Ep. 18: Petals to the Metal - Chapter One

Synopsis
In this first chapter in a new Adventure Zone story, Merle, Taako and Magnus are in hot pursuit of a master criminal in the metropolitan city of Goldcliff. Can they stop The Raven before her crime spree tears the town apart? I don't know, because we haven't finished playing this part of the campaign yet. Magnus does some chopping. Taako learns to Nightcrawl. Merle has a genuinely upsetting encounter with some vines.

The Blood Eagle Saga
The DM drops the heroes directly into a fight in the Bureau of Balance's answer to the MMA's Octagon, the Icosagon. They square off with Avi, Killian, and Robbie (a.k.a. Pringles). The fight is a friendly scrimmage for the entertainment of BoB employees, who want to see what the three Reclaimers (who have already brought back two Grand Relics!).

The fight is interrupted by the voice of the Director, who requests your presence in her office. She has an urgent message for the heroes, which they immediately interrupt. Once they are done with the goofing, she explains that the heroes need to go to Goldcliff to recover a Grand Relic that one of the BoB's Seekers has found. The Grand Relic is currently in the hands of the master criminal The Raven.

That's So Raven
This time, the Director says, she is able to give the trio some helpful information. The Raven is using the Gaia Sash, which gives the bearer control over nature. Although The Raven would be as powerful as a god were she to relocate in a forest, she remains in one of the largest cities in the realm. The trio will need to work with the Goldcliff militia to help apprehend The Raven and retrieve the Gaia Sash, while remaining discreet. The trio is pretty confident in their ability to pull this off.

The Director describes the Seeker that they'll need to contact, but says that he is working in secret as well. After some pressure, she tells them the Seeker is Captain Bain, Captain of the Goldcliff Militia.

BoB Flight 2403 to Goldcliff International
With the Mission Briefing over, the trio head over to Avi at the launch pad, who is still sweaty from their scrimmage earlier. The trio is eager to get going on the next adventure, but not before Taako asks for a dram of Fantasy Dramamine from Avi, who offers them a nip of hooch instead. Deciding they don't want to make a habit of it (Taako: "If only there were a word for that, you know? Making a habit out of drinking too much alcohol?"), the trio get in the fun ball and are off!

This trip down is the most scenic one yet, in part due to the scenic nature of Goldcliff. The trio observes what might be a race going on in the desert outside of town, right before they descend into the city itself. The largest building in town, the 20-story tall Goldcliff Trust, is both a) made of gold and b) currently being swallowed up in vines. Some vagrants are hanging out outside.

The vines might be relevant to the story
Magnus uses the Lens of Straight Creeping, which shows him the tracks from vagrants' hoop tracks. Meanwhile, Taako runs to the building, leading the others to entrance, where Goldcliff Militia are hanging out. They encounter Capt. Captain Bain, who is "brick shithouse big," (as opposed to Magnus, who is merely oak shithouse big.) They confirm that they, too, are BoB agents, which Bain verifies by checking out their bracers (eventually).

Capt. Bain gives them the situation: The Raven is terrorizing the town with... vines, which completely block the entrance to the Goldcliff Trust. Magnus rushes in to chop, hack, and slash on the vines using Railsplitter, to no avail.

Fifty Shades of Green
Merle casts Channel Divinity: Charm Animals and Plants, and straight up hits on the vines. It's pretty upsetting, but it gets them in the door.

They find themselves in a courtyard, which has a fountain. The fountain has a big tree in it, and some vines are coming around everywhere. A shrill alarm is going off. Magnus uses the Lens of Straight Creeping to see a set of footprints that goes for a while and then vanishes every 15 feet or so.

The tree is actually a Treeant! Named Trent.

Tree Fight!
Merle succeeds his saving roll, so Trent smacks Magnus and Taako with an enormous limb, causing 14 pts of damage. Everyone rolls initiative and top of the order is Taako, who casts Blink. As Taako blinks into the etherial plane, he sees three gray figures with bright white eyes in the etherial plane, who then blink out of view. Clint casts Prayer of Healing on Magnus, which is both successful, and the first time he cast a healing spell.

Magnus runs up to the tree and uses Railsplitter to cut through Trent like a hot knife through water. It topples backwards into the booths, which sends up all kinds of paperwork and causes 30 damage. Trent makes eye contact with Magnus and screams at him, very loud with sap pouring out of his mouth.

What will happen next! Will Trent's uppance come? Tune in next time.

The Money Zone
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Message for Lindsey from Arthur: Happy birthday to the only person who could talk me into listening to a DnD podcast. Now a romantic evening means a bottle of wine, a synth-heavy score, and the sultry voice of that sweet, sweet dungeon master. Love you, sweets!

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Featured NPCs

 * Killian
 * Avi
 * Robbie (a.k.a. Pringles)
 * The Director
 * Steven
 * The Raven
 * Capt. Captain Bain
 * Trent

Featured Locations

 * Bureau of Balance
 * Goldcliff

I do that!
[Fan art of said tee shirts here.]