Where We Don't Belong

Drusilia, by queer fish

"**Where We Don't Belong**" (1x30) is the 30th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

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

After making their way to Skip, the party ingratiated themselves with Pirate Lord Brynn Dashheart and Dugluss began working with the Mechanists’ Guild, where he discovered an underground dungeon/laboratory containing creatures subjected to cruel experimentation; he notified Dashheart, who had asked him to investigate, and began looking for ways to publicize the information and thus drum up public support for her to take on the powerful guild. He also rebuilt Folar the mechanical raven and gave it a message on an enchanted coin to try and deliver to the other half of the party. Stone, Zander, and Magpie joined a mercenary group, the Black Marauders, in sailing back to the mainland to search for the kidnapped Prince Durrian for the bounty. In Westerhaven, a tiefling joined the crew, promising information about the Prince’s whereabouts; he later revealed himself to Magpie as Barakas Creed, captain of the Dusk Marshals, who is in service to her mother and has been sent to find Magpie and bring her home, or at least protect her from danger (much to her dismay). The party members and a smaller contingent of crew continued north toward the Fierfoot Mountains, fending off an owlbear attack along the way. Back on Skip, a pirate named Fortune asked Yoolna to deliver a letter unseen to the head of the Arcanists’ Guild in exchange for information about the city’s sewers and underground tunnels; unable to find a way into the guild, she bought a pair of Winged Boots to assist with the task.

### **Part I**

After delivering Dugluss’ sick note to the Mechanists’ Guild, Yoolna posts herself at a pastry shop near the Arcanists’ Guild to observe the goings on. As evening falls, she takes a casual stroll around the building, but doesn’t gain much information. She returns to the inn and confers with Dugluss; curious about the contents of the letter, they decide to open it and make sure it’s nothing bad before delivering it. It turns out to be a letter from Fortune asking to be accepted to study in the Arcanists’ Guild. The handwriting isn’t very good, and it is scattered with spelling and grammatical errors; Dugluss copies the letter in much nicer handwriting, correcting the errors, and then seals it back up with the original lump of sealing wax. He then goes off for his meeting with the Pirate Lord and Yoolna takes the letter and makes her way back to the Guild under cover of darkness, wearing her Winged Boots. She checks the front door, but it is locked, and there is no letterbox, keyhole, or other mechanism visible. From the back alley, she uses the Winged Boots to fly up to the roof, where she picks the lock on a small window and makes her way into a storeroom, then goes in search of the headmaster’s office, still floating so as to avoid creaky floorboards.

She finds three locked rooms down the corridor, but can’t see anything in the darkness peering through the keyhole. She manages to attach her lighted penny to a small wooden handle from her thieves’ tools and slides it under the door of the first room; it appears to be a storeroom. The second is a plain-looking office. She picks the lock and checks the papers on the desk, but it is not the headmaster’s office. The third room does not look office-like. As she continues through the corridors, she suddenly finds herself face-to-face with a female half-elf in long red and purple robes, carrying an armful of scrolls. Yoolna stops floating and stands up, then says, “Hello, I’m looking for the headmaster’s office!”

The startled half-elf waves her hand and conjures sparks in the air, spelling out, “Hello?” Yoolna explains that she’s trying to deliver a letter to the headmaster’s office. The half-elf (who communicates throughout via spark-writing) tells Yoolna she shouldn’t be here, but upon Yoolna’s continued explanations, escorts her to a small, well-appointed office. She waves a hand and a tea set magically pours them each a cup of tea, and she asks more about Yoolna’s mission. Yoolna explains she’s delivering the letter on behalf of someone else in exchange for information she wants to use to help people. She assures her she means well, and apologizes for trespassing. The half-elf magically examines the note and asks what kind of information she’s seeking. Yoolna explains, and the half-elf comments that she is too trusting; there are dangerous people on the island, and many, especially the guilds, who would not want their secrets made public; she warns Yoolna to be wary. She says she likes Yoolna, but must ask her to stay until morning, as others will require an explanation for her presence.

They talk more about how Yoolna came to be on the island. She comments on Yoolna’s medallion and is surprised to learn she doesn’t use it very often; she says such a powerful item should be more than a useless adornment, and she should consider becoming more adept with it. She also introduces herself as Drusilia Sithreth. She asks about Yoolna’s background, and Yoolna explains she was supposed to leave home in the company of her mentor for an apprenticeship; however, things did not go as planned, and when she arrived on the western half of the continent, her mentor was no longer with them. Drusilia apologizes; Yoolna comments that this is the reason she isn’t particularly keen on shipboard travel.

In her turn, Drusilia says her mother was an important arcanist in the elf homelands but fell in love with a traveling human merchant and shortly after her birth, Drusilia was cast out and sent to the continent. She struggled for a while, not being able to hear or speak, until she learned to read lips and to write magically in the air, as she is doing now; this led her to a fascination with other kinds of magic, and eventually to Skip, where she has been studying with the Arcanists’ Guild ever since.

When the sun rises, Drusilia leaves Yoolna alone in the office for a time, then returns and escorts her down several long, winding corridors to a set of double doors. At her knock, an old, elven man opens the doors. With a few slight gestures, he removes all Yoolna’s weapons, which clatter to the floor; however, when the medallion begins to rise off her neck, she grabs it; she explains that it is special to her and has no use as a weapon. He replies, “To those who understand, this could be considered your greatest weapon. But very well, you may keep it for now. I’ve been told you were given a message for me.”

