Pandemonium

Bonko the Clown

**New Characters**

Fanri Dunemour

Flynn

**Pandemonium** was a Brigade oneshot where Merl Oft and Bonko the Clown were sent in search of a supposed child of Karomatzu, in an attempt to convince them to assist the Brigade. Merl and Bonko make their way to the Carnecium Circus, where they find Jyushi, the shape-shifting child of Karomatzu they were looking for, running the show. They attempt to convince him to come assist the Brigade, but Jyushi refuses. He does agree to move his circus and have them set up shop near the High North tower.

## Prompt

The battlefield is one hell of a place to travel through, it's vast and filled with all sorts of things that could kill you, makes for a pretty awkward place for a carnival, but as the two of you make yourself up there, that's just what you see. Tents of various colors and feats of contortion you can barely wrap your head around. But what you are here for isn't the festivities, but the ringmaster.

## Character Developments

* First appearances for
	+ Player characters
		- Fanri Dunemour
		- Flynn
	+ NPCs
		- Jyushi
* The introduced PCs joined the Brigade after the sidequest was completed

## Entry #1

I'm not used to writing journal entries. Keeping track of stuff I've done just isn't something I've ever been interested in, seems like too much work to keep up with. But The Brigade likes to keep records of member activities, and everyone else who was here for this is busy, so I guess I'll do it. I'll try to recount what Merl told me about his side of things as best I can; you'll have to forgive me for any inaccuracies.

Merl and Bonko's journey began when Merl received orders to follow a lead the Brigade had on the location of a possible child of Karomatzu, the Purple Dragon God. Reports pinned his location at the traveling Carnecium Circus, currently set up in the Battlefield. Merl and Bonko then stopped by to speak with Finn Mito, a Kobold Brigade member, to see if he had a beast that could give them fast transport. They left with a rather difficult to handle gryphon, and flew for several days until they finally reached the Battlefield. Not long after reaching the Battlefield, Merl and Bonko encountered a strange creature. They weren't able to identify it, or what it was doing there, but some quick thinking and a powerful spell from Bonko took it down, and they continued on their way without much hassle.

Not long after they landed, Merl and Bonko lost control of their gryphon, and it took off across the empty land towards where the circus was located. This is where Flynn and I come into the story. See, by this point, I'd been working at the circus with my camel, Junie, for almost a month. I lent my skills with animal handling to training and caring for the animals in Shique Freaque's Zoo of Horrors, for measly pay, but it was better than struggling from town to town as I had been after I'd left home. Flynn was a knife thrower, but he stopped by often to see the animals. Nice guy, he was good company.

The day Merl and Bonko showed up, Flynn and I were taking a few of the animals out (Junie included) for a walk to stretch their legs. Out of the blue, their gryphon came pelting across the field straight towards us. I did my best to calm it down, but the think was so wound up it nearly gutted me with its talons. Merl and Bonko came running after a few moments later, and after calming the bird-lion down, Flynn and I help guide them the rest of the way to the circus.

We split up for a time after that. Merl and Bonko apparently went to talk to the owner about the person they were looking for, and Flynn and I went to put the animals back and continue our day. Of course, that day was determined to be an exciting one. These two people (a Tiefling and a Half-Elf) materialized as if from no-where and accosted Flynn and I about our "skills." Turns out, these two worked for some group called Redleather Media and were... looking for performers to poach from the circus, I guess. Not sure what they wanted with us, though.

Merl and Bonko met up with us again, and they had a bit of an altercation with the Redleather Media folks, chasing them off. The rest of what happened went by in a blur, it was so much strange stuff at once it was difficult to process... Basically, one of the circus member, Jyushi, is not only a shape-shifter, but the child of Karomatzu Merl and Bonko had been looking for. And he also ran the circus? Something like that... Anyway, the Brigade guys tried to convince him to assist their organization, and to maybe even take the place of his dead father.

But Jyushi didn't want anything to do with leadership and responsibility. He's a "free spirit" who refused to be "tied down." Sounds more like dodging your responsibilities to me, but what does a Sand Elf know about Gods? Jyushi did agree to pack the circus up and head north, to some area where the Brigade could keep in touch with him, and keep him protected.

The idea of heading up north was... let's say less than appealing to me, so I was thinking it was about time Junie and I set out on our own again. I was rather surprised when Merl extended and invitation to Flynn and I to join the Brigade. A guild of adventurers dedicated to exploring Halintar and protecting her citizens from dangers? Sounds more fruitful than training circus dogs to jump through hoops. I accepted, and along with Flynn, we traveled with Merl and Bonko back to Nadir Zenith, their mission... sort of complete.

- Fanri