Acquisitions Incorporated: Season Two

## Season Two

Mike Krahulik, Wil Wheaton, Scott Kurtz, and Jerry Holkins (left to right)

Season Two of Acquisitions Incorporated was released as a weekly series available on the Wizards of the Coast website starting in February of 2009. Chris Perkins presents as the DM and this season introduces a Wil Wheaton as Aeofel Elhromane. Each episode is approximately 40 minutes.

## Episode Synopses

This season continues some time after the last left off. The party has changed base of operations to a tavern in Fallcrest. This season is still within the 'Points of Light' universe not Forgotten Realms.

### Episode 1

The Player Characters start by introducing themselves again where Jerry Holkins again asserts that Omin "stands for something". In the rainy evening, the new PC Aeofel Elhromane is introduced to the party. Wisera attends to the party with ale and mead as they discuss the immediate plans to assist the town with a serious issue at the ruined Goldenhawk tower. Acquisitions Inc. has an appointment with Nathan Faringray, the captain of the local militia, tomorrow morning to receive instruction from this knight. Wisera wakens the party in the morning with stew and supplies. After preparing themselves, Omin leads the party to the Loveless Fields, a training ground for the Fallcrest guard. Jim performs magic tricks for the young recruits training while Binwin attempts to strike up conversation with a dwarf prospector but is rebuked.

   The knight Nathan Faringray names the dwarf as Sorik Orvash and informs the party that The local baron intends to reconstruct the ancient tower of Goldenhawk. It happens that Sorik was a member of a prospector party sent to Goldenhawk to determine the status of the ruins.

The prospectors were attacked by painted-face brigands with walking dead allies, Sorik escaped and seems to be the only survivor. Sorik agrees to travel with the party to Goldenhawk to provide guidance and historical information. While along the way, Binwin learns Sorik is originally from Rivercrest and perhaps there is more to this dwarf than meets the eye. Binwin is brushed off again as Sorik and Jim bond over a display of magic. Several days pass and on a rainy day the party finally comes upon Goldenhawk, a tower with the top sheared off leaving only "a crown of shattered stone". The tower, it is discovered, was named Goldenhawk after a great defender of the tower: an Elf named Valatra (Valatra may be referred to as Vanamere in 'Points of Light' canon of the Nentir Vale and Chris Perkin's adventure module published after this podcast concluded) whose sigil was a golden hawk. Valatra, according to legend, was besieged by Goblins and Giants and she used the tower itself as shrapnel to defeat the opposing armies.It is unknown if Valatra survived the destruction of Goldenhawk. As the party approaches the tower they hear faint voices from inside it. Several ruined tents are scattered nearby and the party spots the skeleton of a giant. With the rain coming down all around the party, Binwin assaults the tower finding humans with skulls painted on their faces inside.

### Episode 2

Aeofel, Omin, and Jim follow Binwin into combat in the tower. Two human crossbowmen face them down and start fighting, one calls for backup from outside the tower. Several critical failures come through by Omin and Aeofel while Binwin takes a critical hit from one of the two guards. After figuring out that he was accidentally using a power that requires a shield, Binwin instead brings a new power to the table and dishes out damage. After killing many guards, Omin calls their guide Sorik up the hill to join them while Jim discovers that the hole in the middle of the floor of this tower reaches a room twenty feet below and he can hear voices in that room. The party is initially undetected, and they toss the camp of the original dwarven prospectors and discover some gold. After interacting with these enemies, the party confers and realizes that they likely belong to a group of brigands that have begun to associate themselves with a death cult of Orcus. Aeofel finds that whenever he or Omin call upon their deities there is a roll of thunder and they confirm this with a quick prayer. A bolt of lightning strikes the tower and a spray of rock is cast down upon the party.

A wooden scroll tube is found in some of the rubble, a scroll of Hand of Fate is within. Omin gathers the party to descend down a rope ladder inside the tower.

