A Spot of Bother

**A Spot of Bother** is the 2nd Oxventure episode, in which Corazón has an unwelcomed reunion.

## Synopsis

Celebrating their first successful adventure together, the gang heads to a tavern to take in some drinks, rest and relaxation.

But that relaxation is broken when a small child delivers a message to Corazón, consisting of a single black spot. Corazón freaks out and tells the rest of the group that some pirates are going to be coming to kill him as per a curse.

## Summary

### Part 1

The day after their experience with the Spicy Rat, the guild have decided to meet up in a tavern, called The Bawdy Flamingo. In the midst of their celebrations, Corazón de Leon gets up to get another round when he sees a young urchin, who delivers him a message, though he claims to be Corazón's cousin. Upon looking at the message, he cries out "Oh god! It's the Black Spot!". When the guild inquires as to his concerns, he tries to play it off as not a big deal, and requests that they all stick together for the foreseeable future. Prudence, however, has an idea as to what the Black Spot is, but fumbles her book when she tries to look it up. Going off her memory, she decides that it must mean that pirates are coming to throw Corazón a party.

He comes clean and tells them that it doesn't mean a party, but instead that pirates are coming to kill him, though he is evasive when asked why this is happening. A dragonborn paladin approaches the group at this moment, introducing himself as Egbert the Careless. He tells the group he is searching for atonement and offers to help in their situation. Corazón tells the group they have about six hours to figure out how to defend themselves. He tells the guild that these enemy pirates are cursed, and requests that they refrain from killing them when they meet.

Dob suggests, rather than standing their ground or running away, the guild try to find the pirates and take the fight to them. They walk to the harbor, where Corazón reasons they will be arriving soon if they haven't already. They spot the harbormaster, and Corazón approaches, asking if any unusual ships have arrived. The harbormaster doesn't recall any unusual ships, though does offhandedly mention pirates came into town, which Corazón inquires about. After a bribe of more gold than Corazón meant to offer, the harbormaster tells them the pirates went to a pub called The Boar's Tooth.

They decide on how to approach the pirates, and Merilwen suggests offering them a false lead and luring them into a trap. Dob suggests renting a boathouse from the now hammered harbormaster, which Corazón does, though it takes a frustratingly long time for him to hand the key over. While inspecting the boathouse, Corazón reveals that these pirates were his old crew who were cursed on their last journey together, though he alone avoided that fate. He assumes they are targeting him to get the coins he stole from the cursed site, though they are no longer all within his possession.

Dob offers to disguise Corazón so he can join them when they meet the pirates in the pub, and he chooses to be a spider-tiger. The guild enters the tavern, which is rowdy and crowded, though Corazón still manages to spot Curly Joe and Jack Crackson along with the rest of his old crew. Prudence goes to a neighboring table and uses Thaumaturgy to terrify the men sitting there out of their booth. The guild moves into the booth and eavesdrop on the pirates, hearing that their plans are not very thorough as they believe Corazón to be a loser without any friends. Dob tells the pirates they were drinking with someone of Corazón's description, and he fled to Boathouse Five. He requests to join them on their revenge, though they don't think they need the help, so Spider-Tiger Corazón mentions that they've also been wronged by the pirate, and they excitedly welcome the Oxventurers' to join them, even offering to pick up the first round upon Corazón's death.

### Part 2

Upon arriving at the boathouse, the guild offers the pirates the opening attack as they have a stronger claim for revenge, hoping to trap them within. When they charge in, Corazón and the guild slam the door, locking them inside and revealing his true identity. While Corazón tries to talk to them, Egbert hears a splash from within the boathouse and realizes the pirates are escaping into the water. Dob backflips on top of the boathouse to get a better view, and sees six of them are already out, leaving only two inside, which he relays to the rest of the team. Corazón holds Curly Joe's attention, who is trying to stall him by talking of his childhood, while the rest of the guild prepares for action.

Dob casts Thunderwave on two of the pirates, electrifying them to death so much that their skeletons were visible. Reflecting on the deaths of the pirates despite him specifically asking the guild not to kill them, Corazón says "Everyone should have thought about everything." Prudence hits a third pirate with an Eldritch Blast, but doesn't manage to kill him, distracted as she is by Dob's cool Thunderwave. Merilwen shoots her longbow at a pirate, though he is only minorly wounded. One of the pirates, Jerky Steve, shoots a crossbow bolt at Prudence, but misses. Another one shoots an arrow at Egbert, though his shield catches it, while another pirate swings at him with a sword, which he cleanly side steps. At the same time, an arrow goes flying over Merilwen's head. Egbert takes a moment to discuss his belief system, much to everyone's chagrin, before producing a bomb. He throws it at the rest of the pirates, but it falls harmlessly into the water.

Dob backflips off the roof and juliennes the pirate Merilwen had earlier shot. Eyes narrowing at Jerky Steve, Prudence levels another Eldritch Blast at him, not quite killing him but leaving him on Death's door. Corazón begins speaking to Curly Joe plainly, requesting they stop fighting and talk, though Curly Joe refuses. In response, Corazón unlocks the door and boots it into his old crewmate and fires a crossbow bolt at him, momentarily stunning him. Merilwen begins communicating with all the animals in the water, attempting to get some help. Egberts catches another crossbow bolt in his shield and dodges another cutlass. Curly Joe strikes at Corazón, injuring him. Jack Crackson, also in the boathouse, fires a crossbow at Corazón and misses. Egbert bludgeons a pirate with his mace.

