Our heroes enter a brief period of downtime after their last adventure outside the city walls. It was a real barn-burner.

Butler asks some awkward questions, Brettville sees new places in a hurry, Anna once again searches for her missing sister--with tragic results, and Lord Stromkirk makes the scene.

Hot off the heels of their stronghold being attacked in the dead of night, the party is approached by the young priest Moritz Shtamm--who reminds them of their promise to help him rid Nephalia of a particular vampire in the wake of Avacyn's disappearance. With the archangel gone, all manner of fiends and undead will grow in power, and their spread must be kept in check. To that end, the young priest decides to take matters into his own hands, and dusts off some old equipment.

This is the earliest episode of our ravnican adventures I have recorded. Lots happened prior to this, including a harrowing journey into the undercity to fight a phyrexian agent which I wish I still had. Suffice to say, our heroes believed themselves victorious and have been duped into gathering many of their guild leaders in one place, where the phyrexian agent has sprung their trap; a bomb releasing deadly toxic gas that not only kills you, it infects your body with Phyresis, transforming you into an alien robot zombie. With only seconds to think of a plan, what will our heroes do?

BEFORE WE BEGIN:

What they found was an arrogant outlaw, of sorts. He seemed drunk, and guarded the road on his lonesome. But seemed to have had no trouble dispatching an entirely separate caravan that had come before you. He claimed his name was Lorenz, after consulting a card he found in his blood soaked breast pocket. This brute was no Lorenz. Nor was he even human, as doing battle with him revealed to all.  The vampire spawn claimed Ludwig knew the score, and that this was a toll road. If “Olivia,” this vampire’s patron wasn’t paid homage, he threatened dire, if ambiguous, consequences. 

After a tense battle, “Lorenz” was knocked from the cliff face and seemed to tumble into the abyss. But in reality, had fled. Overhead, a break in the storm revealed the full moon; which portended a different kind of doom for the evening.

One of Ludwig’s guardsmen and a fast friend of the party, Jane Kingshead moaned in pain and doubled over as the lunar rays washed over her. The party had scarce time to act. As Jane began to transform into a bestial werewolf, they set upon her with their weapons in fear for their lives. Before the final blow was struck, Rex saw a glimmer of fading humanity in her eye, and watched as she allowed his warhammer to knock her unconscious.

What followed was a tense argument over the fate of the werewolf who not an hour past had shared her flask of rum with them.  While she’d been human, she’d been invaluable in the treacherous trail here, and saved two of the lives of the party. Would they now do her the same kindness?

It was decided that they would bind the pale furred werewolf in chains and hide her away from the road; and in so doing also clear the path for their caravan to pass. They left the carcass of a horse for the werewolf to feast on, and rations and clothes for Jane when she returned to her senses.

Returning to Ludwig, they lied and told him Jane had perished at the hands of the vampire. Believing their lie, Ludwig confirmed that the tithe to Lorenz’s master was real, but was paid annually in blood, not coin. In fact, one of his skiltfolk caravaneers had drawn the short straw for this baleful and dubious honor: A man named Frank Wanka, who the party hated for his ill manners and treachery at cards. Frank rejoiced, believing Jane had “taken the fall” for him. The party stayed silent, plotting their next move, and steeling themselves for the next stage of their journey: into the wetlands surrounding  the coastal metropolis of Nephalia.

IN THIS EPISODE:

Reeling in the aftermath of Rakdos' betrayal, the party welcomes back some old friends.

Zola learns never to meet your heroes, Louise gets a blast from the past, and Jerrick begins to come to terms with his newfound powers.

It's anna's birthday! and everyone shows up to her party.

Brettville rejoins the party as the plot surrouding Darrik's attempted assassination grows thicker.

Our heroes finally Return To Ravnica (2012) and begin to pick up the pieces of their fractured lives, hoping for some measure of peace now that the phyrexian threat is expunged, their leaders will be healed, and all shall be right with the world. But what's this? Downtime activities? Oh good, nothing bad ever happens during those. :)

Our heroes begin a quiet year, settling into their role as Havengul's preeminent monster slaying guild under Runo Stromkirk's sponsorship. They set about building a base of needful customers, a base of loyal followers, and building an actual base.