TG403

A Little Knight Music

Episode Number: (TG403)
Original Airdate: 1/2002

The second part of the Dinner Party. The party splits up, with one group (led by Karilon) searching for the missing Duke and the other (led by Ambassador Fayel) defending DukeEledin's chessboard. In the end, both teams are successful... after a fashion. The "Operation Shield of Defending Freedom's Liberty" party has found DukeEledin, although he is still in the middle of a magic circle, and some guys with bows might have an opinion on whether they get him back. And the Pawn party made a new friend out of Fayell and fought some really oogy insectile monsters that no one really knows about.

Plot Points

• Protar was, according to Fayel, "Rant's little man-servant."
• Baelin, the bard from Glain encountered in Season Two, appears to be involved, or is at least being impersonated by the insectile monsters.
• Karilon is one hell of a tough bastard, managing to survive a coup de grace.
• Emcee saved Tierney.

Unanswered Questions:

• Where the hell did all of these bad guys come from? You'd think someone would notice a small army entering TwinGate.
• What were the two mages in the armory scrying on?
• How did Fayel know about DukeEledin's ChessBoard?

Analysis:

• Among the phrases shouted by the bad guys: "Long live the BrightBlade", "The OathMaker protect me", and "I can't believe the druid is running around wearing nothing but sexy vines". The first two, at least, might indicate some, well, weirdness afoot. 'Cause most of the bad guys the party has fought up to this point have been really into the Savage or the Cryptlord or the BlackPillar. The BrightBlade tends to attract, well, GOOD people.
• There were at least two of the insect-creatures. They definitely have the ability to turn invisible, and they definitely have the ability to either teleport or dimension door.
• Fayel appears to be genuinely against the creatures, and to have an interest in protecting the ChessBoard. But he seems to want DukeEledin out of power, and the creatures are attempting to kidnap DukeEledin, so wouldn't Fayel, you know, be, um... does anyone else see a discrepancy here?
• Fayel demanded that people accompany him to help protect the ChessBoard. Approximately half the party did, apparently against their will, due to some form of compulsion. Tierney, Arlemis, Aldamar, and Elhenia initially accompanied Fayel. Others, including Emcee and Yadarjin, followed of their own volition. Gryff, Timus, Vargon, Karilon, Sendant, and Aldea were unaffected by the command.

DMP Speaks

You'll see more of the attackers in the next episode, and find out a bit more about what their motivations are. Don't be surprised if some familiar faces are part of the attacks.

Yes, you heard correctly. BrightBlade and OathMaker. Sort of gets hairy, now. Sort of makes the party wonder which side they're on.

At one non-gaming night, I talked about a book I'd written that had all these silly, stupid verbal tricks in it. And how if you paid enough attention, you could deduce from the verbal cues that someone was not entirely what they appeared to be. As a writer, those little throwaway clues are just so much fun to play with. Of course, you can't really do anything with verbal clues, not when you're roleplaying. So you have to use other things. Like who succeeded and who failed.

Notable Quotes

Dying Raider: Long live the Bright Blade! [dies]
Tierney: Oh, that's probably not good.

Tim: (as door opens on fifty bad guys and no DukeEledin): Well, no sign of him here, let's move on.

Pat: Aaaaand Yadarjin makes a heal check to stabilize Tierney.
Party: With what? [party believes Yadarjin to be less than entirely bipedal]

Pat: There's an interesting question -- who do you root for, Fayel or the cockroaches?
Colin: Rrrrrrrr.

Karin: Oh, yeah, and when Pat comes home he's all excited, like, "And then I destroyed all their characters, it was so cool!"
Dave: Pfff, more like, "I destroyed all their characters... [sexy manly voice] C'mere."

Pat: after Tierney gets saved by Emcee, who had declared that she hated him, and then stabilized by Yadarjin, who is interested in Emcee, Tierney wakes up to see Emcee standing over him, guarding him, and Yadarjin staring at Emcee and Tierney sadly. Tierney vaguely knows that Emcee protected him, and knows nothing about Yadarjin saving him from death] This is just like Friends, only with saving throws!

Geordan: Here's your bad guy! (points at d6)
Patrick: That's my one bad guy?
Geordan: Yes.
Patrick: That's deeply pathetic.

Patrick: (as the "absent" Aldamar) I think if I burn some XP, I can cast multiplee Heal spells!
Geordan: Awesome!
Patrick: Congratulations Aldamar, you're now 4th level!

Geordan: Showering Half-Orc Monthly.
Colin: Truth be told, there is something worse: what if they didn't shower?

Colin: Did you say "the first demon?"
Patrick: (shifty-eyed) You worry too much.

Dave: I bet Fayel has Power Word: Decorate. Power Word: Grease.
Geordan: Mordenkainen's Lubrication!

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