Recap / CrafD&D: The Champion's Challenge E14: Trickster Trios And Treacherous Turtles

CrafD&D: The Champion's Challenge Recap Index
Story Arc:
Forrnest | Volkhanom | Lordpact | Elemix | Conjuria | Hemoarloch | Undercove
Episode:
E12: Under a Rock and a Hard Place | E13: The Golden Genius; Henshin! | E14: Trickster Trios and Treacherous Turtles
E15: Overthinking Origins | E16: Dinner and Dishonor | E17: The Mistress of the Maelstrom

Air Date: 7/22/2022

Passione meets back up after exploring a bit more of Elemix, whereupon they meet Jane the mail courier. She seems to be troubled by a certain tricky trio of thieves from Joughstic. When the parties reunite and clash, the Trix Trio unintentionally recruits an unexpectedly powerful fourth member into their ranks.

Tropes Found in This Episode:

• Big Damn Heroes: The battle with the Trix Trio takes place right outside of Turpin's doorstep, and eventually, he exits his home to see what the commotion is all about. Unfortunately for Passione, he immediately sides with the Trix Trio, assisting them for the remainder of the fight with his astonishing defensive fighting style. He also escapes with them when they decide to vamoose.
• Black Comedy: Clyde begins realizing that the odds are stacked against him and his gang as he fights Passione. He eventually opts to dive into a nearby waterway to take cover. Out of character, Crafty rolls his die to see if Clyde shall be successful, and Blaze jokes about Crafty earning a nat-1 and having Clyde drown as soon as he submerges, the thought of which gets Scarlet wheezing.
• Guest-Star Party Member: This episode introduces campaign advisor BubblingBrooke’s character Jane, a well-traveled mail courier who knows almost everyone across Grandure. Her work is disrupted by the Terrible Trix Trio raiding Elemix's mail boxes, so she partners up with Passione in order to return the mail where it belongs and punish the Trio for their meddling. Despite adhering to Passione's wishes to spare the thieves, she's deeply hesitant about it.
• Hitman with a Heart: Calum decides to take Unda to a seafood restaurant to top off their date. There, his waiter turns out to be none other than Bittov Zatop at his day job. He takes Calum aside and elaborates on the assassin clan he's a part of, the Shadow Hunt, which works under the final regular Champion of Grandure, Caliburn, to ensure peace across the country. After Bittov notified them that he was duped into attacking an innocent man, the Hunt started tracking down Bittov's anonymous client as payback to avenge Calum. Before parting ways, Bittov gifts Calum a whistle specifically made to call upon the Shadow Hunt, should he ever need their assistance.
• Mistaken for Gay: After Taini explains why Fergus follows Asole so closely, Osra admits that she assumed the two men shared a romantic relationship, not a servant-master one. If they had been lovers, she was fully prepared to confront Asole about it—to her, he deserves so much better than Fergus. Taini further clarifies by revealing Asole's deep-seated crush on Ophelia; he talks about her with his party a lot and has been continuously practicing some pick-up lines for her.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Cera is knocked unconscious by Bonnie during Passione's fight with the Terrible Trix Trio. Despite agreeing with her party to spare the Trio as they had done in the past, Osra flies into a murderous rage. She attempts to kill Bonnie with a fifth-level Inflict Wounds chokehold, which would've significantly damaged Bonnie at worst if it didn't fail. Osra isn't proud of her reaction in hindsight, and unfortunately, as she later finds out, the use of the spell accelerated her Tiefling curse's progression. She's now developing a tail; this being such a huge change, Osra realizes that her mutually cursed father shall suffer far more than usual. Sure enough, she finds him nearly dead from a heart attack; with Fujita's help, she's able to revive him, after which she tearfully collapses in his arms as they both accept how much harder their situation has become.
• Signature Item Clue: An anonymous benefactor snuck a package for Ophelia into Jane's mail carrier. When Ophelia opens it, she finds a peculiar blue thread—the same kind, she remembers, used to make the massive scarf of her old teammate, Cold McDowell. Whoever sent this to her was confirming that Cold is still alive somewhere in Grandure.
• Sins of Our Fathers: It's during her date with Taini that Osra remembers why Fergus is such a cruel, petty bully. His family, the Forgaruse clan, betrayed Grandure in the distant past. As punishment for their treachery, the family's members were each forced into servitude under another person. This mandate has remained for each succeeding Forgaruse generation, forcing Fergus into a partnership with Asole. And because Forgaruses are required to accompany their owners wherever they go, he became a Renegade Ranger by default, regardless of how Grandure Academy otherwise organizes its parties. While he's on good terms with Asole, Fergus remains bitter about his family's present-day condition, displacing his frustrations on almost anyone else he can.
• Unexpected Kindness: Towards the episode's end, Ophelia retreats to her inn apartment and begrudgingly anticipates a visit from Damniel. To her surprise, he doesn't simply appear to her and act smarmy—he knocks on her door and politely asks if they can speak. He remains uncharacteristically demure as he asserts his sincerity, even honestly explaining his motives behind his quest for godhood without Osra's Zone of Truth forcing him to. Before departing, he blesses Ophelia with a blood boon of his creation—the first time he's directly helped her since he offered his proposition.
• Vocal Dissonance: This is the first episode in which the Terrible Trix Trio is voiced; seeing that they're blatantly based on Team Rocket, Crafty gives Bonnie and Clyde the best Jessie and James voices he can muster. But he doesn't give the diminutive Billy the Kid the corresponding Meowth voice. Rather, Crafty opts for the booming, deep voice of Elvis Presley, even making appropriate musical references on occasion.

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