### Episode 3

Descending the rope ladder, Binwin Bronzebottom interrupts brigands grousing about their days guarding the tower and about their leader Falck. As Jim descends, he hangs upside down on the ladder dual-wielding wands and slaughters several minions. Battles continues as the rest of the party descend the rope ladder and enter the fray. Jim tosses an available brazier under a section of scaffolding in the room that a crossbowman is using to fire down upon the rest of the party. As the scaffolding begins to burn several unseen enemies join the battle as well. Omin takes serious damage and Aeofel declares his Oath of Enmity. Binwin plants the battle flag of Acquisitions Incorporated in the center of the room and the melee is well and truly on.

### Episode 4

The battle continues well into this episode. Omin, Jim, and Binwin each score a kill. A skulking rogue type that was eyeing the party and attacked Binwin briefly disappears during the chaos of the fight. This episode is significantly shorter than most and ends with the party still in combat.

### Episode 5

Aeofel lands an overwhelming strike attempting to save Binwin and reorganize the battle. This doesn't work as Binwin immediately gets attacked and downed while the party is surrounded, the Iron Snapjaw (Construct) that was lying dormant in the room is brought into the battle. Omin doesn't have time to rescue Binwin as he is great peril on his own. Omin lands one blow as both Aeofel and Jim miss and Omin is downed. With half the party on their backs, Aeofel blows his daily on the Iron Snapjaw. An unwitting brigand is attacked by the Snapjaw when he gets too close and barely manages to escape. Jim critically strikes at the last moment and destroys the Snapjaw. While Omin and Binwin are still down, Aeofel strides forward to kill the last foe of the encounter. Binwin immediately critically fails on his death saving throw.

After getting the downed party members back on their feet, the heroes loot the room finding gold and gems hidden among the brigand's supplies. Investigating the room shows cult ritualistic materials as well as a pair of open double doors that they consider heading down. Interesting runes decorate the walls in deep relief detailing the history of Valatra--abruptly ending its chronicle around the time of the tower's destruction. Aeofel and Omin attempt to piece together the historical elements of the tower on their way towards the exit to this room. The next hallway hooks to the right, set into alcoves along the hallway are two statues of demons and two status of angels -- breathing flame across the hall. Jim rolls a crit for perception, meanwhile, two crossbowmen at the end of the hallway beyond a set of open double doors begin to fire.

Crossbow bolts fail to find their target as the party begins to strategize. Aeofel fey steps beyond the flame, swearing his Oath of Enmity on one of the crossbowmen and brings down a Radiant Vengeance (failing to hit). Jim casts Force Orb upon the crossbowmen dealing significant damage. Binwin, frustrated by the gamut of flame in front of slam, slams the first statue taking a chunk out of it. Aeofel gets struck by a crossbow bolt, who then brings down a Radiant Vengeance on a crossbowman and bloodies him. Everybody but Jim passes the flame breathing statues with a mixture of success and rounds the corner to another hallway that features many sarcophagi set into alcoves. Each sarcophagus bears a name -- the name of the fallen warrior entombed within. Jim strikes a fleeing crossbowman with Jim's Magic Missile killing it. Aeofel lands another strike against the remaining crossbowman. Binwin, having rushed through the flames, continues to burn in place struggling to shake the fire off. Hit by another bolt Aeofel launches yet another Radiant Vengeance, missing entirely. Binwin takes even more fire damage. Jim ends up on fire when trying to disable the statues. Episode ends with even more failures of Radiant Vengeance and Jim using Mage Hand to finally disable the fire-breathing statues.

### Episode 6

Jim starts the episode still on fire and fails yet another saving throw. Chris tricks Scott into landing Binwin on a pressure plate that activates a sarcophagus set into one of the walls and pulls Binwin into an iron maiden. Aeofel dodges another crossbow bolt while looking back to see Binwin snatched. Aeofel rushes to the iron maiden to assist Binwin in escaping it. Jim continues to burn as he disables another flaming statue, failing his saving throw Jim uses his Amulet of Resolution to attempt his throw again and this time he succeeds. Binwin, with Aeofel's help, manages to push the iron maiden open and progress down the hallway to charge a crossbowman.

