C2 E51

With the news that the OT is going to be bringing a ton of heat to Rimeford, our heroes must devise a way to safely run for their lives. And run away in a way that keeps them from getting yelled at.

## **Story**

### Long Story

In the backroom of The Goblin Pit, a party of heroes meets in secret. They're panicking! The Order has sent a battalion of soldiers to Rimeford, 100 strong. Milton Graves, world's greatest butler, enters, with a spot of tea. T'Chuck is wary of this new-comer, but Screech (who T'Chuck hates) vouches for him. He's cool. T'Chuck is, however, stressed out (which I initially wrote as stretched out, and that's very funny), and he wants to go run away to the woods and hide. Can they do that? No! They're heroes, remember? And Rex Yalos's life is in danger. So, there's really only one thing they can do: warn him.

The party heads across town, to Ridgewood Keep. Along the way, T'Chuck casts *Detect Magic*, just to make sure they're not being magically bugged. Sensing nothing, the party continues on, and soon makes it to the castle. There, they're met by a guard, who's named "Billix", apparently. He also sucks, not even bothering to listen to the ladies in the group. It's only the men he gives the time of day to. He does allow them all entry, and ushers them into the Keep. Up to Rex's room, they go. The man is asleep, but soon awoke, and then, the party gets to work, explaining everything they know.

The Order is coming to kill him. Ratma Ritmo is also a target, though she has skipped town. She can take care of herself. She did give T'Chuck the small silvery key, which Rex rexcognizes. Rex, as it turns out, has some things to admit to, as well. The entire reason Selene (and the Order as a whole) were sent to Rimeford in the first place, was because the mines weren't producing as much Theonite as usual. A missing wagon here, an empty vein there. Nothing too suspicious, but enough that the Order's eye was drawn. That's also what Screech is doing here, too. And now, it turns out, those missing wagons, those empty veins. That was all Rex. And Ratma. To keep the Order from getting more Theonite, is why. I think we maybe knew some of this, but it's made explicit here. That's why all this is happening, even though Rex partially blames Selene for all this. Nothing was wrong in Rimeford until she showed up (even though she only showed up because of his shenanigans).

That's not all. Rex knows what the key goes to. There's a secret door in the Keep. It leads to some more secret tunnels, that lead down, down into the mountain. And at the end of the tunnels: a way out. A way out of Rimeford, away from the order. An escape. It's perfect! Well, it's not really "perfect". Actually, these tunnels are, like, super dangerous, bro. If one's resolve, and footing, are true, then they can get out through the other end of the tunnels, but if not... Well, Rex doesn't really say what happens if not, but one can imagine.

So, that's it, then. They're leaving. It's official. And Selene is going to be running away from the Order. This is hella dangerous, because if she flees, her family will be killed by the Order. So, they need to fake her death somehow. Rex volunteers to tell the Order that she was killed. He is, after all, staying behind. He needs to be here, with his people, no matter the cost. They'll also need to get her collar off somehow, but that can wait, for now.

There's only one last problem: there's still the dragon, which needs to be protected. Rex says that if these heroes are going to be escaping Rimeford via these tunnels, they should take the dragon with them. Together, the party heads into the tunnels (not the dangerous secret tunnels, just the regular secret tunnels), into the laboratory, through the secret door, and finds the dragon, who greets them in slurred speech. So, it seems the dragon can speak now!

### Short

Everyone freaks out about the impending Order showing up and taking over. They decide to go talk to Rex Yalos, who has been dreading this. He admits to causing the lowered production of the mines, so that the Order won't have as much of the stuff. He says that

## **Trivia**

* Day 15 of the campaign.
* T'Chuck makes a drink called the Weeping Wyvern.
* Milton Graves used to butle for Screech's parents.
* We've known that Screech's parents' names were Blast and Toot Echo, but we haven't known which is which. Bachmann hasn't known, either, but in this episode, it's decided that Toot Echo is Screech's father. That makes Blast Echo his mother.
	+ Speaking of names, the dragon doesn't have a name. In this ep, there's a lot of talk of what the dragon's name should be, and they may or may not have decided on the name "Michael". We'll just have to see. There's also a lot of talk about the dragon jerking off, but the less said about that, the better...
* T'Chuck casts *Zone of Truth* to make sure everyone's telling the truth, but it's of little consequence to the overall narrative, so I didn't make note of it. Except for right here. This is note of it.

## **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

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Milton Graves
* Billix, the guard
* Sir Rex Yalos
* The dragon

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* The Goblin Pit
			* Ridgewood Keep

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [NEW][Active] - Escape The Order
	+ [NEW][On-Hold] - Get Selene's Theonite collar off
		- [NEW][On-Hold] - Find a way to fake Selene's death
	+ [NEW][Active] - Smuggle the dragon out of the city
* [Complete] - ~~Warn Sir Rex Yalos of the Order's intentions~~
* [Optional] - Stop The Cult of Ugnos
	+ [Optional] - Investigate Thistledown

### **Quotes**

* **"They repossessed [the mines]. Or, they just possessed them. Not RE-possessed, they seized them."** ~ *Selene von Esper*

* **"Michael, in my head- I just want you to know- Milton Graves does know how to fight. He knows, like, Tim McGraw, or whatever."** ~ *Mike Bachmann*

* **"If you love piss videos, you can't say, 'I do not love piss videos.' That being said, if you love piss videos, you don't *have* to tell us. And I do mean that always, not just in the Zone of Truth."** ~ *Wise words from Tim Lanning*

* **"Maybe we jack him off more, he'll hit puberty faster."** ~ *Nika Howard, 2023*

## **Rolls**

* Some of the party members roll *Persuasion* to convince the guard to let them speak to Rex
	+ **T'Chuck** - 20
	+ **R'Oarc** - 13
	+ **Selene** - 11
		- He listens to T'Chuck

* **Selene** rolls *Intimidation* to get Rex to admit if there's anything he's hiding from them - 13
	+ I think she's successful? T'Chuck casts *Zone of Truth*, which kind of supersedes the Intimidation roll, and I don't know what/if Rex rolled against it.

* **T'Chuck** casts *Zone of Truth*, requiring everyone to make DC 16 *Charisma* Saving Throws
	+ Screech - 20
		- Success - He can lie
	+ R'Oarc - 10
		- Fails - She can't lie
	+ Milton - 19
		- Success - He can lie
	+ Rex - <16
		- Fails - He can't lie