Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Episode 3.3 Adventure #14
Date of Session: August 12, 2019 (10pm to 1:00am)
Number of Players: 3
Legendary Hero Menos (Dragon-born Paladin)
Kai-tick, Kin-slayer and “Servant” (Aarakocra Rogue)
XerX, the “X” Archer and “Master” (NOBLE Half-Elf Ranger)
This session got emotional really quickly. Last we left the Enforcers, Kai-tick, Menos, and XerX were training with Captain Leon. After they completed the bell test, Captain Ginyu approaches the Enforcers to inform them that Lord Eggza wishes to see them in the town square. The trio refuses, with XerX adding that he wishes for the Captain-Commander to super-speed over instead. This does not sit well with Captain Ginyu or Captain Leon, who are terrified of Lord Eggza.
Lord Eggza calls Captain Ginyu over the advanced ear scouter and insists the Enforcers meet him instead. This is not a negotiable part of the deal. The Enforcers decide Lord Eggza is an enemy they don’t want to fight at all and leave Lina with Captain Leon for now. They wish Lina good luck with training and follow Captain Ginyu outside to the town square.
The entire tone of the session changes once they arrive at the town square. The Enforcers spot three hooded figures, strung up on a tree, and Lord Eggza entertaining the villagers, who are too scared to move. Menos, XerX, and Kai-tick have mixed reactions to the chaos. The first person revealed is Bex, the NPC woman who tried to seduce XerX. The Player is fine with this victim. Then, Lord Eggza discloses that she survived his punishment. XerX stands by his statement.
The second person revealed is Zora!!! Everyone freaks out and starts paying attention to Lord Eggza’s demands. Lord Eggza claims his heat vision can incinerate anything even a wizard’s indestructible grimoire. Zora is barely alive but will survive… but losing his one chance to become Captain of a Squad would destroy him. XerX pleads with Lord Eggza, changing his tune, and the rest of the Enforcers follow his suit, unable to face down the power of a Captain-Commander on their own. Lord Eggza agreed to grant mercy to the Enforcers and moves onto the third person strung up on the tree.
The last person revealed is… Kurt Swift, the husband of Lina. He bears two heat vision holes in his stomach, and his pulse already went dead. The Enforcers are terrified not because they cared about Kurt, but what it means for their plot. Lina is not with them, which means they have to be the ones to tell her the truth. A lot of unknown variables will be considered once she learns what happened to her husband.
Lord Eggza leaves everyone to reel in the terror. His personal aid, Nurse Joy, arrives on the scene to heal the survivors. Zora and Bex will pull through, but Kurt is definitely dead and burned. Menos uses Cure Wounds to make the body presentable and carries Kurt over his shoulder. Kai-tick and XerX fall back, following behind Menos until they reach the castle, where they converse with Governor Nighthill: funeral arrangements will be made, which makes Captain Leon cancel training for the rest of the day.
Kai-tick pleads with both Governor Nighthill and Captain Leon to get everything ready (supplies and training chamber). They understand and hurry off to discuss things with Captain Ginyu. Menos lays Kurt’s body in front of Lina, who is mediating with her eyes closed. Before she can open them, XerX says, “We have a present for you.”
Menos and Kai-tick are pissed that XerX would set up the bad news in such a way. Lina keeps her eyes closed and wonders if this “present” is good or bad, making everything way worse for everyone involved. Lina eventually opens her eyes and is heartbroken to see Kurt dead in front of her. She cries and cries, demanding to know who did this him and why.
The Enforcers tell her the truth, which made it sound like it was XerX’s fault for provoking Lord Eggza in the last session. This anger triggers a dark vow of vengeance, made under a blood oath, that she will get her revenge on Lord Eggza for all the pain he caused her and everyone else in Greenest. Menos is impressed that they share the same oath and sees an amazing power in her. He wishes to train with Lina alone while XerX and Kai-tick visit the nearest shop to resupply and regroup.
Lina is trying to wield a longsword, barely able to lift it without shaking. Menos, feeling sorry for her, uses only the broken part of the Avatar Blade to block all her attacks. Then, Lina rolls a Nat 20 and slashes Menos across his exposed chest (he never fixed his armor after what Lord Eggza did to him in his sleep), destroying the “XerX” scar. Menos is more scarred because of Nat 20s: his first one in Stranger Things, a second scar with Lord Eggza, and now this one on top of the second one. This is pretty awesome.
