Jailbreak

Shadowscale, by Erian

"**Jailbreak**" (1x13) is the 13th episode of Dun-Johns and Dragons.

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

Before the party had a chance to restore Captain Olo's memory in their quest for information about the Baelor Butcher, they were sidetracked by a request from an old man to interceded on his behalf against a loan shark making threats against the man. This turned out to be a trap, and the party (with the exception of Stone) was framed for murder and captured by the Wolf Pack, led by Shayne Ironsprinter, who accused Father Buckitt of being the leader of a murder cult responsible for the Butcher murders. Stone escaped and went to The Penumbra for help. Meanwhile, imprisoned in the Netherkeep at the Halcyon Spire, the party met a mysterious dragonborn individual named Shadowscale, who had gotten themself arrested intentionally because they had magical forewarning that "something interesting" was to happen there.

### **Part I**

As Makaria Quest leads Stone through the sewers, she wonders what has brought Stone to the city. They reply that they're looking for a family member, and she doesn't pursue the conversation further. They emerge in a graveyard near one of the temples. Captain Olo appears and grumbles to Makaria that he doesn’t like being summoned like this. She says she has arranged a meeting, and they knock on a side door of the temple. A furtive-looking priest admits them and performs the memory restoration spell; as he finishes, they dismiss him and Olo, visibly shaken, tells them they are looking for Lord Stanton Owsley, a reclusive but powerful and well-connected figure in the city. Makaria mentions that she does her best to avoid this person and will continue to do so, but offers any services she can provide in a non-confrontational way, as long as her name and that of The Penumbra are left out of the business.

Olo warns Stone that Owsley has eyes and ears everywhere and influence with all the major players in the city, including Prince Tara and The Wolfpack. He warns that anything short of absolute proof of his guilt will only put more of a target on Stone and the rest of the party. Stone asks what Olo remembered, specifically; he says that when questioning Owsley, he’d tipped his hand that he suspected Owsley of being the Butcher. Owsley, having the authority to do so on account of his title, had sent Olo to the coast to investigate some strange lizards, then wiped his recent memory of all but that order.

Olo says he fears the only way to stop the Butcher will be to kill him, and suggests Stone retrieve their friends and vacate the city, leaving the task to him. Stone asks if he has any way to help get the others out of the Netherkeep; Olo does not, but he does think he could pass a message to them. Stone asks him to tell the party that they’re working on a solution and for Magpie to message them telepathically so they can form a plan. Makaria and Stone go back into the sewers; Makaria directs Stone to a sewer exit near the Netherkeep and leaves him.

Back in the Netherkeep, the rest of the party have managed to unnerve the guards enough to make them clock out early, leaving them 30 minutes unsupervised before the next shift comes on. Zander Misty Steps into Dugluss' cell and manages to pick the locks on Dugluss’ chains and cell door. Dugluss fashions his multi-tool into a lockpick and Magpie manages to pick the lock on her and Yoolna's cell. While they’re working on Father Buckitt’s cell door, Buckitt makes a mighty heave and manages to rip his chains from the wall and floor and shrugs them off. After several failed attempts at picking the lock, Dugluss uses Heat Metal, Magpie casts Firebolt, and after several blows from Father Buckitt, they manage to break the lock on his cell and get him out.

As they hear the next shift of guards approaching, they all scurry back into their cells and close the doors except for Father Buckitt, whose door is quite busted; he hides behind Yoolna. One of the three guards enters and notices Buckitt’s broken door and empty cell; he yells, "Jailbreak!" and turns to run back to his comrades. The party rolls initiative.

### **Part II**

Father Buckitt manages to grapple the fleeing guard through the bars of the cell and spends most of the battle punching him repeatedly, trying to get him to tell where their belongings (and specifically his bucket) are. Magpie steals the guard's sword. In the next room, Zander knocks the other two unconscious (possibly killing them) with Eldritch Blast, but three more come running down the stairs. Yoolna searches a storeroom, looking for their belongings; they're not there, but she does find a different (very smelly) bucket, which she gives to Father Buckitt.

They don't want to kill the guards, who are Captain Olo’s men, so all the players make various attempts at intimidation and persuasion to get them to give up peacefully and/or tell them where their belongings have been taken. They don't learn the latter, but Zander (with some magical help from Shadowscale) eventually manages to terrify several guards into fleeing. Shadowscale, voluntarily remaining in their cell, also performs some healing on the grappled guard, who eventually on Buckitt's orders shuts himself in another cell and is left there, whimpering quietly. They move up the stairs to the next floor, where they encounter more guards. A second flight of stairs leads farther up, but Zander finds the trapdoor at the top locked; Magpie tries casting Firebolt at it to little effect, and they both give it up and rejoin the rest of the group. They continue fighting down the corridor; Father Buckitt grabs a wanted poster hanging on a pole and brandishes it as a Magic Weapon, and Zander knocks out several guards using Thunder Step, but more appear. The guards seem mostly ineffectual fighters, but a cloaked figure with a bow around a corner at the end of the hallway does some damage with arrows apparently imbued with some kind of magic, briefly possessing Yoolna to attack Father Buckitt, though it wears off quickly and no one seems to notice in the chaos of the battle.

Meanwhile, Stone, following Makaria’s instructions, has climbed up a drainpipe into a lavatory. He opens the door and finds himself in the hallway where the battle is going on. He casts Sleep and downs several of the guards. Buckitt and Zander engage the remaining guards while the others cast around for a likely hiding place for their belongings; Yoolna finds an interrogation room but it is mostly empty. The still-standing guards manage to wake up several of their colleagues, so Stone casts Sleep again, this time hitting all but one guard.

[To be continued in the next episode]

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

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