Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Episode 4 Part 2 Adventure #26
Date of Session: November 5th, 2019 (5:30 pm to 8:30 pm)
Number of Players: 3
Legendary Hero Menos (Dragon-born Paladin / Warlock)
Kai-tick, Kin-slayer and “Servant” (Aarakocra Rogue / Monk)
XerX, the “X” Archer and “Master” (NOBLE Half-Elf Ranger / Wizard)
The Enforcers have officially left Greenest behind in the last session. Menos rides his mighty horse, Axel. XerX and Captain Leon drive the wagon with two horses. Kai-tick stays in the back or flies out sometimes to scout. They are now headed for the city of Elturiel, a theocratic-based society run by priests and ministers. Captain Leon has to meet Anthony, his mysterious friend and ally, for potential information on the Cult’s agenda or a Dragon Egg location. It feels good to be back on the main campaign arc.
Along the way, Kai-tick steps on Captain Leon’s toes when it came to being “leader”, which he barely swallowed. XerX and Captain Leon also had a small dispute when nobody chose to silence Kai-tick’s foul tongue. Kai-tick had no respect for this NPC.
Yet.
On the way to Elturiel, the Enforcers pass by the Cavern of White Dragons. Captain Leon reminds them that’s the place where they first met. In addition, he also reminded them that they ruined his “be a prisoner to get more information” plan. Kai-tick uses this story to call him weak, still disrespecting him and his ability to lead the team. XerX stops the wagon when they come across three Kobolds with a broken wagon.
The Enforcers investigate the situation. Kai-tick quickly discovers something fishy going on. The female Kobold tries to signal her friends to get away, which leads to Captain Leon knocking them out very quickly in a flash. It happened in such haste that it took Kai-tick’s brain a minute to process what happened. This was supposed to be the first clue to Leon’s incredible strength and speed. It went over the player’s head in the confusion. The build-up to what happens later was really good.
XerX examines what’s inside the Kobolds’ wagon, and realizes it’s a magic bomb. He touches it with a NAT 20 feel, but is warned about the sensitivity. If someone touches explosives the wrong way… BOOM. XerX stops touching the soft magic bomb after he hears the warning from Female Kobold. But… he wonders why the magic bomb is soft. Female Kobold says the design was clearly flawed as it is set to detonate in 30 minutes, but the broken wheel made that idea seem very stupid. These NPCs weren’t designed with good brains, you see.
The Kobolds were hired by Mas O to destroy Greenest and the Enforcers with it during the Ginyu Games. Then, they heard it was cancelled but had set off the bomb already… Mas O is back in the main villain chair as he somehow escaped Vin’s control. Someone else had stolen Mas O’s Servant contract.
Menos, silent in all this, suddenly high-tails it out of there. Kai-tick wants to know the bomb’s range, but XerX and Captain Leon insist on running. The range doesn’t matter, they just need to run like Menos did. Kai-tick agrees to the plan, and they whip those horses to flee the scene.
Thirty minutes later… the DM says.
The soft magic bomb explodes. The winds caught the Enforcers, but they were luckily out of range. They escaped death once again. The Enforcers were watching in awe, finding an explosion meant to destroy Greenest go up in flames. Captain Leon is driving this wagon alone as XerX joined Kai-tick in the back. XerX believes it was his arrow that set it off. He wanted to blow it up from a distance. A bad roll saved them all from a costly mistake.
Kai-tick and XerX converse about what to do when they arrive in Elturiel. However, this conversation is cut short when they notice two Knights on horseback trailing them. Kai-tick flies out to help Menos, who has already began fighting one of the Knights. Menos brags about his 19 AC and flexes those Knights off him. XerX fires arrows from afar. He rolled another NAT 20 and managed to knock the horse on top of one Knight. It was an effective roll / arrow shot.
Kai-tick keeps an arrow on the horse-flattened Knight. Menos defeats the other Knight and keeps him in a headlock. The Fanatic Knight, the one in the headlock, rants forever about his love for Mas O while the other guy is struggling to breathe. Menos tightens his hold on the Fanatic and demands to know why his brother sent ONLY TWO KNIGHTS to kill the Enforcers.
They are offended a soft magic bomb and two Knights was the best Mas O sent to finish them off. Captain Leon NPC is also slighted, but Kai-tick ignores him. They all think Mas O needs to get better people under his control. The Knight they capture under the horse reveals that’s why they were sent to merely slow the Enforcers down, not kill them. Kai-tick still thinks it’s a dumb bad guy move. Valid.
Menos kills the Knight in a choke hold after he learns his older brother’s in Elturiel. Mas O is trying to amass the Cult of the Dragon, recruiting allies into his ranks for the search of the Dragon Eggs. The Enforcers rethink their entire plan for Elturiel after discovering this piece of information. Dealing with Mas O is tricky. Menos believes he needs to stop Mas O by killing him, finding his brother is beyond redemption.
