| The Circus Conundrum (Campaign 2 - Episode 93) |
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| Information | |
| Release Date: | April 8, 2024 |
| Recording Date: | April 5, 2024 |
| Episode Length: | 1:17:20 |
| 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: |
| Back to the Circus | Caravan Raid |
Our heroes return to the traveling caravan to find it mostly intact with R’Oarc safe and sound. But will the divisions between the clowns and jugglers be able to be calmed down to a somewhat safe degree?? As long as the team is on the same page everything should be fine.
Story[]
Long Story[]
The caravan that makes up The Big Top Traveling Circus and Magnificent Menagerie is just about to pull out of town when R'Oarc suddenly arrives. She's apparently been attempting to make a diorama of Mineford out of carrot peels. Sounds like a worthwhile endeavor, one that took her 13 hours. The rest of the party quickly catch her up on the whole Screech situation: how he has 22 ex wives, and one non-ex wife. That's 23 wives in total. He also tells them that he's had "a couple of kids of his own", but that he made them all his wards. Apparently, through the process of becoming a ward, you revoke all blood statuses. So, I guess they're not technically his children anymore? This needs to be explored more.
Barnabas Rumbletoes is also glad that R'Oarc is back. She was, after all, the entire reason the party went out looking for her several episodes ago. And they didn't even come back with her last episode, because she was gone again! Oh well, we're all here now. Their next stop is the nearby town of Brookwillow, where the circus will be able to practice for the upcoming "Battle of the Circuses". Brookwillow is a "quiet, little town" that, years ago, sprung up around a local farmers market. Because of this, it's a popular spot for farmers to go to sell their wares for cheap. A lot of cheap supplies can be found here. There are even some richer folk there, which will be good to bolster Barnabas's pockets. Gotta recoup those wage increases somehow.
He also tells the party that there's an issue with the "griffon" they brought with them. According to stable-master Draven Bloodfang, J'Michael is not eating any of the griffon food. Barnabas recommends the party go speak with him, because Draven can be quick to anger, and nobody wants Draven Bloodfang to get angry. He also also tells them that the caravan will be leaving in two hours (despite them technically having left in the last episode). With that, Barnabas absconds.
The group does go to the stables, to speak with Draven. First, they catch up with J'Michael, who complains about the ferrets they're trying to feed him. We had previously learned that the only thing J'Michael drinks is a specially brewed ale created by the Grizzly-folk who lived near Rimeford. Now, he says the only thing he'll take is "beer".
Just then, Draven Bloodfang appears. He's wearing a button-down shirt, a tie, and some slacks. Sounds like a real piece of shit to me. He immediately talks down to them about J'Michael, and judges them on their parenting skills, a Class 1 felony. Griffons, he says, should be strong and fierce, not squishy and lethargic like J'Michael. The party attempts to convince Draven that J'Michael was cursed by a rogue druid living with a colony of Myconid. When that doesn't work, they point out his long snout, Draconic scales, and long pointy tale, suggesting that J'Michael is only part Griffon, the other part being Wyrm. T'Chuck also tries to pull rank. As King of the Jugglers, he has more pull than Draven does. He also tries to be diplomatic, not wanting to start any kind of feud with Draven. This manifests in him winking at the stable-keep, and saying he wants to make "sweet magic" together. Responding to either the flirtatious-ness of T'Chuck's tone, or the suggestion of illegal magic being at play, Draven gets uncomfortable, and seems to agree to not feed J'Michael ferrets anymore. He then says "goodbye". So, the resolution here is a little unclear. But, listening ahead a few episode, it's not going to matter all that much. Spoilers.
Finally, the caravan takes off, heading for Brookwillow. The party has been granted their own special car, but they just ride on their weird spider steeds (and T'Chuck's donkey, "Lilly"). The spiders require special sunglasses to be out in the daytime. Screech lets R'Oarc use his spider to form a kind of Sebulba-style podracer thing, which is fun. Also, it's spring time now, which means the party must have been underground for the entire winter!
During the journey, T'Chuck is approached by "Tessa the Toss", one of the head jugglers. She asks T'Chuck for their orders, which usually consists of just juggling. And also fighting with the clowns. T'Chuck suggests that, in an effort to heal the divide between them, the jugglers and the clowns work to develop an act together. He says that, when they make camp tonight, there will be a meeting between the two factions, but this is later decided against. Also, Tessa throws some juggling balls at Selene, who is surprised to find that she's able to juggle them remarkably. Maybe a career change is in the works for our dear Selene? She's even given a potential name: "Velvet Vortex", which she loves.
