Into the Mouth of Madness

Sax Panther, by Erian

"**Into the Mouth of Madness**" (1x24) is the 24th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

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

On their journey northward, the party stopped in the town of Scorross on the day of its harvest festival, only to find themselves in the clutches of a racist murder cult. They managed to escape being burned at the stake, and in the ensuing fight, killed the mayor, the high priest, and several other cultists, as well as burning down the temple. Stone wanted to talk to the village as a whole, but everyone they approached fled in terror, so after helping to make sure the fire was contained, the party left town and continued on their way north.

### **Part I**

As they travel, Magpie is preoccupied with the events in Scorross, and whether their actions were justified. She somewhat self-consciously pulls Zander aside to ask about the time he got carried away and murdered the guards in the jail; he’s not upset, but tells her he doesn’t remember what happened. Later that night, while on watch with Stone, she asks if they think the group got a bit carried away, killing the cultists and burning down the temple. Stone answers, “They were a problem that needed to be brought to an end for the sake of others. That’s why I did what I did.” Magpie says she’s concerned that she enjoyed it too much, and Stone comments that the cultists probably enjoyed what they did, too. Magpie argues that they weren’t as bad as the cultists; they weren’t trying to burn anyone at the stake. Stone replies, “They won’t have always been doing that. You don’t start there; you build up to that. And it’s important to identify that and stop before you do.” Magpie asks if that means they shouldn’t have killed them; Stone says they don’t know if there’s a right answer to that question. Magpie stalks off, frustrated with this answer.

As Stone returns to sleep after their watch, they have a vision (nightmare?) of unnatural darkness, and the sound of someone crying out in pain. The voice is familiar from childhood; as it becomes unbearably, painfully loud, two words become clear: “Find me!”

The rest of the night and the next day of travel pass uneventfully. As they walk, Magpie asks Yoolna if she thinks they did the right thing in Scorross. Yoolna says she thinks the temple burning was justified, but she’d been surprised at Stone’s ferocity. She says right and wrong aren’t black and white, but can vary by situation; sometimes there is no good option. Magpie huffs, “You’re just as bad as Stone!”

In the late afternoon, they reach the town of Madmouth: a small, unassuming town, populated mostly by gnomes. In the center of town, they find a bustling market. As they explore, Dugluss takes interest in a stall full of mechanical and clockwork items, and the proprietor, Orrin Quillsharpener, eagerly shows them a selection of goods. Dugluss is intrigued by a bubble-like hat that allows the wearer to breathe underwater, but can’t afford the 400 gold price. The gnome shows them a saddle for Sax Panther that has some ability to automatically block attacks, but as he tries to demonstrate (by trying, unannounced, to stab the horse with a dagger), Father Buckitt [played today by Bloomers in JD's absence] un-summons Sax Panther, causing him to disappear just as the blow would have landed. Buckitt feigns outrage, saying, "My horse! What have you done to my horse?!" Quillsharpener, flustered, protests that there's no way the saddle could have caused that and that Buckitt must have bought a faulty horse. After some more dramatics from Buckitt, the gnome agrees to sell them the bubble hat at a reduced price, and they haggle it down to 250 gold. Zander whispers to Magpie, "This is how you steal things with your brain!"

Magpie, inspired, shoplifts two amulets from the stall, while Zander helps by distracting Quillsharpener. She notices that they look similar to the clockwork amulet they'd found in the lair of Arcanist Fiddlefen, and later surrendered to Makaria Quest. Later, away from the stall, she gives one to Zander; they both examine them but can't figure out what they do. Stone scolds them, telling Magpie if she's concerned about right and wrong, per their conversation earlier, then maybe stealing isn't the best look. Magpie, abashed, goes back to the gnome's stall and stealthily returns her amulet. She storms back over to Stone and says, "There, are you happy now?" Stone remains impassive.

