Gloomhaven #28 - (43) Drake Nest

07th April 2019 (Sunday)

Game(s) Played:

No, really, the following post has MAJOR spoilers for the Gloomhaven campaign. This has been your spoiler warning.

Gloomhaven #28 – (43) Drake Nest

Game: Gloomhaven
Designer: Isaac Childres
Players: 1 – 4 Players
Playing Time: 30 – 120 minutes (This Play: 150 minutes)
Main Mechanisms: Role Playing, Legacy, Hand Management

Player(s):

Bob 'I Am An Actual Doctor' (Sawbones) answers the furious knocking at his door, anticipating another long day with his sharpened instruments given the desperation of the knocker. The opened door reveals All Might 'The Symbol Of Peace' (Brute) with a big grin on his face. Puzzled, Bob asks "Is something wrong?" to which All Might responds with a bigger grin "Thalia 'Heir of Saint Traft' (Scoundrel) is down with the flu, so give her something that will knock her out and we can go grab some loot without her being there to steal it from me!" "That's a very weird way to be concerned about a friend" comments Bob to which All Might heatedly responds "Don't you dare call me that! But come along now, time's a-wasting" So Bob grabs his travel pack and trusty man-saw and sets off after the giant Inox.

"She'll be asleep for the rest of the day" says Bob coming out of Thalia's room, "Just a flu and nothing to worry about" Turning toward the group, Bob sees that everyone is waiting fully geared in the hallway, Lyramof 'The Polite' (Cragheart) with his WARHAMMER, Splinter 'Karaoke Kingu' (Mindthief) in his shadowy INVISIBILITY CLOAK and of course, All Might. Bob is about to make a comment on how dedicated they are to their friend when All Might quips "So she's out for the count right? Let's get a move on already!" Sighing inwardly and packing up his things, Bob asks "So where are we going today?" Splinter rasps from underneath his cloak "Let's go see Hail, the Enchantress, maybe she can help us get through the black water in the sewers"

Always try the local cuisine, no matter how kooky the vendor and his wares might look

Hail the Enchantress must have been Hail the Government Officer in her previous life, it takes hours for anything to get done here

Stealth is rarely our preferred choice but we'd take the trade-off of a tick for prosperity any day

Hail's fetch quests are never easy, she'll be having us steal the wisdom tooth of a greater elder dragon one day if this goes on

Splinter's nose twitches as the group enters the cave, their eyes still adjusting to the darkness. "That's not drake, its demon!" warns Splinter even as the two hidden FLAME DEMONS flare into sight. Knowing to blink the sudden brightness away, Splinter is the first to react as he pulls out his dagger with the PERVERSE EDGE and flings it at the closer FLAME DEMON on his left, stunning the FLAME DEMON with the frost imbued dagger. Lyramof steps up and flings a small rock at the other FLAME DEMON, however the rock disintegrates as it comes into contact with the flaming shields that surround the FLAME DEMON. Shouldering the Cragheart aside, All Might steps up to the stunned FLAME DEMON and deals a devastating overhead slash with his half and a half sword, which very nearly cleaves the FLAME DEMON in two. In an unexpected burst of speed, Bob launches himself to come behind the distracted FLAME DEMON and with a quick slash of precision of his BLOODY SAW, slashes two major arteries, wounding the FLAME DEMON and causing it to start bleeding out. All Might steps up to deal the finishing blow to the still stunned FLAME DEMON when the cry of Lyramof resounds through the cave.

Lyramof (Edward) is on a warpath to claiming as many trophy heads as possible

There are no friends in Gloomhaven, only a temporary state of truce amongst cutthroat mercenaries

Brushing off the debris caused by Lyramof's overenthusiastic attack, All Might walks over to the remaining FLAME DEMON and banishes it back to its home plane of existence. Seeing only one entryway to the next room, Splinter volunteers to go first, pulling his INVISIBILITY CLOAK on and proceeding to scout ahead. The next cavern is as wide as the first they entered but is longer and has five different exit doorways, two on each side and one at the far end of the cavern. Pulling out his four kunai, Splinter uses his senses to outline the three RENDING DRAKES and one of the two FLAME DEMONS before letting his little silver daggers fly. Splinter's MASS HYSTERIA move rings true as each kunai strikes its target near the face and explodes causing temporary blindness and confusion amongst the enemy ranks.

