In a Small Friendly Town

"**In a Small Friendly Town**" (1x23) is the 23rd episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

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

After fleeing the city of Westerhaven, the party traveled northward, encountering various adventures until they reached the small town of Scorross, where they were *very* warmly greeted and invited to attend the harvest festival happening that day. They enjoyed a delicious feast (apart from Magpie, who was moping under a tree), but as the meal drew to a close, they were all rendered unconscious, either by alcohol or by more nefarious means. They awoke to find themselves bound and set to be burned at the stake by a group of cultists, led by the village’s high priest. They set about freeing themselves with some success, and landed a few attacks; Magpie also succeeded in charming the high priest, but the fight was far from over.

### **Part I**

As the fight continues, the villagers have all fled the vicinity, leaving the party to deal just with the hooded cultists, which they do with alacrity.

Stone, the last one still bound to their post but flying clear of the flames with their Steps of Night, manages to smash their way free after an assist from Father Buckitt; they Banish one of the cultists to another plane and also land an attack on another with the Ring of Shooting Stars. Buckitt, after helping free Stone, takes to tackling cultists, as the confiscated weapons are still missing.

Dugluss makes several successful attacks with his Thunder Gauntlets, while Zander lands a couple hits with Carrot and uses Eldritch Blast to do some damage and knock some cultists into the tentacly darkness of the Hunger of Hadar spell he cast before. He also casts Accursed Specter to raise the shade of one of the cultists he's already killed, which he names Tim.

Yoolna, after punching a nearby cultist, spots their confiscated weapons piled up nearby; she gathers them up and gets Buckitt's hammer and Magpie's crossbow and Wand of Wonder back to their owners.

Magpie, still disguised as the cultists' god Tyr, continues manipulating the charmed cult leader and sows confusion and intimidation among the others. By the end of the fight, she ends up going a bit mad with power and stabbing out the leader's remaining eye, which he takes as a blessed rebuke from his god. She tells the others to leave him alive, but the minute Buckitt gets his warhammer back, he takes out the leader with a single blow.

The cultists variously make attempts at dagger attacks and spells, including Sacred Flame and Inflict Wounds, but are fairly quickly overwhelmed. Yoolna and Magpie both notice that several of them seem to have had one eye gouged out quite recently, and Magpie sees that the leader also has only one eye, though his wound isn’t fresh. A couple of the cultists flee down into the village, while the others make for the nearby temple and slam the door behind them. Magpie, finished with the cult leader, sets about trying to burn down the temple.

### **Part II**

Magpie walks over the temple and starts casting fire cantrips at it. Meanwhile, the cultist Stone banished reappears as the spell ends; the others surround him, take away his dagger, and chain him to a chair; Stone, still in a righteous fury, punches him in the face. The group interrogates him, trying to get more information about the cult, but he mostly just repeats their racist talking points, showing no remorse nor interest in broadening his perspective. Stone asks point blank if he would ever consider changing his attitude, but he merely spits in Stone’s face. Stone pushes him over and brings their hammer down squarely on his head, killing him instantly.

Magpie, meanwhile, is making slow progress with setting fire to the temple. Zander wanders over in her direction just as she loses her temper and uses the Wand of Wonder; it casts Fireball and she lets out a shriek of delight, cackling manically, “It actually worked!” The spell sets the door on fire and cracks it open, and she begins casting fire spells through the opening; smoke begins to emerge, along with the sounds of panicked voices. Zander sends Tim in through the wall of the church and tells him to attack the first person he sees. Tim disappears through the wall and they hear muffled shouting; no more is seen of Tim. Magpie circles the building and finds two more entrances, one of which is standing ajar, indicating the cultists may have already escaped. She sets more Bonfires all around the building, making sure it is well and truly ablaze.

Looking down toward the village, they party members can see some townspeople have come out of their houses and are looking up toward the burning temple, though they aren’t approaching. The group heads down into the village; they speak to one townsperson, who insists the cult wasn’t the villagers’ fault, they all just did it because the village elders said it was traditional. They try to impress upon him that such behavior isn’t acceptable; he agrees, though is clearly terrified and just wants to get away. As they finish speaking with him, they see the mayor’s wife Esmeralda walking toward them. They try to talk with her, but she says nothing, just pulls a handaxe out from behind her back and attempts to bury it in Stone’s face; Stone deliberately takes the (very minor) hit and tries to reason with her, but she ignores them and pulls back for another hit, so Stone nails her with a hammer swing instead. She is instantly knocked out; Stone casts Cure Wounds and she is restored, but immediately slumps over in a dead faint.

Meanwhile, other villagers are moving around, organizing themselves to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the village. Magpie and Stone both try to get their attention to make some kind of announcement to the village as a whole, but no one pays any attention. Stone tries to wake up the mayor’s wife, but although she is breathing, she appears to be out cold. The group sets about helping the villagers contain the fire, though anytime they approach any of the townspeople, they flee in fear, so they don’t end up speaking to anyone else, though they do gain an extra bucket when someone drops it in their haste, much to Father Buckitt’s delight. Once the fire is under control, they go to check on the mayor’s wife again, but she has disappeared.

The party regroups at the tables where the feast had been. Father Buckitt puts their buckets, including the new one, back in the Hole. Magpie is watching the fire, mesmerized and somewhat horrified. They collect her and head out of town, continuing northward. Once they are well away, they stop to make camp for the night.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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