New arc, new characters, a new player, and a whole lotta new lore up top.
Welcome back to the NADPOD Listen Along everybody!
We’ve got quite the episode ahead of us, what with Lou Wilson coming on as Eldermourne’s first guest appearance, and a whole host of new characters to get to know as we take a break from Zirk, Fia, and Henry while Caldwell is off for paternity leave.
See also:
- NADDPOD Listen Along: Introduction
- NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 8, Until We Meet Again
- NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 9, Hexblood
- NADDPOD Listen Along: Eldermourne Episode 10, The Would Be King
Fans of College Humor/D&D mashups may know Lou from his appearances in College Humor skits, as well as his roles in Dimension 20′s Fantasy High and The Sleepless City alongside Murph and Emily.
Obviously Lou is no stranger to shenanigans around a D&D table, and his role in NADDPOD is no exception.
So I say we get right into it, shall we?
Recap
Arc 2 opens in Harrenford, the capital of Outerburrow and the location of the Petty King Thirston Brightleap’s Jackelope Keep.
Murph explains that the king has gotten religious in his old age, bringing followers of the Reaper into court; most notably a sorceress named Moxorra, who has risen to the rank of king’s hand. The king is now close to death.
Murph tells of legendary warriors called the Hexblood Centurion, who were infused with blood magic by a mage named Merowyn over 100 years ago. The magic made the warriors bigger, faster, and stronger, but had the unfortunate side effect of killing the soldiers when they grew out of their prime, generally in their 30s and 40s.
However, a lucky few Hexbloods mutated to better accept the blood magic, and lived long lives well into their 100s. Only three Hexbloods remain.
After fighting for the king in the Frostbarrons to the North, the remaining Hexblood soldiers were sent to track down the mage Merowyn who had gone mad due to her waning influence at court. She had created an army of constructs that the Hexbloods destroyed before killing her.
Jabari Hightower (Lou Wilson), Tarragon Snakeroot (Emily Axford), and Corbeau Babineaux (Jake Herwitz) now live out their unnaturally long lives as retired adventurers in Harrenford, each coming to terms with their dark and bloody pasts in their own ways.
Jabari is the only one of the three to remain in service to the crown. He had once been the head of the King’s guard, but was ousted through some politicking on the part of the king’s brother, Wymer. He now occupies a seat on the King’s council, but is hardly ever listened to. Jabari is doing his daily 3 am workout when he hears the sound of horse hooves outside.
The rider is Sir Raynard Wendell, the knight who replaced Jabari as captain of the King’s guard. Jabari confronts him, and Raynard explains that he is riding towards the rightful king Wymer, seeing as Thirston is all but dead. “Just because he breathes does not mean that he is still alive.”
Jabari allows him to leave, though turns down the invitation to come with.
Maxorra appears once Raynard leaves, telling Jabari that he can have his place as captain of the king’s guard again if he can bring her his old Hexblood friends for a blood ritual to strengthen the king. He happily obliges.
Jabari finds Corbeau preaching in the town square beside his 75-year-old Irish wolfhound, Lake.
Though it seems at first that Corbeau is preaching the word of the Reaper, he’s actually just “trying to get people to question,” and “if you unpack it enough it really doesn’t amount to shit. I’m just trying to confuse people.”
Corbeau agrees to help Jabari help the king, and the two head over to Tarragon’s Terrarium, a plant shop owned by the third Hexblood.
Tarragon is speaking with her life-coach, who is actually just a grifter named Jonathon. She has taken to the Elder’s wisdom in an effort to make amends for the death and destruction she’d wrought as a Hexblood soldier.
Jabari and Corbeau scare Jonathon off, and Jabari asks Tarragon if she’ll join them to help out the king one last time. He explains that there won’t be any fighting (that he knows of), just that the sorceress needs some of their blood.
Corbeau didn’t know about the blood situation, and is skeptical, but that needed blood is actually what convinces Tarragon to help, as she has become something of a plant doctor.