Zander strolls off in search of vegetables for Carrot and finds an apparently unattended display with some truly massive vegetables. Setting his sights on an aubergine that is more than half his size, he tries to "accidentally" knock it off the table, but can't budge it in the slightest. Instead, he takes out Carrot in small knife form and starts to slice the aubergine in half; Carrot likes it, but partway through he hits something hard; he pries it open a bit and finds a large stone lodged in the middle of the aubergine. He carves a big chunk out of the aubergine, so that anyone who inspects it will see the stone, and pockets that chunk. He also swipes some normal-sized vegetables, then leaves the stall, satisfied with having exposed some vegetable fraud.

### **Part II**

The party stops in at the town hall, hoping to find information to help them locate any relatives of Falster Goodbottle, the gnome for whose murder they were framed in Westerhaven. They speak with the Keeper of Records, who tells them there used to be a family with the name Goodbottle in town, but they left many years ago.

Back in the market, Magpie and Zander find a bookseller named Dabbledob Timbers. Magpie buys a book about dragons called *The Folly of Aegor the Scaled*. Zander asks if he has any T.S. Ballsworth novels; he doesn’t, but he does have a romance novel by a different author called *Gorgon’s Delight*, which Zander buys. The bookseller doesn’t have any change handy for Zander’s gold piece, but he offers them a discount if they’d like some more books instead; Magpie asks for *all* the books he has on dragons. He says it will take some time to go through and find them all, but if they’ll be staying in town for “the event”, they can pick them up tomorrow. They immediately ask what event he’s referring to; from his explanation, it seems to be some kind of creature-fighting spectacle. They agree to come back tomorrow for the books.

Meanwhile, the others have made their way to the local tavern, Winking Pixies; Zander and Magpie find them and Zander excitedly tells them about the Event. They ask the bartender for more information; after a very chaotic conversation, they gather that it will take place in a couple of hours, and will involve magical/robotic creatures fighting for prizes. Dugluss is immediately excited and asks about entering; the bartender says he should talk to Gerbo at the arena.

They do so; Gerbo informs them that entering a creation normally requires approval by a committee, which takes some time; however, they are one round short for tonight’s Event, and he suggests perhaps a Guardian Event. Normal events, he explains, are two creations fighting each other, but a Guardian Event involves teams of two combatants, one piloting a creation provided for the event, fighting tag-team style. They pair off and draw lots to determine which creations they’ll use and then are led to the observers’ area to await their turns. Yoolna tries to point out that there’s been a mistake and she and Stone didn’t intend to participate, but Gerbo briskly talks right over her. Magpie, paired with Zander, will pilot a Stone Defender, a stone-covered bodyguard with massive stone slabs attached to its arms. Stone, paired with Dugluss, will pilot an Oaken Bolter, a magical ballista with a metal dragon’s head mounted to the front. Yoolna, paired with Father Buckitt, will pilot an Iron Cobra (exactly what it sounds like).

The pilots are given small controllers made of wood with embedded crystals and given a quick run-down of how the controls work, and then they are all led into the arena. The pilots take their places on raised observation areas in the corners, while the guardians head out onto the field of play. The event is rounded out by a fourth team, both gnomes; the pilot is controlling a Bronze Scout (a burrowing mechanical centipede) and the guardian is carrying a longbow. The drums reach a crescendo and the party rolls initiative.

Father Buckitt, after missing hitting the gnome combatant with a Guiding Bolt, turns his warhammer against the Oaken Bolter for a decent hit, while Yoolna plays his defense, sticking close with the Iron Cobra. Stone, piloting the Oaken Bolter, focuses on the other constructs, attacking with its harpoon, while Dugluss and Zander battle it out directly. Zander goes after Dugluss with Hexblade’s Curse and Eldritch Blast, while Dugluss, after using Mirror Image to summon three illusory Duglusses, responds with some significant hits from his Thunder Gauntlets and buffs his own health with temporary HP from his armor. Magpie, piloting the Stone Defender, tries to help out Zander, but only succeeds in taking out one of the fake Duglusses. The gnome combatant, meanwhile, sticks to the wall, using his bow and arrows to free the Bronze Scout from the Oaken Bolter’s harpoon and landing a shot on the Iron Cobra that causes vines to spring up and impede its movement. The Bronze Scout, after being released from the harpoon, burrows into the ground and disappears; it pops back up to make a bite attack at the Oaken Bolter before diving back underground.

To be continued…

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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