Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Episode 4 Part 4 Adventure #28
Date of Session: November 12th, 2019 (5:00 pm to 9:00 pm)
Number of Players: 3
Legendary Hero “Colonel” Menos (Dragon-born Paladin / Warlock)
Kai-tick, Kin-slayer and “Servant” (Aarakocra Rogue / Monk)
Eternal Hunter XerX and “Master Lieutenant” (NOBLE Half-Elf Ranger / Wizard)
This session went insane in the most fun way. I enjoyed the chaos that happened in this adventure. The Enforcers and Captain Leon encounter more enemies that almost killed them all. After the long rest from the previous session, everyone woke up and chuckled at XerX’s Nat 20 tattoo. He wonders why he is shirtless right now. I told him it was a DM fan service moment to remind the players about the tattoo. Menos tells his fellow team about his Lina and mom dream. We all laugh before he even started. We’re the worst to each other sometimes.
Captain Leon summons the Enforcers to the kitchen in order to discuss what to do at Baldur’s Gate. Everyone agrees to beat up whoever dared cross their way, which now includes killing XerX’s biological father, the Eternal Hunter. They also learn more on Captain Leon’s backstory and how he’s feared in Baldur’s Gate in addition to training Eternal Hunter. Kai-tick is not pleased that the sacred Wuya Style is being treated so horribly, being passed on to one idiot to the next.
XerX vows to kill his biological father and claim the “Eternal Hunter” name. Yes. There’s a reason why I’m calling XerX that name in the credits above. Menos and Kai-tick are more than happy to help in this matter. Captain Leon goes along with it despite his warnings. I liked what happened next. Coblin warns everyone that they are going to enter through a dark territory that is difficult to navigate. The Enforcers aren’t too worried because Coblin already traveled through the dark territory. He is scared to go back, however.
Kai-tick forces Coblin to steer the ship, declaring the Enforcers his new slave owners. Then, Kai-tick destroys his communications horn. Coblin’s last method to talk to his darling Goblin wife. Kai-tick belittles Coblin for abandoning his family for whatever reason and makes him drive the large ship into the dark territory. They believe if he survived before, he’ll do it again. Sounds logical enough for Coblin based on that 18 persuasion / intimidation check.
Coblin steers the vessel into the thick black mist. Nothing happens to the Enforcers physically. However, a stranger wearing a hood appears on their ship. He also has a skeleton skull for a face. Kai-tick and Menos charge him first, but he simply phases through the attacks. That is… until he switches places with someone else upon the impalement. Menos ends up stabbing Lina—and his baby—in the stomach / chest / womb area with his BBC in a very non-sexual way.
The sex jokes never end now that this is a thing. Menos is shocked but isn’t sure if she’s the real Lina. As she loses consciousness, a wormhole appears over the vessel. This is a consequence messing with the curse he was warned about in the previous session. He now faces his three very evil cousins, who are now free from their prison in Ninth Hell. They are grateful for their freedom, but plan to finish Menos and Lina for good in the name of their favorite cousin Mas O. The Enforcers hate Martha, Menos’ mother, very much. Menos does as well.
XerX and Captain Leon jump off ship immediately. The three cousins think they scared the half-elves and proceed to battle Kai-tick and Menos. Kai-tick and one cousin battle each other first. This makes Kai-tick want to retreat with a barely alive Lina. Status of a baby is unknown. Menos fights the same cousin next and goes into death saving throw mode. He almost died if not for Kai-tick coming back with a potion of healing. They all end up using a scroll of Misty Step to escape them as one cousin out of three put them into panic mode.
XerX had planted oil barrels near the engine room, and plans to blow the ship up earlier than expected. Oh yeah. The Enforcers had a plan to bomb the ship once they docked on Baldur’s Gate, but that plan is being enacted now to save themselves from Menos’ strong cousins. Captain Leon tries to talk XerX out of it, and decides to get back on board as they hear the cries of Kai-tick and Menos having a hard time. XerX successfully blows a hole in the ship, which caused everyone to throw dexterity saving throws. Everyone, including all three cousins, succeeded on the throws. Except Captain Leon. He was hurt during his trip back on board but survived.
