Hero Squad

Overview
Hero Squad is one of Stumpt's tabletop role-playing series. The game is set on the continent of Khorvaire in the world of Ebberon. The story begins when a chance encounter on a train brings four adventurers together on a quest to become heroes of the land. In this series, Ash plays Atlas Thuban, a human paladin. Jas plays Christina Orculara, a bard elf; together with her sister Britney Battleaxes (played by Aenne) they are the duo Questiny's Child. Rik plays Rager (ray-gur) Antinian, a rogue elf, and Price plays as the Dungeon Master, creating the story and playing the rest of the characters.

Season 1
Warning: contains spoilers for season 1

On the train
Atlas, leaving his religious parents behind, has taken a job on a train as a guard. While Atlas is on the train, he is approached by Rager, a thief, who'd quite like to get into the luxury car. Meanwhile, Christina and Britney - the famous Questiny's Child - are in this luxury car having a drink and meeting an excited halfling fan called Perrin and his more even-tempered friend Lordrum. Atlas ends up guarding a door inside the luxury car (exhanging hats with Christina in the meantime) and Rager sneaks in through the window. Suddenly, a bunch of automatons attack and a woman with a lightning sword steals a box from the car that Atlas was supposed to guard. She also frees the elemental that's powering the train. Up on the top of the train, Atlas and Rager see the 'lightning lady' fight a warforged. The woman escapes on a bypassing airship.

The train breaks down and our four heroes travel to the town of Askelios, together with Perrin, Lordrum and the warforged, whose name is Hex. Hex knows he's supposed to guard the box, and he wants to go after the woman who stole it, but he's not sure what's in the box or why he has to guard it. He does recognise the symbol on Atlas' shield; a six-pointed star which is the symbol of Atlas' family crest.

The village
Arriving in Askelios, they stay at the inn, warmly welcomed by Helja. Rager discovers that a villager named Camiel Ruly has lost his son. He's a farmer who's been losing livestock. Rumour in the village is that it's due to shifters killing them. His son went out to the woods a few days ago to investigate, but he hasn't returned since. He offers a reward for the safe return of his son. Rager proposes they all go and find Camiel's son, Hershem. Christina, Britney, Atlas and Hex join him; Britney hopes to find a hot spring in the forest, as the inn has no bath. Britney tells Perrin that the hot springs might be a good investment opportunity - as Perrin owns several establishments (?). Perrin and Lordrum agree to wait in Askelios until the group's return - they expect to come back in a day or two.

The woods
Inside the forest, they get attacked by giant badgers, but manage to fight them off. Rager wants a 'lucky badger's foot' so he removed a foot off of one of the dead badgers. Walking further into the woods, Atlas gets caught in a trap; Shifters appear, and they end up trusting each other. Atlas managed to get out of the trap. They go to the shifter village and discover Hershem, Camiel's son, is indeed with the shifters. However, he was attacked by marauders in the forest when he discovered their camp. The marauders are the one who have been killing all of Camiel's animals; the shifters don't know why. Hershem is in love with Dawn, a shifter. Christina makes sure that Rager's badger foot is fixed and made into a pouch. He also gets a sock for it.

The group confers with the shifters and they decide to infiltrate the marauder's camp to find out what's going on. It's decided that Rager, Britney and Christina go and pose as hired mercenaries, since Hex and Atlas stand out too much. The shifters give everyone a dragonfly brooch with which they can send a message to get help. Hex and Atlas will create a diversion to help Rager, Britney and Christina. Hex cuts down a tree with the sword he pulls from his arm, and the crash alarms a bunch of guards at the camp who rush out.

The marauder's camp
Inside the marauder's camp, Britney and Christina quietly join the people dealing with animal carcasses. Rager stumbles into the camp, but is greeted with a warm welcome. He joins the gambling table, where he tries to get a better sense of what's going on. It seems that people here have been hired to kill all the animals they see, and that the goal is that the villagers will blame the shifters. The person who hires the mercenaries is called Pentaur; he's the guy in charge. With him is a scary-looking shifter called Claw, who has clawmarks on his face. Rager joins up with Britney and Christina for a bit and invents a new sport: squirrell-kicking. Britney and Christina put on a show to distract everyone (posing as a Questiny's Child cover band), while Rager searches through Pentaur's house. He finds correspondence that makes it clear that there's something that's being searched for, and 'the timeline' has to be moved up. Ragar also steals a small flute.

