Episode 426 - The Luck of the Draw

Our heroes make some tough post battle choices in this bittersweet penultimate episode of our first campaign. We really appreciate each and everyone one of you who have joined us on this journey.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Trant Thumble, the big bad, has been killed. Toby holds, in his Bigby hand, the lifeless corpse of the fiend. The body of Tiamat, once large an imposing, now crumbles away into dust. And from Trant's body, falls a silvery cube. The God Killer. Toby picks it up, looks at it. A calm stillness washes over the room. The battle is over. They have won.

And then, *The BTS* crashes through the wall! Toby called them earlier, so here they are now. A ramp descends into the room, shepherding in a plethora of characters. There's Aludra and Jaela, obviously, but there's also Bercy Hamhands, Ros, Frank Ubell, Luccan and Nyx, Steve Meloncamp?, Marlamin Windlore and Erynn Colleen, Amber Reeves, and Riekert Svenson. And from outside, the jovial voice of Old Ben Dilladong can be heard! All these new characters running around is a lot for Skud Derringer to handle, so he nervously fidgets with his Deck of Many Things. Aaaaaand, wouldn't you know it, he's drawn a card. Great.

The card that's drawn gives him 3 *Wish* spells that he has to use immediately, and are immediately granted. Unbeknownst to him, however (but knownst to Bachmann and the players), these *Wishes* are quickly corrupted and malformed. The first wish is that Skud always has ice cream, and this is granted! However, it is because he's now covered in zits that are filled with ice cream. Real quick, I'm just gonna flip through my notes here... Yep, that might be the most horrific thing I've ever heard. It's up there, for sure. His second wish is that "all of his gear" is super powerful, which happens! It begins to glow, red, then white. It's getting hot! Skud removes his armor, which begins to burn through the floor, so he uses his final wish to make it not that powerful anymore. The armor explodes.

Surely, that was just a one time fluke, though, right? Like, if he were to draw another card, it would be a good one? Well, yes actually, becuase Skud does just that, and he's suddenly equipped with 3 magic wands, one of which "does music", one makes fireworks, and one is a *Wand of Magic Missiles* (no word on whether or not the words "Skud Missile" are written on the side).

Anyway, Melora stands up and tells them they need to get back on track. Now that Toby has been cleared of his curse, that is surely going to make Vecna angry. It's certain that she is going to come for him. Melora warns that Vecna is one of the worst of the gods, maybe only second to Asmodeous. But, she says, if Toby destroys the God Killer, she will protect him. This leads into Toby revealing basically everything to the others: he made a deal with Vecna, became very powerful, but broke off from her. Now onto the God Killer. Do they want to use the God Killer to, well, kill any gods? Surely there some evil ones (say Vecna herself?) that should die? There's also the evil chaos entitiy, formerly known as Orcus, living inside Lahni. Ultimately, though, they decide not to. Vecna wants to destroy all the gods, and as a rule, it's generally the best practice to do the opposite of whatever Vecna wants. And so, with nothing else left to discuss, the Sphere of Annihilation is brought out...

Toby holds the artifact his his Bigby hand. Slowly, he lowers it onto the Sphere. The two powerful objects touch, and sparks begin to fly everywhere. The cube begins to glow hot, and melts down into the Sphere, which begins to hum. The surface of the Sphere, once black and ominous, changes to a glowing rainbow color. The humming gets louder, the room shakes, and everything turns white. And then, a powerful force blasts out. The party is thrown backwards, even the powerful Melora. Ears ringing, they all stand to find that the God Killer has been destroyed. It's gone. Except for one tiny sliver that Toby was able to squirrel away to Hoby at the last minute...

But it seems that everything is going to be okay. Sure, Toby is haunted by the shadow of the god of lies and deception, and sure Lahni still feels the pull of the chaos energy deep inside her. Yes, of course Skud is still a wild card (no pun intended) with no real home to speak of, and Rowan is still afraid of responsibility. Obviously all these things are true, but in the end, they have each other, and that's all that matters. Well, that, and the bomb-ass party that Melora throws for them.

