Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Episode 3.6 Adventure #17

Date of Session: August 28, 2019 (10:30pm to 12:30am)

Number of Players: 3

1. Legendary Hero Menos (Dragon-born Paladin)

2. Kai-tick, Kin-slayer and “Servant” (Aarakocra Rogue)

3. XerX, the “X” Archer and “Master” (NOBLE Half-Elf Ranger)

Alright. Welcome back to the latest episode of D&D! Menos fights to find his mother in the Upside-Down, Kai-tick and XerX are dealing with an invader, and the Ginyu Games are five days away last I remember. Sometimes the Enforcers forget that the things that happen to them in consecutive sessions are happening in one full day. Except Menos, it has been 64 days. Are we caught up? I think we can dive in.

Menos is first. Last we saw him, he was reunited with his Father, but he leaves him to help his mother, who was kidnapped by this Ogre. During their conversation, Menos discovers that his parents had been taken to the Temple on Lord Eggza’s orders. Menos’ parents have a history with Lord Eggza and the war that sealed Mas O away It takes his Father some time to process Lord Eggza as anything other than the hero who saved his kind.

Before Father and son can discuss further, they notice a noise coming from the other side of the room. They also see another blood trail leading away from the spot where Menos wrecked Crossbones’ body. He figures out Crossbones can regenerate from bones which makes him immortal. They battle again, but this time around, Crossbones avoids Menos and attacks his Father.

Menos beheaded Crossbones, grabs a beaver pelt from his bag of holding, and stuffs the talking head’s mouth. Crossbones survived decapitation, but Menos cleanly destroys the rest of the body. He takes Crossbones as his prisoner and ties him to his side.

I loved Menos’ role-playing during this moment. He’s so direct about everything. After they talked it over, Menos realizes leaving his Father alone would be a terrible idea, so they walk together up the stairs. After seeing his Father’s slow pace, Menos decides to carry his Father on his back. This works out better to speed things along.

Oh Yeah! Before they left, Menos managed to grab a chunk of kryptonite and stored it in his bag of holding. He accomplished his goal and goes looking for Lina and / or his mom for the rest of his visit in the ToK (Temple of Kryptonite).

They run into some Goblins that Menos takes care of and another group chilling in the next hallway. They whisper about Menos’ mother and a different woman that HYDRA took prisoner. Menos and Father discuss the identity of the woman with Menos hiding his opinion of Lina’s cuteness. The anime moments are the best moments.

Ultimately, Menos and his Father spot Vin roaming the halls. He presses his hand against a wall’s side and enters a hidden room. Menos wonders if his same exact hand could trick the system. Father inquires what Menos means by this, and Menos goes into Vin and the switching bodies nonsense—Sora isn’t Roxas (Kingdom Hearts) or Goku isn’t Bardock type situation. His Father concludes the whole thing convoluted and not worth investing in. I kid but seriously, this is too stupid at times. D&D is the world’s best role-playing game.

Menos decides to ambush the chilling Goblins and successfully kills most of them without breaking a sweat, leaving one alive to answer his questions. After getting nothing out of the Goblin, Menos finishes him off. Father is proud to see his son’s darkness but grows more concerned about Menos’ mother.

They investigate the hidden room after Menos pressed his hand against the wall, and it worked. Lazy writing at its finest. Thanks, Deadpool 2 for bringing bad things like that to my attention. Menos and Father enter the Vin’s hidden room and search the place. They find eight people strapped to tables, a huge cube prison at the end and a bunch of tubes attached to said cube. Father suggested that he strap himself to one of the tables to hide his presence by blending in.

However, Menos points out how unnecessary that is and advises him to hide behind or under one of the tables instead. Father agrees and admits he isn’t the greatest thinker. Something Menos is “relearning” about his Father. Menos feels around the surface of cubic prison and rolls high enough to find the secret door inside. Father stays outside while Menos goes in to check out the lucky prisoner.

Vin, using his original face, greets Menos before he can glimpse her face. Menos is pissed and demands answers. He believed this was a different Vin, but they’re all the same NPC who changes his face. Like Harrison Wells and Reverse Flash from The Flash for those who watched or know about the slight convolution of that situation. Menos swung at Vin’s feet hoping to gain an advantage but smashes the ground instead.

