Sunday night means we're going to be streaming our Homebrew Campaign of Sacrament. We'll be starting in about two minutes at 5pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. In case you missed last week's session, or if you just want a refresher, here's what happened:

With Gilly, Resa, and Henri gone, Ash takes the other Grimveils aside to make a surprising proposal… She wants to send Corrio to follow Gilly, who has been sent to the Grimveil Manor, since Corrio is the primary researcher for the Grimveils, and his intimate knowledge would be ideal to help Gilly. Corrio is given hugs from his fellow Grimveils, including Ash, who has to be careful not to harm him with her necrotic touch. Ricky actually takes him aside to ask permission first, wanting to convey his feelings for Corrio, the two former lovers sharing a mutual respect. Crush takes this time to buy some regular Javelins from the Merc who is still present, gifting half of them to Corrio, letting him know that they’re useful for those moments when an enemy is too far away to attack. Corrio feels confident as he knows the party trusts him, but he understands that he can do more for the Grimveils with Gilly than with the group he’s been traveling with. With a wave, Corrio is sent to the town of Cherry Bright, where this adventure began.

After Corrio leaves, Ash and Fidget ask to speak to Kanec in private. Knowing there’s a chance that their curses will end their lives any day now, they ask that, should anything happen to them, they want Kanec to adopt their son Kane. Kanec knows the traditions of the Reavers, and also the unique needs of a Reaver child. Kanec considers this a deeply serious honor, and fully intends to do everything he can to help them.

When Kanec steps out to rejoin the others with tears in his eyes, everyone gets only a moment to react before suddenly monstrous Lamia appear… with strange, glowing eyes, they seem to be more creatures summoned by Chao’s curse. The party fights back, although Ash attempts to use her snake idol to turn the Lamia to gold but finds that they’re not quite “snake” enough to be turned to gold. In frustration, at the next opportunity Ash instead casts Polymorph, transforming it into a giant snake. Seeing her plan, Kanec and Crush focus on grappling the snake, attempting to put it in a cool pose… and with a critical success, Crush manages to bend it in a perfect circle to create a giant golden ouroboros as Azure touches the snake with Ash’s golden statue.

Ricky realizes that Crush seems to be the target of Chao’s curse, warning that Crush’s actions might trigger more creatures to appear. Taking that as a sign, Crush opts to just go to sleep for now, and most of the others join him, although Ash doesn’t need to sleep so she volunteers to keep watch… early in the night a Fennec Fox approaches, attracted to the sea-salt the builds up on Crush’s shell thanks to his Sea Aura. She enjoys the sight of the cute creature, although even when she’s all alone she tries not to show it. Worse, however, another Gulper appears.

The Gulper targets Crush who, as usual… simply withdrew into his shell to sleep for the night. Luckily his shell provides enough protection to avoid being swallowed whole, unfortunately he’s still grappled in the creature’s serrated, stretching maw. He’s unable to wrestle his way out, but Ricky sees his partner in danger and casts Chromatic Orb at a high level, hitting the Gulper with an orb of magical ice, learning that the desert-dwelling creature is weak to cold damage. Ash, meanwhile, sees the Gulper as a financial opportunity, once again transforming it into a giant snake with Polymorph. Azure uses her astral arms to grapple the snake while a frustrated Crush takes the enchanted golden statue from Ash and uses it to smack the Gulper-turned-Snake, landing another critical hit and turning it to gold before angrily going to Kanec’s Genie bag to wash up in the bath tub… then just sleep in the water, since his connection to the sea allows him to simply breathe water.

As the sun rises, Ash decides to test the limits of the skeletal Brute she has under her control. Able to see that its wide rib cage is large enough to ride inside, and that it moves swiftly enough on the sand that it could easily pull a cart… providing the Grimveils with a potential beast of burden immune to exhaustion. Ash also suggests that Crush could modify the brute, treating the bones similar to wood… and he resolves to get some more construction supplies, heading into the city of Azha as the Festival of Love is going on. Once inside they find a woman doing a show with a tamed Fire Elemental to a cheering crowd, as well as a woman selling “love” potions (mechanically, they give a minor bonus to charisma checks). They also see that some kind of game is going on where handsome young men are collecting “kisses” on their cheeks from women with heavy lipstick.

While purchasing some general supplies, they see familiar faces… characters from the players previous campaign brought along as an Easter Egg for the players… Bianca, the character once played by the same player who now plays as Azure, a Tiefling assassin with red eyes and dark blue skin. She’s traveling with Ilm, a Drow archer who became her husband by the end of the previous game.

They make their way to the Temple of Amor, where the wedding they had helped to rescue earlier is finishing up. They spot the fortune teller they had met before who predicted 11 eggs in Crush’s future. Ricky opts to get his fortune read… the woman touches Ricky’s hand, struggling a bit to read the many potential paths of Ricky’s life. Her eyes turning black as the weight of Ricky’s destiny overwhelms her… predicting that Ricky’s choices will determine the safety, or potential destruction, of all things. She warns Ricky to make all his choices carefully, and to be wary of who he trusts. As the weight of such prophecy crashes down on her, she comes to exhaustion… offering one final piece of advice: “Don’t Let Them Fight”.

This prediction doesn’t surprise Ricky, and the party thanks her for her work, making their way to the temple of Amor as the wedding is ending. They arrive just in time for the bouquet toss… Ricky convinces Azure to join the women, and with a critical success on her Dex, Azure manages to catch… a sight that has Kanec choking on one of the sweets he was eating. Azure is also flustered as she realizes what it means… wondering what she’s actually supposed to do with the bouquet, resolving to dry it and preserve the flowers that way. Sister Dawn greets the party, giving Ricky the Holy Water he had purchased earlier, and putting a crown of flowers on Azure’s head. Crush talks to the father of the bride, asking if anyone in town has a cart they’re willing to sell, and he mentions that the town blacksmith lost his brother to a monster attack during the day of Bad Luck. He’s willing to sell the cart, although is unsurprisingly not in a good mood. Crush and Ricky both try to comfort him, but can’t quite get through to him. Either way, they purchase supplies for their journey through the desert… in particular, wood and nails, both to repair the cart, and to make Ash’s requested adjustments to her skeletal brute.

Before leaving the party goes to the town restaurant to enjoy the Love Special… a bright red curry served with fruits in a heart-shaped bowl. One last comfortable meal before facing the overbearing heat of the desert. On the way out Crush stops to talk to the daughter of the restaurateur, gifting her the Macho Man mask he carved for the Feywild masquerade party, the young girl wearing the grinning mask happily. They stop to get a pina colada from a nearby merchant before making their way out of town, and Ricky offers a song, singing of how she reminds him of a Kiss from a Rose. She’s so enamored that she gifts Ricky and his crew fresh drinks that remain perpetually cool. The party also gets the attention for the kissing ceremony… all but Fidget, as a married man, leaving the City with lipstick markson their faces.

The desert proves hot, uncomfortable and, perhaps worst of all, boring. As Night draws close, Kanec spots an oasis nearby… the party debates whether it makes more sense to travel at night and risk the night predators, or stop early and set up camp. They decide that traveling at night isn’t too much of a problem normally, but they might as well stop for the night since this is a rare chance to take advantage of a desert oasis. The party prepares for the night, with Crush swimming into the Oasis to explore it… finding the bottom of the oasis littered with bones. Before he can warn the party, living Shadows crawl out of the ground and attack.

The Shadows take the form of many different creatures… but they attack the same, draining Strength from their targets with necrotic strikes. Crush in particular gets drained of strength early in the fight, struggling more than usual. The spirits ignore Ash at first, viewing her as a fellow Undead… until she attempts to cast Blight on the shadow of a Lamia, only to realize the ethereal creatures are immune to Necrotic damage. Unfortunately, it still understands what she did to be an attack and the creatures turn on her. Fortunately, Azure’s Astral arms can deal Radiant Damage, and Kanec avoids having his strength drained and kills the last of them. Not wanting to risk more shadows attacking, they abandon the oasis and set up camp elsewhere.

After setting up camp, Ash receives a magical letter from her brother. She learns that the Warlord has chosen to keep him close, using his knowledge of Ortheia and their culture to plan for the upcoming war. His son is also beginning to attend the prestigious Reaver schools, and he has been provided with high class housing (although it’s not quite comparable to the mansion he lived in within Kirei Midori).

EDIT: Bad news... one of our players has severe allergies and it's bad enough that she can't play tonight. I'll let you know when we're able to reschedule

It turns out that, on top of one player having allergy problems last week, another player got their Covid Vaccine shot and reacted poorly enough to it that she just couldn't play all weekend, so we ended up just taking a week off from D&D, unfortunately. But Fortunately, things are back to normal this week, and we'll be streaming more Hoard of the Dragon Queen tonight at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. It's been two weeks, so even if you did see our last stream, it might be worth your time to read ahead and get a reminder of what happened in our last session:

In the morning, Dahlia makes sure to check on Werond... the teamster who had a brief fling with G’houl. Werond seems happy now after her breakup with G’houl, especially since Dahlia made sure to help Werond instead find romance with a fellow traveler, the ever-optimistic merchant, Samardag. They also meet with Jundo, who makes certain that everyone gets 10 platinum as payment for their work as guards, and also asks what they want done with the carts recovered from the cultists... the party agrees collectively that the carts should be taken to one of Jundo’s warehouses for storage and to be kept as bargaining chips for the upcoming, unlikely meeting between the disparate groups of the City Guard of Waterdeep, the Vigilante Harpers, and the organized criminal Zhentarim.

Once in Waterdeep, the party is greeted by Sergeant Dharxes, the Griffon Rider for the Waterdeep City Guard they had met on the road. She escorts them to the guard station where they can discuss their plans in Waterdeep. She informs them that Father Derek had attempted suicide by biting off his own tongue in captivity, making interrogation difficult. After Loki’s ruse he’s even proven difficult to reach through Charm magic, as he’s even turned on his own friends and allies. She also recognizes the name Iarno Albrek, better known as Glasstaff, the wizard who escaped from the Lords’ Alliance. He’s a known criminal and the city guard are already on the lookout for him, but he hasn’t been seen since his escape. Dharxes is informed about the party’s plans to meet with a Harper representative the next morning, and arrange for Dharxes to check in with them after looking into rumors about a Half-Dragon that had been seen in town, and also to see if anyone saw Azbara Jos. She also provides some flimsy disguises for both Katniss and G’houl, just in case any of the cultists might recognize them in town. Dahlia as well uses her hat of disguise to appear as a Half-orc, while Loki, as a changeling, alters her appearance casually before the group leaves, sneaking off to visit the money changer to reduce their load, where Jamna catches up with them.

Jamna leads the party to the Yawning Portal, a popular Tavern for adventurers and tourists, and also the location where they plan to meet with Olive Treskettle, the Harper representative who will seek them out the next day. However, as they approach the tavern Dahlia hears a strange sound... her own voice singing in the tavern. Looking in through a window, she realizes why... The Kenku musician siblings, Strum and Drum, are performing, with Drum mimicking a song she heard while she and her brother spent some time with Dahlia before their quest to Greenest. Drum uses her mimickry not simply to replicate the songs of others, but to combine multiple songs into medleys, or to alter their context to tell new stories. Dahlia happily greets her former traveling partners, relying on the Message Cantrip to stealthily explain to them why she suddenly appears to be a half-orc. Strum repeats a message from Gundren Rockseeker he was trusted with on the off chance that he encounters the Party in his travels, relaying that, at least at the time he left, the Rockseekers had succesfully reopened Wave Echo Cave for mining and were already turning a profit, but the Forge of Spells still hasn’t been fully repaired. Meanwhile, as the party enjoys some Leadbrand Stout, G’houl remembers that they had rescued Thetgrok Leadbrand from Wights earlier, and he had told the party to seek out his family’s brewery in Waterdeep for a reward. Before they can investigate that, however, Jamna reminds them that they need to meet with the Zhentarim to discuss their plans, and the party takes enough time to rent some rooms before heading out.

Jamna leads them to the Docks Ward, where they find a ratty fishmonger selling rotting, inedible fish. This is quickly revealed to be a front, and the party is led to the basement, which thankfully has some form of magical barrier that prevents the unpleasant smell from penetrating. Inside they meet a human man called Jarin. He reveals that he’s been posing as a Church of Tiamat member, and briefly assumes that Katniss is the half-elf monk he had been warned about, and also assumes that someone else in the party is Travis, the young man the party allied with in the Cultist Camp south of Greenest who helped arrange the escape of several rebellious cultists. It seems that the poor communication among the cultists has led them to believe that Travis was the mastermind, and also that he’s actually a Doppelganger who had killed the original Travis to impersonate him. There’s some relief in learning that they’re not suspected for what happened in the camp, but there’s still concern with the cultists who saw them during the convoy travel. Jarin is able to confirm that Father Derek is assumed to be dead, since several cultists witnessed him slitting his own throat, but none of them saw Loki then stabilize him with Spare the Dying.

Jarin also reveals that the Zhentarim are perfectly aware of exactly which warehouse the cultists are using in Waterdeep, since the Zhentarim are the ones who sold it to them in the first place. However, they’re hesitant to strike against them, in case it spooks the cultists and scatters them before they can find where the rest of their treasure has been going. He doesn’t know where the treasure is sent after leaving Waterdeep, since the cult is much more careful about who is trusted with the next step of the journey... only cultists who have acquire the rank of Dragonwing are trusted to the next location. Luckily, the party successfully tricked Father Derek into revealing that the next step is Carnath Roadhouse, which Jarin recognizes as a location near the Mere of Dead Men where construction equipment is being sent. The party also explains to him the plans to leave any unmarked treasure to the Zhentarim, but need to persuade Jarin to agree to a meeting with not only the Harpers, but members of the City Guard as well. Jarin insists on taking on this meeting himself, asserting that Jamna is too “soft” to handle the responsibility, but the party, despite Jamna’s obvious criminal intent, know that she cares about the lives of innocents and argue that she should represent the Zhentarim instead. It takes more persuading, but Jarin eventually agrees, and while Jamna doesn’t seem particularly excited, she understands why the party wants her instead of Jarin, who seems much colder and less concerned with collateral damage.

With the meeting complete, Dahlia and Katniss’s high perception is enough to notice Jamna occasionally sending other subtle hand signals to other Zhentarim mixed in with the crowds of Waterdeep while she leads them toward Leadbrand Brewery. Inside they find a building made to Dwarven proportions, and once they share their names the teller inside quickly brings out Ikla Leadbrand, older brother of Thetgrok and a former adventurer in his own right. He thanks the party profusely for rescuing his brother’s life, along with Thetgrok’s wife and their Brewmaster. As thanks he gifts them a magical Sentinel Shield that he once carried when he was a traveling adventurer himself. The party is uncertain who should carry it... only Loki and Katniss are trained in the use of shields, but Loki relies on her shield as a spellcasting focus, and Katniss requires both hands free to use their bow. Still, the magical benefits of the shield still apply even if the shield isn’t actively carried in the hands, so for now Dahlia is allowed to carry the shield, which contributes to her disguise as a half-orc woman. Ikla also gifts the party a jug of Leadbrand Beer, and lets them know they can come back to the Brewery for more any time they want.

After making their way out with their bounty, Jamna reveals herself again, asking the party where else they need to go. The party doesn’t have any specific tasks to complete until the meeting with Treskettle the next morning, but they do want to visit the Lords’ Alliance to check on their old friend Sildar Hallwinter, and to see if they can learn more about how Iarno Albrek escaped. Making their way to the Lords’ Alliance training ground, they meet with a semi-retired Tiefling Alliance member named Skilled. The old Rogue recognizes their names, agreeing to speak to them in private. He says that they still haven’t learned who leaked information to the Cultists or how Albrek escaped, so even within their organization information is kept close to the chest to prevent it from potentially leaking. Sildar himself would know more than he does, but unfortunately Sildar is busy that night attending a banquet in honor of the Lords’ Alliance. He explains that a member of the high-elven Talraidal family was recently arrested by the Lords’ Alliance attempting to take over a mining town with hired thugs, and the other members of the Talraidal are making a large show of supporting the Lords’ Alliance to distance themselves from their criminal family member. The Talraidals had sent a large number of invitations to the Lords’ Alliance, but Sildar was the only member willing to put up with a snooty, upperclass banquet. He’s able to give some of the invitations to the party, although they’re required to provide a name for their group, since they’re not members of the Lords’ Alliance, and they don’t want to advertise their relationship to the Harpers. He suggests simply the Heroes of Phandalin, but Katniss objects to declaring themselves “heroes”, instead preferring “Protectors of Phandalin”.

