DD Chapter 7: Lord Darkjaw’s Merry Men

The Night

Darkjaw awaits the bustling pirate mob whilst standing in the trees, greeting his guests with bravado. He thanks the men for coming, and hopes they are ready to experience something they have waited for their entire lives; freedom of wrath.   “Tonight will be about more than just abhorrent slaughter, it will be abhorrent slaughter for the purpose of individual enlightenment. The innocents that die here today will head to their afterlives in peace, grateful of what we allowed them to be a part of on this fateful night.” Darkjaw gets some cheers from several pirates; clearly there were a few too many psychopaths in town today. He continues, feeling the light of the moon hit his face at last, “And of course, I want you to know that as your loyal commander, I would never ask you to do something that I’m not willing to do myself. So believe me when I say that tonight, I will personally lead you to greatness-“ Darkjaw willingly transforms into a werebear as he leaps from the tree, feeling a primal essence course through him as he enters this form. He land smack in front of his men, with grizzled white fur covering a reptilian-bear humanoid physique larger than he has ever been, “THROUGH ABHORRENT SLAUGHTER!!” He roars, the men exclaim with prideful howls. With that, Darkjaw leads the charge as Jaw Company follows, 30 men strong with the most elite officers around. In the town, the local militia 20 men strong, tipped off by an anxious bartender about potential terrorist attacks, await, ready to die in service of their people  

Combat: Jaw Company vs. Forzekna Village (1,400 XP for kills 6,350 XP for leadership)

Initiative

• Darkjaw: 21
• Lamarva: 10
• Warvillus & Captain Deadnok: 15
• Captain Tholk & his men (30 units): 5
• Forzekna Village Guard (20 units): 2

Creature	HP	AC	Condition
Darkjaw	61/75	18	polar werebear
Lamarva	110/110	17
Warvillus	35/35	13 (15 with Mage Armor)
Captain Deadnok	80/94	18
Captain Tholk	91/105	16
The Men (26/30 Thugs, 1/1 Zombie)	826/960 (32 each) & 30/30	11 & 8
Forzekna Village Guard (0/20 Veterans)	0/1200 (60 each)	16	dead
???

Round 1

• Darkjaw: Fires his first Toxic Fume arrow at the center veteran, it clinks off his armor but still disperses, giving him and everyone in a 15 ft radius (5 total) a Con save to make (2 succeed, 3 fail). The winners take 7 poison damage and are fine, while the failures take 15 poison damage and are poisoned (59 total to veterans). Charges into the confusion and bites the first veteran he sees, dealing 15 piercing/1 fire (16 total to veterans) and rips his throat out in front of his comrades. Darkjaw doesn’t run; he stands there with blood dripping from his mouth, ready
• Warvillus & Deadnok: Warvillus casts Mage Armor. Captain Deadnok charges in with the Forge Maul, critting for 29 bludgeoning/6 fire damage (35 total to veterans). Pulls out his Glaive and swings twice, hitting once for 11 slashing/8 fire damage (19 total to veterans). This ends the veteran, who falls into two bloody pieces in front of his comrades
• Lamarva: Toxifire Breaths 6 guards (3 succeed on Dex, 3 fail). Winners take 16 damage, losers take 33 damage (147 total to veterans), incinerating two more veterans.
• Captain Tholk & the men: Tholk leads his men to commit slaughter, dealing 17 slashing/4 cold damage & 11 slashing/3 cold (35 total to veteran) with his strikes, splitting the veteran into two in front of all the men, friend & foe. The men follow suit; dealing 139 to the veterans and ending two more of them
• Forzekna Village Guard: Having witnessed nearly half of their force annihilated before they could even move, the veterans feel rage and strike out, dealing 14 to Darkjaw, 14 to Captain Deadnok, 14 to Captain Tholk, & 134 to the men. 4 of the men were slaughtered in this exchange, but they’re ok with it, they knew they were part of the bigger picture as they died.

