they understand how they feel about each other.
With Ash’s family placated, Azure is given another prophetic dream in her drunken stupor. She sees visions of two children being assaulted by a group of vague figures wielding halberds. When the children are slaughtered a large figure erupts from nearby brush, viciously slaughtering everyone gathered. She gathers the party together over a dinner created by Ricky and one of the other workers and recounts her dream. The party instantly assumes the vision describes a Reaver’s bloodrage, and they also note that halberds are extremely uncommon as weapons in the country of Kirei Midori. They also use this meeting to discuss their plans for Elonwee, with many of the party members growing increasingly guilty about leaving the young girl restrained with magical shackles. While most of the party is comfortable with the risk of removing the shackles, Ash is adamant that she doesn’t want the young assassin freed around her family, but relents on letting the girl free of her shackles while inside Kanec’s Genie Bag.
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We're going to be streaming more Hoard of the Dragon Queen tonight. Come join us at 5PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. As for what happened in the last game...
With the Kobolds and Drakes bearing down on them, Dahlia again leans on her high charisma to deceive them into thinking that they’re fellow mercenaries, ordering them to move to the keep. With a natural 20 she convinces all of them, the kobolds calming the angry drake and following her orders, clearing the way between them and the Sanctuary. Approaching stealthily, Loki takes the time to recount the dream she had of Tymora and Tiamat (with some embellishments of her own). Approaching the Sanctuary from a steep cliffside, G’houl is spotted thanks to a large wizard hat he had recently been gifted, but wasn’t quite used to keeping in mind when hiding. This results in a large scale battle as they find a truly massive group of cultists, kobolds, and drakes assaulting the Sanctuary. A group of cultists are using a large battering ram to try and break down the front door, while in the back a group of kobolds are building a fire to try and smoke out the citizens trapped inside. G’houl focuses on the Kobolds in the back, careful not to use his fire spells recklessly to avoid making the fire worse. Dahlia, meanwhile, uses her Boots of Spring and Leaping to climb on the roof of the sanctuary, using ranged spells to harass their enemies. Katniss uses a combination of her Hail of Thorns and her hordebreaker skill to clear out the cultists wielding the battering ram. Loki, however, chose to stay on the cliffs surrounding the sanctuary, instead sending her Duplicate to ground level, using the Duplicate to deliver her spells. The party’s superior ranged capabilities give them the edge in battle against this veritable horde of enemies, whittling them down slowly until eventually the Kobolds begin to retreat and the last human cultist surrenders.
The Cultist reveals his name as Marcus, a young man who seems overwhelmed, revealing that he joined the cult after being robbed by them on the road. He’s able to reveal important details about the cult, revealing that the woman in purple robes is name Frulam Mondath, a high ranking cult member. He does not know the exact location of the cultist’s camp, but is able to give the party a rough idea of its location. Inside the sanctuary itself they meet Eadyan Falconmoon, a Half-Elf priest of the Goddess Chauntea. He helps the party to calm the remaining citizens inside, which the party is able to lead safely back to the Keep. Once inside they turn Marcus over to Lord Nighthill, who treats the young man with respect, but still doesn’t trust the cultist. The party opts for a short rest before attempting to protect the Mill, which appears to be under attack. However, just as their rest completes the Blue Dragon swoops down, using its breath weapon to slaughter dozens of the guards in a single attack. Enraged, the party unleashes all their skills and magic on the dragon. Rather than face them directly, the Dragon seems frustrated at the unexpected resistance, choosing to fly away rather than put itself in further danger.
With the dragon’s retreat they realize that the small army of cultists seem to be making their escape, but one group remains. G’houl recognizes their leader as a blue Half-Dragon, leading a large cadre of well-trained Winged Kobolds, each carrying more sophisticated weaponry and their faces painted blue. More importantly, they have at spear-point a dwarven woman and her two children. Escobert, the dwarven Keep Master, instantly recognizes them as his own family, putting him into a rage as the guards struggle to hold him back. The Half-Dragon steps forward with a cruel offer... for his own entertainment, he wishes to fight the village’s greatest warrior, or he’ll slaughter the innocent family. Dahlia is enraged, attempting to coerce him into releasing the family while Loki makes plans to send her Duplicate to face the Half-Dragon... but when he makes clear that he demands a one-on-one duel and will kill the family if he detects any trickery she withdraws. Instead, Katniss steps forward to take on the Half-Dragon warrior.
When Katniss steps through the front gate the children are released, hesitating for a moment before their mother tells them to hurry inside to their father’s waiting arms. A person of few words, Katniss begins their attack without banter or bargaining. The Half-Dragon starts with a burst of his lightning breath, but Dragonguard, the enchanted breastplate Katniss had recovered from Wave Echo Cave, provides them with defense against his dragon breath. Rather than rely on their marksman skills, Katniss instead faces the Half-Dragon in melee combat using their quarterstaff. This proves to be a futile endeavor as the tall, powerful Half-Dragon is able to out-maneuver and out-attack Katniss in direct combat. When Katniss seems close to making a comeback, he reveals his fighter training, using an action surge to cut her down. Before anyone can react, he pulls out a spear, stabbing her in the side, pinning her to the ground with his weapon. Dahlia rushes out, using Spare the Dying to stabilize Katniss and shout demands at the Half-Dragon, wanting to know his name. However, he ignores her, and his Kobolds make certain not to release their hostage until he’s far out of range and mounting his horse. Once the woman is released, however, Dahlia uses her Wand of Magic Missile to strike the escaping Half-Dragon. Impressed with her moxie, he reveals his name to be Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, and referring to the Blue Dragon that assaulted the town as his brother.
With Katniss still unconscious and most of their spells spent the party can’t take chase. Instead they prioritize returning to the keep to rest and recover for the night. Escobert thanks them profusely for rescuing his family, gifting them two potions of healing for their efforts. Lord Nighthill also reveals that the town had recently been contacted by a member of the Harpers by the name of Leosin who had also expressed concern for the treasures stored in Greenest. Concerned that he may have been casing the place, G’houl contacts his teacher, Professor Rafael, who confirms that Leosin is a well-respected Harper and encourages G’houl to continue researching the cult of Tiamat. The party also uses magic to help cure Nighthill of his visible injuries, and he thanks them by offering some fine brandy for everyone to enjoy now that peace has come to the village. As they relax Dahlia begins to flirt with him after learning he is a widower of many years, noting that his wife was a blue dragonborn... certainly willing to take advantage of his affection for the color blue, spending the night in his office for some privacy.
Morning comes and Lord Nighthill is delivered a head count of villagers following the assault. In the night there were only 12 deaths, but 30 people have gone missing. Rain has put out many of the burning buildings... the damage to buildings far greater than the damage to citizenry. As the party makes plans they realize there are decent odds that their horses may not still be where they left them South of town.
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Crits for Breakfast is streaming again tonight at 5pm PST. Join us, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and again as always, here's what happened last time in our usual game:
In the morning they’re woken up by Soba, Ash’s nephew. After a brief discussion the party realizes they need to take care of Elonwee. Stepping into the Genie Bag, they find that Elonwee isn’t in the bed she was left in… instead she has been wandering through the Bag, using the painting supplies to decorate things and entertain herself. Crush is the first to speak to her… admitting that the party is afraid of her, and acknowledging that she’s afraid of them. He offers to undo her shackles, if she can promise not to harm anyone. She agrees, and the shackles are removed. He gives her the fish-shaped kite that he had purchased for her, asking her to use her powers to animate it. She’s ecstatic to finally be able to use her powers, which she’s relied on so thoroughly throughout her life that she feels disabled without it. Ricky volunteers to let Elonwee use him as a puppet so she can speak through him. They question her briefly… about her family, her life… careful not to probe too deeply and upset her. She speaks of her “papa” like he’s the most amazing person in the world, but still shuts down emotionally when questioned about how he treats her when she displeases him. She thinks of assassinations as “chores”, and is afraid to admit what Papa does when she fails. Surprisingly, Ash manages to get on her good side… apologizing for choking her earlier, and offers her the opportunity to take a vacation from “Papa”. However, when Crush asks about how she was tracking them she refuses to say.
Taking Elonwee out of the bag she immediately wants to go outside, since there are practically no plants where she comes from. However, at this point Soba steps out, curious about the young girl. Crush gifts him a carving of Ash that he had made for him, making Elonwee a bit jealous while Ash finds her brother to explain Elonwee’s presence. They’re clearly not happy to have a diseased assassin interacting with their son, especially since the jealous young girl was blowing raspberries at him. Still, Ash is able to convince them that Elonwee is safe, but she does seem inspired by this conversation. She borrows Ricky’s sending feather to contact the Merc she had sold the Hagstone to. Remembering that, in the right hands, the stone could be used to cure literally any disease. The Merc has no intention of selling it, but for 1,000 GP he’s willing to loan it to Ash just long enough to cleanse Elonwee of her disease. She also purchases, as a gift for Elonwee, a large marionette which she immediately animates using her strings… much to the terror of anyone who sees it move.
At this point, the Dentist Ash hired arrives to help modify one of Fidget’s teeth so that he could keep his pearl stored in it, as he did before being transformed into a Reaver, which caused all his teeth to fall out and be replaced with Reaver teeth. Ash asks for Crush’s help to restrain Fidget so he doesn’t hurt himself or the dentist. As Fidget would be immune to the medicines normally used to numb pain, Kanec instead loans him a powerful venom that Reavers use to combat intense pain. Fortunately the Dentist has a syringe to deliver the venom into Fidget’s bloodstream… unfortunately the venom is strong enough that it renders the syringe too dangerous to use and she’s forced to purchase it outright.
Meanwhile, Corrio realizes that Elonwee appears much more healthy and is able to discern that she’s been cured of her disease. Kanec, who had witnessed the exchange between Ash and the Merc, mentions the Hag Stone, not realizing its significance. This comes as a shock to Ash’s brother Argus, who knows that these are deeply cursed and evil items made by hags using the souls of their victims. The thought of his sister using such a dangerous object is deeply disturbing to them, although considering her Undead nature it’s no wonder.
With the dental treatment successful, Crush takes the drugged-out Fidget to the guest room. Bringing Fidget his bag, Fidget reveals that he had purchased baby supplies in anticipation of his children he’s expecting from the Siren Queen. This shakes Ash a bit, especially after her confession to Fidget the previous night. Crush returns to the group as they’re informed about the plans for the night, which requires everyone preparing for a fancy party in Ash’s honor. He realizes that this means Elonwee, whose only possession before meeting the party was the well-worn dress she was wearing, will finally get some more clothes of her own. Crush and Ricky go to speak to Lady Yurei… as a famous clothier, they’re hoping they can help get the young girl not just a fancy dress for the party, but hopefully some clothes she can wear casually. Meanwhile, Azure seeks out Ash, picking her up for a bit of a girl’s hangout time, where Yurei will teach Azure the basics of Needlepoint while sipping wine and gossiping. Elonwee is sent to join the girls, and also to get fitted for clothes. Meanwhile, the boys take a bath to get ready for the party later that night.
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We're about to start streaming again! Come join us at Twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! As for last time...
Ricky talks to Crush about his vision of the Night Mother. Crush isn’t able to give much insight, but he encourages Ricky to investigate further… reasoning that they don’t know enough to know if he’s in danger, but also reckoning that Ricky’s abilities have been key to their success, so she can’t be all bad. More worrying, however, Ricky notices pale spots and Crush’s shell, and some of his spikes wearing down. A medical check finds that there’s nothing immediately wrong with him, but the tip of one spike actually snaps off cleanly. Crush resolves to try and keep his shell cleaner, since they can’t figure out what is causing it. Meanwhile, the girls are preparing, with Yurei having gotten into a bit too much wine and getting weepy as they put on makeup.
Once the party starts, they find that the meal is actually fairly modest. No servants, with comfort food that Ash loved when she was Promethea. The party is somber in anticipation of Ash’s impending departure. Yurei, a skilled bard, plays a song on her Shamisen. She also explains the symbolism of the Cherry Blossoms… how they bloom only briefly, their beauty only living for a few days, and how it reminds you that even a life that is short can be beautiful, and sometimes the end only makes something more beautiful. Ash takes some time to speak to Aylus, bonding with her younger brother… trying to leave him with one last positive memory of his sister. Fidget, meanwhile, is still struggling with his emotions… frightened of losing himself to his Blood Rage. Crush offers to help Fidget learn to control his rage, although Kanec warns that it’s risky for a made Reaver to try and use their rage.
As the night draws to a close Ash intends to leave and travel in the dark. Before she leaves she picks up her mechanical bird she had built when she was alive and studying as an artificer. Ash is also gifted a care package including several creature comforts, especially haircare supplies. It doesn’t take long after leaving the protective magic of the Oriven estate for the party to encounter an Oni, although unsurprisingly, at this point a single Oni poses little threat to the party. The party opts to avoid returning to the Jade City, instead traveling around the city and finding a clearing to set up camp. Ash opens her care package, unfurling a large tarp on the ground with Fidget’s help… which immediately springs up into a 10 foot tall tent-like structure, fully stocked with furniture. Unfortunately, the growth of the tent launches Fidget into a nearby tree. Ricky, meanwhile, prepares a fine stew, making a separate batch infused with poison and the enchanted Sune’s Salt… which happens to be a powerful aphrodisiac. He intended this as a gift for Fidget to help him relax after his stressful day, since Reavers are not simply immune to poison, but actually benefit from consuming it. Unfortunately, the same soup is also eaten by his fellow Reaver, Kanec… as well as Azure and Nimble, who’ve trained as monk’s to the level that they’re immune to poison. Things turn awkward quickly as the already-flirty Nimble sets her sights on Kanec, but with some help from the other party members she’s calmed down and put to sleep wrapped in a comforting blanket, or as it’s perhaps better known, a “Purrito”. Kanec is able to get some privacy while it now falls on Crush, Ricky, and Corrio as the only ones left to keep watch.
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We took a week off last week for everyone to relax and recover, but we're coming back tonight at 5PM PST for more Hoard of the Dragon Queen! As always, join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and here's what happened in the last HotDQ session:
The morning brings breakfast and discussion about what comes next. Worried that the cultists have abducted citizens, they realize they need to go, and quickly. The party is provided with some supplies, as well as two horses to carry them on their quest. Their first task is to find their wagon that has been left behind south of Greenest, only to find that it’s been stolen. Katniss’s survival skills surmise that it had been loaded up with additional weight before leaving. It’s no trouble for Katniss to track their lost wagon, finding that it’s been commandeered by a few cultists and a large group of kobolds. Using their stolen cultist robes, Dahlia convinces the Kobolds that she’s a half-dragon, instantly getting their adoration, not questioning for a moment when she orders them to kill the human cultists. However, seeing the fear in one of their eyes she calls them off, and the party instead captures and questions the surviving cultists (while those that were killed are eaten by the Ambush Drakes that accompany the kobolds.) In particular they meet a young man named Isaac, who reveals that he was abducted by the cult in the nearby town of Easting. The cult regularly abducts others... torturing and starving them in the process of converting them into cultists... or simply working them to death. He also recognizes the name of Leosin, the half-elf that had been captured by the cult. He reveals that Leosin is kept barely alive and used as an example to keep the other prisoners in line. Dahlia in particular is enraged, as starving others is a sore spot for her, although exactly why hasn’t been revealed yet. Isaac is given supplies and one of the horses and told to return to Greenest. Before he leaves, though, he warns the party about the Rear Guard, which has been set up to attack anyone following the cultists to their camp. In concern, G’houl sends a message to Professor Rafael, requesting assistance... unfortunately, he has no means of sending support, informing G’houl that he is the backup. The group keeps one other cultist tied up in the back of their wagon and bring the Kobolds along.