Once they have their invitations, Dahlia realizes that her Hat of Disguise allows her to simply create a formal gown from nothing, but the rest of the party needs to get some fine clothes. They ask Jamna for advice, and she directs them to Ashglade Fine Clothier, owned by an expert tailor who frequently works with the Zhentarim. They first see his delicate, intricate work on a massive wedding dress displayed in his front window... but to their surprise William Ashglade is a brutish looking bald man with a crude voice and short temper. Still, his work speaks for itself, and Jamna volunteers Zhentarim credit to pay for their clothing. Ashglade helps to find the party high class clothing, and helps to quickly tailor the clothing to fit their bodies. Loki seeks out a white and gold dress with blue accents to match the blue eyes she chooses to give herself for the party. Because of her ability to shift her form Ashglade doesn’t need to make any alterations to the premade dress, but she requests a unique addition... She wants a Crinoline hoop addedt to the back of hte dress that she can hide her shield in, since she’s aware that the Talraidals won’t allow them to bring weapons or spellcasting focuses into their party, and she doesn’t want to be left defenseless. G’houl, meanwhile, finds an elegant gentleman’s black suit with long coat, and intricately woven gold accents. Katniss opts for a sharp looking rider’s Shadbelly coat and matching rider pants paired with tall leather boots. Even Dusk is given a collar with a bow tie and a tiny silk tophat... accessories that Ashglade seems to carry begrudgingly, embarrassed at providing something so tacky (although Dusk clearly enjoys the opportunity to dress up) .Dahlia, however, uses the clothing available as inspiration to craft her own illusory dress... opting for a wispy gown with accents of stitched dahlia flowers. Her only concern is how best to style her hair, and Ashglade shows his true colors as a man with a delicate touch and appreciation for elegant beauty... even if he does speak in a gruff growl and spits when speaking excitedly while he encourages Dahlia to embrace her natural beauty and wear her hair down.

We're back to our homebrew campaign of Sacrament. We'll be starting soon at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. In case you need a reminder, since we weren't able to stream last week, here's what happend:

As the Grimveils set up camp for the night, Crush collaborates with Ash on her plan to modify her skeletal Brute to put a small carriage inside its mouth that could, in an emergency, transport and protect baby Kane. It’s an unusual project, but something Crush can manage with the supplies he’s purchased in town. Once Crush begins working, Ash asks to borrow Kanec’s Genie Bag… planning to contact her patron, the King of Liches, Larlock, since she’s expected to deliver souls to him soon. To her shock, however, before she can contact him herself, she finds him waiting for her in her tent. Ash had managed to steal the corrupt souls of several Depraved Gloom assassins… but Larlock senses something different about Ash. He also tells her not to concern herself with his alliance with the Depraved Gloom, and also reminds her that she’ll need to properly consume souls herself soon, rather than simply store them in her body to deliver to him… a change that will occur at their marriage ceremony, planning to transform her into an ascended Lich like himself. He’s interested in the “soul” Ash gathered from one of the monsters created by Chao’s magic and sent to attack the party. Ash also reveals one of the jeweled pins she stole from Xephyr, explaining that she spared his life because he “belongs” to Larlock, but that she needed to punish him for harming her friend. Larlock finds this funny enough to laugh, although the laughter only manages to put the rest of the Grimveils on edge.

When Larlock leaves, Ash steps out to find her allies ready for combat, although Ricky, with his relatively low perception, didn’t react as quickly as the others, instead focusing on completing the wedding portrait he had been painting for Ash and Fidget. Crush also finishes modifying the Skeletal Brute, and he takes first watch with Ricky as well as Ash, who, aside from not requiring sleep, is still shaken after meeting with her Patron. The three of them spend some time on watch, but they hear unusual, wolf-like creatures nearby. They’re approached by a brown, mangy wolf-like creature. Ricky tries to use his amulet of Speak with Animals to communicate, but the creature doesn’t respond. Ever sympathetic to hungry creatures, Ricky tries to offer it jerky… only to realize it was just a distraction, allowing a group of other creatures to attack, the first creature finally “speaking” to Ricky, declaring that the party are the intended food for the night. Luckily, the three of them are able to fight them off… despite a critical failure causing Crush to throw his weapon out of the camp. Azure is woken by the commotion, coming out and defeating more of the creatures… but ultimately the last creature is Polymorphed into a snake, once again using Ash’s magical statue to transform it into a snake.

Kanec awakes to find the party cleaning up… he identifies the wolf-like creatures as “Coyotes”, a species completely unknown in the main party’s home continent. He warns that they’re clever pack hunters… but also states that there’s a risk of Dire Wolves in the desert as well. Crush and Ricky work together to harvest meat from the coyotes, which Ricky takes into Kanec’s Genie bag to turn into Jerky. Azure and Kanec spend time together… observing a tarantula approach the fire, with Kanec explaining that they’re harmless. With the fire burning out, Kanec and Azure sit close together, nuzzling as they enjoy the starlight and keep an ear out for danger. The night passes peacefully after that, and the two of them wake Ash and Fidget for the last watch.

As Ash and Fidget keep watch, Ash asks Fidget to avoid joining in on fights during their travels in the desert. She’s concerned that he’ll become injured and trigger the Bloodrage from his Reaver curse… knowing that, as a Made Reaver, each Bloodrage has a chance to be permanent, driving him mad and, ultimately, killing him… and more importantly, leaving Kane without a father. Fidget isn’t happy, but Ash manages to persuade him… with Fidget agreeing to avoid combat as best he can. As morning comes Ash’s alarm spell sounds… as the Grimveils wake, ready for battle, they find a male Lamia nearby observing them. With Ricky sharing some of his coyote jerky, they’re able to convince him they mean no harm and didn’t mean to enter his territory. He warns that it’ Laying season for his people… and many won’t be as open to conversation as he is, especially any defensive females looking for either a mate or to protect their eggs. The Lamia introduces himself as Lamuei, and agrees to, at the very least, guide the party out of his territory. When he asks about Ash’s Skeletal Brute, the party explains some details of the Depraved Gloom, showing him the symbol of the Depraved Gloom. Lamuei doesn’t recognize the symbol, but warns against a different symbol… something resembling an hour glass with circles on either end. Kanec recognizes the symbol immediately… it’s a well-known group of slavers, which operate legally in some of the lands of Tiavet not controlled by the Reavers. Kanec makes it clear that Reavers do not tolerate slavery in any form, and instructs his fellow Grimveils to not hesitate to kill any slavers on sight.

Lamuei leads the party North through his territory, passing by the barely visible door of his home… the party only seeing it when he points it out.

When the reach the end of Lamuei’s territory they’re left on their own, continuing through the harsh environment of the desert. They ride for several hours, baking in the hot desert sun. But as the bright sun makes it difficult to monitor the land around them, it’s baby Kane who seems to feel something is awry… as the baby cries, Azure is able to see the baby isn’t simply uncomfortable, but frightened. As the party goes on alert, they see Reaver Marauders erupt out of the sand dunes, ambushing the party and demanding their money. Crush attempts to intimidate them into leaving the party alone, although when it fails he’s simply excited for the challenge. Ricky takes advantage of the distraction to cast Mass Suggestion, successfully charming two of the bandits into stripping off their armor “for the heat”. Seeing their allies succumbing to the magic, the other Reavers attack… The first attack used to shove Ash’s Skeletal Brute to the ground… the skeletal brute that’s tethered to their cart, knocking it sideways and sending the party tumbling outward. Battle ensues… Ricky focuses on debilitating with spells, while Crush, Kanec, and Azure focus on beatdown attacks. Fidget begrudgingly hides in the overturned cart, avoiding combat according to Ash’s wishes. The Reavers are powerful foes… they wear heavy armor, and have the naturally high strength and constitution of the Reaver people, and of course, they risk triggering the Reavers’ powerful Blood Rage. Ash is the first to kill one of the Reavers, hitting him with Blight… taking advantage to absorb the corrupt soul. Unfortunately, that Reaver was the brother of one of the ones who had been charmed… and when he comes out of his charm he immediately blood rages at the sight of his brother’s corpse… which makes him extremely deadly, considering he hasn’t been harmed yet. The party is forced to team up just to subdue him, and ultimately he’s finally defeated with yet another use of Polymorph to transform him into a snake to be turned to gold using Ash’s enchanted statue.

With the Reavers defeated, Ash begins searching the body… getting just a moment to notice that one of the Reavers had a Genie Bag that was damaged in the fight, needing to throw it away before it ruptures completely and all of its contents spill out. Stolen treasures and alcohol are found inside… but most worryingly they find a small chest that seems to have ominous whispers coming from within. Opening it up they find some dark, intimidating gauntlets… more voices whispering, beckoning others to put them on. Ricky steps forward to cast Identify on the gauntlets… hearing a woman’s voice urging him to put on the gauntlets. Ricky identifies them as not simply cursed, but fully sentient as well. The spell Imprisonment is cast on the Gauntlets, trapping a soul inside… and the gauntlets themselves contain the same curse as the Reaver’s… anyone who wears them will immediately experience a full blood rage. When worn, the Gauntlets transform into a full suit of Reaver armor. Kanec recognizes them as an ancient form of Reaver armor… and notices that the voice from the Gauntlets is a woman. Reaver women are incredibly uncommon, but they’re stronger, faster, and more ruthless than Reaver men. He recalls a story of two Reaver Women… sisters, a one in a million chance for the Reaver people. One sister was chosen by Sovereign to become the first Female Warlord of the Reavers…. And in jealousy, the other sister killed the Warlord, and for her crimes she was killed, and her soul placed in a suit of armor… and this seems to be that very armor. He thought that this armor was locked away somewhere in the Reaver college… but it seems it was stolen at some point, and found its way into the hands of a group of bandits.

EDIT: We were originally planning to start at 5pm PST, but it has been changed to 6pm PST because of technical issues with Roll20

We'll be playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen tonight at 6pm PST at our home at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Last week the adventurers went to a fancy Banquet, where things didn't quite go as expected. Read on if you missed last week's session, or if you just need a refresher to see what happened:

With fine clothes purchased, the Protectors of Phandalin are ready to visit the home of Ailoth Talraidal, the Elven Noble hosting a banquet to honor the Lord’s Alliance. At the group’s behest, Jamna leads them toward a cart salesman so they can rent a fine cart to arrive at the banquet in style. She leads them to Crazy Eddie’s Discount Carriages, a less-than-reputable cart salesman that Loki recognizes, as her business partner, Verther, mentioned that he was planning to rent an office near the cart seller, and Dahlia is even able to see him through the windows of an office across the street, although he doesn’t notice the party. Crazy Eddie has plenty of carts that don’t seem to be in particularly good shape, but he does have an elaborate, pumpkin-shaped, fairy tale carriage that he’s willing to rent to the party for at least a day, with Jamna taking on the role of driver, since she’s not plannign to attend the party.

Jamna leads the party into the Castle District of Waterdeep and toward the tall, elaborate Elven Mansion of the Talraidal family. Katniss is visibly uncomfortable, as they’re well aware of how wealthy High Elves often look down upon Half Elves. Passing through the entry through the outer walls, they find a coat check, with the party forced to turn over weapons and spellcasting focuses, although Dahlia is able to use her hat of disguise to sneak in all of her equipment, and Loki thought ahead to have a Crinoline added to her dress which could hide her shield. Loki has also disguised herself as an elven woman, with Katniss presenting as her servant, helping to keep suspicion off of Loki. Making their way in, they find a lovely courtyard with small creeks winding through, elaborately carved bridges passing over them, and they notice that Centaurs and Firbolgs are among the guards. Katniss recognizes tall trees with colorful blue and pink leaves as Pixie Wood, a rare tree that isn’t native to this area. Looking more closely the group is able to realize that the trees are held up with stakes in the ground and wire supports... Katniss in particular recognizing that the delicate trees can’t grow comfortably in this environment, and are being forced and put on display, despite the strain on the health of the trees. Dahlia also realizes that the Centaurs are strategically placed in dramatic positions in the courtyard... treated more like decorations than guards. She attempts to speak earnestly to one of the guards, but he sadly admits that he doesn’t want to endanger his occupation by speaking ill of his employer.

They make their way into a large ballroom, passing through a short hallway where they are greeted by a human butler. He demands their invitations, introducing them to the gathered nobles as the “Protectors of Phandalin”. Polite applause greets them, although it’s not difficult to see that they’re the only Tieflings, Half-Orcs, or Half-Elves in attendance... and whether or not any other changelings are present can’t be easily discerned. Sildar recognizes them immediately... he wears a military uniform, complete with a sash decorated with decades worth of medals, and an empty scabbard at his side. What stands out most to the party, however, is the leg brace he now wears on his left leg, which they remember was injured terribly when he was being tortured by goblins. They also see him speaking with a Dwarven Man in a suit and tophat, Gamal Steelback. Sildar is able to guess that the Elven woman they’re traveling with is Loki, but is careful not to reveal her true identity as a Changeling against her will. Steelback is eager to talk to them, hoping they can facilitate a meeting between him and the Rockseeker brothers, who are still reopening the lost mines in Wave Echo Cave... but when he makes clear his intent to use the Forge of Spells to create weaponry they realize why Sildar wasn’t willing to help him in his endeavor. They are able to convince Steelback to give them some privacy so they can discuss the details they had come to speak to Sildar about.

Sildar leads the party to a private balcony overlooking the banquet where he can sit on a comfortable chair and answer their questions. He reveals that Iarno Albrek, better known as Glasstaff, disappeared the next day after the Lord’s Alliance got confirmation from Lord Nighthill in Greenest of Bowgentle’s Spellbook. Albrek’s jailer had been but to sleep magically, and Albrek’s cell was still locked with the only key left in the jailer’s pocket. While the cell had no anti-magic features, Albrek was forced to wear cursed bracers that prevented him from recovering his spells while resting. He also confirms that Albrek’s Familiar was sent back to its home dimension, and Albrek never had access to the time and resources necessary to resummon his familiar. The party remembers that Albrek could cast Misty Step, which would allow him to escape if, somehow, he was able to recover his magic. Sildar assigned “The Jerrys” to hunt down Sildar, which the party remembers as a pair of human warriors named Jerald and Jerome that traveled with Sildar in Phandalin. He communicates with them using a Stone of Sending, but he doesn’t have it with him. The last he’d heard they had tracked him to the nearby town of Secomber before losing track of him when he started traveling North. Sildar also mentions that the Lord’s Alliance was trying to see if anyone from Albrek’s past had ties to his escape, in particular he mentions that Albrek originally studied magic in the country of Thay. Dahlia asks about Azbara Jos, the Thayan Red Wizard working with the Cult of Tiamat, although the name isn’t familiar to Sildar. However, when they mention the name Rath Modar the name does strike a chord with Sildar, but he can’t remember specifics off the top of his head and admits he’ll need to look through paperwork with the Lords’ Alliance to know for certain.

With that information shared, they find it’s time to have dinner and prepare for Sildar to receive the gift from Ailoth Talraidal for the Lords’ Alliance. The party takes a seat, joined by Steelback while Talraidal delivers a speech extolling the virtues of the Lords’ Alliance. She also reveals a Double Bladed Scimitar, a traditional elven weapon, the fine weapon decorated with garish, and wholly unnecessary jewels. As a Gnome servant distributes glasses of sparkling wine to guests, the party takes some time to scan the crowd for suspcious activity. Dahlia notes that the Gnome servant walks with an odd, waddling gait, and doesn’t speak to anyone. When Dahlia mentions it to the rest of the group, they all look closely at the unusual server, but only Loki is able to pick out the imperfections to realize that it is actually an illusion, and once she realizes it’s an illusion she begins to see through it, realizing that the Gnome is actually a Grung... a small, frog-like humanoid. When she mentions it to the group, Steelback insists that she must be mistaken and encourages everyone to simply drink the wine. Katniss, however, smells the wine, detecting the tiniest hint of a nutty scent, able to remember a rare herb used even by Elves, who do not require sleep, to induce unconsciousness known as Morpheus Root. Steelback insists that they shouldn’t make a scene and just drink the wine, but instead Katniss throws their glass at Sildar to get his attention, trying to stop him from taking a drink as well. Unfortunately, they’re not able to stop Sildar or anyone else from drinking the drugged wine, and Steelback quickly chugs his entire glass when they start to question him about his insistence. As Katniss’s glass shatters across the stage, the crowd gasps in shock before being overwhelmed by the drugs. A few of the dwarves in attendance are able to fight back against the drugs, and fortunately, so does Sildar, but even the Elves fall unconscious... rather than collapsing in sleep their bodies simply go slack, jaws dropping, eyes staring glassily as the Butler that had greeted them at the door steps forward to drop the illusion disguising her true form.

Before the party is revealed the mercenary group known as the Five Deadly Venoms. Lizard, the Lizardfolk monk, had been disguised as a human guard. Centipede, the Thri-kreen Fighter had been posing as a similarly tall Firbolg guard. Scorpion is a Tlincalli warrior, his massive scorpion-like form hidden in the shape of a Centaur guard. Loki had already discerned Frog, a Grung Ranger disguised as a Gnome servant... and their leader, Snake, a Yuan-Ti Bard who had been hidden as Talraidal’s personal servant. Snake attempts to take Talraidal hostage, clearly perturbed to see the Party not fall for her ruse. As battle ensues Katniss quickly grabs knives off the table, throwing them expertly at Lizard before rushing onto the stage, trusting Sildar to keep Talraidal safe. G’houl, without his spellcasting focus, is forced to improvise... using items around him as material for his spellcasting. He quickly grabs the stem of a wineglass, using it as glass rod to focus the spell Lightning Bolt, viciously harming Frog and Snake immediately... and when Frog attempts to silence the group to prevent their spellcasting, G’houl quickly counterspells the attack. As Sildar drags Talraidal away to escort her to safety, Snake attacks Loki... she wields an elaborate rapier that glistens strangely as she insults Loki and, somehow, manages to both attack her and cast the spell Vicious Mockery in one motion.