Kai-tick, on the other hand, thinks they should at least try to reclaim Mas O’s Servant contract to force him on their side. Menos agrees to an extent, saying yeah, but if that doesn’t work, they’re killing Mas O. Kai-tick agrees to those terms. Captain Leon wants everyone to stop for camp in the outer forest area to rest up and torture the horse-shit Knight they kidnapped.
This is where things get heated between Captain Leon and Kai-tick. They disagree on what to do with the Knight when it comes to interrogation, which leads to the Knight getting his neck snapped. Not by Kai-tick’s hand. By Captain Leon’s, a former assassin from the League of Whispers. Kai-tick is furious about the Knight’s death because the Enforcers still needed him for more information.
Captain Leon challenges Kai-tick to a death match, promising to put the Kin-slayer in his place. Menos and XerX do not join the fight, flabbergasted that Captain and Servant are actually going to battle each other before they go to sleep. Kai-tick requests that no one help him, wanting to test out Captain Leon’s strength first hand. This is the last time Kai-tick disrespects Captain Leon.
Kai-tick gets a couple free hits on Captain Leon. Everything was going in Kai-tick’s favor. He dealt a lot of damage to the NPC getting the first move, severely hurting him. Then, Captain Leon’s turn comes up next. He starts by spitting in Kai-tick’s face followed by a Wuya Style: Earth Wall Jutsu Technique. Kai-tick survived the Earth Wall. He flies over the wall and gets too close to Captain Leon. Kai-tick fudged the roll and realized what would happen next.
Captain Leon unleashed his Wuya Style: 64 Palm Attack and slaughtered the Kin-slayer against the wall. Then, he did a backwards straight down seismic toss maneuver, but he also managed to slam Kai-tick back into the wall all at once. Kai-tick was in no condition to fight back. Also, Captain Leon NAT 20 the hell out of this player. Everyone at the table laughed way too hard at this encounter. Leon whupped Kai-tick’s ass.
Kai-tick crawls to his tent for that long rest. Menos and XerX go to bed as well. Everyone laughs in their tents, except Kai-tick, about that ass-whupping. The following morning, Kai-tick wakes everyone up and bows to Captain Leon, who wonders why this assassin’s so accustomed to bowing to others. Kai-tick does not answer. Everyone gets ready for a half-day journey to Elturiel, where they plan a tactic to scout ahead to check the town’s activity… they are pretty much looking for a way to see if Mas O controlled or was in the midst of invading Elturiel like he tried to do with Greenest.
Captain Leon demonstrated his powers further, and summoned another Servant. A brown-furred dog named Oscar. Kai-tick and XerX are thrown by the existence of A TALKING DOG! Oscar tells them to chill, has a chill tone, and goes to tell Menos the strategy. Oscar will check out Elturiel first once the Enforcers are close to the border. Afterwards, he’ll report back to tell them what’s going on inside Elturiel.
Once Menos is updated on the plan, Oscar the talking dog leaves the wagon. Everyone waits until Oscar returns with more information. Then, a holy guard approaches their wagon, and tries to sneak into the wagon. Captain Leon reacts as XerX tries to make a quick excuse for their presence. XerX is beginning to see the Captain as a real assassin. Especially after Kai-tick’s ass whupping.
Captain Leon snaps the guard’s neck. The Enforcers hope that won’t draw attention to them. But they also agreed that it was a tactic they’d probably do anyway. After about two hours passed, Oscar returned with some startling information. The town is under someone’s control but not Mas O’s.
Rather, it was Sister Lily. XerX’s caretaker growing up. The woman he was supposed to meet with Father Priest, his adoptive father. XerX couldn’t believe Sister Lily took over Elturiel, and wonders how she did it. Menos wanted to know about Mas O, but Oscar’s search didn’t bring up any leads on him. The players investment in the story is getting way better. I’m so proud of our growth and the world we’ve built together.
The Enforcers decide to enter Elturiel to investigate after getting the all-clear. Captain Leon takes the wagon to go meet with his friend Anthony. The rest of the Enforcers go toward the Citadel, the largest building in the city, to find Sister Lily performing these alleged miracles. On the way up there, Kai-tick decides to sneak away from his friends. Menos and XerX continue anyway.
They run into random villagers who had “pure water” that satisfied the thirst for an entire day after one sip. Menos and XerX taste the water, praying nothing bad happens to them later. Next, they run into Goblins bragging about getting 500 Gold pieces as a miracle to… XerX demands that they hand over the money. They refuse, and somehow, XerX explains to the Knights that those Goblins stole the money from a privilege half-elf. They believed him and arrested the Goblins for theft.
XerX and Menos couldn’t believe they pulled that off. They scampered off quickly from those holy Knights. XerX gave Menos and Kai-tick 100 each, taking advantage of being the one who claimed the loot. Eventually, they arrived at the Citadel where a mob had already formed. Queen Lily stands at the top of her balcony giving out her miracles. It was difficult for XerX to see his sister-figure this way.
