Candy Crush Chronicle

The Candy Crush Chronicle is a non-canonical(?) Lvl. 5 one-shot set vaguely within the realm of Arcadia and surrounding planes, outside of any distinct time periods. It centers on the candy shop, The Candy Cauldron, owned by the witch Dyzek of the Crooked Candy Coven. The one-shot was run on June 5th, 2022 by Draven and featured the player characters of Camellia (Becca), Cerridwen (Finny), and Clamor (Mika) of the Candy Crush Crew.

## Plotline

### Introducing the Candy Cauldron

The Candy Cauldron has sent out fliers advertising for help throughout the realms. Three adventurers, having been customers of the Candy Cauldron at least once before in their lives, answer the call. The Candy Cauldron most currently is in Nikipol before the events of Tales of the Lightbringers. A small kenku by the name of Clamor, akin in colouring to a magpie, enters the shop to find a candy homunculus waiting around with a bored expression. High above Clamor, stuck to licorice ladders hanging from the ceiling, the shop keep Dyzek calls out his hellos. After a bit of fuss attempting to bring him down and an instance of a lever being pulled which only pulls Dyzek further up, Clamor is able to cut Dyzek free with the use of a ladder and a peanut brittle shank crafted by the candy homunculus. After they are freed, Clamor shows the poster and Dyzek is delighted to have the help they need for making treats for an upcoming reunion with their friends who are implied to be Marzaniok and Merada of the Crooked Candy Coven as well as the witch Róza. However, Dyzek insists that there must always be three, holding up three fingers on one hand, and spins a dial which causes the candy shop to lurch and move through space and time. As Clamor looks out the window, she sees the stretching of spacetime and an array of different locations including a wintery cascade, land filled with bursts of fire, and dead man's land in an active zone of trench warfare. The shop comes to exist within a previously empty building in Gallia post the Alemannian-Tirrenian and Scythian-Shenzou War. A short firbolg woman with vitiligo and red-brown hair and flowy clothing named Camellia recognizes the building both from her youth and a flier she had previously picked up. As she enters the shop, she is hit with a rush of sweet smells familiar to her from her home in Shenzou. After introductions between Clamor and Cami, Dyzek informs the two that there is need to pick up one more individual. Once again, Dyzek spins a dial that shifts through various locations. This time, it lands in a portion of the Summer Court in the Feywild with red-orange sands. Waiting somewhat impatiently for the shop's arrival is a Summer eladrin with tan skin, golden hair in which sprigs of wheat poke out, and golden freckles by the name of Cerridwen. Upon the Candy Cauldron's arrival, she quickly enters and greets everyone inside.

After more introductions, Dyzek brings out magical chocolate candies which he asks for each of them to taste test as they have forgotten which batches are which. Cerridwen receives the effects of Levitate after tasting a particularly smooth and airy chocolate. In exchange for the chocolate, Cerridwen tosses an exceptionally burnt cookie that she bakes herself to Dyzek. Dyzek comments on being impressed with her ability to make charcoal-esque cookies for fire elementals, but Cerridwen informs him that it was supposed to be chocolate chip. Clamor tastes a chocolate as hot as a Carolina Reaper pepper that gives her the ability to breath fire, causing her to accidentally burn off Dyzek's eyebrows. Dyzek merely eats a piece of candy in order to regrow them and Clamor comments on their strangeness. Cami spends time chewing on a chocolate that appears to shift in flavors and once she finishes eating it, a flumph appears behind her. After calming the flumph, it eats a piece of chocolate as well and begins to teleport randomly around the shop until it finally dissapears. Cerridwen and Clamor both have a second piece. Cerridwen is filled with a liquor and causes her to teleport similarly to the flumph. Clamor's piece tastes quite strange and somewhat like soap and shortly afterward she begins to burp up bubbles that echo her squawks when popped.

