3, 2, 1, Activate!

"**3, 2, 1, Activate!**" (1x25) is the 25th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

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

After defeating a racist murder cult in the town of Scorross, the party continued their journey northward and came to the gnomish village of Madmouth, where they entered a fighting spectacle event involving battling magical constructs. They were paired off into three teams and, along with a fourth pair of gnomes, each team was assigned a magical/mechanical creature, and they began a four-way battle with one person on each team piloting a construct, and the other battling alongside it in the arena.

### **Summary**

[NB: They played straight through this episode with no break, hence the lack of a Part 1/Part 2 division]

The gnomish archer and his Bronze Scout teammate are both knocked out fairly quickly by hammer attacks from Father Buckitt, each having landed only one attack apiece in this episode. Buckitt also takes out Stone’s Oaken Bolter early on with a critical hit, leaving it a pile of twisted metal and springs. Yoolna’s Iron Cobra is also knocked out fairly quickly after taking several early hits, the final being an Eldritch Blast from Zander that goes clean through its middle. After the loss of their constructs, Stone and Yoolna (who hadn’t intended to participate anyway) sit and observe the rest of the fight.

The other four battle on; Buckitt continues wielding his hammer and Divine Smite with ferocity, landing multiple critical hits throughout the combat. Dugluss makes some attacks with his Thunder Gauntlets and Magic Missile, then spends a few turns using Heat Metal against the Stone Defender, which jams up some of its internal workings and impedes its movement, as well as doing some damage to Buckitt when it briefly grapples him. The Stone Defender, piloted by Magpie, mostly sticks close to Zander as his defender (natch); besides grappling Buckitt, it makes some slam attacks against both dwarves, and finally knocks Buckitt out. Zander, meanwhile, uses Eldritch Blast to great effect, damaging his opponents and knocking them back to keep out of range of their melee attacks.

Finally, with only Dugluss remaining against the team of Zander and the Stone Defender, the Stone Defender lands a slam attack on Dugluss, knocking him prone, and Zander goes in for a melee attack. Knowing how tough Dugluss is, he winds up and swings Carrot with all his might, landing a critical blow, enhanced with Eldritch Smite. To his surprise, his sword stabs all the way through Dugluss’ armor and out the other side; Dugluss coughs up a great gout of blood and collapses back onto the dirt. There is a beat of stunned silence from the crowd, and then healers begin rushing forward, though none of them are quite in range yet. Magpie sends a telepathic message to Zander saying, *”What the hell did you just do?”* Stone casts Mass Healing Word from their perch on the stands, giving Zander, Dugluss, and Buckitt all a boost of HP, though he’s too far away to reach the gnome combatant. The gate at the side of the arena opens and more healers spill onto the field, firing off spells; several of them attend to Dugluss, helping him sit up, and wave to the crowd that he’s okay, at which the crowd goes wild. Zander sits back and lets out a sigh, then he and Magpie both cast Mage Hand for a long-distance high-five. Father Buckitt, not quite over the fight as he regains consciousness, leaps up and attacks the Stone Defender, which just slowly falls over, much to Buckitt’s delight.

Gerbo comes out onto the field and waves to quiet the crowd; he gushes about the spectacle they’ve witnessed, then presents Zander and Magpie as the victors. As the crowd applauds, he turns to the party and says this has been the best event for quite some time, and asks if they could come back, perhaps on a regular basis. They make no guarantees, but say it’s quite possible they might return, and he hands them the winners’ purse of 500 gold.

Dugluss staggers to his feet and asks what happened; Zander explains he downed him with “possibly the best stab I’ve ever done.” They congratulate each other on a good fight, and Zander gives him a hug. Dugluss goes about checking his armor and casting Mend on the various scratches and dings. As they make their way toward the exit, Dugluss examines the controller Stone had been using to pilot the construct; one of the gnome tinkerers notices his interest and explains how it works. Dugluss asks about getting a crystal for himself; the gnome says he’d have to talk to Gerbo. Magpie hastily scribbles a note and passes it to the gnome; we don’t learn what it says.

The party makes their way out of the arena and heads back to the tavern, where none of them have to buy their own drinks the entire evening. They stow the prize money in the Portable Hole and proceed to enjoy an evening of merriment and much alcohol. Magpie ends up drunkenly sobbing into Father Buckitt’s shoulder, while he does his best to spread the good news about the Great Bucket to the gnomish citizens, several of whom seem rather more interested in what he has to say than most of the previous crowds he’s tried.

The next morning, they head back into the market to do some shopping. They immediately notice two figures standing much taller than the gnomes around them, dressed in shining silver armor and walking briskly in their direction. The party tenses, but go on about their errands; the armored figures notice them as they pass by, but don’t slow down or say anything. As they enter the marketplace, they see a crowd of people gathered around the notice board outside the Town Hall. Magpie disguises herself as one of the guards they just saw, Zander puts up his hood, and they approach the notice board, which is now covered by two large posters; one says,

>
> By order of King Darien Cadagast, ruler of the Cagaspian Principalities, potentate of the Great Human Empire, son of Grand King Tarian Cadagast, Scion of the Glorious Eternal Emperor: The Capital is under strict lockdown. All non-residents wishing to pass through the outer walls must present a letter of commendation from a recognized authority. Any persons and cargo will be subject to thorough search and/or interrogation.
>
>

The second poster has the words “KIDNAPPED: Prince Durrian Cadagast” above a sketch of a young human boy. Below the image, it says,

>
> Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the Prince or the perpetrators must report it at once to any officer of the Crown’s Guard or ranking official. Information leading to the apprehension of the individuals responsible will be rewarded handsomely on honor of The Crown. Any person or persons found to be assisting the kidnappers will be executed without trial.
>
>
>
>

Magpie and Zander rejoin the group; Magpie drops her disguise and they share what they saw. Zander says maybe they shouldn’t go to the capital, given this new development; Stone agrees, commenting that the way things have gone for them so far, they’d likely end up under suspicion themselves. Magpie, on the other hand, suggests that if they are able to rescue the Prince, they could get a significant reward. Father Buckitt points out that they don’t have any information or leads, nor any obvious way to get them. Yoolna says that she never particularly cared to go to the capital anyway, and suggests going to visit Dugluss’ family instead. They decide to go about their errands and see what information they can gather before making a decision.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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