Episode 20: CDL Launch Party
General Summary
Dictated by Guildmaster Raithara Stoneshield
Triple B Guild Archives, Tangled Hollows
The launch party for our newly minted CDL (Concordant Defenders League) team, JD and the Returners, was an undeniable success. Packed house, thunderprism-enhanced hexstream, and a solid bar cut. The Emissary of Hell, Titivilus himself, dropped by with a whiff of brimstone and backroom business. Something about contracts, ex-wives, and a lost daughter. When I told him Gundar never spoke of any children, he smiled, “How delightfully sinful,” and shifted the topic to the Oathkiller Blade and the ticking Clockwork Road.
Thankfully, Jackie Daytona began the ident-a-hedron stream right after, and the show took over. The wall shimmered, Tito’s thunderprism system pulsed with the incoming bass. It felt like we were right there on the battlefield.
CDL Tryout
Ogres charged uphill, but Gundar rushed in with hammer fists and thigh-based takedowns. Taela’s arrows rained precision death from the ridgelines. Veoric conjured flying blades to carve the path. Jackie kept spirits high with encouragement and announced the fight with charisma and saxophone licks alike.
The cleric of Ashaya brought in a table of pink-cloaked admirers who cheered louder every time Gundar got smacked, but roared when he caught and hurled back a giant’s javelin. Salamin, Taela’s panther, was a crowd favorite, pouncing an ogre into the dirt, note to self: get that cat on posters ASAP.
A Returners-branded keg bot even got into the fray, trading blows with an ogre. Got a message from a golem-maker interested in cross-promotion, though slightly concerned about Jackie yelling, “Give ‘em the burning piss!”
The tension peaked when a fire giant known as Firefist stepped up and challenged Gundar. Jackie’s hypnotic sax and Gundar’s magically tattooed biceps worked in tandem, overwhelming the brute in a duel of raw elemental might and rhythmic violence.
The crowd was electric, until the final act. Two hypnotized giants were dispatched post-battle. It was surgical. A little too surgical. There were cheers, but the mood shifted. Feedback from the CDL suggests emphasizing team synergy, flashy combos, and more acrobatic flair from Gundar. They liked the power; they want more finesse. I’ll relay the notes.
We may also need a way to signal Jackie to stop the stream next time things get dicey. Oh, and we really do need to repaint that keg bot. Salamin should get some kind of enchanted scarf or hex-visible accessory.
Almost forgot: Taela whispered an Elvish line before dropping Firefist. Whatever it was, every Entulesse in the bar took notice.
Meanwhile
Elsewhere, a child cried in the Empty Heaven.
Gundar’s wedding rings, strung together into a humble necklace, began to tremble and chime faintly. Somewhere beyond the world, the lost child severed by the Oathkiller Blade stirred in stasis.
Titivilus, now in possession of both halves of Sable’s infernal contract, informed the Returners that while he could release the contract, he could not break it. Not without consequence.
Sable, Gundar’s 4th ex-wife, collapsed to her knees in a haze of memory. A single beer unlocked the forgotten sorrow: a child, a daughter, a name just out of reach. She vowed to move forward, with fewer drinks, and with her memory intact.
When Taela called Sable for an update, it was Spouse #5 who answered, now a woman after undergoing cocooning. Time, identity, and gender proved fluid in the Tortoise. Gundar’s history, already tangled, got another twist.
Taela requested that Gundar introduce her to his older children. There was a moment, a pause, and something like hope in the air.
Jackie Daytona sold a suit of +1 plate armor for 3,000gp, claiming it had been "sweated on by Gundar."
He sold +1 scale mail for 2,050gp, explaining it had once touched Taela’s Triple-Ts. Nobody asked for clarification.
“What was lost was never gone. Only severed.
Seek the Empty Heaven, where forgotten things wait.
The thread is not broken. Only hidden.
Woven beyond time, past the Watchmaker’s final breath.”