When the Hexbloods arrive at the castle, they are greeted by Maxorra alongside the Prophet Gideon, who has the spectral head of a ghost. They are brought to the king’s chambers where they find an old man near death — definitely being kept alive through magical means.
Maxorra brings the Hexbloods to some runes written in the floor. Corbeau opts out of being part of the ritual. Maxorra offers up the ashes of the Reaper’s enemy, and the Prophet Kane arrives with the ashes of Arthur Penly, “a dedicated priest of your enemy, the wicked Trickster.”
Tarragon recognizes Kane as the figure she had seen earlier who had smelled of death and caused her Dragonrose to wilt, and listeners will know him as the figure that caused so much trouble out in Thornkirk.
Maxorra begins drawing blood from the king as well as from Jabari and Tarragon, and everyone enters initiative.
The Hexbuds need to reach 10 successful death saves to complete the ritual, though three death fails will kill them just the same as usual. After Tarragon comes close to failing her second throw, Corbeau decides to join the ritual as well to make it easier for the other two.
The ritual is completed successfully, and the king rises with a renewed youthfulness. He condemns his brother Wymer who Maxorra says is trying to steal the throne, and tells Jabari to “march on the Pearl Hills and bring me my brother’s head.”
Commentary
Where to even begin.
First off, I love that our new party isn’t just some ragtag group of adventurers; these are retired heroes whose glory days are long behind them. Murph making all of them part of the same organization is great for an arc like this, as it completely bypasses the usual (fun, though oftentimes slow) pleasantries of a D&D party getting to know one another.
I worry that Jabari’s steadfast allegiance to the king will cause some friction with the now peaceful Tarragon and the skeptical Corbeau, but honestly that’s the kind of drama that makes for good D&D.
And while I was shocked to hear that these Hexbloods are level freaking 11, I think that the main difference between this new trio and the Choo Choo Crew is just how much more grey religion is within Harrenford.
I mean, it’s still pretty obvious that the followers of the Reaper are the baddies (the sorceress literally turned into a murder of ravens, Prophet Gideon ate a Jackelope alive, etc, etc), but the situation the Hexbloods find themselves in is a lot less cut and dry than that of their Thornkirk counterparts.
It’s an interesting dynamic to have this new party working for the antagonists of the Choo Choo Crew, and I expect that the Hexbloods will have a harder and harder time justifying their actions. We’ve already seen that hesitation from Corbeau and Tarragon by the end of the first episode. The real character arc, of course, will likely come from Jabari either putting his morality or his friends above his king, or failing to do so.
And honestly, at this point I could see it going either way.
I do also have to say that I loved the blood ritual’s mechanics, and very much plan to steal it for my own campaign down the line. There’s just something so exciting about forcing your PCs to make death throws… *laughs maniacally*
The recap of this ep was long so I’ll keep the commentary short. I’m excited to see how these retired heroes either redeem or damn themselves in the coming arc, and I love the uncertainty of what might happen to them in the end.
That’s the thing about side arcs; anything can happen. I have a feeling that this is a “die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain,” scenario, and I’m hoping we get a Rogue 1-esque sacrificial ending that may somehow help the Choo Choo Crew out down the line.
Oooooooooooor the Choo Choo Crew will one day come up against the Hexbuds, which will be very interesting indeed.
Roses:
- Lake! (it rhymes with Jake!)
- Corbeau’s nonsensical speeches
- Tarragon falling for a pyramid scheme
- Jabari’s tense confrontation with Raynard right off the jump
- Tarragon insisting on a closed-loop hug
- The mechanics of the ritual
Thorns:
- Don’t. Help. The. Reaper. People. Ugh
- Given that the Hexbuds are level 11, I feel like it will be some time before the Choo Choo Crew is strong enough to come up against the Prophets and Maxorra
- Me having no idea what the proper spelling of Maxorra is
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 8, Until We Meet Again | Episode 10, The Would Be King