Meanwhile, XerX and Kai-tick meet a friendly Gnome outside the Black Bulls’ new item shop. His name is Greg and a new member of the Squad. Greg was assigned to work at Greenest and flips the sign around to let people know they’re officially open. XerX and Kai-tick act racist, calling him a Dwarf at first, but then they learn his true purpose. The Legend of Shinzo, an old story that holds the secret to Lord Eggza’s hidden weakness. A topic that they shouldn’t have discussed out loud and outside.
This leads to the second death of the session, where Menos was there to witness. At some point during the topic of Shinzo, Menos rejoined the Enforcers and allowed Lina to grieve her husband more. He leaves her with this, “At least you have proper motivation.” Well he isn’t wrong. Greg, the newest NPC and first Gnome introduced in our campaign, dropped 100 feet from the sky and broke his head. Lord Eggza did listen this time around to them, he let Greg go at their discretion. Kai-tick is not pleased with the meaningless kills.
The Legend of Shinzo is an info dump but it pretty much means the Enforcers have the chance to perfect the fusion technique, creating a combined warrior that could take down Lord Eggza.
The death of Greg pushes Lina over the edge. She charges Lord Eggza and swings the sword, breaking the blade into pieces. Lord Eggza is impressed by her guts and wants them fried. Menos, Kai-tick, and XerX all try to take the blame for what Lina’s actions. This impresses the Captain-Commander further, making him more inclined to harm them all at once. Kai-tick grabs Lina and runs, XerX hides as well but Menos splashes some water on his Avatar Blade. He’d rather die fighting than running.
All the attack rolls were not able to beat Lord Eggza’s impossible AC, shattering his Water Blade with every swing. Menos is unsure what to do, but he keeps trying something since there was no turning back now. This alleged selfless act to protect his friends from certain death impressed the Blue Eyes Spirit Dragon, giving back Menos the power of Air after he lost it earlier. The sudden thrust of wind was strong enough to blow Lord Eggza away into a slight scare. He thought, for a second, that Menos’ new power was going to hurt him.
Lord Eggza was literally blown away by the attack and decides to take his leave, not wanting to squander the usefulness of Menos and his Avatar Blade. After this fight, Captain-Commander Lord Eggza departs from Greenest and the Sword Coast realm altogether, opting to skip the funeral of the people he killed. This infuriated the PCs because while they were killers like Lord Eggza, they had the respect to attend their victims’ funerals.
Soon, the funeral is prepared for two, and everyone attends. The Enforcers bought black cloaks from Tiffany, the tall male human shop keeper, to hold their respects for the NPC they lost today. Kurt was in this campaign since episode 1 and being able to say goodbye was a tough one, mostly because Lina is tied to the Enforcers’ success, so they are forced to care in a certain way. Greg is also added to the funeral scene, but… Lina gets everyone rattled up, telling the people of Greenest that revenge is the answer and calls out “Oath of Vengeance!” which makes the Ginyu Force and the Enforcers uncomfortable.
Kai-tick leaves early to deal with his growing bloodlust. He leaves Greenest’s borders to find anything to kill, only to encounter old enemies: female Mas O and Vin with Menos’ face. Kai-tick is surprised to find them and swings at Vin, desperate to get a cut through his intangibility. Female Mas O uses the distraction to activate the summoner’s jutsu: to conjure three Owlbears like the first time they fought.
Except this time, Kai-tick doesn’t need Zora’s help to save himself. He uses his Leaf Blade and strikes them without hesitation. Vin and Mas O watch the fight from a safe distance. They weren’t too eager to join. XerX and Menos, back at the funeral scene, sense Kai-tick was in trouble through the shared HaThor marks binding them. Except Menos. He is not marked with the Crimson Dragon. The marks glow brighter, teleporting XerX and Menos to Kai-tick’s current location.
Two out of three Owlbears are killed by Kai-tick at this point. The bird-man is covered in blood and rage. Vin and Mas O greet XerX and Menos, who are happy to see each other. Menos wanted a fist-bump with Vin, who bore his face minus the eye-scar. Mas O is too pleased to see his brother after a long absence. Soon after their conversation, the main villain duo leave the Enforcers to deal with the last Owlbear. Menos tries to slice the foe but misses… Then XerX gets his arrow ready and shoots the monster dead with the Nat 20 technique.
The session ends with three dead Owlbears and the Enforcers reunited in a random location, where they had a serious reminder of the real enemies: Vin and Mas O are indeed the Big Bads of this campaign alongside Lord Eggza. Next session should be interesting considering this cliffhanger. What will happen next?