Enemies of Old

"**Enemies of Old**" (1x36) is the 36th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

## **Synopsis**

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

After being separated for several episodes, with Dugluss and Yoolna on Skip and the others back on the continent searching for the kidnapped Prince Durrian, the party was (mostly) reunited after Dugluss took down the head of the Mechanists’ Guild and came to find the others and inform them of Yoolna’s death. They headed for the nearby town of Steepoint to find an inn and drink to her memory. Arriving in Steepoint, however, they found the town in the process of rebuilding after a dragon attack, the timing of which lined up with when the Black Dragon they fought escaped from Westerhaven. They went to the inn and after an evening of revelry, Ira paid Magpie’s room an after-hours visit, attacked her and pushed her out the window, revealing herself to be in league with the Black Dragon.

### **Part I**

Magpie, lying on the ground below the window, uses Thaumaturgy to shout, “DRAGON!” as loudly as she can, the roar echoing through the whole town.

Meanwhile, the door to Zander’s room opens and Ira stands there, holding out her hand to him. Zander (succeeding on a wisdom save against some kind of spell), just looks at her; she looks annoyed and turns to leave. He says, “Excuse me, are you lost? Ira?” He gets up to follow her, but sees nothing in the corridor, though he hears hurried footsteps downstairs. He draws his sword and rushes after her.

Dugluss looks out the window and sees someone ringing a bell and a handful of townspeople trickling out of their houses and making their way toward the watchtower, carrying improvised weapons and pulling on what armor they have. He goes out into the corridor and meets the rest of the party emerging from their rooms; Barakas, noting Magpie’s absence, bursts into her room and finds her missing.

Magpie, still on the ground, can still see the dragon, looping slowly through the black sky around the town. Looking up, she sees Barakas stick his head out her window; catching sight of her, he exclaims, “Princess!” He swings himself out the window, drops to the ground next to her (taking two points of damage in the process) and checks to see that she’s okay. Magpie explains what happened.

Zander hurries down the stairs into the barroom, where he notices the door swinging slightly and one of the drunk patrons staring at it, indicating Ira has just left the bar at great speed. He follows out the door and immediately takes a whack from a quarterstaff to the back of the head. Ira then holds a hand out towards the tavern; Zander doesn’t see anything, but Magpie, still on the ground around the corner, feels something like strange tendrils sucking her life force out through the dagger wound. Ira then dashes away, taking an attack of opportunity from Zander. The group rolls initiative.

The first part of the combat is mostly spent dealing with Ira. Stone uses Steps of Night to fly down to Magpie and Barakas and casts Circle of Power, granting advantage that comes in handy several times during the fight. Barakas heals Magpie with Lay on Hands, and the three of them round the corner to join Tuli and Zander, while Dugluss comes downstairs through the inn, and all of them make attacks against Ira, though she seems relatively unfazed, even at taking a crossbow bolt to the face. Magpie does cast Slow on her with the Wand of Wonder, and Tuli finally uses Polymorph to transform her into a sheep, which Dugluss successfully hog-ties and Tuli binds securely to a post in the barroom of the inn.

While all this is going on, the Dragon has been circling overhead, keeping a fair distance, but never leaving the vicinity. As the rest of the group finishes securing Ira, Magpie scrambles onto a nearby rooftop and holds a Downdraft spell using the Crystal of Control Winds, while Barakas casts Aid, giving everyone in the party an HP boost. When the Dragon comes in range of Magpie’s spell, it is almost knocked from the air, as she intended, but it uses a Legendary Resistance to remain aloft. It lets out a terrifying roar, leaving all the party members save for Stone and Zander Frightened, as well as all but one of the ten townspeople who have now assembled in the street. Magpie uses the Wand of Wonder again, this time at the Dragon, but it casts Enlarge, turning the already huge monster gargantuan. She sheepishly scoots a ways down the roof and takes cover behind a chimney.

### **Part II**

With Ira secured, the party now turn their full attention to the dragon. After some initial damage control — Tuli reverses the Enlarge spell with Dispel Magic, and Stone casts Twilight Sanctuary to cure the others of their Fright — the group puts up a sustained and (mostly) effective offense. Barakas does some damage with Moonbeam, and Dugluss lands some significant hits with Lightning Bolt. Stone makes two triple attacks with the Dragon’s own Ring of Shooting Stars, and Zander makes his usual contribution of several Eldritch Blasts.

The Dragon, through its Legendary Resistance, manages to stay aloft for multiple turns despite Magpie’s Downdraft, and makes its first attack against the group of townspeople, annihilating all ten of them in a single acid breath attack as the party look on in horror. When it finally succumbs to the wind and falls, it makes three successive attacks against Dugluss, knocking out over half his HP in a single turn. However, once it is on the ground, the party moves in. Magpie leaps down from the roof onto its back and can’t manage to stab it, but she does land a crossbow bolt to the eye. Zander makes a critical sword attack enhanced with Eldritch Smite for a massive amount of damage, and Stone casts Inflict Wounds to excellent effect.

The Dragon uses its Legendary Actions to make extra attacks, mostly whipping its tail at Magpie on its back; she takes some hits, but does manage to avoid some damage with Uncanny Dodge. Using its last Legendary Resistance, the Dragon takes flight again, provoking three attacks of opportunity, but lands on a nearby rooftop, Magpie still clinging to its back. Tuli casts Wrath of Nature, causing vines to twist up off the side of the building and around the Dragon’s legs and tail, restraining it, and the attacks fall fast and furious until Magpie hits it once more with the Wand of Wonder, this time for a massive Lightning Bolt attack, which finally downs it for good.

Stone does some healing while Tuli casts a Watery Sphere to extinguish the fires ignited by the lightning. Magpie hacks off one of the dragon’s talons as a souvenir. The rest go back into the inn and discover the ropes that had been binding the sheep are lying in a limp pile on the floor surrounded by piles of ice, confirming that Ira was just a construct. Tuli gathers her rope and everyone goes off to bed for a long rest.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

* Dugluss Deep-Forge
* Magpie
* Stone
* Tuli Springfoot
* Zander Brushspark