“Penelope sees that, and she will always listen to Orkira...most of the time.”
“And I will always listen to Penelope!”

—Hope and Lauren

Watch Dragon Wars | D&D Beyond Heroes Episode 6

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The cast of Beyond Heroes, currently level 8:

• Todd Kenreck as the Dungeon Master
• Keen Dayeprath - Eladrin Eldritch Knight Fighter played by TJ Storm
• Briv Steelmarrow - Half-Orc Oath of Heroism Paladin played by Adam Bradford
• Penelope Half-Pint - Halfling Circle of Land Druid played by Hope LaVelle
• Alyndra Alexandria Garanahil Sarrbarand, Lorekeeper of Rime Spiro, Kinscribe of Clan Monkeymouse, Daughter of Oblivion - High Elf Cleric 1/Wizard 7 played by Jen Kretchmer
• Orkira Illdrex - Dragonborn Light Domain Cleric played by Lauren Urban
• Freely - Halfling Bard 2/Paladin 2/Sorcerer 2/Warlock 2 played by B. Dave Walters

Full Summary

Between the elemental planes of Air and Water can be found a third plane, a seemingly infinite expanse of ice and freezing winds called Frostfell. Hidden in the snow is a small town of gnomes hard at work on a variety of mechanical devices. They have acquired an artifact of such great importance that a collection of metallic dragons have pledged to help defend the enclave. However, a rival faction of chromatic dragons are known to be heading towards the town, and the call has gone out for assistance in defending against the assault.

The Heroes have responded, braving the chill in their battle balloon Murray, and arriving to the panicked townsfolk preparing to be attacked. Making their way to where the metallic dragons are discussing the upcoming battle, Briv is quick to flatter them and then ask to ride on one. The dragons are happy to carry them into the fray, hoping the Heroes can literally watch their backs while they attempt to assault the main floating fortress. A device was stolen from their evil counterparts that could be used to open a gate to the Abyss, and the gnomes are attempting to deconstruct it and recreate it to become a teleportation hub to locations all over the multiverse. The dragons, along with squads of gnomes and sentient constructs, will join them in the fight to keep the device away from those who would use it to open the portal to a chaotically evil place.

Worried that the constructs might not have the agency to make their own decisions, Freely calls out to them asking if they wish to fight. One especially eclectic looking one, seemingly assembled from a random collection of spare parts and destroyed magic items, limps forward and introduces himself as Rend. In surprise and excitement at seeing their old friend, Alyndra and Penelope rush forward to hug the construct and reintroduce themselves, while a confused Freely doesn’t understand everyone’s glee. Alyndra attempts to give a condensed version of how they met the construct many years ago, however Orkira wryly realizes it’s probably a good thing Keen isn’t around considering what happened in the past between the eladrin and the construct. When asked if his companion Wittle is around, the construct says she is probably nearby. They are both here to help when the attack begins.

As the Heroes return to the task of preparing for the battle, Orkira casts a death ward on both Freely and Penelope and then asks Alyndra what she knows about taking down floating cities. While Alyndra gives everyone water breathing she also explains how to find and destroy the control center in the central tower. Because their airship is susceptible to fire, Murray will be flown to a safe location and wait as a backup plan and a way to evacuate the town if necessary.

Art by +1 Pen of Smiting (@PenOfSmiting)

Suddenly there’s a shout from a strange looking gnome with sharp, pointy teeth and goggles, who some recognize from an old picture as Wittle. Pointing into the sky she announces that the enemy is arriving! As Wittle starts to bark orders and fire her gun into the air, the Heroes rush to mount several of the brass dragons that have offered their flying services. Briv climbs aboard Theo, the stoutest of the dragons he can find, while Penelope is overjoyed to ask Flameo for a ride despite him being one of the smallest. Freely joins Babi Leto, while Alyndra teams up with Dathylark. Orkira is still uncomfortable around all the dragons, but recognizing that they can fly faster than she can, she pairs up with Naxilanthus. The dragon and dragonborn share some initial awkward conversation, but quickly both get over their unease and soon Orkira is offering him marshmallows. In fact all of the brass dragons are excited to chat with their riders, and while their conversations meander a bit it’s clear everyone is becoming fast friends.

In the last moments before they take off, Orkira casts beacon of hope on all the Heroes and their mounts. She then shouts a reminder in Draconic that they are not immune to fire like the dragons are, as she is starting to freak out at the idea that someone might die. Alyndra casts bless while Freely offers his bardic inspiration back to the wizard. The gnomes give everyone fantastic devices that act as sending stones so they can communicate at a distance. A massive red dragon swoops by, blasting the wall with its fire, but Penelope casts sleet storm to both douse the flames as well as offer cover for their takeoff.

