C2 E12

Whoops! Science/ magic or whatever has gone haywire yet again! Hopefully Decacog comes to his senses. Maybe we should explain to him with sound arguments and outright lies why he should chill out.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Selene von Esper has been sent on her first mission, to take out the slanderous Professor Devin Decacog, owner of *The Farhold Trumpeter*. She's managed to make it into his caravan late at night, and has put the Gnome to *Sleep*, though now she faces a different problem. The 10 mechanical arms that he wears seem to have a mind of their own, and are on the attack! Each arm is set to do different printing press related tasks, such as pressing the ink, and cutting the paper. All together, they make a terrifying enemy. Above, the caravan is being watched by a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Drop Bear. Named Drop Bear! It's unclear if he's on the roof of the caravan, or the rooftops of nearby buildings, but seeing as how Rimeford is infamously tiny, it's unlikely that it boasts the Gotham-esque skyline that Bachmann so desperately craves. In any event, R'Oarc is also somewhere, out there, beneath that pale moonlight. She's searching for Drop Bear, or Koala T, or the Squirrel Man, whatever Screech is going by these days (though she doesn't know the squirrel and the Koala are the same character). T'Chuck is still back in The Goblin Pit, doing his goddamn job. And that's everyone.

But in most danger right now is Selene. She gets blasted in the face by some ink, blinding her. This isn't Jurassic Park, though, so she's able to wipe the ink away, and can see again. She decides to peace the F out here, but not before knocking over a nearby candle. This sets the caravan on fire! She runs out the door, and is momentarily safe. But then, Decacog (or rather, the arms dragging him along) bursts out of the caravan, to bring the fight out into the open. Finally, Screech can see that Selene's in danger, as can the nearby R'Oarc. Even way back in the Goblin Pit, T'Chuck hears the commotion, and rushes out of the tavern, calling for Ratma Ritmo to cover his shift.

"Drop Bear" leaps down off the rooftop, and slaps Decacog awake. Unfortunately, he forgets that Decacog has a burning hatred for the masked vigilante, and immediately becomes enraged. Decacog seems to regain control of his arms, and now it's him on the attack! The battle is brief, but intense. The Professor (what is he a professor of, by the way?) uses the arms to knock Screech out, nearly killing him. Ultimately, it's Selene who puts a stop to the fight by blasting Decacog with magical electricity, which seems to fry the mechanism powering the arms. They're frozen! Decacog is now trapped, unable to move the arms, and is suspended in the air.

Selene immediately gets to work trying to gaslight the Gnome, telling him that he just fell asleep burned the printing press down himself. He doesn't believe her. Meanwhile, some local people are throwing water on the caravan, in an attempt to put out the fire. T'Chuck pulls an unconscious Drop Bear out of sight, and heals him. The second time he's been healed via magic in as many days. T'Chuck doesn't, however, reveal this to Drop Bear, who thanks T'Chuck by giving him a coin with the image of a squirrel on it. He says to use this if T'Chuck ever needs his help. Use it how, you ask? Who knows! Screech is bad at this!

Soon afterward, Screech, out of costume, appears. He hasn't been involved in the fight, but he does have something that can shed some light on this whole thing. He produces for Decacog a drawing, of Decacog himself burning down the printing press. Shockingly, he buys this, and has an about face. He condemns these cursed arms that has wrought such destruction and mayhem. Defeated, he allows T'Chuck to pull him down out of the suit. Together, they makes their way back to the Goblin Pit, where a room is waiting for Decacog and his crew.

But Selene does not follow the others back to the Goblin Pit. She runs off on her own, to find her favorite private copse of trees. She makes a call, to Master Caegin, to report to him that the threat of *The Farhold Trumpeter* has been taken care of. But Caegin isn't satisfied with the printing press being destroyed. He told her to kill Decacog, and that mission still stands. Caegin warns her that the other Adepts will be there the day after tomorrow, and that Decacog still must be killed...

### Short

Selene fights with Decacog, with the help of T'Chuck, R'Oarc, and "Drop Bear" (Screech is elsewhere, I guess). She burns down his printing press, and then destroys the mechanical arms Decacog wears. You'd think that would be good enough for Selene's mission to be a success, but her boss, Master Caegin, tells her she still needs to kill Decacog. Also, during the fight, Screech was knocked unconscious, and then healed by T'Chuck, using magic, but Screech doesn't know that. So, there you go.

## **Trivia**

* Day 4 of the campaign.
* Devin Decacog is so named because he has 10 mechanical arms, that makes him like a squid. But this doesn't include his 2 arms and 2 legs, giving him actually 14 appendages. I don't know that there's a Latin for 14
	+ Tim knows. It's "tetra-deca". So that should be his name: "Professor Tetra-Devin Tetra-Decacog"
* Drop Bear is still wearing the Koala suit, but without any of the chains we used to wear.
* R'Oarc isn't using spells that use Somatic components, because she wouldn't be able to role-play that off. She could role-play off Verbal components.
* Drop Bear is, canonically, friends with the Squirrel Man. But Drop Bear is the same as Koala T. So, in the strange, fucked up canon that Bachmann's creating, these are the characters:
	+ Screech Echo, the billionaire checking out the mines his company owns
	+ Squirrel Man, a squirrel themed vigilante who recently gave up his life of vigilantism
	+ Koala T, who also goes by Drop Bear, who is a Koala/Drop Bear. And also a vigilante.
	+ This all makes sense.

