All good things must come to an end, and the saying holds true for the Choo Choo Crew’s time in Thornkirk.
…Luckily for us, however, the Eldermourne campaign is Just Getting Started, Yall, so while we may be saying goodbye to Inspector Marcy, and Swastian Fenrose, and Syb Bonkginya, and fan favorite Glass Willy (to name only a few of the fantastic NPCs of Thornkirk) the party is nowhere near over.
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’m obviously getting a little ahead of myself, given that the last thing I recapped was the cliffhanger of a mid-fight ending to last episode, so maybe we should get back to that before I wax poetic about the end of a D&D podcast’s arc.
I’m not emotional, you’re emotional. Shut up.
This episode also marks the last of the episodes that I had previously listened to, meaning that I’ll be going in blind (or deaf, I guess) for all future NADDPOD Listen Along articles.
But for now, let’s rewind a bit here and get back to that pit-side brawl…
Recap
Zirk is close to unconcious, Henry is down for the (literal death saving) count, and Fia is stuck in a pit with Madame Whitlocke and the Toadlamax Horror as Fergus winds up for the finishing blow.
Marcy joins the fray on the ally initiative, electing to jump into the pit to help fight the Horror. Syb attempts to stab at Fergus, but to no avail, as Henry rolls another death fail (that’s 0-2, for those keeping score at home).
Fia, seeing her friends in trouble, jumps out of the pit, though misses her attack on the extremely injured Fergus.
With a broken rib and a dying friend, Zirk casts a firebolt at the monstrous mountain of a man. It hits. Murph says that Fergus has 8 hp left, and Caldwell manages to roll a 9 on his d10.
Willy runs up and does a medicine check on Henry to stabilize him. Nat 20. Henry opens his eyes at 1 hp and for a moment thinks that Willy is his son, Henry Jr.
Syb jumps into the pit and finishes off the Toadlamax, and the crowd finally stops fighting.
Madame Whitlockes support has been crushed in the mini revolution. She leaves to lick her wounds, but not before Fia has her say, asking Whitlocke to at least acknowledge that they saved her.
“There’s a part of me that does not want you to just be a piece of shit. Am I so foolish?”
Madame Whitlocke breaks her parasol and throws it at the witch’s feet, but Fia merely picks it up and casts mending.
The crew heads over to the baron’s keep in the aftermath of the battle for shrimp scampi and port wine to celebrate.
Swastian does dressage with his horses (oh, it’s been hours, it’s been hours!) while the townsfolk drink and Fia jumps into the pool.
…Unfortunately for her, the pool cover is still on and she gets caught in it. Zirk falls in as well on his own accord, and when Henry tries to help he rolls a nat 1, falling in as well.
Various NPCs attempt to help; Marcy gets a nat 3, Syb a 7, and Swastian, atop a horse, gets a nat 1, falling into the pool horse and all.
Murph decides that this is a terrible way to TPK a party, so he just says that the horse displaces enough water and that everyone is fine.
The crew turns the pool into a hottub, and I realize that I really didn’t need to recap the pool shenanigans so thoroughly, if we’re being honest here.
Syb shows the crew to a boat on the river that they say they own but really had just stolen keys from Swastian. They say that they plan to stay in Thornkirk to lead the Rooks, and to “keep doing what I do, which is steal from the rich and give to myself.”
Before leaving, the three grab their various belongings from the morgue and the train car — Henry: “I’m old hat at skipping town. Usually I’m heading out by myself, but it feels alright to be hitting the road with some friends. Maybe my luck won’t run out this time.”
Fia says goodbye to the werewolf family and Zirk leaves a note giving his two week’s notice… effective two weeks ago.
Once on the boat and floating down the river, Henry explains that he used to be a third mate on a shipping vessel out near the Capitol: “Those are some of the best years of my life, out there on the open sea.”
He explains that his old captain turned the crew out after Henry ratted to him about a plotted mutiny, leading to him working on the docks in Sirenlock’s West Precinct, where he met Izzy and had little Henry.
Zirk talks about the last time he had to flee a town. He and his mother had been hawking their all-cure elixir, and Zirk had tried to do something to make it actually work. Whatever he did made the people of the town sick, and he and his mother parted ways: “I told her I hoped that she could find a way to be better, because that’s what I was leaving to do.”
Fia says that she ended up in the train car after leaving the town she grew up in. Her father, the Reaper preacher, had found her and her childhood friend Irena doing magic in the woods, and had decided to send Fia to a convent and Irena to the scales. Fia switched places with her: “I foolishly thought that if I could send her in my place, he would not put me in her’s.”
As seen in last episode’s flashback, Fia was saved by Batilda and taken to the train car where she learned magic.
Henry also divulges what little he knows of his curse, and Shank reveals that he doesn’t know anything about old Hank.
The crew hopes to find someone on their travels that may know something about it. They decide that Bukvar can be captain, while the rest will all be third mates.
Murph ends the episode saying “The three third mates travel along the river, as the sprites light the sky, and you are off on your next adventure.”
Commentary
I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to write (on January 14) that the next arc of this campaign is with completely new characters due to Caldwell going on paternity leave.
That’s not to say that this marks the last time we’ll ever see the Choo Choo Crew (AKA The Third Mates; I hear the jury is still out on an official party name?), but it is the last time we’ll hear from them for the foreseeable future.
Which is sad, but understandable, and I’m excited to see what new characters Emily, Jake, and incoming guest Lou Wilson come up with for the next arc.
But back to Thornkirk.
I was glad that no one died, though it really would have been heartbreakingly tragic (and thus great storytelling) if Henry were to have died just as he was finally starting to do right. He was at 0-2 for death saves, after all.
Maybe I’m just an asshole, but I believe that DMs shouldn’t pull any punches in the much deadlier early levels of the game, because if one of the PCs dies, it kind of sets the tone that this shit can actually happen, which makes for a more suspenseful campaign as a whole.
But, again, I AM glad that no one died.
We get a lot of goodbyes in this episode, as is expected, though most of the character background is just vocalizing what the three PCs experienced through flashbacks in the previous episode. It makes sense for the PCs to fill each other in in-character, but doesn’t add too much for the listener/astute commenter.
I like that Syb essentially got a happily ever after moment by taking over the Rooks, and that the Crew has allies back in Thornkirk if they ever need them.
Here’s hoping that the Petty King doesn’t send more guards in retribution for the ones that were killed, though.
Petty Jack and Madame Whitlocke could very well be a thorn in the party’s side as well somewhere down the line.
I’m sure there will be plenty to chat about with the start of the next arc, so I think I’ll leave it at that; with the Choo Choo Crew making their way down river on a beautiful night.
Roses:
- Willy coming in clutch with the Nat 20!
- Syb taking over the Rooks
- Murph allowing the episode to slow down at the end so that the PCs could chat about their tragic backstories
- The absolute shit show that was the pool cover situation
Thorns:
- I worry about Swastian’s future, as I don’t think that the crew ever remembered to send that note?
- I’m gonna miss Syb
That’s it for this ep! Find other NADDPOD Listen Alongs here and share your takes, predictions, roses, and thorns in the comments below.
