C2 E45

Our heroes confront the menagerie (I think there are enough of them to be a menagerie?) of villains after Screech. What possibly could they want from this simply industrialist who doesn’t leave his house at night but is friends with Night’s Vengeance?

## **Story**

### Long Story

Having just defeated the villainous forces of Copperpot's Amazing Menagerie, the party now find themselves standing over their fallen foes. Beholder-doodle sports a fresh new bite wound, courtesy of Waylon, aka the Terminator Alligator, or just "Termigator". Troubling-ly, the wound has a light green mist emanating from it...

After tying up the downed delinquents, T'Chuck turns his attention to Pamela, aka Poison Oak. Did anyone else never realize that the word Poison has two O's in it? I guess I never really typed it out before, and I had a hard time with it. I was like Poisin? Poisen? No? What is it? Oh, it's an "O"? That's weird! Anyway, PoisOn Oak tells T'Chuck that R'Oarc has been taken by Luthor, and she'll tell him where he can be found, if they agree to spare her life. They agree, so they do it. Beholder-doodle leaves, but Screech Echo appears, and Pamela leads everyone to the circus tent, where Luthor is at.

The bald man is pacing nervously in the center of the arena, a spotlight illuminating him. As the party approaches, he demands to know where the Squirrel-Man is. Screech tells him that the Squirrel is retired, he's hung up the cowl. Well, "hung up" inside a garbage can, that is. He threw away the costume. This is bad news for Luthor. He explains himself. They have no intentions of hurting R'Oarc, they merely took her for assurances, "in case things went south". They have been looking for the Squirrel-Man, and Screech was just a means to that end. Back in Farhold, where the circus is from, Screech and the Squirrel were known to be tight. BFF's, if you will. So, Luthor thought that if they could get their hands on Screech, Screech could lead them to the masked crime fighter. But why do they need to find Squirrel-Man, you ask? Luthor explains that he was, in years past, a ward to the Squirrel! So was Poison Oak, and the Termigator, and ol' Double-face over there. In fact, all of the various circus performers were, at one point, wards to the enigmatic Screech Echo. So important were they to his cause, that they were in charge of printing the currency that Screech is so fond of handing out to everyone, the self-titled "Screech Bucks". The wards had been tasked with making sure the economy in Farhold remained stable, so that Screech could continue to be rich. However, there has been a recent turn of events, that the wards now need the Squirrel-Man's help to set right.

Apparently, a penguin-like man named "Copperpot" has begun printing some currency of his own, the aptly named "Tux Bux". Apt, because Copperpot wears a tuxedo, we can assume. These Tux Bux have been flooding the market, and cause instability in the local economy. This all Bad NewsTM. Screech admits that he just used to draw pictures of the Squirrel for The Farhold Trumpeter, and that the Squirrel is retired. But, he can see what he can do, he guesses. Screech disappears, and soon, the Squirrel-Man makes his presence known. Also, the intense smell of garbage makes its presence known, as the costume was fished out of the garbage. But nevertheless, the Squirrel is back! And ready to help. He does, however, not seem to recognize any of his former wards. Luthor explains that they have all taken on disguises. Luthor used to have a full head of red hair. Waylon didn't used to be part alligator, that's a bit of a change. The double-faced man is named "Harvey", and his disguise is that he BURNED HALF HIS FACE OFF! Jesus! Why not just wear a mask, like Boon does? And Pamela? What's different about her? She used to part her hair on the side. The hair really does make the ward, I've always said that.

Alright, this is all a lot of fun, but T'Chuck isn't here to play around. He casts *Zone of Truth*, and demands to know where R'Oarc is (actually, he did this as soon as he arrived, but putting this now just feels cleaner. You understand). Squirrel-Man/Screech fails the roll, so he must tell the truth. He does (Actually, Screech does, before become the Squirrel-Man. Maybe this isn't a cleaner way to do it after all). Screech admits that the Screech Bucks are not, strictly speaking, legal working tender. They're "company script", offered to the mine workers in exchange for lower wages. They aren't useless, though. These Screech Bucks can be used in any participating Echo location around the mines (see what I did there? Echo-location?). They ask Luthor why they were trying to kill Screech; Waylon even bit the head off of the Hey Boy that was posing as Screech. They weren't really trying to kill him. Waylon hasn't been himself since contracting lycanthropy. He's a little out of control. But he's alright.