Dahlia takes a particular interest in the smallest and least aggressive Kobold, who reveals their name to be Deeg. Deeg explains more about the cult... and speaks with glowing praise about the half-dragons, even though it’s clear that they’re abusive to the Kobolds. They spot the Rear Guards’ camp. Approaching stealthily, Dahlia asks Deeg to go sneak inside and bring back any Kobolds inside to meet her. Deeg, surprisingly, does very well on their Charisma check, bringing 8 more Kobolds, some winged, back to meet Dahlia. Between Dahlia’s high charisma and the large supply of jerky Katniss provides, it’s no trouble to get the Kobolds on their side. They’re sent back into the camp to steal weaponry from the humans, with the promise of more jerky for whoever brings back the most. It leads to a slight issue when one Kobold simply beats up the other Kobolds to steal the weapons they stole, but ultimately they do their job well and are rewarded with more jerky. Hoping to lure a guard out to them so they can deal with him in private, they send Deeg to bring him over. Unfortunately, Deeg’s charms don’t work on the guard and they see him backhanding the Kobold. Thi s is too much for Dahlia, who brings Loki along in disguise to confront the guard. Katniss, meanwhile, stealthily follows along, while G’houl opts to stay at a safe distance to avoid being seen. Once inside Dahlia leans on her sensuality... seducing the guard and urging him to bring along any “new recruits”, intending to make sure that none of the enslaved fresh converts get hurt, but it’s revealed that they don’t trust any of the new recruits enough to put them in an important guard camp. The guard strips for Dahlia, removing his armor before Dahlia attacks him with Inflict Wounds. Despite up-casting, the guards are too strong to be killed in a single attack and he screams for help. When an acolyte comes to check he’s captured and intimidated into helping to calm the other approaching cult members while the guard is executed, with Loki shifting to his form and putting on his armor. This is only a temporary solution, as another guard enters and sees through the disguise. A full-on battle ensues, with many of the cultists realizing perhaps too late that their weapons are missing, although the clever-er cultists use flaming sticks from the large bonfire as weapons, starting multiple fires. Some of the cultists attempt to run, but Katniss’s skills as a sniper are too much for them. As G’houl approaches he’s set upon by a guard, who sees the unarmored wizard as an easy target. He’s nearly knocked unconscious, but he chooses to use his Dragon’s Breath spell to get the upper hand, defeating the last guard with the help of a few kobolds slinging stones from the cover of the nearby trees. The Rear Guard is defeated, and the party finds themselves free to explore the camp, along with the help of their steadily growing following of Kobolds.
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We'll be streaming at 4:30 PM PST at our usual home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! This is our main campaign, and I know it's been over a week since our last game, so this is what you all may have missed:
In the night Crush notices the fire seeming to put itself out… when relit voices scream and veins of red light appear in the ground. It takes some time and the help of Ricky and Corrio, but they discover a race of tiny people. Corrio is able to speak to them, learning that they’re forest spirits. They realize that some of them got burnt from the campfire, so the group apologizes and opts to go without firelight for the rest of the night. Azure, meanwhile, realizes that she’s feeling the effects of the Sune’s Salt, and she paces the interior of Kanec’s genie bag muttering to herself, conflicted about her feelings for Kanec. She nervously knocks on his door, wanting to speak to Kanec. The two of them are both extremely awkward, unwilling to admit their mutual feelings for each other. Eventually though, Azure finally does make her confession in the most awkward way possible. Not surprisingly the two have an extremely fumbling and confused attempt to flirt, but ultimately Kanec asks to take her out to dinner sometime when they’re not both under the effects of a mystical love salt.
In the morning Ricky and Corrio look for edible berries. They find a healthy bounty, which Corrio believes are tended to by the forest spirits they met last night. Inspired, Ricky makes some truly delicious wildberry pancakes. Elonwee especially is delighted at the sweet breakfast, while Ash and Fidget discuss some of the blueprints she recovered from her time as an artificer, remembering her inventions, including a prosthetic arm she had designed for a woman in Ortheia. With everything packed up, the party opts to walk back to their ship, as they still have several days before it will be ready. This also gives them the opportunity to scavenge for more berries… Azure and Nimble compete a bit to try and gather the most berries.
Meanwhile, Ash contacts her Patron, feeding him the various souls she’s gathered, including the deadly Merrow, multiple Oni, and finally the powerful, corrupt soul of the child-eating Hachisakusama. The act of releasing these souls is a drain on Ash’s body, exhausting and draining her, while her Patron, who was once a spectral skeleton, has gradually recovered skin, organs, hair… now resembling a recently-deceased middle aged human. He seems pleased with Ash’s progress, implying that it’s possible to reverse the monstrous transformation she’s been experiencing. He admits that he finds her beautiful, and he’s been experiencing bodily desires, including hunger. He finishes his visit with a kiss, much to Fidget’s displeasure. The rest of the party is learning to recognize the chill feeling in the air when Ash contacts her Patron… but just to be safe, Crush lights a torch, knowing that the power of Ash’s patron causes fires to burn green. Surprisingly, Elonwee recognizes the effect, and seems frightened by it. He’s unable to ask more questions when the distinct scent of smoke and blood wafts through the air. The party puts Elonwee safely in Kanec’s genie bag and immediately rushes forward… spotting human hunters armed with halberds attacking a remote goblin village. Crush and Azure are the first to run in, trying to intimidate the hunters into leaving, although they don’t listen to reason. Crush manages to knock two of them unconscious, but an enraged Fidget can’t control himself, murdering one of the unconscious hunters in cold blood. As Azure and Kanec battle the leader of the hunters, Crush tries to pin down Fidget. With his own rage, Fidget is able to wrestle his way out of Crush’s grip, dashing toward the Hunter leader, but before he’s able to, Ricky kills him with Heat Metal, before convincing the Goblins that the party isn’t a threat to the goblin village.
As the goblins attempt to escape, another group of hunters arrive. They announce themselves as working for the Shogun, declaring the goblins to be criminals and a nuisance. When confronted about this clearly being a civilian village they scoff, declaring Goblins to simply be monsters, and make clear that they intend to collect heads to prove their bounty. Crush successfully intimidates the leader, but one of his men sees two young goblins fleeing and fires a crossbow bolt in their direction… but Fidget gets in the way, getting shot in the chest… pulling out the bolt and using it to kill the Hunter. This leads to a combat against the Hunters, who refuse to listen to reason. After they’re killed, Fidget tries to speak to the young goblins… and as they speak he collapses in shock. Everyone is baffled, but Crush takes a shot and asks the young boy if he’s Fidget Jr. Everyone is stunned at the revelation as Fidget reunites with his long lost children. The party cleans up the corpses as Nimble panics, realizing this potentially makes the party enemies of the Shogun. She volunteers to help mislead any pursuers, setting fire to the woods in the opposite direction the party is heading.
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I'm trying to remember to announce streams sooner so that people can actually plan to join them... so anyway, we're planning to stream again tonight at 5pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! And if you missed our stream last night, here's everything that happened:
Fidget and his children go into Kanec’s Genie Bag to reconnect, while the remaining party members continue their march back to their ship, the Blooming Rose. The journey is long and uneventful for some time, until they come across a group of Kappa while crossing a shallow river. The Kappa are defending their eggs, but luckily Crush is able to speak to them in Aquan and convince them not to attack. The Kappa direct them to the South, but warns them that something powerful and evil is in the way. They are told specifically not to explore the trenches by the river, and not to look behind them, no matter what they hear. Crush bows politely to the Kappa, which bow in response… only to spill water from the bowls in their heads, panicking the Kappa and nearly triggering another fight.
Azure doesn’t trust herself to be able to resist the temptation to turn around if she heard sounds behind her, and instead hides in Kanec’s Genie Bag. Ricky, meanwhile, takes his ascot and uses it as a blindfold while Crush assumes it will be easy to simply not look behind him. Ricky rides on Crush’s back, beginning to feel hot breath on the back of his neck. Fingertips touching him. They’re both able to ignore this, but problems arise when they start to hear the voices of their loved ones, urging them to turn around. Ricky hears the voice of his Mother, while Crush hears the voice of his sister, Crash. They’re able to confirm to each other that they’re not hearing the same voices and soldier on. Ricky starts to sing, imbuing his song with a Countercharm to help protect them from attempts to frighten or charm them. It protects Ricky, but when Crush hears his sister cry in pain he’s unable to resist the creatures charm. Turning he actually sees his sister’s face… but attached to a bizarre, fleshy body. The faces of several other people are sprouting form the fleshy mass… along with long, clawed arms, the faces twisting and contorting as the creature attacks, overwhelming even Crush with fear. Going into a rage, Crush sprints to escape the creature while Ricky continues his countercharm. Using his Rage to succeed multiple athletics checks as they run toward a bamboo forest. Bursting through, chopping down bamboo and barreling through the forest as the screaming voices of the bizarre creature slowly quiet in the distance.
Once safe, Crush takes some time to catch his breath. Composing himself and able to deceive Azure into not realizing how terrified he was by the ordeal. Ricky, however, has a large slash across his back from the creature’s attack and goes into the Genie Bag to rest and recover. While this is all going on Ash and Fidget talk to his children, learning that his daughter has earned the name “Sly Smile”, as goblin children aren’t given names at birth. Fidget Jr. and Sly Smile reveal that their original home had been raided by humans, scattering the various goblins across the land. They ended up getting scooped up by a group of Hobgoblins and taken on a raiding party across the sea. They eventually ended up in Kirei Midori, but were forced to escape once again when one of their Hobgoblin leaders tried to sell Sly Smile into slavery… which Fidget Jr. prevents by slitting his throat and escaping into the wilds. The two of them ended up living with a Kirei Midorian Goblin horde for a time… Fidget Jr. proves to be quite the ladies man, and Sly is coming of age… her naturally bald head is seen as exotic by the other men in the horde.
Ricky, Kanec, and Azure start to work on baking a cake while Crush looks for a place to camp. However, he can’t seem to find a place that seems safe with the high Yokai activity… even when Azure helps they can’t seem to find anything. Strangely, he sees a large black dog following them. Vaguely remembering something about Ricky’s dreams involving a black dog, he asks Ricky to come out and look at the creature. However, Ricky clarifies that his dream was about a wolf, but he is able to discern that the dog is stalking them like a hunter following prey. Crush opts to throw a javelin at it, but the simple javelin passes right through the dog like its made of mist. Not wanting to deal with it, Ricky uses polymorph to transform Crush into a Roc while everyone else gets back inside to enjoy some cake. As a Roc Crush is able to cover a vast amount of land, arriving at the port town where the Blooming Rose is docked, but he can also see that a Reaver warship is docked as well.
As Crush lets everyone know Fidget realizes he needs to talk to his children about what the party is doing… the dangerous situation they’re in, the need to leave them behind since they wouldn’t be safe with him. Ash suggests they could send Fidget’s children to the Reaver home country, since they all intend to go there as soon as possible anyway. While Fidget talks more with his children the rest of the party takes advantage of the privacy to discuss their plans for dealing with the Siren Queen. Ricky explains the deal he made with the Merc Merchant, which, in theory, will cause the Siren Queen to instantly birth Fidget’s children. Ash mentions what she bought from the Merc as well… a powerful poison that could weaken the Queen enough to actually harm her. Kanec actually recognizes the poison… it’s derived from the first Reave, dangerous creatures created by the Night Mother which eat Reavers. It’s potent enough that a single drop would kill even the normally poison-immune Reavers, and if it spilled in the ocean it could kill wildlife in a large area. Kanec is scared to use it, but Ash is more than willing to take the risk. They don’t have a complete plan for how to administer it to the Siren Queen, but they now have some hope of killing this powerful creature.
With that resolved, they enter town, making their way to the docks. They see a group of Reavers casually chatting on the docks… Ash and Ricky decide to chat with them while Crush checks on the ship. He finds that Captain Pagonia is in a sour mood after spending a week docked, dealing with the drunkard shipwright that the party had hired, as well as being aggressively flirted with by the nearby Reavers. Still, she’s eager to get back to sea, and wants to help them take on the Siren Queen. Crush also sees that the Ocean Spirit has returned, as Kalea asked it to help ensure their safety. He wants to ask for its help with the Siren, but it has other things to do for the night.
Meanwhile, Ricky and Ash are talking to the Reavers… they discover that one of them is a scholar who is hoping to research other cultures. The entire Warship is on its way back to the Reaver homeland, and already has several children on board. Fidget’s children, since they are technically adults by Goblin standards, negotiate their own plan to travel with the Reavers, but more importantly they need to speak to Elonwee. They are shocked and disgusted to learn that her “Papa” had deliberately mutilated her vocal chords, and surprised to see that, despite her inability to speak, she was never taught sign language. To help their conversation, Ricky again volunteers to let Elonwee control him, using him as her puppet to speak. The Reavers know children well, and are able to connect with the young girl, who seems excited at the promise of a new life. Crush returns at this point to find that Elonwee’s already planning to leave with the Reavers. Crush tells her that the Reavers are good people and will give her the life she deserves. He apologizes that he won’t be there to protect her any more, so as a gift he gives her the 8 Foot Woman’s hat he had taken from the Hachisakusama, affixing it to her back, telling her that she now has a shell of her own. Tearfully they share a hug… unsurprisingly, Azure joins in as well, eventually becoming a large group hug. Ricky makes sure to get contact information from the Reavers, learning that the scholar is known as Komar. They also learn that the Reavers on board have adopted several children already… including Reesa, the young half-hag from the Starlight Children’s Home. They make plans to visit the next morning for one last farewell before everyone goes to the Blooming Rose to sleep.
