C2 E37

Going to be honest here… we get played pretty bad on this one. Just really caught off guard with our pants down. Embarrassing.

## **Story**

### Long Story

The party has just entered the basement dwellings of Mistress Alandra Thorne, and encountered old "friends", Professor Devin Decacog and Dictionary Doug. They're chained up to the floor, and seem to be pale and weak. Selene begins to laugh. After a bit of questioning, some information is learned. Apparently, following the events of Episode 15, Decacog and Doug returned to Rimeford for medical attention. Once in town, Doug (the World's Greatest Detective\*) began to grow suspicious of Thorne, and so went to check out her private quarters. Apparently, they were ambushed and attacked, which is how they've wound up in this situation.

\*After Doug refers to himself as "The World's Greatest Detective", Screech Echo storms out in a huff.

Thorne has been periodically coming in and draining the two gnomes of their blood, which they don't have much of. She needed four jars of it, in order to pull off some insidious plot that the gnomes don't know. She was able to acquire all four, but there was something wrong with one of them, it was too "dusty" to use. So, Thorne went out to get a fourth jar, which was meant to be that of Wally Bonebraids. This was the ritual that our heroes stopped last episode. In a rage, Thorne returned, and grabbed all four jars, including the contaminated one, vowing to kick off her plot anyway. That can't be good.

Selene makes them promise not to print anything negative about her, her friends, or the Order, which Decacog doesn't agree to, specifically. He says that his life is not as important as the truth. Despite this, T'Chuck asks R'Oarc to free them, which she does. The party then searches the room. R'Oarc finds a stash of Thorne's porn under her bed, and tucked inside all of that is a loose sheet of paper with the label "The Big One" on it. It's a drawing of another creature, this one with four legs and three heads. Looks pretty scary, I sure hope this isn't the creature Thorne is attempting to create.

Well, this all seems pretty horrible. Maybe they should go to Sir Rex Yalos with this. They decide to take the two gnomes with them. T'Chuck carries the weakened Decacog at first, but after he proves too annoying, sets him down. That's when they remember about Wally Bonebraids. Stopping by to his shack and picking him up, the party wonders if they should bring him straight to Sir Yalos, or to The Goblin Pit, and have Yalos meet them there. They elect to bring him back to T'Chuck and R'Oarc's place, where he'll be safe underground. Along the way, Bonebraids begins to stir, and soon wakes.

He seems upset that Thorne's plan was thwarted. Bonebraids admits to being in cahoots with, and, indeed, in love with, Alandra Thorne. He tells them that Thorne had always said that if she were ever found out, she would release "The Big One" in the center of town, causing rampant destruction and death. She's taking a gamble using the jar of dusty blood, since it's bound to be all corrupt and "fucked up" in some way. In fact, they begin to hear the sounds of screams from town, and T'Chuck begins to panic. They decide to ditch Wally in nearby bin, which they lock by sticking a pole through some latch. Then, the party books it to town.

The sight is not a pretty one. It's around 5am, so most of the town was sleeping, although the giant monster attacking is sure to pull some people out of there beds. And speaking of the giant monster, there's currently a large, three-headed blood monstrosity tearing into the bakery. One head is that of goat, another is that of a lion, and the third? Well, that's a mean ol' dragon head, my friends. What's worse, this head appears to be grey-ish, almost "dusty" in appearance. Our heroes jump into battle.

R'Oarc again tries to pull some *Heat Metal* shenanigans. She's unable to heat the iron in the blood that this creature is made of, but she is able to throw something metal, such as a scythe or some arrows, into the creature, and heat that. Or, I say "is able to". She could, but fails to do so. This does give T'Chuck the idea to create a scythe Spiritual Weapon, which is not metal, but can attack the creature. Selene sends *Fire Bolt* after *Fire Bolt* at it, and soon is able to kill it. Not much of a challenge, but that may have been by design, as Thorne steps out of the crowd, alongside Sir Rex Yalos. And she says "See? I told you they're breaking the law!"