Dob swims around into the boathouse, surfacing behind Jack Crackson, stabbing him and skewering him through the back on his rapier, though doesn't kill him. Prudence finishes Jerky Steve off with her knife, claiming it was a mercy kill. Corazón slashes Curly Joe with his rapier, while Merilwen has made contact with a number of sea creatures, including a whale who is unable to actually come to shore due to how shallow it is. The two pirates left in the water are consequently devoured by squids. Egbert casually strolls into the boathouse, continuing to talk about his paladin order and special abilities and handing out pamphlets to his fellow guild members, while broiling Curly Joe and Jack Crackson using his flame breath. The guild members escape from the boathouse which is now burning down. Upon exiting, Corazón recognized his old ship in the distance, the Joyful Damnation.

### Part 3

After a brief discussion with the rest of the crew, they decide to go take the ship back for Corazón, despite Dob's worries that it will make Corazón no longer want to adventure with them. Dob heals Corazón's scratch while Merilwen focuses on procuring sea creatures for them to ride to the boat. Dob grabs a piece of julienned pirate to use an intimidation tactic on the ship. The guild rides a group of squids over to the ship, and Merilwen convinces the whale, named Henry, to ram the ship enough to destabilize everyone aboard. Corazón scales the side of the ship while Dob uses the rope ladder, with the rest following behind Dob. Former first mate Panniers, now Captain, is waiting for them on deck, wearing Corazón's old captain hat. Dob flings the pirate slice at Panniers, but it flops down uselessly in front of him.

Panniers informs Corazón that they are not acting alone and have a benefactor, calling him by his birth name, Percival Milquetoast. At that moment, footsteps emerge from belowdecks, and Lord Milquetoast, Corazón's father, reveals himself as said benefactor. He tells Corazón that word of his becoming a pirate has begun spreading to the people in Hartfordshire, and it's become something of an embarrassment for him and expensive to cover up. He offers Corazón the chance to come back as his son, where they'll forget all about these escapades, or the rest of these pirates will kill him. Corazón refuses, though the rest of the guild offers themselves up for adoption, which Lord Milquetoast denies.

Dob offers a deal, suggesting that Corazón take up a new name, and Lord Milquetoast could return telling everyone that Corazón de Leon is dead, and everyone can move on, but he does not manage to convince him. Corazón recommends going to town, finding someone with a similar likeness to him, offering him a life of luxury and giving Lord Milquetoast a replacement son, but again, Lord Milquetoast shoots this down. Panniers begins advancing menacingly, and Corazón gives the guild permission to attack.

Corazón swipes at Panniers with his rapier, knocking the hat off his head, though he is unable to save it from the water. Merilwen misses with an arrow while Panniers swipes back at Corazón, though he also misses. Dob shoulder-barges Panniers, causing him to slip on the pirate slice and slide directly off the ship and into the mouth of Henry the Humpback Whale.

Lord Milquetoast tells Corazón his new friends are vile, despite Corazón's defenses about how cool they all are, and Merilwen turns into a cat. With his muscle defeated, Milquetoast decides to go along with the earlier discussed plan of telling the people of Hartfordshire that Corazón has died. Corazón agrees, changing his name from Corazón de Leon to Corazón de Ballena (Heart of the Whale). Merilwen calls off the squids, and Lord Milquetoast rows himself away, leaving his gold behind at his son's request.

The guild begins mending the ship and celebrating their victory. Dob finds the barrel of rum and brings it to the deck, while Egbert starts firing bombs into the sky, acting as fireworks, as the suns set over the horizon.

## Notable Events

* We learn of Corazón's real name.
* Introduction of Corazón's Father.

## Notable NPCs

* Curly Joe
* Jack Crackson
* Jerky Steve
* Panniers
* Lord Milquetoast
* Henry the Humpback Whale

## Character Development

* Though it is only the second episode, Corazón shows more emotion in this episode as he states he doesn't want to hurt his former crew, and has difficulty retelling the bits and pieces of the story of how he fled the curse.

## Trivia

* This is one of the rare moments that Dob uses his rapier and that Merilwen uses her longbow.
* A great chunk of Corazón's backstory seems to be inspired by the first *Pirates of the Caribbean* film.
* This is among the very few times Corazón has used hand crossbow.
* This is the last episode that Corazón is referred to as Corazón de Leon.

## Behind The Scenes Trivia

* As Mike was unavailable for The Spicy Rat Caper, this campaign is the first to introduce his character Egbert The Careless.
* During one of Bendix' artstreams she talked about how Andy, not wanting to bother her to make a piece for the Spider Tiger disguise, took the Corazón character art into paint and drew the face paint and presumably the sticks taped to the back of Corazón's jacket that made him appear as a Spider Tiger.
* This episode carries over the introduction part of the first episode as a sort of preamble to the rest of the video, and each subsequent campaign has each player introducing themselves as their character, encouraged by Andy when Jane simply said "sup"
* This is the first character focused episode.