With her actions drawing the most attention, Snake is the first of the Deadly Venoms to be defeated as Katniss grabs the decorative Double Bladed Scimitar finding that, despite its garish appearance, it’s still a deadly weapon. Dahlia alone focuses on Scorpion, engaging one-on-one with the giant man-scorpion who quickly grabs her with his spiked chain, but she continues to mock and tease him. Centipede reveals his telekinetic powers... using them to create blurry after-images of himself to slow his attackers, and telekinetically shove Katniss after poisoning her with his bite. Centipede then focuses with Lizard on trying to take down the healer, Loki, but Lizard is the next to fall as G’houl blasts the cold-blooded killer with Frost Fingers. Loki and Katniss stay together to take out Lizard and Frog while G’houl rushes to help Katniss, who is being pulled into another room by Scorpion, hoping to keep her allies from interfering as he attacks with his sword and stinger. Katniss fights through the poison to attack Centipede, wearing him down until Loki manages to finish off both Centipede and Frog using Magic Missile. Dahlia is nearly knocked unconscious as G’houl uses Misty Step to teleport next to Scorpion and goad the killer into focusing on him, giving Dahlia enough time to stab Scorpion in the throat, felling the last of the 5 Deadly Venoms as the victims are starting to be roused from their sleep.

Guards are called in, as the corpses of the replaced guards and workers are found hidden in the kitchen. The Protectors of Phandalin also take note of how strange it was that Steelback was putting so much effort into getting everyone to ignore the Grung and just drink the toast to Sildar... and how he himself quickly gulped down the concoction when they first started questioning him. Lady Talraidal herself steps in and insists there’s nothing more to learn and that Steelback should be left to the authorities... unfortunately for her, Sildar himself is a member of the authorities, and with the party’s insistence, he arranges some privacy where they can all learn the truth. Steelback again denies any involvement, but when Katniss asks why he was so insistent, Steelback foolishly implies Katniss can’t be trusted simply by virtue of being a half-elf. Katniss simply steps away, but their allies don’t hold back, and quickly intimidate Steelback into revealing the truth. He admits to having hired the 5 Deadly Venoms... not knowing that they had a grudge against Sildar, who had killed one of their members called “Octopus” some years back. However, before they can ask further questions, Talraidal again tries to get them to stop the questioning, but through Dahlia’s insistence Steelback also reveals that Lady Talraidal herself regularly hired to the 5 Deadly Venoms, and after her brother’s arrest she cut off all contact with them... despite still owing them payment for a job. Steelback had planned to use the Deadily Venoms to abduct Talraidal and force her to open her vault for them, using the payoff to pay back the Venoms and then escape on his own. However, Steelback fully intended to do so without anyone getting killed, using the technically harmless Morpheus Root. Talraidal insists this is absurd, but she’s not convincing enough, and Sildar arrests both Talraidal and Steelback. Appropriately enough, when he asks for a guard to bring him manacles for the two, the Centaur guard who had been treated like nothing more than a decoration was happy to oblige.

As the City Watch arrives to the scene, Sildar promises the party he’ll take care of explaining everything so they won’t be stuck there all night. Dahlia takes Snake’s rapier, finding it to have a wavy damascus pattern and a gold-plated basket that includes theater mask patterns. Katniss also asks to keep the Double Bladed Scimitar that was going to be gifted to the Lords’ Alliance... Sildar isn’t too attached to it, so it takes little persuading. Outside, Jamna appears to be wearing a more appropriate driver’s suit as she waits in the carriage, expertly playing the part of a driver while the City Watch are present. She’s a bit jealous on missing the show once she hears about it, but sticks to the plan to take them to the magic shop nearby, The Moon’s Reflection. Before going inside, however, Katniss asks to speak alone to Loki. Katniss wants to explain that the reason they stepped aside when Steelback insulted them for being Half-Elf, it wasn’t out of shame or embarrassment... it was to keep themself from stabbing Steelback in anger. They thank Loki for standing up for them, and the two share “I Love You”s before kissing and returning to the group.

The Moon’s Reflection itself is a modern, elegant shop set at the base of a tall wizard’s tower. G’houl takes a moment to briefly explain that Wizard’s towers are intended to put any magics a wizard is experimenting on out of range of accidentally affecting nearby citizens. The doors open on their own as the party approaches, smoke spilling from the doorway as mystical lights twinkle and glow. They are greeted by a tall Yuan-Ti Pureblood man with greying hair and a mystcal robe. He theatrically greets them, introducing himself as Benedict Fenwick... until he recognizes Jamna, then immediately drops the act, allowing the illusory smoke and lights to disappear, before insisting he’s paid up to the Zhentarim for the month. Although when Dahlia says she was enjoying the theatricality of it all he lets the lights shift colors again and put on more of a show, especially once he learns the party is here to purchase. Fenwick prfers “Bespoke” enchantments, but unfortunately the party won’t be in town long enough for even the most basic enchantment on an item. Fortunately, Fenwick has several items on display in an Art Gallery fashion that he’s willing to part with. He shows off several items, such as a Cloak of Many Fashions or a Dread Helm, but the first item to really catch anyone’s attention is a Horn of Silent Alarm. He explains that, when blown, the sound can only be heard by one person designated by the blower... seeing the tactical advantage this might have, Dahlia and Katniss pitch in together to purchase it. The next item to really catch anyone’s attention are Slippers of Spider Climbing... Loki is instantly interested, and reveals that she carries over 2000 GP (or, more accurately, 200 Platinum), but it’s still not enough. Katniss puts in the rest of their money as well, and the two purchase the rare and valuable slippers... and Dahlia notices that Fenwick repeats a magical password in Infernal when removing the slippers. And while everyone seems happy with their purchases, Jamna implies that there might be more objects Fenwick just might have for purchase.

Join us tonight at 5:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty for more of our homebrew campaign, Sacrament! The Grimveils are traveling through the deadly Desert of Lost Bones... read on to see what happened in last week's session:

As the party continues traveling through the desert, Ash asks Kanec for more information about the Cursed Gauntlets that they had found in possession of the bandits who had attacked the previous day. He believes it may have something to do with a woman known as the Scorpion Queen. At least 5000 years ago, a previous Reaver Warlord was traveling through the desert when he came across a group of heavily armed human travelers. Conflict arose immediately, and the Warlord battled the leader of this other group… but after battle the tussle actually brought them closer together, and the Warlord quickly became friends with the human traveler, who was the King of a nearby Kingdom. Traveling with the Prince was a beautiful woman, although the King warned the Warlord not to speak to her, as she was his sister… and even those who traveled with her seemed uncomfortable in her presence… which had something to do with a large scorpion tattoo on her back. The tattoo marks her as the royal poison taster, and the women in the royal line are considered cursed, and their very bodies become toxic. The King seemed unaware that Reavers were immune to poison, as this was in the early days of the land of Tiavet, before Reavers spread across all the land. The two Kingdoms became close, and slowly, secretly, the Warlord seduced the Poisoned Princess… requesting her hand in marriage. By then the King had learned of the Reavers’ immunity, but still he forbade the marriage, and he did not allow his sister to visit the Reavers. Still, one day the Warlord managed to arrange a visit from the Princess, and offered her any item she wished from the treasury of the Reaver Leader. She requested the cursed gauntlets, but although the Warlord refused, he still allowed her to take a different pair of gauntlets. After she left, the Warlord didn’t hear from her or her brother again… until a female servant was sent to the Warlord with a message, informing him that the Men of her Brother’s Kingdom had been killed, allying with Chao, and using her powers to steal the Cursed Gauntlets… using the Cursed Gauntlets to have her brothers kill each other. She gave herself and the women of her Kingdom to Chao, submitting to the desert sands, and becoming the Scorpion Queen, her people becoming women who are poisonous to the touch. Chao granting eternal life to the poisonous Queen.

With the story told the group continues to travel in the desert, until suddenly the Skeletal Brute pulling their cart trips, knocking the cart forward… falling into a trap set by tough desert Kobolds. The angry scavengers attack… Ricky in particular seems to catch their attention, as they seem to think he’s simply a baby Dwarf… speaking to each other in Draconic, with Azure able to understand their excitement, since Baby Meat is particularly tender and delicious. She translates for the party, and no quarter is given for the hungry creatures. However, the experience seems to rattle Fidget… the thought of his son being eaten making him jumpy, especially as his Reaver Curse is being pushed to its limits.

Continuing further, more hours pass in the stifling heat before coming across a group of nomadic hunters. The hunters are suspicious of the group, especially because their cart is pulled by a massive animated skeleton. Still, this is the Desert of Bones, after all, and isn’t too distracting for the people who call the desert home. They’re able to trade some of the wine they had recovered from the Reaver Bandits for steak from their hunt… a giant, winged serpent. They warn that Gnolls might be in the area, but also clarify that there’s nothing out of the ordinary to this… the desert is dangerous at all times.

With food traded, a few more hours are spent of travel, and as the sun sets they search for a safe location to set up camp. Once camp is set, Crush spends some time making repairs to the cart, while Ricky uses the snake to make kebabs. Thaco the goat and Omelette the emu are let out of Kanec’s Genie bag… the animals clearly overheated after spending all day in the Genie Bag, which overheats quickly in the Desert air. Crush begins working on a quick-release mechanism so they can disconnect from the Skeletal Brute in an emergency, as they’ve found the cart itself getting damaged or thrown about when the Brute is attacked. Azure also begins to work on leather strips that can be soaked in Kanec and Fidget’s blood… which would help protect the rest of the party from the Reavers’ blood rages, as even a Blood Raged Reaver will spare those with whom they share blood, and strips soaked in blood are enough to fool a Reavers senses.

As the other members of the party are busy working, Ash takes Kanec aside to speak to him about the Cursed Gauntlets… the gauntlets will trigger blood rage in non-Reavers, cursing them in much the same way Fidget was cursed when he got Reaver blood in his wounds. However, Kanec knows that he would be immune to the effect… but doesn’t know if a Made Reaver like Fidget would be similarly immune. He also admits that, even within the Genie Bag, the soul trapped within the Gauntlets has been speaking to Kanec and Fidget in their minds. Ash wants to speak to the spirit directly… hoping that it can manipulate the curse in Fidget’s blood to keep him from losing his mind to the Blood Rage. Kanec is hesitant, but Ash is able to convince him. Kane is left with Ricky… although Kane’s instincts as a Reaver make him uncomfortable next to the pendant of the Nightmother he wears… and is, in fact, unable to remove. Ricky stays to help change Kane’s diaper, but soon leaves the baby with Azure to find some privacy and commune with the necklace… realizing that it produces a song that can be heard by Reavers if they get close enough to it. He’s confident that it won’t be heard just as he passes through a crowd, but if he comes in particularly close contact to a Reaver they might hear it.

Ash, Kanec, and Fidget enter the Genie Bag to speak to the spirit in the gauntlets. Ash learns that the spirit calls herself Azmira, since she has introduced herself to Fidget and Kanec in an attempt to persuade them to wear her gauntlets. Fidget understands Ash’s plan, but he’s worried what this will mean for the rest of the party if they make this decision alone. Ash steps out to speak to them about it… and although they’re hesitant to accept the concept, they have to admit that it’s worth at least looking into. Ricky decides to go with them inside to assist as they negotiate with Azmira to see if she can help protect Fidget from himself… although at first Crush and Azure are struggling to calm baby Kane, who is having a classic Goblin baby tantrum.

Inside the Genie Bag, Ricky taps into his Dragon Mark to cast Aura of Purity, which will help protect his friends from mental attacks from the cursed armor. They make their way to the gauntlets, the spirit of Azmira speaking in common so that all present will understand her. Azmira seems to instinctively distrust Ricky… the Reaver Curse making her uncomfortable with his connection to the Nightmother. Ash leads the negotiation… Azmira promising she can make Fidget more powerful than he could ever be on his own. However, her desire is to feel the warmth of blood spilled in combat. When Ash asks about retaining Fidget’s sanity, Azmira considers that an unimportant detail… but with Ricky’s help, Ash threatens Azmira that, if she should drive Fidget to madness, she’ll be abandoned… and she’ll never taste battle again. Azmira admits that she doesn’t know for certain whether or not she can stabilize his blood… but she believes it’s possible. Ricky, however… believes that Fidget can do it. Encouraging him to take the risk, assuring Fidget that he won’t let him hurt anyone else, and granting him Inspiration. With the assurance of both Ricky and Ash, Fidget puts on the gauntlets… the metal of the armor crawling over his body like a living organism. Growing into black, spiked armor… an even more vicious, and dangerous version of traditional Reaver armor like Kanec wears. When Ash touches the armor she finds that it’s actually warm to the touch, like a living thing. Fidget sits up in shock… stunned and confused… but he realizes that the lingering rage that’s been building in his mind is lessened… feeling more like himself than he has in weeks. Unlike traditional Reaver armor, there is no ring in the back to secure a child… Azmira agrees to not harm Fidget’s son, although she’s eager to see how Fidget reacts when his child is threatened… remembering her own youth when she was alive, traveling on her father’s back and witnessing first-hand how he brutally protected her and her sister.

Once back outside, Fidget immediately looks for his son… who Crush has been holding still and just waiting out his tantrum. Crush is hesitant to give Kane back to his father when he sees the armor… not sure if it can be trusted. But the armor promises not to harm Kane, and Crush begrudgingly hands over the child… examining Fidget and finding that he seems healthier than he was before. Fidget learns that the armor can adjust itself, making a safe space to carry Kane… the armor can even shift back into just the gauntlets, letting Fidget remove the armor he was wearing before. Ricky mentions casually that he’s planning to stay up and work to try and connect with the Night Mother and learn what he needs to do… much to the rage of Azmira, who still harbors the Reavers’ instinctive urge to attack any of the Nightmother’s followers. The party is able to calm the restless spirit, and Ricky remains calm… wanting to be open with Azmira, treating her like an ally instead of just a piece of equipment. However, as they’re arguing, Azure notices that a lone traveler had been approaching their camp, and is standing in stunned silence at the odd group he sees before him. Ricky is able to convince him that they’re not a danger to him, and Crush introduces himself to the man, who also introduces himself as Aziz. To help calm him down, Crush offers him a tour of Kanec’s genie bag, the human man excited at the opportunity to see one of the rare bags he knows to belong to many Reavers.

Azure and Ricky take on the first watch of the night. Ricky climbs on top of the Skeletal Brute, staring up at the stars as he tries to speak to the Night Mother… he promises her that he’ll help her, but he wants guidance. In an attempt to connect with her, he howls at the moment, remembering that his teacher, Peeter, did the same thing, as do the Nightmother’s most loyal allies, the wolves. Unfortunately, the howling doesn’t do anything but disturb the sleep of his allies. Fortunately, the howling doesn’t attract any of the dangers of the desert, and the first watch of the night finishes without dangers. Kanec and Crush take second watch, and although they spend time discussing the armor and Kanec’s relationship with Azure, the most interesting thing that happens is a black scorpion crawling near Crush, which Kanec is able to quickly dispose of. Fidget and Ash take the last watch, taking a moment to tease Kanec for not joining Azure in bed, but otherwise keeping watch. They see a strange sight… even with Darkvision, they see an ill-defined shadow with glittering eyes watching from the darkness. However, when Fidget produces a torch to examine more closely, it seems to simply vanish when light comes in contact with it… only to reappear when the light is moved further away. Still, the eerie eyes don’t move until morning comes and the dawn’s light causes the creature to vanish. When morning comes, Crush returns to the spot the creature was seen, trying to discern what it was… finding a vague displacement of sand where it was resting, but no tracks leading to or away from the spot it was during the night.

When Kanec awakes he’s asked about the creature, and he describes it as a Shadow Stalker. While mostly harmless, they are considered ill omens, and often appear before people who will die… although it may have been equally attracted to Ash, who has been dead for some time. Ricky casts Goodberry, so that the party can get on the move immediately without worrying about food for the day… sharing one of the berries with Aziz, who is traveling the opposite direction, thanking the party for their generosity. The Grimveils want to get on the road as quickly as possible, hoping to travel as much as possible before the sun bares down on them for too long. As they travel Ash notes that Kanec still hasn’t written to his father… and Ricky realizes he still needs to inform his Aunt Gilly about what they’ve learned recently as well. Ricky opts to enter Kanec’s Genie bag to start his letter, but Kanec can’t leave, as he’s the one steering the cart and navigating the path back home.

However, just as Ricky is starting on his letter, the Grimveils notice a convoy of merchants passing nearby. Although the merchants are clearly weary of the group, considering their cart is pulled by a giant skeleton, they are convinced to approach by holding up some pieces of gold. Crush notices that one of the merchants is selling cookware, and makes sure to let Ricky know. Ricky’s excited at the opportunity, buying a large cast iron skillet and cutlery for the entire party. Fidget also opts to buy a miniature mess kit for Kane… a common purchase for Reavers traveling with their children. The group also purchases some food from a different merchant, finding him selling bento-box-like specialty rations. They also find some bananas nearly over-ripened… but Ricky negotiates to buy them at a discount, since he intends to buy his entire stock that will soon be of no value so that he can use the ripened bananas to make banana bread. Crush takes the time to ask one other merchant for some general supplies… finding another of the Little Dutch Boys selling supplies. Crush buys some lamp oil and firewood, but otherwise tries to avoid too much time with the strange man.