This distraction allowed Menos and Lina to make it inside the ship. Kai-tick decides to go and distract the three cousins, hoping to buy them enough time to “get it on”. The players discovered what must be done to properly as they notice the portal is still open and XerX sees “lines” attached to the overpowered Dragon-borns. Kai-tick goes into Bankai despite knowing he couldn’t win. Captain Leon joins Kai-tick as they face off against one Dragon-born cousin together. XerX is making his way back to the ship using a grappling arrow to help as well.
Coblin is scared the whole time steering the ship the best way he can. Before XerX, Kai-tick, and Captain Leon begin their death match. XerX sees the “lines” pull on the three Dragon-borns back into the portal. The whole table is laughing at “why” as Menos and Lina finally… consummated their marriage, sealing the cousins into the curse for good. They swear vengeance, beg for mercy, as they are dragged back into Ninth Hell. As I’m finishing the description of their demise, Menos and Lina finish up. What is going on?
I love our campaign to save the multiverse. These characters have grown up so much.
XerX returns to the ship, but the battle’s already over. XerX avoided most of the action but made interesting moves that helped the team survive from afar. Their teamwork is getting better with every fight they encounter. Captain Leon congrats the team for the efforts they put in as he did nothing in this battle either. Then, he goes in search of the other Enforcers (Menos and Lina). Captain Leon walks in on them as he opens the door and gets called a “closet pervert” by the other Enforcers. He flushes, and stalks away in disgrace.
After regrouping, they try to figure out what happened with the mist person and how he used a substitution technique on Lina Swift, but the Enforcers manage to leave the place without encountering him further. They also use a flower from Stranger Things and Demi-Gorgon blood to transport Lina back to Greenest Castle, their base of operations. Menos and Lina share a moment as they say goodbye. Kai-tick and XerX tease him for his slight affection. Also, Swift Menos baby somehow survived Menos’ murder attempt.
As everyone goes back into the ship for an intended short rest, XerX decided to go ahead to Baldur’s Gate without telling anyone else, and kidnaps Kai-tick without waking him to avoid his fear of water. XerX takes the last rowboat attached to the black ship. They leave Menos, Captain Leon, and Coblin behind. Kai-tick wakes up and freaks out, but the duo’s almost there after several hours without any other issues. I believe XerX wanted to scout ahead for the other Enforcers, but not telling them what he was doing… I kind-of liked it anyway.
Captain Leon and Menos have problems on the ship when they eventually wake up. But first, XerX and Kai-tick arrive at the docks of Baldur’s Gate. They see dozens of dozens of bandits working the area and Goblins being slaves to them. They also see a shed and an assortment of black vessels similar to the one they took from T’s Knight crew. XerX tries the “trick them” tactic, pretending that Captain T sent them for rescue. XerX’s deceitful moves continues to show improvement in each passing session. His dark side is always lovely to see.
Of course, their ploy goes flat. Soon, the bandits attack XerX and Kai-tick. They are overwhelmed by the numbers at first, but Kai-tick goes into a killer rage mode in a Corpse Eater frenzy. Kai-tick uses Shikai, the first form of the sword but that form’s superior enough against the grunts.
They also meet Coblin’s Goblin wife, but they didn’t care enough about her. Poor Coblin’s wife. Speaking of Coblin… back on the boat, Captain Leon and Menos learn Coblin wants to reclaim the ship for himself. He doesn’t want to return to Baldur’s Gate having severe cold feet at the sight ahead. Captain Leon plans to jump ship and swim, but Menos tries forcing Coblin into being a slave to the Enforcers. He doesn’t want to swim or jump ship. That’s ridiculous, but Coblin refuses to steer for Menos. He’d rather die than resume his slave duties.
Menos rolled a Nat 1 to steer the ship. The wheel comes right off. Captain Leon spots the situation as Menos also diverted the direction of the vessel too far right. That means the vessel has gone off course. Coblin, having a change of heart, rolls a nat 20 to successfully save everyone from crashing into the rocks. However, the ship did sustain damage. Leon sighs and jumps ship, deciding to swim the rest of the way. Menos relents as the repairs will be impossible.