### The Peppermint Dragon

After a bit of fun with chocolates and more discussion, Dyzek remembers why they called the three others together and asks for their help retrieving the items he needs to bake treats for his friend. There are two items that Dyzek must obtain, a giant cocoa bean in the home of a giant a and a special mint plant guarded by a dragon. However, they only have time to get one or the other. Clamor, Cami, and Cerridwen opt to retrieve the mint plant while Dyzek goes to claim the cocoa bean. Dyzek gives each of the adventurers a chocolate which they instruct them to eat. It gives each of the effects of the Ring of Warmth for the next 8 hrs. Then, he drops the three adventurers off in the midst of a raging blizzard, informs them not to wake the dragon, and the Candy Cauldron disappears with Dyzek inside. After a moment collecting their whereabouts, the Candy Crush Crew is able to locate a grand fortress of ice in the distance. The group trudges through the storm and commits to an impromptu jam session. Cerridwen sings a ditty about heading through the blizzard towards the icy fortress and is shortly followed up by the sounds of Cami playing her lute and Clamor providing percussion through her skills of mimicry. As the Candy Crush crew arrives at the entrance, they find it to be unnaturally carved through with heat. The group discusses what dragon they might come across. Cami informs Clamor and Cerridwen that it is most likely a silver or white dragon due to the cold climate. However, Cerridwen insists that it must be a peppermint dragon as it guards peppermint. As they walk, somewhat lacking in stealth, through the icy tunnels, they come to room with a snowman inside. Clamor goes up to the snowman to investigate, and the snowman awakens and yells. Everyone quickly hushes them in the hopes of not awakening the dragon. The group questions the snowman, who is actually made of marshmallow with chocolate eyes and buttons, about the dragon. The snowman is unable to provide much any information on a dragon, but discusses the possibility of a peppermint dragon and mentions the existence of a hot cocoa dragon. The snowman's brother was lost to a "colourful warlord," who is implied to be Dyzek, for hot cocoa. After a bit of discussion, the snowman goes back to sleep and Cerridwen leaves another of her burned baked goods on top of their head for them to hopefully enjoy at a later time. The group continues through the fortress, following a slippery slope of ice downward. Cerridwen, who is wearing sandals, slips on the ice and begins to spin away. However, Clamor is able to catch Cerridwen and hoist her back up. Clinging onto one another somewhat, Clamor, Cami, and Cerridwen slowly make their way down the slope, sliding down in a zigzag pattern. At the bottom of the slope is a giant chamber at the center of the fortress, filled with great mounds of snow. Within a bank of snow sprouts a peppermint plant. Clamor goes to approach the plant, but is stopped by Cami who points out the great wyrm which dozes around it. Cerridwen summons her wildfire spirit, Bran, a songbird made of braided wheat whose wings are alight with fire, to pluck mint from the plant. Bran does so and returns the Candy Crush Crew. However, with the plant finally in their hands, the group realizes they must puzzle out how to leave the chamber. There are two options- leave up the slippery slope from which they came which may be nigh impossible or leave through a tunnel filled by the frosty breath of the great wyrm. Clamor points out that if they dash and time their exit just right, they may avoid the icy breath during its inhales. The group opts to leave that way and successfully flees the scene without facing the dragon's wrath. The group is pushed out of the tunnel by the much fainter, now quite distant wyrm's snores into a snow bank. Once the three have dusted themselves off and stood up, they find that Dyzek has returned for them.

### Crushing Candy

The Candy Crush Crew quickly enters the much warmer candy shop and finds that Dyzek has left a cacao bean the size of a fridge sitting on the counter. Now that the ingredients have been retrieved, they ask for the adventurers help making treats. Everyone readily agrees. Dyzek fusses with a door in the back of the shop for a moment and then opens it to reveal a kitchen filled with a plethora of counter space, multiple ovens, and a cauldron over which an array of swords hang- a giant, magical blender of sorts. There is also an arrangement of various chests with an unknown hieroglyphic candy language of Dyzek's design. Dyzek arranges supplies and counter space for each of them to work on their own candy projects while he works on the larger batches intended for his friends at the reunion. Cami creates a batch of chocolates with flavors reminiscent of Shenzou sweets and multiple peppermint candies that she accidentally snaps in the act of molding them into candy canes. Cerridwen finally creates sweets without burning them and finds that her powers of heat are in fact helpful for shaping the peppermint candies. Clamor accidentally gets some loose feathers within her otherwise quite nice chocolates and shapes her peppermint candy into a shortsword. Once all of the candies have been crafted, Dyzek leaves the room to