Shifter village
The group goes back to the shifter village, where they update the shifters on what they learned. At night, Atlas wakes up screaming from a nightmare, but Britney puts him straight back to sleep. Later, our heroes hear uproar and everyone gets up. The marauders surround the shifter village. Pentaur says that he saw through their act right away, going 'undercover' in the camp. He let them get away with it so that they'd lead him to the shifter village. He gives them the choice to cooperate. But they don't, so they set the village on fire. It's mayhem. A lot of shifters die, a lot of them flee. They don't see Dawn anywhere. Atlas checks on Frost, an older shifter; before dying, she gives Atlas something to keep safe.

Back to the village of Askelios
Britney, Christina, Rager, Atlas and Hex take Hershem (who they call 'the boy child') with them to Askelios. Atlas accidentally touches his dragonfly signaller, and it flies away. Camiel is extremely happy to see his son, but doesn't care to hear about how it's not the shifters who killed his sheep, but the marauders. The group go to the mayor and tell him what's been going on in the woods; he's definitely interested to hear what happened.

On returning to the inn, the group finds that Perrin and Lordrum could not wait any longer and have travelled to Stormhome, where they live. Perrin and Lordrum have left enough money and arrangements for the group to either stay or travel wherever they like. Britney and Christina did have an engagement in Fairhaven, but they cancelled it. At night, a dragonfly enters Atlas' bedroom and he sees Dawn in his mind, and he knows she's safe. The next morning, Rager goes to Camiel's house to tell the boy child that Dawn is safe.

Stormhome
The group then sets off to Stormhome; first by coach and then on a cruise ship. Stormhome is an island which is in the eye of a storm, so it's not easy to get to. It's a resort-type place; Hex knows he must go there but he doesn't know why. Christina and Rager swindle a rich lady out of some money. Once in Stormhome, Rager tries to join house Phiarlan during their rehearsals for the circus. This house owns the airships (on which the lightning lady fled), they're known for being actors and they use their performances to cover up their spying and thieving. Ragar is told that someone called Leodrigar will get in touch with him.

They all go to the circus. Before the performances start, there are several events to participate in. Atlas participates in a fighting contest and gets second place. Rager and Christina attempt to get the veil off a pig; Rager wins. They pass a fortune teller who tells most people's fortune (Britney walks away).

Party
A day after, there's a party where all the fancy people go. Perrin, Lordrum, Christina and Britney will have no trouble getting in, as they're high-flyers. Britney takes Rager as her date; he will pretend to be a up-and-coming spoken-word artist by the name Notorious R.A.G.. Atlas and Hex will pose as bodyguards of the group, and Hex doubles as 'hat-man' for Britney, who requires several hat changes throughout the evening. During the party, Rager gets approached by Leodrigar. Rager uses thievescant, a secret language used by thieves, to talk to Leodrigar and gain his trust. He learns that there is a big heist going on in the city, and some help might be welcome. Rager says he has a buddy who can do the talking for him, cause he's not great with words. Leodrigar talks to Britney, Atlas and Christina. He tells them the performer is called Marakai.

The group suspects the box stolen on the train is on the airship from house Phiarlan. As a lot of house Phiarlan is at the party, they decide to cause a distraction so that Rager and Atlas can search through the airship. Christina and Britney cast the illusion and smell of smoke, while Perrin loudly yells "FIRE!!!"

House of Phiarlan airship
With some difficulty, Rager and Atlas make it onto the airship. They go downstairs and fail to miss a trap on the bottom step. When they wake up, they're each bound to a chair. They also see Hex and Perrin bound to a chair. In front of them, they see someone they don't know, Leodrigar, Claw, Pentaur, Marakai (the lightning lady), and a tiefling.

