C2 E14

Selene goes on a small adventure wherein she maybe tries her hand at murder. Will she follow through with this Order sponsored hit? Or will she not have the stomach for some illicit assassination? Listen to find out!

## **Story**

### Long Story

We start with a flashback. Selene and her friends? have just defeated the bewildered Professor Devin Decacog, who was ushered off to The Goblin Pit to sleep. Selene does as well, finding herself only a few doors down from her target. Her mission still stands; she needs to kill him. But how to do it without being found out? She decides to lure him away from the tavern, away from the public eye. She writes a note to him, telling him to meet her at the broken old water wheel a little later, she'll give him more information about who caused his arms to malfunction. She tries to slide it under his door, but something's blocking it. She knocks on his door via *Mage Hand*, but there's no answer. Huh, what's going on with this guy. She doesn't want to go in there herself, so she heads downstairs to ask Ratma Ritmo about him. Ritmo actually saw him climbing out the window earlier, and apparently, didn't bother to tell anyone about it. Selene needs to find him, so she attempts to Stealth her way out of the tavern. She fails the stealth part. Ritmo, again, doesn't appear to notice at all. If you were to ask her about anything, she would say that she ain't seen nothin'. Cause Ratma Ritmo ain't no rat.

There's a light rain outside, making it easy for Selene to track Decacog's footprints leading out of town. They lead her to a small cave on the outskirts of town, along with a small plume of smoke. It's source is a strange devise on the ground, that seems to be some kind of smoke machine. The plume was covering the entrance to the cave, but now that she sees it, she decides to head inside. I, personally, wish that she hadn't, because she sees several ants the size of dogs crawling around. They're carrying globs of food along in a line, and they also seem to have chunks of Theonite on them. It's about the same color as her collar, a shimmery bronze color. They don't seem to notice or care about Selene's presence, so she presses onward.

Selene does find Decacog. His hand is pressed against a wall of a glistening amber color. Soon, however, she sees that his hand is actually stuck in the wall. It's sticky, and the more the Gnome struggles, the more he seems to get sucked into the wall! Selene faces a conundrum: She can rescue him, or leave him to die. But, there would be no proof that he's dead. She sneaks up behind him, casts *Sleep* to put him to *Sleep*, and takes a ring off of his finger, a commemorative ring he got from working at *The Farhold Trumpeter*. Briefly, she considers slitting his throat, but decides against it. When his body is found, it's better if it looks like an accident. She scoots.

As Selene is leaving, she's almost attacked by the most dreadful thing of all, a giant centipede creature! She somehow keeps a level head, and casts *Darkness* on it, hiding herself in *Darkness*. She's able to sneak around the thing and escape the caves, undetected. Unfortunately, her luck runs out there, because she finds herself out in the cold, dark forest, all by herself, with now way back home...

Hours pass. Episode 13 happens. The next morning, a now feral and exhausted Selene hears the booming voice of T'Chuck. Following the voice leads her to the booming body of T'Chuck, as well as Screech, R'Oarc, and Dictionary Doug. She, again, tries to be stealthy in approaching them, but again, fails spectacularly. Fortunately, however, everyone is now together, and we can move forward.

The thing to notice here, either by Screech or Dictionary Doug (whoever gets there first) is the smoking device that Selene saw earlier. Doug recognizes it as one of Decacog's devices; he would use them to get himself out of danger when nervous or scared. Much like an octopus might, or, perhaps, a squid? Michael, you tricksy devil, you...

Screech recognizes Selene's footprints on the ground, going inside the cave, and he has ABSOLUTELY ZERO qualms or hesitation in pointing this out to everyone. Screech has no chill, you guys. Anyway, she admits to stepping inside to look around, but after seeing the gross bugs, she peaced the eff out of there. I would have done the same thing. Speaking of these bugs, the rest of the party are met by some of these large ants. While everyone's distracted with them, Screech vanishes into the cave.

Selene tells the others that the stuff on the bugs is Theonite. The gross creature they fought earlier had the same stuff on it. No one has heard of it being used to control bugs before, or make bugs grow bigger. This whole thing is weird. But, there's still a Decacog to find, so Doug leads them onward and forward into the cave. Soon, they do find Decacog, asleep, and still stuck to the wall where Selene left him. And still alive. Doug shakes him awake, and they all get to work attempting to free him. It's not going well, though. T'Chuck nearly looses a dagger to the sticky wall, and Selene offers a half-heart-ed comment about how her magic won't help here. Just when all hope seems lost, a mysterious figure appears, wearing a man-sized ant suit, made from the carcasses of actual dead giant ants. *Blech!* "Blech", I say. Anyway, this "Man-Ant" has mandibles (or Man-Ant-dibles?) which he, somehow, uses to, I guess, chew Decacog out of the wall? In any event, it seems to be working, which Decacog appreciates. Man-Ant isn't like those other vigilantes, like that damned Squirrel Man. Curse that Squirrel Man... He also notices that his ring is gone. He says he was running for his life, afraid that someone, probably Selene, was going to kill him, when he found this cave. He ran inside and got stuck, and doesn't remember what happened after that.

Decacog is nearly free. But then, there's a skittering of a nearby something. Probably something bad. Yes, it is something bad, it's something horrible, actually. Another of those giant centipede creature attacks them. Michael says the worst line in the history of lines, by describing it as "an alligator that keeps going." Yes, I would like to die now please, thank you. Anyway, they fight it, and Selene is able to use her magic. Specifically, she busts out a new spell, *Maximilian's Earthen Grasp*, to bust it's head open, killing it. Selene did good! Then, she secretly uses a bonus action to *Telekinetic Shove* Decacog back into the goo. He's now completely submerged into the wall, and is going to asphyxiate! Selene did bad!