On the way, Ricky reveals his plan to bless the ship with the Hallow spell… a powerful spell granted by his Dragonmark which could protect the ship itself from the Queen Siren. However, doing so requires not only a large volume of ritual incense, but the spell has a 24 hour casting time, leaving Ricky unable to help with anything else for a day. When the morning comes it falls on Azure to cook breakfast… with Crush’s help she prepares some delicious maple bacon pancakes. The party needs to purchase more incense for Ricky to complete his spell, while Ash and Fidget plan to purchase some gifts for Fidget’s children… in particular, the two of them wear tattered scraps of clothing, and the two of them are only vaguely aware of how money works.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Crits for Breakfast will be back tonight for more Hoard of the Dragon Queen DM'd by me at 4:30 PM PST at our usual place, twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. BTW, here's what happened last time:
After clearing out the Rear Guard the party opts to stay the night in the camp, but run into trouble when more straggling Cultists arrive. Loki is able to successfully impersonate the guards who were there, although the newly arrived cultists admonish her for the lack of guards. He also reveals the greeting the cult members use for each other… With fingers outstretched they hold out their hands palm side out, then drag them across their throats. However, the greeting is recognized by Dahlia, who has seen someone in her past use that greeting before… someone she hates deeply. In a rage she kills the cultist, and from there the rest of the party is able to intimidate the cultist’s hired mercenary into surrendering and giving up information on the camp. They’re assured that the cult’s camp is nearby, and is poorly organized enough that they should be able to enter with only the simplest of disguises… except for Dahlia, who, as a bright blue Tiefling, is an easy person to pick out of a crowd. They continue to plan their infiltration as they rest through the night, until early morning when another group of cultists arrives to “relieve” the rear guard. The party plays along, until the cultists start to abuse the kobolds, which gets them to turn on them instantly, killing them off as well before leaving the Rear Guard camp and continuing towards the cult’s main camp.
With their cart full of stolen treasure and a cadre of Kobolds accompanying them, it’s a minor challenge to pose as cultists making returning to camp. Wearing the elaborate mask and robes of the DragonClaws (a rank within the cult), even Dahlia is able to make her way in with minimal questions. They do notice, however, that all Tieflings in the camp are being questioned, regardless of sex and color. There are also groups of cultists checking each new cult member as they make their way in by cutting their arms and checking their blood. Loki realizes that they’re checking the color of everyone’s blood to see if they’re Changelings… fortunately, they’re confusing Changelings with their close relatives, Dopplegangers, who have tell-tale black blood, while Changelings still have traditional red blood. They also notice that Kobolds are treated as second-class creatures within the camp, and they send their small following of Kobolds into the Kobold section of camp, encouraging them to turn the Kobolds against the cult (not too difficult of a task, as the Kobold’s home caverns have been taken over aggressively by the cult).
As they make their way further inside the cultists are gathered near the prisoner tents, where they see the Half-Elf Leosin strapped to a pole on a small natural hill, next to other poles… one which still has the corpse of a woman left to bake in the sun. They witness the woman they had seen already… Frulam Mondath, and the leader of this small army, a Black Dragonborn known as Rezmir. They witness Rezmir using her claws to slash Leosin, gathering blood on her fingertips as part of a ceremony to christen a young woman to the rank of Dragonclaw. Dahlia successfully insights the young woman, recognizing a disturbing look on the woman’s face… the sight of someone who has done something so horrible, that some part of their mind shuts down in a desperate attempt to save themselves from complete madness. It’s a look that, on some level, is seen on many of the cultists throughout the camp. Using her Message Cantrip, Dahlia is able to contact Leosin, who encourages her to return at sundown so they can speak in privacy, and encourages her to meet the other prisoners.
Insightfully watching the prisoners, they’re able to spot one that seems defiant and, perhaps, could help them rally the other prisoners to their side. After convincing her that it’s not just a trap to lure out dissidents, she introduces herself as Samantha and offers to help the party. Informing them that half the prisoners would be willing to work with them, but they would need a solid plan to convince any of the others into trying to escape. She also warns that some of the prisoners are potentially as much of a threat as the cultists… telling them the story of the woman they saw ascend to Dragonclaw. She was once a prisoner like Samantha, but when one of the cultists took pity on the prisoners and brought them food… in fear of retribution, she reported the cultist to the other cult members… and now the disgraced cultist is the rotting body left tied to the poles. The party slowly becoming convinced that it’s not going to be enough to simply release the prisoners… they need to take down this entire camp.
With that knowledge gained, the party decides to check in on their Kobolds and see how much progress they’ve made gathering more allies among the small creatures. They catch up to Deeg, the small Kobold that Dahlia took a particularly liking to. Deeg eagerly brings them to one of the elderly Kobolds… an aging female Kobold known simply as “Big Momma”. They find Big Momma in a large tent that’s been converted into a sweat lodge to allow their eggs to incubate properly… revealing that their original nest has been taken over to house the cult’s collection of Black Dragon Eggs. Big Momma was forced to help with this, and noticed the Black Dragon eggs were odd… glistening with unusual colors when the light hit them at certain angles, the party comparing it to oil. Dahlia wants to use the cave system in this mountain range to sneak into the main cave, but Big Momma says that the cave tunnels leading back into the main cave have been deliberately collapsed by the cult members. With some convincing, she thinks that they can potentially clear a single path inside with a day of work. Deeg is still uncertain, unable to think of how the small Kobolds could ever stand up against the tall and powerful Half-Dragons… but, as Bards so often do, she inspires the young Kobold, reminding them that a person can be bigger than their physical body.
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We took a break over the weekend so that two of our players could attend a funeral, but we're back tonight at 4pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty for more Crits for Breakfast: Sacrament! A lot happened in our last session, and we're gearing up for a pretty big adventure tonight:
Ash and Fidget are shopping for clothes for Fidget’s children, Junior and Sly. Fidget’s daughter, Sly, is confrontational with Ash, while Junior seems just happy to be around his father and to be able to interact with regular society… although the goblin children do draw unpleasant looks from the human merchants. One merchant tries to close his stall before the goblins can get close, but Ash successfully intimidates him into staying open so she can purchase explorer’s pack for the children.
Meanwhile, Crush and Azure bring the incense to Ricky before stepping out to say farewell to Elonwee and Reesa, the half-Hag originally from the Starlight Children’s Home. Reesa has transformed further… her skin turning purple like her nighthag mother, as well as sprouting horns. However, this has also unlocked her latent magical powers, granting her abilities as a sorcerer. The children are both happy to see Crush, and he’s happy to see that Reesa, finally, is able to smile casually. The Reavers caring for them assure the party that the girls will receive protection and a proper education in the Reaver schools. The party warn them about the Siren Queen, which they worry is large enough to be considered an Empress… which are both more powerful, and more evil. They also give advice for Fidget, although there’s little they can do for a made Reaver. However, they do promise to help him, as best they can, when the party tries to speak to the Reaver Warlord, who is supposedly the only person with the means to stabilize Fidget. As everyone prepares to leave Ash makes sure to leave some money behind for Fidget’s children, and seeks information on the Reaver college for her younger brother’s sake. As they shove off, Crush poses for the children on the deck, shouting his catchphrase and waving goodbye to Elonwee and Reesa.
With the ships separating they find that the Blooming Rose is more than ready for returning to sea, leaving little work to be done around. Crush decides to spend time with Ricky, sharpening his axe while Ricky continues the day-long ritual to bless the ship. Azure, meanwhile, goes to the Crow’s Nest to gossip with fellow Tabaxi, first-mate Ivory, about the rowdy adventures from the Reaver ship… the Reavers were clearly infatuated with Captain Pagonia, as a tall, confident, strong woman is perfect for Reaver tastes. Ash and Fidget are trying to share a moment, but the grumpy Pagonia forces them to clear out barnacles once again. As they cleared out barnacles they fell into the water, unknowingly landing on the heads of a group of Tritons. This leads to a screaming argument until Crush steps forward, calming things by speaking in Aquan. He learns that the tritons are also traveling toward Kalea, seeking her aid in dealing with the Queen Siren, that’s been devouring creatures left and right.
Once they know of their mutual enemy, Crush opens up to the Tritons, Eryn and Nalos, about what they know about the Queen Siren. He even reveals the Queen Siren’s connection to Fidget, and how she’s using him to manipulate the party. Nalos nearly attacks Fidget, but Eryn calms him… revealing that Nalos’s brother was killed when the Queen Siren attacked their underwater city. Being out of the water on the deck is uncomfortable for them, and Crush leads them below deck… both to get them out of the sun, and to be able to speak to them openly about their plans for the Queen Siren without worrying about triggering Fidget’s Blood Rage. Nalos again suggests killing Fidget, but Crush makes it clear that, while his connection to the Queen Siren is a curse, it’s also the only thing preventing the Queen Siren from swallowing their ship and being done with it. Still, once they know of the plan to poison the Siren Queen, they seem willing to help, while Crush requests their aid… possibly to find a location to lure the Queen Siren towards where she’ll be weaker, or to call for more help. They seem satisfied with the plan.
Leaving them relax, Crush steps out to spend more time with Ricky… while Fidget is getting increasingly upset as he simmers on the knowledge that the Siren Queen is manipulating him, and blaming himself for what she did to the Tritons. He seems ready to pick a fight, but instead Ash takes him below decks to spend some “private time” together and relax. Unfortunately they make enough noise to embarrass their new guests, and distract Ricky from his spell, although he’s able to maintain concentration. To distract everyone from the noise, Azure and Crush get them to help while preparing dinner. Crush brings the meal to the captain above deck, informing her that the Tritons have agreed to assist with the battle against the Siren Queen. Finally, Ricky completes his ritual, able to finally enjoy some food and chat with the Tritons. Meanwhile… a bird craps on Crush’s head, and he goes below deck to take a bath. While bathing he hears a voice outside the bathroom window… opening it he meets the Spirit of the Air. Thanks Ricky’s Hallow spell, he’s able to understand it as it speaks Avian. He asks the spirit to let Kalea know about the Tritons, and learns that the Queen Siren is the creation of Cheia, the goddess of Chaos. He also learns that the sea and Goddess Hearth can’t help directly, as they represent order, and to defy the natural order would only invite more chaos. He also finally gets an answer about the changes to his shell, which is gradually turning lighter while his spikes are becoming shorter… its the result of trying to cleanse himself of his corruption and sins… a visual representation of his quest to redeem himself.
Content with this information he returns to the group to let them know what he learned. With Fidget leaving to get some sleep they’re able to talk freely about their plans for the Queen Siren. They discuss possible locations to lure the Queen Siren to in order to have an advantage in combat against her… the Tritons try to think of a place with shallows that the Queen Siren wouldn’t know about. Ricky remembers Dawn Island, the still-growing island that rose from the sea as a result of volcanic activity. The Queen Siren wouldn’t know about the island, and the heat and ash would slow her down and weaken her. Their only concern is the fact that the heat would harm the party as well… until they remember the pendants of fire resistance the Merrow carried when they attacked the Leviathan. The Tritons know where a troupe of Merrow can be found, the party making plans to seek them out to look for more pendants. Crush is able to breathe water, and Ash doesn’t need to breathe at all, so the Tritons offer to use magic to allow Ricky and Azure to breathe underwater as well. Unfortunately they do this through a kiss, which Ricky immediately makes awkward by instinctively using tongue, and Azure awkwardly gives her first kiss to a stranger she just met.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Join us again tonight for more Sacrament at 5pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! Things are heating up as the party prepares for their conflict with the Queen Siren. But in case you're wondering how we got to that point, here's what happened last time:
The party makes their way to a location known to have Merrow with the plan to attack some and steal their pendants of fire resistance. Ash hesitates to remove her jacket, not wanting to reveal the results of her Necrotic transformation… which proves prescient, as the Tritons, Eryn and Nalos, are suspicious of her as soon as they see them. Still, they guide the party to the Merrow’s home… a deep trench with simple structures built along the side. Exploring one of the structures, they find Merrow inside who instantly attacks. A fight ensues, with more Merrow arriving every round. Luckily, several of the Merrow are wearing the fire resistant amulets, and the party is powerful enough to clear them out without suffering much damage. The final Merrow finds itself surrounded and attempts to swim away, but Crush’s Sentinel Feat is enough to pin it in place, then slice it in half when his turn comes around. With 5 necklaces procured, they have enough to protect any of the characters who are expected to enter the water.
Once back on the ship the party prepares to travel to Dawn Island for their final showdown with the Siren Queen. When Corrio gives Ricky a towel to dry off, he chooses to do so as seductively as possible… with a natural 20 in performance getting Corrio… and several other crewmates... extremely flustered. Meanwhile, Crush speaks to Captain Pagonia, learning that they’re still 3 days away. They discuss their plans for the battle, and decide on a Yin-Yang symbol created in the sky by Ricky’s magic as a visual cue to start battle in the case that an audible message can’t be sent… which leads to a short conversation about the symbol, and its significance to Crush and his sister.
Below Deck, Ash is trying to take a bath with Fidget, but Azure is already in there… washing herself and enjoying the fact that she’s still able to breathe in water. They settle for going to their room for some fun, but get interrupted when Ricky asks Ash if she’ll let him cast Identify on her… hoping the spell would let him learn about her patron while bypassing the restrictions that prevent her from speaking his name. To his surprise, the spell is actually working, seeing a green rope of energy connecting Ash to her Patron… until suddenly he’s blasted with electrical energy as he hears her patron’s voice ordering him to stop. In a huff, Ash pulls on her clothes and marches for the door… but before she does green necrotic energy suddenly absorbs her, pulling her into her bag of holding, where she keeps the skull she uses to channel her patron.
Ash appears in a black void… the darkness fading to reveal a grand throne room, with her patron sitting on a large throne, served by a female servant as the sounds of a great storm rage somewhere outside the room. Ash manages to maintain composure while her Patron interrogates her about Ricky. He makes clear that, if Ricky attempts something like that again, he’ll turn Ricky into a zombie minion. Before Ash is sent away, she sees a human man in elaborate robes entering her Patron’s throneroom… wearing the garb of her patron’s worshipper. Her patron refers to him as Zephyr… with Zephyr delivering more souls to her Patron. He’s unimpressed with the souls delivered by Zephyr, letting him know that Ash provides much better souls, to Zephyr’s annoyance. When Ash asks if her patron can do something about her monstrous hands, he reminds her that she had already agreed to do anything for revenge, regardless of consequence. Ordering her to not contact him again unless she has an appropriately delicious soul to share.
When Ash returns she still tries to play it cool, but Fidget is clearly shook. Taking Ricky to the kitchen to panic about what happened, where Ricky immediately finds a bottle of his extra potent rum to share with Fidget. The two drink to calm their nerves as they try to figure out who her Patron is, and what kind of danger he poses to Ash… and who knows how many others. As Fidget drinks he yells angry at an invisible figure… using his Sune’s mirror, Ricky is able to get a peek at a mysterious, evilly grinning figure. The yelling attracts Azure and Crush… Azure sees Fidget actually weeping, while Crush asks Ricky about what happened. In Halfling, a language shared by Ricky, Crush, and Azure, Ricky explains what he learned and they theorize on who the patron could be… and what that figure is that’s harassing Fidget. Crush wonders if the figure is the Night Mother, although Ricky’s look was so fleeting he can’t be certain. Crush thinks there’s two possibilities… either the Night Mother is fooling Ricky into thinking she’s not who she really is… or there’s another creature that’s posing as the Night Mother and torturing Reavers. Still uncertain, Ricky intends to get blind stinking drunk to avoid the problem entirely, but Azure instead convinces him to attempt to meditate… and forces Crush to join in as well. Surprisingly, Crush and Ricky do well in their attempts to meditate, zoning out for nearly an hour… Crush ruminating on the nature of balance and his place on the ocean, while Ricky meditates on the stars, finding comfort as he envisions the new moon… the night where the stars shine brightest.
