• 2018.06.28
• Present: Alex, Carlos, Chris B., Chris O., Ryan
• Party:
  • 😈 Fisty, Tiefling Fiend Pact Warlock
  • 🦆 Ducky, Gnome Wizard
  • 🛡 Tumutch, Human Vengence Paladin of the Silver Flame
  • 🛠 Dug, Dwarf Forge Cleric
  • ⚔️ Hiro Protagonist, Dragonborn Samurai
  • 🎸 Pankas, Wood Half-Elf Bard of Whispers

tldr: Hiro reveals himself to be an actual friggin dragon and then flies away into the sunset. Tumutch talks to the Sacred Flame and gets some glowing rocks. Potentially also some new magic abilities? Pankas is outed as the leader of the Bluebrand Gang. Fisty changes course and now has to not kill Yarno outright, but capture his soul in a magic crystal, but when he gets there, Yarno is already dead.

1. Hiro Descends
2. Walk and Talk
3. Tumutch's Side Quest
4. Back at the Manor
5. Hiro Ascends
6. Crime Scene

The camera zooms in on Hiro, standing on the mountain top. He's having a heart to heart with Talon, which--now that its blood lust has been satisfied--reveals itself to be the spirit of Lord Chesendar.

Talondar tells Hiro that the two of them have much work to do, that they must recover a sacred family heirloom, a shield bearing the Chesendar family crest, from the orcs who stole it.

He also tells Hiro that there are some valuables hidden beneath the manor that he can help him find. So Hiro gets out his Sending Stone and struggles for a little bit to get his message below 140 characters, but finally announces that he is ready to rejoin the group, and he asks where they are. Moments later, Pankas replies and tells him to meet them at the manor.

Hiro plunges off the side of the mountain, careening and plowing through the undergrowth, still ignoring the worn path that winds gently down the mountainside. There is no honor to be had on the easy path.

He drops the last dozen feet or so and nails a three-point superhero landing.

The dazzling brilliance of his landing alerts a couple of orcs to his presence: one brandished a club at him, and three others knock arrows into their bows.

Hiro proceeds to murder the heck out of these orcs. He's taking arrows to the shoulder, but he doesn't care. He just plucks them out and keeps swinging. Each time an attack doesn't quite connect, a pulse of blue energy leaps out of Talon and allows the attack to hit.

Having dispatched the orcs, Hiro turns and starts running to Pandelin.

The camera zooms out and pans away.

Zoom in on the Steel Reserve having a classic The West Wing style walk and talk on their way to Chesendar Manor. Tensions are high because everybody knows they are marching into the lit powder keg that is the culmination of the Fisty/Ducky/Glasstaff Love/Murder Triangle.

Sidebars ensue:

1. Dug and Ducky: Dug tries to talk some sense into Ducky and convince her that it's in everybody's interest to let Fisty kill Yarno. He is very convincing, but Ducky ultimately cannot allow her mentor, and the team's friend and ally, to be murdered in cold blood.

   Ducky gives Dug the loot from the kobolds, keeping a shitwick for herself.

2. Fisty and Tumutch and Pankas: Fisty tries to rally Tumutch and Pankas to his side. Tumutch isn't really sure. Pankas is like, "Off with his head! Wait, we're talking about Glasstaff? I like that dude.."

3. Ducky and Fisty: Ducky confronts Fisty and tells him she knows of his plot to kill Yarno, and that she's disappointed he didn't tell her about it any of the times he had the opportunity to do so. She tried to give him the Candle of the Deep but he wasn't very interested in it, but he took it anyway. Fisty tells Ducky that he doesn't have to kill him anymore. He just has to "give him something." The conversation ends with Ducky still not 100% trusting Fisty.

The camera zooms out, and ...

The scene opens on Tumutch, who had gotten bored with all the sidebars during the walk-and-talk, and wandered off to the Sleeping Giant.

