Welcome back to the NADDPOD Listen Along everybody!

We’re finally reaching the beginning of the end of the Eldermourne campaign’s first arc, and while the newly-christened Choo Choo Crew knows where they need to go next, they’ve still got some unfinished business to attend to in Thornkirk.

See also: 

• NADDPOD Listen Along: Introduction
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 1, The Reaping Season
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 2, Jabs and Hooks
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 3, Broken Heart Banshee
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 4, Ghosts of Thornkirk
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 5, The Baroness
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 6, The Rook’s Gambit
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 7, Trial By Scale
• NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 8, Until We Meet Again

(I also only now made the connection between the FenROSE family and the town of THORNkirk. Very clever, Murph, very clever indeed.)

We’ve got a jailbreaks, we’ve got disguises, and we’ve got a budding civil war in this episode, so I say we get started!

Recap

The Choo Choo Crew start the ep in the middle of a conversation with Syb. The Rook states that a civil war is going down between factions of the gang, and that it would be appreciated if the Crew can take out Fergus while they deal with Madame Whitlocke.

Some documents that Syb stole from the Baroness show that Dr. Nebil had actually been a man named Arthur Penly, who was wanted by the Petty King for being associated with the Blades.

Syb figures that Petty Jack was let out of prison so that he could circulate the bounty on Penly to his contacts, the Bedfellows, which is what ultimately led to Penly’s death on the boat, thanks to a tip-off from Madame Whitlocke.

It also appears that the bounty on Penly was written by a priest or priestess of the Reaper.

After an awkward confirmation about Syb’s relationship with the crew — they’re companions, though not quite actual friends, just to be clear — the crew heads to Marcy’s to see if she can’t help them get some town guard disguises.

They instead find her at the Copper Dagger (shocker), and she agrees to help them break into a scout tower to steal some uniforms.

Following a brief skirmish, the crew manages to secure the disguises with the help of Marcy, and the three head over to the jailhouse, where they successfully walk past the guards.

Once inside the Marcy’s old office, they locate the hidden trapdoor beneath a rug and descend to the unused jail cell below, hearing the voices of Petty Jack, some guards, and Swastian Fenrose being dragged out of his cell: “No! It’s been six hours since I’ve done dressage!”

The Crew and Petty Jack’s gang fight, though a smart combo of Grease and Burning Hands make short work of the goons, leaving just Petty Jack who promptly gives up.

Once questioned, he reveals that he was given Batilda’s blade after being released from prison in Harronford by the Petty King. He was to find the location of Penly, as well as send word out to his contacts about wanted Blades (excuse my probable misspelling here) Glaida Gorley, Brayden Kenley, and “someone who just goes by Baltilda,” giving Fia hope that her mentor is still out there somewhere.

A girl named Irena Ibanov is also wanted, Petty Jack says, an Fia reveals that Irena was her girlhood best friend who brought Bukvar to life.

Jack also divulges that the Blades who have switched sides to the worshiping the Reaper call themselves Prophets now, including Prophet Gidean and Prophet Kane, the latter of which having been sent to the area to try to find Penly.

When asked where Fergus is, Jack says that he’s off wrangling a horror for some Reaper-style execution. Apparently Madame Whitlocke knew about the Rook insurrectionists, and they have an “underling who got too big for their britches” on trial to make an example of.

The crew then hears the tolling of a bell.

Commentary

I said it before and I’ll say it again; Murph is not pulling any punches when it comes to the first arc of Eldermourne.

Usually the first arc of any D&D campaign is something of a tutorial to allow the players a chance to get used to being in their characters’ skins. Maybe they’ll fight some goblins, or track down a wyrmling, or even rescue some missing teens.

And while the town of Thornkirk checks quite a few boxes for being your run-of-the-mill starting level, the influence of the wider world that Murph has brought in within just the first six episodes goes far and above what is usually seen at the top of campaigns (at least in my experience).

The Rook’s Gambit brought with it another info dump through Petty Jack (though I will note that they did not do any sort of insight check to see if this known criminal was lying to them at swordpoint, just sayin’) about the Petty King’s court, turned Blades, and Dr. Nebil/Arthur Penly’s past life.

It appears that the Blades as an organization have been either disbanded or have been underground for some time now, given the years that Penly had spent in hiding as Dr. Nebil, though even now they’re still being hunted by former associates.

I don’t know if there’s some sort of ritual that can turn a person/Blade into the Horror known as a Prophet, though if so, it makes me wonder if that could be done against someone’s will, and if perhaps Batilda may be in danger of such a fate.

I’m extremely excited for the gang to meet up with Irena somewhere down the line, and to see what kind of a badass she has become.

We’ll touch more on the questionable morality of Reaper worshippers in the next episode (do you really want to align yourself with the deity that is bringing literal Horrors into the world? Is that not obviously evil?), but I will say that the religion of the Reaper gives me Very Bad Vibes.

Does following the Trickster count as a capital R Religion as well? Which side of the coin would Paladins generally fall, given their magical abilities? Does no one really align with the Elder?

I guess the Elder would probably be for those who are True Neutral, while the Reaper would err strongly towards Lawful and the Trickster towards Chaotic. Whether or not Reaper followers are inherently on the Evil end of the alignment chart and Tricksters’ always lean Good is another question entirely, however; and one that I hope we’ll see explored down the line.

I also wonder if we’ll be getting a Balnor-level DMPC to join the party at any point. I doubt it, given that Murph has both Bukvar and Shank to speak through if he wants to contribute to the in-character shenanigans, but I’m sure characters like Syb, Irena, and potentially Batilda will join the party for stretches at a time.

I don’t have much more to say about the episode proper, other than that it’s always an interesting milestone when D&D parties actually kill someone for the first time…. and this was quite the way to do it, what with all the burning. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess!

Roses:

• Petty Jack just giving up at the end of the fight, and the players’ genuine confusion that someone could actually do that
• Bukvar wielding Chekov’s Syringe the entire episode
• Henry ordering a full entrée while Swastian is likely being tortured by Fergus
• The gang learning that Henry has an ex-wife
• How much everyone begrudgingly loves Petty Jack
• Swastian, on being on fire: “It’s hot! It’s like being too close to a fireplace!”

Thorns:

• I wish there would have been some foreshadowing that Syb could be caught, or that Fergus was out hunting a horror — just to give the illusion that the party maybe could have seen the end-of-episode twist coming
• The fact that Shank has just 1 hp (ie, will always die if he gets hit) really makes it so that the Echo Knight’s main ability is countered by a simple Magic Missile, no?

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

Episode 5, The Baroness |Episode 7, Trial By Scale