Ash, meanwhile, sees Fidget sleeping and uses the privacy to contact her Patron, opting to use the Sending spell now that her Patron has a physical form somewhere to contact. She informs him about the Queen Siren, knowing that her Patron would love to consume such a potent, corrupt soul… but also knowing that her body couldn’t possibly hold a soul of that strength, considering how overwhelmed she had been just consuming the Hachisakusama’s soul. Her Patron is intrigued by the opportunity, telling Ash to summon him directly when the time comes. The rest of the party relaxes with dinner… Ricky and Azure making ramen, with fruit tarts for dessert. Azure and Kanec share an extremely awkward moment of flirtation as they share an extra tart at the end of the night.
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We took a short break this weekend due to a family tragedy, but nothing soothes a broken heart like some good old escapism. So come join us at 4pm PST for more Hoard of the Dragon Queen at our usual place, Twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Anyway, if you missed our last game, here's what happened:
Stepping out of the makeshift nest the Kobolds have made for their displaced eggs, the party is approached by a cultist, seeking to speak to Dahlia, who is disguised as a high ranking cult member. The woman is seeking help for her son, Travis, who is being disobedient and troublesome. She also reveals that they had forced their son to be tied to the stakes to try and torture him into obedience, and worries that the “knife ears” had gotten into his head. In general, her and her husband are both casually racist and clearly dismissive of their son. Dahlia manages to convince them to let her speak to Travis alone… finding the young man terrified of her… acting like a cornered animal. She has a little trouble getting him to open up, as he’s certain this is all just a trick to lure out dissidents, but when she reveals her face he realizes she’s the tiefling the cult has been looking for. He reveals that he has a small group of friends who had been looking for ways to escape… in particular, they were hoping to use the natural caves and tunnels to escape, but one of his friends was seen by Kobolds in a place she wasn’t supposed to be, and her friends were forced to execute her through stoning. Katniss, meanwhile, stays with the parents as they go to get food… the cultists fed a basic stew seemingly made by just having a large boiling pot that whatever food they get is thrown into. They listen in on them as they gossip about disobedient children, brag about how much they were able to grab in the raid, and lament the presence of the hunters… especially a group of Goblinoids, that they’re certain are just here to steal things from the “church”.
Dahlia brings Travis back to speak to her allies, revealing their plan to have the Kobolds they’ve allied with lead any dissidents they can to safety. Travis is certain of a small group that he knows would be willing to escape and promises to find more. With Travis inspired by Dahlia, Katniss decides they want to check in on the Goblinoid hunters they had heard about. They’re easy to find… they’re loud and are largely avoided even by the other hunters. They find the leaders to be a pair of women… a friendly female bugbear named Kreeg, and a stoic female Hobgoblin known as Shi-Laa. Katniss quickly endears themself to Kreeg by helping her repair a malfunctioning crossbow. Using Katniss’s survival skills, they convince the goblinoid hunters to let them join the hunters when they go out for that night’s hunt. Katniss remains with the hunters to help them prepare, while the rest of the party goes to speak to Big Mama and inform her about the plan to help the dissidents escape. Guiding a group safely out of the mountain wouldn’t be difficult for the kobolds… although when she’s reminded the escaping people would mostly be human she remembers that this means a lot of the smaller paths wouldn’t be available, but is still certain a guide could lead the people out. Dahlia also asks to bring Deeg with her, so that he’ll be able to convey messages for her.
As the sun begins to set the hunters make their way out to start their hunts, with Katniss joining the Goblinoid group, while the cover of darkness allows the remaining party members to speak to Leosin. They find him being fed what seems to be the only meal allowed… a single cracker along with a minuscule shotglass of water. Starvation is still a strong trigger for Dahlia, so before anything she makes certain to feed Leosin a proper meal. However, when feeding him water Leosin is a bit too eager, choking on the water and attracting a guard to investigate. Luckily, Dahlia and Loki are able to convince him that they’re simply there to torture the prisoner for their own amusement, which the guard joins along with, but is otherwise convinced to leave them be. Once left alone Leosin speaks openly… revealing that this camp alone is only a small fraction of the cult’s power. He’s been researching them intently for the Harpers, following them as he tries to locate their leadership. He’s aware that a message the cult had received a month ago fired them up, and they were particularly interested in the village of Greenest, but he doesn’t know why. When the party explains about Bowgentle’s spellbook, Leosin doesn’t have any insight on its significance… although G’houl theorizes Bowgentle’s research into banishing powerful creatures could perhaps be reversed… maybe even leading to the return of Tiamat herself. Leosin advises the party to not try and shut down the cult here, as they need to follow them to the cult’s real base of operations. He still insists on being kept as a prisoner to follow them directly, but Dahlia is able to convince him that he’s too injured to continue, and promises that their party will take over for him from here. They make plans to help him escape, revealing their alliance with the Kobolds. They ask Deeg if the Kobolds could literally dig a hole under Leosin and have him escape that way… Deeg knows the layout of the cave systems well enough to know there’s a tunnel that passes under Leosin they could easily use to help him escape, and they can have it ready around the same time they open the path into their home caves.
Meanwhile, Katniss is at home in the mountains, using their familiarity to their advantage and hunt a huge, ten-point buck. The Goblinoids are more than impressed, happy to be the last group of hunters to leave that night, but the first to return with an impressive kill. Just to make sure they’ll have some extra food, Katniss makes a point to hunt a nice fat pheasant. Katniss convinces them that, with a buck this size, they could “accidentally” cut off some excess meat when skinning it to keep for themslves, endearing them even further to the Goblinoids. While Katniss is making their way back to camp the other party members are making their way to the prisoner camp, seeking out Samantha, the halfling woman they had met earlier in the day. Samantha is shocked that they can get the Kobolds to work against the dragons, but once she’s informed of the plan she’s certain she can get the other prisoners to unite and escape. The plan is made to escape through a cave that the prisoners have been using as a makeshift bathroom, with the party realizing that, despite his goofy personality and occasional bone-headed decisions… Deeg knows the caves intimately and easily plans out a full escape route from memory, including which traps need to be disabled or avoided. G’houl also sends a message to Lord Nighthill in Greenest, informing him of the plan and asking him to send armed soldiers to help escort the prisoners back to Greenest, which Lord Nighthill is happy to do.
The party returns to the hunter’s camp to reconvene with Katniss, who has learned that the Goblinoids have no loyalty to the cult, only interested in their payments for their work. The goblinoids also don’t know what’s in the cave, but they have heard rumors about a black dragon of some kind. Instead, they simply deliver any food they gather to guards, who take it in for them. Katniss and Dahlia are able to convince the guard to pay the goblinoids extra for the size of the kill they brought back, much to Kreeg’s delight. They’re also able to convince the guard to let them follow them to the cave, but he’s not willing to let them inside. Once at the cave itself they find the way inside guarded by two Dragon Wings, a higher ranked cult member even exceeding Dahlia’s disguise as a Dragon Claw. They’re all hoping to get at least some sense of the layout inside, but the guards very aggressively keep them away. Annoyed, Dahlia hits one of the guards with Vicious Mockery as they leave, but the guard makes a successful intelligence check to realize what happened. Before he can call for help, however, Loki hits him with Charm Person. There’s still some conflict with the other guard, who can’t understand why his partner is suddenly so enamored with Loki (who is currently disguised as a male cultist), but they’re able to lead him away… choosing the toilet cave as a private location to interrogate him. The charmed guard is happy to tell them the layout of the cavern, and warn them about some of the traps and dangers. While charmed, he doesn’t resist their orders to strip and allow himself to be tied up. When the spell expires he realizes what Loki had done and tries to escape. Dahlia uses a scroll of silence to prevent him from calling for help but, to their surprise, the Dragon Wing’s eyes flash in multiple colors and he begins to levitate. With the silence spell and his hands bound they’re certain it isn’t a proper spell, but rather an ability seemingly granted by their connection to Tiamat. Still, the guard is surrounded by skilled warriors and he’s killed before he can escape the area of silence. While Katniss dismembers the body, Loki upgrades her disguise to pose as the Dragon Wing… only for them to realize they never asked his name. Dahlia thinks to cast Detect Thoughts, sneaking back to the cave entrance and reading the thoughts of the guard they had left behind, eventually discerning that the Dragon Wing they had just killed was named “Malcolm”.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We had a long delay on this due to the aforementioned family tragedy, and we're coming back tonight with a short session of Hoard of the Dragon Queen. The players are near the end of a dungeon, and close to a level up, so we're going to play for a couple hours just to sort of knock the cobwebs loose so we'll be warmed up to start up Kahenah later this weekend. As always, join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 5pm PST. Also, here's what happened last time:
As night falls, G’houl’s professor, Raphael, uses Sending to contact G’houl for an update on his quest, as well as to let him know that he’s made contact in the relatively nearby city of Elturel for more assistance, although the distance is still too great for them to help any time soon. The party sets up tents between the main cultist camp and the hunters’ tents, and enjoys a full night’s rest. When morning comes they find the entire camp in chaos… the deaths of the Rearguard has finally been realized, and the entire camp is preparing to leave by sundown. The camp’s leader, Rezmir the black half-dragon, has already left. They also learn that a small contingent of cultists are going to be left behind to care for the Black Dragon eggs, which are too close to hatching to safely transport. Although this creates some concern for their plan, the chaos opens up the possibility for the prisoners and dissenters they’ve befriended to leave early.
Cult members largely don’t trust the prisoners enough to let them directly handle the treasure as it’s loaded into carts… instead a pair of DragonClaws are inspecting the prisoners, seeing which are hearty enough to be worth the effort of bringing along, and which would be better served left behind to do manual labor until they serve their true intended purpose: food for the black dragon hatchlings. With Loki disguised as a DragonWing, a higher ranking cult member, she tries to assert her authority and force the DragonClaws away. Unfortunately, low rolls prevent the DragonClaws from simply leaving the project to the party, but does buy them an hour alone with the prisoners to “evaluate” them. With this tight window a plan is quickly hatched… send Deeg to have the Kobolds create a landslide with the many loose rock traps the Kobolds already have set up around the camp, then blow the alarm horn at the front watchtower, drawing attention away and allowing the prisoners to escape. Once Deeg is sent away they suddenly realize that they still haven’t gotten the dissenters yet, but luckily G’houl is able to use Sending to contact Travis, who has already taken advantage of the chaos to gather a group of dissenters eager to escape the cult. With the sound of the horn as their signal, it’s a small effort to get everyone free through the makeshift bathroom cave the prisoners have been using as the Kobolds lead them through the mountain to their freedom.
This still leaves the issue of Leosin… the original plan to dig him out from underneath now in jeopardy, since it will be several hours before the tunnel is ready for him, and he’d be too weak to travel on his own. Luckily, the winged Kobold, Gak, finds the party to inform them of the success, and she’s asked if she can provide a similar distraction by the other watchtower, creating the illusion that small earthquakes are beginning to knock the loose stones free. Gak gives them a 20 minute window to complete her task… just enough time to deal with the DragonClaws who are returning, expecting to find prisoners separated into those worthy of travel, and those worthy to be meat.
The DragonClaws are none too happy as the party tries to give them the runaround when it comes time to speak to the prisoners. Luckily the party mostly manages to seem merely incompetent rather than deliberately misleading them… but things take a sharp turn when G’houl manages to less-than-subtly attempt to use Prestidigitation to make one of the DragonClaws smell like he soiled himself. This nearly leads to a fight, with the DragonClaw slapping G’houl in the face with the broad side of his scimitar. Luckily, Dahlia is able to soothe the confusion and lead the DragonClaws into an empty tent, while their guard remains outside with Katniss. Seeing the empty tent is enough to make the DragonClaws realize they’ve been had, and a fight erupts. A quick use of the Sleep Spell by G’houl takes out the DragonClaws, but it takes the rest of the party to kill the Veteran before he can escape and call for more assistance. With the DragonClaws eliminated there is now no one to realize, at least for some time, that the prisoners are missing. However, they also realize they only have minutes before Gak’s mission is complete.
In need of Stealth, Loki uses her Trickster powers to cast Pass Without a Trace as they make their way to Leosin. Dahlia uses her Message Cantrip to contact him, and when they arrive they find the Half-Elven monk already using a knife he had hidden to cut himself free. Again they make their way to the “poop hole”, with Leosin intent on joining the party as they enter the dragon hatchery. G’houl is able to discern that Leosin is still suffering 3 level exhaustion, and while his speed as a monk may allow him to catch up with the fleeing prisoners, he’s in no shape to take on a proper battle. It takes some convincing, but Leosin relents and is soon joined by Gak, who agrees to lead Leosin to join the others, and also contacts other Kobolds to arrange another rock slide to block the entrance to the poop hole. With the rock slide mostly blocking the cave entrance, the party has just a sliver of light to observe, seeing that Leosin’s disappearance has only created more chaos in the camp. After a few hours Deeg returns, ready to lead them to the path the Kobolds have dug back into their home.
The tunnels leading to the entrance are winding, confusing, and often difficult to crawl through. Tired of her disguise, with its many pronged mask and decorative, but functionally useless pauldrons, Loki returns to her true form and her preferred clothing. Dahlia as well forfeits her disguise, as it no longer serves any purpose. Finding the Kobolds digging through a collapsed wall, the small creatures are expertly able to pick out rocks, slowly uncovering the way inside without making noise. Katniss opts to assist, their long arms and taller form able to assist the Kobolds enough to reduce the work load by a few hours. The party’s reward is a rush of foul smelling air as they realize the Kobolds have dug their way into a garbage pit… which is soon found to be filled with Troglodytes, foul-smelling beast-like creatures who mindlessly eat anything they can get in their wide mouths. A short battle ensues, but the violent creatures are no match for the party. Making their way out they remember the rough layout they were given by Malcolm, and know they’re heading into a chamber they were warned is full of Stirges, mixed in with a massive hoard of bats coating the ceiling. Moving stealthily, they avoid awakening the nocturnal creatures, finding their way instead to the meat storage chamber, which is unusually cold and helps keep the meat from rotting as quickly. Katniss notices the leather strips which serve as a curtain have poison spikes embedded in them, and uses a conveniently placed spear to open the way. Unfortunately, there’s nothing of value in the pantry, but as they make their way back across the Stirge chamber they realize they’re heading to the Kobold barracks, where winged Kobolds are training Guard Drakes. Remembering the bone flutes they had seen used to command the drakes before, the party makes their way back to the pantry, blowing the bone flutes to attempt to lure the Drakes into the room full of bats and stirges. Unfortunately, Dahlia can’t quite hit the specific notes needed to attract them, and instead three winged kobolds go to investigate the sound. A failed stealth check gets G’houl face-to-face with the Kobolds, which attack the instant he speaks to them in common instead of Draconic. Fortunately, G’houl moves faster than the Kobolds, instantly neutralizing them with another sleep spell. With Dahlia feeling sorry for the Kobolds, knowing the abuse they regularly receive, she wants to leave them be, hoping the poisoned curtain will be enough to keep them trapped in there until the hatchery can be freed.
