Secrets of the Past

Stone being smooth, by Queer Fish

"**Secrets of the Past**" (1x29) is the 29th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

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

After ingratiating themselves with quasi-criminal organization The Penumbra in Westerhaven, the party investigated a series of murders but were framed and captured by the royal guards. After an interrogation, they escaped imprisonment, accidentally killing several guards in the process. They confronted the true murderer, who turned out to be a Green Dragon in disguise, and after a battle that damaged a large section of Westerhaven, the dragon escaped and the party fled the city. They traveled north having various adventures, including defeating a racist murder cult, “saving” a town from clay golems, and participating in a magical Robot-Wars-esque fighting spectacle, before making their way to the pirate isle of Skip. There they met Brynn Dashheart, the Pirate Lord, and Dugluss began working with the Mechanists’ Guild. Dashheart asked them to investigate the guild due to disturbing rumors, and Dugluss found horrifying evidence of unethical experimentation. A pirate named Fortune asked Yoolna to deliver a sealed envelope unseen to the head of the Arcanists’ Guild in exchange for help with the investigation. Father Buckitt left the group to try and formally establish the Church of the Holy Bucket [OOC, JD will likely not be available to play regularly for the time being, but may make a cameo or two in the future]. Meanwhile, Stone, Magpie, and Zander joined a group called the Black Marauders, led by a half-orc named Shomp Vala, to sail back to the mainland in search of the kidnapped Prince Durrian and hopefully collect the reward. During the voyage, the ship was briefly stopped by a group of Tritons while their leader, Commander Abernath, spoke with Vala to demand the return of something called the Scepter of the Waves, last seen in the possession of the Pirate Lord; Vala seemed unimpressed with their threats, and they parted apparently amicably. Upon reaching Westerhaven, a tiefling named Barakas joined the crew, claiming to have information on the Prince’s whereabouts. As they sailed upriver toward Lake Temple, Magpie was called into the ship’s gunpowder store, where the door closed behind her and Barakas emerged from the shadows holding a sword.

### **Part I**

Seeing the flash of the sword, Magpie reaches into her pocket for the Wand of Wonder, but before she can do anything, the tiefling kneels, presents the sword to her, and formally introduces himself as “Barakas Creed of the Dusk Marshals, sworn sword of the Fell”, and a lot of other titles. Finishing his recitation, he sheathes the sword, steps back, and says, “It is good to finally catch up with you, Princess Larrsil.”

Magpie, extremely flustered, asks (in a notably different accent to what we’ve heard before), “How did you find me?” Over the course of their conversation, we learn that she is heir to the throne of The Fell but has no interest in ruling, and ran away from home to get away from her family’s stifling expectations. Barakas is a sworn sword of her mother, the current ruler, and has promised to protect the princess and, if possible, bring her home. He reveals that they’ve met before; when she tried to run away previously, he found her working as a trader in the Altian spice markets and returned her home. Magpie insists she will not go home this time; she tries to bribe him to go away, but he refuses, saying he is sworn to keep her safe. She tries to cast Sleep on him, but fails; he says, “I’m going to ignore that.”

Barakas says her parents understand her desire to walk her own path, and although they’d prefer she stay home and prepare to take the crown, they won’t force her. Magpie is skeptical, saying they’ve shown no qualms about forcing her in the past. Barakas says regardless, his duty is to protect her, no matter the path she chooses, though he does agree to pretend not to know her. Magpie complains that she had no choice in being heir to the throne; Barakas points out she made the choice to leave, and now it will be her choice whether or not she returns. However, he does say that her family’s bloodline is the only thing that has held their people together for so long; when her mother passes, he fears that if someone else takes the crown, the people will not accept a different leader. Magpie is unconvinced, insisting she would not make a good ruler. Frustrated, she storms out of the room, locking the door behind her (he makes no attempt to stop her locking him in), puts on a very unconvincing show of nonchalance, and goes back up on deck.

