#c1e39

In the episodes leading up to this, Vox Machina happened upon two key social encounters: Dr. Dranzel and his band, and Gilmore. Dranzel gave the group a tip that the former residence of General Krieg (secretly a blue dragon, Brimscythe, and now dead at their hands) purportedly was a good target for a robbery, but also very dangerous, and he offered to split the take with Scanlan and his team. Before Vox Machina set out to investigate, they met Gilmore in a pub, and he provided a Heroes’ Feast to celebrate their return to Emon. Vox Machina then discovered several magical anomalies at the General’s former house, the dead new owner, and a portal to the dragon hoard, which was “protected” in part by wild giant worms.

Aside from providing opportunities for excellent RP, this was a brilliant DM move to set the stage for a fight that Vox Machina could never win. The players had done an excellent job of assessing the stakes in Whitestone because they were taking on an entire city, with no guarantee that anyone would take their side in an open assault. They systematically took down several of the new nobles and instigated a rebellion before assaulting the Briarwoods at the castle. However, this was Emon, where Vox Machina had clout and station, with a far better organized defense network and powerful magical allies. The arrival of the Chroma Conclave needed to make it obvious that the priority was escape and survival lest the PCs run unknowingly into a TPK.

Thus, the team had the opportunity for a fight against a giant ice worm and a giant purple worm after a long rest and a free Heroes’ Feast. They had ample warning of danger before venturing into the fight. Even so, several members nearly died. The worms’ AC was 18, PCs were swallowed whole, spells were botched, and all the usual shenanigans involved with enemy types the players hadn’t expected. An especially important aspect was that Matt showed no mercy as to the misuse and limits of high level spells.

Although Vox Machina had recently retaken Whitestone and the party came away from this fight alive and richer, several members had psychological crises as to their own mortality and what they’re supposed to be doing. There had also been a long lingering distrust of Sovereign Uriel’s capability to lead, and they were now faced with the reality that they weren’t actually any better. After all, they had never told anyone that General Krieg was a dragon, and they very well couldn’t do that now that they’d gone back to rob his house and hoard. Instead, they told a half truth that they’d gotten a tip that the current owner was missing and the place was dangerous, then they discovered a portal, and they’d like to investigate themselves. When pressed, they vaguely argued that they felt the portal was not the current (dead) owner’s doing, but had been around since General Krieg’s time. Clearly, they planned on “discovering” evidence that General Krieg had been a dragon, though it was unclear how they would achieve it. Nevertheless, they were granted authority to investigate and blocked off access to the house.

But the effect was that no one in all of Emon—other than Vox Machina—had known that a dragon had been in their midst and had infiltrated the leadership undetected. Further, any details as to the strange magical items, including the potential communication devices, were not yet investigated by anyone with arcane expertise. Allura had gone to Whitestone, so she was unavailable. Vax had recently told Gilmore he’d fallen in love with someone else and didn’t want to lead him on, so that felt like too much to ask of Gilmore just yet. The team had led themselves into a situation where they could not act immediately without exposing that they had been hiding information.

The next day, after another long rest and the Heroes’ Feast had worn off, Vox Machina attended Uriel’s announcement that he was ending his reign and converting the government to council leadership. The players’ reactions were somber rather than celebratory; for all their criticisms, they hadn’t expected this outcome, and it didn’t seem to be the one they had hoped for. It landed sour, especially given their recent actions.

Then the dragons attacked. Vex noticed them first with high perception, but couldn’t be sure they were dragons because her detection range was 1 mile. Vorugal dove to cover that distance in seconds, then attacked Allura’s tower, breathing ice through the parlor balcony before breaking it to pieces. Other dragons attacked elsewhere in the city. Raishan landed at the announcement congregation and began attacking indiscriminately. Grog ran in for his first turn, excited for combat.

“19 misses.”

“22 barely hits.”

An AC jump of 4, no Heroes’ Feast, 5 intelligent spellcaster enemies instead of 2 wild beasts, the city defenses hadn’t been ready, the warning had come mere seconds before the dragons landed, civilians dead and dying around them, and the first round had barely begun.

The question wasn’t whether Vox Machina could win this fight: it was who they could possibly save when they didn’t even know where to run.

Transcript:

19 misses