Captain Leon and Menos swim onward, leaving Coblin behind, but Menos knows that it’ll take the rest of the day to arrive at Baldur’s Gate. He hates being in this situation. Captain Leon suggests something risky: using his secret Bankai to reach the docks. However, then Coblin attacks Menos to stop him from getting there. Menos, having enough of Coblin, is able to roll out a Nat 20 toss. This auto success landed Coblin next to his dying spouse, as Kai-tick decided to end her in that moment. They die Notebook-style next to each other.
Menos begs Captain Leon to use his Bankai because he’s not going to swim the rest of the way after seeing that Nat 20 toss. Captain Leon agrees and calls upon his ancient Bankai: Glorious Maelstrom. This creates a giant transparent humanoid made of artificial bones and energy that Leon controls inside the center. Menos is in awe as it is so big… XerX and Kai-tick can see it from the docks. They are terrified of Captain Leon’s incredible Bankai.
Instead of being hours away, Captain Leon’s Glorious Maelstrom allows him and Menos to reach XerX and Kai-tick in seconds. Unaware of the Giant being their allies, XerX and Kai-tick scream and try to dodge. Once they arrive, Kai-tick goes into shock and wonders why Captain Leon didn’t use this incredible ability earlier. Captain Leon is weakened out of pure exhaustion from using his Bankai. It’s something not meant for long-term as his life force couldn’t handle it.
After more bandits try to stab and steal from them out of ignorance, Captain Leon tries to get them out of there before The Eternal Hunter catches wind of their appearances. XerX isn’t too worried because the Glorious Maelstrom show they put on. As if on call, a Eternal Hunter approached the Enforcers. XerX has no interest in learning him other than taking his name for himself. This is a huge deal for some reason, and I’m liking the energy that’s coming off it.
Captain Leon joins the fight, using his Shikai Maelstrom. This conjures just the center Aura skeleton to combat rather than summoning the Giant again, especially after the time gap was literally minutes in-between from last usage. Kai-tick goes Bankai, XerX Fusion Dances with Kenji, and Menos transforms into the Paladin of White Dragon. It was about to get real. Everyone manages the high rolls and performed teamwork on a natural level. XerX does claim his name and the Earth Dragon EGG keeping him alive.
The Eternal Hunter begs for his life, wishing for the Dragon Egg back to him, but XerX decides to torture him. Keeping him alive enough to watch him suffer by giving him a touch of the Egg every few minutes. The Eternal Hunter preferred to meet Death over being tormented by the son he tried to kill as a baby. XerX decides himself as the new Eternal Hunter and finishes his biological father. As the battle ends, the Enforcers are celebrating over that victory. However, they haven’t forgotten about the other villains roaming Baldur’s Gate.
Captain Leon suggests going to Fox Traveler’s Safe House, the only neutral place in the entire city. Nobody goes there out of respect for the one “good” spot. Before they leave though, they discover someone else in the shed. Kai-tick had a set of keys to the place. They find XerX’s half-sister Yara. Before they kill her, XerX reasons they could use her until they leave Baldur’s Gate.
The Enforcers + Captain Leon + Yara still tied to chair arrive at the Fox Traveler’s Safe House, but are not given immediate entry. Kai-tick bangs on the door until the eyes acting like security cameras start blinking at them. They examine the Enforcers and eventually the door opens. Everyone rushes inside before they find more trouble.
At the Fox Traveler’s Safe House, they learn Fox Traveler is a Fox-like humanoid who is conspiracy theorist. He’s focusing on the Enforcers and their efforts to save the whole multiverse. He complied white boards on each member, their abilities, and he knows they killed Lord Eggza the first time around. The Enforcers are impressed / terrified.
The session ends on that cliffhanger. What will the Enforcers do next as the caravan is set to depart in one day’s time? Also, the hunt for them is on after they battled and killed the Eternal Hunter along with dozens of bandits. XerX thinks he might take over the territory if no one else is going to step up. Menos requests Yara train him in Earth to complete that Avatar Blade of his. Kai-tick wants to get the hell out of the most corrupt city in the Sword Coast. I’m excited for the next session!