MoM Session 1

## Recap

A long line of prospective fighters waits in line outside *Lathandar's College of New Dawn*, hoping to become hunters for the *Daybreak-Affiliated Exterminators of Monsters in the Organization of Naturalization*, or DAEMONs. First, they must pass through *The Cleansing Stones*, a brand new, state of the art, arcane and adaptable arena for fighting monsters. Among these hunters-to-be are the party: Alexander Candleson, an older human man who's been working as a monster hunter for years; Kevin McMillian, a young human man who's stranger than he seems; and Ileao, an angel who does not like being here at all. The three of them finally reach their turn to talk to Khali Ynklin, a wood elf signing everyone in. She gets their personal information as well as their history with each other. Alex was praying to bless a weapon and accidentally summoned Ileao, who is actually charged with protecting him for some Destiny. Kevin saved Alex from another of his werewolf kind (which he does NOT share with Khali) and met Ileao around the same time. Ileao is very confused by Kevin, his mortality and youth. Khali notes down what they actually say and gives them their badges and jobs: they are to hunt monsters and magical creatures; some missions will be assigned to them, most will be whatever they find out in the wild. For now, they need to survive Initiation: a fight in the Cleansing Stones.

Heading inside, they look at the one clue given to them by Khali as to what they'll be fighting: *"Beside running water, I fear nothing. For this riddle, I am the answer; in fairy tales, I am the asker; for askers, I am the ender."* They debate what this could mean, paying particular attention to the first phrase. They split up to search for clues. Ileao asks another hunter, who tells em to go away and annoy eir own partners. Alex and Kevin head to the library but knock over a bunch of priceless tomes, so the librarian kicks them out. Ileao comes in right after and bonds with the librarian over how disrespectful that generation is, getting the librarian on eir side. When Ileao mentions the riddle, the librarian is reminded of a creature from a fairy tale book. The monster lives beneath a bridge, asking questions of any who wish to cross lest they be killed. This creature is, the librarian thinks, a troll.

Kevin goes to the lavatorium, finding it to be very cutting edge and magical, being designed in partnership with Robert Kendarr. Alex heads to the cafeteria, also designed by Mr. Kendarr, and finds it to be massive, sleek, and elegant. Food is dispensed in the form of small stone tablets engraved with runes; when the runes are passed through a special magical conveyor tunnel, they transmute in or conjure the real food they represent. Alex asks one of the wizards working the conveyor about this place and Robert Kendarr, learning that the man is a genius inventor and artificer whose family has worked with the College of New Dawn since its inception. As for the Cleansing Stones, the turn-out for its opening has been so amazing that the workers haven't really had a break since the doors opened yesterday morning. Alex sits down next to a solitary gnome named Jimothess and asks about her riddle. She solved hers pretty easily: a gelatinous cube. When Alex asks a bit about the success conditions of the Initiation, she explains that you're meant to discover what monster you're fighting from the riddle, then learn its weakness. If you go in unprepared, you're likely to die or at least lose.

The party reunites in the cafeteria with about 20 minutes left before they're due to enter the arena. Ileao shares what ey learned about their monster being a troll, and Alex trawls through his memories as a hunter to remember that trolls are vicious beasts that can regenerate very quickly if not harmed with fire. Alex is always prepared, though, so he pulls out two onyx rods that produce a wall of flame between them when Alex speaks a command word. They plan for Ileao and Kevin to each hold one rod a bit apart from each other while Alex taunts the troll into running through the fire. They enter the waiting room with a few minutes left and find hunters lined up to take their turns in the arena. Each time a group walks out, the arena looks entirely different - an icy tundra, a humid swamp, and, when it's their turn, a beautiful forest with a babbling brook.

Inside, they see a troll, an terribly ugly, eleven foot tall creature with gangly limbs ending in horrific claws (and that's not mentioning the boils and pores oozing with- well, you get the idea). Alex throws one of the stone tablets from the cafeteria at it, which does get its attention but also gives it the idea to throw an entire bridge at him. Ileao and Kevin perfectly sneak into position as Alex thinks quick and shoots the troll with his ring of magic missiles, his strikes precise enough to make it drop the bridge. It rushes at the older man, who shouts the command word *Brisingr!* to activate the flame rods. Ileao and Kevin both hold the rods at the perfect position and angle to cut the troll in half at the waist. The troll angrily throws each of its severed legs at the rod-holders for a small amount of damage. Alex smiles and shoots a fireball at the troll, nearly killing it but setting the forest on fire as well. Kevin rushes up and cuts the trolls head off with his Huge Sword, but it needs to be topped off with fire. So Ileao grabs some burning flowers and places a flaming fire crown on the troll's head. This stops it from regenerating, so it dies.

The arena's forest fire fades away, revealing a near-void of an arena with a clamoring crowd in the bleachers. A magnified voice announces that Ileao, Alex, and Kevin are the newest DAEMON crew!

## TL;DR

The Monstrous makes a mess. The Expert makes a plan. The Divine makes a flower crown.

## Trivia

* The Keeper rolled for which riddle and monster the party would face, as well as what arena they would get. This is the only time in *Monsters of Meracyinth* when the Keeper rolled dice, excluding the epilogue session in *Spell: The RPG*.