Recap / CrafD&D: The Champion's Challenge E8: Silent Night, Deadly Knife

CrafD&D: The Champion's Challenge Recap Index
Story Arc:
Forrnest | Volkhanom | Lordpact | Elemix | Conjuria | Hemoarloch | Undercove
Episode:
E8: Silent Night, Deadly Knife | E9: Precarious Politics | E10: Pact or No Pact | E11: The Dark Magician of Fraygle Coast

Air Date: 4/29/2022

After messing with the Renegade Rangers a bit, Passione heads out from Volkhanom and towards Lordpact. They stop for the night about halfway up the trail, and each party member takes some time to reflect on themselves as they each take turns watching over their group. Things take a sharp turn, however, when Calum is suddenly attacked by an assassin, Bittov Zatop, whose motives for doing so soon come into question.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Foreshadowing: As Passione's fight with him begins, Bittov's face lights up in surprise and recognition when he sees Calum up close; he continues regarding him that way as the fight continues. It's an early hint of Bittov's voluntary surrender later on, after which he explains his shock to find his quarry to be a young man, and not the monstrous individual that his client led him to believe Calum to be. Bittov wouldn't stoop so low as to kill what is effectively a child to him. He also reveals that he recognized the Hemoarloch emblem on Calum's armor—the emblem of the city in which Bittov was sent from.
• Seinfeldian Conversation: When the party sets up camp for the night and each member takes turns keeping watch, Cera kickstarts a conversation about how it feels to have feet. Being a Yuan-Ti, she has no experience with them, so when she approaches Osra about the topic, they each discuss what it's like in great detail. They end up including Calum in the conversation later on.
• Silly Simian: The assassin conceals himself partway through the confrontation with him, so Passione opts to use their bag of summoning to produce an ape for assistance. At first, Crafty represents the ape on the battle board with a picture of a generic t-posing chimpanzee... But things take a hysterical turn for the players when he instead opts for a picture of a t-posing Funky Kong, who successfully locates the assassin by excitedly pointing to his hiding spot. And Funky stays with the party until morning, with Crafty reminding the party as much after Calum engages in a serious conversation with the defeated assassin. When Funky's time is up, the players share a laugh when discussing how Funky would disappear.
• Intercontinuity Crossover: A reinterpretation of Dr. Crafty, based on the character from CrafD&D's older sister show, appears at the end of the session, to the joy of everyone playing. Here, Crafty uses his illustration skills for an up-and-coming trading card game of his, and he gleefully sells some of his products to Passione with the typical showmanship expected from his basis. A reinterpretation of Nurse Worse also briefly appears when Crafty calls her to take note of their next destination.
• Unfortunate Names: Osra cites Colonel Cardiock as a potential suspect behind whoever sent Bittov to assassinate Calum, but Calum has his doubts. To lighten the mood, Cera jokingly suggests a point to support Osra's suspicions: the fact that Cardiock named his kid—and one of Passione's rivals—"Asole Dusbarg," whose name is as unfortunate as it sounds.
  Cera: Okay, [Calum says] it's not possible. But consider: [Cardiock] named his kid 'Asole,' and his last name is very close to 'douchebag.' The man is an embodiment of hate! Only someone full of spite would do something so cruel as to name their kid something so close to 'asshole' when their last name is so close to 'douchebag.'
• Whodunnit to Me?: With Bittov calling off his hit on Calum, Passione is now left wondering who was the person who sent Bittov, to begin with. The party recognizes that Calum is the next in line to receive the Lockheart fortune, so the initial suspect would be a member of Calum's family, as they would receive the inheritance in Calum's stead should he die before the fated day. However, Osra raises another potential suspect: Colonel Cardiock, Asole's father, the head of Grandure's military, and one of the Champions of the campaign's titular challenge. He—or rather, him and his military—would also stand to benefit from receiving the Lockhearts' money; while the family already helps fund the military as is, Cardiock could want more than what he's receiving. Calum has his doubts, but Osra, having known of Cardiock's ruthlessness since her childhood, wouldn't put it past him to eliminate Calum for such a prize.

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