C2 E53

Into the secret tunnel we go! Who knows what dangers await us down these wet and downward sloping caverns? Hope we brought enough rope...

## **Story**

### Long Story

Selene's Theonite collar has been removed. She is now, officially, now longer a member of the Order. She's also still alive, which she's surprised by. But then, she gets an even bigger surprise, in the form of Beholder-doodle appearing from the tree-tops. But Screech Echo is standing right next to the party. And Selene knows Screech and Beholder-doodle to be the same person, so, what gives? True, Beholder-doodle's costume looks a little too big for the man wearing it. And sure, he sounds like he's putting on a fake "American" accent. No matter, Selene just attributes this to her freaking the eff out, due to just having removed the collar. Beholder-doodle vows to watch them from the tree-tops, and vanishes, amateurishly.

Well, that was weird. Selene disposes of the shattered pieces of her collar onto the banks of the river. With any luck, the Order will find it, and assume she's been killed. This claim will also be supported by Rex Yalos, who vowed to help her fake her death. With nothing else left to deal with, the party enters Ridgewood Keep, and T'Chuck takes one last look over the town that he may likely never see again. Also, Gertie is there with them. They are met by a friendly guard, who leads them through the castle halls, down into the secret alchemical laboratory that Ashton Yalos runs, through the secret door behind the bookcase, and, finally, through the other secret door, to where the dragon is being kept.

JiMichael greets them, drunk as ever. His diet only consists of that special Grizzly Mead, which, by the way, do they have any of that? That could be an issue. Anyway, he's ready to go, so together, they head out. Soon, they're able to find the secret door, that T'Chuck has the secret key to. It has an etching about its face. Looks like it doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the architecture of the castle. And when T'Chuck inserts the key and opens the door, they see something else that doesn't belong: A staircase, descending deep into the mountain, etched right out of the very stone itself. Pretty sketchy, but there's no turning back now. One by one, the party begins a careful descent down the stairs.

They do some character work on the way down. Screech has Gertie hold a torch for him, as he may or may not have given his Darkvision Goggles to a certain butler I won't mention. T'Chuck is curious if Selene still has her magical powers, since she no longer has the Theonite collar. He asks her to attempt a *Telekinetic Shove* upon him. Doesn't seem like a great time for it, but she does try. While she's able to *cast* the spell, T'Chuck keeps his footing proving that 1. Selene still has her powers (good), and 2. T'Chuck's dad bod knows no bounds (better).

The stairs are kind of spiral-y, but at angles. You know, they go down, then turn around and go the opposite way, but still down. I'm explaining this perfectly. Apparently, it's called "switch-back" style? I'll take the casts' word for it. Anyway, after a ways down, a quiet trickling can be heard, the sound of running water. It gets louder and more intense as they go, and they can see a kind of "stream" begin to form on the stairs. The water has eroded a path into the stairs, causing a rut in the center. And it's slippery. So slippery, in fact, that the intoxicated JiMichael is unable to keep his already precarious footing! He goes sliding down the stairs, and runs into Gertie!! Now, they're both sliding down the stairs!!!

This is bad. The party leaps into action. With lightning fast reflexes that would make a certain Wood Elf weep, R'Oarc is able to reach out and grab ahold of Gertie. T'Chuck, too manages to stop JiMichael's descent, so it looks like everything's going to be okay...

Until Selene goes tumbling, and knocks T'Chuck and JiMichael down. And now all three of them are a-tumblin' down. Perfect. The three are slipping pretty fast, and it can't feel good. It's about to feel even worse, though, as they quickly approach a turn. They're just about to crash into the wall, when suddenly, they crash THROUGH the wall. It collapses before them, and now, they're on a slide, and rocketing down quickly. Selene thinks fast, and is able to reach out and grab something, stopping her fall. T'Chuck grabs onto something, too, but it's JiMichael. He pulls himself up onto the horse-sized dragon's back, and hopes that he can fly.

He can't really, but he is able to glide. And glide he does, down past the end of the slide, and into the shallow pool below. The water is cold, but it's only about 5 feet deep. Seeing this, Selene calls out to R'Oarc that everything's fine, and she should come down with them. She does, in style. R'Oarc takes out a rope, affixes it to something, and then **rides down the stairs, using her lute as a surfboard!** Awesome! Using the rope, she and Selene are able to swoop down to T'Chuck and JiMichael in the pool. Screech and Gertie stay behind.

The floor of this large room slopes upward, and the party is able to follow it up and out of the water. Now on dry land, they're able to take stock of their surroundings. There aren't many. It's a large cavernous room, with only one tunnel going deeper into the mountain. It appears naturally formed, not man-made. With no way to go but onward and forward, they make their way into the tunnel.

After a few minutes, they hear the skittering of many feet from up ahead. Cautiously, T'Chuck gathers everyone around him, and casts *Spirit Guardians*, to summon some, well, spiritual guardians to help them out. It boosts everyone's mood, but only until they are suddenly shrouded in a magical darkness. A shadowy figure attacks them, but T'Chuck is able to dash out of the darkness' zone, and sees their foe. It's a sexy as hell Drider! Sweet!

