DD Chapter 8: An Untimely End?

Opening

After the slaughter of the village, Darkjaw & Warvillus party it up with Captain Tholk & his men, while Captain Deadnok whips his troops into shape and teaches them what it means to be a true soldier. The next day, the gang heads to the Blue Marlin, but not before Darkjaw orders his men to douse the entire village in all the alcohol left within the tavern but place the final keg of hard liquor on top. As they walk to the ship, Darkjaw turns around and looses an arrow from his fiery bow, hitting the keg and setting fire to the place, which reaches the rest of the village as they walk away. We see the silhouette of an antlered-elf with a cape of bear fur, leading with his men to the Blue Marlin as the village burns away.

Away at Sea

Jaw Company sails away on the Blue Marlin as Lord Darkjaw & Captain Tholk go over the map and plot course. Darkjaw wants to get to Cyregnor as quickly as possible, plotting about a week’s sail before arriving at the first island of the continent. However, Captain Tholk points out that there’s prime pillaging opportunity along the coastline. Darkjaw ponders this and sees it at a potential improvement to his forces, authorizing Tholk to set course for these locations as long as they are reasonably on the way. A montage ensues of wanton slaughter of Frost Dragonborn villages, with Jaw Company gaining the following rewards

• Darkjaw gains 3,000 XP for leadership & violence. Along the way, he studies his weapons and realizes that he could alternate his longbow between fire & cold Draconic essence, since he is innately connected to both. He also starts working on his next project, the Glaive of Reckoning. He slowly gathers weapons from the fallen soldiers, planning to melt the metal into his new prize.
• Warvillus raids several magic huts along the way, nat20 the Investigation/Arcana throw and finding several spells. He uses rare inks salvaged from the hut to transcribe three Draconic spells into his book: Hydra Hand, Drakeskin, & Dragon’s Breath. After all are transcribed, he prepares his spells, replacing Mage Armor, Blindness/Deafness, & Evard’s Black Tentacles
• Captain Tholk loses half his men in this endevour, but gains 10 eager psychopaths along the way. He now has 23 soldiers at his command, and is named as Lieutenant of Lively Platoon
• Captain Deadnok loses 16 of his troops (7 from Reaper Squad and all 9 from Fodder Squad), but gains 13 troops from Captain Tholk’s casualties and 80 from the village casualties. This brings Dead Platoon to 100 soldiers, becoming the overwhelming majority of Jaw Company’s forces.

A New Target

We pan to a burning village littered with dead bodies, a week after they set off. We see Darkjaw eating a still living Dragonborn, coughing blood and sputtering pleas to kill him. Darkjaw refuses, stating that living flesh tastes better as he bites into the stump of his leg. Eventually, the Dragonborn bleeds out, and Darkjaw leaves his meal for the zombies. Darkjaw finds Warvillus, who has secured a second ship to store their troops upon. While perusing the ruins, he finds one frightened Dragonborn woman and begins interrogation.
“You seem like a wise woman. You do not seek to fight, but instead you seek peace. Provide me with valuable information, and I will grant you that peace.” The terrified woman spills everything she knows about the village and the surrounding region. Most of it is useless to Darkjaw, but one fact peaks his interest; a few days walk from here, a forest in the Northeast has been slowly dying/become corrupted by dark energy. Thinking this may be what he is looking for, Darkjaw thanks the woman, then offers his peace with a bite to the throat. As she screams/gurgles in pain, Darkjaw wastes no time feasting on her flesh.
Given this new information, Darkjaw decides to suspend his maritime campaign and instead take his men Northeast. While Warvillus agrees after Darkjaw mentions the dark energy corruption, Captain Tholk has no interest in this, instead choosing to take his men and the Blue Marlin to the seas. Darkjaw ponders and allows Tholk to leave with his life, as his forces are plenty replenished for now. The two part ways with psychopathic respect. Meanwhile, Darkjaw has 20 zombies guard the ship that they acquired so they can easily take it if they come back. With that, Jaw Company (Lord Darkjaw, Lamarva, Warvillus, Captain Deadnok and 80 troops from Dead Platoon) set off into the woods.

