Know Your Roll

Neko takes to the ring for the first time and has a weirdly laid back match against the monk, Aya. She also manages to popularize a new chant! Gorlax then fights another blood hunter with similar abilities to his own, and also manages to coin a new term while doing so.

The Slippery Swords continue to fight their way through the tournament. Gorlax faces off against…himself? Ashe showcases her talents against a flamboyant wizard, a samurai draws his blade against a monk with fascinating abilities, and Jeff adopts a controversial persona as he exchanges blows with a familiar opponent.

The party visits Englebert to "Spin the Wheel" and get some interesting new magic items. They then proceed to the long anticipated fighting tournament, and receive their bracket placements. Neko has an awkward reunion with Ashe. Relic participates in the first fight of the tournament, against a mysterious artificer named Tobi, clad in a massive suit of armor. Gorlax and Jeff convince Ashe to bet against them on the fight's result.

The gang makes their way out of the floating castle as it falls from the sky, and back to the Whispering Blades HQ. They de-brief with King and argue over finances before taking some down time. Relic grapples with his relationships with his fathers, Neko checks in on her milk bar, Jeff educates himself on his patron, and Gorlax signs everyone up for a fighting tournament - TWICE.

The Pillar.

The gang continues on through the floating castle and finds multiple more series of elaborate mazes. They come upon laboratories and active experiments, and documentation that ties back to Billups, The Sound, and even their initial meeting with Ashe in Arabel. They also stumble upon impossible technology, culminating in an encounter with robotic constructs that call upon the power of cotton candy. These robots make reference to their "Mother," who they say is at the top of the castle. Could this "Mother" be the one in the photographs found in the bedroom? Is she one of the Pillars the party has been tasked to find?

The gang takes to the skies on their newly acquired griffons and make their way to the floating castle above Secomber. They barely manage to evade a volley of lasers from the castle, and thanks to some clever flying from Neko, manage to find an entrance. They are met with a bizarre maze of oddly shaped rooms, and must solve a puzzle to proceed. Upon clearing the first area, they find themselves in a strange bedroom. Among the belongings there are a series of odd pictures that depict a very long life, lived - seemingly - fully within the walls of this castle. The pictures also tie back to an old acquaintance...Billups! Whose castle is this? Who are The Pillars and what do they have to do with this place?

Having defeated The Sound, the gang exits the cavern to find the mysterious fog that beset Secomber has suddenly lifted. A mysterious floating castle hangs hundreds of feet above them. They check in with Sheriff Ivy and Lil Timmy, to whom Relic/Gorlax break the news of Justice Cromwell's demise. Ashe checks in remotely to ask that Fess escort Ivy and Timmy to the safety of the Whispering Blades HQ. They break into the bank vault, Relic gets his boots and hat back, and they all head to the griffon stables to NOT eat all of the griffons.

The gang continues their battle against the fearsome beast discovered in the mines outside Secomber. The creature overwhelms the party with its furious violence and grotesque magics.  Neko and Relic cling to life as Newcomer Fess taps into a deep well of wild magic, to fantastical effect. Jeff finally uses his sword to hit stuff, and Gorlax earns his retribution in style. Where did this disgusting worm come from, and why does it want to party so dang bad?

The gang begins their battle against a grotesque mutant worm in the mines outside of Secomber. Fess taps into his magic with chaotic consequence, unleashing a fireball that endangers the party. The beast unleashes a terrifying roar that leaves the party absolutely Frightened (PHB pg. 290). Jeff finds a creative use for his spellcasting Orb given to him by Engelbert, to spectacular effect. There's no way this battle will last more than 10 rounds...right?

The gang continues to struggle against the violent townsfolk of Secomber. Neko puts herself on the line to rescue Lil Timmy, and an unlikely comrade offers the chance at a daring escape. Relic forces a fateful encounter with Justice Cromwell and gets a glimpse of a truth behind his secret machinations. Finally, the gang discovers the jail to be less empty than the Sheriff had claimed; and inside, a powerful ally awaits!

The gang confronts the townsfolk in the midst of a bizarre ritual. Neko acts quickly to free Lil Timmy from the clutches of the townsfolk while the rest of the party fends off the others. A battle ensues for like, this whole episode. And then right at the end, something else happens! Just listen to it, ok?

The gang attends the harvest festival at the nearby Grumpy Kangaroo Tavern. They meet with the stable master, Loreena Cloudfang, and arrange to rent their griffons the following morning. Neko notices that Lil Timmy is not in attendance, and alerts Justice Cromwell to his absence. Gorlax puts on a performance that just absolutely rips so much ass that the town's bagpipe player immediately gives up on all his dreams and Gorlax earns one level of Renown. Justice eventually leaves the festival with two of his aides, and Lil Timmy is still nowhere to be found. The party follows them just outside of town only to stumble upon a shocking ritual, and being to discover the devastating secret truth about the town.

