Episode 31 – The Hero of Tarnstead
Posted on January 29, 2017
Because Aati is running low on time, he says that he has a deathmatch in the morning and asks if she can just talk to the elf in the alley.. She whispers in Aati’s ear that her name is Galrana and tells them that she can be found in the cellar beneath the Big Green Apple. They promise to meet up with her after the match. Then, they head to the embroidery shop and pick up the flag and barding and that says “The Hero of Tarnstead” on the side. Afterward, they go back to the temple and talk to E.L.Fudge, who tells them that he got back two messages from Cacot. The first one says that Cacot is fine and thanks them for the troops that they had sent. The second message says that Cacot is concerned about the city of Waleah because they haven’t heard from Waleah in some time. Aati & Illum go to their room, have some gruel, and Aati does some reading. He reads about Elven gods, but then gets spooked by a picture of a forest guardian that looks like a spiderbear, so he stops. Illum asks him to teach him something special in Infernal. Aati teaches him to say “Bibba Dooba Bobba Deeba Do,” but then decides that he’ll tell Illum what it means after the fight and they go to sleep. Aati wakes up before the rest of the group and decides to head up to a balcony to clear his head. Illum wakes up to find him missing and asks E.L.Fudge where to find him. When Illum comes upon him, Aati is meditating while watching the sun rise over the mountains. Aati expresses sadness at the fact that he can’t see the ocean from here. He says that he’s never seen it, but he has always wanted to. Illum assures him that he will have plenty of time to see it after the fight. The two head back to the room where Carl has made Aati his favorite kind of gruel (gray). Then, Long Dong Silver comes in with a rose in his mouth and gives it to Aati. Aati tucks the rose between his ear and horn for good luck. Illum gives Aati his shield and his teleportation ring and then reveals that he has carved Aati’s initials on the inside of the shield. Aati thanks them all. They head to the arena and wait in the holding area to be announced. While they are waiting, Aati asks Illum to finish reading the book he has and that, if anything happens to him, Illum needs to find out what happens to “Split Souls” when they die, but Illum assures him that won’t happen. Aati casts a shield spell on himself and hugs Illum. Meanwhile, Long Dong Silver wanders into the ring and their opponent, Nemestraehi (played by Matt), kills him. Aati & Illum end their embrace in surprise as they hear Carl the Gruel Man scream out, “Long Dong Silver, no!”
Episode 32 – Will Aati Survive?
Posted on February 8, 2017
Aati sees Carl the Gruel Man ready to run into the arena, but he uses the teleport ring to get in front of Carl and hold him back. That is when Aati finally sees Long Dong Silver’s corpse. The enraged Aati runs in at his opponent, Nemestraehi, and slams down on him with his hammer, while Illum holds back Carl the Gruel Man. Aati realizes that Nemestraehi is too powerful for him to beat if they trade blows, so his only chance of winning is to take out his enemy quickly. Aati uses every one of his spell slots in the first two moves as he delivers a series of powerful hits. Then, Nemestraehi lands a single hit on his leg and a shadowy substance begins coming out of the wound. Aati quickly responds with a Hellish Rebuke, mumbling an infernal chant and pointing as Nemestraehi is wreathed in flame. Before Aati can land another hit, his body is paralyzed by whatever dark magic or poison Nemestraehi infected him with, as the shadowy material now engulfs most of his body. Illum uses his Command ability to try to make Nemestraehi feel the pangs of regret for what he has done, but he fails to get through to the assassin. As Nemestraehi begins cutting away at Aati, Aati calls out for help from his companion, claiming that Nemestraehi is cheating. Illum immediately comes running in, yelling for Aati to pray with him. Both players roll dice to have their characters say a quiet prayer. Andy uses all of his points from his Lucky feat to try to roll the same number as Joe, in the hopes that it will trigger their amulets to help them, but he fails to get a matching roll all 4 times. Despite this, Illum runs in and lands a Thunderous Smite on Nemestraehi’s head, causing Nemestraehi to explodes into bits of shadow as the arena comes crumbling down around them from the explosion, killing most of the members of the audience and knocking Aati unconscious.