Outside the bar are a bunch of people in blue shabby cloaks. Tumutch recognizes them as the Bluebrand Gang, and the Bluebrand Gang recognizes Tumutch as Tumutch. They share a drink, and then Tumutch goes off on his own to sit in front of the fire, contemplate the flames and the Flame, and ponder his direction in life.

Tumutch receives a vision of the Flame and with instruction from the blaze, thrusts his hands into the coals of the fire, and finds two smoldering coals that are glowing brightly with heat, but which are ice cold to the touch.

**See how the sausage is made: Spoilerish Warning!**

**Tumutch takes a level of Celestial Pact Warlock!**

The rest of the gang shows up at the bar looking for Tumutch, and as soon as Pankas walks in the door, the Bluebrand Gang starts whooping and cheering, "Boss! Hey, it's the boss! We thought you were gone!"

Epic reveal: Pankas Dedas Katsewp has been the leader of the Bluebrand Gang this whole time!

Hiro arrives! Dug gives him a healing potion, and he looks relieved.

Tumutch shows people his glowing rocks and everybody's kind of like, "Those rocks look really hot." Tumutch puts them in his pouch with the sounding stone and dubs it his rock sack.

The gang heads to the manor! Again!

Inside the manor, everybody kind of scatters and starts to tend to their own personal agendas.

1. Ducky and Pankas scamper off to find Yarno. He lets them in and they start to prepare for Fisty's attack.

2. Fisty goes down into the crevasse and finds a velvet pouch, inside which is a glowing blue crystal. He then runs back out to the surface and (eventually, huffing and puffing from the exertion) barricades the trapdoor, and then returns from the side entrance.

3. Hiro goes back to the crypt under Talon's direction, finds a loose brick from behind which he retrieves a ring and a cloak and put's them on. The ring feels like it has restored some of his health and the cloak feels incredibly tough.

Once he returns, the group begins to hear a clatter in the tunnel that they used to enter the caves under the manor. Unable to see very well, Tumutch picks up a rock and throws it towards the noise to try to see if he can hit it. To his own surprise, as it leaves his hand, it begins to glow brightly and illuminates the tunnel, revealing two heavily armed Orcs.

Seeing the approaching threat, Hiro tells the group to stand back. His hands suddenly swell up to size of large balloons.

And then his hands become two large dragon paws with one of them fused with Talon (a la Ash from evil dead mixed with Wolverine), and he continues to swell and contort until the Hiro that stands before them is not dragon born, but dragon proper. A full sized, terrible and terrific red dragon, proving once and for all that everybody had been 100% mistaken this whole time and he is, in fact and in truth, a real dragon

He then proceeds to absolutely demolish the two enemy orcs, tearing them limb from limb. After literally seconds of fighting, it's over.

Hiro addresses those who are still gathered, gives them the items he found. Having helped the team one last time, he tells them that he and Talon have much to do now on their own.

Hiro smashes his way out of the caves and flies away into the night.

Recovering from the shock of that reveal, Fisty and Dug and Tumutch book it over to Yarno's quarters.

Fisty kicks open the door to reveal Ducky crouched over the lifeless body of Yarno. She looks up, tears on her face, locks eyes with Fisty and cries out, "You did this!"

the end?

• This episode marks the departure of Hiro Protagonist, and the exit of Chris O. as a regular player. So long, Chris! Good luck with the new job! C'mon back anytime!

• Now we have a proper Who Dunnit? Who's the killer? Was it...

  • Fisty? The obvious suspect. He's been planning on killing Yarno for weeks now!

  • Sildar? "but Sildar totally did it. Yarno talked about not wanting to see Sildar because he’d be supes mad at him for leading the red brands" - Alex

  • Pankas? Recently revealed leader of the Bluebrand. Yarno, leader of the rival Redbrand gang, is basically his nemesis!

  • Ducky? She says he was already dead when she found him. But did she have some hidden reason to kill her beloved mentor?