The new guy is called Verdon. He tells them that he made a deal with Perrin, but Perrin deceived him. He was supposed to get something for Verdon, but he stole Hex from him. Perrin is killed. Marakai objects; she did not agree to people being killed. She promptly gets blasted from the ship. Verdon proposes that Rager and Atlas come work for him; they decline. The tiefling stabs Atlas in the heart with her hand. His eyes become illuminated and he sprouts wings. Hex jumps up and defends them, he tells Rager and Atlas to run. Atlas and Rager go above deck. Atlas' wings flap; he holds Rager and jumps off the ship, but plummets. Thankfully, he's saved by a griffin, ridden by Marakai.

At the hotel
Christina and Britney meet Lordrum; no one knows where Perrin is, or why Atlas and Rager haven't gotten back yet. Then Marakai brings them into the hotel. Marakai is a Genasi; they're humans who are part elemental, and they're looked on with suspicion in Aundair. She's promptly arrested by the hotel guards. Lordrum blames her for Perrin's death and he orders his guards to savagely beat her.

Rager talks to Marakai to learn more, while Atlas is in some sort of coma. Marakai likes freeing elementals, because they're basically enslaved to power trains and airships (and they're related to the Genasi). She got arrested when freeing an elemental, and was in prison for a long time. Verdon said he could get her out if she agreed to work for him. And she could keep doing what she loved: blowing stuff up. When she was in the ship, she didn't know that Perrin would die. She thought they'd just scare them or get some money off of them. Britney casts zone of truth to make sure that Marakai isn't deceiving them; she has to tell the truth. Atlas asks her what her favourite ice cream flavour is; it's pistachio. Atlas and Rager also question Marakai about hats, still distraught over their friend, Hex. To this, Marakai recalls that before the Hex's memory loss, he was very fond of cats and that he kept a lot of them. Marakai isn't deceiving them, except for the part where she pretended to have her hands bound; she could get out of them easily, but she wanted to make sure Atlas was okay. Marakai says Atlas is a celestial, and he's going through a sort of celestial puberty.

Though she's not really a 'team' person, Marakai agrees to join our heroes to get revenge on Verdon. While working for him, she discovered some things, and she thinks she knows what he's after and where it is. So they plan to travel to where they think he'll show up: out West. Lordrum doesn't come with them, but does give them a bunch of money. One of Leodrigar's orc guards recommends her brother, Dragos, as a way of getting out of Stormhome.

Fantasy Antique Store
Rager and Atlas head to a Fantasy Antique store, to appraise some items. Rager's flute that he stole from the marauders ends up being a rat flute which can call forth rats. Rager's lucky badger's foot is deemed as just a badger foot. Atlas' rock which he received from the shifter, Frost, spooks the store clerk, who tells the duo to leave the store.

Some sort of sea place
In a boat captained by Dragos (episode 17 says it's spelled Dreggis?)(who's half-orc, half-dwarf), they go to a beach. However, they get caught by some fish people and tied up. There is another type of fish person who's also captured, named Grrbbr. He promises to help them escape if they help him get the 'chisma', whatever that may be. And this works! They fight their way out, and Grrbbr brings them with him. Grrbbr's people fight off the fish people and together they flee on a giant catfish and head to a "vacation home" giant turtle. There are no baths, toilets or alcohol, much to Britney's dismay (she was disguised as a fishperson during their escape, so she smelled fishy for some time). Grrbbr asks that they return the chisma (a green orb) to its rightful place in a sea temple. In that place, Atlas will also be able to get more answers. Britney teaches Rager how to play his rat flute although he is only able to play to "20% rat flute" proficiency. Either due to Rager's low skill or the fact that they were underwater, no rats were called to his location.

They travel to the sea temple, which is run by a dragon. They give the dragon the chisma and it's put back. The dragon tells them the following. Atlas is part of the draconic prophecy - though opinions differ on what it is, exactly. Some think it means that the darkness (the bad dragon) will rule; this dragon thinks that it's to restore order. They tell her about Verdon. She suspects he is a dragon who's meddling in mortal affairs to hurry the draconic prophecy. Atlas shows her his rock. It's not a rock, but a dragon egg that has been stunted. Its mother is probably dead. This is an important and dangerous thing to possess. She recommends Atlas talk to the keeper of the lore in Fairhaven.

