A Dance in the Dark - Chapter One

> "*Well that scallywag's mouth runs more than a boardinghouse toilet!*"
> ― LaMont Du Pont IV
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>

> "*Kill It!*"
> ― Arson Nicki
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>

**Underwhere?** is the forty-third episode of Queens of Adventure. In it, the Queens set out for the Underdark below Fire Island.

## Synopsis

As the storm grows closer to the island, the queens continue their meeting with Belfry Ramshackle in the penthouse of the Golden Palace. She reaffirms the group's decision to head to the Underdark of the island next as Arson Nicki feels her recent visions of the underdark seem to be guiding her back there. Belfry says she will send one person with them, and have one other ally on stand by in her office by the Hole of Glory. She provides a list of people for them to chose from.

The queens review the options. Fraya decides they should leave Gnomi to sleep, but considers Barb. Irene suggest Lamont Du Pont as his skill set is persuasion, and Butylene agrees. Arson notes that DJ Cyberpreppy could assist them with death saves, although they realize bringing the portable party altar with them would be difficult. Irene suggests they have the ghost DJ wait in the office as their support. They settle on Lamont for their mission accompaniment. Belfry suddenly realizes what it would mean to have the ghosts in her office and Fraya makes her some snail goo and wax earplugs.

Belfry hands the group a portable Hole of Glory which Fraya begins to play with until a Glamazon clerk on the other side, amused, prepares to hit her with a pie. Fraya passes the hole to Arson who will treat it better.

They leave Belfry's office and find Lamont waiting for them down in the lobby. Instantly he and Irene begin to flirt. They depart the casino and head to the Three Fingers Inn.

Inside they startle Barb (his robe fitting tighter than before) and the imps working hard in his new distillery. He comments on Irene's presence before providing Butylene the formula she requested to summon a familiar. The formula will create a body that will contain a soul from hell that will serve Butylene, and Barb already used it once. A burning, flying, ball of fur with a massive mouth of teeth, just as Butylene requested, comes over. Butylene names it Hella FizzGerald. Irene tries to intimidate it, but only earns the creature's dislike.

Butylene and Barb discuss the devil's next assignment. They decide to use them (as they contain trapped souls) to create a stone storm wall when the Kracken comes (a cheval de frise). Fraya wonders what Barb's plan with the mutagen was again. The devil explains he was going to forcefully mutate surviving tourists to kill the Kracken with, but his current mutagen only turned people into oozes. With refinement and help from the Golden Palace researchers, he believes he could make mutagen that unlocks powers. They decide on just the lava baby wall for now.

Crossing the beach, Fraya throws her message in a bottle into the ocean. They enter the jungle, near the Radiant Rise, and find a crack in the rocks. Lamont offers to escort the dark-vision lacking Irene. Arson takes the lead, squeezing into the fissure. Irene winks at the light producing Hella, who hisses and hides, while Butylene has the familiar switch to infrared light.

As they descend, they find a wider chamber with an orange glow from some oozing magma veins. Human bones are scattered around the chamber as well as broken weapons and rusted armor. Another fissure is the only way forward. Irene can't determine what happened to the people but gathers some bones to fashion a weapon from, impressing Lamont. Arson, wary of what they found, proceeds across the chamber.

Ten feet from the exit, her foot squishes, and from a stalagmite to her left, she hears a voice muttering quickly and incoherently. Turning Arson sees a mound of flesh covering in mouths, slumping towards her. The creature freaks Arson out, but she resists the hypnotic power of its voice. She slowly moves back to the entrance fissure and fires two *eldritch blasts*, both hitting with minimal damage.

The voices get to Irene who runs west, and huddles against the wall near the magma vein. LaMont draws a heavy crossbow and fires two bolts before joining Irene.

Butylene manages to shake off the voices and casts *aganazzar's scorcher*, which burns the creature and the stalagmite next to it. It activates her *flames of Phlegethos*, wrapping Butylene in flames. The gibbering mouther moves away and the stalagmite uncurls into a tentacle and beak faced worm, a grick. Butylene has Hella turn into a centipede and hide, as she is protective of her new familiar.

The mouther attacks Irene, biting her hard. It spits something at the wall and a burst of light blinds her. It's voice has no effect on Fraya who casts *silence*, negating all sound in the room, including the gibbering voice. She signs 'take that, bitch'. The grick slaps Fraya with a tentacle. She retaliates with *wrath of the storm* while *channeling divinity*.

