209: Various Brick Sounds

## Summary

Imprisoned in the lower levels of the *Tomorrow, Today!* office and isolated from each other, the party think of ways to escape. Batthwack, sharing a cell with Captain Clockface, has a visitation from Zantras the Kingmaker who offers him more power, and he accepts. Gwen and Kowl receive a visit from Gwen's patron Moondreamer, who advises she leave Morrow's Inlet and join the party and then returns her magical abilities. Finally Raphina, in her cell with Pippa, is visited by Millicent the worm, a relative of Melyugamar, whom she decides to summon for help.

## Synopsis

The party have been separated from each other and imprisoned in the lower levels of the *Tomorrow, Today!* office. Batthwack is in the same cell as Captain Clockface and immediately begins to question him about his whereabouts after he went missing. Captain Clockface manages to explain that he wasn't kidnapped, but had actually just decided to check out the strip club *Roladexaroonie*. He then indicates that while there he was arrested by the town guard, encountered Reginald Humboldt and was being held in another building somewhere.

Batthwack looks around his cell. The chamber pot is just that, a pot with no plumbing and the door has no handle or mechanism on the inside. He throws his weight against the door and it doesn't even budge. He still has his necklace, sword, shield and rapier. Captain Clockface reveals he still has his little knife that he has hidden in his hip. Batthwack can tell that he isn't able to cast any magic and his sword has lost its magical essence. He bangs on the door but gets no response. In fact he realizes that he can't hear anything from outside the door.

Batthwack notices that the crown on his head is beginning to feel a little warm. He reaches up and finds that the crown itself doesn't feel warm, it's just where it's sitting on his head. He says *"Zantras, do you hear me?"* and from behind him, Batthwack hears a voice reply *"Yes, I hear you."* He whips round, but only Captain Clockface is there. He realises that Captain Clockface is frozen and Zantras' voice is somehow emanating from within him. Zantras says he's a little disappointed with Batthwack for not having made much of this gift yet. *"Are they going to execute you or lock you away forever? How is that a good use of my powers?"* he says. Zantras suggests perhaps that Batthwack just needs more of the gift, but Batthwack is curious what the cost may be. He wonders if he's just not using the gift properly. He says *"I need to get home. I've made this promise to Will that I have to keep."* and Zantras says he knows all about it. Batthwack asks *"You know why I can't sleep?"* and Zantras replied *"Maybe."* Zantras offers Batthwack more power to help him and maybe also something that would surprise Will. Batthwack wonders what's going on here, if this is truly an altruistic act, or if there is some kind of quid pro quo. Zantras says he's just taken an interest and is here to help. Batthwack is somewhat reassured by this, but asks Zantras if he's going to hurt anybody, or make him hurt anybody. Zantras says he isn't. Batthwack accepts the gift and Zantras says *"All right, you should have no trouble getting out of here now. I think we'll probably be seeing each other pretty soon."* Suddenly Captain Clockface is moving again. Batthwack isn't sure what Zantras did, but he feels more sure of himself and more confident. He also realises that he's able to cast his magic again, and not only that, he now has the ability to cast *Eldritch Blast*. Batthwack sits down on the bed to go over these events in his mind and contemplate his escape plan.

Gwen is in her cell with Kowl, who is looking up at her and rubbing against her legs. She says *"Kowl, I really need some help right now. Are you able to do anything for me?*" Kowl just purrs. Gwen says *"Can you get in contact with Moondreamer?"* Kowl continues purring. Gwen is worried. She tries slamming the door with her shoulder, but it doesn't move at all. She has a go at casting *Mage Hand*, but nothing happens. Running out of options, she hits the door with her lollipop quarterstaff, but it doesn't make a dent. She bangs on the door and shouts *"Hey, can someone tell me what's going on here? I have a right to know what's going on here. Can someone just tell me what's going on?"*