Preparations for travel
The group and Lordrum (as the purse) head to a local magic shop to find disguises, both physical disguises and voice-changing devices. Rager chooses to disguise as a sexy librarian. Atlas needs to be disguised as something much shorter as his height would bring a lot of attention/suspicion. Atlas initially chooses to disguise as a "firefighter". Christina suggests that he be disguised as a dwarf who may actually be a gnome with how short and high-pitched his voice is; he still insists he is a firefighter (the group is astounded by Atlas' voice change). Marakai opts to just have her hair changed; an aqua streak was also added. Marakai is to guise as a back-up dancer for Questiny's Child.

Travel - Airship
They travel by airship to Fairhaven, the capital city. On the airship, gnome 'Jolly' is the life of the party. Christina forces Britney to be fake-dating Jolly (they need a cover story for why Jolly is travelling with them; they just can't have a gnome firefighter; Rager agreed to write a "news tabloid" about Britney and her fake-boyfriend if Christina would teach him how to be an accountant (how to write) and play his rat flute better), which Britney isn't happy about. Rager's sexy librarian disguise is named 'Samanthaaaaa' (Rager confirmed that is is 5 a's at the end in episode #20, 28:45) or "Sam" for short and it's decided that she will pose as Questiny's Child's accountant - even though Rager can't read.

While on the airship, Jollly-Atlas follows Britney around and asks her random weird questions to try to get to know his fake girlfriend. Britney locks herself in her room to keep Jolly-Atlas away, potentially with Mary-Kate-Marakai, drinking, sewing new outfits, and planning new shows. Jolly-Atlas decides to rub elbows with the other passengers to garner information about Fairhaven. Christina continues Rager's flute education (she stole him from Britney's tutelage after the argument over who should be fake-dating gnome Atlas), much to Britney's mini existential crisis. Rager progresses to "100% flute" proficiency over the course of the 4-5 day journey. Christina and Jolly-Atlas go raid the kitchens; Jolly-Atlas, in particular, searches for slugs; the chef offers him some slug sushi roll of sorts, to which Jolly-Atlas enjoys immensely. On the last day, Rager's playing is musically beautiful, making Christina tear up at her pupil. However, Rager manages to summon all the rats on the ship out of hiding; Rager keeps one as a pet and calls it Felicia. Because of the rat infestation, the ship makes an emergency landing in Askelios, which now oddly has a train station being built (near the area where the train crashed before) (100 or so miles from Fairhaven, much to Britney's livid anger).

Britney makes sure they get good cabins on the train, even though everyone on the airship is trying to get cabins as well. She does have to share a cabin with a guy called Edwyn (Edwin?), who's a fan. Battle of the Charisma/Bards occurs to negotiate who is staying in which room with who. Britney is working on a show by herself and doesn't divulge much, except that she will need the participation of Golly, Marakai (who's going by 'Mary-Kate') and 'Samanthaaaaa', the sexy librarian that's Rager's disguise.

Arrival and club
They arrive in Fairhaven and meet Gwen, the agent of Questiny's Child, who's "like, soooo excited you guys", though also quite confused about what exactly happened. Samanthaaaaa and Jolly go the library to see the lorekeeper. He's very interested in the dragon egg, and says he'll get in touch with Atlas at a later time.

Everyone goes to a club where they see Leodrigar. Samanthaaaaa tries to seduce him, but he sees through Rager's disguise. Jolly sets the bar on fire somehow; Marakai saves the day. Rager takes off his Samanthaaaaa-disguise and follows a man associated with Leodrigar. This man ends up talking to two guards in front of the palace; they mention Verdon, 'queen' and 'explosion'. Rager and Jolly talk their way into the castle to try and figure out what's going on there, but all they can discover is that there's some form of magical protection (which would be expected, with the queen there).

