Fallbacks Wake a White Dragon While Looting a Lord's Tomb

The treasure from the Lost Lord of Loudwater's tomb came with a significant surcharge: one awakened white dragon, now gleefully freezing the town of Loudwater while the Fallbacks scramble to fix what they started.

That's the central catastrophe driving issue two of Greg Pak's four-issue Dark Horse miniseries, "Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks." The publisher's own copy puts it plainly: "The Fallbacks have plundered the Lost Lord of Loudwater's tomb, but the treasure may not be worth the trouble." Preview pages show the party in full damage-control mode, defending Loudwater against the draconic menace their heist apparently triggered. The dragon, for its part, seems to be having the time of its life, proclaiming "HA HAA HA HA MA HAA HA!" as it descends on the town. Whether it freezes all of Loudwater before the Fallbacks can stop it is the issue's driving dramatic question.

The preview pages also capture the exact flavor of a party mid-TPK, bickering about whose fault this is while actively being attacked. The standout panel features pink-haired Tessalynde screaming "YOUR FAULT!" at a teammate, the kind of inter-party accusation that any D&D player who has watched someone pull a lever they were explicitly told not to touch will recognize immediately.

The dragon crisis isn't the only problem on the horizon. A Tournament of Heroes enters the picture in this issue, framed as the Fallbacks' shot at settling a score with Angrilyne's team. The promotional copy notes it's "the perfect opportunity for the Fallbacks to show up Angrilyne's team, if they can win," which suggests the party's record going into the tournament is not inspiring a lot of confidence.

Pak, whose credits include "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," and "Lawful," is credited in Dark Horse's promotional text as showing off his "Dungeon Master bonafides" with the series. The issue's Uzuri Variant Cover (product code 3016-671) is one of the available editions, and the back cover features connecting art by Julie Dillon, a fantasy illustrator whose work has appeared in Magic: The Gathering.

The series has two issues remaining to resolve whatever diplomatic, structural, and draconic damage the Fallbacks have done to Loudwater.