Gwen is surprised when the only response she gets is from behind her. A familiar voice says *"I think it's time to move on."* Gwen turns around to see her unicorn patron Moondreamer in the cell with her. Gwen realises what Moondreamer meant about moving on; she should leave Morrow's Inlet. Moondreamer says it's clear that the group needs *"some claws and teeth"*. They continue *"You think I gave you a path, a route and an exit from your clan to free you from nurturing and caring just so you could do the same kind of work here forever?"* Gwen apologises that she hasn't had a chance to *"wield"* Moondreamer's *"might"*. Moondreamer tells her to stop apologising and then reveals that they influenced Ricardo Ulysses to steal her rent money in an attempt to encourage her to abandon her business and leave town. Gwen is taken aback, but then realises she had got too comfortable and wasn't making best use of Moondreamer's "gift". Moondreamer tells her to check under the pillow on the cot bed. Gwen does so and finds a purple, glittery cloth pouch sealed by a flap. Reaching into the pouch with excitement, Gwen realises it's magical property: she is able to retrieve one serving of any confection she's ever made. She does so and pulls out a sticky brick. *"This is lovely, but I'm not sure how a sticky brick is going to help me get out of this sticky situation."* Moondreamer says *"Oh, we'll take care of that too,"* and shakes her mane. Gwen is immediately aware that her magical powers are back to normal. She prepares to *Eldritch Blast* the doors and Moondreamer wishes her luck and disappears with a purple puff of smoke. Gwen's first blast kind of fizzles out; she's obviously feeling a little rusty. The second one though, strikes true.

Meanwhile, Raphina is in her cell with Pippa, who is winding her way in between Raphina's legs. She calls out *"Melyugamar! Can you hear me?!"* Out of the corner of her eye, Raphina catches sight of a small movement in the corner of the room. She approaches. Through a tiny crack where the two walls meet the floor, something light tan colour is being very slowly pushed through with some difficulty. All of a sudden the object pops through the crack and skitters out across the floor in front of her. It's a macadamia nut. Emerging through the crack behind it is a small earthworm, who scurries up to the nut and pushes it closer towards Raphina. *"Thank you, earthworm!"* she says and pops the nut in her mouth. It tastes great and she feels invigorated. She also senses that her *Speak with Animals* ability has been enhanced so that she can now speak with annelids and arthropods. Raphina speaks to the worm, learning that their name is Millicent. Raphina recalls the time when she received an almond from a worm and asks why the worms are helping her in this way. Millicent explains that the earthworms like Raphina because she helped some of their kind escape when they were trapped in a can and sold as bait. Raphina asks if the worms can help her escape her prison cell, arguing that the group weren't aware what they were doing was wrong *"which is sort of the same thing as being innocent"*.

Raphina asks if Millicent knows Melyugamar, and it turns out he is indeed their grand-uncle. Raphina recalls that if she sings his name three times he will be summoned, and wonders if he will be able to help her. Millicent says they were looking for Raphina because they wanted to tell her that she's being followed by a centipede, which for a worm is a scary prospect. Raphina reassures them that she knows all about it and Millicent says that the centipede would probably have difficulty getting into the prison because it's very secure. Millicent asks Raphina where she's from and when she mentions Beartoggle, Millicent says they've been there and has been meaning to return at some point. Raphina says that the group is heading that way. Millicent explains that they've always wanted to tunnel under the Toggle Dam. Raphina says she's never heard of the dam, much to Millicent's surprise, who describes it as the defining feature of Beartoggle. It created Beartoggle Lake and reduced the river itself to a trickle where it runs through the city. Raphina is staggered to hear this because as far as she was concerned it wasn't that long ago that she was running her ferrying business across the river. She wonders about wormholes in time again. She feels a strong compulsion to get back to Beartoggle and see for herself. She wants to ask Hilula about it, but when she calls out she gets no reply. Raphina decides to summon Melyugamar, singing out his name three times in a beautiful high voice with an excellent command of vibrato. As the last note rings out, the walls and door of the cell start to shake. Raphina realises it's not her voice that's causing it, but something deeper beneath her. The vibrations grow and grow and grow...

## Trivia

* The episode title refers to the soundboard Alex found for Eric because his usual one wouldn't load. Possibly this one? https://www.soundsnap.com/tags/brick

## References

1. ↑ Batthwack receives an additional two to his charisma score, bringing him up to a whopping 24!
2. ↑ Great dragonborn minds think alike
3. ↑ Raphina gains two permanent hit points added to her maximum! *"Thank you, earthworm!"* indeed!
4. ↑ The annelids, also known as the ringed worms or segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annelid
5. ↑ An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Euarthropoda, which includes insects, arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod
6. ↑ Millicent explains that centipedes eat worms!
7. ↑ No offence, Millicent!