Sneaking again through the Stirge chamber, Katniss, being of a much more practical mindset, spots a trio of Kobolds and instantly uses their mastery as a sharpshooter as well as their training as a hunter to use their hordebreaker to instantly eliminate the three kobolds. Unfortunately, no one spots the trap left by the kobolds near the entrance.... a simple pit trap that would be harmless to the flying creatures. Although Katniss and Dahlia both manage to avoid falling in, the noise attracts the Guard Drakes and another fight ensues. The Guard Drakes roar for their masters’ attention, but instead only manage to whip up the horde of bats into a frenzy. The Guard Drakes are tough, but Loki uses her duplicate to distract them, the hungry beasts not intelligent enough to see past the illusion. However, the Kobolds G’houl had put to sleep earlier have awoken, working their way through the mass of bats and shouting for help. A flood of winged Kobolds come rushing from deeper in the chamber. Well-trained and conditioned to love combat... they mindlessly throw themselves at the party. Dahlia uses her Spirit Guardians (taking the form of swirling pixies) to protect herself, but even she is shocked and horrifed at the way the Kobolds, with no regard for their own life, rush headlong into the area of the Spirit Guardians, dying in heaps with nothing but rage and hate in their eyes. The cleverness and ingenuity she had begun to see in Kobolds long ago beaten out of them and replaced with a mindless lust for combat.
With the grim work done, they continue past the Kobold barracks, having been informed that this will lead them to the egg hatchery. Dahlia’s Spirit Guardians still active, they choose to move quickly to take advantage of the defenses the spell offers... a decision reached quickly when Katniss recognizes the voice of Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, the blue half-dragon who had defeated them in Greenest. Opting for stealth, this time it’s Loki who can’t quite move silently enough, and instead they find Cyanwrath eagerly waiting for them... flanked by a human barbarian and at his feet another winged Kobold beaten nearly to death, seemingly his sparring partner. Langdedrosa greets them eagerly, challenging the clearly angered Dahlia to single combat, but Dahlia has no interest in giving him the satisfaction and a battle erupts. Dahlia attempts to convince the Kobold to join them, even sparing him from being targeted by her Spirit Guardians, but the Kobold ignores her, rushing forward with its spear... and missing. Disappointed in his subordinate’s failure, Langdedrosa steps into the range of the Spirit Guardians, exhaling his deadly lightning breath and breaking Dahlia’s concentration on the spell... then using his action Surge to rain powerful sword blows down on Dahlia. When Katniss enters combat by moving their Hunter’s Mark to Langdedrosa and unloading Sharpshooter shots against him, Langdedrosa is enraged to realize that Katniss held back in their original duel. G’houl, meanwhile, embues Dahlia with power of Dragon’s Breath, granting her the power of cold... the cold, icy sensation in her lungs reminding her of dark memories from her past. It seems she won’t be able to use that power against Cyanwrath, however, as G’houl follows it up with a fireball, sculpting the spell harmlessly around Dahlia and knocking the half-dragon unconscious.
In that moment, however, Loki alone sees a fleeting image... a woman in black, wearing a wide-brimmed hat that obscures her features catching Cyanwrath’s body. For but an instant she’s reminded of her vision on the way to Greenest... of the card game against the 5 veiled women... Tymora bringing her face-to-face against Tiamat herself. And rather than falter, Cyanwrath remains standing... but his bravado and pride seem gone. Instead his eyes turn black and he moves to unleash a cone of acid breath... an ability normally reserved for Black Dragons. Indeed, his lips are visibly burnt by it, teeth falling from his gums. The blast of acidic energy is enough to down both Dahlia and G’houl, but G’houl’s orcish strength keeps him from falling unconscious or losing concentration on the Dragon Breath spell. Loki uses her magic to revive Dahlia, who still has the power of G’houl’s Dragon Breath in her lungs, using it to exhale a blast of freezing cold breath at Cyanwrath... he falters backward. Spititng up spurts of fire, poison, and ice... each spurt damaging only himself before landing in a heap on the ground, soundly defeated once and for all. With the Half-Dragon dead Loki recounts what she had seen before, and the party remembers the Dragonwing they had killed, who also could call upon abilities bestowed by Tiamat, and realize they may encounter more such abilities going forward.
With Cyanwrath dead they finally examine the room he was in, realizing that it’s some combination of training room and temple to Tiamat... although the carvings and figurines are biased in favor of Black Dragons over all others. They find a treasure chest tucked into a corner, but make a high enough investigation to realize it’s trapped, and don’t want to risk triggering it without the key. Instead they find some simple furs laid down as mats and opt for a short rest. During this time, Katniss asks Dahlia why she seems so upset, not just by the general awfulness of the cult, but seemed particularly upset any time someone is found starving or even why the sight of the cult’s salute triggered immediate rage.
With some convincing, Dahlia opens up to the party about her life back home. At one point her family’s hometown was brutally taken over by a cruel Baron, who starved his subjects to keep them under his thumb. When her father tried to object the Baron had him killed, and her family brought to him as prisoners to toy with at his leisure. In that time she found that the Baron would occasionally greet specific business partners using the salute she had seen the cultists use for each other. At an upsettingly young age, the older man took lustful interest in Dahlia and, for the sake of her family’s safety, she played along. Over time convincing the man she hated above all else that she truly loved him... gaining his trust until he eventually took her as his bride. Taking her way on a romantic trip to a secluded cabin by a beautiful snowy lake, she led her husband to the water side... using the icy cold magic granted to her by her Tiefling relation to the devil Levistus, she froze him below the waters, drowning him cold and alone, where no one would ever look for him. Expecting scorn for the cruel and manipulative way she had killed her husband, she instead finds understanding in her party, with Katniss hinting that Dahlia may not be alone in executing someone who had deeply wronged them somewhere in the wilds...
During this time they find a group of Kobolds attemping (badly) to sneak out. Caught by the party, with some convincing they reveal that they were a group of caretakers who had been forced to care for the Black Dragon eggs after the Kobold eggs were forcibly removed. They also reveal that Langdedrosa had told them that Big Momma, the Kobold matriarch, was dead, and that all the Kobold eggs had been smashed. They don’t believe Dahlia’s attempts to convince them otherwise, but Katniss knows that Kobold’s have an exceptionally strong sense of smell, and allows them to smell Katniss where they had come in contact with Big Momma. Recognizing her scent, the Kobolds are convinced to help the party. Offering to guide them into the egg chamber in the hopes of reclaiming their lost hatchery and returning to the relatively peaceful life they once led.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
It's been two weeks since we've managed to play our main campaign of Sacrament, but we'll be back in full force tonight at 4:30 PM PST! Join us, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, where you may have missed all the excitement in our last session:
After her awkward interaction with Kanec, Azure seeks out Ricky’s advice for flirting, with the two of them spending some time practicing for her sake. In the morning, Crush discusses tactics with Nalos for their battle with the Queen Siren, and he encourages him to debate it with the whole party. After successfully convincing Fidget to go topside to harass the Captain, they make plans for the Siren Queen… planning to induce birth with the help of the Merc merchant, then feed the Siren Queen the poison, and use the chaos to lure her into the volcanic Dawn Isle, beaching her and allowing the party to battle against her as the poison weakens her. The problem is… they don’t know how to feed her the poison. After much discussion the plan finalizes on hiding the poison vial in a heart, then tempting her to “steal” it by pretending it’s a delicacy that they’re not letting her have to make her want it even more. To accomplish this, Ricky prepares a delicious sauce to glaze the heart with to make it even more tempting. The party also decides that they’ll simply be pretending to be working on a surprise baby shower for Fidget, to explain both why they’re sneaking around, and also why they would have a delicacy prepared for eating.
Everyone keeps busy… Azure employs Ash’s help to get her hands on Fidget’s armor, modifying it to Reaver specifics for carrying their children. Ricky and Corrio finally start to talk about their relationship… with Ricky clearly jealous that Corrio contacts Veerek, the firbolg druid who is helping the party travel to the feywild, using the sending spell. Crush, however, focuses on mastering the use of the canons and preparing the ship for conflict. As they near the island Fidget comes back to the upper decks, shocked to see a baby shower set up for him. He’s immediately suspicious, but Crush and Ricky are able to convince him that it’s an attempt to help him feel better following his various emotional outbursts. It’s enough to quell his worry, which Crush interrupts by attempting to kiss Fidget, claiming it’s an Aquan tradition. This immediately confuses Fidget, but Crush instead suggests that the female Triton, Eryn, delivers the kiss instead. And while it ends up being extremely confusing for Fidget, it was all a plan to grant Fidget the benefits of Breathe Water, which the Tritons can deliver via a kiss. Meanwhile, Ricky manages to summon the Merc, with Ash using him to purchase a human heart.
With everything in place, Crush takes a hook from his fishing tackle… dragging it across Fidget’s skin to get his blood on it before throwing it into the sea to attract the Siren Queen. When she arrives the Merc casts a powerful, but unknown spell that induces birth, much to the shock and confusion of the Siren Queen. Fidget is drawn to his child… swimming deep below the water, finding one child born as a Reaver. Enraged, she readies to destroy the ship, until Ricky offers her the human heart, slathered in the sauce he had prepared earlier… and with the poison vial hidden inside. The poison instantly damages her, slowing and weakening her as she howls for assistance from her children. Siren appear and begin attacking the ship. Ricky’s Hallow spell protects the majority of the crew from the siren songs, but the sheer number of Sirens attacking the ship is overwhelming, and the Queen Siren, even weakened, is as big as a mountain. With her jaws closing slowly, the party unleashes everything they have on her. It’s a struggle to resist her as the party needs to keep her from destroying the ship outright until Fidget returns… in particular, Ash hits the Siren Queen with Contagion, the poison weakening her enough for the spell to take hold, blinding her. Using her warlock powers, Ash is able to temporarily see through Fidget’s eyes… seeing that he is now the father of three children… one male Reaver, a female siren, and what appears to be a fish that clings to his daughter. After a few rounds, Fidget finally breaks the surface with only his son, as Reavers do not form the same intense bond with siren children. Ash leaps off of the side of the ship, casting Fly on herself and Fidget as soon as they come in contact, guiding him back to the deck. Once on the ship the call is instantly made to fire the cannons downward into the Siren’s mouth, while Corrio and the Tritons use their ability to manipulate water to launch the ship at full speed, making their way to Dawn Isle.
Meanwhile, Fidget’s new son is struggling to breathe. He’s brought into Kanec’s Genie bag, where Kanec, like all Reavers, has supplies for children. Ricky joins him, casting Enhance Ability on himself to help with his medicine checks. He’s able to discern that the newborn’s breathing passage is clogged, which he’s able to clear, allowing Fidget’s new son to take his first breaths.
During this, Crush hurries below deck to repair the damage dealt by the Queen’s fangs. As the ship unfurls its sails he has just enough time to repair the ship before the Siren Queen recovers enough to take chase. With the giant maw closing they attempt to slow her with canon fire and spells, but Ricky takes the initiative to watch ahead. Guiding Captain Pagonia to avoid slamming into the volcanic isle… although the blinded Siren Queen isn’t so lucky. She beaches herself on a lava flow… the molten lava burning her to death, as the contagion disease paired with the deadly Reave poison weakens her too much to return to land. While the remaining sirens escape the boiling water, Ash uses Fly to get to the Siren Queen… using her Sending to summon her patron. The party is far enough away that they can’t see him clearly in the smoke and steam… except for Crush, who’s able to focus enough to see his true form… a tall, pale, gaunt human man with long black hair. But perhaps most unique is an iron crown he wears on his head, and multicolored lodestones that float magically around his head. Ricky, still angered at Ash’s patron for attacking him and Ash earlier, polymorphs into a Roc and flies toward them both… but Ash sends him a message, warning him to protect Ricky from her obscenely powerful patron. Her Patron absorbs not only the Queen Siren’s soul, but the souls of many of the sirens who boiled to death in the water.
With the Queen Siren defeated Ash returns… although her return isn’t warmly greeted, with everyone on the ship uncertain whether her Patron will ultimately prove to be a greater threat than the Queen Siren was in the first place. The Tritons in particular no longer feel safe traveling with Ash, and although they’re grateful for the party’s help in killing the monster that had devastated their home city, they return to the water without taking time to celebrate. With them gone, the focus shifts to Fidget’s newborn child… and the reveal that he had a daughter as well seen holding a fish. Azure reminds everyone that these twin children are actually immature Siren Queens… the two children sharing an inseparable bond, until one day they will both fuse… the fish growing exponentially into the giant body of a Siren Queen, with the siren form remaining as the “lure”. Although Kanec does mention that it takes centuries for a Siren Queen to fully mature.
Still, the focus is on Fidget’s new son. There’s a brief discussion about the child’s name… Goblin culture holding that children aren’t to be named at birth, but rather earn a name through their actions. Reavers, however, have a much more intense bond immediately. Before they can debate it too deeply, Fidget suddenly realizes that there’s no milk for his son on the ship… and while Crush doesn’t see the problem (being a reptile and all), most of the crew panic while Ricky pulls out his sending feather and asks the Merc to return and sell them some milk.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
You can tell we're back to normal now that we're doing 3 streams in one weekend. Come join us tonight at 4:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. We were expecting a slow game last time since we just finished a large boss fight, but things managed to still get wild. Read on in case you missed it:
Ricky convinces the Merc merchant that, in exchange for the treasure left behind in the body of the Queen Siren (which is currently being cooked in a lava flow), the party could be provided with some store credit. The first purchase made is a magical goat… Thaco the Dancing Goat (an in-joke for the players, as Thaco was the pet goat of one of the players in an earlier campaign), while Ricky purchases a magical necklace that allows him to speak to animals. Ash purchases another gift for the child… a magical necklace that will make the child immune to necrotic damage… protecting the child from the damage of her necrotic touch. Crush simply wants a pair of Bracers of Defense, while Corrio wants a Sending Feather of his own, as well as papers to use them with. Azure, for her part, simply wants a ring to increase her defense… although once everyone seems satisfied with their purchases, Ricky goes in for a set of Glamored Studded Leather Armor, as well as getting the gloves Azure had given him enchanted as Gloves of Thievery.