Stone and Zander, meanwhile, are on deck, trying to look busy and/or stay out of the way as the ship makes its way upriver. Stone notices Magpie emerging from the hold, looking flustered, and follows her as she goes to lean against the rail. They lean casually next to her (which looks quite comical as the railing was made for someone much smaller than Stone), but Magpie deflects their questions. The captain and Barakas emerge from below, deep in conversation; Magpie Messages Barakas, “You’d better not tell him who I am!” but gets no response. Night falls, but she does not go to bed, and in the morning, Stone finds her still sitting on the bow of the ship. Stone goes to the galley, where Zander is pestering the cook for vegetables, and fetches Magpie a cup of very questionable tea. (Zander eventually succeeds in obtaining a single, very old potato.) Stone sits next to Magpie in silence for a while, until Magpie asks, “What’s your family like?”

After a pause, Stone replies that what’s left of it is sparse. They explain that many years ago, they went on a hunting trip with a friend, during which they were both injured. As the older of the two, Stone felt responsible for the accident and refused treatment for their own wounds, thinking that letting them heal naturally would be a valuable lesson; they thought it would make them stronger and faster, but instead it made them weaker and slower. They couldn’t keep up with their tribe; it was leave or be left, and so they left. They mention that they do have a sibling, who also left the tribe, but they aren’t sure where they are or if they’d want to see Stone. Magpie gives Stone a hug.

Zander approaches and sits next to them, bringing with him the smell of very old potato. He says hello and sticks Carrot into the bowl with the potato. After exchanging pleasantries, Magpie asks Zander what his family is like. Zander freezes for a moment, looking almost upset, then says, “I don’t want to talk about it.” Magpie apologizes and Stone leans over and hugs them both.

After a while, Captain Vala comes up and says they’re approaching the city of Clearford, and after that they will reach Lake Temple and then head farther inland. He says there are rumors of unnatural creatures in the area, and speculation that they may have had something to do with the Prince’s disappearance. He says such creatures have long traveled the forests at the base of the Fierfoot Mountains, some distance north of the lake. The plan is to leave the ship anchored in Lake Temple and continue, first upriver in a smaller dinghy and then on foot, to the base of the mountains south of the town of Fale. There, Vala says, they can either prove themselves against the monsters, or he can reclaim their pay from their lifeless bodies. He strides away cheerfully.

Magpie sees Barakas leaning on the rail some distance away. She Messages him again, saying “Please tell me you didn’t tell the captain who I am.” He replies that it would not benefit either of them to tell him at this point. The ship passes through a gate into the city of Clearford, and then through a sort of wooden drawbridge structure and out onto the expanse of Lake Temple.

Meanwhile back on Skip, the morning after Dugluss’ investigations below the Mechanists’ Guild, he claims illness to skip work and instead goes to the market to purchase an amethyst, which he uses to rebuild Folar in his room at the inn. He then uses Divination with Fiddlefen’s crystal to find out where Magpie, Stone and Zander are; he records a message on a coin saying “Trouble with the guild — return as soon as possible” and tells Folar to deliver it to the other half of the party. Since he won’t know where they have gone in the intervening days it will take Folar to make the journey, he instructs Folar to follow the river and find the ship, and if they’re not there, stay with the ship until they return.

Next, he goes to the Pirate Lord’s headquarters. He finds her in a room off the throne room, quite inebriated, playing cards with some others. He requests a private word, and after trying to sober her up with a few light zaps from his lightning gauntlets, fills her in on the experimentation going on at the Mechanists’ Guild. He shows her the book where he took down all the detailed information about what he found. He says something must be done; Dashheart says, “I agree, *you* should do something.” Dugluss argues that he’s one dwarf, while she’s the Pirate Lord, but she says her power is no match for the guilds’. She says if he can publicize what he’s found, then she might have the leverage to act. Dugluss agrees, then they return to the card game and Dugluss spends the evening drinking and gambling (quite successfully) with the pirates.