The party hangs their heads in shame as they realize the fire statue traps could have been simply disabled from pulling a lever that they couldn't see from shoddy rolling. Having finished the last crossbowman with a Reaping Strike, Binwin leads the party into the next chamber. A square room with statues of knights in the four corners facing the center. In the middle of the room is a massive bubbling cauldron and around it are many piles of Goblin skulls. The piles of skulls are each painted a different color; black, green, red, gold, purple, white, and blue. A pair of double doors are closed on the left-hand side of the room. Binwin considers using the Hand of Fate scroll, that they received earlier as a divine gift from Valatra, to identify what the solution to this puzzle might be. Aeofel takes a closer look at the room to discern traps or details. The cauldron in the center of the room has an embossment on it facing the doors. Unable to solve it straight away, Aeofel attempts to detect any divine element to the room but finds nothing. Jim steps forward with an Arcana check but only determines that there is a magical effect at play in this room confirming what they already suspected. Omin reluctantly approaches the cauldron and inspects the details on the side of it. It shows 3 birds each with a skull in its beak. The piles of skulls seem to be entirely ordinary and there are no details to the skulls that are unique. The statues in the corners, upon inspection, seem to be remarkably lifelike and are life sized in defensive poses. Jim deduces that purple, black, and gold is the right answer as that is the crest of Goldenhawk's colors. The party then tries to decide if there is a particular order to tosses the skulls into the cauldron. Omin throws a gold skull into the cauldron declaring that "fortune favors the bold" as a mantra of his deity Avandra. Unable to decide which skull to throw next Binwin decides that if you just throw them both in at the same time there's no way for it to go wrong. The doors swing open to a short hall which brings the party to a wide atrium. Two stairs cases to the left and right upon entering the room ascend to galleries that view a large religious stage in the center of the room. Skeletal archers line the galleries as Hobgoblin zombies fill the center near many flaming braziers. Opposite the party in the central area are a set of stairs, which feature a pair of undead hounds, that lead up to a mausoleum featuring two sarcophagi, one of which is opened. A robed foe stands in front of the sarcophagi as seems to be the only living creature in the room.

Chris refers to the robed foe as 'The Necromancer' but whose real name is Jeras Falck. Binwin quickly cleaves two Hobgoblins and kills them immediately. Jim destroys another two Hobgoblins just as fast. The remaining zombie cracks his sword over Binwin's head, and Binwin also takes an arrow from one of the Skeletal Archers on the ledges. The Necromancer calls out 'Faran get up' (Faran/Valatra are renamed Lethion/Vanamere in the adventure module). Omin dishes out a Sacred Flame, in a display of classic gameplay Omin misses. The Skeletal Archers all manage to miss the party. The Necromancer shouts 'I have the talisman of Kalarel arise!'. Aeofel casts his Oath of Enmity as well as Avenging Echo on the Skeletal Archers. Binwin hacks at the Skeletons and bloodies both. Jim blows one of the bloodied Skeletons to pieces.

### Episode 7

The Necromancer starts fighting directly against the party striking Aeofel with a lightning spell, and then immobilizes Jim with Crimson Claws -- black claws of shadow that erupt from the floor around Jim dealing necrotic damage. The Skeletons and Skeletal Archers fail to find any mark on their turn but Binwin becomes flanked by the undead hounds. Jim activates a cloud of cold dealing area of effect damage to the hounds while successfully saving and removing the Crimson Claws necrotic effects. Omin bloodies one of the Skeletal Archers on the ledges of the room, who continue to fire arrows down onto Aeofel. Meanwhile Binwin gets knocked to the ground and Jim begins a duel with the Necromancer who has approached the party at the top of the stairs. Crimson Claws rise again from the floor around Jim but fail.

