Called by Bahamut, a Dragonborn Paladin who arrives to protect the Temple of the First Land meets some characters from earlier in our other heroes’ adventures.
This episode features a very special guest player!
With their backs against the impenetrable hidden Grove, Ahrin and Zev make a stand against the oncoming dregs of the Mistress’s rearguard while the Grease Wizard attempts to complete the ritual to bring Clippy to adolescence and Keira treats with Kipling to provide refuge for her friends.
Elsewhere, in Raventree, Durn issues a desperate prayer to Atalanta as the Mistress, now devoid of the life giving stone, advances her forces with great haste.
Our heroes continue their battle against the Efreet in order to clear the way for the Azers and Dwarves to exit Red Rock. Whether they face the flame or find the light, one way or another, they are determined to leave the Underdark behind them.
Our players face a hodgepodge of Nintendo figures scattered around Thomas the Tank Engine themed scenery in Red Rock Revolution Part 1: a battle-map-centric-episode where Will’s DM battle prep secrets aren’t the only things out of the bag.
The party attempts to settle a dispute between 2 desperate parties in order to garner some help in the last leg of their journey. Meanwhile, in the heat of the moment, the Grease Wizard makes an on-brand decision that affects at least one leg of his own.
The party makes its way across the Nightmarch in hopes of finally reaching Redrock, though doing so may well exchange one set of dangers for another.
Your sweaty heart
Will make you weep
You'll cry and cry
And try to sleep
But sleep won't come
The whole night through
Your sweaty heart is greasy too
When the party tries to overnight in the thick of the haunted city of Zidraz, the foreshadowing warning of the water striders is fulfilled.
We settle an uncomfortable situation that arose from the bathroom at the end of the last episode, and Ahrin has a confrontation with the source of her unease in the Underdark
The party heads to Lightwater to refresh their water supply and receive a respite from the darkness.
As the party spends an evening stranded on an outcropping of land in the center of the Dark River, the quiet of the alien landscape affects them in drastically different ways.
When we last left our heroes, they were engaged in a wild encounter with the Spider Queen in the Dark River when Black Merrin arrived ominously on his riverboat. This episode concludes this dangerous scene and dredges up an old memory for Keira as she battles to survive.
Danger is a burning thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Dark depths make falling dire
When you fall into a web of fire
They fell into a burning web of fire
And went down, down, down
Into the river muck and mire
And it drowns, drowns, drowns
The web of fire
The web of fire
The party wrap up their affairs in Old Spore City to begin their subterranean voyage own the Dark River, where the influence of the Underdark begins seeping into their collective psyches.
After exploring the city ruins, the party moves onto its adjacent tunnels and discussions about when and where they are actually are.
Keira, Ahrin, Zev, and GW take a side trip to the ruined Orc city of Nevermoon, where they have an unexpected encounter in the Temple of Lyra (courtesy of Father Terry).
Many lives have been lost to the Sporey-Gone Trail’s most prolific killer. In this episode the party discovers the nature of the danger Oomoo warned them about; and Zev and Ahrin learn more about their Orcish heritage.
On the second half of the Sporey-Gone Trail, our heroes encounter a child alone in the darkness.
We return to the Underdark beneath Lumosh to pick up the story of our main party. G.W., Ahrin, Keira, Zevask, and Henna say farewell to the luminescent mushrooms that inhabit New Spore City as well as their new friend Oomoo.
As the last light of their journey fades behind them, long shadows of darker influences loom ever ahead.
In this finale to the Cliffshire arc, the Lemon Crew pursues Lucius as he tries to exact his revenge against the very thing our heroes have worked so hard to save.
The day of the auction has finally arrived, leaving the dwarves a wee bit overeager to start the bidding.
Durn & Werden attempt to delay Aloysius outside of town.
Back in Cliffshire, when Trixie checks back in with Lucius, he provides information that makes the Dwarves wary of their agreement with Lord Greycastle.
The Mayor decides to distribute the winning lemon pie to those partaking in the Feast of the Bells, and Kayman makes Werden an offer he hopes he can't refuse.
Multi-pronged implements are put to good use at the Feast of Bells before Durn and Werdan commission Trixie to aid them in the next prong of their plan to delay the auction.
Our Paladin and Cleric discover that, to really straighten out the seedy underbelly of the pie contest world, even the squeaky-cleanest heroes may need to get their fingers a little bit sticky.
When the Dwarves try to problem solve in the big city instead of in deep caves or along the adventuring trail, they find it hard to acclimate. But at least there’s plenty to eat.
While the rest of the party has been navigating the Underdark and dealing with the ramifications of crucial goats and the dangers of the Sporey-Gone trail, Durn’s been living the high life. Specifically, by being high above the Baccarian Sea in the airship known as the Thundercloud.