Day 1

Darkjaw leads the Company through taiga woodlands, finding 4 Frostbite flowers. At night, Warvillus studies the works he found in the villages, while Captain Deadnok trains his men. Meanwhile, Darkjaw & Lamarva head off for the hunt, seeking dragon meat. They track through the woods and Darkjaw immediately picks up the scent, having transformed into a Dire Werewolf. However, he also picks up a second scent, then concentrates for a minute to sense the presence of a Frost Dragon & a Forest Dragon. Darkjaw chooses the Forest Dragon and senses its only a mile away, telling Lamarva that the Frost Dragon is 2 miles west of them. They go their separate ways and find their dragons; Darkjaw nat20s his Stealth and becomes invisible within the trees. Lamarva is not so stealthy, so the Frost Dragon attacks with Cold Breath to start off. Darkjaw, almost in sync, looses a dual cold-frostbite arrow into his prey.

Combat: Darkjaw & Lamarva vs. Young Forest & Frost Dragons (3,900 & 2,300 XP)

Initiative

• Darkjaw: 22
• Lamarva: 13
• Young Forest Dragon: 21
• Young Frost Dragon: 4

Surprise Round

• Darkjaw: Looses his arrow shot, dealing 14 piercing/5 cold bow/8 frost arrow/13 frostbite arrow/4 Favored enemy/24 Predator’s Strike (68 total). Then leaps down and lands with the Spear of Vengeance into the dragon, dealing 9 piercing/2 fire/4 Favored enemy damage (15 total). The dragon succeeded on the Constitution saving throw to fight off slowness, but fails on the frostbite poison and will take damage every turn.
• Frost Dragon: Cold Breath on Lamarva, who fails the Con save and takes 64 cold damage.

Round 1

• Darkjaw: Slashes for 8 slashing/1 fire/4 Favored enemy (13 total), then bites for 4 piercing/4 fire/4 favored enemy (12 total).
• Forest Dragon: Takes 5 cold damage from the Frostbite poison, retries the saving throw and fights off the poison. Tries to shake off Darkjaw, but cannot. Instead, he tries to use Poison Breath on him, giving Darkjaw advantage on the saving throw since he has a bad angle. He crit fails anyway, taking 22 poison damage thanks to his resistant armor.
• Lamarva: Fires back with his Toxifire Breath. The dragon fails the Dex save, taking 10 poison/23 fire damage (33 total). Takes to the sky with his wings.
• Frost Dragon: Takes to the sky and launches Multiattack, with only one bite hit for 15 piercing/7 cold damage (22 total). Fails his breath recharge

Round 2

• Darkjaw: Transforms into a Polar Werebear and does a slash-bite combo, dealing 17 piercing/5 fire/4 Favored enemy (26 total) with the bite and 13 slashing/2 fire/4 favored enemy (19 total) with the slash. The bite actually kills the dragon, ripping out the nape of its neck. Darkjaw gives the slash for good measure, and scavenges his prize, getting 9 Forest Dragon Teeth & 9 Forest Dragon Scales. Earns 3,900 XP.
• Lamarva: Does a bite for 19 damage and crit fails a tail attack. Gives him disadvantage on his recharge, which he fails.
• Frost Dragon: Multiattacks again, landing a bite and a claw for 16 & 13 damage (29 total). Unfortunately for the drake, this removes his head & neck from his body as the Frost Dragon rips it clean off with his jaws. The Frost Dragon enjoys his prize, recharging his cold breath

Darkjaw senses something is wrong, expertly navigating his way towards the direction he sent Lamarva. Once he arrives, he finds Lamarva’s remains being eaten by the Frost Dragon he was sent to hunt, sending Darkjaw into a grief-fueled rage.