Soaring through the frigid air to join the rest of the defenders, they face down an army of fearsome chromatic dragons along with almost two dozen flying fortresses. The air is thick with roaring, biting, clawing, screaming dragons engaged in horrific combat. It’s a chaotic mass of color and light, but with his keen eyes and insight Freely spots that most of the invaders are pouring out of one massive floating castle made entirely of ice. He pegs that as the most important structure, and leads the squad towards their goal while firing off his antimatter rifle. The group are quickly engaged by the enemy; Briv suffers tremendous burns from fire breath, while Penelope manages to avoid much of the poison from a green dragon. Alyndra and Orkira are both blasted by white dragons, and while the elf uses absorb elements to mitigate some of the cold damage, the cleric is able to dodge the worst of the blast.

Art by +1 Pen of Smiting (Twitter: @PenOfSmiting)

As Theo speeds towards the main structure and away from all the breath weapons, Briv uses his lay on hands to heal his own wounds. The fortress doesn’t have an easy entry point, however the entire structure is made out of ice, so Babi Leto uses his breath to start to burn a hole while Freely hides under his wing for cover. Once the hole is large enough the paladin coaxes his mount inside, where a large squadron of enemy soldiers are quickly squashed by the charging dragon. However another few dozen goblins, humans, and kobolds still block the path. As Theo blasts the army with fire, Briv stands atop the brass dragon in all his paladin glory, his intimidating presence and shouts to surrender causing fear to swarm through the enemy ranks and those that are left flee!

While also taking a moment to heal herself, Alyndra spots the leader of the enemy forces. One of the immense ancient red dragons carries a humanoid rider in all black, wearing a helmet with two spiraling horns on top. Breaking away to pursue him she casts earthbind on the dragon and uses one of her portents to force it to fail, and the creature screams as it is pulled towards the ground. Though the mechanical sending stones the voice of Wittle yells “Lindy, don’t!” as this action has put herself in danger, so instead of asking Lark to attack the pair start to pull back. But Penelope and Flameo have not heard this warning, and they continue to charge at the leader with flame breath and blight. Taking quick stock of how injured her friends are, Orkira casts healing word on Alyndra before calling out for everyone to back away and rejoin their friends attacking the fortress.

Before the trio can retreat on their mounts, the enemy swarms in trying to protect their leader. Alyndra is once again blasted with cold breath as Penelope and Orkira are both slashed by claws. Intent on clearing the path back to the fortress, Alyndra casts a storm sphere to fry the white dragon with lightning and bludgeoning winds. Flying with epic speed and grace, Flameo circles over Orkira close enough for Penelope to touch her hand and cast cure wounds. During the maneuver the dragon notices something is wrong, but it’s too late to warn anyone that the dragon High Lord has appeared on the back of Naxilanthus!

 A familiar voice greets Orkira by name as a mace made of ice strikes her in the back of the head. She turns in time to deflect a second attack with her Warding Flare, however the High Lord casts spiritual weapon and uses it to strike her down. As she falls unconscious the figure removes his helmet to reveal the grinning dragonborn Valasar, “Have a nice trip.” Nax is moving too fast to notice as the unconscious Orkira is pushed off his back and begins to plummet towards the ground below, however he does realize that there is now an enemy riding him instead! He whips his tail and snaps his jaws at Valasar, confused and demanding to know who this interloper is.

Charging through the fortress, Freely uses the intimidation of his dragon and his own persuasion to get directions to the control center. Once again fire breath burns a hole through the ice wall to reveal a human dragon cultist surrounded by symbols of Tiamat, holding the glowing orbs that control the massive fortress. Briv offers the cultist the opportunity to flee, and he gladly takes that suggestion as Theo and Babi Leto join forces to melt the room into puddles. With the control center destroyed the massive floating iceberg begins to fall out of the sky, and they all scramble to get outside to safety!

Over the mechanical sending stone Alyndra hears Penelope yell out in horror and just manages to see Orkira’s body falling through the sky. Riders and dragons dive through frigid air after their friend, and the tiny runt Flameo deftly manages to gently catch Orkira safely! Seeing his plans foiled, Valasar spreads his own black wings and flies towards his nemesis, suffering an attack of opportunity from Nax and a toll the dead from Alyndra along the way. Despite his injuries Valasar tries to call down a flame strike on Orkira even though he will hit himself as well, but Alyndra manages to counterspell the powerful magic as Penelope heals her dragonborn friend. Returning to consciousness Orkira has just enough time to call out a warning about Valasar before the red dragon he was riding on blasts them all with fire!

The death ward on Penelope activates, keeping her alive as she watches both Alyndra and Orkira lose consciousness under the flaming assault.

Thank you to +1 Pen of Smiting for the amazing art from this episode! We return post holidays with Dragon Wars PART 2 on January 8th 2020 at 2pm PT on twitch.tv/dndbeyond!

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