Surprise, Surprise. Lina is the new cute prisoner contained inside the cubic prison. Menos sighed and checked around to see if she was breathing. He figured out that she was alive and tries to unhook her from the huge tubes pumping green liquid into her bloodstream. Then, she wakes up and causes chaotic havoc. Menos tries to calm her down but then she blasts an energy beam instead.

It was going directly for Vin, but he phased through the attack. The energy beam goes for Menos instead who dodges. Vin explains that he was trying to create the perfect weapon against Lord Eggza, who needs to be put down after the Dragon Queen is unleashed. Vin reveals Menos’ Mother next and summons a Dragon-born Speedster out of his wormhole to ensure his existence. Menos doesn’t know what that means and begs Vin not to kill his mother. He desperately rolls to persuade Vin. The roll is high enough to convince Vin, but he cannot allow himself to fade out of existence.

Vin phases his hand through Menos’ Mother and kills her brutally. Menos cries out, but is unable to do a damn thing to stop him. Lina mentions that he has proper motivation now to murder Vin. Karma came back to bite this player in the ass. Menos’ Father cries out and vows vengeance against Vin.

Vin leaves them and triggers the temple to explode, no longer needing it anymore. Lina was the first person to survive the process and “his” perfect weapon. Menos picks up his mother’s dead body, Father on his back, and runs to get out of the ToK. Lina follows him and tries to stay calm to avoid overusing her newfound powers. They manage to escape before the Temple explodes.

Menos, Father, Lina, and a beheaded Crossbones survived. The other prisoners, Goblins, the Ogre, and the new HYDRA’s fates are mostly unknown, but Menos assumed they’ve perished. Not a bad assumption.

The Princess Knight wonders what happened in there. Menos takes the time to explain to her what happened and then asks his Father about Mas O… the older brother he had no idea existed. Then, Menos mourns his mother alongside everyone else.

Back to XerX and Kai-tick’s time in Greenest. Last we saw these guys, they took Frankie, the invader of Greenest. Kai-tick smashes her face against a wall until she starts talking. Nurse Joy heals her wounds to keep the torture moving, but Frankie is a stubborn NPC.

Governor Nighthill arrives on the scene and offers to take Frankie to his room for more torture. Governor Nighthill is an expert on the subject and the Enforcers used a wish to turn his basement torture room into an endless training grounds… They have nowhere else to put her. XerX and Kai-tick take Frankie into Governor Nighthill’s room, and they have immediate regrets. His room is a sex room… “of course, it is” was the consensus to seeing the room. My players know and hate his Master Roshi personality type. Not my favorite thing about Governor Nighthill honestly.

They don’t spend much time in this room and leave it a lot after a few rounds of torture. This gives Frankie the time to escape through the window. XerX and Kai-tick decide to chase after her, leaving Ned behind at the Castle. They leave him behind a lot through this session. Their mission to watch over Ned Broccoli is going well.

Outside the Castle, XerX and Kai-tick try to figure out that cliffhanger from last session (mysterious red light). They find the light coming from the people’s zombie-like stares. Whatever Frankie did to them has taken effect. XerX is afraid because he was stung too and checks himself. This is where XerX discovers Kenji, in his Wizard Grimoire, is taking on the effects for his Master. Kai-tick warns his Master not to summon Kenji until Frankie is defeated.

The zombies do not move, but the infected Ginyu Force attempts to stop them. They do not pose is the reason The Enforcers knew they were infected. XerX senses Ned’s power going berserk outside of Greenest. They have no idea how Ned got over there so quick.

Captain Leon arrives to explain things. He is not affected and lost track of Ned after his infection was revealed. Captain Leon offers to stall the Ginyu Force until XerX and Kai-tick stop Frankie and save Ned. This leads to an NPC battle that ends with the Ginyu’s blasting more of the Castle into pieces. XerX and Kai-tick take a moment to consider what to do about the gradual collapse of Greenest Castle.