### Short

The party frees Professor Decacog and Dictionary Doug. They learn that the two gnomes were captured by Thorne, and their blood drained. Thorne needs the blood to create a blood golem that will cause rampant destruction and death. After picking up Wally Bonebraids and stashing him in a locked bin, the party returns to town to find "The Big One" on a rampage. They fight it and are easily able to kill it. That's when Thorne shows up and, to Rex Yalos, accuses the party of "breaking the law".

## **Trivia**

* Day 9 of the campaign.
	+ Well, technically, Day 10, but they haven't gone to bed yet, so...
* Decacog and Doug were given "chamber pots" to use. There are two of them, but not one for each. Instead, one is for piss, and one is for shit.
* Thorne has a statue of Ugnos in her room, the statue that used to be housed in the sixth vestibule.
* The baker of Rimeford is, of course, Frambore, so he's not going to be too happy about having his baker destroyed. If he's still alive, that is...

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

### **Cast and Player Characters**

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

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Professor Devin Decacog
* Dictionary Doug
* Wally Bonebraids
* Mistress Alandra Thorne
* Sir Rex Yalos

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- Rimeford
			* The Temple of Reya
			* The Graveyard

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [Active] - Investigate the mysterious goings-on in Rimeford
	+ [Active] - Stop Mistress Alandra Thorne
		- [Complete] - ~~Interrogate Wally Bonebraids~~

### **Quotes**

* **"Every old dude that I know that is like T'Chuck is a huge fucking stoner."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

## **Rolls**

* **Selene** rolls *Intimidation* to convince Decacog to not publish anything negative about the OT - 22
	+ It's a good roll, but he's willing to die for the cause

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Perception* to see if the jar of dusty blood is around - 21
	+ There are four rings of blood on the ground, indicating where the jars used to be, but aren't anymore

* **R'Oarc** rolls *Investigation* to see if there are any hidden doors around - 15
	+ There's a box underneath a bed

* **R'Oarc** makes an attack roll against the box {x2} - 9, 11
	+ Hit, Hit - 2 + 2 damage

* **R'Oarc** rolls *Investigation* to look through Thorne's porn - 11
	+ She finds the loose piece of paper with "The Big One" on it

*Combat Begins vs The Big One*

* Initiative
	+ **R'Oarc** - 22
	+ **T'Chuck** - 9
	+ **Selene** - 9
	+ The Big One

*Round One*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Grants **Bardic Inspiration** to T'Chuck
	+ Either throws a scythe or shoots an arrow into the Big One, something like that - Nat 1
		- Does nothing

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Casts *Bless* on all three of them
	+ Casts *Spiritual Weapon* to create a magical scythe
	+ Spiritual Weapon Attack vs Big One - 16
		- Hit - 10 Force damage

* **Selene**
	+ Casts *Fire Bolt* on the Big One, requiring a Dexterity Saving Throw - Nat 1
		- Fail - 30 Fire damage
	+ Uses a Bonus action to *Telekinetic Shove* the Big One, requiring a Strength Saving Throw - 20
		- Success - Not shoved

* **The Big One**
	+ Flies toward R'Oarc
	+ Melee Attack (Goat Head Horns) vs R'Oarc - 20
		- Hit - 10 Bludgeoning damage
	+ Melee Attack (Lion Body Claws) vs R'Oarc - 12
		- Miss

*Round Two*

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Grants *Bardic Inspiration* to Selene
	+ Casts *Invisibility* on herself

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Spiritual Weapon Attack vs the Big One - 17
		- Hit - 7 Force damage
	+ Casts *Guiding Bolt* on the Big One - 21
		- Hit - 13 Radiant damage

* **Selene**
	+ Casts *Fire Bolt* on the Big One (with Advantage) - 15
		- Hit - 16 Fire damage - *Kills It*

*Combat Ends*