Continuing further, they spot an abandoned, broken cart… it seems to have broken down, and the riders were forced to carry what they could on foot. Crush decides to strip any intact parts to keep as spares for their wagon, while Ricky and Azure check to see if anything of value was left behind. They find a large roll of silk, as well as a potion of healing, but otherwise just useless knick-knacks. Ash takes time to cast Sending to contact her brother, learning that he’s informed the Warlord about the Depraved Gloom, and that he’s looking into details further. She also contacts Gilly, learning that Grimveil Manor is repaired… and that Corrio has taken over the Master Bedroom, which Ricky had originally claimed for himself.

Bad news! One of our players isn't feeling well tonight, so we're delaying the game. I'll let you all know when we're going to be playing again, but we're still planning to play our homebrew campaign on Sunday, so look forward to that!

We weren't able to play Hoard of the Dragon Queen last night, but luckily everyone's feeling better and we'll be playing tonight instead! So come watch me DM my friends as they make their way out of Waterdeep and continue their adventure trailing the Cult of Tiamat. We'll be streaming tonight at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. Meanwhile, here's the summary for what happened in last week's game:

While in The Moon’s Reflection, an enchanter’s shop in Waterdeep, the party has already made a number of purchases of magical items. However, the owner, Benedict Fenwick, seems to have more items he may be willing to sell... Dahlia is able to convince him to reveal more of his treasures. While he has several rare items available, the party has spent most of their money... still, they pool their gold in order to purchase Goggles of Night, wh ich will allow Loki to see with Darkvision like the rest of her allies. Loki, however, is struggling somewhat with the feeling of spending so much money, which conflicts with her innate desire to accrue wealth. Still, with purchases complete, Fenwick bids the party farewell with a theatrical show of magic, catering to Dahlia’s desire to see more of his skill.

The Protectors of Phandalin make their return to the Yawning Portal tavern, where they already have rooms rented. To test out Loki’s Slippers of Spider Climb, Katniss challenges her to a race to the top of the Yawning Portal Tavern. Katniss, with Their training and acrobatics, climbs up stealthily using window sills, bannisters, and other structures to pull Themselves up, but all Their training is no use against Loki’s new-found ability to casually jog up the side of the building. The two meet on the rooftop, holding one-another as they admire the view of the vast city of Waterdeep spread before them. But just as they both notice a Griffon Rider flying near their direction they quickly scurry down... although Katniss is less fortunate than Loki, losing footing and diving into an open window to keep from falling to the ground. Inside, Katniss sees a Dwarven man changing clothes, but fortunately is able to stealthily sneak out before being noticed, meeting with Their allies on the ground floor of the tavern. The group then gathers in Katniss and Loki’s room to have a brief huddle and make certain everyone is ready for the planned meeting the next day. Dahlia playfully teases G’houl during their discussion, and Loki manages to insight that the two of them have started a relationship... something the shy G’houl has been hesitant to bring up, and which Dahlia has not mentioned out of respect for G’houl’s shyness. G’houl, meanwhile, takes note that Dahlia regrets not being able to dance at the Banquet, since the festivities were interrupted by the Five Deadly Venoms. He invites her downstairs, still wearing his fine clothes, to dance along to the more chaotic and energetic music of the traveling minstrels gathered in the dining room.

With next to zero experience in dance, G’houl moves awkwardly, although Dahlia finds it adorable. Dahlia quickly takes the lead, tapping into her innate magical prowess as a Glamour Bard to charm G’houl and the audience. Seeming to almost glow with beauty, G’houl finds himself compelled to follow her lead, putting on an amazing show that draws cheers from the crowd. Satisfied, they return to bed, the lovers happy to fall asleep in one another’s arms, while Loki and Katniss do the same.

As morning comes, the party gathers at the stairs and they hear a beautiful voice singing... they find it belongs to short, beautiful halfling woman. She sings a triumphant song of brave heroes who enter a nefarious Kobold cave in search of great treasure, but as her song continues the praise of the heroes becomes growingly sarcastic, the kobolds sung as victims fighting desperately against invaders. In the end, all but one of the “heroes” is killed, and at last the final warrior finds the Kobolds’ great treasure... their hatchery, where eggs wait to hatch... the greatest treasure of the Kobolds. As Dahlia especially seems to appreciate the song, she notices that the woman is openly wearing a Badge of the Harpers, revealing that she’s Olive Ruskettle, their contact in the Harpers who has come to assist them. They also notice Sergeant Dharxes, the Tiefling member of the Waterdeep Griffon Cavalry who has come to meet with the party. Olive appears to recognize G’houl, since her main contact has been Professor Raphael, who knows G’houl better than anyone else in the party. Olive asks to speak in private with just the Harpers, but Dahlia is able to Persuade her to let Katniss join their meeting as well, since Katniss has quite thoroughly shown themselves to be honorable and trustworthy. Olive has an arrangement with Durnan, the owner of the tavern, to let them speak in the privacy of a storage room. She praises them for their commitment to solving problems peacefully whenever possible... such as their decision to arrest Nezznar, the Black Spider, and convince him to help the School of Knowledge learn more about necromancy. Or the way they rescued deserters from the Cult of Tiamat and, more importantly, allied themselves with the Kobolds and recognized them as victims of the cult, where most adventurers would see them simply as monsters to be killed. She tells them that Harpers, above all else, value freedom for all living things, and that a battle prevented through diplomacy is far greater than a battle won with steel and blood, even if it’s not the kind of thing people write songs about. In recognition of their achievements she promotes them to the position of Harpshadow, and gifts them a Bag of Holding, which comes with 3 Harper Badges identical to her own, as well as a few potions of healing. She also invites Katniss to join the Harpers, as They’ve more than proved Themself, but when Katniss refuses Olive respects Their decision.

Olive asks for details on everything that has happened, and is deeply incredulous when she learns about the Zhentarim getting involved as well. Dahlia needs to Persuade her to let them get involved, and although Olive warns them not to trust the Zhentarim, she’s convinced that their involvement in this particular threat is justified. Once she’s updated on everything, Dharxes is brought in to join the meeting. She lets the party know that she looked into their questions about the Black Half-Dragon that had been seen in town, and confirms that she was last seen two weeks ago leaving to the North. Dharxes and Olive are told about the plan to raid the warehouse the cultists are using in Waterdeep, and they both agree that the raid shouldn’t be done until the Protectors of Phandalin are already on the road, that way they can reach Carnath Roadhouse before word from the cultists can reach their allies and forewarn them. Dharxes lets the party know that she can arrange an opportunity to travel with a group of masons making their way North, giving them until 2 that afternoon to prepare. As Dharxes leaves to prepare with the City Watch, Jamna, the Zhentarim Agent, sneaks in and reveals herself to Olive. She informs the party of the exact location of the warehouse, and reveals more information gathered by Zhentarim spies who have infiltrated the Cult. She lets them know that the Cult believes Father Derek to be dead, and has long ago forgotten the warning about a Blue Tiefling... instead their focus is on the Half-Elf ranger they witnessed battling Father Derek... and, as they learned before, the Cult remains convinced that “Travis the doppelganger” is their greatest threat. Dahlia is ecstatic to learn that her effort into obscuring her identity has paid off, and immediately gives her hat of Disguise to Katniss, who is now the prime target of the cultists.

G’houl wants to take advantage of the privacy of the storage room to complete transcribing another spell into his spellbook, while Katniss needs to take an hour to attune to Their newly acquired Hat of Disguise. However, Katniss also wants to have Their Double Bladed Scimitar modified... They were able to discern that the ornamental jewels and the supports that hold them are not too securely attached, as they are completely decorative and, in fact, throw off the weight of the weapon. They ask Loki to find a blacksmith who can remove them completely, giving Katniss a more viable Elven melee weapon and also allowing the rest of the party to divvy up the jewels attached. While Katniss and G’houl remain in the back room to prepare magically, Loki and Dahlia step out, with Dahlia ecstatic at being able to be herself in public without fear once again. They find a halfling blacksmith who’s happy to remove the garish decorations from what would otherwise be a perfectly balanced blade, and although they suggest he can keep one of the jewels as payment, the honest blacksmith can’t bring himself to take such a massive payment for what amounts to an hour of work, although he’s happy to keep the silver the jewels were set into as payment instead.

Meanwhile, as G’houl focuses on copying and experimenting to transcribe the spell scroll to his book, Katniss completes Their attunement, using the Hat of Disguise to cast Disguise Self on Themself... choosing to appear as an older woman, with dark skin and flowing chestnut hair. When They look at Their reflection in a barrel of fresh water they gasp in shock, getting G’houl’s attention. He takes a brief break from his scribing to ask Katniss what’s wrong, but Katniss admits that, like Dahlia, They had chosen to use the face of Their mother... unlike Dahlia, however, Katniss’s Mother is long-dead, having fallen to illness years ago, and Katniss was simply shocked to see Their Mother’s face once again after all these years. G’houl still has work to do and must remain in the store room as Katniss steps out to test Their new disguise. As They move through the crowd Dahlia and Loki return with Katniss’s Double-Bladed Scimitar, as well as several valuable jewels which, unsurprisingly, Loki keeps for now. Katniss speaks to them in disguise, explaining Their decision to appear as Their mother. The three of them decide to get some food just in time to see that Sildar has entered the tavern as well, carrying a letter.

Speaking to Sildar, he says that he had spent the night looking into Rath Modar, as he had recognized the name. Modar is a known criminal, who had been involved years back with an assault on Mount Waterdeep, where the Griffon Riders go to roost. His motivations and goals were never discovered but several of his students were arrested, as Modar is known to train others into the destructive arts of the Red Wizards. More worryingly, Sildar reminds everyone that Iarno Albrek had originally been trained in magic while his family was traveling in Thay, Modar’s homeland. The letter had been brought containing simply the same information he had conveyed, intending to leave it with Durnan if the party wasn’t there to greet him. They’re pleased to see Sildar, with Dahlia in particular asking about his family. Sildar admits that his wife isn’t happy that he’s delayed his retirement, since he can’t bring h imself to retire while Albrek is still at large. He also reveals that his son, Sildar Hallwinter Jr., is training to become a doctor, and that it was he who gave his father his leg brace. As everyone is realizing they forgot to order food, a tall Reddish Tiefling man steps out of the storage room. Dahlia’s intense Perception is enough for her to realize that this is tiefling is wearing G’houl’s clothing. G’houl had finalized transcribing Alter Self into his spellbook and was testing it out... and although his party members, who are more familiar with what he was wearing manage to figure it out, Sildar is none the wiser, thinking this simply a new friend to the Protectors of Phandalin. Everyone has a good laugh as it’s explained to him, and Dahlia does her best to convince Sildar to take his food to-go and bring it home to his wife... but even the charismatic bard can’t quite Persuade Sildar well enough to not at least check in at the Lords’ Alliance first on his way home. Everyone else enjoys another serving of Quipper and Chips before Olive, who had been performing in the tavern this whole time, approaches to remind them that they had better get going if they want to get across the city of Waterdeep in time to catch their ride North.

They make their way to the North Gate where they find Jamna waiting for them, and at some point during the day she had gotten herself a Riding Mastiff. Much to her annoyance, Dahlia is instantly smitten with the hound, asking for his name, only for Jamna to dismissively refers to him as “Riding Dog Number 7”, which Dahlia instantly ignores and immediately decides to call him Truffles... joining their own horses, Cake and Marmalade as a desert-themed riding trio. Jamna insists that she’s not intending to put herself into too much danger for the sake of the Party, but she will accompany them for the sake of the Zhentarim. She shows them a group she’s scoped out, assuming them to be the group the party is meant to meet... a Half-Elf man with a heavy tan running a construction crew headed North. He gets confused when Katniss who is still in disguise, introduces Themself as “Mira”, since he had been given the party’s names. They manage to Persuade him to let Jamna come with them before introducing himself as Forthwind Dustone. He helps to sign them up as guards, promising them a simple Silver a day. They’re also given a cart of their own to travel with, which is half-filled with construction supplies, although enough room is left inside for individuals to hide, if necessary.

The Crits for Breakfast Crew is going to be streaming tonight at 5pm PST, as always, at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. We'll be playing our homebrew campaign of Sacrament, so read on to see what happened in last week's session:

The Grimveils continue the ride through the desert, keeping an eye out for a place to stop. Ash spots an oasis, the party making their way toward it where they can get some water… and also where Ricky and Kanec can complete letters to allies using the magical Pen of Sending. Crush, however, decides to take advantage of the oasis to attempt to meditate below the water… however, seeing him go in, Ash reminds Ricky of a plan the two had concocted… requesting for Gaia, the Goddess of the Earth, to help provide a neutral ground in the future for them to facilitate a meeting between the Reaver god Sovereign, and his former lover, the Night Mother. Ricky conveys this idea to Crush, who agrees to make the attempt… aided by Inspiration granted by Ricky, sinks to the bottom of the shallow oasis and tries to connect to the soul of the Planet Itself.

As Crush meditates, he struggles to maintain his focus, but Ricky’s inspiration is enough for him to make a breakthrough… rather than contact a Nature Spirit, the water in front of him condenses into the form of his Sister, Crash. He’s stunned to see her before him while she playfully teases, letting him know that she heard Ricky’s request and that she’ll help… although she asks Crush to smack Ricky for her. Crush holds out his hand to his sister… tagging her in like they did when they competed together. Crash’s form dissipates, weakening her soul’s connection to his as she goes to speak on Ricky’s behalf.

Feeling wistful, Crush honors her request, giving Ricky a teasing smack. Ricky reacts the way he always did when Crash did the same, shouting “it wasn’t me!” before recognizing what happened. Feeling energized, Crush goes to continue working on the quick release device he had been working on for Ash’s Skeletal Brute that pulls the party’s cart. Azure attempts to work on padding for the “emergency escape” Crush had built into the Skeletal Brute’s mouth… only for her to make a critical failure and injure herself, making almost no progress. Meanwhile, Fidget, who has difficulty swimming (relying only on instincts he gained from becoming a Reaver), is attempting to teach his infant son to swim. Kane seems to take to the water instinctively… as the young Reaver was born underwater to his Empress Siren mother. Crush joins him in the water, using his intimate knowledge of the sea to help teach both Kane and Fidget how to swim. Fidget decides to test Kane, seeing if he can swim on his own between Crush and Fidget, but when Kane starts to sink a panicked Fidget ends the lesson to comfort his son.

With little to do but relax, Ricky and Azure take the pile of bananas Ricky had purchased from merchants earlier in the day, using the kitchen in Kanec’s Genie Bag to bake nearly 2 dozen loaves of banana bread… and Ricky even uses the potion of cold he had purchased earlier to prepare some banana Pudding as well, which remains cool and refreshing even in the hot desert air. As night falls Ricky and Crush take on the first watch, while Ricky encourages Kanec to spend time with Azure in his Genie Bag. Ash and Fidget, however, simply set up their tent and go to bed. In the bag, Azure and Kanec take time to clean up the mess left by the frantic baking. The two of them are shy and inexperienced, both trying to flirt, but too shy to act on their instincts without prodding. Azure is able to Insight that Kanec has something he wants to say, but has been afraid to… she encourages him to open up. Kanec admits that he saw Azure buying contraceptive at the Festival of Amor… and when Azure entered his tent the previous night, he thought she wanted to take their relationship to the next level. The two of them discuss more, especially since their one attempt at a proper date was interrupted by Azure’s Mother. Kanec gathers his courage, giving Azure a gentle, soft kiss. Kanec confesses his feelings for her, and admits that he wrote to his father about Azure, struggling to convey his feelings. Azure, to calm his nerves, gives Kanec a similar loving, light kiss… that grows increasingly passionate as the two hold each other in the privacy of the kitchen… the two of them making their way into Kanec’s room for their first night of passion.

Outside, Ricky wants to take advantage of the privacy to attempt to contact the Night Mother again. The previous night he had attempted to contact her by climbing on top of the Skeletal Brute and howling at the moon like the wolves that follow the Night Mother, to no avail. Crush suggests maybe he just needs to get higher up, using his grappling hook to help Ricky ascend the tallest tree near the oasis. Ricky again howls… only for Fidget to angrily throw his boot at him, telling him to shut up. Ricky again focuses his efforts on contacting the Night Mother, and she appears to him in a vision… playfully letting him know that he didn’t need to howl. The Night Mother recognizes Azmira, the spirit trapped in Fidget’s armor… she warns Ricky not to get over confident, and to be weary of the dangerous spirit. She also speaks of Ricky’s teacher, the late Peeter… who had been driven mad in his attempt to save the Night Mother, just as Ricky is trying. She even reveals that she herself had pushed him beyond that, to the Feebleminded Madness of the Moon Touched… hoping to disguise himself from those who sought to harm him and the Night Mother by hiding his very mind, even from himself. Ricky still wants to know how to help her, but she can’t say more… he even asks if he can use magic to learn more than what she can say, but she warns that magic would pass through her essence as if passing through the air itself. She asks him about her tears… with Ricky admitting that he had kept some from the spring where he had found it. She tells him that her sorrow, on this land, takes the form of isolated springs… but in the sky itself, her tears are the stars themselves. She tells him that there is a lost temple she knows of… but warns that it is incredibly dangerous, and that the knowledge it holds there is both awesome and terrible… knowledge he will be unable to speak once he learns it. Asking for more guidance… she admits that there is a fountain of her tears within the Reaver Capital. She shows him a vision of the Ziggurat Palace… the massive castle of the Warlord, leader of the Reavers. At the top of the Palace is a temple to Sovereign… grand and foreboding, the statue of Sovereign massive… kneeling on a throne, sword in hand, watching over his people. The vision shifts to curtains, leading to a grand double door… hidden behind the temple of Sovereign… an abandoned, crumbling temple to the Night Mother, her statue weeping. Left still barely standing after all these millenia… the very temple where she took Sovereign’s heart. She tells Ricky he must drink the tears of this, her final temple… the place of the sorrow the only way he can learn the truth of what happened that fateful day. She lets him know he needn’t drink the tears there in the temple itself… but he will need allies to survive the journey… and may not survive the knowledge he gains.

