Things That Go Bump in the Night

"**Things That Go Bump in the Night**" (1x20) is the 20th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

### **Previously on *Dun-Johns and Dragons***

After fleeing Westerhaven following a battle with an Ancient Black Dragon that destroyed a large portion of the city, the group decided to travel north toward the city of Whithall. En route, they met a fortune teller who gave them much to ponder, including what seemed to be a genuine prophecy about an "old one". Later that night, they were accosted by a group of ghosts, who asked them to free the ghosts' souls by killing the beast that killed them, a giant snakelike creature called a behir that lived in a warren of caves under the hills of the Lamlet Rise. The party located the behir and managed to take it out, though not without some close calls. The ghosts left them with thanks and a blessing.

### **Part I**

Dugluss harvests various claws, teeth, and a horn from the behir for future study. Father Buckitt summons Sax Panther. Stone and Dugluss both take a short rest. Zander and Magpie, still airborne from the Flight spell, take off back down the tunnels to investigate the behir’s lair. They split up and both get deep into the warren of narrow, winding tunnels, Magpie actually finding what appears to be its main living area, but it’s small and mostly bare apart from a few scattered bones.

They are gone long enough for the rest of the party to begin to worry; they check the larger opening, but it quickly grows too narrow for them to pass. As they stand in the entrance, debating what to do, Zander and Magpie fly out of the smaller opening and, seeing the rest of the party gathered around the other entrance, decide to play a prank; still floating in midair, they use Zander’s Minor Illusion and Magpie’s Thaumaturgy to create a cloud of dark mist around them and make a huge, terrifying voice saying, “I am the dark lord Zargoth and I am here to defeat my arch-nemesis, Father Buckitt!” Startled, Stone casts Guardian of Faith on the corridor and Father Buckitt casts Guiding Bolt at the cloud, hitting Zander. Smoldering slightly, Zander floats down into view, asking if they’d liked the joke. Magpie follows, still giggling. Father Buckitt finds it all hilarious and decides to make Dark Lord Zargoth the antagonist of the Church of the Holy Bucket. He claps Zander on the shoulder and says, “Great joke!” and restores the health he lost to the Guiding Bolt. Zander and Magpie, still hovering (and Zander still glowing slightly), tell the others they didn’t find much in the tunnels and they don’t think it’s worth exploring them further.

The party decides to continue northward toward Whithall as originally planned, and from there northwest to Higfield where Zander and Yoolna have a contact who may be able to help them on their way. They travel a ways farther that day, then make camp. During the night, the group is disturbed by a strange ringing in their ears, followed by a sharp, almost blinding pain; they all take some psychic damage and their long rest is interrupted, leaving them all exhausted the next day, though nothing else occurs that night. Nevertheless, they safely reach the village of Whithall the next afternoon.

In the village square, they see a small group of Braven Fist members having a heated conversation with an older gentleman; he is upset that the guards are leaving the village, while the leader of the Braven Fist contingent is tells him that orders are orders and he’ll need to take it up with the captain of the guard in the city. The group turns and marches away.

After the guards are out of earshot, Father Buckitt rushes into the middle of the square, shouting, “Fear not, people of Whithall! Your fortunes have changed, for the Great Bucket in the Sky will not abandon you this day!” However, Stone, seeing Buckitt running forward, has already cast Silence on him, so no one can hear it. Frustrated, Buckitt goes to the pub for a drink.

Stone approaches the man who was talking to the guards, who turns out to be the mayor, Olivar Fire. He assumes the group is the first of the expected refugees from Westerhaven, but Stone assures him they don’t need any help and asks if the town needs any help. The man explains the small battalion of guards were their only protection from monsters and thieves, and now the town has been abandoned, and with a dragon on the loose at that. He asks if the party could stay around for a couple of nights at least to protect the village. The party agrees to stay for a while, and the man directs them to the inn, the Dancing Toad, and gives them a couple names of people who might have information about the dragon or other dangers in the area. They all go to the inn, rent rooms, and order drinks in the bar. Shadowscale takes their leave and heads off alone to the east in some haste.

