C2 E42

When the circus is in town you gotta chat with the whole dang crew. They offer so many insights what with all the traveling they do. Hopefully they remain the good circus types and not those weird ones you read about...

## **Story**

### Long Story

It's an exciting day in Rimeford! A wagon has just arrived, and the mysterious Luthor introduces the town to Copperpot's Amazing Menagerie. It's a circus, baby, and they've got all kinds of amazing things! They have a 30-ft long alligator! They have a giant muscular man in a mask! They have a sexy lady who works with plants! They have a blue-ish looking dude who sells frozen treats! They have a clown! There are, however, no cat girls.

Luthor claps his hands and everyone immediately goes to work erecting a giant tent out of the rather small-ish wagon. R'Oarc decides to join in, and asks how she can help. The masked muscle man has her pull on some rope to help get the center tent pole aligned. As she's working, a dude with some kind of burn on only half of his face approaches her. He's also flipping a coin. The man tells her that it's weird being out on the road, while "Copperpot" is back in Farhold. Apparently, Luthor here isn't really the "leader" of the circus. He just had them all up and take off in the middle of the night. Didn't even grab any of the penguins or nothing. R'Oarc agrees that something weird is going on, and the two decide to get to the bottom of this together.

Meanwhile, Screech is concerned about all of these, let's be honest, super-villains suddenly arriving in town. They don't even have a permit or anything. He asks the clown what his name is, and it's "The Jokester". Screech bows out. As he's leaving, though, he runs into Gertie, who's never been to the circus. She asks if they can go, and Screech reluctantly agrees. He bows back in. He asks Gertie if she's picked out an animal to use for her disguise yet. She suggests a wallaby, which Screech rejects. Her next idea, however, is a real winner. She shall become... a tanuki!

T'Chuck is nervous, too. There's all this hustle and bustle that he doesn't want any part of, so he goes to hide out in The Goblin Pit. There's one person who might know a thing or two about all of this: Ratma Ritmo. Unfortunately, she does NOT know a thing or two about all of this. She does agree that this is all very strange, so she suggests that T'Chuck try to figure out why the Menagerie is here. They must have some ulterior motive. T'Chuck, in an effort to garner intel AND make some money off of all of this, returns to the circus with a "beer cart".

Selene, too, is apprehensive. She decides to speak with Luthor, who seems to be "in charge" here. Luthor is surprised to see a member of the Order all the way out here, and asks if she ever caught the show back in Farhold. She hasn't. She does ask if there's any news from the capital. Luthor remarks that The Farhold Trumpeter hasn't been publishing in the last few days, which he finds odd. Although, he's not much of a fan of theirs, and the way they've been reporting on inflation in Farhold, especially surrounding "cakes of some kind". Selene can tell that Luthor has more on his mind than some some cake-flation, so she lays on the charm and presses him further. Luthor reveals that he's heard the mines are running low on precious Theonite. But more importantly than that, he's heard that Screech Echo is in town. He asks if she knows Screech, and she does! He also asks if Screech has adopted any wards yet. He's known to do that. Selene confirms this, and Luthor gives her a free ticket to tonight's show.

The Jokester, who's in charge of ticket sales and other such revenue, and also laughs a lot, approaches R'Oarc. He asks her if she knows knows Screech Echo, and she does! She mentions that he stays in the castle, which Jokester is pleased to hear. As thanks, he gives her some "hot cotton candy" (hotten candy?), which has a sinister green odor emanating from it. She decides to save this for T'Chuck. Later, she returns to talk to the Jokester again, but I'm just including it here. This episode is a mess when it comes to recapping everything, and I'm kind of low-key panicking trying to get it all to make sense. I may be failing. I'm so sorry, everyone. R'Oarc tells Jokester about Screech's money, Screech Bucks, and that if the Menagerie were to only accept that form of currency, that would surely mean that Screech would have to show up to the Menagerie, something that R'Oarc knows Jokester wants. Now, why exactly R'Oarc is helping Jokester is unknown.

T'Chuck also goes to talk to Luthor, offering him a Goblin Pit special: a sour ale from the nearby town of "Gapniss Gates" (sp?). He also lays on the chit chat, asking why they're here. Luthor says they're just passing through, but T'Chuck counters that they're kind of on the outskirts of the known world, so there's nowhere for them to be passing through to. Luthor pivots. He asks if T'Chuck knows Screech, and he does! This clues T'Chuck in. They are here to find Screech. But for what purpose? Luthor offers T'Chuck a job: to sneak Luthor and the rest of the circus into Ridgewood Keep later that night, while Screech is asleep. 10 gold reward. T'Chuck agrees, under the condition that he gets 5 gold now, and another 5 when the job's done. Luthor agrees, and the deal is made.