Meanwhile, Screech goes out looking for a new wife, and R'Oarc gives Barnabas Rumbletoes some much needed advice on organizing his circus. This spirals into her taking interest in what the clowns are doing, so she goes to the "general clown area", and speaks to the first clown she comes to. His name is "Giggles O'Flapdoodle", and he has very large feet, red curly hair, a white face with a big red nose that honks. He's also wearing a yellow and red striped suit. Wow, I truly am lovin' it. He tells R'Oarc that he hates jugglers and wants to kill them all. For some reason, R'Oarc agrees, and decides to hatch a plot with him. Tonight, Giggles will lead R'Oarc to where the jugglers sleep, and together, they'll sneak in and kill one of them. In return, R'Oarc will talk to Screech, and maybe Screech and Giggles will get married? It's unclear.
To her credit, R'Oarc does gather the party together, and informs them of Giggles' plot, the one that wouldn't have existed if not for her. The others are pretty upset by this, even though R'Oarc tries to brush it off as no big deal. She thinks there are only, like, 4 clowns, even though that's almost certainly not true. She also thinks Giggles is "the head of the clowns", and tells Screech that he's interested in getting married. Screech, however, has already been married to "at least" 2 clowns, that he knows of ("You can't always tell," he says).
Suddenly, the party realizes that there's an "insane predator" flying at them from the sky!
Short[]
The party reconnects with R'Oarc and the circus. J'Michael is not doing well under the watch of Draven Bloodfang, so the party convinces him not to feed the "griffon" traditional griffon food. Selene becomes a juggler, and R'Oarc becomes a clown. There's maybe a plot to kill the jugglers, but it gets abandoned when an "insane predator" attacks the caravan!
Trivia[]
- Selene admits that she doesn't think of J'Michael as a person.
- J'Michael doesn't think he had a name before meeting the party. However, he does think that eventually people will call him something like "Doomwing", or "Terrormouth".
- When T'Chuck announces himself as the King of the Jugglers, Draven Bloodfang responds: "What happened to Rick?" So, apparently "Rick" was the previous Juggler King.
- T'Chuck doesn't remember if his donkey steed is named "Lilly" or "Rose". As of Episode 81, it was "Lilly".
- R'Oarc's spider is named "Greeg".
- The clowns got all mixed up after the Jokester came by.
- Since the clowns have started getting paid, Giggles O'Flapdoodle now has 2 copper.
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[]
- Barnabas Rumbletoes
- J'Michael
- Draven Bloodfang
- Tessa the Toss
- Giggles O'Flapdoodle
- An "insane predator". Don't ask why this is going in the NPC section.
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
- [NEW][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 would you do if I didn't run away? You would be so bored!" ~ R'Oarc, to T'Chuck
- "I'm a vigilante! How could I be a bad guy?" ~ Screech Echo
- "If you want to change your name, you can change your name. But you're gonna have to learn to tell us what you wanna be called." ~ Selene von Esper, resident hardass
- "Where were you, during the Lollipop Armageddon?" ~ T'Chuck, to Draven Bloodfang
- "Oh, sorry. I was in the middle of saying something, before I found out I could juggle..." ~ Selene von Esper
- "I have to kill you. We have to put her down. I'm gonna mix player knowledge with character knowledge, and we gotta kill R'Oarc." ~ Tim Lanning
Rolls[]
- R'Oarc rolls Deception to trick Draven Bloodfang with a Silent Image spell (with Advantage) - 15
- It's passable.
- R'Oarc rolls Perception while out riding near the caravan - Nat 1 (accidentally rolls a d12 instead, lol)
- She doesn't see anything.
- Selene rolls Sleight of Hand to catch the juggler balls flying at her - 17
- She is able to juggle them right back to Tessa the Toss.
- R'Oarc rolls Deception to lie to T'Chuck that she's on the side of the jugglers - 20
- Against T'Chuck's Insight - 12 + 8
- It's a tie! But T'Chuck lets himself believe her
- Against T'Chuck's Insight - 12 + 8