WRITTEN RECAP
Eldoria, Episode Eighteen: What Waits Below
Episode Eighteen began exactly where the previous adventure had ended: deep inside the ancient crypt, with Zayon Von staring down two lizardfolk who had already been transformed into Graven Sentinels.
There would be no careful exploration to start the evening.
There would be violence.
Garth Maul immediately charged forward, and Pat announced that he was going to be at the top of his game. For once, this was not an empty threat. A natural twenty from Garth’s halberd did thirty-nine points of damage, although the creature somehow remained standing.
The Graven Sentinels answered with blackened claws, horrifying muffled screams and the unpleasant discovery that killing one caused it to explode.
During all of this, Scott was apparently sitting unnoticed in the WebEx waiting room while Dungeon Master Jay continued playing Fars.
Eventually someone noticed.
“Hey, Scott.”
A very efficient adventuring party.
After a brutal opening fight, the heroes finally destroyed both Sentinels and took some time to recover before continuing deeper into the crypt. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori… Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
Their next discovery was far more disturbing.
Behind another door they found a large burial chamber that had been converted into a prison. Ancient coffins and bones had been shoved unceremoniously into a corner to make room for cages.
Inside those cages were five living lizardfolk.
The prisoners were frightened, malnourished and unsure whether the heroes were rescuers or simply the next terrible thing to enter the room. They explained that members of their tribe had been taken away by the stitched-mouth creatures. Some had later returned horribly transformed.
The heroes realized they had found the raw material being used to create more Graven Sentinels.
The party freed all five.
The lizardfolk could have escaped.
Instead, they chose revenge.
They wanted to accompany the heroes deeper into the tomb and avenge the members of their tribe who had been taken.
This was the moment Eldoria briefly stopped being a dark fantasy campaign and became something much stranger. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
The party armed their new companions with whatever spare equipment they could find.
They gave them weapons.
They gave them food.
Rob offered them water from the Tankard of Blessed Drizzle.
And because someone apparently had a trunk full of women’s clothing in their inventory, the five rescued lizardfolk were also given dresses.
Then they were each given little bells.
Dungeon Master Jay pointed out that having five armed lizardfolk walking through a dungeon ringing bells would completely eliminate any chance of surprising an enemy.
Nobody cared.
Names including Sully, Frank-N-Furter, Beyoncé and Cher began appearing, and within minutes the party had somehow acquired an armed, bell-ringing lizardfolk strike force wearing dresses.
This was not something Jay had planned for. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
The enlarged party continued downward.
They eventually encountered another locked set of doors. Several attempts to simply smash them open ended badly, with supposedly powerful Goliaths discovering that ancient doors were apparently their greatest enemy.
After enough Guidance, Bardic Inspiration and encouragement, Zayon finally crashed through.
What waited beyond immediately changed the mood.
The chamber contained a large arcane symbol surrounded by four elemental pillars. Chains stretched inward from those pillars, crackling with energy.
Suspended in the center was another lizardfolk.
The party watched as the transformation happened.
Energy raced down the chains. The victim screamed. His mouth began stitching itself closed until the scream became muffled.
They had finally found the place where the Graven Sentinels were being made.
And they were not alone.
Several Graven Sentinels waited inside the chamber along with other servants.
Across the room stood Selvara.
And behind her stood someone the heroes already knew.
Havroth.
The mysterious conspirator who had confronted them on the road was standing perfectly still, staring blankly into space. His condition immediately reminded the party of others they had seen under some form of supernatural influence.
Something had happened to Havroth. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
Selvara noticed the heroes.
For a brief moment, it appeared that there might actually be a conversation.
She told them she had wondered who had been disturbing her perimeter and asked whether they had come for the creatures—or for what she had made from them.
Pat responded by shooting her with a heavy crossbow.
Rob looked at the situation, decided Pat had apparently made the diplomatic decision for everyone and hit her with Sacred Flame.
Jay reminded them that she had actually been talking.
The party’s response summed up years of adventuring experience.
“We’re not good at talking.”
Combat began. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
The chamber erupted.
The newly transformed creature tore itself free. Graven Sentinels charged into battle. Spellcasters hurled magic across the room.
Fars became one of the most important pieces on the battlefield. Scott used Crown of Madness to turn enemies against one another, then used Hideous Laughter and his other bardic abilities to keep dangerous opponents incapacitated for round after round.
Garth Maul planted himself in the middle of everything and kept swinging.
Wenende brought Frost Veil into the fight, combining his paladin abilities with Hex and Vow of Enmity.
Zewor fired arrows from range and even discovered that his newly acquired Sneak Attack could contribute additional damage.
It contributed one point.
A glorious beginning.
Zayon fought from the front while trying to keep everyone alive, which eventually resulted in a blast of fire dropping Rob’s cleric to zero hit points.
Whizz’s Zewor moved over and used Cure Wounds to get him back on his feet.
Yes.
The ranger had to rescue the cleric.
That will probably never happen again. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
The five rescued lizardfolk joined the battle as promised.
They fought bravely.
They also discovered why the party had been so nervous about the Graven Sentinels.
One by one, the lizardfolk fell.
Within a few rounds, the entire improvised army of bell-carrying warriors in dresses had been wiped out.
They did, however, absorb a considerable amount of punishment that otherwise would have been directed at the heroes.
Their sacrifice mattered.
Even if their fashion choices were questionable. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
Selvara, meanwhile, decided she had seen enough.
She cast a spell, announced that it had been fun and disappeared, leaving the heroes to deal with everything she had created.
The battle continued without her. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
What followed became a war of attrition.
Spell slots disappeared. Healing dwindled. Abilities ran dry. The creatures simply refused to die.
Late in the battle, Garth suddenly tore through two enemies in a single round, causing enough confusion that Pat briefly argued that what he had just done should not have been possible.
It was.
Then Wenende was struck down.
Only one enemy remained.
Everyone turned to Zewor.
Whizz fired his first arrow.
Natural one.
Of course.
He fired again.
This one hit.
The final enemy fell.
Combat was over.
Wenende was healed, the surviving heroes remained standing and Dungeon Master Jay officially declared that the creatures in the chamber had been slain.
Well...
Except for Selvara, who had escaped.
And then there was Havroth.
As the heroes looked across the ruined chamber, he was still standing exactly where they had first seen him.
He had not fought.
He had not fled.
His expression had never changed.
Havroth simply stood there, staring blankly ahead.
And that was where Episode Eighteen ended. Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori… Dungeons & Dragons Live- Eldori…
The Graven laboratory had been destroyed.
Selvara was still out there.
Five unlikely allies had fallen.
And the strange man who once warned the heroes about the future of Eldoria was now standing silently before them...
waiting to be awakened.