T'Chuck immediately goes to tell everyone about this. He tries to lure Gertie away from Screech to warn her without telling Screech directly, but is unsuccessful. Instead, he bumps into Selene, whom he tells everything to. R'Oarc, who's on her union mandated break, also joins in. They try to come up with some kind of plan: to usher the circus into the castle, and then ambush them. A reverse sneak attack. R'Oarc suggest using herself as bait, by casting *Disguise Self* to make herself look like Screech. But T'Chuck points out that if anyone's going to put themselves in danger by being bait, it should be Screech himself. Y'know, since everyone hates Screech, anyway? They can hammer out the details later. For now, they need to get Screech involved.

T'Chuck gives R'Oarc an "Alderwood Ale", and tells her to go spill it on Screech "by accident". This, she does, with aplomb. Apologizing, she tells him to follow her back to the Goblin Pit, where they can get him cleaned up. Screech agrees to follow her, leaving Gertie behind with $1,000.

### Short

Copperpot's Amazing Menagerie rolls into town! R'Oarc begins working for them, and meeting the various circus performers. They all seem to be after Screech for some reason. The circus is usually run by someone named Copperpot, but he's not here. Instead, Luthor is in charge, and he seems to have "stolen" the circus. Luthor hires T'Chuck to sneak him and the other circus people into Ridgewood Keep later that night. He agrees, but plans on double-crossing them. He tells Selene and R'Oarc about this plan, and tries to tell Screech's new ward, Gertie. But he can't get Gertie away from Screech. Instead, he asks R'Oarc spill a drink on Screech. She does this, and brings Screech back to the Goblin Pit to talk with him alone.

## **Trivia**

* Day 13 of the campaign.
	+ It may be Day 12. It may be Day 11. See the Timeline page for more.
* These are all Batman characters, obviously, except for Luthor, who's a Superman character. I know they're both DC, and yes, I know Batman has fought Lex Luthor before, so don't @ me. But you know what I mean. Lex Luthor's not a *Batman character.* Jesus. Ya bunch of nerds...
* Because Tim invented ice cream in the last episode, there's now a Mr. Freeze character selling popsicles and things like that in the circus. See? Actions have consequences.
	+ Pseudo-Mr. Freeze has a treat he's the most proud of. It's a popsicle in the shape of his own face.
* They are also selling hot cotton candy, and "pizza logs".
* The Menagerie traditional operates out of Farhold.
	+ Screech, who lives in Farhold, has heard of the Menagerie, and has even been invited to attend. But he never has.
* Luthor tells Selene that he's heard some rumors of fighting out in the East. Rebel factions, and all that.
* I'm not sure what "Gapniss Gates" is supposed to be, but apparently, they have a sour ale there that is also sold by the Goblin Pit.
	+ The Goblin Pit also sells an unnamed stout with chunks of cookie on top.
		- They ALSO sell "Alderwood Ale", which is served with a smokey tomato marinara rim.
* You heard it correctly. The name of the circus was originally "Cobblepot's Amazing Menagerie". Later, in Episode 46, Michael changes Cobblepot's name to "Copperpot", for legal reasons.

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

### **Cast and Player Characters**

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

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Luthor
* Several not-Batman characters, such as a Mr. Freeze guy, a Bane guy, a Joker guy (named "The Jokester"), and a Two-Face guy.
* Gertie
* Ratma Ritmo

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* Copperpot's Amazing Menagerie
			* The Goblin Pit

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop The Cult of Ugnos
	+ [On-Hold] - Investigate Thistledown
* [On-Hold] - Protect the dragon
	+ [On-Hold] - Keep the dragon hidden from the Order
		- [On-Hold] - Eliminate the Hook Horrors from the tunnels beneath Rimeford
* [NEW][Active] - Stop Copperpot's Amazing Menagerie from kidnapping? killing? Screech
* [R'Oarc] - Help Lucee move from the White Spire to the crypts in the graveyard

### **Quotes**

* **"This mice is bisexual!"** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"Remember, if you're pullin' the wrong way, you're pushin'."** ~ *Mike Bachmann*

* **"And you don't mind that half of my face is melted off?"** ~ *Two-Face character*
**"*Why* would I care about that?"** ~ *R'Oarc*

* **"I can *Sleight of Hand* pizza logs, all fucking day."** ~ *Nika Howard*

## **Rolls**

* Selene and Screech of them roll *History* to see if they know anything about the circus
	+ **Selene** - 9
	+ **Screech** - 17
		- Screech remembers seeing them around Farhold

* **Selene** rolls *Insight* to do a vibe check on Luthor - 17
	+ He's not telling her everything

* **T'Chuck** rolls *History* to see if he knows anything about the circus - 14
	+ It rings a distant bell, but he doesn't know them

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Insight* to do a vibe check on Luthor - Nat 20
	+ It super doesn't make sense that they would be here

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Deception* to try to avoid Screech but not make it too obvious - 9
	+ Screech knows T'Chuck is avoiding him

* **R'Oarc** rolls *Performance* to spill an ale on Screech "by accident" - 15
	+ She makes it look accidental