Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD"): Hoard of the Dragon Queen: Episode 5 Adventure #31
Date of Session: January 16th, 2020 (5:00 pm to 7:30 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)
On January 16th, 2020, the Hoard of the Dragon Queen officially concluded. As a first time Dungeon Master without much player experience, this was easily a fun adventure filled with lots of lessons for the future.
I will make a separate blog post about the technical aspects of being a Dungeon Master (behind the scenes exclusive is coming). Until that happens, please enjoy the final recap from this campaign that will shape the next campaign.
Previously on D&D, The Enforcers have taken over the Sky Castle. They took Lord Venture as their prisoner, have the Castle Knights under their control, and they have joined forces with Mas O and Mirna, the original villains that were initially allies and now allies again.
Bubby’s Water Dragon Egg is with him and the KND (Kids Next Dimension), Seto and Mokuba have the Air Dragon Egg, XerX has the Earth Dragon Egg, Mas O has his own Purple Dragon Egg, and Mirna has the Green Dragon Egg. That leaves four Eggs with Eggza at Waterdeep.
Kai-tick suggests that they hide their Dragon Eggs (Purple and Earth) somewhere in the Sky Castle. Mirna has not entered into play at the time of suggestion, so her Dragon Egg wasn’t considered in this plan. Menos puts the Purple Dragon Egg underneath the floor title while XerX and Kai-tick NAT 20 the Earth Dragon Egg inside a wall within a wall.
This would the first of many NAT 20’s that Kai-tick will roll throughout this final session as the Enforcers of Hathor.
After they successfully hid the two Dragon Eggs, the Enforcers command the Knights to turn the castle around. Anywhere as long as they get far away from Waterdeep. Around this time, Vin arrives at Sky Castle with an interesting proposition.
All he ever wanted was to find Lord Venture. Vin teamed with the Dragon Queen, commanded Mas O, and even took Menos’ appearance to satisfy this desire. This unnecessarily convoluted character arc was finally over. I made my peace with it.
Vin managed to acquire Mas O’s Servant contract from Tiamat, the Dragon Queen, through risky action. He almost died in the process, but Vin retrieved it in order to bargain with the Enforcers. Menos tried to take the Servant contract from Vin, but bargaining needed to happen first. Vin desired Lord Venture, and would trade the Servant contract for him.
Kai-tick immediately accepted the easy trade, and had the Knights grab him from the prison. Lord Venture begged the Enforcers not to give him up, trying to act useful, but nobody cared enough. Vin was given Lord Venture, and the Enforcers had Mas O’s free will. Menos read the contract, and validated its authenticity via Dragonborn language.
During the reading of Mas O’s Servant contract, Adult White Dragon and Overlord the Young Green Dragon are being prepped for flight. Mas O, Killer God body, returns and warns the Enforcers about Lord Eggza and his current battle with him. Mas O pukes an unlimited amount of blood in response to his original body getting wrecked by Eggza.
The Enforcers try to communicate with Mas O, and learn that Lord Eggza has assembled the remaining four Dragon Eggs at Waterdeep. The female body Killer God perishes as a result of the original body getting wrecked. Kai-tick and the Enforcers decide to turn the Sky Castle around while they mount Adult White Dragon and an injured Overlord.
The Knights agree to steer away from the incoming final battle. The Enforcers bid them farewell, and travel with the Dragons + Mirna+Eri toward Waterdeep. Eri used to be Lina, Menos’ resurrected wife. Lina Swift had the craziest character development out of all the NPCs in the campaign.
However, they run into the Ginyu Force outside Waterdeep’s borders. The Enforcers think that they have to fight the Ginyu Force first, but they refuse. The Ginyu Force were tasked with protecting the outside, and to let only the Enforcers through the borders. The Ginyu Force also have no faith in The Enforcers, and wish them a painless death if possible.
The Enforcers ignore the Ginyu Force, and enter Waterdeep. They discover upon entering the barrier that this isn’t the real Waterdeep. It’s a City Replica that Lord Eggza created to hold the final battle against the Dragon Queen Tiamat without endangering the people.
At least not right away. The Enforcers vow to stop Lord Eggza from releasing the Dragon Queen Tiamat from Ninth Hell. They even brag that Lord Eggza cannot do so without 9 Dragon Eggs. Lord Eggza reveals he can try to unleash her with the Dragon Eggs he has… as long as he had a Living Servant to sacrifice. This is the part where Kai-tick tries to kill himself to stop the Ritual.
Kai-tick unleashes a lightning scroll that severely hurts himself and kills XerX in the process. Menos was shocked to see his two allies dead before the battle had started. Menos begins to kill himself. Lord Eggza is entertained, but then stops Kai-tick and Menos from hurting themselves further. He needed Kai-tick alive but about Menos…
Lord Eggza wanted the pleasure of killing him alongside his brother Mas O, fallen and defeated below the fake city ruins.