XerX and Kai-tick battle against Ned Broccoli again, who’s barely under the control of Frankie. Ned Broccoli’s feathers turned shiny blue instead of golden yellow, which is a indication of him reaching 25% power (MAXIMUM!). Kai-tick and XerX fight him, but they have no idea how to stop him. This leads to Kai-tick distracting the Super Servant while XerX prepared a charm spell. After Ned lariats Kai-tick into the ground hard, the charm spell worked. This leads to Ned reverting to himself and embracing the hurt Kin-slayer. The mission to take care of Ned went in an unexpected direction.

After Ned is taken care of, the true nature of the invaders comes to light. Captain Leon comes to the Enforcers’ aid once the Ginyu Force are subdued and ask what’s going on with Ned, who’s not anxious and friendly. After he learns about Frankie, Captain Leon’s truth is exposed: he created the team known as HIVE and she’s one of the members. It surprised Kai-tick to learn his background was gradually becoming relevant.

HIVE is an elite three-man team, the public face of the League of Whispers to distract the masses from the killings happening behind the world’s scenes. The three members were known as Steel, Gold, and Bronze. Gold was Frankie’s code name, but she hadn’t officially earned it yet. This is something she brought up during torture earlier.

Captain Leon warns the Enforcers not to underestimate them. They went rogue after gaining synthetic hearts from a Witch Doctor known as Doctor N. Frankie didn’t gain anything from this Doctor N because she didn’t trust him enough to do the operation. The synthetic hearts are the reason XerX can’t sense their power levels, only Frankie. I thought what happened next was crazy.

Kai-tick and XerX head back into Greenest to put a stop to her, but they can’t kill her because her death will cause everyone infected to go “rage zombie mode” including Ginyu Force, Ned Broccoli, and XerX himself. XerX tracked Frankie down to Tiffany’s brand-new item shop. They run past Tiffany and Dan after looking around the place. XerX and Kai-tick kick down the door to find Frankie sitting on the bed.

“Kill yourself,” XerX says. Frankie obeys and slits her throat. XerX remembers what would happen to everyone infected—including himself—upon her death and casts the 1st level spell Cure Wounds on her. Frankie recovers and is taken hostage again by the Enforcers.

This is where they meet the rest of HIVE. Tony, otherwise known as Bronze, walks into the apartment and introduces himself to the group as Frankie’s oldest brother. He is a Synthetic Human Ranger who asks for his sister back, dead or alive. XerX and Kai-tick think the trade-off is ridiculous and prepare to battle. Then Tony tells them that Steel took Tiffany captive downstairs and knocked out Dan the Gnome.

The Enforcers propose a trade: Frankie for Tiffany. Everyone agrees until they meet Steel, a tall Synthetic Human with a special sword. Steel wants to kill Kai-tick, wanting the kill to become part of the deal. Kai-tick doesn’t agree and the final battle breaks out. After a walk off happens between Tiffany and Frankie as Tony believed the “killing Kai-tick” part was excessive.

Kai-tick and Steel fight. This fierce stand-off almost destroys Tiffany’s item shop. Kai-tick was able to learn from the spirit of Carp Carp the true name of his leaf sword given to him from HaThor, unlocking the next stage known as Shikai. The new power allows Kai-tick to gain an advantage and defeat Steel. The true name is Corpse Eater, who is thirsty for kills.

Tony and XerX battle next after revealing they’re here to compete in the Ginyu Games as well. They’ve been sent by Mirna, the Green Dragon Overlord, to stop the Enforcers from winning the whole thing. Kai-tick hates remembering her and demands to know where she is. They don’t know or care anymore. The mission is a failure except for Steel. He still wants to kill Kai-tick. Frankie and Tony are more interested in winning the Ginyu Games now and ask Tiffany, who is a very forgiving man, about any new weapons in his shop to improve their gear.

XerX and Kai-tick awkwardly walk away from HIVE and Tiffany’s strange but friendly conversation. They are nothing like the killers Captain Leon described.

The D&D session ends there. Next session will pick up on HIVE’s background, their connection to Mirna, their status as Synthetic Humans and why their personalities appear more… childish than brutal. Stay tuned! The Enforcers are coming back!