Sensing an unseen enemy, the FLAME DEMONS retain their calm and begin inscribing powerful runeword TRAPS into the floor before them, limiting the adventurers' avenue of attack. All Might, Bob and Lyramof enter the cavern in that order, just as the FLAME DEMONS finish creating their traps. Seeing the enemy, the blinded and angry RENDING DRAKE charges towards All Might, triggering a trap and a heavy net falls on it, entangling it in a mesh of rope and claws. Still INVISIBLE, Splinter plunges his PERVERSE EDGE into the side of the left RENDING DRAKE, freezing it for a few minutes, turns around and with a short jump, slams his dirk between the eyes of the middle RENDING DRAKE, killing it instantly. Feeling the effects of INVISIBILITY wearing off, Splinter makes a break back towards the entrance.

Lyramof decides to act from safety and smashes his fist into the wall, causing a small AVALANCHE of rock and gravel. Picking up one of the bigger rocks, Lyramof yells "CLEAR THE WAY!" before heaving it at the RENDING DRAKE on the right.

Lulz! The Cragheart is such a troll character! I think we need to perma-ban it

As the effects of the freezing stun begin to wear off, Splinter backstabs the left RENDING DRAKE between the shoulder blades, killing it and just as Splinter leaves the second cavern back into the first, he becomes visible to the naked eye once more.

Taking advantage of the cloud of dust raised by Lyramof's rock throwing, All Might hurdles the trapped RENDING DRAKE to engage the bigger threat of the FLAME DEMON behind it, whilst Bob simultaneously attacks the remaining FLAME DEMON on the left. A rumbling "CLEAR THE WAY!" prompts All Might to duck his head just as another boulder goes sailing over him, detonating the ground in the vicinity of the FLAME DEMON and the now approaching SPITTING DRAKE. The FLAME DEMON screeches at All Might in its guttural demon tongue in defiance, to which All Might responds, "Language! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" and in a single move, hews the FLAME DEMON in two, like chopping firewood.

The last RENDING DRAKE finally manages to break free of the net that had it entrapped, it looks around screeching its angry defiance, looking for a target for its pent up frustration. Coming below its eye level, Splinter having re-entered the room, stabs PERVERSE EDGE into the RENDING DRAKE'S side, freezing its movement once more. The FLAME DEMON and SPITTING DRAKE on the left have both their attentions focused on Bob, the SPITTING DRAKE landing perched on a nearby rock and hissing angry spittle at Bob. Not missing the opportunity, Splinter uses a nearby rock as a stepping stone, launching himself into the air at the FLAME DEMON. In a cinematic camera pan around the cavern, Splinter drives his dirk through the skull of the FLAME DEMON, All Might beheads the SPITTING DRAKE on the right and Lyramof brings down a double handed blow on the stunned RENDING DRAKE, cracking its skull, and Bob slashes the SPITTING DRAKE'S jugular vein with his BLOODY SAW, causing the SPITTING DRAKE to bleed to death.


"Let's get the scales" says Bob as they all set to work descaling the corpses of the drakes in the room. Finishing their bloody work, All Might stands up, ready for more and asks "Where next?" Closing his eyes, Splinter reaches out with his senses and points towards his left, "I smell snake that way". Waving the Vermling toward the back entrance, All Might and Lyramof make their entrance the old fashioned way, feet first and weapons raised. The splintered door crashes into the dirt, revealing three SPITTING DRAKES and three RENDING DRAKES and their nests in this long narrow chamber.

The SPITTING DRAKES react immediately at the hostile threat towards their nests and globs of green spit crash into All Might in rapid succession, damaging and POISIONING him. Hearing All Might's screams and the sizzling of flesh, Bob enters the chamber to quickly administer some salves onto him. In the meantime, Splinter quietly sneaks in from the back entrance and uses FRIGID APPARITION to project a mental image of a giant badger at the SPITTING DRAKE behind the pack, sending it cowering in fear, and HOSTILE TAKEOVER to IMMOBILIZE another RENDING DRAKE.

As the front drakes crowd together in excitement at their damaged prey, another rock comes sailing into the chamber crashing into two SPITTING DRAKES and one RENDING DRAKE, knocking them down as Lyramof beats a hasty retreat towards the exit. Despite being covered in acidic spit, All Might however makes his stand at the entrance.