Coming down from the tree, he shares what he learned with Crush, who promises to stand by Ricky’s side in this challenge. Crush gets ready to wake Azure and Kanec for their watch, but Ricky convinces him to wait, since he wants to give Kanec and Azure some privacy. Instead Fidget is woken, who argues a bit with Ricky in regards to the boot he threw earlier (which Ricky had casually tossed into the oasis), only for both of them to wake to Kane crying… he had been awoken by Ash, who finds herself vomiting up black bile. Ricky encourages Fidget to calm Kane while he checks on Ash. The Undead Elf normally disguises herself using an Eldritch Invocation, but Ricky sees her true undead form… skin corrupted and blackening, one eye glowing with glints Hellish fire as the other is her usual pale, milky white. Ash laments this reminder that her body will eventually fall apart… when she fulfills her vengeance as a Revenant, she will be driven to madness then cease to exist. Ash also reminds him that Revenants are only granted a year of un-life… and she’s already lived through 6 months. They bond over the fact that Ash had willingly sacrificed to protect her brother… just as Crash had sacrificed herself to protect Ricky. She makes Ricky promise that he won’t get in her way if she ever becomes a full revenant… knowing that she’ll mindlessly cut through anyone who gets in the way of her vengeance. Ricky promises the same thing he promised to Crush, who similarly was afraid of losing control like he did when Crash died… he won’t let her harm anyone who doesn’t deserve it.

They’re interrupted as Kane calls out for Ash (or “Ass”, in his infantile pronunciation). They come out just in time to see that Kane has learned from his father how to flip the bird at others… something Ricky immediately encourages, the baby Reaver-Goblin instantly enamored with the reaction the simple gesture gets. Ash and Fidget sit together, enjoying the peaceful night… while Azure requires multiple Constitution Saves to get through her night with Kanec, she finds herself exhausted and in need of extra sleep. Since Ash doesn’t require sleep, she volunteers to take over Azure and Kanec’s watch to give them more privacy. Morning comes and as those outside of the Genie Bag debate how things went with Azure and Kanec, Crush remains confident that nothing happened between them, considering how awkward the two of them are with each other. In the morning the two of them cuddle and sheepishly talk about the night before, before attempting to cook some breakfast as a couple… although they’re both so distracted they manage to burn the food, getting Crush’s attention as he hurries into the Genie Bag to check on them… finding them distracted kissing. They all make their way back out, with Ricky teasing them both as he casts his Prepare Breakfast spell to feed everyone. They discuss how they still need to travel for the greater part of a month to get through the Desert of Lost Bones.

Continuing further through the desert, they find themselves caught in an ambush as Reaver bandits again try to rob the party. However, Ricky quickly casts Mass Suggestion… charming the bandits into giving over any money they carry and leaving them be. Only one bandit resists the spell, but he’s intimidated into leaving the Grimveils alone when he sees his friends clearly enchanted and unsure of what he got into. Making their escape, they check the coinpurses given to them by the bandits, finding that they’re filled with a generous supply of platinum… a reminder of the greater wealth throughout the land of Tiavet, even among bandits. As they’re counting money, Ricky goes into the Genie Bag, facing the intense heat of the poorly insulated bag to write out some paperwork. After a short period he steps out… giving to Crush paperwork that signs over Ricky’s portion of his family bar to Crush’s ownership. Ricky isn’t certain of his life expectancy with his promise to the Nightmother… and he wants to make certain that his portion of the bar goes to Crush.

As their journey progresses, Azure notices a flag barely visible in the distance… Uncertain of what it might be, Ricky polymorphs into one of the local hawks… flying overhead to see if they’re friend or foe… however, the sight of humanoids in cages, along with the symbol of an hourglass on the flags tells him that these are Slavers. The Grimveils can’t leave the slavers alone… planning to infiltrate, kill the slavers, and free their victims. Kanec mentions that Ash would be the logical leader… High Elves in Tiavet are known to look down on the “lesser” races, and their belief in the God Sol teaches them that the lower beings are meant to be treated as possessions. The party spends some time preparing the deception… Ricky and Ash both use Prestidigitation to mark both the cart, Kanec’s armor, and their Skeletal Brute with the mark of the slavers. Crush leaves his Axe for Ash to carry in her Bag of Holding before he attempts to hit himself with his crowbar to leave himself with a bruise, but can’t quite break through his own armor class… Azure attempts the same, unable to harm Crush either, until Ricky just uses his Disguise Kit to accomplish the same goal. Ricky also uses his Gloves of Thievery to improve his Sleight of Hand… carefully tying up himself, Crush, and Azure with a carefully designed knot that will come apart while appearing sturdy from the outside. Fidget stealthily hides, riding under the bottom of their cart… while Kanec poses as a mercenary accompanying Ash.

With their preparation, Ash easily bluffs her way into the slaver camp. She plays up the part of a stuck up Elf… noticing she’s getting ugly looks from some elves caught in the cages. By the way they’re dressed, Kanec recognizes them as Roma… a nomadic clan of Elves often abused by the High Elves of Tiavet. Ash presents her allies… Crush and Azure get particular interest, as their races have never been seen in Tiavet… although Azure’s resemblance to a Rakshasa makes her particularly valuable. Ricky isn’t seen as particularly valuable at first… the slavers thinking he’s just a dwarven child. When Ash explains that he’s a halfling, the Slavers take that to mean he’s only worth half as much of a human slave. Ricky plays up the part of a frightened prisoner, loudly proclaiming that he’s pregnant… able to convince the slavers, unfamiliar with Halflings, that he’s a woman… and Ash is able to convince them to pay full price, since the “pregnant” halfling is two-for-one. Azure is asked if any slaves she’s providing are magic users, and she successfully deceives the slavers into believing they aren’t, preventing them from being secured with anti-magic manacles.

As Ricky, Azure, and Crush are led to a cage, Azure just barely sees that Fidget has stealthily made his way to the Elven prisoners… starting to unlock their cage. Crush finally sees a set of keys… and as the slaver is readying to lock him in a cage he suddenly grabs the criminal, slamming his head into the thick iron bars, kicking off combat. Ricky quickly grabs the keys from the guard… hurrying to a cage that holds a Young Tiavet White Dragon secured with glowing, magical chains. Unfortunately, the ring of keys aren’t exactly labeled, and he struggles to get it open. Realizing he might have more luck with his Thieve’s Tools, he gives the keys to Azure, who is best prepared to deal with the difficult terrain created by the loose sands of the desert, relying on both her training as a monk and her natural speed as a Tabaxi to rush across the sands, knocking slavers unconscious as she makes her way to release more prisoners. Crush, meanwhile, releases his Rage… as his aura of the sea erupts out of him it electrocutes the slaver he’s holding… and also reveals that Ash was lying about her supposed prisoners not having access to magic, instantly getting the slavers to turn on her.

Crush, without his axe, opts to simply pick up an unconscious guard, using him as a blunt instrument to beat other guards. With her ruse revealed, Ash grabs the nearest slaver, casting Blight and reducing him to a mummified corpse. Fidget springs out of hiding to stab another guard with a devastating sneak attack, much to the delight of his bloodthirsty armor. However, before doing so he had given his other weaponry to the prisoners he had been stealthily rescuing, and the able-bodied among them burst out of their cage to assault the guards as well. Kanec slashes his way toward Fidget, the two Reavers fighting closely as they’re swarmed with guards. Ricky manages to release the Dragon’s largest chain, and then shouts encouragement to the massive creature, granting it the inspiration it needs to muscle its way out of the remaining chains and smash open its cage. Unlike the White Dragons of their homeland, this Tiavet White Dragon exhales a breath of electrified flame, blasting the last fleeing slaver before he can escape. Azure uses the keys to release the remaining prisoners while Crush helps to move the bodies of defeated slavers, and Ash prepares for a feast of corrupted souls...

I probably should have said something sooner, but we'll be streaming more Hoard of the Dragon Queen tonight at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty! Come join us to see what our kooky band of adventurers get up to next, but just in case you weren't able to join us last week (or if you just need a reminder) read ahead:

As the Protectors of Phandalin travel North of Waterdeep, Dahlia focuses some time bonding with Jamna’s Riding Mastiff, which Dahlia insists on referring to as “Truffles”. The Mastiff proves himself to be very well-trained, even ignoring jerky thrown to him unless given a signal to let him know it’s meant to be a treat. Even when given the signal, if the food is thrown far ahead he remains in place with his rider, although Dahlia is less impressed with the Mastiff’s training than she is disappointed that giving the loveable dog requires so many additional steps. Still, despite herself, Jamna struggles not to smile at Dahlia’s antics. The road is more peaceful than the Trade Way, and nights pass peacefully, allowing Katniss time to continue training their allies in the Draconic language.

Their path is interrupted, however, when they begin to enter the marshlands in the foothills of the Sword Mountains, and find their path blocked as they approach a small river. The wooden bridge across had been destroyed by a rockfall from the nearby hills... although Katniss, who was trained as a Ranger in the mountains of the Lost Peaks, recognizes that the rockfall is not natural... the slope of the nearby rocky hill would have led the stones in the opposite direction if they weren’t pushed toward the bridge deliberately. Sensing a trap, Dahlia and Katniss both spot figures moving in nearby brush, with Katniss deliberately putting themselves in danger to lure out the ambushers, but quickly hides stealthily behind the very stone they used to destroy the bridge. With Katniss seeming to vanish, one of the ambushers reveals themselves... a humanoid frog that G’houl recognizes as a Bullywug. Unrelated to the Grung they had fought as a member of the Five Deadly Venoms, Bullywugs are much larger than Grungs, and known for being slavers. The frog-like beings have a reputation for eating voraciously, and aren’t picky about what, or who, they eat.

The Bullywugs dont’ appear to speak common, communicating in frog-like croaks as they attempt to keep their distance and peg the party with spears. Dahlia attempts to lure them out by casting Conjure Woodland Beings, summoning a collection of Blink Dogs to lure out the remaining Bullywugs and help to defeat the hungry attackers. More hunger than the Bullywugs, however, is a Shambling Mound that reveals itself when Katniss steps a little too close. The massive collection of living vines, mud, and other plant life attempting to swallow Katniss whole, but is unable to pull Them into its smothering form. The Bullywugs themselves prove to be the smallest threat faced by the Party... rather, their pet Giant Frogs slow everyone down by grappling them with their long tongues, making it impossible to avoid the slow-moving Shambling Mound. G’houl attempts to blast the Mound with a Lightning Bolt, but to his shock he realizes it simply absorbs the lightning, growing stronger. The mound’s heavy, wet covering of swamp detritus also make it resistant to Fire and Cold, and to make matters worse... there’s a second mound. When the second mound enters combat, a hesitant Jamna chooses to join the combat, revealing for the first time her skills as a spellcaster... although, unfortunately, her only attack spell is Ray of Frost, which does minimal damage, especially since she’s more skilled as a spy than as a combatant.

The Bullywugs have a hard time fighting the Blink Dogs, and as the tide turns against them they begin to turn tail and run, hopping into the river and swimming away as best they can. The Party is happy to let the creatures go, their focus drawn to the pair of mounds, especially when one of the mounds manages to pull Loki into its form and attempt to consume her. As the other party members panic and attempt to kill the Mound and release her, Loki struggles inside, but manages to cast Blink, vanishing into the Ethereal Plane and escaping the grasp of the Mound... something G’houl realizes when he’s also engulfed by the Mound and finds that Loki is no longer within. Slowly but surely, the Shambling Mounds are worn down... Katniss manages to fell one, while Dahlia’s remaining Blink Dogs swarm the remaining mound and rip it to shreds... at which point Dahlia commands them to swarm Jamna with playful licks, much to the annoyance of the Zhentarim agent. Fortunately, the Party is traveling with a group of construction workers, and repairing the roadway is exactly what they’re on the road to do, so they’re able to take some time to clear away the remaining stones and repair the bridge, making it safe to cross.

Finally, the Party reaches the location they know to be the next stop for the Cultists... Carnath Roadhouse, a simple two-story building for workers and merchants to stop as they travel to Neverwinter, or for the artisans tasked with repairing the road through the Mere of Dead Men. They find a mixture of merchants and artisans both, but Jamna is able to pick out a few men she belives to be Cultists, since Zhentarim agents have infiltrated the cult and were able to describe some of the cultists to her. The group makes their way to the second floor, where a kitchen and tables are set up to get a meal of cheap gruel from a cook affectionately known and Gristle Pete. Chatting with Pete, they learn that he regularly complains about a rat infestation in the locked storage room below the kitchen... and most curiously, he mentions “whispers”, but the overworked cook doesn’t elaborate further. He does, however, let the party know that if they’re looking for a room to stay in or for more work they should speak to Bog Luck, a Half-Orc man who runs the Road House.

Seeking out Bog Luck, Dahlia and Katniss’s high perception helps them to notice a particular detail... Bog Luck carries a scimitar with dragon patterns on both it and its scabbard... matching weapons carried by high ranking cult members. Playing it cool, Dahlia playfully flirts with Bog Luck while asking him for information, feeding his ego and lowering his defenses. He explains that the rooms are free to use, but they dont’ have any locks, offering to lock any valuables they might carry in the safe room. Dahlia also asks him about work, and he admits that the construction crews still regularly hire guards, and one of the foremen is expected to visit the Roadhouse the next day to pick up the supplies the Party had helped deliver. Dahlia also asks Bog Luck about his scimitar, and he claims that it was given to him by his father, but Katniss is able to Insight that he seems to be lying. The Group accepts one of the rooms to stay in, and move inside to discuss their plans for the night.

Once alone in the room, Dahlia informs everyone about Bog Luck’s scimitar, realizing that he is a member of the cult. There’s also suspicion about the “rats” that Gristle Pete claims to hear... in particular, the whispers that Pete somehow doesn’t find any suspicion in. They come up with a plan to offer to let Dusk hunt the rats as an excuse to get eyes in the Safe Room to either search for clues, or at the very least catch an actual rat so that Katniss can use Their “Speak With Animals” spell to see if the rat has seen anything suspicious. Jamna leaves to do her own investigation while the Party speaks to Gristle Pete, offering up Dusks’ services as a rat-catcher. Gristle Pete is delighted at the idea, although he admits they’ll still need to convince Bog Luck. Heading downstairs, they find Bog Luck working with the cultists Jamna had identified earlier... he ‘s marking their crates with a stamp before loading them into the Safe Room. It’s little trouble for Dahlia to convince him to let Dusk search the Safe Room for rats, since Bog Luck would be happy to shut up Gristle Pete about the supposed rats. Dahlia continues to flirt with Bog Luck while Katniss, who is wearing the Hat of Disguise to appear as a beautiful young woman, joins in... tempting Bog Luck into a night of passion with both women. Bog Luck is instantly smitten, bragging that his room is the only one with a lock, and offering a spare key to Dahlia so she can visit him that night when he’s not so busy. In all the excitement, he forgets about Dusk, who is left alone in the Safe Room.

As the Safe Room is locked, the cultists seem to notice something in particular... G’houl, a tall, thin Half-Orc carrying a very distinct magical staff made of Glass. The party has just enough time to realize that, while Loki and Dahlia traveled in disguise, and Katniss is now wearing a disguise... G’houl is the only one who looks the same as he did when serving as a guard in the convoy. G’houl hastily stows his Staff of Defense in Dahlia’s Bag of Holding and the group hastily makes their way back to their room. Once alone, G’houl spends some time to look through Dusk’s eyes, examining the Safe Room... he finds that there seems to be a single crate with no other crates stored on or near it... and which has a barely visible seam in the stone floor around it. However, they’re interrupted when they hear loud banging on the door.

The cultists they had seen earlier are waiting outside... one of them angrily challenging G’houl to a battle. Dahlia tries to intervene, demanding to know why, and the cultists claims that his brother was the Potter who had been killed in their journey, and that he believes G’houl to be the killer. Although this makes no sense, G’houl agrees to the battle, especially when he sees that he’s backed up by a large group of fellow cultists. G’houl opts to hold back on his magic during the fight, instead fighting using a mundane staff, not even choosing to recover his Staff of Defense from Dahlia. Without magic G’houl is at a distinct disadvantage, and the guards of the Road House seem happy to simply take bets and let them fight it out. G’houl’s party does their best to hide in the small but growing crowd... taking advantage to subtly help G’houl with spells and abilities that don’t produce obvious visual effects, such as Dahlia’s Inspiration or Loki’s use of Healing Word. However, G’houl is starting to notice that the cultist he’s fighting is tapping into some form of magic, using it to deal additional fire damage with every slash of his scimitar. When G’houl is in danger Katniss takes advantage of their Hat of Disguise to appear to be G’houl himself... marching confidently down the stairs to the shock and confusion of the cultists... who, with terror in their eyes, believe this to be Travis, the Doppelganger... someone who doesn’t actually exist: The Cult was warned at one point about Loki the Changeling, but through word of mouth that warped into being a warning about a doppelganger (indeed, it’s common for the two species to be confused for one another), and Travis, the cultist who defected to aid the Party near Greenest who many believe to be the supposed doppelganger. The leader of the group of cultists orders all his men to attack the “Doppelganger”, and as battle proper erupts G’houl reveals his magical skills... blasting the group of cultists with a Fireball, felling most of them in a single blast, and using his training as an Evocation Wizard to prevent the Fireball from igniting the wooden building... but the Cultist G’houl has been fighting, who seems able to tap into fire energy, is also resistant to fire damage.

