DD Chapter 10: Hunted to Extinction

Arriving on the Cold Shores

After nearly a month of sailing, Jaw Company finally arrives on the shores of Mideast Cyregnor. Half of the regiment stays behind to guard the ship, while Darkjaw/Nolya (still in one body) set off with Captain Deadnok and the other half into the arctic wasteland. Despite the overwhelming joy and love Darkjaw & Nolya feel upon reunion, they both agreed that sharing one body is difficult. As such, their priority is to find a suitable host body for Darkjaw to take over. This is their primary goal during their expedition.

The Arctic Wild

Jaw Company spends a week trekking through the cold tundra, with exceptional navigation by Nolya during the day and surprisingly subpar senses for Darkjaw. His animal instincts take care of the rest, as he travels interchangeably as a winter wolf, a polar bear, and a saber tooth tiger. However, his scavenging is not as exciting, only finding 4 light blue rocks with a faint glimmer in the arctic light. In the night, as a winter wolf, he catches a scent of meat, but not dragon. He runs across the arctic tundra in search of his prey, until he finally sees it; a big juicy mammoth. He stealths upon his prey, successfully surprising it before he pounces. However, he has fallen into a clever trap; as he attacks his prey, Mammodons approach from their hiding spots and strike.

Combat: Darkjaw vs. Mammodon Hunting Party

Initiative

• Darkjaw: 17, 81/81 HP
• Mammoth: 6, 126/126 HP
• Mammodon Barbarians (2): 14, 90/90 HP each
• Mammodon Ranger (1): 18, 114/114 HP

Surprise Round

• Mammodon Ranger: fires two shots from his longbow at the charging Darkjaw, but the swift wolf dodges them both.
• Darkjaw: closes in on his prey and transforms into his polar werebear form, sinking his teeth into the mammoth for 13 piercing/2 cold damage (15 total). He then slashes twice, scoring a crit on one and tearing sweet mammoth flesh from within the hide. Deals 33 slashing/5 fire (38 total). Climbs to the top of the mammoth, claiming his vantage point.
• Mammodon Barbarians (2): Both launch 2 ice javelins each, hitting Darkjaw twice in total. Deals 12 piercing/5 cold damage to Darkjaw (17 total). Both Mammodons enter primal rages, roaring in true mammoth fashion.

Round 1

• Mammodon Ranger: Fires another volley, with Lightning Arrow (3rd level) on one of them. Still misses the deft Darkjaw.
• Darkjaw: Seeing the lightning arrow he so deftly dodged, Darkjaw decides to return the favor and fire his own at the ranger. Deals 4 piercing/26 lightning damage (30 total). Fires a petrified wood arrow at the north most Mammodon, dealing 5 piercing/2 fire (7 total) and withstanding the petrification. He rips the arrow out with his trunk and tosses it aside with a roar. Darkjaw roars back.
• Mammodon Barbarians (2): Westmost Barbarian launches another ice javelin volley, but misses and actually hits the mammoth with one for 5 damage. The other one climbs up the mammoth and viciously attacks Darkjaw, smashing him with a Trunk charge for 15 damage. Darkjaw manages to keep his footing and doesn’t fall off the mammoth.
• Mammoth: Jumps up to try and shake off his passengers, but both stay on. Frustrated, the mammoth grabs backward with its trunk, but grabs the Mammodon Barbarian and throws him off instead.

Round 2

• Mammodon Ranger: Casts Gust of Wind to blow Darkjaw off the mammoth. Darkjaw withstands the gust, but remains at disadvantage for any additional Strength or Dexterity throws while the ranger keeps it active.
• Darkjaw: Fires an Acidic Explosive arrow at the west Barbarian, then fires a Petrified Wood arrow at the ranger. 6 to Barbarian & 10 to Ranger, who resists the wooden curse and keeps concentration.
• Mammodon Barbarians: the fallen gets up and launches a couple javelins, dealing 9 damage and finally breaking Darkjaw’s footing on the mammoth. He falls in front of the other barbarian, who rushes in for some big boy axe strikes (25 slashing)
• Mammoth: Seeing his tormenter fall, the mammoth stomps on Darkjaw for 24 bludgeoning damage, downing the wereranger.

Round 3

• Mammodon Ranger: Runs over to prepare Darkjaw’s body for travel. Fails to tie him up properly. All of a sudden, Darkjaw’s eyes change and the body morphs into a feminine form; Nolya is in control.
• Nolya: Rolls away and casts Call Lightning (3rd level) on her former spot. Having disengages, Nolya runs behind the mammoth. Meanwhile, Darkjaw rolls a Death Fail, which does not harm him since he is not in command of the body.
• Mammodon Barbarians (2): Chase Nolya and swing with fury, both dealing 61 total damage to Nolya. Her concentration on Call Lightning breaks
• Mammoth: Swings around and gores Nolya, dealing 24 piercing and impaling Nolya on his tusk. Alas, the hunting party was successful. The ranger hops aboard the mammoth’s back as the barbarians calm down, and they all walk through the cold night to take their prize home.