As they’re readying to leave, Crush and Azure are tasked with swabbing the deck… although Crush decides to attach his 25 pound hunting trap to his mop in order to get some exercise. Ricky speaks to Ash… admitting that he overestimated his abilities when he tried to confront her patron, but makes it clear that he won’t hold back if her patron oversteps his bounds. Ash, however, admits that she wishes she could do the same, but she knows better. Content at the agreement, such as it is, Ash visits Kanec’s genie egg to feed her snake… using her recently unlocked eldritch invocations to speak to her snake directly. With an extremely lucky animal handling roll, she comes to an agreement with her snake… it agrees to stop biting her in exchange for regular feeding and protection. The snake also reveals that it’s female, and has recently laid some unfertilized eggs. Meanwhile, Ricky tries to talk to Corrio, but gets immediately flustered when Corrio mentions that he’s still in regular contact with Verek the firbolg druid.
To distract himself, Ricky tries to help Fidget care for his new son… although his idea of entertaining the baby is to wave his singing dagger around to play some music, which instantly draws the ire of both Fidget and the goat, Thaco, who is intelligent enough to recognize a blade and know it’s not something to be given to children. Azure investigates, agreeing that the baby doesn’t need to play with a knife, and also finds Ash approaching as well, and offers to make Ash some new gloves, since her hands have been becoming gradually more monstrous… but remembering Ash’s advice about money, she does so while also charging Ash $300 for the work.
With dinner served the party discusses names for Fidget’s child. Fidget is hesitant to name the child, as goblin children are usually named after several years, since goblin children often fail to survive long, and their names are very descriptive.. Crush mentions that Tortle names are often more aspirational, rather than literal… his own birth name, Kaa, is the sound of gentle waves. But he also admits that Tortles don’t put much weight on names… few adult Tortles maintain their birth names, but often end up with more descriptive names as they grow up. Ash backs him up, mentioning that Elves are given a “child name” at birth, and don’t earn an adult name until later in the day. The discussion also shifts to the fact that Fidget’s child doesn’t have a crib… and although several suggestions are put forth, Crush instead volunteers to build the child a crib using some of the ship’s spare material. He has a brief discussion with Captain Pagonia, who explains that she doesn’t fully trust Ash, especially after seeing Ash’s patron. Ricky convinces Corrio to spend some time alone as a bit of a date… but things take a turn when Corrio mentions the research he’s been doing. He mentions that something as powerful as the Siren Queen would leave behind a power vacuum, and her death would draw the attention of something more powerful and deadly. The Siren Queen was one of many beings the ancient Grimveils had, very deliberately, sealed away, rather than simply kill outright, not unlike Leviathan, the ancient, giant Dragon Turtle. Upon the Siren Queen’s death, they notice that the phrase written in the Reaver tongue appears to be scratched off of the shield’s exterior… and Corrio worries that the Siren Queen may have arranged her own death, or was manipulated into dying by another force which wanted to take advantage of her death.
As Crush and Kanec work together to build a crib, they notice an unpleasant shiver going up their spines. As Crush looks around for any dangers, he notices that the stars aren’t visible in the sky. However, it’s obvious there are no clouds, since the full moon is visible… although crush also realizes that this night isn’t supposed to have a full moon. Not wanting to risk anything, Crush rings the emergency bell, summoning everyone. As the party rushes up they gather in the area of Ricky’s Hallow spell, where they watch as the moon in the sky… blinks. Suddenly, everyone on deck falls asleep… except, of course, for those protected by the magic of the Grimveil pendants. A figure of a tall, elegant woman with strange clothing forms in front of them. She teases them… mocking the party, claiming that they are doing exactly as she wants. She also warns them not to continue to harm her children… and Crush remembers what he had been told by the Water Spirit how creatures like the Queen Siren are the children of Kaya, the Goddess of Chaos. She’s surprised that he recognizes her, mockingly stating that he’s smarter than he looks. Kaya displays amazing powers… boiling the seas with lava, destroying and reconstructing the boat simply to show that she can. Despite her open threats the party refuses to submit to her, but they also know better than to try to attack her. Amused at their reactions, she decides to leave them a parting gift… returning the ship, intact, to natural seas… but not before creating a hurricane and forcefully triggering Kanec’s bloodrage… The party is left struggling between trying to knock Kanec unconscious before he harms himself or others, and waking the ship’s crew to deal with the coming storm. Kanec is powerful, but heavily outnumbered… but a greater challenge arises when a massive wave washes over the ship. While most of the party is able to remain upright, Fidget is washed off the side of the boat… still holding his infant child. As everyone panics, Corrio holds tight to his holy symbol of Eldath, imploring his Goddess to intervene and fortunately… she does. Eldath glows with such warm, yet bright light that the area lights up as though it’s midday. Fidget is returned unharmed, the unnatural hurricane subsides, and all but the undead Ash are recovered of all damage. Eldath’s aura of peace is also more than enough to cure Kanec of his bloodrage. As a final gift, Eldath moves the ship further along, so that their week long voyage to Kalea’s island, and its portal to the feywild, will pass in a single night.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
CfB will be streaming more Horde of the Dragon Queen tonight! Things are basically back to normal for our group, so come join us at our usual hangout, twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 4pm PST
As always, here's what happened last time our Horde team played:
With the help of the Kobold eggkeepers, the party parlays with the dangerous Roper that lives int he hatchery. To the shock of everyone, the Roper reveals itself capable of speech, and eager to devour the party members. Luckily, feeding it Langdedrosa’s body is enough to get it to listen to the party’s plan. Dahlia is able to convince it to instead eat the many dead kobolds left earlier in the cavern... and although it doesn’t stay to help with the black dragon eggs (or the drakes protecting them), it does agree that it will leave them and any living kobolds alone. Katniss is able to use their Sharpshooter skills to almost instantly clear out one of the guard drakes, but the other is able to catch up to them and deal a devastating critical bite attack before being defeated with a rush of Magic Missile attacks.
Wth the drakes cleared out the party destroys the black dragon eggs, only to be shocked as the nearly-developed dragons spill out along with rancid, stinking yolk. The creatures are mutated... developing malformed heads of other colored dragons at the bases of their necks, clearly altered by the power of the five-headed Tiamat. A successful medicine check reveals that the creatures would grow in intense pain to match their increase in power... making the party realize that killing them is as much an act of mercy for the unborn dragons as it is a means to protect the world from their influence. With the monstrosities destroyed, the party gets the Eggkeepers to guide them to a hidden tunnel leading to the room of Frulam Mondath, the human cultist who appears to hold the highest rank of those left to watch over the hatchery. The eggkeepers leave to clean the hatchery of the corrupting corpses of the black dragon hatchlings and prepare it for the return of the Kobold’s own eggs.
Spying on Frulam, Katniss finds her playing with a magical Dragon Chess set. While Frulam is distracted, the party rushes her, hoping to knock her unconscious before she can call for help. Katniss takes the initiative to grab Frulam’s weapon before she can arm herself, while everyone else slams her with multiples castings of magic missile. Knowing she’s outnumbered, Frulam surrenders... mocking the party for seeming to only know one spell. It takes some persuasion to get her to open up, but Frulam reveals she was only ever with the cult to take advantage of the powers it grants, and resents being left behind to care for the dragon hatchlings, certain that the creatures are as much a danger to her as to the cult’s intended victims. However, she’s also fully aware that she’ll be blamed for the hatchlings’ deaths, making the cult a greater threat to her now than the party. She allows the party to examine the paperwork left behind... Rezmir was careful not to leave any specific information written down... only revealing that the hoard is being transported north to somewhere or someone named “Naerytar”. Katniss recognizes this as an Elven surname that normally translates as “Kind Archer”, made up of the terms “Naery”, meaning Bow, and “Rytar”, meaning Gentle. Recognizing that as the name of the Wizard whose spellbook they were sent to recover. Unfortunately, Frulam has no idea who or what Naerytar refers to, and the party is left simply to puzzle over this information.
Loki takes an immediate interest in Frulam’s finely crafted magical Dragon Chess set... not because she’s intersted in the game (she doesn’t even know how to play Dragon Chess), but she instantly recognizes it as extremely valuable. However, since the rest of the party is still trying to stay on Frulam’s good side, they actively discourage her in her attempts to convince Frulam to relinquish it to her. Instead, Frulam shows them her key to the trapped chest left in Langdedrosa’s training room, allowing them to recover some of the stolen treasure from Greenest (although Loki was hoping to keep it for herself), with Frulam revealing that she had kept a few treasures as a nest egg in case she ever needed to escape the cult. Once they’re satisfied with what they were able to recover, the party uses their disguises to have Frulam escort them out of the cave directly, where they find that the camp has been thoroughly emptied, as most of the cultists have left in a caravan to deliver the hoard to its destination.
Before leaving, Dahlia makes certain to check on Big Mama and the other kobolds. Although the cultists have reduced to around a dozen cultmembers, Dahlia is still worried for the well-being of the small creatures. However, Big Mama assures her that the Kobolds are ready and able to protect their home. Even rejecting Dahlia’s offer to loan them her wand of magic missiles, reminding her that they can’t just rely on the generosity of passing adventurers when it comes to protecting their homes. As Frulam gathers horses, Deeg comes to speak to Dahlia... revealing that, despite initially trusting her because she pretended to be a Half-Dragon, he’s realized that she was lying, but he still likes her, and doesn’t feel the need to live a life in service of dragons. Dahlia encourages him, reminding him that, even if he’s small, he’s a dragon in his own right deep down. Inspired, Deeg affectionately nuzzles her (the Kobold equivalent of a hug) before the party rides off... realizing by coincidence that they’ve been reunited with Cake and Marmalade, the two horses they originally left with.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
We're back to our homebrew campaign, Sacrament, tonight. Join our party as we make our way into the feywild... join us in 10 minutes at 4:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and read on to see what happened last time:
As the party rests for the night, Ricky receives a prophetic dream… seeing a vision of a mysterious Being confronted by vague figures in the woods. The mysterious Being releases strange, inverted shadows and in the chaos the men end up stabbing each other. Shocked, he shares his dream, although no one knows what it could mean. Saying their goodbyes to the ship’s crew, who are planning to return to Lady Annabelle in Dawsberry while the main party adventures in the feywild, the Blooming Rose is left as the party members swim, run, or simply sail from the large ship to Kalea’s island.
Upon arrival things quickly turn awkward as Ricky is visibly jealous when Verek, the firbolg druid who had assisted Kalea in opening the portal the feywild, gives Corrio a gift of flowers. As the party is prepared they’re reminded of the rules of the feywild… never make any deals, never thank anyone, never accept food or dance with a fairy. And importantly, don’t tell anyone your real name. As part of this the party needs to come up with aliases for themselves… Ricky immediately proclaims he wants to be Bilbo Swaggins, and Verek’s warning that this is an extremely common alias with Halflings in the feywild that only confirms to Ricky that it’s a good name, since it’s so popular. Crush briefly considers staying with Crush, since it’s technically a nickname in the first place, but since Tortles often accept new names as their true names he doesn’t want to take any risks and goes by Big Guy, which many party members affectionately call him already. In that same vein, Azure decides to go by Kitten, which Fidget and Ricky also regularly call her. Kanec, Corrio, and Fidget all choose to go by names similar to their own… Nick, Rio, and Fig, respectively. The last holdout is Ash who, like Crush, is technically going by a nickname in the first place. Still, there’s a debate on whether that’s true, considering Ash has been her name for her entire Undeath, while her true name of Promethea is only a memory from the life she once led. She rejects a number of suggestions until Crush proposes simply calling her “The Lady”, which appeals to her desire for both mystery and authority.
Before leaving the island Crush asks to speak to Kalea in private… confirming with her that the changes to his shell aren’t a result of any illness, but instead of a visual indication of sins being cleansed from his body. Still, he feels uncertain… worried that the spirit of the ocean and indeed the Goddess of the planet itself, Hearth, are simply settling for him since the one truly worthy, his sister Crash, has been killed. Kalea assures him that Crash lives on through Crush, and that the spirits of all Tortles live on in the sea, guiding future generations. Comforted by her words, he leaves with her a carving he had made of Crash earlier… knowing that hatchling Tortles sometimes visit her island, wanting her to give it to the next one to visit and tell them about Crash and the selfless life she led.
Finally, Verek leads the party into the feywild… a fantastical land of mystery, where a simple toadstool might by the home of a fairy, and many of the trees are actually dryads. As the druid of the land, Verek is respected by the citizens of the feywild, who greet him eagerly, curious about his strange guests. While Verek is invited into a particularly massive tree to diagnose an illness, the party is left alone when they see an invisible creature devour a nearby fairy. In shock, they investigate… to their shock, they discover what appears to be an infant. The baby has green hair, budding horns, and insectoid wings. Most prominent, however, is the baby’s mouth… not only does it have rows of extremely sharp teeth, but the baby’s mouth is capable of opening frighteningly wide. The party attempts to track where the baby came from, but they realize the baby is already capable of flight, making it difficult to follow exactly what direction it came from.
Fortunately, Verek returns and not only is able to identify the infant as a “Fairy Eater”, he also knows the child’s parents and helps guide the party to reuniting them. To the surprise of the players, it’s two characters from our previous campaign… Nitara the Half-Orc fighter and Trilby, a mysterious being known as a Quantzi who had learned how to travel across dimensions. Reunited with their daughter, now revealed to be named Alcina, they thank the party for protecting her and have a brief argument about responsibility before exiting to another dimension.
Verek continues to lead the party onward, guiding them through glittering forests, past impossibly tall trees and towards a land of perpetual night. They near a small village on the outskirts of the night, but doing so requires leaping off of a tall cliff to bounce off of giant mushrooms at the bottom. Verek leaps casually, landing perfectly. Ricky… not so much. He avoids taking any damage, but still doesn’t land elegantly. The other party members hesitate, and the normally gungho Crush opts to leap last, worried that his substantial weight will simply break the mushroom. Ash, not interested in any of this, simply casts fly on herself, Fidget, and Crush while the rest of the party takes the leap… although Crush still opts to fall the last 10 feet, not wanting to be a spoilsport about the whole thing.
Approaching the village, they find that it’s mostly filled with creatures from the Material Plane, spotting halflings, dwarves, and elves. Tortles, however, are still uncommon, and Crush is briefly mistaken for some kind of water spirit. One fairy, however, takes particular umbrage with Ash, sensing her undead nature. However, Crush steps forward, simply stating, “She’s The Lady” in a tone that implied they ought to know who she is and, in embarrassment, pretends to recognize and flies away, spreading the rumor of “The Lady” come to visit Verek. With that, Verek leads the party to his home, which is grown into a living tree that has agreed to warp itself to accommodate a home for Verek. It’s surprisingly well crafted… the floor set with tiles, naturally grown doors decorated with metal, and objects made of iron to prevent fairies from stealing them.