### Short

Selene tries to get Devin Decacog to meet her outside of town somewhere, but he's already gone. She follows him out to a nearby cave on the outskirts of town, and follows him inside. She finds him trapped, his hand stuck in a wall of goo. She decides to leave him for dead, stealing a ring of his for proof that she killed him. She leaves, but finds herself lost in the caves. The others find her the next morning, and they all head into the caves looking for Decacog. They find him where Selene left him, and free him from the wall, with the help of Screech's new vigilante persona, Man-Ant! They are then attacked by a giant centipede creature, that they fight off, and kill.

## **Trivia**

* Day ~~4~~ 5 of the campaign.
* Selene has never killed anyone before.

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

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
* Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
* Nika Howard - R'Oarc
* Mike Bachmann - Screech Echo / Man-Ant (Screech)

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Ratma Ritmo
* Professor Devin Decacog
* Dictionary Doug

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* The Goblin Pit
			* The caves outside of town

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Investigate the mysterious goings-on in Rimeford
	+ [On-Hold] - Investigate the mines, eliminate the Knocker threat
* [Complete] - ~~Find Selene and Professor Devin Decacog~~
* [Selene] - Investigate the light in the window of the White Spire
* [Selene] - Kill Professor Devin Decacog
* [Everyone Else] - Save Professor Devin Decacog

### **Quotes**

* **"Oh, you can mix player magic with character magic!"** ~ *Mike Bachmann, on Metamagic*

* **"We'll kill anything if it doesn't kill us."** ~ *R'Oarc*

* **"If there's one thing I don't like, it's ants. If there's two things I don't like, it's large ants. And three things? *Weird* large ants."** ~ *R'Oarc, or Nika Howard*

* **"I feel like I need a special skill for gas-lighting... I feel like that's a special Selene skill."** ~ *Jennifer Cheek*

* **"You mess with Ant... You're gonna cry 'Uncle!'"** ~ *Man-Ant*

## **Rolls**

* **Selene** rolls *Stealth* to sneak out of the Goblin Pit - 6
	+ Ratma Ritmo doesn't turn to notice her, even though she makes noise as she's sneaking

* **Selene** rolls *Perception* to see where Decacog is - 11
	+ Actually should have rolled *Investigation* - 16
		- She sees some muddy footprints heading into the forest

* **Selene** rolls *Survival* to track Decacog's footprints in the forest (with Advantage) - Nat 20
	+ His tracks are super easy to follow

* **Selene** rolls *Perception* upon seeing the smoke - 14
	+ The smoke smells weird, not like from a fire or anything

* **Selene** rolls *Survival* to find her way back out of the forest - 6
	+ She's wandering in the woods for several hours before she hears the others

* **Selene** rolls *Stealth* to sneak up on T'Chuck's voice in the forest - 7
	+ She's a very noisy Adept

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Insight* to see if Selene is lying - 12
	+ Against Selene's *Deception* - 24
		- He believes her

* **Screech** rolls *Investigation* to find something before Dictionary Doug does - 16
	+ He sees Selene's footprints going into the cave

* Everyone rolls *Perception* while searching the cave for clues
	+ **Screech** - 6
		- Does not see the large ants
	+ **T'Chuck** - 20
		- Sees large ants coming toward the cave
	+ **R'Oarc** - 10
		- Does not see the large ants
	+ **Selene** - 19
		- Sees large ants coming toward the cave

* **Screech** rolls *Stealth* to vanish from the cave entrance - 26
	+ He's gone

* **Screech** rolls *Perception* to find an ant graveyard - 18
	+ He finds a pile of dead ants at the other end of the cave

* **T'Chuck** makes a *Strength* check to remove his dagger from the sticky wall - 13
	+ He is able to yoink the dagger out, but it's tough

* **R'Oarc** rolls a percentile to see if she licks the wall - 78
	+ She does not lick it

* **Selene** rolls *Deception* when gas-lighting Decacog - Nat 20
	+ Everyone believes her

*Combat Begins vs Centipede Creature*

* Initiative
	+ **Selene** - 19
	+ **T'Chuck** - 18
	+ Centipede Creature
	+ **Screech** - 14
	+ **R'Oarc** - 8

*Round One*

* **Selene**
	+ Casts *Mage Armor* on herself
	+ Uses a Bonus action to *Telekinetic Shove* the creature, requiring a DC 13 Strength Saving Throw - 19
		- Success - Not shoved

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Uses his Hobgoblin feat to use *Help* as a Bonus (or, Boner) Action
	+ Uses the Dodge (or, Defend) Action to put his shield between himself and the creature

* **Centipede Creature**
	+ Melee Attack vs T'Chuck (with Disadvantage) - 8
		- Miss

* **Screech**
	+ Melee Attack vs Centipede Creature (x2) - 20, 17
		- Hit, Hit - 19 + 10 damage

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Gives T'Chuck Bardic Inspiration
	+ Melee Attack (Rapier) vs Centipede Creature - Nat 20
		- Hit - 14 damage

*Round Two*

* **Selene**
	+ Casts *Maximilian's Earthen Grasp*, requiring the creature to make a Strength Saving Throw - 5
		- Fail - 11 Bludgeoning damage - *Kills It*
	+ Uses a Bonus action to *Telekinetic Shove* Decacog back into the goo wall, requiring a DC 13 Strength Saving Throw - ??
		- Fail - He is shoved back into the goo