During the Walk

Darkjaw rolls a Death Fail & a Death Success, Nolya rolls a Death Fail & a Death Success. Both fail their death saves too many times and die. Nolya, however, remains conscious within her soul and guards the body, trying to keep the Denowraiths away as long as she can. It is at this moment that Captain Deadnok and Dead Platoon finally catch up and see their masters in peril. Captain Deadnok orders the men into battle and they swarm the mammoth.

Combat: Captain Deadnok & Dead Platoon vs. Mammodon Hunting Party

Initiative

• Captain Deadnok & Dead Platoon: 21
• Mammodon Barbarian 1: 7
• Mammodon Barbarian 2: 6
• Mammodon Ranger: 4
• Mammoth: 14

Round 1

• Captain Deadnok: Directs Dead Platoon to eat the mammoth, which they attempt via horde strike. They land 161 piercing on the mammoth, who is overwhelmed and devoured by the zombies. Captain Deadnok fires a crossbow bolt at the ranger and charges Barbarian 1 with the Forge Maul, missing the ranger but dealing 28 damage to the Barbarian.
• Mammoth: dead
• Barbarian 1: Enters a rage and attacks Deadnok with his trunk, landing a crit for 9 bludgeoning. He grapples Deadnok, who shows insane might and almost escapes the mammodon’s powerful trunk. Having won, the mammodon slams Deadnok into his tusks for 13 piercing (22 total to Deadnok). Throws Deadnok back and roars.
• Barbarian 2: Enters a rage and runs up to Deadnok for a couple swings, hitting both for 28 damage.
• Ranger: Fires his, once at Deadnok for 6 damage and once at the zombie horde (with lightning arrow), dealing 9 piercing/4 cold to a zombie & 13 to every zombie within 5 ft of the first (91 total). This destroys 3 zombies.

Round 2

• Captain Deadnok: Directs Dead Platoon to swarm the ranger, then exhales Rotting Fire Breath at the Barbarians, who both fail their Dex saves and take 19 damage. The zombies charge the ranger, who looks in realization at his fuck up as he gets swarmed by zombies. However, Captain Deadnok orders the zombies to bring him near death, but not kill him yet. Using the cover of fire, Deadnok moves away from the Barbarians
• Barbarian 1: Chases Deadnok and swings twice, dealing 14 damage.
• Barbarian 2: runs to the horde and starts cutting, trying to save his ranger friend. Deals 16 damage to the horde.
• Ranger: down

Round 3

• Captain Deadnok: Brings out the Forge Maul and swings at the Barbarian, dealing 18 damage. Sensing the near end to this warrior, Deadnok drops the maul, grabs the mammoth by both trunks, and brings his face in for a crunchy bite, dealing 4 piercing and finishing off the Barbarian with a delicious taste. Orders the horde to devour the last Barbarian, who turns and does just that. They deal 82 piercing and consume the barbarian, who goes down swinging and lops off a zombie head.

Aftermath

Captain Deadnok rushes to Nolya’s side, and attempts to heal her with failure. Knowing there is only one way to bring back his queen, Captain Deadnok follows the ritual intended to put Darkjaw’s soul into a new body. Deadnok sets it up with a nat20 Arcana check, with all the remaining zombies in a circle around Queen Nolya/Lord Darkjaw. Deadnok places the Mammodon Ranger down on the ground next to her, and begins the ritual. Since he does not have an innate connection to magic like Nolya or Darkjaw, Deadnok must draw upon the necromantic dark energy within Jaw Company to perform the ritual. One by one, the zombies crumble from the drain, with the energy pumping into the corpses. As the zombies run out, Deadnok realizes that more dark energy will be needed to complete the ritual. Knowing what he must do, Deadnok pulls out his spear and falls on it, ending his zombie life for good and completing the ritual.
In soul form, Nolya senses the completion and places her lover’s soul within the Mammodon Ranger’s body, who initially struggles in resistance. However, after barely fighting through the necrotic ordeal just enough to open his eyes, the ranger sees Queen Nolya’s dead, soulful eyes staring at him with a smile. She opens her mouth to reveal sharp, bark dragon teeth and sinks into the mammodon’s face, killing him and infusing the final jump necessary to bring back Darkjaw. Her lover comes to in his new body, immediately admiring his newfound strength and hardiness, but knows he must revert to his true Elven form in the morning. However, he retains this new Werephant form for his arsenal. Tired from the effort of nearly dying again, Nolya reaches out to their remaining zombie forces, commanding them to unload all essential cargo and meet them here. The two make camp and enjoy feasting on the mammoth & mammodon meat leftover from the zombie meals. Darkjaw & Nolya earn 2,500 XP, since they didn’t really win.