I called it!

I called it I called it I called it.

Big revelations (that I called!) were revealed in the most recent Not Another D&D Podcast Episode, Killshot, along with some new friends and old enemies.

See also: 

• NADDPOD Listen Along: Introduction
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 9, Hexblood
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 10, The Would Be King
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 11, Killshot
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 12, The Prophet Gideon
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 13, Cindersworn

I should also note that now that we’re all caught up with the ongoing campaign, I’ll be aiming to publish the Listen Along on the Friday following the Thursday release.

(Though in some cases, such as today, it may have to be postponed to the Saturday.)

This allows me to write up the Listen Along recap and commentary after listening to the week’s Short Rest. As previously mentioned, I will be actively avoiding including any info or goofs that are Short Rest only, as I don’t want to overstep by making public anything hidden behind a Patreon paywall.

Which, again, I very much urge NADDPOD fans to join, because it is seriously worth that monthly $5.

With all that out of the way, let’s jump back into the fray with everyone’s favourite X-Men super soldiers!

Recap

The Hexbuds are surrounded in the heart of Wymer’s camp. They’ve wounded the would-be king close to death, but he’s retreating, being dragged away by one of his knights and swarmed by attendants.

The mission seems lost, and Tarragon, Jabari, and Corbeau are all suffering wounds as the melee closes in.

Allowing the thrill of battle to entice her once more, Tarragon Snakeroot draconic wings launch her into the air as she sends a Guiding Bolt at Wymer, finally knocking him unconscious.

Jabari can’t quite get a shot on the king through the moshpit of bodies, but manages to maneuver himself so that he can just barely see the king’s brother. He lets off three shots with disadvantage (ranged attack vs. prone creature), and, thanks to some help from Tarragon’s Guiding Bolt, manages to land all three.

The would-be king is dead.

The camp erupts into chaos, with war horns blaring and combatants leaping out of tents. Sir Raynard Wendell charges Corbeau with his warhorse, knocking the Hexblood out and stabbing him for good measure (causing two automatic death throw fails).

Tarragon runs to Corbeau, healing him with a Channel Divinity, and casting Sanctuary on Jabari. The three begin to hightail it out of there, but are pursued by Wendell as well as arrows from throughout the camp.

Attacks made on Jabari instead go to Tarragon, thanks to the Sanctuary spell she cast on him, and she eventually falls unconscious in his arms.

The trio (along with Lake!) make it into the treeline, though have run out of ki points, which were allowing them to sprint faster than Sir Raynard’s warhorse, Gallanthoof. Just as he begins gaining on them, Corbeau spots a wintersprite in the trees.

It’s odd for one of these to be so far south, and it reminds the Hexbloods of their time spent fighting giants to the north in the name of the crown. Corbeau had been captured by the Barbarians at some point during the campaign, and began to realize that the Barbarians and giants they were fighting weren’t representative of all inhabitants to the north as they’d once believed.

There were different political factions at play, and the Hexbloods were saved by a group of giants including one named Glaida, who brought them to the town of Riglavik to recover.

Glaida was around 80 years old when they met her decades ago, and had been the town’s wise woman who could speak to sprites.

It was there that Corbeau and Tarragon began to lose their luster for war.

The Hexbloods make the split decision to follow the Wintersprite east as they can hear Prophet Gideon charging on horseback from the south towards their direction.

Not wanting to lead Sir Raynard to slaughter at the hands of the ghoulish monster, Tarragon casts Thaumaturgy to spook Gideon’s horse, and casts Sanctuary on the knight, telling him to flee.

The sprite takes the party through an invisible gateway that leads into a gorgeous grove. It’s daylight, and yellow sprites dance in a warm summer breeze. A group of centaurs appear to confront the Hexbloods, who lower their weapons (even Jabari, though he has a hard time doing so).

Corbeau explains that they were invited by the wintersprite, and that Lake should be allowed in as an emotional support animal: “she’s allowed everywhere, I have a note. I got this 148 years ago but it’s still good.”

The centaurs bring the group to Glaida’s cottage, with Murph explaining along the way that these groves are places that the Trickster created and hid away from the Reaper’s influence. It is rare for mortals to be invited into a grove, because an invitation cannot be rescinded, and any who are brought there can bring whomever they want.

Once at the cottage, Glaida welcomes “Jabari the Small, Corbeau the Tiny, and Tarragon the Teeny” looking the same age she had been all those years ago.

The centaurs leave, and Glaida explains that for every five hours that go by in the grove, only one hour passes in the material plane, and that no one ages here.

She says that the groves are constantly moving to avoid the prying eye of the Reaper.

It is revealed that Maxorra is actually Merowyn, who created the Hexbloods and who the Hexbuds believed had been killed at their hand during their final campaign.

It turns out that the Merowyn they’d killed was just a construct, and that the mage has expanded her power to become a master at preserving and creating life.

She has now struck a deal with the Reaper to act as his general against the Trickster.

“She is starting a war she cannot lose. Every fallen warrior will join her in the end. With the dead as her foot soldiers and the prophets as her knights, she will find the Great Grove, kill the Trickster, and hoard the power of magic for herself.”