Once everyone is inside and relaxed with some tea, Verek reveals that guards are going to arrive soon to investigate the Undead elf that’s been traveling through town. When asked why he didn’t warn them about this ahead of time, he said he didn’t want to worry everyone before they got some tea. Not surprisingly, guards arrive soon… informing the party that Ash is to remain in house arrest in Verek’s home while Verek is taken to explain himself… allowed to bring one person with him, despite Ricky’s jealousy he recommends that Corrio accompany him, as a Cleric who was recently visited by his Goddess is something of an authority in situations like this.
Left to their own devices the party splits up into groups to gather intel in their quest to rescue Gilly, Ricky’s aunt who is being held in the Unseelie Court. Ricky and Crush stick together to speak to some of the halflings they had seen, while Kanec and Fidget use Fidget’s newborn to speak with ladies. Ash, meanwhile, is stuck in Verek’s home, and Azure stays with her so she can focus on her leatherworking… in particular, she’s working on a pair of gloves that will fit Ash’s further undead mutations. Crush and Ricky manage to find another Halfling… also going by the name Bilbo Swaggins. Ricky is able to convince him that they’re related, gathering intel on the area, getting some idea of who to speak to, and informed about an upcoming performance by Diva Le Luna, a famous singer in the Feywild. They also learn that the halflings of House Gallande, the ancient Halfling house that Ricky inherited his Mark of Hospitality from, has a home in the Feywild… but it’s an enchanted home that travels on giant legs, making it difficult to find. Meanwhile, as Azure was about to start her leatherworking she realizes that she had left all her workable leather in Kanec’s Genie Bag. Azure rushes out so she can catch up with Kanec before he gets too far away… but once left alone Ash is surprised to find her patron manifesting. His body full restored, the seemingly human man intent to speak to Ash in private.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I've actually finished writing the previous episode summary a bit earlier, so I can announce the next stream early enough for people to actually plan to join us. We'll be streaming again tonight at 4:30 PM PST for our homebrew campaign, Sacrament. As always, join us tonight at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and read on to see what happened in last night's stream:
Ash’s patron manifests in front of her, revealing that he no longer requires the skull Ash carries as a focus in order to communicate with her. He teases Ash for her situation… held in house arrest, body slowly rotting away. He offers her the opportunity for a second chance at life… real power, but he doesn’t say the cost. Before she can answer, Azure finishes retrieving her leatherworking supplies, with Fidget in particular panicking at the thought of Ash being left alone. As they make their way back they find the door locked… and Ash’s Patron hides by converting his body into energy and hiding in her body, allowing her to absorb him the same way she absorbs souls. Letting the party inside, Ricky is suspicious about why it took Ash so long to open the door, and notices that she’s acting differently than usual. The party discusses what they learned… about the Diva De Luna’s performance coming the next day, and about how House Gallande, the Halfling house that Ricky inherited his Dragonmark from, travels through the Feywild in a walking mansion, which makes it very difficult to find them. Ricky, however, pressures Ash, trying to get her to admit what she’s been doing, and threatening to cast Identify on her again, but Ash instead storms out to another room so she can release her Patron without the party seeing.
Fidget in particular is upset at Ricky for confronting Ash so aggressively, and Ricky admits that he overstepped. Still, he’s worried that Ash’s patron is watching them, and is manipulating Ash. He’s not wrong, as Ash realizes her Patron is powerful enough to possess her without any chance to resist. She still doesn’t open up to everyone, but uses the Message spell to communicate with Fidget. Ricky changes the topic when the topic of drugs comes up, and he realizes that his “cousin” ripped him off, selling a miniscule amount of Blue Pixie Mushrooms for a greatly inflated price. Angrily, Ricky starts to work on a scheme, pulling out mundane mushrooms and beginning to paint them in an attempt to pass them off as a new breed of blue pixie. Ricky and Crush set off, intent to use the junk mushrooms to rip off Bilbo Swaggins.
As the two of them leave together, their journey is interrupted by the sight of a Blink Dog running past. Ricky immediately loses interest in anything else, wanting instead to follow the Blink Dog. They find that it’s heading toward a trio of figures sitting around a magical fire… a dryad, a nymph, and a pixie, all with Blink Dogs. Ricky ingratiates himself to them by getting along with a Blink Dog puppy, and they take advantage to ask them more about the rumors going through town. They find that “The Lady,” AKA Ash, is considered a Blight… a dangerous creature that has the potential to destroy life. They also learn about the trial that Verek and Corrio have been taken to… the two of them put through a Test of Truth, where failure will result in death. Ricky and Crush push things a bit too far with their questioning, and are forced to reveal their reason for being in the Feywild. When they ask about who could possibly bridge the gap between the Seelie and Unseelie court, they’re told of one person who freely travels between the two: The Diva de Luna, a popular singer planning a concert nearby the next day, and who is popular enough that both courts are eager to host her performances. Satisfied with what they’ve learned, Ricky thanks the Pixie out of habit, unfortunately promising a favor to her in the process.
Meanwhile, Ash is tired of keeping secrets… now openly admitting to Azure and Fidget that her patron has been able to manifest himself. Also admitting that her patron is able to possess her or see through her eyes. Azure feels awkward with this conversation, opting instead to leave with the baby to the other room. Ash and Fidget continue to discuss her patron… his ability to manifest in protected homes, his ability to travel casually in the feywild without fear, even entering the courts. But also… that when Ash was briefly able to see through his eyes, he was unable to see in the dark… implying that he’s fully and properly human. All of this has Fidget feeling twitchy… he goes into Verek’s bedroom to meet with his son. Ash follows, exhausted after the sensation of being controlled by her Patron, and immediately falls asleep.
While they’re discussing this, Ricky and Crush confront Bilbo Swaggins. Ricky successfully convinces his “cousin” that he’s incredibly high, and offers to sell him this strange new breed for Blue Pixie for a mere 200 gp, double what Ricky had paid for the drugs he had purchased earlier. Crush plays along, discouraging Ricky from selling them for such a pittance, but Ricky assures him that family comes first. Ricky is incredibly convincing, and Bilbo is left thinking he’s swindled Ricky yet again as he pays 20 platinum for the baggy of virtually worthless mushrooms. However, as they’re making their way to interview more people, they realize that Kanec has gone missing… and Ricky hasn’t seen Omelette since letting him run free to stretch his legs. They return to the last place they had seen him, and talk to the Dryad they had met earlier… she seems confused, as she saw Kanec leaving with a second tall, dark figure who appeared to accompany them. Crush is about to go back to get the rest of the party to help, but Ricky reminds him that he’s got a feather of sending… unfortunately, the person he chooses to message is Ash, who lies unconscious, unaware of the notes magically appearing on her face. Crush tracks Kanec, following the path toward a large party, with Ricky immediately making sure to sing a countercharm, aware of the dangers of Fey music.
Despite Ricky’s help, the disorienting music and large crowd is enough to confuse Crush. Most worryingly, however, he sees a sign warning that this is an adults-only event, and any children will be sold. Panicked, since Crush doesn’t realize the remaining party members haven’t seen Ricky’s notes yet, he tells Ricky to send a message to Fidget, but Ricky can’t stop playing his countercharm, so Crush needs to write the message himself. Unfortunately, with the crowd jostling him his warning arrives as mostly scribbled nonsense, but it’s enough to get Fidget to investigate further, finding the notes left on Ash’s face. Luckily, he interprets the warning accurately enough to leave his son with Ash as he and Azure rush to catch up. Ash takes the initiative to send a message to Kanec, where he reveals that he’s traveling with someone who claims to be a friend of Ash’s, and Ash immediately orders him to stay where he is while the rest of the party looks for him.
The wild party is disorienting and crowded. Ricky continues to focus on playing his countercharm, but as a result he also draws a crowd of fey and other denizens. While Fidget and Azure are still catching up, Crush spots some market stalls set up… and immediately starts making his way toward the snack stall, knowing Kanec’s love of snacking. Fidget is able to smoothly move through the crowd, easily spotting Ricky on Crush’s back… especially because Ricky has started stripping as fey throw necklaces of beads at him. Azure isn’t so lucky, stumbling, getting pulled into conga lines and otherwise pushed around by the crowd. Eventually the party finds Kanec waiting obediently while munching on snacks and holding Omelette the Emu. With the wild crowd creating chaos there’s not much opportunity to speak, but as they attempt to leave the intent of the party becomes clear… a large stage carriage arrives, carrying a beautiful woman who sings gorgeously, surrounded by sparkling and swirling magic effects. There before them stands the Diva De Luna… with Crush able to see through the effects to recognize who he knows as “The Lovely Miss Elizabeth”, also known As Liz Tosscobble… Ricky’s mother. Knowing she’s a fan, Crush tries to get her attention with his trademark “OHHH YEEAH!”, but unfortunately the chaos of the party is too much for her to hear. Ricky attempts to cast invisibility on himself to sneak past the guards as she’s escorted into a nearby theater, but unfortunately he can’t get past the crowd to even attempt to get inside. The rest of the party realizes there’s virtually no chance of getting through the crowd to speak to Liz… but Ricky remembers his feather of sending. He sends a simple message, “Mom, I’m outside”, then attempts to get her attention by playing music as loud and intensely as possible, but as before, his performance is lost in the chaos.
Unable to connect to his mother, who he hasn’t seen in over a decade, Ricky turns invisible once again, quietly riding Crush’s shell as everyone returns to Verik’s house to discuss everything they’ve learned. Kanec is interrogated on who he was talking to… the physical description of a tall, pale, dapper dressed human with long dark hair and a mustache, which Ash immediately recognizes as her Patron. There’s panic in the group, unsure of what it means to have Ash’s patron expressing so much direct interest in the group. Crush reasons that, considering the power of Ash’s patron, if he had ill-intent he could have simply forced Kanec to do anything he wanted… the fact that he tried to get along with Kanec and, apparently, spent a good amount of time talking about Reavers, implies that there’s some other motivation.
The discussion is slowed, however, as everyone is also dealing with Ricky’s incredibly obvious depression. While everyone struggles to get him to open, it’s actually Ash who manages to punch through his defenses… reminding him of the way he had convinced her to open up to her family, despite Ash being in an even worse situation than Ricky had been in. Ricky finally opens up, revealing that, when his parents had divorced, his father insisted on keeping Ricky. And now, seeing her as a wildly successful and popular musician, Ricky believes that this was the life she should have had all along… a life she gave up to raise him. He’s convinced himself that he ruined that for her, and is worried that he’ll ruin it for her again if he speaks to her. Everyone rallies around… Kanec, Ash, and Fidget especially reminding him how they’d all give almost anything to have the chance to speak to their mothers again, since each of them lost their mother tragically. As Ricky is coming back, Kanec pulls him into a tight hug, which leads to a group hug with Crush and Azure… and a comforting shoulder pat from Fidget, while Ash opts to simply stroke Ricky’s hair using a nearby broom.
With the group finally calmed, Crush brings up the detail that, should Corrio fail his Trial of Truth, he will be killed. He was told that astral projection is used to hold the trial in an alternate plane, but doesn’t know what that means… fortunately, Azure’s training in the art of the Astral self makes her familiar with astral projection… albeit only in theory. Still, she’s aware that, when astral projecting, the spirit is still connected to the material plane by an invisible tether… and if that tether is severed, the physical body will die instantly. She also knows that those astral projecting cannot be reached by Sending Spells, unless the caster is also astral projecting at the time.
With the night growing late and realizing there’s nothing more they can do at this time, the party puts their faith in Corrio… both to survive his own trial, and to protect Ash from the ire of the Seelie court. Crush, as usual, simply sleeps on the floor. Most of the party instead opts to sleep in Kanec’s Genie Bag… although Ricky chooses to steal Verek’s bed for the night, expressing a mix of excitement and concern that the bed would be great for having sex in.
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I'll be DMing my party through more Horde of the Dragon Queen tonight in about an hour at 4:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Even if you're familiar with Horde of the Dragon Queen, you might still enjoy this story, as there's a good amount of homebrewing and creative choices for the party... although part of that is because the players are starting at level 5, with some details needing to scale up to compensate. Just for example, read ahead to see what our party got up to in our last HotDQ session last Friday:
As the party makes their escape on horseback, Dahlia forces Frulam to ride with her, tying the former cultist’s hands and pressing her for more information on Frulam and how she found herself in the thrall of the cult. Frulam is tight lipped, but with some pressuring (and with food and drink provided), she reveals that she was originally from Waterdeep, and was actually the daughter of a priestess of Chauntea, the Goddess of the Harvest. She became disillusioned with the church, believing it to be a lot of pretty words and symbolic gestures, but deep down all they want is money. She admits that Tiamat, at least, is honest about what she wants: power and treasure. Although she didn’t actively enjoy torturing or manipulating people, she’s still indifferent to them, not caring about others and only interested in making sure her own life is comfortable and easy. Dahlia takes pity on “Lamb”, as she takes to calling her, which only annoys Frulam further before she insists on going to sleep. She’s forced to share a bedroll with Dahlia who, despite her sympathy for Frulam, still doesn’t trust the openly violent and potentially sociopathic cultist.
Things take a turn at night when Dahlia is woken by the movement of Frulam, who is attempting ot leave her tent. When Dahlia grapples her she’s shocked to see Frulam’s eyes glowing, her body moving unnaturally in a manner reminiscent of how Langdedrosa moved after dying and having his corpse manipulated by Tiamat. A battle ensues as the party struggles with how to defeat Frulam without killing her, especially with everyone spent on spell slots and low on resources. Using the command spell to awaken Frulam unfortunately only causes her eyes to open, a panicked expression on her face as she finds herself unable to control her own body. Like Langdedrosa, she is forced to breathe dragon’s breath... erupting with a cone of fire against Loki and G’houl that harms her as much as it does them. Battling with a spiritual weapons as her arms are still bound, G’houl realizes the only chance the party has is to knock her unconscious. When she’s looking rough she unleashes Spirit Guardians, taking the form of multicolored miniature dragons that swirl and bite... knocking G’houl unconscious, but also causing the dragons to swarm her as well, nearly killing her outright. To everyone’s shock, her Spiritual Weapon remains even after she falls unconscious. Unsure what to do, Katniss prioritized stabilizing G’houl, while Loki casts Blink, entering the Ethereal Plane in the hopes of finding an answer. In the black and white, misty realm of the Ethereal Plane she sees what looks like black smoke swirling around Frulam... but more importantly, she sees a shadowy figure made of swirling shadows holding Frulam’s spiritual weapon... recognizing the figure as Langdedrosa... even his lingering spirit manipulated by Tiamat. The rest of the party is helpless to do anything as the partially incorporeal spiritual weapon morphs into a replica of Langdedrosa’s spear, floating through the air before stabbing into Frulam’s chest, killing her. In her last moments Frulam stares with tears in her eyes pleadingly to Dahlia... too injured to speak, Dahlia’s able to read her lips as she mouths her final words... “Waterdeep... Mama...” Then her eyes darting down to her own boot. Dahlia checks Frulam’s boot, finding that she had hidden there a memento from the life she had once led... a crudely carved wooden amulet of a lamb, with the symbol of Chauntea etched into one side.