When he finally lands on the main continent of Valbaara, Durn is unsure where to go next. But as fate would have it, he stumbles upon an old friend, one that just so happens to be the Dwarf that our newly initiated Owling, Trixie, has been tasked with keeping an eye on.
Durn’s tale on the mainland will give us a brief recess from the rest of the party’s Underdark journey. Aimee, Mike, and Will are joined by Josh Smith (who you may recognize from premium episodes: Beneath the 10,000 Cities and Clean-Up Crew Cloud Recovery Services) in a multi-part quest that takes place in the Halfling city of Cliffshire. Sam and Ive will be back when we return to the Underdark a few episodes from now.
After entering a mysterious misty mansion, an out of town Owling flies her way into our story.
Ahrin's clan learns a valuable lesson about retreat and the party is whittled back down to its core members before setting out on the Sporey Gone Trail.
Ahrin is transported through the mysterious rift and learns more about her connection to her people and of their great need for a hero’s return.
In the finale of the Crucial Goat mini-arc, Oomoo and his newly blued blue-goo crew face the scariest thing a goat can imagine. Meanwhile, Ahrin discovers a link to her past and begins unraveling the mystery of her strange teleportation problem.
Oomoo and company continue their up close and personal rescue operation. But to help the goat battle its mental demons, they’ll have to get inside its head.
To ensure the safety of a very important caprine creature, Oomoo and friends take a fantastic voyage through a very intimate inner space.
The Grease Wizard commissions an Amanita into his designs in New Spore City, causing the others to wonder “what makes a cult a cult?”
Then, to prove to the Spore Druids that he is both a friend of man and of animal, Oomoo and his new companions have a special side quest to undertake.
The road from Lightwater Falls to New Spore City grows more deadly as our heroes pass beneath an old haunt in continuation of their long, subterranean journey.
As the party delves further beneath the Temple catacombs that link up to Lumosh Underdark, horrific sounds and visages abound. (Though just how many of those were native to the region and how many came as part of the party’s baggage is for the listener to decide). This episode, not for the faint of heart, includes a vast amount of crunching, bubbling, slurping, and gurgling.
In this episode, the party’s departure from Raventree coincides with the unplanned arrival of a special guest that had more to do with real life coincidences than in game ones. Meanwhile, the Grease Wizard is in a dark place after the potential loss of another friend cuts at the still fresh wound of Durn’s departure. But, in the light of the full moon in the party’s last night in Raventree, while still licking his wounds, he comes upon a potential solution. Finally, abandoning even the light of the night sky, the test of darkness on everyone’s spirit begins as they start going under.
As the Vanilla crew does their best to figure out what they need to do to prepare for the Underdark, the Grease Wizard reminds listeners why he shouldn't be left to his own devices.
After a fair stretch of time on the road, our adventurers take a day in Raventree to engage in their individual pursuits.
Our adventurers cash in their invitation to the Labyrinth to secure supplies for Raventree, but get more than they bargained for when Keira discovers a surprising connection to her past.
The party continues their journey across the dangerous roads of Lumosh as the periphery of the blighted jungle begins its encroach. If they can reach the gates of the Labyrinth, a pit stop in Daph O'Dell's General Store is in order.
Our heroes make a stop at a familiar Gem and Junk Juicer, learn a little about its purveyors, and then depart on their journey over the dangerous roads that lead toward the Labyrinth.
As the party returns to Raventree and the weight of the changes all around them grows more difficult to bear, they realize that a long road awaits, but maybe first, preparations for a shorter journey taken for the sake of their friends.
After the conclusion of a devastating battle, our party of adventurers find out that once you are touched by a Titan, you are never quite the same.
When disaster strikes and Albagula calls for her champions, will they be strong enough to save her?
Before acting on the new revelations from Takeshi about their quarry in the south of Lumosh that is bathing the land in blight, the Thunderhorns must first stand trial for alleged infractions during their stay in Albagula.
Our heroes finally meet the eccentric mind behind the Albagula Games. When they do, they are faced with a choice of treasures of their hearts' desires or knowledge about their true purpose.
In the 5th and final part of this D&D homage to MXC and Takeshi's Castle, the Thunderhorns square off against an old foe from Slaver's Bay and face the perils of the Arcanagon itself to see who will be the winner of Takeshi's Games.
In part 4 of this D&D homage to MXC and Takeshi's Castle, the Thunderhorns take a break in between events to deal with two alarming deliveries and restore their mana in Takeshi's magic hot tub.
D8 Night: an actual play D&D Podcast where our heroes save Volyanaya, one bad decision at a time. Explore a world in turmoil, on the cusp of a new age, and with only our heroes to save it — after completing other important matters having to do with pies, homunculi, and abandonment issues of course. Geez, with heroes like these, who needs villains?