### **Part II**

The *Barracuda* docks in Lake Temple and Vala says Zander, Stone, and Magpie, as well as Barakas, Kelpie, and two other crew members (Alethra, who is not described, and Morgren, a dwarf with a large warhammer) will join him on the expedition. They climb aboard the dinghy, and Kelpie leans up excitedly between Zander and Magpie; he asks if they could keep an eye on him if any dangerous situations come up, and try to be discreet about it — he says if he has to shout out for help in front of the others, he doesn’t think he will ever live it down. They readily agree. They sail up a small river that drains into the lake from the north, with some help from a crystal the captain places in the mast that creates a strong magical wind.

Meanwhile back on Skip, Dugluss again plays hooky; he writes out a pamphlet with the information he wants to spread and goes in search of a printer. He’s directed to the Archivists’ Guild, but the receptionist informs him the soonest appointment is in nine weeks. Dugluss decides instead to try and build his own printing press. His room at the Equal Rope isn’t large enough, so he will need to earn money for larger accommodations.

Back on the continent the next day, the dinghy is making quick progress up the river. Magpie sits next to Barakas and asks in Infernal, “Are you really just going to follow me, whatever I do?” He replies he’s going to keep her safe as long as he can. Magpie asks, “What if keeping me safe means going away?” He says if she can prove that that’s the case, he will leave. Magpie reiterates that she wants to be left alone; Barakas understands, but asks her to understand that the hope of their people is riding on her survival and future leadership. Magpie says people are more likely to try to kill her if she takes the throne; Barakas replies that’s why the Dusk Marshals exist: to keep the rulers safe. Magpie moves over next to Kelpie, who seems impressed with the language and asks if she can teach him something in Infernal; she teaches him the word for “Hello”.

Shortly after midday, they hear footsteps approaching on the left bank. Vala scrambles up the mast and slams a hand on the gem still in its slot, lurching the boat forward just as an owlbear emerges from the tall grass and takes a swing at the craft. It misses and Zander hits it with an Eldritch Blast and knocks it away. The boat continues at high speed, but the creature gives chase; Zander prepares to Blast again if it gets close. From the top of the mast, Vala comments, “Ah, it’s been awhile since I’ve had to fight a — DUCK!” A second owlbear appears out of the grass and leaps at the boat, gouging Vala with its beak and swiping at Stone with its claws, though it misses. As it flies over, Magpie brandishes the Wand of Wonder and hits it with Lightning Bolt. The captain slashes it with his scimitar, and Zander lands an Eldritch Blast and pushes it away; it disappears into the grass on the opposite bank. Zander also tries to shoot a second Eldritch Blast at the first owlbear, still following, but misses. Stone casts Sacred Flame at it for a small amount of damage. The captain, still hanging onto the top of the mast, looks around at the rest of the crew and shouts, “What are you waiting for? Get the oars out!”

With rowing on top of the magical wind, they’re able to outstrip the owlbears, and that afternoon, with a city just coming into view on the horizon, they stop once more to camp for the night. During Stone and Zander’s watch, tendrils of mist come creeping through the grass and coalesce into faces hovering in the darkness. Zander starts to go for the captain, but a face appears in front of him and a voice hisses, *“We found you.”* Zander draws Carrot and asks who they are and what they want. The voice answers, *“We are the dead. We have searched these hills for much time, for you. We have come to finish what you had started. We must give you our thanks.”* They realize it is the group of ghosts who sent them after the behir near Whithall. Zander says, “It was an honor to avenge you.”

The voice continues, *“Your path is one of heroes. Ours is to our rest. Let us help your onward journey.”* The spirits swirl around Zander and Stone and the still-sleeping Magpie, leaving them with a feeling of warmth, then fade away into the darkness. Zander wakes Magpie and tells her what happened; Magpie, somewhat bemused, goes to take her portion of the watch without waking Barakas, who was supposed to join her. She briefly sees the pale, translucent figure of a little girl who waves at her from beneath a nearby tree, but when she checks the area, there’s no sign of her; the rest of the night passes uneventfully. They all three wake next morning feeling refreshed and touched by what they saw the night before (in mechanical terms, they have Inspiration for the next 24 hours). The crew breaks camp and continues sailing toward the city of Higfield and the Fierfoot Mountains beyond, where they will begin their hunt in earnest.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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