It's actually a relatively chill affair. They're all just kinda sitting around, drinking casually. I guess they're pretty tired after their long battle. I get it, I would be too. But with this quiet moment, must come the sentimental stuff. Toby opens up to his friends. He's glad that he got to meet them, and that they came together, even if it was because they all have their own Dark pasts. That said, however, Toby must go. He doesn't want to stay with them, due to the immanent Vecna attack. They're lives would be in danger if he stayed, and so he plans to take *The BTS* elsewhere, along with Boris, Marlamin Windlore and Erynn Colleen, and Amber Reeves. Rowan is saddened by the idea of loosing her friend, and also that she'll then be made to lead the Tower of Grey officially, though Frank usures her (perhaps a little too zealously), that it'll be in good hands. They all say their goodbyes to Toby, reluctantly, though he promises to visit every now and then once Vecna's been dealt with. Also, they won't be able to contact him, but he will be able to contact them.

And as for the rest of them. Lahni decides to stay with the Tower of Grey, the only family she has. She also wants to start a rival business to the Sbarros in the Elemental Tramway, one that will specialize in a Build-your-own Egg Salad Sandwich booth (though she'll run this business out of The Tower of Gray. Skud mentions going back to live by himself at the Monastery of Uthgar, though that was famously destroyed by Pyre. Instead, he decides to stay with the Tower as well. His status within the organization is brought up. Is he still an intern? Frank reveals that Skud is listed on the payroll as an "Unpaid Full Time Employee". So he has a job, hurray!

The party continues on, and Skud begins showing off his Deck of Many Things to random denizens. He pulls one, resulting in everyone nearby (except Lahni) getting scared. This includes Skud himself, who takes this as the last straw, and decides, finally, that the Deck is not good. He relinquishes it to Toby. But, before Toby takes the Deck, Skud draws one, last, card...

Lahni runs away. Toby creates a ball around him for safety. Rowan's already moved away. And Skud... disappears.

### Short

The BTS shows up after Trant/Tiamat is destroyed. They bring in the Sphere of Annhilation. After deciding not to use the God Killer to destroy any of the gods, Toby places the artifact into the sphere. There is a mighty disturbance, and everyone is blown back, but it is successful. The artifact is destroyed. Toby tells everyone about Vecna, but doesn't tell them that he's kept a small part of the God Killer for himself. Melora thanks them for their help with a mighty feast. Toby announces that he's leaving, because Vecna is going to be coming for him, and he doesn't want his friends in danger. Skud and Lahni will stay with Rowan at the Tower of Gray, where leadership duties will be assumed by Frank. Skud draws a number of cards, the final one resulting in him being sent away, imprisoned in a magical tomb, with no way to magically locate him!!!

## **Trivia**

* Skud has a spell-book that he never uses
* Lahni requests that Toby only communicate with her via a red squirrel on an oak tree in the current month they are in. Toby will do so in 10 years

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey \ Queen Aludra Wyrmsbane
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain \ Jaela

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Queen Aludra Wyrmsbane
* Jaela
* Bercy Hamhands
* Ros
* Frank Ubell
* Luccan
* Nyx
* Steve Meloncamp
* Marlamin Windlore
* Erynn Colleen
* Amber Reeves
* Riekert Svenson
* Old Ben Dilladong
* Melora

### **Locations**

* The Feywild
	+ The Castle of the Spring Court

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Complete] - ~~Destroy The God Killer~~
* [NEW][Optional?] - Save Skud Derringer?

### **Quotes**

* **"I don't feel so good, Mr. Melora..."** ~ *Tiamat, via Tim Lanning*

* **"I've gotten quite adept at hiding behind pillars."** ~ *Skud Derringer*

* **"I learned a lot from you, Toby. I probably could have stood to learn *a lot* more. *A LOT!*"** ~ *Skud Derringer*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Tim - 12
	+ **Nika - 10**
	+ Bachmann - Nat20 - Bapped - Chooses Nika
	+ Jennifer - 7

* **Toby** rolls *Slight of Hand* (with advantage) to keep a tiny little corner of the artifact in his hand - Nat 20
	+ Success - He has a small silvery piece of the artifact, which he squirrels away to Hoby.

* **Skud** pulls a card that makes everyone nearby need to make a DC 18 or 20 or something WIS Saving Throw to not be scared of him
	+ Toby - 14
		- Fail - He is scared
	+ Lahni - 20
		- Success - Not scared
	+ Skud - 16
		- Fail - He is scared
	+ Rowan - 2
		- Fail - She is scared