The gang arrives in Secomber, greeted by the head of the town council, Justice Cromwell. He and his son, Lil Timmy, welcome the party to the town and invite them to the harvest festival later that evening. They stop by the Heavy Hearts Inn to procure their lodging, and have some strange interactions with the hotelier. They have a run-in with the Sheriff and a passive aggressive man who kinda just hangs out on her porch. As they speak with the townsfolk, they begin to discover that not all may be as it seems in this small town...

The gang fends off an assault from some nasty locals. Relic makes use of his new Old Town Boots and Hat to mount one of the creatures, while Gorlax does everything in his power to remove Relic from said mount. Neko tests out a new item to take some creative maneuvers around the battlefield. She also learns a startling secret about her magical whip, Coilbaby.

The gang spends some time exploring the headquarters of the Whispering Blades. Everybody speaks a bunch of crazy shit into existence, and Gorlax finds religion. The Slippery Swords head off to Secomber to procure some Griffon mounts and check out a floating castle. Relic rides a snake.

The gang gets held back from pursuing the first Pillar by some routine onboarding procedures. They meet the head of HR, who conducts a group interview to learn a little more about our party's pasts. Secrets are revealed, lies are exposed! They learn a lot about livin' and a little about love.

The Season 1 finale! The gang hangs out at the Whispering Blades HQ, are officially dubbed the Slippery Swords, and learn a little more about their mysterious enemy. Everybody gets some sweet magic items and Jeff finds a couple windows to jump through, somehow.

The gang checks out Baldur's Gate as their new friend Engelbert shows them around. They meet someone close to Climbo, and a bartender causes Relic to have an existential crisis. They make their way to the Whispering Blades HQ and meet a very big man, even bigger than Gorlax. It's not a trick of perspective. He's really very big.

The gang confronts Larry and the zombified engineer at the front of the train as it barrels towards Baldur's Gate. They learn of Larry's intentions, work to recover the stolen cargo, and weigh the cost/benefit analysis of stopping the train before it kills them and a bunch of innocent civilians. This episode concludes the Manslaughter on the Ironbound Express arc.

More zombies! These ones have pants on. Relic splorches a dude. Neko takes a cat nap. Jeff almost dies. Being a wolf has Gorlax all messed up. The gang finally catches up to Larry.

The gang investigates the next train car, and find themselves in even more danger than before! The consequence of having left Malone alive rears its ugly head. We get distracted by a website with funny names on it. Everybody taps into their newfound abilities, especially Jeff, who is really casting spells now. Boy does he do it. I say Train OF Busan and it's haunted me for weeks. I know what it's called.

The gang investigates the passengers' rooms and dumps all their shit all over the floor. They find some clues connecting the passengers to the victim, but the culprit is the one they least expected! Neko dumps milk all over a child.

The gang wakes up to discover a gruesome murder has been committed on the train. Gorlax throws up and turns into a werewolf. There's a detective on the train and he is definitely not a poorly fleshed out Poirot analogue. Everybody tries to get me to name the episode "Un-Puss" but as you can see, I wasn't having it.

Ashe takes the gang back to the Elfskull Inn and tells them about her past, Billups, and the dangers that lie ahead. Marvin gets extremely method with his role-playing and brings a lot of drunken flavor to his performance. Everybody makes a Don't Stop Believing joke while Joe makes a Midnight Train to Georgia joke. We were all drunk for the most important episode in this arc so far. Sorry. Thanks.

The gang soaks in all of the hustle AND the bustle of Arabel's bazaar. Neko buys some new threads. Jeff buys a new weapon. A stranger approaches them with a dire warning. Relic asks the question on everyone's minds...what is sexy? Oh, and they fight a thing.

The gang leaves Fardsbottom and rides back to Arabel in search of Billups. They come across their most fearsome challenge yet: a door. After some sweet flips and cool stunts, they plan their next move. Is a coaster a lilypad? Is a meat a notepad? No.

The finale to the first arc of Know Your Roll! The gang follows their dreams all the way to a big ol' monster. Some truths are revealed, and some new questions are posed regarding the mystery surrounding the town of Fardsbottom and its inhabitants. Well fed!

The gang meets instant fan favorite, Billups, and heads off to the forest to fulfill their contract. They fight some stuff in this one. Jeff's kill count is zero.

In this one, Gorlax, Relic, Neko and Jeff meet each other and a cast of wacky characters in a backwater town in which they begin to learn of the adventure to come.