Glaida also reveals that King Brightleap is already lost as something of an undead Prophet himself, while Gideon and Kane were both executed Blades who, if they still had free will, would want the Hexbloods to destroy the monsters they’d become.

The big issue is that, as ex-Blades, both Gideon and Kane have access to Groves, having previously been invited by the Trickster.

Merowyn/Maxorra has already used their access to scorch one Grove to the north, where her prime body currently resides.

“I’m so mad at mom right now” – Tarragon

Glaida says that she can’t reveal the identities of her allies, the fellow Guardians of the Grove, just in case any of the Hexbloods are captured and turned, but notes that the friends of the Trickster are organizing to fight in the war against the Reaper.

Jabari comes to terms with the fact that the king is no longer the king, and states that protecting the realm is his true purpose.

The party decides their first course of action should be to take out Prophet Gideon, as he is alone away from Kane, Thirston, and Maxorra (who they will have to deal with eventually).

Murph ends the episode by saying: “So as the three of you make this plan to go out and to face the Prophet Gideon on the Material Plane, you have this rare moment of peace before the inevitable violence that is to come.”

Commentary

I love that Murph gives his important NPCs death saving throws.

One of the most powerful things that D&D PCs have to their advantage is the way that they, you know, don’t actually die when they drop to 0 hp.

Death saves give the possibility of an adventurer to stay alive for four full rounds before either stabilizing or dying outright, which is a solid 24 seconds in-game time. that’s plenty of time for allies to heal them back up, or at least grab them and take them to safety, and the fact that something similar isn’t RAW for higher CR creatures has always bothered me.

Like Murph, I allow for death saves for those creatures, making them that much harder to take out while the fight continues around them.

Well, unless you’ve got Jabari on your team…. then it only takes one action.

The chase sequence that followed the assassination kept the stakes high, and I loved how Murph kept things from getting monotonous with the introduction of first the woods, then the sprite, then Gideon on each successive round.

I loved Tarragon’s pity for Sir Raynard, and that she helped him escape Gideon even as he was peppering her with crossbow bolts mere seconds earlier.  It is pretty obvious that Gideon is the force of evil here, and I’m glad that the moral greyness has given way to a concrete plan of action that puts the Hexbloods squarely in line with the Choo Choo Crew’s MO.

So let’s get into that.

I was honestly taking a shot in the dark when I wondered aloud last article if maybe Maxorra was Merowyn. I mean, I was wrong in thinking that Wymer was a construct (turns out he just wasn’t completely unconscious by the end of last episode), but I’m still happy to have somewhat called it ahead of time.

It makes narrative sense, too, that Merowyn would still be a threat for the Hexbloods. The players were joking about how the “one last job” they’d previously had to “kill mom” wasn’t actually the end of her, and that they were now starting on the third movie of a trilogy.

We got some amazing insight into the epic adventure that the Hexbloods previously had, though, from their war in the north, to meeting Glaida in Riglavik (I’m probably butchering the spelling on that), to hunting down their creator; it makes it clear that the 11 levels they have and the notoriety of the Hexbloods were earned.

It’s also hilarious to think that they’re all somewhat shaking the rust off as their century-old bodies and minds get back into the swing of things.

Merowyn being able to control Maxorra and other constructs is giving me some serious Akarot energy, though I don’t think it was made clear whether or not Merowyn can see and act through her constructs in the same way. I’m sure that Murph will make the mechanics of it all different enough from what we saw in the Bahumia campaign.

We saw some big character moments for all three Hexbloods this episode as well, with Jabari realizing his purpose is to protect the realm, not just the king; Tarragon allowing herself to unleash the dragon in the pursuit of good; and Corbeau finally getting to figure out what in the damn hell was going on.

Here’s hoping that the band truly getting back together will be enough to take on Prophet Gideon — especially if he’s got the Royal army’s knights under his command.

Roses:

• Corbeau telling Lake to go help Jabari, who needed the “emotional support right now”
• The idea that the Hexbloods need to limit any death, because all dead become part of Merowyn’s army
• Jabari getting excited about Tarragon being angry at mom
• The entire description of the three “killing mom” the first time around. It sounded epic
• The Prophets essentially being agents of the Reaper against their will following executions
• Glaida loving the juxtaposition of her giant furniture with regular sized people. Also the line: “They are called the Prophets but they may as well be called the puppets.”
• Getting more info about the Guardians of the Grove

Thorns:

• For a second there I was wondering why Fia didn’t ask Glaida where Batilda is, but then realized that Fia is still on a boat to the north
• It seems like the Guardians of the Grove are severely outnumbered (we only know about, what, three of them? Glaida, Batilda, and maaaaybe Irena?). Was hoping we would learn about some more this ep

Buds:

• Learning more about the Hexbuds’ campaigns in the north, perhaps through some flashbacks??

That’s it for this ep! Find other NADDPOD Listen Alongs here and share your takes, predictions, roses, and thorns in the comments below.

Episode 10, The Would Be King | Episode 12, The Prophet Gideon