Argh! All the floating mini headshots are floating in the wrong space. Sigh, this is what happens when you edit during a busy week

With an outraged warcry that shakes off the effect of his wounds, All Might jumps in and wields his sword with devastating effect. A whirlwind of movement later…

Like any good D&D campaign, heroes are encouraged to be stupidly reckless, it looks epicly awesome when you pull it off after all

Screeching in outrage, the SPITTING DRAKE spits a paralytic poison at All Might, sapping the energy from his body. However, just as it swoops in for the kill, Bob jumps in front of All Might, waving his man-saw to distract the SPITTING DRAKE. Flying in from the side, Splinter plunges PERVERSE EDGE into the wing of the SPITTING DRAKE, stunning it long enough for Bob to carve it in a loping swing of his man-saw. Running low on endurance, Splinter makes a break for the back exit, just as the remaining two RENDING DRAKES are wearing out the effects of their STUN and IMMOBILIZATION. All Might seizes the opportunity and strikes down the nearest RENDING DRAKE but the remaining RENDING DRAKE makes a break for it, going after the retreating Splinter and managing to score a deep WOUND on Splinter's back. Hearing Splinter's cry, All Might looks up and launches his spare short sword at the RENDING DRAKE like a spear, which punches through its back and out through its chest, killing it instantly.

Meanwhile Lyramof has moved towards the front right entryway in the second cavern. Taking a peek into the small room, Lyramof finds two RENDING DRAKES and two SPITTING DRAKES hissing at his intrusion. Panicking, Lyramof picks up the nearest boulder and in a highly illegal move, slams the boulder in the entryway, blocking the entrance with an obstacle.

All Might has caught up with Splinter who is now sitting down panting outside the entrance at the far end of the second chamber. Pointing to the ground, Splinter rasps "Trapped, there, there and there". Making a quick mental note, All Might leaps and clears the traps surrounding the doorway and opens the door with a bang to reveal a FLAME DEMON, two RENDING DRAKES and two SPITTING DRAKES. Deciding not to tempt fate, All Might quickly leaps backwards over the traps and retreats towards the right.

Self-preservation is the number one skill every adventurer works on

The SPITTIN DRAKE sees a wounded Splinter through the doorway and launches its venom which POISONS the Vermling. The FLAME DEMON floats towards the doorway and launches a fireball at Splinter causing him to roll out of the way and retreat towards the left side. Having finished descaling the drakes in the left chamber, Bob finally enters the second cavern and helps Splinter to his feet. Meanwhile, the FLAME DEMON is focusing its flaming fireballs at All Might, causing him to be MUDDLED by the smoke and IMMOBILIZED by the flames surrounding him.

Seeing Splinter as their best hope, Bob quickly pulls out a syringe filled with green liquid and jabs it into Splinter's forearm, "Sorry about this little fella". Suddenly infused with power, Splinter instinctively knows what to do, holding his dirk before him, the Vermling shadow steps behind the FLAME DEMON and backward stabs the FLAME DEMON, before intoning one syllable "Explode" and the FLAME DEMON bursts in a shower of ice crystals and snowflakes. The RENDING DRAKES come sprinting out of the room and the first triggers another similar net TRAP whilst the second RENDING DRAKE leapfrogs its trapped comrade and slashes at the unprepared Splinter WOUNDING him.

Sometimes "This is not the Vermling you are looking for" doesn't work

All Might cuts down the two SPITTING DRAKES in quick succession, the lure of a treasure chest fuelling the adrenaline pumping through his veins before opening the chest.

Why does the character who doesn't need equipment to be good always gets to open the treasure chest?

Just as things look bleak for Splinter, Bob comes in with his man-saw swinging, cutting down one of the RENDING DRAKES from behind. The death cry of its comrade is enough distraction to the remaining RENDING DRAKE, it doesn't see the Mindthief leaping onto its back and drawing a big smiley face on its neck with twin daggers. The danger neutralized, All Might, Bob and Splinter quickly set to collecting the needed scales as well as collecting the near hysterical Lyramof who is continuously lobbing boulders into the room with the trapped drakes, all the while screaming "Get away from me!", on the way to the exit.

That's it? No extra coin or priceless artefact? What a rip-off

Now let's cut to the action in real time!

Results Of Game(s)

Winners:
Justin aka Splinter "12 Damage! Ooops" – 27 Exp & 3 Gold
Sean aka Bob "Here's one medipack for you, and for you, and for you" – 33 Exp (LVL UP!) & 27 Gold
Edward aka Lyramof "HEAVE HO! CLEAR THE WAY!" – 28 Exp
Moses aka All Might "Reunited and it feels so good" – 19 Exp (LVL UP!) & 21 Gold & 1 Tick
+1 PROSPERITY!!!

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We will be back with more Gloomhaven in two weeks.

Until next time, keep calm and play better.