## **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 / Drop Bear (Screech)

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Professor Devin Decacog
* Ratma Ritmo

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* The Goblin Pit
			* The Farhold Trumpeter caravan

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Investigate the mysterious goings-on in Rimeford
	+ [On-Hold] - Investigate the mines, eliminate the Knocker threat
* [Selene] - Investigate the light in the window of the White Spire
* [SELENE!] - KILL PROFESSOR DEVIN Decacog!

### **Quotes**

* **"Burning down Beary's house wasn't enough for you, huh?"** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"I don't ask for much, Michael!"** ~ *Mike Bachmann, a liar*

## **Rolls**

*Combat Begins vs Devin Decacog's mechanical arms*

* Initiative
	+ **R'Oarc** - 22
	+ Some of Decacog's Mechanical Arms
	+ **Selene** - 16
	+ **T'Chuck** - 13
	+ Some of Decacog's Mechanical Arms
	+ **Screech** - 10
	+ Some of Decacog's Mechanical Arms

*Round One*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Rolls *Perception* to hear the commotion of the fight - 19
		- She does hear the commotion
	+ Runs toward the caravan, gets about halfway there

* **Decacog's Arms**
	+ Ranged Attack (Ink Arm) vs Selene, requiring her to make a Dexterity Saving Throw - 20
		- Success - She dodges the attack
	+ Ranged Attack (Ink Arm) vs Selene, requiring her to make a Dexterity Saving Throw - 6
		- Fail - She is blinded
	+ Melee Attack (Paper Cutter Arm) vs Selene - ??
		- Miss

* **Screech** rolls *Perception* to see if Decacog has any microchips on the base of his neck - Nat 20
	+ He does not

* **Selene**
	+ Uses an action to remove the ink from her eyes
	+ Uses a Bonus action to *Telekinetic Shove* a nearby candle, knocking it over onto the printing press
	+ Runs out the door, prompting an attack of opportunity from the arms - < 17
		- Hit - 6 slashing damage
			* Selene casts *Shield* as a reaction, so she doesn't get hit, actually

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Rolls *Perception* to hear things going on outside - 24
		- It sounds like shit is happening outside
	+ Runs outside
	+ Ranged Attack (Light Hammer (mallet)) vs Decacog - 9
		- Miss

* **Decacog's Arms**
	+ Attempts to grapple R'Oarc - 14
		- Hit - She's grappled

* **Screech**
	+ Leaps from the roof to slap Decacog (*Acrobatics* check with Disadvantage) - 16
		- Success, but takes 1 hp of fall damage
	+ Melee Attack vs Decacog (Sneak Attack) - ~~21~~ 15
		- Hit - 0 damage, but wakes him up

* **Decacog's Arms**
	+ Attempts to grapple Screech - 20
		- Hit - He's grappled
	+ Melee Attack vs Screech - 17
		- Hit - 3 Bludgeoning damage

*Round Two*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Rolls *Strength* to break out of the Grapple - 17
	+ Uses a Bonus Action to give Drop Bear *Bardic Inspiration*

* **Decacog's Arms**
	+ Ranged Attack (Ink Arm) vs Screech - Automatically hits because he's grappled
		- Fail - He is blinded
	+ Ranged Attack (Ink Arm) vs R'Oarc, requiring her to make a Dexterity Saving Throw - 23
		- Success - She dodges the attack
	+ Melee Attack (Paper Cutter Arm) vs Screech - Nat 20
		- Hit - 13 Slashing damage - *Downs him*

* **Selene**
	+ Casts *Shocking Grasp* on Decacog (with Advantage) - 23
		- Hit - 5 Lightning damage - *Destroys the arms*
	+ Uses a Bonus action to *Telekinetic Shove* Screech out of the grapple, requiring a DC 13 Strength Saving Throw - Automatically fails because he's unconscious
		- Fail - Screech is shoved

*Combat Ends*

* **Selene** rolls *Deception* to convince Decacog that he burnt the printing press down himself - 15
	+ Against Decacog's *Insight* - >15
		- He doesn't believe her

* **T'Chuck** uses *Healing Word* to heal Screech for - 5 hp
	+ He is healed for 5 hp

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Deception* to convince Screech he wasn't using magic to heal him - 13
	+ Against Screech's *Insight* - <13
		- He believes T'Chuck

* **Screech** rolls *Deception* to convince Decacog that Decacog was the one to destroy the printing press - 18
	+ Against Decacog's *Insight* - <18
		- He believes him