The Secret of Pirate Island

"**The Secret of Pirate Island**" (1x27) is the 27th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

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

After various adventures traveling northward from Westerhaven, including most recently participating in a Robot-Wars-esque fighting spectacle in the gnomish village of Madmouth, the party learned that the capital was under lockdown due to the kidnapping of the King’s eldest son, Prince Durrian. Instead of continuing in that direction, they decided to visit the island of Skip, home to a lot of pirates but also a significant guild presence. Dugluss in particular hoped to speak to someone high up in the mechanists’ guild to get permission to visit the crystal mines in Dunmire, and Magpie was very eager to see some pirates. Arriving on the island, they spent a pleasant evening carousing in a pub, and the next morning headed toward the Mechanists’ Guild, where they were greeted with an entry test involving a spinning floor with openings into a dark pit and spikes closing in from the walls.

### **Part I**

As the floor continues to spin, both Father Buckitt and Magpie lose their footing and fall into the pit, though Magpie manages to cast Feather Fall on Buckitt, and she herself is still wearing her Ring of Feather Falling, so they both just float gently downward. It is dark enough that Stone can use Steps of Night, so they fly down and catch them, but the spell is only strong enough to carry one at once. Magpie insists on being let go, so Stone brings Buckitt back and lands at the top just as Dugluss manages to jam the mechanism and stop everything; the holes immediately close over, preventing Stone from going back after Magpie. The door at the front of the room opens, admitting the group into a reception area with grandiose furnishings and various clockwork elements throughout the room.

They are greeted by a gnome named Warren Tana, head of the Mechanists’ Guild of Skip. Dugluss explains his purpose and shows Warren his armor, with which the gnome is quite fascinated, and they agree to an exchange of knowledge: Dugluss will let them study his armor and help recreate its technology, in exchange for information about automatons and crystals, as well workspace and resources for his own projects.

After retrieving a very disgruntled Magpie, Warren leads them upstairs and shows them around the main workshop. Zander takes out the Clockwork Amulet he and Magpie “found” and asks what it does; Warren says it draws on the magic of a plane of predictability and allows the wearer to gain a certain amount of luck [Dave explains in metagaming terms, it allows the player when making an attack to not roll a d20 and just take a 10 instead once per day].

When they reach Warren’s office, he asks another gnome to look after the rest of the party while he talks with Dugluss. In the office, Dugluss removes his armor to show it to Warren in more detail, revealing that his left arm is missing below the elbow, and the suit’s left arm is entirely mechanical. He mentions he lost the arm during a cave-in, and invented the armor out of necessity to continue his work. The gnome is extremely impressed; he asks Dugluss to give him a day to consult with his staff and if he’ll return tomorrow, they can discuss the possibility of Dugluss’ membership in the Guild and what specific resources they can provide him. Dugluss puts his armor back on and they exit the office to a scene of general mayhem; Warren says to Dugluss, “Perhaps tomorrow, you could return *without* your compatriots.”

Back outside, they notice a man dressed in stereotypical pirate fashion, who seems to be watching them. Magpie, bored, strikes up a conversation with him; he introduces himself as Fortune and offers to show them around. He leads them to a large building; the roof appears to be the mostly-intact, overturned hull of a ship, placed on walls of cobbled-together brickwork. Fortune gestures them up the stairs toward the door and tells them the Pirate Lord is expecting them. They enter the building and find themselves in an antechamber with benches on either side. A large man armed with a saber stands with arms crossed in front of a door at the other end of the room, and a human woman is dozing on one of the benches, though she looks up and gives them a nod when they enter. They immediately assume she’s the Pirate Lord, but after a brief, confused conversation, it appears that she in fact is not. She introduces herself as Brynn and says she’s been summoned to see the Pirate Lord for an issue involving stolen goods. They chat for a while, and Magpie asks the guard at the door if they’re likely to see the Pirate Lord any time soon, but he ignores her completely.

Eventually the guard opens the door and bids them enter. Brynn and the party go into the next room, which is decorated with apparent trophies and souvenirs of various adventures. At one end is a raised platform with a throne built of driftwood, though no one is sitting in it. Brynn strides up and flops into the throne with a contented sigh. Zander says, “So you *are* the Pirate Lord!” She admits she almost told them when they first suggested it, but she wanted to see what they’d do. She stands up and, with a somewhat sarcastic bow, introduces herself properly as Brynn Dashheart, Pirate Lord. She pulls out a piece of fruit from her pocket, flops back down on the throne and takes a bite, then says, "So, you're new to my island. I'd like to know what you're doing here."

### **Part II**

They explain to Brynn that they are travelers and adventurers. She seems to already know of their involvement in the events at Westerhaven, and that they chartered a ship from Madmouth to get to Skip. Magpie quietly expresses her astonishment to Zander; he whispers back, “They know everything. That’s what Pirate Lords do, Magpie; I read it in a book.”

Brynn is very interested in how they managed to gain access to the Mechanists’ Guild, and asks if they’re likely to go back. She explains that there are troubling rumors circulating about the Guild; they’ve been receiving an increasing number of large, unmarked shipments under cover of darkness; they’re known to have a presence in the ancient caverns beneath the city; and some people say they’ve been experimenting on some of the island’s less fortunate inhabitants. She says as Pirate Lord, her power over the guilds is somewhat limited, but the other guilds are fairly open with her, as, she says, “it pays to have friends keeping an eye on their other so-called friends.” The Mechanists’ Guild, however, is suspiciously secretive. She says if they could perhaps have a quiet look around and report back to her with anything concerning they find, she could make it worth their while.