The cultists fight with blind rage... desperate to be the one to kill the Doppelganger that has plauged them and their Goddess, willing to lay down their lives to cut him down. Before the actual Guards of the Roadhouse can intervene, the remaining cultists are cut down, and Katniss, still disguised as G’houl, escapes out the front door. Leaving those still alive in stunned silence as Bog Luck exits his room to see what all the noise is about, exclaiming in shock at the sight of charred bodies left in the center of his Road House.

Our session on Friday got cut short because of a thunderstorm, but we're back and better than ever for our Homebrew campaign of Sacrament! We'll be streaming tonight at 5pm PST at our home of twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and if you missed last week's session, read on to see what happened:

With the slavers killed, the Tiavet White Dragon the Grimveils had rescued hurries to a nearby tent, tearing it to shreds and ignoring any questions until it finds a large chest… ripping it open to find crystalline eggs. Ash assumes the dragon to be female, but when she asks more she learns that the dragon is male, and the eggs are all he has left of his mate, who didn’t survive whatever was done to capture him… all that remains of her are some glittering purple and black scales. The Dragon seems happy to leave immediately, but Crush stops him… asking the Dragon to stay and help escort prisoners back to his home. The Dragon admits that he owes his life and those of his eggs to the party’s intervention, and agrees… although not all of the prisoners seem comfortable with the thought of being carried by the large, dangerous creature. However, Dragoons, A dragonborn subspecies native to Tiavet, are happy to travel with the Dragon. They’re joined by a group of Kobolds who practically worship the dragon.

Crush helps to hide Ash so that she can absorb souls from the corpses she’s gathered, while Azure releases a Lamia prisoner, who immediately dashes into the desert, pausing for just a moment to thank Azure. She then finds a ledger dropped by the slaver whom Ash had dissolved with her magic. Looking through it, she finds bills of sale for various creatures… in particular, the Dragon was sold for 20,000 gp, his eggs sold to separate collectors, and the Dragoons were sold simply to have their scales harvested. She also notes that the buyer for the Dragon is scheduled to arrive at Sundown of that day. Taking the note to Ricky, he casts Enhance Ability on himself to help him analyze the handwriting… realizing that the schedule was written in panic, and in particular, the words “Do Not Be Late” weren’t written by the same person who wrote the rest of the ledger… it actually appears that someone else had gripped the ledger’s owner’s hand and forced them to write that phrase very deliberately.

Ricky tries to convince the Roma Elves that had been held prisoner to trust him and to travel with the Grimveils, at least long enough to evade the purchaser of the Dragon, who seems to be quite powerful and dangerous. Azure also does a medicine check on the prisoners, learning that, while many of them have been abused and harmed, the slavers were at least careful not to do any lasting damage to the “merchandise”. The Elves are suspicious of Ricky… thinking he simply wants something from them, but Ricky has managed to convince them to at least trust Ricky long enough to get them to some place safe. He also warns that the buyer for the Dragon is an Ancient Reaver.

Ricky explains the situation to everyone, and although Crush is more than willing to fight the Ancient Reaver, with the injured Elves still traveling with them they don’t want to put them in further danger. Ash casts Polymorph on the Skeletal Brute, transforming it into a Dorse, the Draconic-horse beasts native to the Deserts. Before leaving, Crush draws a large Yin-Yang symbol in the sand, wanting anyone who arrives to know that this was no accident. As they hurry to their destination with the Elves traveling in Kanec’s Genie Bag, Ricky stays with the Elves to calm them and provide food. Crush asks Kanec about Ancient Reavers, and Kanec explains that he believes this must be Archerd, the criminal Reaver who is believed to be an ally of Chao. Sovereign, the God of Reavers, abhors slavery, and Archerd is the only known Ancient Reaver who regularly indulges in slavery. Kanec speculates that Archerd full intended to release the Dragon and kill him with his bare hands, regardless of any collateral damage.

Inside the Genie Bag, Ricky and Azure prepare a meal of chicken and dumplings for the Roma as well as their own party. After Ricky and Azure both return to the outside, they get enough time to chat a bit before the cart is attacked by a Gulper, which leaps out of the sands to attack their cart. Crush manages to score a critical attack against it, and the damage is enough to get the Gulper to focus on him… it partially swallows his upper body, but doesn’t fully swallow him. However, Ash finishes it off using Blight, the body falling apart as Crush tears his way out.

Once the Gulper is killed the legs are harvested for food, but the greater concern is the fact that the Grimveils have been doing nothing to hide the trail of their cart as they dashed through the desert. Fidget uses an old technique he learned as a Goblin… finding a broom from Kanec’s Genie Bag and leaning over the side of the cart to try and hide the trail. Meanwhile, Ash and Azure go into the Genie Bag so Ricky can cast Cat Nap on them to let them finish a short rest. Before he can, however, Ash is approached by the Roma, who have managed to see that she had consumed the souls of the slavers, and can tell from her milky white eyes that she’s Undead. They warn her that she defies nature, stealing energy from the Goddess of the land, Hearth. Ash is annoyed, as she’s well aware of the dangers of the necrotic powers that keep her alive, but she does have a moment of pause when they warn that such magic is the way of Chao.

As Ash and Azure rest, Ricky goes to the Roma and asks for information about the Nightmother, since he knows that the Roma are one of the few groups in Tiavet who still worship the Night Mother. They don’t have a lot of advice to give Ricky, as even the Roma do not celebrate the Nightmother in ceremony or prayer… however, they warn Ricky that the Reavers will kill him, and even warn him that Kanec and Fidget may be luring him to the Reaver Capital to kill him and snuff out the last hint of the Night Mother. When Ricky plays for them to calm their nerves, the Roma speak about how the Nightmother shares with them her songs when they dream. When they see Ricky’s pendant of the Nightmother, they warn him not to let any Reaver see it… and if they do, his only choice will be to hide. The Roma also mention that a scar is left in the sky of the Nightmother… believing the Milky Way (or at least, a similar phenomenon) is a result of the Nightmother’s conflict with Sovereign. The Roma also believe that Hearth is held by the Nightmother, and if she is killed, then Hearth will fall apart. They also worry when they’re told that Archerd is potentially following them, but they believe that Archerd wouldn’t follow Roma footsteps if he was tracking others.

As Ash attempts to rest, she finds herself suffering unpleasant nightmares and a sense of unease. The Roma are experiencing the same thing… the sleeping children start to wake up crying while, in the cart, Crush and Kanec are guiding the cart toward an oasis which seems to have ruins scattered around it. However, as they approach Ash exits the Genie Bag, clutching her head in pain as the cursed land is affecting her… Azure realizing that this is the land where the Roma’s were captured and enslaved by the humans… and which is now cursed… the once-lush jungle now a lifeless desert. As they attempt to drive away, shifting forms under the sand surround their cart… decrepit hands reaching out of the sand to grab their cart and keep it still as bandaged figures rise from the sand… human mummies attack.

Ricky starts the battle by tapping into the power of his homebrew Bardic College, his eyes glowing like stars. Azure summons her astral arms, attacking the Mummies with Radiant damage, but when she realizes they take no extra damage from the radiant energy she tries necrotic, but again finds it doesn’t have any particular effect. The Party struggles as the mummies are resistant to most physical damage, they’re capable of frightening with a stare, and they can even summon more mummies. Ash pins down several mummies using a web spell, but when one of them frightens her, paired with the sense of dread she has just being in this area, she panics and pulls out the skull she uses to summon her patron, casting the incantation to bring him to her. Ricky ignites the web, but when he sees that the burning web is starting to ignite the cart he needs to use prestidigitation to stop it. As he fights, Fidget starts to take too many hits… and when his health drops low enough his Reaver Blood Rage kicks in… however, the magical armor he wears protects him from the life-ending Madness his curse would give him… however, he loses control of his own body, and instead Azmira, the spirit that possesses his armor, takes control of his body. Azmira, as a Reaver Soul, immediately plans to attack Ricky, especially with his eyes glowing like the Night Mother’s.

As Ash’s Patron, Larlock, the king of Liches, appears in a swirl of green flame, his command of the Undead allows him to debilitate the mummies, making them defenseless against the party as they finish them off. However, Fidget proves to be a greater threat, marching toward Ricky. Crush quickly grapples him, shoving him to the ground, but Azmira is the one who responds… threatening to attack, and when Crush doesn’t release her she instead bursts outward, the armor warping into a massive spike that stabs through his chest… still, even as blood drips out, he won’t release him, until a disinterested Larlock renders Fidget unconscious so everyone else will leave him alone to speak to Ash. Azure and Kanec carry Fidget’s unconscious form inside, the armor reverting into gauntlets… without a conscious body to control, Azmira can only shout angrily at everyone around her. Ricky needs to rest after using his Starry Eyed ability… but before he does he casts Regenerate on Crush to help him heal from the damage he took. Ricky feels despondent after once again being attacked for his connection to the NightMother… a connection he wasn’t even aware of until recently. In frustration, he chugs a bottle of wine, although Crush stops him from drinking too much… opting to chug half the bottle himself, although a half-bottle is still enough to get a Halfling like Ricky drunk.

Outside, Ash is speaking to her Patron in private. He compliments her for finding such an amazing site… while Ash, in the grips of fear, had sought help simply to fight off the mummies surrounding them, doesn’t realize that the land itself is corrupted with the hate and cruelty of the human slavers… literally thousands of evil souls waiting below the sands, ready to be consumed. He declares that this land of the Dead would be the perfect kingdom for him and his future Bride, but Ash is only filled with panic as she realizes she’s only made Larock more powerful… and accelerated her impending marriage to him. Larlock kisses Ash, sucking out of her the souls she had absorbed from the Slavers earlier that day, leaving her drained of energy. Larlock allows Ash to continue her journey, and instead chooses to focus on the lost Kingdom of the Roma… making plans to summon more of his subordinates to excavate it… and seek out something he calls “The Beast” that he detects deep below the sands.

Crush exits the bag along with Kanec to check on Ash and continue steering toward the Reaver Capital, with Ash only moving in the vague direction of the Reaver Capital. Kanec takes over steering as they discuss what Ash learned from her patron. She’s panicked about what happened… and wondering what she’s going to become. Crush asks for more details about how her magic works, and Ash explains that she simply carries the souls she absorbs, but only Larlock consumes them fully. Crush wonders aloud that, if Ash were to figure out how to consume the souls in the same way if, like Larlock, it would let her transcend into a more powerful, more stable form of Undead. With exhaustion setting in, they continue riding until Ash feels the panic-inducing effect of the lost Roma Capital fading. Searching for a safe location, they set up camp, letting the Roma rest in the Genie Bag while they sleep through the night. However, they know that the Roma can’t remain in the Genie Bag all day, and they need to decide what to do for them within the cursed desert.

Just a heads up for fans... one of our players isn't feeling well, so Hoard of the Dragon Queen is being rescheduled from its usual Friday game night for Saturday instead.

EDIT: One of our players requested a slight delay to take care of some things, so the stream will start at 6:30 PM 

Okay, we're playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen again tonight! Come join us at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty at 6:30pm PST for more shenanigans, and read ahead to see what happened in last week's unfortunately short session:

Bog Luck, the manager of Carnath Roadhouse and secret Tiamat Cultist, steps out of his room to find his fellow cultists killed by the Party. In shock and confusion, he demands answers for what happened, and the guards working for him struggle to explain what happened. He goes to Dahlia, who had been flirting with him earlier to lower his guard, hoping for answers... but when she critically fails her attempt to persuade him that the attack was completely unfounded he realizes there’s more to her and her allies than he first suspected and he orders his men to arrest them. However, when the group refuses to go quietly Bog Luck orders his men to attack... although the guards, who just witnessed the Party tear through a large group of cultists with a few spells, are hesitant to attack directly. The guards mostly try to grapple and subdue, and in turn, the party focuses on non-lethal attacks.

All save for Katniss, who had managed to hide Themself in the crowd of onlookers, choosing only to reveal Themself when it becomes clelar that Bog Luck is going for lethal attacks against Dahlia... in addition to Bog, Katniss also takes a shot at one of the Guards, felling him in a single shot. G’houl neutralizes many of the guards with Charm Person, and Dahlia manages to intimidate others to stay out of combat. In the end, Loki uses Spare the Dying to stabilize the guard knocked unconscious by Katniss, and although Bog Luck lands a brutal critical attack against Dahlia and stay conscious through his Half-Orc resilience, he’s simply out-classed. Loki stabilizes Bog Luck as well, and Dahlia steps forward to calm the guards, assuring them all that they’re not criminals and reminding them that they avoided harming anyone but Bog and, in fact, avoided killing him outright, even though doing so would have been easier. She’s able to Persuade them to speak in private with the one Guard who stepped forward to take authority with Bog Luck defeated.

He introduces himself as Roger, when asked, and trusts the Party’s goodwill enough to speak to them in private as they tie up the unconscious Bog Luck. Dahlia explains that they’re members of the Harpers, showing him their newly acquired Badges, and also explaining their partnership with the Lord’s Alliance... in fact, members of the Alliance are expected to follow them within a day or more. They also explain that Bog Luck was working with the Cult of Tiamat, and use his dragon-patterned scimitar as proof, especially since it’s nearly identical to the sword carried by the cultist who attacked G’houl... a man that Bog supposedly had no relationship to. Roger is successfully Persuaded to assist the Protectors of Phandalin, but since they’re so focused on secrecy they convince him to tell the other guards that they’re here as new Guards, and that the entire thing was a big misunderstanding. Before leaving, though, Roger tells them that, although Bog Luck is a bit of an *******, Roger feels that he’s always done right by him.

After Roger leaves to try and explain everything to his fellow guards, Jamna sneaks in to see what’s been happening. Before waking Bog Luck, Katniss and G’houl check his pockets, finding his ring of keys as well as his notebook which he uses to track information in the Roadhouse. They find little of use, although they note that some items stored in the safe room are denoted with a distinct five pointed star mark. Katniss and Dahlia then decide to check out the Safe Room using Bog Luck’s keys. They find that the crates also marked with a red star marking are filled with stolen treasure. More importantly, however, they find a single isolated crate that G’houl had seen through Dusk’s eyes with a barely visible crease in the ground below it. They discover it’s secured to the ground, where it’s used to cover a trap door leading into an underground tunnel. Katniss examines footsteps in the ground, realizing that it belongs to Lizardfolk. Katniss and Dahlia then quickly check on Bog Luck’s room to see if there’s anything to learn, but aside from realizing that Bog Luck seems interested in more high-minded books than might be assumed looking at him, there’s nothing to learn.

Returning to Bog Luck, Jamna is encouraging them to simply kill Bog Luck and be done with it, but the Party instead opts to wake him, with Dahlia casting Healing Word to return him to consciousness. The moment he’s awake, Bog Luck screams for help, getting Roger to come to his aid... it becomes a challenge between Dahlia’s Persuasion and Bog Luck’s Deception to determine Roger’s reaction... and Dahlia is just barely more persuasive. Roger begrudgingly trusts the Party and leaves Bog Luck in their care. Bog is argumentative and deceitful, openly lying to try and get the Party to release him, but G’houl especially sees through his ruse. The Party Intimidates Bog Luck, reminding him that they’re very clearly capable of overpowering and killing him, but choose not to. When asked about why he would side with the Cult, he admits that he thinks the world is garbage... looking to G’houl as a fellow Half-Orc: asking if G’houl has ever had a moment where he wished the world should be destroyed and put back together so people like t hem wouldn’t be oppressed. G’houl can sympathize with his position, but unlike Bog Luck he sees good in the world and hopes to change it.

There’s a good deal of back and forth, but gradually they wear him down... at first he demands to be released, promising to tell them everything he knows as long as he’s left free to go wherever he wishes, promising not to return to the cult... and while he seems to be earnest in this request, they’re not satisfied with his condition. It takes more Persuasion, but they’re able to convince him to submit to being arrested by the Lord’s Alliance members, who they know will be following them soon. Bog Luck is forced to weigh his options... Loki reminds him that the Cult of Tiamat won’t hesitate to kill him if he becomes a liability, but the Lord’s Alliance will protect him... even if it means going behind bars.

