Fight or Flight

"**Fight or Flight**" (1x15) is the 15th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

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

After being framed for serial murder by the Baelor Butcher, the party (with the exception of Stone) were arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned in the Netherkeep, where they met a mysterious dragonborn called Shadowscale. They attempted to escape peacefully, but instead had to fight their way through an ever-increasing crowd of guards, joined by Stone who reached them through the sewers. The battle was touch-and-go for a while, with several party members taking significant damage and both Zander and Stone spending some time unconscious, but they finally regained their belongings and escaped back into the sewers.

### **Part I**

As the party stands at the bottom of the sewer pipe discussing which way to go, a guard comes crashing down the pipe. He breaks his neck in the process, but they decide they’d better get moving; they spot a few directional markings on the walls in thieves’ cant, but they aren’t particularly helpful, so they choose a random direction and keep moving, following the flow of the water as well as they can. Stone faintly hears a strange, airy kind of music, but the only other person who hears it is Father Buckitt, and the others aren’t sure they believe them. After a while they come to a pile of rubble where there has been a partial cave-in, beyond which they see an opening into a natural cave, which dead-ends quickly. They make camp in the cave.

They unfurl the Portable Hole and rummage through its contents, retrieving their belongings, though all the money not previously stored in the Hole is gone. They also find an ornately carved quarterstaff; a wizard's spellbook; a musical horn; a wooden mask carved to look like a mixture of several different animals; and an iron headband; Dugluss identifies these last two as a Mask of the Beast and a Circlet of Blasting. They also find Magpie's magic card deck, Dugluss tells her is a Deck of Illusions. No longer interested, she offers it to the group, and Father Buckitt takes it. Father Buckitt finds his bucket and joyfully puts it back on. They also find the body of the murdered gnome, which Buckitt bundles into one of the empty crates.

As they drift off to sleep, Zander has a nightmare of being back in the dungeon, standing over the lifeless bodies of the guards he attacked, then of himself crumpled on the ground, with a small, white-haired figure standing over him with a longsword; beginning to panic, he hears a voice say, "Sleep, child. I will take these as well, until you are ready." He drifts back into a dreamless sleep. The rest of the night passes uneventfully.

In the morning, Stone takes the gnome’s body out of the crate and casts Speak With Dead. They learn that his name was Proctor Falster Goodbottle, and he was lured to the house where he was killed by an offer of a donation for his charitable foundation. They ask if he has any next of kin to which he'd like them to pass a message; he says he has a daughter who lives in Weshall. They ask about Stanton Owsley; he says he's never met him and knows only that he's known for generous works. They ask about the Baelor Butcher; he knows of his existence but little else. They fold the gnome's lifeless body back into the crate and lower it into the water; as it drifts down the river, Magpie uses the Wand of Wonder, intending to do a sort of Viking funeral, but it casts some kind of enlarging spell instead. She sheepishly casts Firebolt, but misses, and the crate drifts around a corner and out of sight.

While the others are seeing to the gnome, Dugluss rebuilds Folar. Then they all gather their things and continue on through the sewer. As they walk, they begin to hear the strange music Stone and Buckitt heard the previous day. Presently, they come to a large pile of objects blocking the flow of the water, and Father Buckitt hears scurrying noises. As he turns to tell the others, he sees multiple swarms of rats scurrying toward them. The group rolls initiative.

### **Part II**

The party begins dispatching the rats almost comically easily. As they advance, a shadowy figure appears from behind the pile of debris and they hear a squeaky voice echoing off the sewer walls: "You have stumbled into the domain of the Rat King! Feel the fury of a thousand tiny claws!" He pulls out a set of panpipes and begins playing a strange, breathy song, which they recognize as the music they've been hearing, and seems to summon more rats. However, one hit from Yoolna's Circlet of Blasting and a Guiding Bolt from Father Buckitt knock the Rat King back off the debris pile, and they hear no more from him. The rats quickly flee. The party, feeling somewhat guilty, approach the debris pile.

They find the body of the Rat King on the far side of the pile, and Father Buckitt uses Lay On Hands to revive him. He coughs and sputters, looks up at Buckitt, and whines, "Please don’t hurt me." Buckitt replies, "Fear not, Rat King; The Bucket has delivered you this day." Magpie, meanwhile, clambers over, sputtering, "No, no, no! You are *not* using this to flippin' *recruit* people for the Bucket!" The Rat King cowers at the sight of Magpie, but Buckitt reassures him that he is safe; Magpie is speechless with exasperation, but Stone comes over and casts Cure Wounds on the Rat King.

They learn that the Rat King used to work for The Penumbra, and he offers to lead them to their headquarters, which they accept. As they go, the Rat King begins playing his panpipes; some rats scurry out of the walls and follow along. When they reach the stone door leading to the Penumbra’s headquarters, he gives them the pipes as thanks for sparing him, saying he feels bad using their magic to control the rats, since the rats are his friends. As he walks away, several of the rats keep following him anyway, and they hear him begin to tell them a story.

The party enters the Penumbra’s familiar underground barroom, which is dark and appears to have been abandoned. The rest of the group ask Stone if Makaria told him anything when last they met; they hear a voice from the shadows: "She told you not to make a lot of noise." They turn and see Captain Olo stepping out from a shadowy corner, holding a sword.

Olo is infuriated that the party killed twelve of his guards during their escape, many of whom left behind loved ones and children, and says he ought to kill them all where they stand. They try to argue that it was in self-defense, since they were set to be executed for a crime they hadn't committed, and that they hadn't meant to kill anyone. (Zander in particular, thinking back, finds his memories strangely hazy; he can't remember harming anyone at all.) Father Buckitt says he understands Olo's anger, but argues that the most important thing is stopping the Baelor Butcher, and now that they know his identity, they're much closer to that end. Olo, unmoved, gives them two options: either they kill the Butcher and leave town, never to return, or he kills them all himself (or at least dies trying). They quickly agree to option one. Olo tells them where to find Owsley and tells them to get it done, and says that if he ever sees any of them again, he'll kill them himself.

Olo leaves and they settle in to wait for the cover of night. Dugluss takes a session studying the crystal. Father Buckitt jots down some notes about the funeral rituals of the Church of the Bucket, while Magpie looks on in disapproval. Zander has a small existential crisis to himself. Magpie goes to check on him; he says he’s as okay as can be expected, but he’s ready to get out of the city. Magpie agrees. As they prepare to leave. Buckitt asks Zander, since he seemed so uncomfortable at the idea of having killed people and unable to remember afterwards, if they should try to stop him, should the situation arise again. Zander isn't sure, and seems very confused about the whole situation.

They make their way to the Silver Sector and locate Owsley’s house. As they pause to confer in an alley, they hear a wheezy voice from up ahead: "Hello? Somebody there? Do you have any coin for an old man?" They move forward and see a very old beggar; they give him three gold coins and he thanks them profusely; a number of canaries appear from under his blanket and he offers them one as thanks, saying the bird, Phillip, will keep them safe. Yoolna motions to the bird to come sit safely on the back side of her shield, and it does. They move closer to the house and Magpie casts Disguise Self to make herself look like a member of the Braven Fist. The group sneaks around to check the back of the house, and decide to try and enter by stealth.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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

## **Quotations**

Magpie: "You're the one who just killed him!"

Father Buckitt: "The Bucket gives, and The Bucket taketh away."

Magpie: [incoherent rage]

Stone: "What kind of tyrant kills someone just so they can bring them back for clout?"