Inside the swirling darkness, R'Oarc does some shenanigans with a *Bardic Inspiration* to Bardically Inspire both T'Chuck and Selene. She may not be technically allowed to do this, but thank Reya she does. Because T'Chuck is able to use this Inspiration to persuade the Drider that they're not here to hurt anyone. Despite not being able to speak the same languages, the Drider accepts T'Chuck's words. It fires a warning shot, and I mean "fires" literally. It's a flaming arrow. The Drider hisses at them to return to the surface, where they belong, before turning and running off into the tunnels. The darkness fades as the creature leaves.

T'Chuck takes the arrow, and warns the others to tread lightly. From above, Screech's voice calls down, asking if it's safe for he and Gertie to follow them down.

### Short

Beholder-doodle and Screech appear in the same place together! Selene's collar is removed, so she's officially no longer a member of the OT! The party goes and collects JiMichael, and leaves Rimeford for good. They find the secret tunnels, slide down some wet stairs, and fight a Drider. T'Chuck convinces it that they come in peace, so it runs off. Screech and Gertie stayed behind for the fight, but now want to know if it's safe to come down.

## **Trivia**

* Day 15 of the campaign.
* JiMichael the Dragon is the size of a horse. But what kind of horse?
	+ He has four legs, and looks like the Greetings, Adventurers! logo.
		- It should be noted that the dragon on the Greetings, Adventurers! logo is NOT named JiMichael.
* Screech maybe gave his Darkvision Goggles to Beholder-doodle, so he maybe doesn't have them anymore. Then again, maybe he didn't, and does.
* R'Oarc has anxiety.
* When the Drider casts them all in darkness, T'Chuck screams, revealing his true babyishness.
* The Drider speaks Elvish and Undercommon. T'Chuck only speaks Common and Goblin. Despite this, they're able to make it work.

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
* Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
* Nika Howard - R'Oarc

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Screech Echo
* Beholder-doodle?!?!?!
* Some random guard
* JiMichael, the dragon
* Gertie
* Sexy Drider

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* Ridgewood Keep
			* The tunnels below the Keep

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Escape The Order
	+ [Active] - Smuggle JiMichael out of the city
	+ [Complete] - ~~Don't forget to get Gertie from the stables~~
* [Optional] - Return for Skin Kyle
* [Abandoned?] - Stop The Cult of Ugnos
	+ [Abandoned?] - Investigate Thistledown

### **Quotes**

* **"Welp, if we all die today... it's been a weird 15 days. But, uh, it's been fun, I guess. Ish. I don't know."** ~ *T'Chuck*

* **"Gertie, if you hold the torch, then people will see us. And if people see us, then they'll come here. And if they come here, they'll want to ask us questions. And if they ask us questions, then we'll have to answer those questions. Have you ever answered questions, Gertie? Have you? Have you ever answered any questions?!?!?"** ~ *R'Oarc*

## **Rolls**

* Some of the party members roll *Perception* to see if Beholder-doodle looks normal
	+ **R'Oarc** - 7
	+ **Selene** - 6
	+ **T'Chuck** - 18 (Doesn't roll, just uses Passive Perception)
		- He notices that B.D.'s looking a little thin

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Perception* to see if anything's unusual going down the stairway - 12
	+ They don't seem to be in immediate danger

* **T'Chuck** has to make a DC 15 Strength Saving Throw to resist Selene's *Telekinetic Shove* - 15
	+ If it meets, it beats. He is not shoved.

* Everyone makes *Acrobatics* or *Athletics* checks to keep their footing on the slippery slidey stairs
	+ **T'Chuck** - 10
	+ **R'Oarc** - 18
	+ **Selene** - Nat 1 + 2
		- She slips!

* **Selene** rolls *Acrobatics* to grab onto something and slow their descent - 18
	+ She's able to grab onto a rocky outcropping.

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Athletics* or *Acrobatics* to climb onto JiMichael's back - 10
	+ He can get on there, but isn't super secure.

* **R'Oarc** rolls *Acrobatics* to skateboard down the stairs on her guitar - 16 + 5
	+ She does it, it looks awesome.

*Combat Begins vs Drider*

* Initiative
	+ **R'Oarc** - Nat 20
	+ **T'Chuck** - 19
	+ **Selene** - 9

*Round One*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Grants *Bardic Inspiration* to T'Chuck and Selene (uses a bonus action and a real action, which she technically might not be allowed to do, but Michael allows it)

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Moves forward, out of the darkness
	+ Rolls *Arcana* or *History* or *Survival* or *Nature* to see if he knows what the Drider is - 2
		- He doesn't know what this is
	+ Rolls *Persuasion* to convince the Drider that they come in peace - 22
		- Success? - It does run off