Roger is brought back so he can be told about the party’s plan... they want Bog Luck to continue to operate as the manager of Carnath Roadhouse, since if the Cult begins to suspect he’s been compromised they’ll likely kill him. He’ll remain in control until the Lord’s Alliance arrives to arrest him. Jamna insists this is a terrible idea, and G’houl Insights that Bog Luck is likely to try and escape at the first opportunity. However, despite his willingness to work with the Cult, Dahlia sees that he’s not doing anything that overtly hurts anyone, and his motivation is, potentially, a noble one. As a Tiefling, she knows very well what it’s like to be judged for how she looks... and, like Nezznar, the Drow who had hoped to undo the tyrannical culture of the Underdark, she saw that what Bog Luck actually wanted was just for the world to be a better place. And like Nezznar, like Frulam Mondath, and like the cultists they’d rescued, she wanted to reform Bog Luck, not simply arrest or kill him. Loki reminds him... as much as he feels pre-judged and hated for being a Half-Orc, his employee, Roger, spoke up for him when Bog Luck was at his weakest. He may not have a glamorous position, bue he’s respected for who he is in this place. To his embarrassment a tear comes to Bog Luck’s eye as he sees the look of hope in Roger’s eye, and the earnestness as Dahlia speaks. As he agrees to their plan, Jamna cuts him free... luckily slicing through the Rope of Mending, rather than simply ruin a mundane length of rope.

...Unfortunately, at this point, a passing storm knocked out power for two of the players, and the game had to be cut short.

Oops, I should have posted this sooner but... we're about to go live at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty in about 10 minutes, at 6pm PST. We're playing our homebrew campaign of Sacrament, and if you missed last week's game, here's what you missed: 

As the party rests, Ash foregoes sleep, instead going to find Fidget… and to speak to Azmira, the Female Reaver Spirit that inhabits the armor he wears which suppresses his Rage. However, when the armor took advantage of Fidget’s rage to take control of his body, Fidget was rendered unconscious and left to recover in the Trophy Room of Kanec’s Genie Bag. She takes a moment to check on baby Kane, who seems healthy, but confused. Before she makes her way to Fidget, however, in the other room Ricky wakes in a pile of pillows where Azure had left him to sleep off his drunkenness the night before. Ricky hears Kane making noise, drawing Ricky’s attention to the Trophy Room moments after Ash entered. Ash’s plan is interrupted, and instead she focuses on Kane… Kane tries to climb onto Ash’s back, just as he normally travels strapped to Fidget’s back… although Ash is apprehensive, since she knows her necrotic touch could potentially harm Kane, even though Kane wears an amulet that protects him against necrotic damage.

Ash leads Ricky to the kitchen so they can talk about Azmira, and whether or not the armor can be trusted. Ash wants to speak to Azmira alone, believing a woman-to-woman talk is their best chance of getting through to the Reaver spirit. Ash also expresses concern at revealing the haunted lands of the lost Roma Capital to her Patron… the aura of dread the land has on Elves, even undead Elves like her, caused her to panic and summon him. Still, Ash asks for Ricky’s help in one way… she wants him to know that she might say or do something that will put him in danger, and she wants him to let her speak to Azmira alone, knowing that Azmira intends to kill Ricky because of his connection to the Nightmother, the sworn enemy of all Reavers. Ricky understands, but makes sure to give Ash inspiration and also casts Enhance Ability to grant her Eagle’s Splendor, giving her advantage on Charisma checks. Ricky chooses to focus on cooking breakfast for the group of Roma Elves that had been rescued from the slavers.

Ash finally speaks to Azmira, still carrying Kane on her back. The two women snark with one another at first… but Ash starts by acknowledging that she knows Azmira, even if she doesn’t attack Ricky any further, will still likely try to get others to attack Ricky in her stead. Ash, however, let’s Azmira know that she needs Azmira to remain calm so she can deliver Fidget safely to the Warlord, so that he can convene with Sovereign himself to stabilize Fidget’s blood. In return… Ash offers to deliver Ricky to the Reavers so he can be killed… and to let Sovereign himself know that Azmira herself aided, hopefully freeing her spirit from the Gauntlets and armor she’s been trapped within. With the help of Ricky’s magic and inspiration, it’s enough to Deceive the Reaver Spirit and secure safe passage for the remainder of their journey through the Desert of Lost Bones.

Ash goes to speak to Ricky as morning comes around… their Roma Elf visitors waking as Ricky gives them breakfast to enjoy. Ash doesn’t tell Ricky about the deal she made with Azmira, but does let him know that Azmira will be more behaved for now. Outside of the Genie Bag, Crush is the first to wake up, checking the area for dangers before finding Ash inside the Genie Bag… and Baby Kane messily eating his breakfast, getting food in her hair. Crush helps to take Kane from Ash’s back, feeding him and checking in, trusting Ash when she explains that she spoke to Azmira. Ricky and Crush then take some time to speak to Sabor, the apparent leader of this group of Roma… Sabor explains that he can lead his people toward a Roma caravan, but they simply need rations and weapons to protect themselves, both of which Crush is able to provide… he carries several pounds of rations he hasn’t needed considering Ricky’s ability to magically create food. He also gifts them a few of his javelins that he carries for emergencies. Sabor believes this will be enough, but Crush also gives Sabor one of Crush’s favorite foods, a pineapple, asking him to give it to the children as a treat. Satisfied, everyone makes their way out of the Genie Bag, where Azure gifts the Roma some of her rations as well as several of the darts she carries. As if to prove his skill, Sabor uses one of the longbows taken from the Slavers to kill a Clickter, a large lizard-like creature that stalks the Desert. Satisfied that they’ll be safe, the Grimveils continue their journey North through the Desert of Lost Bones.

As they travel, Crush and Azure copy a technique Fidget taught them, sweeping the sands behind their cart to obscure their travel. However, their travel is interrupted as Kanec spots a dangerous sand storm approaching. They just barely have enough time for Ricky to cast Tiny Hut to protect the cart, although their Skeletal Brute is left to take the brunt of the storm. Crush takes advantage of the time to finish crafting the quick release hatch he’s been working on so the Skeletal Brute can be detached from the cart in emergencies. Azure continues her leatherworking while Ash remains in the Genie Bag to find Fidget waking up. She tells Fidget about what happened with Azmira, and how she controlled his body and nearly killed Crush. Fidget is enraged, but after her deal with Ash earlier, Azmira sarcastically apologizes and promises to behave. Outside, they have little to do during the sand storm… although an overly curious Crush sticks his hand out of Ricky’s Tiny Hut to see how bad it really is, taking ten points of damage in the process. Azure bandages him up as the sand storm clears… but as they travel further, another sand storm slows them down, giving everyone time to work on more projects… Ricky has Fidget train him in the use of thieve’s tools, Crush starts work on a baby seat for Kane, at Ash’s suggestion, and Azure completes work on the leather jacket she was working on for Ash.

After this they travel further… spotting a pair of barrels mysteriously placed in the middle of the desert, they assume they’re part of a trap of some kind… but a close look from Azure makes her realize it isn’t a Barrel at all… it seems to be too smooth in some places, and with unnatural seams… realizing that it’s a mimic, Kanec attacks… only for the Mimic to respond in common, admonishing them for attacking him unprovoked, complaining that he just wanted to ask for water before morphing into a wheel and rolling away. The party is stunned… the few who know about mimics in the first place didn’t realize they could speak.

Continuing their travel, Kanec receives a magical letter from his father… Savine, a General of the Reaver army. He reveals that a battle took place between the Reavers and the Kingdom of Estea… The Reavers were victorious, although the Elven Wizards of Ortheia prove to be more challenging. He also writes that he had been contacted by Gilly and Corrio, and that he’s hoping to work with them to try and end this war. In fact, based on the information Ash had shared with him, the Reavers had gone out of their way to capture a Depraved Gloom member and making certain he’s unable to kill himself with the acid vials they carry in their masks… although they’re having difficulty interrogating him. Finally, Kanec receives one last letter… a formal invitation to a military ball in the Reaver Capital, set to be held in a month’s time as a meeting for military leaders, including The Warlord himself. Savine wants Kanec to attend as his representative, as Savine is far too busy to attend. The ball will be held in the Gardens of the Ziggurat Palace, the center of the Reaver Capital and home of the Warlord… and also the location where the lost temple of the NightMother is left, which Ricky has been told he needs to find to finally learn the lost secrets of the day the Night Mother betrayed Sovereign.

The Grimveils decide to try and travel through the night to cover more ground, since they’ve managed to avoid combat through the day. Traveling into the night, they come to a stop when the Skeletal Brute appears to be stuck in place… Crush steps out to try and figure out what’s slowing them down while Azure focuses on checking the area around them… able to see a group of Kobolds before they manage to ambush the party, but there’s no avoiding combat with them. However, when Kanec cuts one of them to ribbons, Ash takes advantage of the moment to intimidate the rest of them into retreating.

Travel speeds up as the Grimveils find an area of sandstone, as opposed to the heavy sands that are difficult to move through. Kanec mentions that Sandstone is valuable because, among other things, Sand Worms can’t attack through it… They find a safe place to set up camp, and Crush is even able to find some ground water in a natural spring. Once the camp is secure Ricky requests to speak to Crush, Azure, and Ash in private… avoiding involving the Reavers.

Ricky explains to everyone the mission he was given by the Nightmother… he was tasked with seeking out her lost temple in the Ziggurat Palace, casting minor illusion to show everyone an image of the palace itself, and the hidden temple near its highest point. They discuss their plans for it, including that they still intend to organize a meeting between Sovereign and the Nightmother on a neutral plane, hopefully arranged by the Goddess Hearth… but they won’t know what all to plan until Ricky drinks the Nightmother’s Tears kept in the lost temple. However, before they can discuss further, an Alarm Spell that Ash had set up triggers, and everyone rushes out of the Genie Bag to find Kanec and Fidget being attacked by Depraved Gloom assassins… Kanec is surrounded, while Fidget seems to be paralyzed by magic. A spellcaster blasts the group with a fireball, and Azure retaliates by rushing him, beating him to a stun and releasing Fidget from the spell that has him stunned, and suddenly it becomes clear that Baby Kane has been taken. Ash prioritizes the search for Kane, running to Fidget’s side and casting Fly on him to help him search for Kane. Ricky blasts the Deprave Brute with a Chromatic Orb keyed to fire damage, knowing the brutes are weak to fire, nearly killing it in a blast of flame, but unfortunately the Brute reacts to the intense damage by slamming the ground, knocking creatures around it, friend and foe alike, to the ground. The moment Fidget is able, he rockets off into the air in pursuit of his son. Ash as well leaves the remaining Assassins to her party as she chases after Fidget. Ricky sees the same thing… he polymorphs into a Roc and flies in pursuit.

Kanec, Azure, and Crush remain behind to finish off the Ojou Beasts… Undead Abominations made from the mutilated corpses of victims that have been rearranged into a chaotic being of flesh and bone. The Ojou’s prove difficult to kill, and one of them manages to knock the Goat, Thaco, unconscious. Crush begrudgingly uses his Potion of Greater Healing to revive the Goat, as they have no other means of reviving her, since Ricky is already gone. However, they take advantage of the Genie Bag and Azure’s amazing speed to rush toward their allies… Ricky is the first to arrive, following footprints toward an abandoned structure in the desert, landing on the roof as a Roc, making himself an obvious sign for the others to follow, but he’s unable to enter as a giant Roc. Ricky chooses to enter through a hole he pokes in the roof as a Roc, while the others rush in through a doorway. A magic User steps forward, blasting the party with Burning Hands while Ricky is assaulted by a Will-o-wisp. Everyone rushes inside, desperate to rescue Kane, cutting through enemies as they make their way inside… Fidget in particular hurries in, putting himself in danger… one of the Ojou Beasts knocks Fidget prone and attempts to fuse with him, trying to absorb his very flesh and bones into itself, which prompts an enraged attack of Blight from Ash. The party convenes on the Ojou to try and protect Fidget, successfully killing the creature, but as it dies it drains Fidget’s energy… knocking him unconscious. Luckily, Ricky is able to revive him with Healing Word and Ash kills one of the Depraved Gloom with Finger of Death… turning him into her Undead servant and ordering him to reveal where Kane is. The zombie leads them ahead, guiding the party deeper into the structure.

Going deeper inside, they encounter another group of Depraved Gloom assassins… Crush rushes past a few assassins, prioritizing another spellcaster, nearing felling him in a single round. As the Spellcaster attempts to escape, Crush pins him in place with his Sentinel feat while the other party members clear out the mundane assassins. As the assassins are cut down, Ash’s zombie continues down the hallway, leading them further into the abandoned structure and on their way to rescuing Kane.

Just wanted to give everyone an early warning... Crits for Breakfast will be on a brief hiatus this Weekend... two of our players have a very important animation project for a client they're working on and they need to use their days off from work this week focusing on completing that instead. It's going to be great and I'll link to it here when it goes live, but I just wanted to let everyone know early just in case.

EDIT: We'll be starting just a bit later than planned, so join us at 6:30 PM PST

One of our players recently got the Covid Vaccine, and the side-effects can be incredibly draining, which is why we didn't stream yesterday. Luckily everyone's feeling better this week and hopefully we'll get through an entire session of Hoard of the Dragon Queen without any delay. Come join us in 2 hours at 6pm PST on twitch.tv/afterdisbooty. And as always, in case you missed our session two weeks ago, or if you just need a reminder, here's what happened:

Although the Protectors of Phandalin are able to convince Bog Luck, the secret cultist in charge of Carnath Roadhouse, to help maintain the ruse that the roadhouse remains in control of the cult until Bog can turn himself over to the Lords’ Alliance, Jamna doesn’t fully believe them. Realizing that she’s not on the same level as the Party in terms of battle skill, Jamna volunteers to stay behind to keep an eye on Bog and explain everything to the Lord’s Alliance... and also make certain that the party’s horses, Cake and Marmalade, are sent to Waterdeep, since they wouldn’t be able to travel with them into the swamp. Jamna is trusted to handle the roadhouse while the party enters a secret passageway hidden in the Roadhouse’s storage room.

The hidden passage leads deep into the swamps of the Mere of Dead Men. The trail left behind by the lizardfolk is easy to track, and when it’s not, there are clear markings left on trees presumably for the Lizardfolk themselves. The party follows until they reach an unusual sight... a pair of conflicting markings splitting the trail left and right. Examining the area more closely, Dahlia notices that the path to the left has just a few human footprints mixed in with the Lizardfolk prints also traveling that direction. Curious to investigate, the party stealthily proceeds in that direction, approaching slowly enough to notice a pair of Yuan-Ti Purebloods conversing in Abyssal. They decide to sneak past, but G’houl takes a bad step... even with Pass Without a Trace cast by Katniss, he stumbles into their line of sight, and they immediately attack. Dahlia is the first to act, but as she reaches for her Wand of Magic Missiles she realizes that she had loaned it to Jamna so she could help in their battle against the Shambling Mound... and the shifty Zhentarim agent never returned it.

Dahlia steps out and uses Vicious Mockery to taunt the Yuan-Ti, hoping to draw attention away from G’houl. The Yuan-Ti command snakes to attack, and as they approach Katniss pulls out the Wand of the Golden Stag, using it to summon entangling vines to hold the Yuan-Ti women. One of the restrained women attempts to hypnotize Katniss, but G’houl quickly counterspells the attempt... unfortunately, making himself once again the primary target of the Yuan-Ti women. As snakes draw closer, G’houl attempts to knock them aside with magic missiles before they get too close... only to realize that the Snakes are actually Yuan-Ti Malaisons in disguise. Dahlia notices another pair of snakes heading her way and, suspecting the same from them, blasts them with Thunderwave, exposing them as Malaisons as well.

The party hadn’t taken time to rest since their fight with the cultists in Carnath Roadhouse... G’houl and Dahlia are both still injured for the fight, since they had put themselves front and center, and G’houl in particular had been attempting to fight physically instead of relying on his magic. Now they’re struggling against the Yuan-Ti, although Loki skillfully avoids combat to continue healing her allies. With some work, they defeat the Yuan-Ti, realizing that they had set up a trap, intent on capturing unwary Lizardfolk and sacrificing them to their God. They even find a quicksand pit that they may have been lured into if they hadn’t approached stealthily. Content that there’s nothing further to be found in this direction, they return back to the fork they had found earlier, instead taking the right turn and continuing along the path left by the Lizardfolk. They continue until night begins to fall, but before they could begin to start searching for a place to camp, they notice barely visible smoke rising in the distance along the path they’re traveling.

Unfortunately, once again, the game had to end as one of the players began to feel sick and needed to lie down.

We're back for more of our homebrew campaign, Sacrament! Come join us tonight at 6pm PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and if you missed our action-packed adventures two weeks ago, here's what you missed:

As the Grimveils continue the hunt for Baby Kane… and in their battle in the previous session they had done enough to gain a level. As the increase in power hits them all, Ash in particular hears the voice of her patron… letting her know that he’s granting her more power. Her vision shifts, able to see more clearly. Still, she guides her zombie to proceed further, following it until it’s attacked by small creatures… which are quickly dispatched as they follow the zombie into a locked room, where they find Kane in the clutches of a purple hag, seemingly unharmed… and surrounded by an impenetrable wall of energy. The hag laughs at attempts to break in, stating that she’s simply watching the baby at the orders of “her”, but won’t say who she’s speaking about. Instead the party goes back to the room Crush had seen an assassin trying to duck into… stepping inside to find a woman waiting for them in a room dotted with lava pools, standing next to a foul, demonic beast. She introduces herself as Kalana and tells the Grimveils she was sent here with a goal… to demand that they stop interfering with the Depraved Gloom, and also… to join them and work for the assassin organization as well… not surprisingly, they refuse at first… although Ricky attempts to play along, hoping to deceive them into lowering their guard. However, his allies are incredulous to his suggestion, and when he tries to subtly hint to them that he’s planning something one of the assassins susses out his ploy and battle ensues.