As Menos fell to the Fake Waterdeep terrain, Eri jumped after him and… MIGHT+U starts to play from the latest My Hero Academia episode. Menos wants to die because he doesn’t want to face Lord Eggza, but Eri (memories restored) convinces him that they can defeat Lord Eggza together. Given new resolve and inspired by the anime music, Menos accepts and undergoes a final Blue Eyes transformation.
Menos, with Eri on his back, had embodied the Blue Eyes transformation 100% power, and resembled a full-born dragon with wings. The player was amazed at how amazing he had become. However, Menos knew this wouldn’t be enough to defeat Lord Eggza, especially with Captain Leon entering the scene with a materialized purple Susanoo.
XerX had a conversation with Kenji mid-limbo, and agreed to merge souls like they had back in the Phandalin days. This revived XerX / Kenji into the Black Bull Defender with a fatal consequence. XerX agreed in order to kill Lord Eggza AGAIN. He needed to kill him. The Spirit of the Black Bull heard the determination in the BBD’s heart and arrived via a rainbow bridge.
Kai-tick was barely alive and begged Corpse Eater to eat him so he wouldn’t be used as a Living Servant Sacrifice to release Dragon Queen Tiamat from Ninth Hell. Corpse Eater’s bond with Kai-tick forced him to refuse the request. The sword couldn’t eat his master. I think around this time was when the music hit Kai-tick. He stopped being suicidal, and activated his Bankai to join the fray alongside the other Enforcers.
Kai-tick saw XerX and Menos handling Lord Eggza. So, he decided to settle the score with Captain Leon once and for all. Kai-tick attacked Captain Leon’s Susanoo form and NAT 20 the Susanoo hand apart, creating an opening to enter the over sized body armor. Kai-tick managed to smash Captain Leon out of Susanoo using another NAT 20 roll, and revealed true Wuya Style that put Captain Leon’s version to shame.
Kai-tick was very consistent with his NAT 20’s throughout this whole session. It was the most NAT 20’s I had ever seen in one session. It was very fitting to see them all come in this epic combat session. The MIGHT+U music created the perfect setting and tone for everything to finally end with the Enforcers.
The Enforcers joined forces against Lord Eggza. Captain Leon realized the error of his ways upon seeing the Spirit of the Black Bull, and used the remainder of his Susanoo boosting XerX and the Black Bull Defender’s transformation time limit. Captain Leon died. It was super funny when XerX asked if he was dying… after he dropped into the Fake City Ruins.
Menos and Eri were the most confidant in fighting Lord Eggza. Eri granted Menos triple advantage and a healing factor. Menos used both his upgraded BBC Javelin and HERO’s Shield against the tyrant. Lord Eggza used to fight with that shield… and couldn’t stand the sight of it being used by someone else. Someone worthy.
Lord Eggza wrecked the shield… like Thanos did with Captain America’s… and finally heat visioned it into dust. Menos raged, and kept fighting anyway. XerX mounted the Spirit of the Black Bull and rammed Lord Eggza at least three times throughout the whole fight. I couldn’t believe how amazing everything was.
The payoff to this D&D campaign arrived. The players and I were having serious over-the-top fun. Lord Eggza became pissed off, and NAT 20 XerX into death saving throw mode. I wasn’t expecting that to happen, but Kai-tick gifted XerX a potion of healing afterwards. XerX’s excitement to resurrection was undeniable. XerX commanded his new Mega Zord to attack Lord Eggza again.
After several hundreds of damage, Lord Eggza was finally giving out. Kai-tick needed a sure way to kill Lord Eggza once and for all, and consulted Corpse Eater. Corpse Eater is hesitant, but does reveal a way to kill Lord Eggza for good. Corpse Eater’s “Final Bankai” will destroy Lord Eggza both body and spirit, but the same will happen to Kai-tick.
Kai-tick doesn’t care, and declares the Final Bankai. He is engulfed in a dark energy, feathers blackened, and Corpse Eater had merged with his body. Kai-tick delivers a singular slash that finishes them both off. Two Aarakorcas with one blade.
Lord Eggza and Kai-tick begin to evaporate from existence. Slowly.
Hathor appears to them all, ready to grant Kai-tick his wish. As part of his contract to become a Servant, if he assembled all Nine Dragon Eggs, he would be granted a wish. However, Hathor reveals that the wish cannot be used to resurrect him.
Instead, Kai-tick uses his wish to reincarnate his spirit into a good person. Hathor says that is doable, but it could take a few centuries to purify his soul. Kai-tick doesn’t mind, and agrees to that condition. Then, Kai-tick asks Menos to finish him off because slow dying isn’t a thing.
Menos thanks Kai-tick, and finishes him off. Afterward, Menos and XerX left Fake Waterdeep leaving behind the Dragons, Mirna, Mas O, and a still present Hathor.
They declared that they had their own assignments to complete, and separated from each other as well. The Enforcers erased Lord Eggza, returned the remaining Dragon Eggs to Hathor, and went their own separate ways.
Long story short: the final battle was a masterpiece in terms of execution with loads of payoff. Whatever dangling storylines that were left unresolved will be addressed later sometime during the Next Generation Campaign.
We had that session immediately after this one concluded. The night was still young! Plus Ultra!