Aeofel casts Radiant Vengeance and Binwin declares his Second Wind getting back on his feet and regains some hit points. Jim strikes both of the hounds with Scorching Burst and Jeras sics one of the hounds onto Jim. Binwin kills one of the hounds just before it dives onto Jim, not enough to keep him alive as two of the archers attack Jim and he goes down. Chris rolls his first critical failure of the season trying to strike Binwin and Aeofel destroys another Skeletal Archer. Binwin casts Shield of the Fallen to help Jim succeed on his death saving throw. While Jim and Binwin have a moment, Omin and Jeras (Chris) both roll critical failures. Omin bloodies one of the last Skeletal Archers while Aeofel nearly destroys another. Arrows fly again missing Binwin narrowly but striking Aeofel. Binwin just barely survives the round with some poor attacks by Skeletons and the remaining hound who Binwin immediately smashes on his turn. Jim fails a second death saving throw on this round, Omin jumps from the ledge to heal Jim but nearly breaks his legs and is knocked prone. Omin still crawls and reaches out to Jim and casts Healing Word. Omin is struck by an arrow and is downed. Binwin is brought down to 1 hp by a Thunderwave from Jeras. Binwin brings Omin back to consciousness while Jeras hides behind a sarcophagus.

### Episode 8

Aeofel finishes clearing his ledge of Skeletal Archers and fey steps down the central area. Omin finally manages to hit against the remaining Skeletal Archer on the ledge he just jumped down from but does not manage to yet kill it. Jim takes an arrow to the chest and the Necromancer shouts "I am in a merciful mood...leave now or regret it". Binwin is knocked unconscious. The Necromancer continues to attempt to raise something from a sarcophagus on the raised dais in the central area. Jim casts Force Orb on the Necromancer and bloodies him. Omin stays Binwin's death saving throws. Jim and Jeras enter a duel again, with Jim getting knocked out almost immediately. Omin stabilizes Jim and the party engages in musical chairs of dying with the exception of Aeofel who has been doing pretty well so far. Noticing that Aeofel is unbloodied, the Necromancer brings crimson Claws on Aeofel. Omin manages yet another critical failure leading to the incredible opportunity with Aeofel's divine guidance to reroll and gets a critical failure again! The Necromancer, surprised at the no damage Omin does whatsoever, hits both Aeofel and Omin with another Thunderwave -- Omin goes down again from this attack. The Necromancer begins pleading with Aeofel for his own life as he realizes his eventual defeat with no minions to help keep him safe. Aeofel rushes the Necromancer and finishes him off with an Overwhelming Strike. The party unanimously declares Aeofel as hired.

Aeofel and party begin looting taking a black skulled talisman which once belonged to Kalarel. With Aeofel's guidance the party decides not to loot the treasure of the sarcophagi at Goldenhawk.

## Season Details

### Adventure Module

See resources below for the adventure module for this season. It's a 4th Edition adventure written by Chris Perkins himself and includes several Penny Arcade comics. It includes details about maps, enemies, and events that could help you in following along with the podcast which is audio only.

### Locations

* Fallcrest
* Silver Unicorn
* Goldenhawk, Storm Tower of the Nentir Vale

### Non-Player Characters

* Wisera Osterman, Proprietress of the Silver Unicorn Inn & Tavern
* Nathan Faringray, Captain of the Fallcrest Guard
* Sorik Orvash, Dwarven prospector hired by the local baronry
* Jeras Falck, necromancer and brigand leader in the Nentir Vale

### Player Statistics

\*Last Hits are any instance where the attack or effect from one PC has Downed or Killed an NPC. Not which PC was most responsible for those kills.

\*\*Downs are considered any instance where a PC is taken down to 0 hp or lower. This is not Player Character death which is exceedingly rare.

## References

 Adventure Module: Storm Tower by Chris Perkins

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 1, February 18th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep1

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 2, February 25th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep2

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 5, March 4th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep3

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 5, March 11th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep4

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 5, March 18th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep5

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 5, March 25th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep6

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 7, April 1st 2009 , http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep7

 Acquisitions Incorporated Season 2 Episode 8, April 8th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep8

1. ↑ http://www.mojoichiban.com/dnd/resources/adventures/%5BLvl%2001-10%5D%20Heroic/%5BLvl%203%5D%20-%20Storm%20Tower.pdf
2. ↑ Acquisitions Incorporated Podcast, February 18th 2009, http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep1
3. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep2
4. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep3
5. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep4
6. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep5
7. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep5
8. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep7
9. ↑ http://www.acq-inc.com/portfolio/details/penny-arcade-pvp-s2-ep8