Combat: Darkjaw vs. Frost Dragon (2,300 XP)

Initiative

• Darkjaw: 9
• Frost Dragon: 3

Round 1

• Darkjaw: Fires a dual acidic explosive-poison arrow shot, dealing 12 piercing/2 fire/4 poison/11 acid/4 Favored enemy (33 total)
• Frost Dragon: Fires Cold Breath at Darkjaw, dealing 59 cold damage and downing Darkjaw. Pleased, the dragon continues to feed on Lamarva’s corpse, saving Darkjaw for later

Round 2

• Darkjaw: Death Fail
• Frost Dragon: Eats more of Lamarva, leaves about 2/3rds of him left

Round 3

• Darkjaw: Death Fail
• Frost Dragon: Eats more of Lamarva, leaves about 1/3rd of him left

Round 4

• Darkjaw: Death Success
• Frost Dragon: Eats the rest of Lamarva

Round 5

• Darkjaw: hears Nolya’s voice in his soul, telling him to keep going. This motivates him and gives advantage on the death save. With that, he succeeds
• Frost Dragon: Moves towards Darkjaw, preparing to take a bite in the next round

Round 6

• Darkjaw: feels all of Nolya’s love pumping through his veins, as if her soul itself was helping him rise. On a razor’s edge with advantage, Darkjaw stabilizes, and through a successful Athletics check, gets up from being prone.
• Frost Dragon: Bites at Darkjaw, rolling a crit. Darkjaw stares into the gaping maw of his prey as its teeth clamp down on him, dealing 16 piercing/1 cold damage and knocking him limp once more. With Darkjaw in his maw, the dragon makes two more bite attacks in lieu of claws, dealing 29 piercing/13 cold (59 total)

Round 7

• Darkjaw: Got two Death Fails from the bites. With that, he rolls his final Death Fail and is squelched between the dragon’s teeth, ending his reign in the mortal realm for now
• Frost Dragon: Swallows Darkjaw whole, then flies off into the night.

Aftermath

After a while, Warvillus notices the unusually long length of Lord Darkjaw’s hunt, but knows better than to interfere. The next day, Warvillus wakes up to Darkjaw’s absence and eventually concludes the worst. However, this presents a world of opportunity for him; he may not have his powerful master anymore, but he still has a 100-man army of zombies at his disposal and a ship at his command. With that, Warvillus, Captain Deadnok and the 80 troops of Jaw Company march off to the coast, ready to lead his next adventure.

The Underworld

Darkjaw comes to in a shadowy wasteland, still in Dire Werewolf form. As he takes in his surroundings, he notices several shadowy spirits flying away from him and doesn’t recognize what they are. He then begins to trek through the dark void, nat20’ed the Survival check and learns plenty about Underworld navigation. He wanders for a day, finding nothing but black dirt and bones as he forages. Noticeably, he doesn’t change form throughout this, implying that day & night aren’t constants around here. He transforms through his various beast forms, eventually becoming a Drake resembling Lamarva. He now understands the truth; Lamarva has always been a part of him, not a separate entity. With Lamarva’s physical death, his power now flows through Darkjaw.
As Darkjaw attempts to make camp by burning bones with his Draconic essence, a figure begins to meld from the shadows, walking towards him. Darkjaw immediately draws his bow with a flaming Acidic Explosive arrow in the chamber, but is taken aback when the figure reveals themselves as Nolya. The two immediately embrace, and Darkjaw displays something he would never have shown anyone in life, vulnerability. Nolya & Darkjaw reconnect for hours it seems, with Nolya recounting all of her experiences in the Underworld while Darkjaw talks about his new powers. At this point, he has transformed back into a Wood Elf, but Nolya compliments his new powers, stating that they‘ll be necessary for what comes next. Darkjaw shows confusion, as he thought they would now spend their afterlife together. Nolya reiterates that they will, but they will not be spending it here. Instead, as she’s learned during her time here, they will be escaping the Underworld and finding a way to liberate all the dead souls that reside here from this prison. To do that, they must go to Cyregnor and obtain the Daidrin Gaiostone, for its power is the only way to cast the spell necessary for her plan. Darkjaw is excited, then wonders how he has all his inventory when his body is still in the mortal realm. Nolya explains that in his last moments, she called out to him, ensuring that the Denowraiths would bring him closer to her location. She also used new magic (Soul Recall) to envision Darkjaw’s soul as she remembered him in life, which was muddled with his current memory of himself due to her soul being within him.
The reunited couple makes passionate love and sleeps well through the Undernight. The next “morning”, they depart for their adventure.
“Come my love, for we have an eternity’s worth of work to complete.” Nolya exclaims, taking Darkjaw’s hand as they wander off through the dark planes of death.