"The Melancholic March" (RT2x08) is the twentieth episode of The Re-Slayer's Take. The Re-Slayers reunite Norbert with the newly restored Mega Magic Paladins and hit the road once more – this time with more questions than answers and plenty of worries to go around.
Synopsis[]
The adventurers observe as the local cave fishers start returning to their lairs in the rock, and Frog asks Heera if she wants her to punch them for her; the tiefling confirms she's too tired to fight herself, but asks her friend to hit Farah instead. The old woman excuses herself, explaining that she dropped the rock honoring her promise to kill the rogue if she ever was compromised, declaring that being kidnapped by cave fishers counted. After some moments of tension Heera starts cackling, satisfied, and teasing Farah because she wasn't able to truly kill her, and insinuating she's fond of her. After Frog confirms there's no need to hit anyone, Norbert suggests to return home, and as they are doing so going down the mountain, Farah falls; Frog, still flying, tries to catch her, but misses, so Norbert himself does, being praised by the blood hunter as a reward. When they arrive to Seedfeld they notice the wind gibbons acting less aggressive and more playful, and they are welcomed by the Mega Magic Paladins, who congratulate Norbert, and Poogs, who is tired after earning the trust of the wind gibbons. The adventurers return the magic daggers, and when the paladins ask about Norbert's performance, Timpani and Frog compliment his skills and bravery; thus, the barbarian is rewarded with a white dagger and the promise of being trained to wield it like the rest of the paladins.
After some celebration and a night of rest, the Re-Slayer's Take wake up in Seedfeld, but soon leave when Frog notices that her compass is detecting a missing piece westward; as the group is leaving the Mega Magic Paladins allow them to take a wagon so that Heera can rest while they travel, and they say goodbye making an epic pose that produces a wave of multicolored light. As they approach the Utesspire Mountains Poogs and Timpani realize it is the area where they first met; they try to apologize to one another for their last argument, and end up agreeing on the goblin training with every member of the team (including Timpani) without stabbing people. When Poogs mentions that there are monsters in the area and Frog confirms it using her tome, Heera reminds them of last fight and wonders if Gurt is ok, since Heldwell had his lantern. Poogs suggests that they should camp for the night while Timpani uses his magic to go check on his friend; while the firbolg is gone, the goblin spends some time with Frog and reveals that the reason he is so focused on training is that Osysa told him he is supposed to become the protector of the Hug Hive, but doesn't feel ready for it yet; the monk encourages him, and tells him that he will know when he's ready. Later, after sunset, Timpani returns, very pale, and reveals that the tree connecting the Vesper Timberland to Gurt's swamp is burned, and now it can't be used; he and Farah have a brief argument about the limitations of that magical entrance, and the half-elf reminds him that despite the measures taken to protect the tree, the Timberblight was a druid and would know how to deal with that magic. Timpani ends up using an owl to cast Animal Messenger and check on Gurt, although he admits it will take a while for them to get an answer. Frog tells her friends they should wait until the morning to keep moving, since it's dark and dangerous, and when she admits she lacks darkvision even with her glasses, Heera questions the usefulness of them, if the Aeormaton always makes her metallic nature very obvious to everyone. When Timpani asks her if she is ok the tiefling tries to be calmer, but she also realizes that her chain tattoo has grown through her entire body; shortly after, when the group is talking about the cool way the battle against Ügel ended, Heera gets angry and points out that they almost died and are now dealing with Heldwell, a very intelligent enemy who is claiming the reward after their battles, preventing their weapons from becoming stronger, so they actually lost last fight, and need to be more careful and learn more about their enemies. Poogs suggest they find Frog's missing piece and then return to Vasselheim to ask the Slayer's Take for help, and Farah says she doesn't trust them nor their gifts, arguing with Timpani about the presence or absence of generosity in other people. After they talk for a little bit longer and Frog agrees to be more discreet as Heera adviced, they prepare to go to bed and have one last argument when Heera notices her egg is cold; Poogs, however, calms her down after explaining it is a hook horror egg and it needs to be cold at night in order to hatch. They decide to camp a little higher on the mountain to better cover the thermal needs of the egg that night.
Featured characters[]
Re-Slayers[]
Returning[]
- Norbert Klott
- The Mega Magic Paladins
- Zora the Red
- Annika the Yellow
- Finn the Green
- Linus the Blue
- Tobi the Pink
New[]
Mentioned[]
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Re-Slayer's Take S2 promotional art, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.