In the bar, they meet a young man named Darren, one of the people mentioned by the mayor who might have information about the dragon. They talk with Darren and three of his friends; the friends all have wild tall tales; Darren says only that he saw something that looked like it might have been a dragon a few days ago, flying northwest over the lake towards the mountains. While Zander goes over to the bar and orders some raw vegetables, Magpie swaps dragon rumors and brainstorms party names with the boys. They enjoy a pleasant evening in the bar, Magpie getting quite sloshed, and then head up to their rooms for the night.

### **Part II**

Yoolna is awakened in the middle of the night by a faint smooshing noise; looking out the window, she sees something large passing by a few blocks away, but it disappears and then all is still. She quietly gets dressed and goes out into the square to take a look around. She finds some footprints of wet clay, made by some kind of huge, bipedal creature, that seem to lead down a side street and around a corner, but not wanting to encounter whatever it is on her own, she collects a sample of the clay and returns to the inn.

Over breakfast the next morning, Yoolna shows Dugluss the clay and tells him what she saw; he says he knows of automatons or golems that could be made of clay, and possibly quite large. He says that most are built for protection or basic tasks. The party decides to go see if the footprints are still there. As they exit the inn, they see a flurry of activity in the square; a group of people with horses and carts are at one end of the square, and the mayor is speaking animatedly with them. The party first goes to check the footprints, but the morning’s activity seems to have obliterated all trace of them. They go back to the square and find the mayor speaking with several groups of people in the square who turn out to be refugees from Westerhaven.

They ask the mayor if he has knowledge of any kind of clay golems around the village, but he hasn’t heard of any such thing. Yoolna asks if he knows anyone locally who might do magic involving clay, or of any place nearby where such clay could be found. He says the clay could have come from the nearby lake, but he doesn’t know of any local magic-users of that description. They leave the mayor to get on with the refugees and make a trip to the lake, not least of all to get away from any Westerhavenites who might recognize them. En route, Yoolna fashions a sling from her cloak so she can carry the very hungover (and slightly over-dramatic) Magpie piggyback. They reach the lake after about an hour’s walk. They wander along the shore, looking around for any clay that matches Yoolna’s sample, or signs of excavation, but they don’t find any significant deposits. Dugluss dives down under the water to investigate further, but doesn’t find much there either.

They decide to return to town and seek out Old Malley, the other person the mayor mentioned to them as possibly having helpful information. They make their way to the edge of town and find the shack standing slightly apart from the other houses, looking in some disrepair. They knock on the slightly crooked front door and are greeted by an old man asking, “Yes? Is it dinner time already?”

Zander says it’s not dinnertime, but they wondered if they could ask him some questions. He agrees, after a fashion, and they probe him for any information about dragons or monsters in the vicinity, but he merely rambles and complains that they haven’t brought him dinner. Stone goes to the pub to get him some dinner while Yoolna uses her Medallion of Thoughts to see if they’ll have any better luck reading his mind, but they find only more of the same confused jumble of thoughts he’s been rambling about. Stone returns with some stew from the pub, which he says he doesn’t like. While Stone tries to convince him to try the stew, Yoolna and Dugluss fix his door, since he’s complaining of the draft. While they’re there, Sally, the woman who normally looks after him, comes by with his dinner; they ask if she’s heard of anything strange around the town, but she is completely skeptical about the whole business and merely brushes them off.

They decide to set watches tonight to try and catch a glimpse of the clay creature. They go back to the inn to rest during the afternoon and evening so that they can stay awake for the night’s watch. The innkeeper accosts them as they enter, offering drinks; Yoolna takes tea; Zander and Magpie have brandy; the others have ale. The barkeeper joins them for a spot of brandy, then they all go to bed. Later in the night, Father Buckitt snaps awake, hearing raised voices somewhere in the village, and then a high-pitched scream wakes them all.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

* Dugluss Deep-Forge
* Father Buckitt
* Magpie
* Stone
* Yoolna
* Zander Brushspark