Kai-tick, upon seeing the GREEN necklace Queen Lily was wearing, dives for the attack. He believes this is Mirna again for the millionth time, wanting to take the necklace off but is unable to touch it. Kai-tick holds Queen Lily at sword point as the Knights storm the room. XerX and Menos fight through the crowds to get inside the citadel to join in the action. Somehow, XerX convinced the Knights outside to let them in.
Menos claims to be a mute based on his silence, not wanting to mess with XerX’s cover story. They rush inside, but by the time they get there with more Knights escorting the Enforcers, Kai-tick escapes and leaves Queen Lily behind. Queen Lily is thrilled to meet XerX again. They hug with Menos and 14 Knights staring. 14 Knights.
XerX and Menos are freaking out about this development. They can’t handle 14 Knights without causing a major incident. XerX is taken to a private room next to Queen Lily’s. I had the other Knights take Menos the Mute to the other side of the hallway. He is silent, trying to figure out how to kill without drawing attention to more Knights. Meanwhile, Kai-tick has entered XerX’s room and helped him take out the Knight inside.
Menos decides to fuck it and attack the Knights. He realizes he can’t take them all out. XerX and Kai-tick uses the “distraction” to escape rather than help Menos. This was an effective role-playing moment. “Screw You Guys” the player Menos cries out. Then, he uses a teleportation flower to escape. This was right before XerX changed his mind to help Menos. Kai-tick flew out the window, ignoring Menos outside next to Axel.
These Enforcers have an interesting relationship.
XerX convinces the 14 Knights somehow that there’s a bomb, and everything’s going to explode. Everyone leaves the Citadel. XerX learns that Queen Lily went to town square, and gets Kai-tick to join him. However, they run into the Goblins that got arrested and more Knights who want the Gold pieces back. XerX ends up blasting the Goblins while the Knights start fighting about who loves Queen Lily more. XerX is impressed with his antics. As am I.
Menos meets Captain Leon and his friend Anthony in a nearby tavern. They discuss Mas O, the fake green Dragon Egg, and his intentions in Elturiel. Menos asks the bartenders about Mas O. He learns the woman body is in town and going to town square to recruit more allies into the Cult of the Dragon. Menos leave Captain Leon and Anthony, who is too drunk to participate. Captain Leon trusts that the Enforcers can handle the situation.
Kai-tick, XerX, and Menos meet up in the town square. Kai-tick hides behind a tree near the park bench, where Mas O female (Killer God) and Queen Lily are seated. XerX is the one who approaches first. Queen Lily and Killer God spring into action as does Kai-tick, who sneaks up on them from the fallen tree. Kai-tick immediately goes Bankai, XerX’s Fusion Dance goes off, and Menos activates the White Dragon Ritual.
D&D homebrew transformations was the best idea ever. All the players love to transform. Queen Lily, based on the character Sister Lily from Black Clover, uses Water Bending. Mas O uses Killer God to summon waves of Goblins against the Enforcers. They crafted a town square into a battlefield.
Menos drives his BBC javelin straight through Killer God’s head, but she uses the opportunity to escape headless. As the body was a mere puppet, Menos was mad.
Queen Lily uses Water Bending quite effectively to keep the Enforcers at bay, and uses Blood Bending to control Menos. However, Kai-tick managed to snatch the green egg necklace and destroyed it, getting shocked in the process. Queen Lily… now Sister Lily… has returned back to normal. Everyone powers down, but XerX is worried about Father Priest. Sister Lily was using Father Priest as a battery for the miracles she was doing for the villagers.
The Enforcers go back to the Citadel and find a staircase to the basement level. They find a dungeon, which XerX declared, “cliche!” and runs off to find Father Priest. However, he doesn’t expect Father to attack him with rigorous fire. Father Priest is also wearing a fake green necklace. Menos whacks the Priest with his CAP Shield a couple times to avoid the flames, and then Kai-tick and XerX dive into the fire to subdue the Priest. They yank that necklace off him and punch him a couple times for good measure. After they finished up saving Sister Lily and Father Priest, they quickly try to leave the Citadel to escape Elturiel altogether.
They headed back the town square, where Captain Leon and Anthony sit on the bench chatting away. They had no idea what happened to the area, but are amazed at all the Goblins laying dead on the wet pavement. The Enforcers insist on leaving Elturiel. The panic to leave was immediate on Kai-tick’s face. Captain Leon agrees to leave, but he’s going to need one of the Enforcers to wrestle Anthony, who wants to wrestle. Kai-tick volunteers and quickly loses the strength check.
Menos wrestles Anthony next, which is pretty equal between them. Then Menos finally overpowers Anthony and slams him down in a grapple, winning the challenge. Kai-tick crawls next to Anthony and punches him in the face. This earns Anthony’s respect, and access to his fancy boat. Everyone hops on, Kai-tick knocked out and stuffed in the back. They sail away on the River for Baldur’s Gate, the most corrupt city on the Sword Coast.
What is next on D&D? Stay tuned for the next post!