Stone and Yoolna in particular are suspicious of this request; Yoolna says, “So you’ve just got in a huff because the gnomes don’t like you?” Brynn says if all the Guild is doing is making some illicit money on the side, she doesn’t care either way, but not knowing *anything* about it, coupled with the troubling rumors, makes her uneasy. Dugluss says that there is a certain honor expected among guilds, but if he finds that they are using human test subjects or any other unethical activity, he will be inclined to take action. Brynn thanks him, and comments he has more honor than most people she is used to dealing with.

That settled, Magpie asks about finding work; Brynn says the best bet would be asking around at the docks. Zander asks for a recommendation of a good bar; Brynn says the Equal Rope (the one they found before) is a good place for some action. Magpie says that the action there was more of the “fight-y” variety, and asks if there’s someplace with any other kind of action. Brynn, picking up on the innuendo that the naïve Magpie absolutely did *not* intend, says for *that* kind of action, they should seek out The Hooded Maiden. Magpie obliviously accepts the recommendation with enthusiasm.

Following Magpie, the group makes their way to The Hooded Maiden, go inside and order drinks; Zander and Magpie end up splitting a very cheap bottle of wine. Zander dunks Carrot in knife form into his wine glass to see if they like it; Carrot gags and sputters, but says, “It’s kind of good!” Various people descend from upstairs and begin circulating amongst the tables, and one of them, a half-elf woman, stops at theirs. She comments that they look tired; if anyone needs to rest, she says suggestively, there are very comfortable beds upstairs. Magpie comments to the group that this seems much nicer than where they stayed last night, but Zander (almost as clueless as Magpie) doesn’t think they can afford it. Stone leans over and says to them, “You may need more rest than they plan to give you in this place; perhaps we should find somewhere different.” Magpie is very confused and protests again that it seems very nice; the half-elf cuts in, “Tell you what, how ’bout you buy me a drink, and we’ll get to know one another?” Dugluss is eager for more ale, and another round of drinks is brought to the table.

Two hours later; Magpie and the half-elf, Kiara, are drunken best friends, gossiping, commiserating, and knocking back drinks with abandon. Kiara asks Magpie again if she wants to come upstairs. Magpie, still not understanding, starts to ask if the others want to go, but Kiara shushes her, saying, “No no no, just you.” Magpie, oblivious, agrees and follows her up. [Per Dave, “Maybe you sleep; maybe you don’t. We’ll leave that a mystery.”] The others eventually decide to leave; they find a pub next door called the Blue Pike, where they have a few more drinks and secure rooms for the night. As they leave the next morning, they see Magpie emerge from the building next door, looking somewhat shellshocked, but quite pleased with herself. She asks how their night went, and comments, “Now I know what they meant by ‘other kinds of action’. I will be more careful in the future when asking.”

Dugluss and Yoolna head off to the Mechanists’ Guild, while the others spend a leisurely day shopping. At the Guild, a team is ready with their tools to inspect Dugluss’ armor, while Yoolna is left on her own with a room full of locks to see what she can do with them. Yoolna is still skeptical of the Pirate Lord’s suspicions, but she does pause during a break to listen intently for anything suspicious. She hears a noise, very faint and difficult to identify, sounding partway between a growl and a screech, but she can’t tell where it’s coming from. She takes note of this and reports it later to Dugluss.

Dugluss, meanwhile, is more interested in doing good work and gaining the Mechanists’ trust in hopes that any incriminating information will be shared with him willingly, so he doesn’t go snooping around. At the end of the day, Warren says he’s pleased with their progress in studying the armor. He expects it will be several more days of studying, and then they will be ready to begin building prototypes. To Yoolna, he (slightly more patronizingly) offers his thanks for her help with the locks, but says her further services will not be needed.

The next day while Dugluss heads back to the Guild, the others visit the docks in search of work. As they wander around, they notice a group of well-armed individuals gathered around a half-orc, who stands head and shoulders taller than the rest and seems to be doling out orders in preparation for a voyage. As he finishes and the others scatter to their tasks, they go up and speak with him. They learn his group is called the Black Marauders and they are preparing to set out in search of the kidnapped prince, in hopes of collecting the bounty. The half-orc offers them two gold apiece per day, plus a cut of the bounty, if they’d like to join. He explains they’re planning to sail first for Westerhaven to collect information, and then go from there. Zander mentions that they’re not terribly eager to go back to Westerhaven, but upon hearing that they have knowledge of the place, the half-orc is even more interested in their help; he says they are welcome to stay on the ship while they’re in the city, out of sight of any guards. Yoolna, not at all keen on another boat journey, decides to stay on Skip with Dugluss and look for work there; Father Buckitt [largely because JD isn’t there to play him] also opts to stay behind. The others are hired and told to be back by sundown, when the ship will depart.

Back at the Guild, Dugluss is settling in and getting to know the place. He finds a new crystal and rebuilds Folar. He is also gathering knowledge about the sympathetic magic between crystals, intending to put this to use with the crystal he found in the Arcanist’s lair. After finishing for the day, he meets back up with the rest of the party, who tell him of their plan to join the Black Marauders on their quest. Dugluss tells them to be careful and wishes them luck. They head down to the docks and Stone, Magpie, and Zander board the ship; the others wave as the ship sails off into the sunset.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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