Another Grick uncurls behind Arson. She summons her pact weapon in the form of a giant vibrating bat she slams against the Grick twice, killing it.

Irene, blinded, but free of the mouther's thrall, recalls where it was before she went blind and goes into a rage. She hurls her javelin of lightning, through the gibbering mouther and towards the first grick (which dodges). The flesh creature collapses. Lamont fires a bolt at the Grick, shredding one tentacle. Butylene follows up with a *firebolt,* immolating it. The group cheers, without sound.

The chamber empty of further monsters, the group heads down through the second fissure.

Back at the Golden Palace, Cher Noble brings the portable party altar out of the elevator into Belfry's office. As the ghosts and music fill her office, her daughter Jo, and Cher Noble's son Chaz begin to laugh and dance.

### Characters

#### Party

* Arson Nicki - drider warlock
* Butylyene O'Kipple - tiefling alchemist
	+ Hella FizzGerald - familiar
* Fraya Love - water genasi cleric
* Irene Dubois - lizardfolk barbarian

#### NPCs

* Belfry Ramshackle
* Glamazon Clerk
* Lamont Du Pont IV
* Barb
* Imps
* Cher Noble
* DJ Cyberpreppy and the Woo Ghosts
* Chaz
* Jo Ramshackle

#### Monsters/Enemies

* Gibbering Mouther
* Gricks

## Episode Notes

### Lore

* If enough lava babies (magmin) are produced, the island would instantly be destroyed.
* Lava babies and familiars have souls from hell bound within them.

### Memorable Quotes

* "We've demonstrated we can kill powerful things very quickly..." - "I'm proud of you." - Arson Nicki and Belfry
* "It's just a flick of the wrist and a little bit of tequila vomit and everything's fine." - Arson Nicki
* "Actually, that isn't a terrible idea." - "You sound. So Shocked." - Fraya Love and Irene Dubois
* "This flower is wilting!" - "Well then she needs some... liquid to perk her up." - "My stamen is going berserk, sir." - Irene Dubois and Lamont Du Pont IV
* "So we're going to start a lava baby strip club to distract the Kracken when it gets here." - Butylene O'Kipple
* "I've never been afraid of going into a warm crack before." - Ireen Dubois
* "I kind of want to use this rusty sword to give someone a really bad case of tetanus, but I don't want to give it to myself." - Fraya Love
* "We can keep going and maybe ignore the fact that this seems more and more like a horror movie." - Arson Nicki
* "I am not looking forward to hearing the sound effects you guys come up with for this fleshy creature." - Arson Nicki
* "That's a very flamboyant flame you've got there." - Fraya Love
* "It's smells delicious." - "Burning flesh?" - "That's a nope for me." - "Honestly that isn't canibalism for me." - DM Matt, Fraya Love, Arson Nicki, and Irene Dubois.
* "We're in a silent movie, so can we just have a black screen that says 'Crackle'? " - Fraya Love
* "Disadvantage is cancelled!" - Arson Nicki
* "All teeth, no tongue." - Irene Dubois
* "All I had to do was lose half my hp and get blinded." - Irene Dubois

### References

* Geico
* Dark Crystal/Fizzgig
* The Secret
* Oprah's gifts
* Rita Repulsa and Putties (Power Rangers)
* "Mom's Spaghetti" meme

### Please Welcome to the Stage

* Cheval de Fries (Devayne Dupris... Davenport)

### Name That Tune

* "Shake It Off" - Taylor Swift
* "Lose Yourself" - Eminem
* "My Shot" - Hamilton soundtrack

## Behind the Queens

* Barb narrates the episode opening.
* According to DM James on his twitch stream, he used this Wiki to help compose the "Previously on" segment.
* The DMs shared the chart of Golden Palace allies for recruitment on both Discord and on Twitter after the episode dropped. It provided new information like DJ Cyberpreppy being a bard and confirms that Ramshackle is a rogue.

**Greetings From Fire Island**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Show Must Go On**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Operation Watersport**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - Ch7 - **Trials**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Ghosts of the Coast**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Devil's Due**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Special**: The Story So Far
**The Beautiful Place**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **A Dance in the Dark**: **Ch1** - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Drama in the Deep**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **Whispers From the Heart**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Danger Rangers!**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Mist Connections**: Ch1 - Ch2
**Unreleased**
Lost: Camp Crystal Light - Pax West 2018 --  vs the Lizard People
Live Shows: Seattle Style -- Minneapolis Style