Episode 33 – Aati Survives
Posted on February 8, 2017
Illum rushes over to the unconscious Aati to revive him, but when he puts his hand on Aati’s body, his hand is burnt by a wave of shadowy energy coming off of Aati’s body. This startles Aati awake and he looks at his surroundings as the arena crumbles around him. He stands over the body of Long Dong Silver and tearfully remembers the vow that he made on Telfor’s grave that he would do what he could to keep his friends from dying. He picks up the rose that Long Dong Silver had given him, which had now lost all of its petals. He takes out the health potion that once belonged to Telfor and drinks it to heal his wounds, which only adds to his pain. Suddenly, the shadowy material begins taking control of the corpses of the slain audience members. Three corpses rise as zombies and begin to approach Aati and Illum. There is an elf zombie, a dwarf zombie, and a human zombie with it’s head hanging off of its neck. Aati’s first concern is to try to rush past the zombies to see if Carl is alright, but Carl calls out from behind the rubble to let him know that he’s safe. Aati & Illum then turn their attention to fighting the zombies. Illum knocks off the human zombie’s head, which causes it to explode the same way that Nemestraehi had exploded, but on a smaller scale, damaging both Aati & Illum. Aati tries to get away from the other zombies, but the Dwarf zombie takes an opportunity attack at him while he is running; however, it critically misses, causing it to fall neck first on the edge of Aati’s shield and explode on him. Illum then kills the remaining elf zombie. Then, bits of shadow energy appear on the ground and Nemestraehi re-forms from the shadows. Aati tries to heal himself, but he seems to have been infected with the shadow energy and his Lay on Hands ability actually causes him more damage. He then uses his shadow magic to summon a patch of tentacles on the ground that swipe at Nemestraehi. The two then have a fierce battle with Nemestraehi as he warps between the patches of shadow on the ground. Nemestraehi attacks with shadows which damage them even if the physical attack missed and he manages to knock out Aati, but Illum revives him with his Lay on Hands ability. Suddenly, Aati accidentally uses the shadow power to warp himself into the ethereal plane, disappearing from the sight of Illum and their opponent. He is too confused to use this to his advantage as he reappears, critically missing Nemestraehi and dropping his hammer. As he goes to pick it up, he is surprised to see a small tentacle monster that he had somehow summoned. He recognizes it as a friend and ask it to help him and Illum fight. Aati & Illum are at a disadvantage while fighting Nemestraehi in the shadow patch, but the tentacle companion manages to wrap around Nemestraehi and explode, destroying them both. As Aati looks at the carnage around him, Illum finally able to take a moment to kneel down by the body of his companion, Long Dong Silver. Aati puts his hand on Illum’s shoulder as they mourn their lost friend.
Episode 34 – It Might have Been Satan and a Wolf
Posted on February 14, 2017
Having finally defeated Nemestraehi, Aati & Illum look around amongst the ruins of the destroyed stadium. They attempt to aid the wounded as much as they can and free a trapped elven child from under some rubble. Then, they climb through the broken stands to get to the box seats where Pabarel Darkstone and the other nobles were sitting. Illum looks on in horror as Aati angrily sifts through the bodies, eventually finding the nearly dead Pabarel Darkstone. Aati demands answers about what kind of monster he had sent into the ring with them, but Pabarel is too out of it to respond. Aati tries laying his hands on him, but instead of holy light, dark tendrils come out of his hand and enter Pabarel, causing him to convulse and become unresponsive. Using his medical knowledge, Aati manages to stabilize him. Because Aati’s Lay on Hands ability doesn’t seem to work and Illum has used his up for the day, they agree to take him back to the temple where the other paladins can heal him. Aati carries Pabarel back down to to the floor of the arena, where they try to reunite with Carl. Carl is still on the other side of some rubble and says he doesn’t know where Shah-pu Ki-pa is. Andy uses his canon dice to successfully decide that Shah-pu Ki-pa is actually next to them looting the bodies of those killed in the arena explosion. Aati & Illum try to explain to him that he shouldn’t steal, but he doesn’t seem to understand why they object to it. He promises to leave the loot on the corpses and then proceeds to pocket it when they aren’t looking. Carl the Gruel Man then uses his magical gruel to blow the rubble out of the way. Illum picks up the body of Long Dong Silver, deciding that they will bury him back at the monastery, and they go toward the exit. As they get outside, they see that elves and dwarves have begun brawling in the streets outside the arena. Upon seeing this, Aati takes out the cloth mask that he had made and uses it to cover Pabarel’s face in order to avoid anyone recognizing him and attacking. Aati & Illum both look for a clear path among those fighting. Having rolled the same number on their perception check, their amulets begin to shine the way and clear a path for them. Following the path, they make it to the temple unnoticed. As they walk in the door, Aati calls out that they have Pabarel Darkstone with them, which immediately catches the attention of a cleric who begins to heal him. Aati explains to the cleric that he needs Pabarel to be conscious so that he can punch Pabarel in the face. The cleric quickly moves Pabarel away from him. Aati tries to promise that he won’t punch Pabarel, but decides that Moradin wouldn’t want him to lie, so he admits that he is definitely going to punch him once he is awake. As the cleric heals Pabarel, Aati’s dark energy exits his body, burning the cleric’s hand and returning Pabarel to consciousness. Pabarel immediately exclaims that it is Aati & Illum who destroyed the stadium and Aati punches him in the face, knocking him right back into unconsciousness. Having been accused by the son of a councilman and assaulted him, Aati & Illum are surrounded by paladins of Moradin and arrested. They surrender peacefully and are taken down to a cell on a lower floor, but request that E.L. Fudge come to see them so they can explain the situation to him. While they are waiting, they sit down against the walls and get a full rest, allowing them both to advance to level 5.
See the next 10 episode summaries: https://dndbags.com/episode-summaries/s2-episode-summaries/s2-ep-1-10/
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