Without Dyzek there, the Candy Crush Crew take to watching the candy homunculus who is laying on one of the countertops. They watch the homunculus pluck one of its own candy corn teeth out of its mouth and eat it. Cerridwen asks if she may have one as well and the homunculus gives it to her, though seems somewhat unnerved when she eats it. Suddenly, the ovens begin glow brightly and the cauldron bubbles with great excitement. The two larges ovens slam open to reveal a squadron of four candy cane soldiers marching out, peppermint bites arranged out on the countertop form into a large peppermint construct, and the cauldron tips over to reveal a large ooze of molten chocolate. The Candy Crush Crew immediately springs into action to crush some candy! Between being slowed to a near stop by Cami, violently rung apart by the toll of bells by Clamor, and blasted with fire by Cerridwen and Bran, the candy monsters are quickly dispatched- though not without all three adventurers being first covered in gooey, molten chocolate and stabbed by shards of peppermint. In the aftermath of the fight, the kitchen has been left a disastrous mess. Chocolate and broken shards of peppermint lay across the floors and counters. Dyzek returns with a basket to find the mess in the kitchen. He remarks on how they forgot that the candy does that- It adds of a taste adventure! They quickly help the Candy Crush Crew clean up, along with instructing the mess of a kitchen to get itself back together. The candy seems to start to become cleaned up and reformed as if invisible workers were following his orders. He also offers Clamor and Cerridwen chocolates due to their injured states from the fight which heal them back to their max HP.

### On To Other Adventures

In exchange for their help, Dyzek gifts each of the Candy Crush Crew a basket. Each is filled with their own candy creations along with extra treats. Clamors basket contains sweet pies labelled 'Tweet Pies' which allow you to make the sound of any bird when eaten, Cerridwen's has within sweet breads along with a recipe for similar sweet breads that do well under high temperatures, and Cami's basket has treats local to Shenzou which have various enchantments on them. With his gifts delivered, Dyzek remembers that he must get to his reunion. They dash off out of the Candy Cauldron with a basket filled with delicious candy treats to share with their friends. As soon as Dyzek is out the door, however, the candy homunculus makes a sly face and then spins the dial- leaving Dyzek behind wherever he had left to and taking the Candy Crush Crew within the shop to an unknown location. Each adventurer is eventually returned to their proper place in the world and timeline. Before then?- Who knows!

## Player Characters

### Camellia

Camellia, or Cami, is a firbolg woman of about 5'10" with light brown skin and floppy ears. She has lighter patches of skin across her body due to vitiligo. Her hair is curly and brown-orange in colour. While Cami is an Illusion Wizard, she believes herself to be a bard. Her wand is in fact a lute with the image of a wand carved into its handle. It is implied that Camellia is a Shenzou refugee to Gallia from the Alemannian-Tirrenian and Scythian-Shenzou war.

### Cerridwen

Cerridwen is an eladrin fire druid who most often remains in her Summer form. Her hair lays is in loose, golden waves across her shoulders and back. From within her hair pokes out strands of fully ripened wheat. She has tanned skin and her face and shoulders are decorated with a plethora of golden freckles. Cerridwen wears a yellow-orange died leather bodice over a linen shirt, loose linen skirts, and sandals. Her wildfire spirit, Bran, is a songbird crafted of braided wheat who can become alight with flame. She has a tendency to burn sweets.

### Clamor

Clamor is a kenku twilight cleric in the colourations of a magpie with leather armor. Clamor can speak freely, but also has a penchant for mimicry. She most often uses this mimicry for repeating greetings or sounds, and commenting on the strangeness of something. Clamor is also able to make sounds typical to a bird. It is unknown when exactly Clamor exists in the Arcadian timeline. However, she is from Nikipol during a period of time before the events of Tales of the Lightbringers.

## Trivia

* The chocolate candies given to the player characters to taste test by Dyzek had various planned effects. The options included in a D6 table were (1) Your skin turns blue for the remainder of the day, (2) You begin to float for a 1 minute duration as if under the effects of the spell Levitate, (3) You begin to burp bubbles, (4) You breathe fire as if you are under the effects of a Potion of Fire Breathing, (5) You receive the effects of a rolled option off of the Wild Soul Barbarian's Wild Surge table, and (6) You receive the effects of a rolled option off of the Wild Magic Sorcerer's Wild Magic Surge table.
* If the players had chosen to retrieve the the cocoa bean instead of the peppermint plant, they would have faced challenges involving successfully sneaking around and navigating the much larger giant's home. Additionally, the Candy Crush Crew would have needed to puzzle out the potentially difficult task of transporting the cocoa bean due to its large size. It is unknown how Dyzek accomplished this task.