Nighttime in the hotel
At night, Atlas sees Faldras in a dream. He shares with him the Prophet's scroll:

A dragon's jaw, beneath the sea

''A lake of fire, where demons lie. ''

A stone that whispers beyond the reach

''A fallen tower where elves can fly. ''

A mad stone sits alone in Carnaith, 

which to your secrets listens

Beneath the dragon's shadow,

our fates shall be defined 

In light or darkness fear shall grow

when mortal goals align

This is crucial to the draconic prophecy. Faldras tells Atlas that the dragon egg belongs on Mount Celestia, which is on a godly and angelic plane. Atlas might be able to go there if the draconic prophecy comes about.

Also at night, Rager is visited by an old acquaintance, Liliana. She has a scarred face. Rager used to be part of the Broad Alley gang with her, and then left to deal with 'the brother situation'. Since he's been gone, the Broad Alley Gang kind of fell apart. Gang member Skull is working together with House Phiarlan now, and got part of the gang on that beat as well. Liliana warns Rager that something big is about to go down.

Next day, before the performance
The next morning, Rager and Atlas disguise themselves as kids to get more information from the Broad Alley gang. Rager talks to Stinky Pete who he's known from way back. Apparently, Skull and Farsk want Rager dead. Meanwhile, Britney and Christina tell Gwen to get them an appointment with the queen, so that they can warn her and maybe get her to not show up to the performance. They get a meeting with the queen, but don't accomplish anything - though the queen does loan them some nice dresses to wear to the performance.

In a room down in the sewers, Farsk, Liliana and Pentaur are discussing their plan. There's a map that shows explosives are being placed in locations all over the city, though none at the square where the performance will be held. Rager and Atlas are worried there will be an attack on the queen during the big performance by House Phiarlan. Later, Britney decides to send a message to the queen to warn her that her life is in danger.

Rager and Atlas decide to go to each of the locations where the explosives are being kept and disable them, with Marakai's help. Atlas also steals a handful of gunpowder.

House Phiarlan's performance in the town square
Britney, Christina and Marakai are invited to sit next to the queen, while Atlas and Rager are downstairs with the common folk. During the performance, it's clear that Marakai's role is being filled by a look-a-like; her character gets killed. The performance features a thief, a big man in armor with wings and two bards, who are all characterised as the bad guys. During intermission, Britney and Christina notice that Marakai has disappeared.

When the show finishes, the crowd is cheering; they loved it. Leodrigar invites the queen on stage (which is unusual, but she accepts). Suddenly, Farsk - one of Rager's thief friends - suddenly leaps up on stage and tries to kill the queen. Hex jumps down and stops the attack. He looks different; he's in a giant suit of black armour and his eyes are a deep red. While this is happening, Britney notices that Pentaur is standing off stage, fumbling with something in his pocket and confused (most likely the trigger for the explosives).

Everyone on stage (including Hex, the queen and Leodrigar) is rushing backstage. Christina casts 'locate object' to find Marakai through her sword; that shows she's in the airship that's hanging above the stage. The group tries to go backstage but get stopped by a guard (called Steven); they convince him to let them through. No one's backstage any more though; they try to get into the palace where they think house of Phiarlan took the queen, but it's very heavily guarded.

Leaving the city
The four of them go back to the hotel, where Gwen announces she's found them an airship. However, they desperately need money. The group sends a message to Lordrum for help. Marakai returns early the next morning; she had waited on the airship all night, but Leodrigar didn't return.

The Queen makes an announcement to all of Fairhaven: Ondair will set up a massive defense force in order to be able to protect themselves against attacks. The city is on lockdown following the attack on the queen, but Britney charms a guard. The airship is badly in need of repair. It has a temporary captain; a goblin called Warble. He takes them in the airship to Askelios.

Back in Askelios
A lot has changed compared to the team's last visit. It looks like a tourist trap; Helja at the inn sadly tells them that most of the townpeople got pushed out and their houses are replaced by mazes. Camiel Ruly died after his farm was taken; his son Hershem then disappeared into the woods. Atlas returns the towel he stole from the inn last time; Helja is very grateful as it reminds her of the old Askelios.

Britney and Christina want to scout The Whispering Rock as a location for Stockwood, the music festival they're planning. Mayor Steven is very excited about this plan and gives them free tickets to visit the Whispering Rock.

Season 2
Warning: contains spoilers for season 2