Recap / CrafD&D: The Champion's Challenge E4: Old Flame, New Blood

CrafD&D: The Champion's Challenge Recap Index
Story Arc:
Forrnest | Volkhanom | Lordpact | Elemix | Conjuria | Hemoarloch | Undercove
Episode:
E1: The Ranger Challenge PT. 1 | E2: The Ranger Challenge Pt. 2 | E3: Disarmed and a Leg | E4: Old Flame, New Blood

Air Date: 3/18/2022

Jet ends up having to leave Passione for a deeply personal quest. After saying their goodbyes, the remaining members of Passione decide to travel to Ash's old home in Forrnest: the deserted village of Hunter's Dream. There, with help from Mori Memento, Ash receives a tremendous, yet terrifying upgrade, and the party meets their new fifth member.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Anti-Antichrist: During the trip to Hunter's Dream, Cera becomes rather apprehensive about the spirits therein. She's not necessarily scared of them, but she's worried that they'll detect Merrshaulk's blood in her veins and react hostilely; she knows that she's not an evil sort like her father, but they might not. Thankfully, none of the spirits seem aware of the party's presence, never reacting to them even as they walk through them.
• Amnesiac Hero: This episode introduces the Dhampir Ophelia, whose recollection of her past is spotty at best. Only particular moments stand out, such as her seeing her entire family slaughtered before her, and her subsequent development of her taste in blood. Even without her memory, she has enough context to know that she wants to erase her blood-thirst for good.
• Do Androids Dream?: When Osra and Taini meet to exchange materials from their respective hunts, they observe Dexter asleep in his hunting spot. This prompts the players to briefly discuss out of character whether Warforges are capable of dreaming.
• Felony Misdemeanor: When the Iron Judge assesses Ash's sins before blessing her, she finds two: a thirst for vengeance... and the relentless mocking of Calum, which, at this point in the campaign, has been playful at worst. At first, it seems that the Judge will regard both sins with equal severity, but she instead chooses to only consider the first, as it bears more weight on Ash's character.
• Gender Bender: Mori realizes that Calum has turned back into a man since his brief transformation into a woman in "The Ranger Challenge PT. 1." This causes to Calum to reflect back on his experience, with him admitting that he has a newfound respect for the female sex and the struggles they have with lugging around large breasts.
• Ghost Town: Forrnest's Hunter's Dream is a small village that, sometime before the series begins, was home to some very spiritual Aarakocra who had a special connection to the afterlife. Unfortunately, this connection made them extremely susceptible to Mindflayer attacks, which eventually wiped out almost all of Hunter's Dream's population and left it abandoned. Mori now looks after the ruins to allow the dead to rest in peace, and she allows the party to visit it. During their brief trip, Ash reveals that Hunter's Dream used to be her home—for all she knows, she was the sole survivor of its brutal history.
• Precision F-Strike: During their nighttime rendezvous, Osra and Taini discuss how tolerable Taini's fellow Rangers are as people, specifically Asole and Fergus. Taini has an uncharacteristically blunt and rude summation of the latter.
  Osra: Ultimately, I just wanted to trade for [some of the dragon hide] if [Asole] wasn't such a piece of shit about it.
  Taini: I know... I know he's a bit of a dick.
  Osra: Eh, it's all right. He's always been like that.
  Taini: You're telling me. But he's a good leader, nonetheless.
  Osra: Yeah, yeah... As much as I hate to admit it, he's... a good person... ultimately. It's just, you know...
  Taini: Yeah, it's Fergus who's kind of a cunt.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": Ash made an agreement with Mori sometime before this episode to be blessed by the Iron Judge. It turns out that the process involves placing oneself in a special Iron Maiden within the abandoned church of Hunter's Dream. Every member of Passione starts to increasingly panic as this is revealed to them by Mori. Their terror peaks when Mori casually, silently reveals that she underwent the same ritual in the past, showing off her visible healed wounds from her time inside the Maiden.
  Osra: [to Ash] Are you they gonna... Are you gonna get put in that...?
  Cera: Are you?
  Mori: Funny you mention that...
  [Osra splutters incomprehensibly, not at all expecting a 'yes.']
  Calum: ... Wait, what?! What?! What?!
  [The party clamors a bit before Mori lifts up her hand and removes her glove. Her skin shows countless punctures from her time in the Iron Maiden.]
  Osra: Okay, um—!
  Cera: Do not like! Immediately do not like!!
  Osra: Listen... I'm not going to say that my trial was easier than this, but, I mean...
  Asha: [Just as taken aback as her teammates.] Uhm... That's... I—Y-You're joking, right? I'm not going in that, right?
  Mori: [placing her glove back on] How else do you expect to speak with Death?
  Cera: Fucking shit, what?!
  Osra: Holy fuck, dude!
  [Ash starts hyperventilating.]
  Cera: We were not elucidated to the nature of this induction ritual!
  Hiten OOC: Panic!
  [Calum breaks out into terrified whimpering as the party clamors a bit more.]
  Kayden OOC: You just see shock and terror in Calum's eyes! He knew about this, and he's still terrified. It's like, 'Ohhh, this is happening; they weren't metaphors, they were legit!'
  Hiten OOC: Yeah, and you just see Osra just going, 'No, d-definitely! I am gonna say it, 100%; my trial was easier than this. Holy fuuuuuck.'
• Put on a Bus: Jet's player, Boonslayer, couldn't continue his part in the campaign due to scheduling conflicts. In-universe, Crafty justifies Jet's absence by having him receive a vision in his sleep that reveals the whereabouts of his missing father. He reluctantly leaves the party to go hopefully reunite with him.
• The Rival: During their brief nighttime meeting, Osra reveals to Taini that she and Asole were rivals since childhood, with them involving themselves in many petty squabbles. She seemed to be the one to come out on top for most of them.
  Osra: Dad told me... I don't really remember this all that well; I was little. But back when Asole and I were little, I remember that we were fighting about something—I dunno, the usual stuff that kids fight about when they're small. Like... 'Girls can't...' whatever, I'm sure, something like that.
  Taini: 'My dad can beat up your dad?'
  Osra: Yeah, exactly. And I guess I put him in a headlock? And then I sat on him. And I remember very distinctly that I got yelled at for it... by literally everyone but my mom. And I didn't remember exactly what she told me, I just remember that she didn't yell at me. Dad said she corrected my form.
• Shrinking Violet: When Taini meets Ophelia and realizes that she, too, is socially anxious, she is relieved and extremely excited to find someone who can relate to her with this issue.
• Super Mode: This episode marks the debut of Asole's wolfman form, which is far bulkier than his normal form but is still capable of dexterous swordplay. He transforms during his duel with Calum at the end of the episode, and it ultimately gives him a huge advantage, and he emerges victorious.

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