Drusilia hands the letter to the headmaster; he reads it, then crumples it into a ball and tosses it over his shoulder. “So many people think they are worthy of learning. Why are you here?” Yoolna explains again that she only wanted to deliver the letter in return for information. The headmaster seems unimpressed, but says Yoolna has courage (though he specifies this is not a compliment). He warns her not to return to the Guild without permission, and asks how her friends on the continent are faring; she says she hasn’t heard from them since they left. As he dismisses her, he says, “Seek out your friends, Yoolna. They will need you before they know it.”

Drusilia smiles and gives her a double thumbs up, then leads her out of the room, through several more corridors to the front door (never having gone down any stairs or inclines). Yoolna thanks her for her help; Drusilia tells her good luck and to let her know if she needs anything, and Yoolna tells her where she’s staying in case she needs to get in touch. She also mentions that her companion Dugluss is doing some work for the Mechanists’ Guild, the mention of which causes a flicker in Drusilia’s expression; seeing this, Yoolna says that the information she’s seeking may or may not have something to do with that particular guild. Drusilia smiles again and says, “Be safe.”

### **Part II**

Meanwhile, back on the continent, Stone, Magpie, and Zander wake in the morning to the scurry of activity as the group breaks camp and packs everything back into the boat to continue their journey northward. Magpie sneakily steals Barakas’ boots, fills them with stones, and throws them in the river, in the hopes that a lack of shoes will keep him from coming along. Barakas clearly suspects Magpie, but says nothing and carries on barefoot. They sail on up the river as it grows narrower; Stone thinks they see *something* following along through the trees onshore, but isn’t sure. They mention this to Captain Vala, who seems quite eager for some action.

As the river narrows, they reach a place where a tree has fallen across the water, blocking the way entirely. The captain says it’s as good a place as any to park the boat and they can continue on foot from there. Stone is concerned that it’s a trap; the captain is still full of bravado, but does seem to be keeping a sharp eye out. As they pack their supplies and make the boat fast, Magpie messages Stone, “Keep your eye on Barakas. I don’t trust him.” As they make their way up the bank, a large figure appears on the path ahead and roars out something in a language they don’t understand. Several other voices answer from the surrounding trees. They roll initiative.

The enemies turn out to be a Hobgoblin Warlord leading a collection of Hobgoblin Captains and regular Hobgoblins, as well as two Hobgoblin Archers on the other side of the river. Magpie, as per usual, kicks things off with the Wand of Wonder, yelling, “See, I *can* take care of myself!” The wand merely casts Detect Thoughts on the Warlord. (She hears in her head, “Meh, tiny things.”) She does follow this up with some successful sword and crossbow attacks, but Barakas, much to her consternation, spends the fight shadowing her closely, blocking and absorbing several hits meant for her; he also lands a few sword attacks of his own, downing one Hobgoblin, and blinding the Warlord with Blinding Smite. Magpie at one point casts Burning Hands at the Warlord, intentionally careless of whether she hits Barakas as well, but through a successful save and his innate fire resistance, the damage to him is minimal.

Zander makes excellent use of Eldritch Blast and his sword, only missing one attack the whole combat, and effectively one-shotting two different Hobgoblins with Carrot. Stone spends most of the combat hanging back somewhat and casting spells; they do some damage to the Hobgoblin Warlord with Moonbeam, and keep the archers from crossing the river by casting Ball Lightning in the middle of the fallen tree lying across the water.

Captain Vala swings his scimitar around with a great deal of bravado, though has only middling success in terms of damage dealt; however, just as Magpie lands a deep stab in the Hobgoblin Warlord’s chest, Vala swoops in and lops off the Warlord’s head, to Magpie’s great displeasure.

Kelpie, clearly very nervous, only attempts one attack, which misses, after which he squeaks out an apology and hides behind a tree, but the other two crew members manage to do a bit of damage, Alethra with a sword and Morgren with a small, shoulder-mounted cannon. However, just after Zander dispatches the last two Hobgoblins, Alethra, standing on the fallen tree, turns to compliment his Eldritch Blasting and steps too close to Stone’s Ball Lightning. It deals her a significant shock and she falls, unconscious, into the water below. Stone, horrified, dashes to the riverbank and casts Mass Healing Word, catching Kelpie, Morgren, Barakas, and Magpie along with Alethra in its radius. Alethra breaks the water’s surface, gasping, and Morgren jumps down onto the boat and hauls her up with a rope. Vala comes strolling over and says, “This is why I avoid magic.”

Barakas scavenges a pair of boots off one of the Hobgoblin Captains, and as everyone sorts themselves out, the captain comments, “Well now that we’re all warmed up, many miles to go. Hopefully there’s a bunch more of these guys waiting around.” Magpie, through gritted teeth, adds, “Hopefully I actually get to do some fighting.” Vala puts an arm around her shoulder and says, “You did fair good from what I could see, lass,” but Magpie continues quietly seething. Nevertheless, they gather their things and prepare to continue their journey north.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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