A scream is heard from the Hall of Mirrors! The party leaps into action, running into the Hall, only to find that they're ill-equipped for the fun-house shenanigans in store for them. Squirrel-Man and T'Chuck, specifically. They bonk their little snoots into all sorts of obstacles, and have a real hard time of it. Selene, however, is able to slink her way through, and finds R'Oarc laying on the ground, screaming. Except, when Selene turns her over, she's not screaming. She's laughing.

T'Chuck freaks out. He barrels through the maze, breaking through glass walls like he was [INSERT WITTY POP CULTURE REFERENCE HERE], or something, am I right! Hahaha! Anyway, T'Chuck casts *Lesser Restoration* on R'Oarc, which seems to work. She's no longer laughing. R'Oarc has been saved!

### Short

Pamela tells the party that Luthor has kidnapped R'Oarc. They take Pamela hostage, and go visit Luthor in the circus tent. Luthor reveals to them that he, along with the other members of the Menagerie, are all former wards of the vigilante known as the Squirrel-Man. They had found that, back in Farhold, a villain known as Copperpot has been flooding the market with "Tux Bux", which is decreasing the value of Screech Bucks. They have come here to Rimeford to find the Squirrel-Man, and bring him back to Farhold to stop Copperpot. They find R'Oarc at the end of a Hall of Mirrors, laughing hysterically. Turns out, she was poisoned, and T'Chuck is able to cure her.

## **Trivia**

* Day 13 of the campaign.
* Waylon, the alligator man is were-gator. Which is metal af.
* Screech feels like T'Chuck doesn't like him, which makes him feel hurt. He's right.
* Luthor also hates Screech, because Screech when Luthor was Squirrel-Man's ward, Screech would always run away, and the Squirrel-man would have to come and rescue him.
* Somehow, none of the wards are aware of the Squirrel-Man's identity.
* The wards are the ones responsible for Screech Bucks being produced.
* Tux Bux first began circulating 12 days ago. That was a day after Screech arrived in town, but about a week after he left Farhold
* The Jokester is not a former ward. He was picked up by the Menagerie along their travels to Rimeford.
* Luthor's full name is "Alexander Joseph Lex Luthor".
* T'Chuck has orange blood.

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
* Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
* Mike Bachmann - Screech Echo / Beholder-doodle (Screech) / Squirrel-Man (Screech)

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Pamela / Poison Oak
* Luthor
* R'Oarc

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* Ridgewood Keep
			* Copperpot's Amazing Menagerie

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop The Cult of Ugnos
	+ [On-Hold] - Investigate Thistledown
* [On-Hold] - Protect the dragon
	+ [On-Hold] - Keep the dragon hidden from the Order
		- [On-Hold] - Eliminate the Hook Horrors from the tunnels beneath Rimeford
* [Complete] - ~~Save R'Oarc from Luthor!~~
* [NEW][Screech] - Stop Copperpot and his economy-crashing "Tux Bux"
* [R'Oarc] - Help Lucee move from the White Spire to the crypts in the graveyard

### **Quotes**

* **"T'Chuck is himself like, like a troll man!"** ~ *Jennifer Cheek*

* **"What happened to my Hay Boy?!?!"** ~ *Screech Echo*

* **"*I stink! I stink!!!*"** ~ *Squirrel-Man*

## **Rolls**

* **Beholder-doodle** rolls *Investigation* to see if he can figure out where R'Oarc was taken - 10
	+ He's not sure

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Persuasion* to get Pamela to reveal where R'Oarc was taken - 11
	+ She tells him

* **T'Chuck** casts *Zone of Truth*, so everyone must make Constitution saving throws
	+ **Selene** - 23
	+ **Screech** - 7

* **Screech** makes a *History* check after Luthor puts on the red wig - 3
	+ He doesn't know what this means

* Everyone rolls *Perception* to navigate the Hall of Mirrors
	+ **T'Chuck** - 13
		- Having a real hard time
	+ **Selene** - 15
		- She's able to navigate it, slowly but surely
	+ **Squirrel-Man** - 9
		- Having a real hard time

* **T'Chuck** makes an *Athletics* check to barge through the Hall of Mirrors - 18
	+ Success - He breaks through, taking a few points of damage