The Trail and the Toll
The Trail and the Toll
is the third episode of Chapter 1 of Campaign 3.Starring:
- Travis Willingham as Sir Bertrand Bell note
- Marisha Ray as Laudna note
- Taliesin Jaffe as Ashton Greymoore note
- Ashley Johnson as Fearne Calowaynote
- Sam Riegel as Fresh Cut Grass (F.C.G.) note
- Liam O'Brien as Orymnote
- Laura Bailey as Imogen Temultnote
- And Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master
Guest Starring:
- Robbie Daymond as Dorian Stormnote
In the streets of Jrusar, Bertrand and Imogen are tracking Danas, the gnome manager of Prudaj Textiles who they suspect is behind the warehouse thefts. Danas notices Imogen, forcing her to continue the pursuit at a distance, guided by Bertrand's thoughts. The pair follow Danas to the crowded Weary Way Inn and manage to catch a glimpse of her sitting alone in a booth, but she soon notices them and they lose sight of her. They decide to return to the warehouse and bring the rest of the group with them to the inn.
Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, everyone soon gets impatient of waiting for something to happen and decide to join Orym inside, which they manage thanks to Laudna picking the front door's lock. An investigation wields evidence of Danas tampering with reports of the thefts, downplaying their severity. Now certain of her guilt, the group returns to the Weary Way Inn, where they learn that a gnome matching Danas' description was seen going up the stairs a few minutes ago.
Fresh Cut Grass locates the room where Danas is in. The group eavesdrop as she nervously explains to someone inside that people have been asking suspicious questions and that their operation might have been discovered. The other person coldly accuses Danas of incompetence and assaults her. Orym and Ashton bash the door down and are confronted by a pale, black-clad dwarf and a swarm of grey-cloaked creatures that Imogen and Laudna identify as "shade creepers". The battle is challenging; the shade creepers are frail, but hit hard and explode upon death. To make things worse, the dwarf casts a sphere of darkness, causing the party to attack blindly within it.
Despite taking heavy damage, the party manages to dispatch all shade creepers. However, they are unable to prevent the dwarf's escape or save Danas, whose body they discover under a table. They bring her and the evidence to Lord Eshteross, who asks them how they feel about these events. Their regret at Danas' death and resolve to find the dwarf impresses him, and he offers to sign a contract in the morning, asking for the party's name. Unprepared for this, no-one can come up with anything.
After an impromptu celebration at Eshteross Manor, the party has drinks at the Spire by Fire Inn. Everyone eventually retires for the night, while a heavily inebriated Bertrand heads outside for a walk. As Imogen dreams of a storm ravaging her childhood home and a refined older gentleman proudly walking into the maelstrom, Bertrand is attacked by the pale dwarf and left bleeding in an alley. With a feeling of peace coming over him, the aged fighter whispers "Lieve'tel..." before losing consciousness.
Tropes in this episode:
- Dying Alone: Poor Bertrand bleeds out all alone in a dark alley.
- Eating the Enemy: Fearne deals with one of the creepers by swallowing it whole while she's in snake form.
- Implied Love Interest: although probably improvised by Travis, Bertrand's last words indicate that Lieve'tel, the Elf Cleric he had a fling with during the Search for Bob one-off, was important to him.
- Lazy Alias: While following Danas, Bertrand insists that Imogen calls him by a code name. He is annoyed when she tries "Barry", as it shares the same first letter with his name.
- Palette Swap: Imogen and Laudna have met shade creepers before, but those had different color eyes and did not explode when killed.
- Uncertain Doom: in-episode, Bertrand's death is not outright stated, although Matt's description doesn't leave much room for alternative interpretation. Matt later confirmed via Twitter that Bertrand was always meant to die.
- You Have Failed Me: the pale dwarf swiftly murders Danas once she reports that people might be on to them.