Round 2

• Darkjaw: Slashes a veteran but misses, gets him with a bite for 16 piercing/3 fire (19 total). He fails the saving throw and is instantly transformed into a Dire Werewolf. The werewolf instantly bites at the nearest ally for 8 piercing, who crit fails the save and is cursed with lycanthropy, beginning to transform and will be ready by their turn
• Warvillus & Captain Deadnok: Warvillus casts Negative Energy Flood on the horde, dealing 38 necrotic damage. This kills the original werewolf, reverting him to dragonborn form and rising up as a zombie. Captain Deadnok unleashes Rotting Fire Breath on 3 veterans, who fail their save and take 18 damage each (54 total). This kills another veteran. The zombie attack his nearest comrades with a bite, but does not pierce the armor
• Captain Tholk & the men: Captain Tholk decides to fire his cold breath for inspiration; all three veterans fail and take 9 cold damage each (27 total). The men perform excellently, dealing 261 damage and slaughtering 5 more veterans.
• Forzekna Village Guard (6/20): Enraged, they deal 86 damage, split 15 Darkjaw, 15 Captain Deadnok, 15 Captain Tholk, 30 to the men, and 11 to themselves via the werewolf. They do kill the zombie though, so they’ve got that going for them
• Lamarva: Distracted himself and forgot to go, enters the horde and goes for one veteran with two wing flaps, which both miss. Unfazed, Lamarva flies up, ready to strike later. Fails breath recharge

Round 3

• Darkjaw: Slashes a veteran for 14 damage, then viciously bites into that veteran for 17 damage (31 total to veterans). This one passes the Con save, resisting the lycanthropy curse but barely alive
• Warvillus & Captain Deadnok: Warvillus casts Negative Energy Flood on the horde, dealing 13 necrotic damage and recruiting the dying veteran to his undead army. Captain Deadnok brings out the Forge Maul and lands 25 damage on the horde, then pulls out his greatsword and swings twice for 29 damage (54 total to veterans). He brutally executes the guy he hit with the Forge Maul.
• Lamarva: bites horde for 20 damage, then crits it with the tail for 28 damage (48 total to veterans)
• Captain Tholk & the men: Tholk swings twice but misses, so he orders his men to finish the job. They happily oblige, dealing 236 damage and slaughtering the remaining veterans, including the werewolf.

 

Prepare to Set Sail

    Darkjaw orders Warvillus & Deadnok to start scavenging efforts immediately, while he tells Captain Tholk to sweep the village with his men, killing everyone they find and reporting all casualty numbers back to him. The Captain obliges, leading off his men. Darkjaw hears horrified screams in Draconic, indicating that the men found their first target. Darkjaw searches the town for a large carriage, hearse or caravan for the dead. After a longer time than desire, Darkjaw finds a suitably large carriage and starts loading the bodies. During his work, he spots a little dragonborn boy hiding behind a beam. Darkjaw feels no remorse for this child, he came here with a job to do and the child will understand that. “At least, I thinks so” Darkjaw ponders as he gnaws the now-loose strings of the dead boy’s throat.   Eventually, Darkjaw gets all the bodies loaded as the men bring back more, not understanding why they are collecting but also not questioning. In all, they acquired 46 viable corpses from this village, a plentiful bounty. Darkjaw asks if he can see the Blue Narwal, but Captain Tholk tells him that they’ll set sail first thing tomorrow, for now, they drink. Darkjaw agrees, as there is no rush. He and Warvillus work on reanimating bodies; Warvillus gets 5 with Create Undead, then 9 from three Animate Dead casts (14 zombies, AC 8, 30/30 HP, +4 damage). Darkjaw gets 9 through three Create Undead casts via Spear of Vengeance (9 zombies, AC 8, 20/20 HP). The two compile their dead soldiers (23 total) and introduce them to Captain Deadnok, their commanding officer. Captain Deadnok whips his unit into shape, then orders them to man the body carriage (currently full of 23 bodies).   As Captain Tholk celebrates with his men, Darkjaw looks upon his work, pleased at the pillaged and burning village he has contributed to. With 27 naval soldiers under Captain Tholk, 24 undead troops under Captain Deadnok with 23 more in the pipeline, and Lamarva as his most trusted ally, Jaw Company is looking like a force to be reckoned with. And now that he has consolidated necromantic abilities and the Soul Beacon, he no longer needs to care if Warvillus dies. He looks to the sky, whispering “We’ll be together again soon my love, and this time I’ll never fail to protect you.” In the Caravan of the Dead, Nolya’s new body lay in a cocoon-like casket, ready to be brought to life when Darkjaw finishes his quest.
Before Darkjaw goes to sleep, he meditates deeply on the forces of nature and completes a one-time mystical trade; his Sharpshooter skill & Petrified Wood spell for enhancements to his ability scores (Sharpshooter was replaced with +2 to Strength, Petrified Wood was replaced with a reroll of Charisma for 14).