The demonic creature is the first to attack… with a flash of its eyes it charms Fidget, stunning him in place before rushing forward to attack Ricky. Ash casts Fly on Kanec, Crush, and Azure so they can avoid the lava. Crush rushes on the demon, slamming it with a critical attack and opening up for Ricky to cast Hypnotic Pattern, stunning everyone present, except for Kalana. Azure attacks one of the stunned mages, allowing Kalana to summon flaming skeletons and a Fire Elemental. Battle rages, with Kanec, Azure, and Crush all bum rushing Kalana, who proves tough, but can’t withstand Azure’s Stunning Strike. Crush is reckless in his fighting, nearly being knocked unconscious, but he stays up long enough to take out Kalana. The demon, however, is made of tougher stuff… requiring the full party to gang up on it, which is made worse when Azure is targeted by a spellcaster with Disintegrate… fortunately her skills as a monk allow her to avoid damage completely. Kanec deals the final blow, slicing the demon’s goat-like head clean off, the body disintegrating.

Crush picks up Kalana’s body, holding her by the ankles and shaking until the magic rod that controls the force field falls out, giving it to Ash before he carries Kalana’s body with them as they return to the Hag, who finds it amusing that her allies have been killed. However, she still holds Kane as a bargaining chip… however, Ash is willing to let the Hag go if she leaves Kane unharmed… and makes it very clear with a critical Intimidation Check that doing anything else would be very, very bad for her at the same moment that she dispels the force field. Recognizing the danger she’s in, the Hag agrees… leaving Kane behind unharmed and the Grimveils allow her to plane shift away. With everyone wiped out, Ricky ritual casts Tiny Hut before casting Cat Nap, allowing everyone to get a short rest in a mere 10 minutes. Once the rest is complete, Ash decides to use her Eldritch Invocation to speak to Kalana’s corpse and pump it for information.

The High-ranking assassin, even as a partially animated corpse, is difficult to interrogate. Ash uses the zombified assassin she had created earlier in the night to speak, tricking Kalana into revealing some information… they learn that the person tracking the party and guiding assassins to track them is called Lady Karlata… and she’s also the key to solving the Brittles, the disease running rampant through Estea and Ortheia. They learn that the Brittles are magical in nature, and are some part of a ritual, although the specifics still aren’t known. With that, the Speak With Dead spell runs its course, and everyone is ready to leave. However, Ash takes a few moments to cast sending, informing fellow-Grimveil Gilly Greensleeves what they learned, and also takes a moment to message her Patron with the same spell, asking if he still requires souls from her. Ash had recently (accidentally) led her Patron, the Lich-King Larlock, to the haunted ruins of the lost Kingdom of the Roma Elves. The corrupt souls of the humans who enslaved the elves now making fine fuel for the strange, empowered Lich. Larlock lets her know that he will no longer require the regular delivery of souls Ash has been making.

Returning to their camp, they find that the corpses of Depraved Gloom assassins are still littered around, but no other damage has been done. Not wanting the bodies to go to waste, Ash uses a recently learned spell… summoning a Demiplane, she has the corpses tossed inside, intent on keeping them as Undead for the future. After some complaints about wanting to sleep, it’s decided for everyone to take turns keeping watch. Ricky and Azure take first watch, and Ricky asks for intimate details about Azure and Kanec’s relationship… much to Azure’s embarrassment. Still, the two of them keep watch, and the most unusual thing to happen is a small swirl of wind that seems to center itself on Crush before vanishing… although they can’t tell what it is. Ricky spends some time to finish the portrait he had been working on for Ash and Fidget… a gift for their recent wedding. They wake Crush and Kanec to take the next watch, although just for fun, Ricky uses a high level spell slot to summon a massive breakfast, enticing even the sleeping party members to step out and enjoy some food as they sit and bond, finally able to relax after the harrowing experience of nearly losing their youngest and most precious member.

Heads up, our schedule will be different this week since some of our players won't be able to play tonight.

Our homebrew campaign of Sacrament will still go live on Sunday, but Hoard of the Dragon Queen will be delayed until Monday.

We're back to our usual schedule tonight. So join us tonight at 6:30 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty as we play our homebrew game of Sacrament. In case you missed last week's session, this is what you missed:

Crush is keeping watch with Kanec, and spends some time to meditate and commune with his departed sister, Crash, who had sought aid from the Goddess of the land itself, Hearth. Crash could only speak with Hearth thanks to her connection to the elements, the spirits of Water and Wind guiding her, but she finds that Hearth is slumbering. She learned that, for the Grimveil’s plan to succeed, they’ll need the assistance of a Druid, who must perform a ceremony in the lands claimed by Hearth’s sister, the Goddess known as Peace. Peace’s lands are sacred, and no weapon may be drawn within them, but the lands themselves are fiercely protected. Crush and his sister share a few moments of bonding before Crush tags himself back in and goes to speak with Kanec about what he learned.

Realizing his questions seem nonsensical to Kanec, who isn’t aware of everyone’s plans, Crush leads him away from Fidget and his sentient armor to explain their plan to enter the lost Temple of the Nightmother in the Reaver Ziggurat. There, they must find the tears of the Night Mother, which can finally reveal why she betrayed Sovereign and tore out his heart. Kanec is shocked to hear this plan, convinced that this is a terrible idea and essentially a suicide mission. Crush is unable to persuade Kanec to accept the plan, but Ash has secretly been listening in and steps in to help convince Kanec that this is the only logical thing to do… deceiving him, as her true plan is to absorb the soul of the Reaver Warlord himself. She’s able to convince Kanec, at the very least, that they don’t have any ill intent, and Crush as well makes clear that he’s not working against Sovereign, but simply trying to learn the truth of what happened.

Ash takes over the last of the watch, spending time with Fidget and Kane. As morning comes, Crush checks in with Ricky… informing him about what he told Kanec the night before, which Ricky agrees was the right thing to do. They step out and begin to prepare for the day of travel, although Kanec is still visibly upset from the conversation the night before… Ricky misinterprets Kanec’s mood to be a sign of poor performance in the bedroom, and although this clearly annoys Kanec, it gets his mind off of his troubles, although he’s visibly tired. Continuing further into the desert, Ricky has an idea to spend time by teaching Ash how to cast Vicious Mockery. They’re not sure if it’s even possible, since it’s not normally a Warlock spell, but at least gives the two of them the option to sit around and trade insults.

Traveling further, they come across some traveling hunters, who are convinced that the Grimveils aren’t a threat, despite their skeletal brute pulling their cart. They trade some alcohol for information, learning that Giant Sand Worms are nested to the North, and they advise moving erratically. Before they leave they see that one of the hunters seems to be married to a Djinn, much to Kanec’s awe. The Djinn are powerful magical beings, and the original inventors of the Genie Bags favored by Reavers.

As they continue, magical letters appear from Gilly and Mayor Coldforge. They warn that another major battle looms between the Reavers and Estea… however, Coldforge has allied with Gilly, as well as Lady Annabelle in Coldforge’s city of Glenarm. The Estean government has refused to acknowledge that the Brittles Disease is the result of the Depraved Gloom, still blaming the Reavers for the disease. The Grimveils are desperate to hold back the battle, but can only do so much while in Tiavet. Instead, they encourage their allies to gather in Lady Annabelle’s city of Dawsberry, which is positioned to be a neutral ground for the Reavers and Estean Government. Azure recommends contacting F.H., the steward of Lord’s Hamlet and Gladiatorial commissioner. The gladiators were witnesses to the Depraved Gloom, and hopefully with F.H.’s authority they can convince the Esteans and Reavers to shift their focus to combating the Depraved Gloom instead of each other.

Ricky also takes some time to write to Verrick, who has also joined Gilly and Corrio. Ricky is aware of an attraction between Corrio and Verrick, with Ricky feeling jealous. Unfortunately, Ricky had summoned an Unseen Servant to transcribe his letter… and Ricky doesn’t think to tell it to stop writing before he starts to sing Careless Whisper… sending the tragic song to his romantic rival. Ricky’s request for aid is a bit overshadowed by the song, and Ricky himself falls into a bout of depression and embarrassment. Still, his request is sent clearly, and Verrick is aware of their needs.

The Grimveils come across some traveling merchants, and Ash trades one of the golden snakes she’s gathered for a massive collection of exotic teas… and a self-help book for Ricky. Seeing his best friend and brother looking depressed, Crush decides to sing to try and cheer him up… singing Pomp and Circumstance, the song he used as entrance music when performing. It’s a bit ridiculous, but that does manage to cheer Ricky up. Unfortunately, a sandstorm approaches, and they’re forced to bed down for an hour, taking some time to work on personal projects before continuing. Once they get moving again, Ricky decides to try and bond with Azmira, the spirit trapped in Fidget’s armor… asking her to join him in a game of I Spy. Azmira is beligerent, playing along only enough to insult Ricky, but the other members of the party play along more eagerly. However, Crush notices what looks like a sand dune headed in their direction, and Kanec instantly realizes that it’s a Sand Worm. They need to travel erratically… to appear as random movements in the sand and not the regular movements of a living creature. Kanec deliberately steers erratically, while Crush assists by striking the sand with a javelin to mask the movement of their vehicle. With Crush’s assistance, they manage to evade the Sand Worm, but they can see the gargantuan creature attacking a herd of desert horses. They continue until they find some hard sandstone, which provides some defense from Sand Worms.

A new challenge arises, however, as an intense heat wave floods the desert… Crush still has his amulet of fire protection, giving him resistance to the heat, while Ricky and Ash are able to simple force themselves through it, but the rest of the party is unable to resist the heat… more worryingly, baby Kane is beginning to suffer heat exhaustion. They hurriedly seek shelter by a tall sand dune to get some shade, and Ricky assists by summoning a Tiny Hut, which automatically regulates the interior temperature, and also casts Create Food and Water, filling an empty barrel with fresh, cold water. Everyone rests to recover from their exhaustion while Crush, Ricky, and Ash stay up. As night passes a pair of Fennec foxes approach the dome, curious about this strange half-orb in the middle of the desert. They can’t enter, but the dome is unusually cool compared to the surrounding area, and they rest on top of the dome.

As morning comes, Ash and Ricky are frozen in fear as they feel movement below the sands… more Giant Sand Worms have gathered in the area. They have to remain completely still to keep the Sand Worms at bay… Ash gets the idea to cast fly on the Skeletal Brute carrying their cart, along with the strongest party members, Crush and Kanec… unfortunately, Kanec is still in the Genie Bag and has to step out very carefully to avoid attracting Sand Worms… Ricky casts Bless and Enhance Ability to improve Crush and Kanec’s already impressive strength before entering the Genie Bag to travel… however, as he leaves his Tiny Hut, the hut vanishes and Kanec needs to catch the Fennec Foxes that were resting on top of the hut to both protect them from the Sand Worms and also keep them from attracting more. Kanec tosses them into the genie bag, the panicked creatures causing havoc to the confused members still resting inside. Finally, Crush and Kanec need to get close enough to Ash for her to cast Fly on the trio of flyers. Unfortunately, Kanec doesn’t step carefully enough, and as they’re beginning to lift the cart to fly away one of the massive Sand Worms erupts out of the sands, its gaping maw of multi-ringed fangs biting hungrily at Kanec. Ash fires Eldritch Blasts at the Sand Worm, knocking one of its many, many teeth completely out of its mouth, freeing Kanec as they rocket into the sky and fly the cart safely away from the gathering worms.

With Ash riding in the cart she directs the flying members toward a distant plateau where they can touch down safely… however, as the sun rises they realize that this day will bring with it another dangerous heatwave, making travel by day impossible.

Once safely above the plateau Ricky casts Tiny Hut again to provide a comfortable environment for everyone to rest in until night falls. The foxes are captured by Crush and let out of the bag… but the top of the plateau provides no way for them to return home, and the foxes are panicking until Ricky takes advantage of his Pendant of Speak With Animals to convince them to relax in the comfort of the Tiny Hut, bonding with the confused little foxes as Crush looks over the lands, seeing that dozens of Sand Worms all seem to be gathering in this area. With his knowledge of large predators, Crush realizes there’s only one thing that would get so many of them all gathered in one area: Breeding. With this knowledge, the Grimveils realize there’s no way to safely travel on land, and must find some way to escape the mass of gargantuan monstrosities if they hope to complete their journey to the Reaver Capital.

We're going live with Hoard of the Dragon Queen at 6:15 PM PST at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty, and here's what happened last time:

The Protectors of Phandalin find a camp of 9 Lizardfolk. They attempt to sneak closer and get a better view, but Dahlia fails her stealth check. She attempts to parlay with the Lizardfolk but they ignore her completely and attack. Loki summons her Duplicate, helping to distract the Lizardfolk from surrounding Dahlia completely. However, the fight is cut short when G’houl reveals himself and blasts the Lizardfolk with a Fireball, and after killing all but 4, the surviving Lizardfolk begrudgingly surrender, although the specific word “surrender” is unfamiliar to them. The largest and most intelligent Lizardfolk, Snapjaw, introduces herself as a member of the Scaly Death Clan, and speaks to the group privately in Common... she reveals that the Lizardfolk are unhappy with their alliance with the “Dragon Kneelers”, resenting them for favoring the Bullywugs that they’re also allied with over the Lizardfolk. The Bullywugs are lazy and greedy, but they’re given preference because of the strength of their leader, who is able to use magic as well... using that same magic to kill Suncaller, the original leader of the Lizardfolk. They agree to help the Scaly Death clan, and Snapjaw goes to inform her allies, but one of them doesn’t agree, believing that the outsiders can’t be trusted. He attacks, and while Dahlia and G’houl try to subdue him, Katniss instead simply kills the opposing Lizardman, which seems to garner respect from the other Lizardfolk.

With the one dissenting voice very thoroughly silenced, Lizardfolk begin to field dress and eat their own fallen allies, and while this shocks and sickens the others, Katniss agrees to help them... Katniss has learned about Lizardfolk culture in the past, and knows that it is tradition for them to partake in cannibalism... in particular, they consider it each Lizardfolk’s duty to provide a Last Meal for their Clan. Understanding the differences in cultures, the remaining party members don’t object... Katniss and G’houl are even given the hearts of some of the Lizardfolk they had killed as reward for killing them. Still uncertain if it’s right or wrong, they cook and eat one of the hearts and the party shares it as a meal. However, while assisting the Lizardfolk, Katniss notices that they wear simple manufactured trinkets, and carry metal weaponry... highly unusual for Lizardfolk. Snapjaw explains that the trinkets are “magic”, although she doesn’t know what for, and that the metal weaponry are given to the Lizardfolk as payment for their work with the cult. More concerning, however, Katniss notices that a few trinkets they wear are stamped with an image of a human skull split by a long sword... a symbol that any Half-Elf would instantly recognize as belonging to the Eldreth Valuuthra: an elf supremacist group that hates humans and considers half-elves to be abominations. Snapjaw knows nothing of them, only knowing that this symbol is openly worn by Dralmorrer Borngray, who leads the cultists stationed in a nearby castle.

Trusting their new allies, the party sets up camp to rest. As morning comes they find the swamp obscured by thick fog. Snapjaw explains that they need to travel by canoe going forward, and before leaving Katniss uses Their Hat of Disguise to make Themself appear to be a Lizardfolk, and Loki does the same, taking advantage of her Changeling abilities to shift into the form of a Lizardfolk as wel. Snapjaw and her allies are shocked at the sight, but seem to accept magic as a reasonable explanation, although they warn that neither of them smell like Lizardfolk. As they travel Dahlia tries to bond with Snapjaw, struggling a bit as Snapjaw thinks so literally. Simply explaining the concept of a metaphor is a struggle, but Dahlia finds Snapjaw’s blunt and straightforward attitude endearing... even though Snapjaw completely misunderstands why she would ever be described as “blunt”, as she considers herself dangerously sharp instead. Their travel is slowed a bit as Dahlia realizes they’ve attracted the attention of another Shambling Mound. Snapjaw recognizes it, calling it “The Weed That Walks”, seeming to believe they cannot be killed, and they quickly paddle away... fortunately, although the Shambling Mounds are powerful, they are quite slow.

Soon they come across an area where they’ll need to exit their canoes and travel across dry ground. Snapjaw warns that this area is particularly dangerous, and everyone proceeds forward cautiously. They find themselves forced into a narrow pathway where a Four-Armed Troll has herded some crocodiles into a shallow pool, and doesn’t realize that the motion has attracted the attention of yet another Shambling Mound. They attempt to simply sneak past the troll with the help of Katiss casting Pass Without a Trace, w hich should have been more than enough to sneak past the creatures... but unfortunately, Dahlia once again critically fails her stealth attempt and finds herself attacked by all present. The Troll starts the battle by picking up one of the Crocodiles and throwing it right at her, the motion shifting the Shambling Mound’s attention to Dahlia. G’houl and Snapjaw focus on trying to take out the Troll, while the other party members focus on the Shambling Mound. Dahlia is its main target, and unlike G’houl or Loki, she has no means of teleporting herself to safety... instead relying on Katniss and Loki to harm the Mound enough to release her. Eventually Katniss lands a powerful Sharp Shooter shot to kill the Mound, and G’houl casts Dragon’s Breath on Snapjaw, who seems elated at feeling a hint of the power of dragons. With the threats defeated the party opts to take a short rest... which is helpful, as they level up in preparation of their upcoming infiltration of the castle held by the Cult of Tiamat.