As Frulam lays dead Dahlia curses Tiamat, uselessly threatening the dark Goddess. Returning to the material plane, Loki remembers a scroll of revivify she had found in Wave Echo Cave, the scroll dissolving as Loki uses it to focus the powers of Tymora into Frulam’s corpse. With a pained gasp, Frulam sits up in shock. Her body her’s to control once again. The normally cold and indifferent Frulam now openly weeping... having a panic attack as she tears off her purple robes, struggling as, despite everything that happened, her hands are still tied at the wrist. Ffter everything Frulam has been through, Dahlia cuts her free, trusting that the frightened young woman won’t turn on the party. Frulam’s lips and throat are still burnt from the fire breath she was forced to exhale, only able to communicate with Dahlia, who is able to read her lips to understand what she’s trying to say. While G’houl is laid down to rest and recover, Frulam refuses to sleep... afraid that she’ll be taken over again by Tiamat. Dahlia returns her symbol of Chauntea, and Loki does her best to bless Frulam, allowing her to hold her golden coin of Tymora. Frulam clutches both holy symbols desperately as the conscious party members take turns keeping watch with her until morning comes, and everyone makes plans to return to Greenest which, thanks to the party, has an intact temple of Chauntea they could bring Frulam to.
Approaching Greenest they’re greeted with awe and joy as the heroes of Greenest return. They plan to head straight to the Temple of Chauntea, asking an eager young guard to tell Lord Nighthill to meet them there. As they approach the temple Frulam sheepishly hides her face, worried of being recognized by the people she’s wronged. However, she sits up in silent awe as they approach the temple, staring intently at the symbol of Chauntea. They are greeted by Brother Falconmoon, the local priest, who escorts them to his private office so they can explain Frulam and why they need his help. He assures them that the temple is sacred ground and Tiamat would be unable to influence Frulam here, and despite her life of cruelty and crimes, he assures that Chauntea cares for all Lost Lambs... the specific phrase causing Frulam to start to cry again, much to Falconmoon’s confusion. The peaceful resolution hits a snag, however, when Nighthill finds them, accompanied by Leosin. At first he thinks the party has simply captured Frulam, but becomes upset when they reveal their intent to forgive her for her crimes. He reminds them that she oversaw the torture and deaths of many, including his own torture while in the Cult’s clutches. It takes some convincing, but he eventually relents, admitting that the party has proven him wrong before. Nighthill as well, despite holding no ill-will toward Frulam, agrees it would be best to keep her under guard. Frulam, for her part, gives her magic Dragon Chess set to Loki... confessing that she had murdered its original owner simply to take it for herself, and no longer wanted the reminder in her possession. In exchange, however, Loki gives Frulam a platinum ring she had recovered from Wave Echo Cave, telling her that she could have a reminder of a positive memory instead. G’houl also takes the time to cast Sending to contact Professor Raphael, who congratulates him for his success, and instructs him to seek Onthar Frume in Elturel. This aligns perfectly with Leosin’s plan to take a ferry across Chionthar river to reach Baldur’s Gate before the cult does... there’s also a contingent or refugees requiring escort toward Easting which will be leaving first thing in the morning. As the sun begins to set, Nighthill invites the party to his manor, where he has spare rooms and food to share. Nighthill is not an extravagant man... his home is largely practical, with most creature comforts actually kept in guest rooms. He provides a simple but comforting meal of pork, baked potatoes, and vegetable hash, as well as a warm bath and has a page provide clothes washing. However, as Dahlia retires once again to join Nighthill in his bedroom, Katniss and G’houl choose to return to the sanctuary, hoping to research any information they have on Tiamat and to get some idea of Tiamat’s nature and how they could possibly stand against her.
They learn that Tiamat was banished from the material plane Eons ago, in a time when Gods and Titans still walked the Earth. Her corruption for centuries held in check by her brother, Bahamut, the sibling Gods warring for dominance. In the end, a coalition of Gods banished her and other Gods of Darkness and evil, and themselves chose to leave the material plane, as their power and influence only created more chaos in the Material Plane. The Gods can now only influence the world in relatively small ways, for if the Gods were to return fully to the Material Plane they risk opening a door that cannot be easily closed, and which could bring evil with it. Tiamat is particularly dangerous, because despite being a Goddess, she is closer than almost any other god to the elements of the Material Plane... making it less challenging for her to breach the dimensions than many other Gods. If she were to return fully to the Material plane, nothing short of the Gods themselves could stop her. However, opening the door across dimensions and returning to the Material plane would plunge the world back into chaos, undoing centuries of progress as the War of the Gods would return to the Material Plane. Specifics about the Cult or how Tiamat’s powers could manifest aren’t well-documented, and when Katniss uses their knowledge of the Undead to try and decipher what happened with Langdedrosa they find little to elaborate, only pulling from their own knowledge that some Undead are granted a spark of false life to animate their corpse, while others are simply corpses manipulated by a powerful puppet master.
In the morning Dahlia and Loki enjoy a hearty breakfast with Lord Nighthill, who gifts Dahlia a bottle of his favorite fine Scotch to remember him by. Katniss and G’houl, however, receive a much more modest, but no less filling breakfast of oatmeal and sausage shared with the refugees staying in the Sanctuary. G’houl takes some time to seek out Frulam, promising to assist her the same way he did Nezznar, the Black Spider, by helping him to share his unique skills with the School of Knowledge. Frulam is intrigued by this, but is afraid to leave the sanctuary and the protection of Chauntea. She also keeps to herself, playing Dragon Chess with herself using a mundane wooden set, certain that it would only make things worse if the people she tortured knew she was there. G’houl understands her fears, but encourages her to open up to others, and maybe teach some of the other citizens to play the complicated game. She warns G’houl that others will attempt to take advantage of his kindness, and that if they extend the same sympathy they’ve given her to everyone in the cult they’ll lose sight of their goal and may fail. She also reveals one last detail... the warning the cult had received about G’houl and his party, along with the information about Bowgentle’s spellbook, had come from an informant the cult had in the Lord’s Alliance. Katniss stealthily listens in on this information, and when they and G’houl make their way to meet up with the rest of the party, Katniss wonders aloud who the informant could be... but with the size of the Lord’s Alliance there’s no way to really know who could have leaked the information.
Meeting in the center of town, a large crowd has gathered to watch as the Heroes of Greenest arrive to lead a caravan of refugees back home. They reconnect with Isaac, the young man they had met on the trail of the cult, with the same group of Kobolds where they first met Deeg. He’s taking lead of the caravan, happy to spend more time with the people who rescued him. On the way out of town they see many of the people they rescued... Travis who led the deserters out of the cultist’s camp seems to have taken on an apprenticeship with the town blacksmith. The Kobolds the party had captured on their first night venture out in the day and shout for good luck... when they hear Katniss reply in Draconic they shout out draconic blessing... “May you fly with the speed of Dragons!”. Even Samantha, the plucky halfling who rallied the prisoners, manages to run up and say her farewells... asking if she can keep the dagger Dahlia had given her, which Dahlia is happy to leave with her. At Dahlia’s insistence, Leosin is required to sit in the back of their covered wagon to rest. The travel is peaceful, with the party given plenty of time to mingle with their fans... that is, until they see an overturned cart in the distance, with Katniss and Dahlia both noticing hulking figures unsuccessfully hiding nearby, seeming to set up an ambush.
As the caravan slows to a crawl a voice screams out in orcish to attack. Emerging from behind large boulders come two trolls guided by orcs... one of the trolls, however, has 4 arms. G’houl’s knowledge of Arcana helps him to remember that Trolls have a supernatural ability to heal from injury, but as a result they’re also prone to mutations, such as the additional arms... he also remembers that this healing factor can be halted using fire. With the party fully healed and ready with spell slots, this resulted in Loki and G’houl both unleashing powerful Fireball spells, while G’houl once again grants Dahlia the power of the Dragon’s Breath spell, givign her the ability to breathe fire. Despite Dahlia’s protests, Leosin stops resting to help fight as well... although he still managed to miss more than hit, and wasn’t able to stun his target. G’houl is nearly knocked unconscious by the 4-armed troll, only saved by the Mage Armor and Shield spells granted by his Staff of Defense. Still, it’s Katniss’s sharpshooter skills that deals the final blow against each troll, while the Orcs find themselves defeated almost as an after-thought from Area of Effect spells.
With the sun setting, the party approaches the Chionthar river, finding a small trade outpost, as well as a ferry dock. Surprisingly, they find a gnome wearing a tall red hat with short white beard sitting on a giant toadstool and smoking a long pipe. He’s the dockmaster, helping the party to rent a ferry to take them to Elturel, which is able to accomodate their horses as well. The party separates from the refugees, with Dahlia giving Isaac one last hug before they continue their adventure on the safer roads, making their way to the town of Easting, while the party meets Captain Charles who pilots them down the Chionthar river to Elturel and, eventually, Baldur’s Gate.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Crits for Breakfast is streaming again tonight at 4:30 PM PST. Things are getting wild as the party gets ready to Steal the Show in the Feywild at our usual hangout, twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. To understand what I'm referencing, here's what happened the last time we played:
After a night of uneasy rest, Ricky magically creates breakfast for the party while Crush checks outside, confirming that the snipers are still in the trees, ready to attack Ash if she tries to leave Verek’s house. Everyone relaxes for a bit, checking on Fidget’s son, and in general readying for the day. As Crush goes into Kanec’s Genie Bag to continue working on the crib for Fidget’s son, Ricky hears a knock a the door… he’s greeted by guards, who inform him that the trial with Corrio is still ongoing, and all of the guests are required to stay in Verek’s home until released. There’s also concern, because they’re told Verek is returning and is extremely weak after his trial… and Corrio is being drained even further.
As they debate whether they need to sneak out to rescue Corrio, they’re visited by a female half-elf… she calls herself Grove, and speaks as an emissary for the High Druid, who is holding Corrio. She grills the party for information, seeming less interested in the specifics of their answers than she is in seeing if they’ll lie to her in the first place. The party answers honestly, although Ash’s inability to give certain information bodes poorly for the party. By the end of her interview she seems satisfied that Corrio will be released soon… but she’s also fairly certain that Ash’s fate has been sealed.
Once she leaves, the party immediately starts to make plans on how they’re going to escape with Ash unharmed. Verek subtly implies that, if they were to make themselves enemies of the Seelie court, it would help them in their plan to reach the Unseelie court. Ash is struck with an appropriately dramatic idea… “kidnapping” The Diva De Luna. She’s a popular performer for both the Seelie and Unseelie court. She can guide the party to where they need to go and, perhaps most importantly, Ricky and Crush both know that she loves drama enough to willingly play along with this plan for the sheer show of it. Corrio returns mostly unharmed, but exhausted. He lets the party know that everyone is free to leave… except for Ash, with her fate left uncertain until the next day, as the druids will be too busy tonight attending the concert. Plans are made for how to arrange the “kidnapping” and make it look like part of the show, and to escape using the power of the Genie Bag and Azure’s intense speed. The planning takes a long time, and Azure spends that time also working to complete the leather gloves and accouterments she’s been working on for Ash to wear, since they’re appropriately sinister to match the Undead’s fashion sense. With the work complete, the party makes their way out to sneak into the concert and enact their plan.
Ricky spent a number of spell slots throughout the day, so he opts to get some rest using the limited uses of his blanket of rest. Ash, Fidget, and Kanec also opt to stay in the bag so that the smallest number of people possible need to stay outside. This leaves Crush and Azure to find a way in… as a crowd is waiting to enter the concert, Crush tries to find a way in through the back disguised as workers. He spots a guard, who is distinguished by his garish sash… he also sees the Diva’s cart nearby… reasoning that there might be more sashes inside, he asks Fidget to check inside to see if he can find any. Unfortunately, he doesn’t account for magical alarms… with sounds blaring Fidget is sent running, trying to get lost in the crowd. He’s not doing great job until he ducks into a building to hide. Azure tries to get him to leave through a window into the Genie Bag, but someone else is in the house, preventing Fidget from escaping. Crush is sent to the front door, posing as a lost delivery man… unfortunately, his poor deception has the occupant accusing him of being a lazy peeping tom. Still, it’s enough distraction for Fidget to escape into the Genie Bag. Frustrated, Ash wakes up Ricky, throwing him out of the bag and telling him to take care of this problem.
Ricky and Azure sneak into Diva De Luna’s cart… but manage to trigger the alarm as well. When the cart is swarmed with guards Crush deliberately trips and falls loudly, trying to make it look like he’s running from the scene of the crime. When guards tackle him he pretends to only speak Aquan, requiring a water sprite guard to translate. He convinces them that he was simply frightened by the high-pitched sound, as he’s from the ocean and it sounded like a Siren. Then when the guards told him to stop he didn’t understand them and tried to run away. He keeps the guards busy enough for Ricky to search the carriage… unfortunately, he doesn’t manage to prevent a guard from returning to find Ricky, but luckily Ricky already has a plan… he’s found a daring costume left behind in the cart, and manages to pass himself off as an overwhelmed tailor’s apprentice sent to deliver the dress to the Diva personally… along with his Tabaxi delivery person. The guards are convinced, allowing both Rick and Azure inside… along with the Genie Bag, which Azure is still carrying.
Once inside they reveal Fidget and Kanec, claiming that they’re dancers being delivered as well… much to the surprise of everyone present, but Ricky is able to smoothly talk through the confusion. Uncertain of the new dancers, but very certain of their appropriate physique, the Diva de Luna herself comes back stage to change between songs and takes some time to evaluate the new dancers. Ricky, however, still isn’t ready to speak to his mother… opting instead to hide behind Kanec. With the help of Ricky’s Enhance Ability spell, the two are able to pass the test to prove their skill at dancing. Satisfied, the Diva returns to the stage, and everything is set in place for the “kidnapping”… everything, except for Crush, who, as far as anyone else can tell, has been captured by the guards.
Fortunately, Crush manages to threaten the guards into letting him into the show… not with violence, but with threats of suing them for injury in his wrongful arrest. As the guards are from the Diva’s personal entourage, many of whom are from the material plane, where such laws are actually enforced, they take this very seriously and offer Crush the opportunity to meet the Diva during the halftime show… as well as giving him a complimentary drink in a commemorative glass and what amounts to a t-shirt with the Diva’s face on it. Once allowed inside, the party is gathered and ready to enact their plan… capturing the Diva, then escaping to the Unseelie court, where Gilly and her husband Henri wait, under the control of the demon Jarnen and his wife, the Unseelie Archfey Gwendola.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium