| Missing in Action (Campaign 2 - Episode 104) |
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| Information | |
| Release Date: | July 8, 2024 |
| Recording Date: | July 2, 2024 |
| Episode Length: | 1:03:50 |
| Cast & Characters | |
| Michael DiMauro: | Dungeon Master |
| Tim Lanning: | T'Chuck |
| Jennifer Cheek: | Selene von Esper |
| Nika Howard: | R'Oarc |
| Mike Bachmann: | Screech Echo |
| Guide | |
| Previous Episode: | Next Episode: |
| A Simple Stabbing Mistake | Welcome to Brookwillow |
Somehow we survived the “bandits” attack against “us” and the OT. “Unfortunate” the OT did not. So let’s loot their bodies!!
Story[]
Long Story[]
There are 8 OT soldiers who have just surrendered to the party, as well as 2 OT mages who have just been killed by the party. There are also a bunch of clowns and jugglers, running around panicking. That sounds like the worst thing imaginable, personally. T'Chuck talks with the soldiers, and learns the names of two of them: "Erling" and "Phonin". They weren't really all that into the OT's whole thing. They were really just in it for a paycheck. T'Chuck patches up one of the wounded archers, and as thanks, they agree not to rob everyone, which they were, apparently, planning on doing. With that, the OT soldiers leave.
Alright, well that's taken care of. The rest of the party groups up. Selene is feeling conflicted about killing Greta Buckleby, and is consoled by T'Chuck. But what about the Theonite collar she still has around her neck. They don't have those magical bolt cutters from way back, so those won't help. Then again, she is already dead...
T'Chuck does the dirty deed himself. Many horrific sounds are heard, and then, he has Greta Buckleby's collar. Gross. Selene knows that the OT can't track the location of these collars, so they don't need to worry about that. But, they can communicate with the wearer through the collars, so they might need to worry about that. And what about the bodies? Screech suggests feeding them to a bear, which reminds everyone about Big Bo, J'Michael, and the old, one-eyed bear that they had thrown into the Portable Hole. Now, Screech dumps them out. They've been fighting with each other the whole time.
T'Chuck then takes the time to chew out Screech for attacking the OT. R'Oarc was just going to receive a little slap on the booty for hitting one of the OT soldiers with a pie, and then everything would have been fine. Instead, they've now committed double murder! Dick Goodie arrives, and tries to give an alibi for where he and Screech were during the fight. Unfortunately, it sounds way worse than them actually being secret vigilantes. Anyway, the game is up. Everyone knows who everyone is, no point in trying to hide it. Screech decides to search the bodies, and finds 50 platinum pieces, the latest copy of The Farhold Trumpeter, and two stacks of papers, one labeled "Missing", and the other labeled "Wanted". There are about 60 pages of Missing people, among them Corey Blue, and Kyle Oakenbacher. Of course, we know that Corey Blue is dead, and Kyle Oakenbacher, aka Skin Kyle, is chilling back in Rimeford. Selene is also one of the Missing pages. That's good news. It means she's not wanted. They also check the Wanted pile. It appears to be a list of ruffians, magic users, and the like. None of the party members are in this list, and that includes Screech's fursonas. Ratma Ritmo, however, is on the list. As is Professor Devin Decacog, who's apparently still alive. And there's also an Elf named "Elara Windwhispers". Interesting. The party takes both stacks of papers for themselves, and then looks at the Trumpeter.
The headline reads "'Assassination Attempt on Emperor Beauregard Foiled in Farhold!' by Professor Devin Decacog". It talks about, well, an assassination attempt on Emperor Beauregard, by the hands of some Dark Elves, who escaped capture. This would have happened "yesterday afternoon", with the paper is dated "within the last 3 weeks". According to the story, there were about 12 Dark Elves using poisoned arrows to attack the Emperor. He was struck, several times, but next day, the Emperor was seen alive and well, with no obvious wounds on his body. Since the attack, security in Farhold has been beefed up. The story also contains quotes from a local merchant named "Marla Weathers", and "Lady Elara", a member of the emperor's council.
Huh. That's all pretty weird. Bo has been with the circus since before this attacked would have taken place, so it wasn't him who got attacked. If we assume there's some kind of cloning situation going on, then it would seem that the assassination attempt was, in fact, successful. It's just that one clone has taken the place of the other. How many clones are there, we must wonder? This must all be Durian Brexleyshire's doing. One thing's for sure, the party desperately needs to talk to Ratma Ritmo about all of this. Fortunately, they'll be meeting with her in the next town.
Alright, well, there's still the matter of Thorald Banes, and his Theonite collar. At T'Chuck's request, and without a moment's hesitation, Screech saws the dude's head off. Gross. T'Chuck uses Stone Shape to hide the bodies inside of a rock, and together, the party throws the Theonite collars into a river "never to hear of them again". Soon, the caravan takes off, heading toward Brookwillow.
Not long after that, they can see the city up ahead, on the horizon.
Short[]
The surrendered OT soldiers run away, without causing any more mischief. The party loots the bodies of the two dead mages, and find some wanted posters, some missing posters, and a copy of the Farhold Trumpeter. The lead story talks about an assassination attempt on the emperor's life, which the public believes was unsuccessful. In reality, the Emperor did die. But he was a clone, and was quickly replaced with another clone. Shaken, the party disposes of the bodies. Not long after this, the caravan arrives at Brookwillow!
Trivia[]
- The OT archer that T'Chuck patched up has 11 children. He promises to bring one of them back with him to visit the circus.
- There's a question about where the magical bolt cutters are. *Deep breath.* Back in Episode 25, they got the bolt cutters out of Ratma Ritmo's attic, and used them to release "Skin Kyle". After that, they just... weren't mentioned for a while. In Episode 52, they needed to remove Selene's collar, and at this point, the bolt cutters were said to be in Ratma Ritmo's room. Again, after this, they were never mentioned again. Who knows where those bolt cutters are now. Most likely, back in Rimeford somewhere, but they could honestly be anywhere.
- *Another deep breath, more of a sigh, really.* Alright. We gotta talk about this. The money thing. It's complicated. So, Tim has been tracking the party's money, and I've been attempting to do the same. Obviously, Tim is more right than I am, so I'm re-adjusting my numbers whenever Tim gives his. But it's, as I say, complicated. For example, in this episode, Screech finds 50 platinum pieces, which is 500 gold pieces. That's okay, that's fine. But he only gives 40 platinum to T'Chuck. Tim mentions that he's tracking "the party's gold", not necessarily T'Chuck's. He then says that they have 1700 gold. That includes the 40 platinum that Screech gave him. Then he says "All our money, broken up as it is, we have 1,707 gold". So, I'm not sure if that includes the 10 platinum Screech has. It's complicated.
- Elara Wind-whispers is described as having "delicate and ethereal features. And high cheek-bones." Her eyes are a striking green.
- She also shares the name of "Lady Elara", a member of the emperor's council.
- The image of Selene on her Missing poster resembles the way she used to look, before her recent appearance change.
- I remember Durian's last name being Brexleyshire. But in this episode, they mention it being "Applebaum" for some reason. Possibly one of those names is a middle name. There's no way of knowing.
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[]
- Erling, Phonin, and 6 other OT soldiers
- Big Bo
- J'Michael
- The Old Bear
- Dick Goodie
Locations[]
Inventory[]
| T'Chuck | Selene von Esper | R'Oarc | Screech Echo | General Inventory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quest Board[]
- [Active] - Save Selene's family!
- [Active] - Go to Brunnell
- [Active] - Go to Brookwillow
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of Hortentia Calamore
- [On-Hold] - Travel to Vhur'endal
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of House Bartell
- [On-Hold] - Travel to Anchordowns
- [Active] - Go to Brunnell
- [On-Hold] - Find a cure for Thaldin Emberbrew
- [On-Hold] - Go to the nearby Drow city, probably Vhur'endal
- [On-hold] - Investigate "Bill, the Necromancer", in the far off city by the coast
- [On-hold] - Take the disembodied lips to the oceanfront, for a burial at sea
Quotes[]
- "What's the funniest animal we can make eat these things?" ~ Screech/Mike Bachmann
- "You seem like an absentee boss!" ~ Tim Lanning, of Screech
- "You know, she would have definitely killed me, if she'd seen-- well, she wouldn't have killed me, because she would take me back to the OT, because she's a fucking suck up! But, it would have caused me to die. So, when you think about it, I was just actually doing self defense. Right? Right?!?" ~ Selene von Esper
Rolls[]
- T'Chuck does a Medicine check to patch up one of the OT archers - 22
- Success - He does a good job
- T'Chuck rolls Persuasion to convince the OT archer that the circus is a wonderful place to be - 23
- Success - The archer agrees to come back, with one of his eleven children
- T'Chuck rolls Perception to look through Greta Buckleby's belonging - 12
- He doesn't really find anything interesting
- Screech rolls Investigation to search the bodies - 24
- He finds a secret stash of 50 platinum pieces