The Stussy Sign

## Description

Having made a startling discovery underneath the Lormington stills, all The Dragon Friends need to do is return to Waterdeep with their findings.

How hard can it be?

## Synopsis

The Dragon Friends and Lothario have discovered a curious machine in the abandoned ruins of the stills. All of them inspect the machine; Bobby notices it's marked with an artificer's mark reading "S.T." Lothario begins sketching the machine while Bobby attempts to chip the magical ice off the granite block that the machine is set to focus on. This reveals the symbol of High Netheril, a historical magocratic empire. Philge suggests that the machine should be destroyed; Lothario refuses, saying that it's a crucial clue, and an argument briefly erupts before Baston points out that Lothario should be taken back to Waterdeep as per their mission. Lothario agrees to return to Waterdeep. Meanwhile, Philge urinates into the machine in an attempt to sabotage it, and then attempts to lift the granite block to take it back to Waterdeep with them, but finds it too heavy to carry; Lothario announces that he can show his picture to Janos Meer to let him see what is happening. Lionshield decides again to try to destroy the machine and casts *Thunder Wave*, which breaks the stone up a bit but doesn't destroy it (and creates a massive bang which leaves Bobby and Lothario deafened).

Philge hits the stone with her warhammer, producing cracks in the ice and apparently destroying its magical properties, and also releasing a strange mist in which appears a vision of a woman accepting a marriage proposal from a farmer, a young boy grazing his knee as he falls over, and a reasonably good musical about cabbages. Lionshield is still unsure, and (with some frustration from Dave) spends 12 hours dismantling the granite block, and then the Friends step out to meet Rummy the Merchant who offers them four horses to transport abruptly to Waterdeep.

Returning to Waterdeep, the Friends find huge queues of caravans waiting to enter the city and being searched by Judicators. Lothario mentions that he has contact with Bobson Dugnutt in the resistance, who may be able to help them get in, and opens a magically camouflaged doorway in a nearby tree to the underground network of the Beggar's Court. Bobson leads them through to Janos Meer's office, where he is laid up in bed, wrapped in night clothes and drinking soup. He expresses delight to see Lothario and Lothario states that he will take over leadership of the resistance; Janos states that Lothario is not man enough to single-handedly replace Greatheart, and that the second lieutenant Eleanor Grundle has also disappeared and must also be found. He explains that she is now running a school for orphans on Gilderoy Street. Baston also shows Janos the sketch of the machine from inside the still, and he agrees to investigate. Lionshield also attempts to heal Janos with *Healing Hands,* and Janos rewards Lionshield with an item from the Quartermaster, but mistakes him for someone called "Tim".

Lionshield visits the quartermaster where Bobby attempts to use an illusion spell to make it appear that Lionshield has an ID identifying him as Tim; Lionshield requests "a rocket launcher", and the quartermaster gives him an experimental crossbow for launching vials of Alchemist's Fire.

## Cast

### Dragon Friends

* Philge
* Bobby Pancakes
* Baston
* Lionshield Banknote
* Flappy, Philge's familiar and sardonic hype.. hawk

### NPCs

* Lothario Windswept, aka "Lofty"
* Rummy the railroading merchant

### Places

* The Stills
* The Beggar's Court

## Themes, Tropes and Running Jokes

* Dave refers to having "Flashbacks of Vantage", referring to Come for the Biscuits (5.05) in which the Friends very nearly all died and destroyed a village even though all they had to do was return home.
* Baffling Reference for our International Listeners when Janos Meer is compared to Eddie Obeid, considered a "power broker" in the New South Wales Labor party.
* A Dip In The Bag is invoked, although not available.

## Trivia

* This was the first episode recording by remote multicasting due to Australia, as with many countries, adopting a national Shelter In Place policy due to the pandemic of COVID-19. This means that there is no studio audience on the episode.
	+ When the Friends first return to Waterdeep, Ben Jenkins offers to include some "topical gear" in the form of a Judicator arguing with one of the caravan drivers about whether or not they are exercising. This refers to the rules of the Shelter In Place order which in many places specified that people may leave their homes once a day to exercise.
* The title refers to the "Stussy S", also known as the "Cool S", a distinctive typeface S used in modern graffiti.

## Quotes

* "For a moment you all sort of lean in around the stone, as if you think for a second that words are forming in the wee. And then there is a pause and all of you, at approximately the same time, realize that you are just watching slowly freezing piss and nobody wants to be the first one to speak."
* "The four of you walk outside the still and there's a merchant there and he says 'Hello, my name's Rummy. I need someone to take these four horses to Waterdeep. I'll pay them all ten gold pieces each if they leave **now**. How does that sound?"

## Table Talk

* "It's not so fun to bully Dave without people to watch, isn't it?" "The difference here is, I can just leave. I can just turn all of this off. Coronavirus means that I'm protected, so none of that shit."
* "Can I hear now again?" "Yes, you can, you can all hear! If you take enough time doing mundane boring tasks, I guess.. You know what, you've all had a rest! Everybody have full hit points! I don't give a fuck anymore!"