#rivertun

[we-are-a-dragon]

Godric (fairy warlock): Guys, when I followed Kjell into the stable, the stable boy materialised behind him. Like, it was just Kjell in there and then the boy grew from the floor.

Kjell (half-elf barbarian): *shudders* That's what I thought, but I was too unnerved to turn around.

Una (genasi artificer): So it's quit pretending.

Billie (gnome ardent): But what exactly is it?

DM: Can you all make History checks? Okay, Godric has heard of this.

Godric: I've heard of this, you guys.

DM: Baby mimics can turn into a chest or a stool. As they grow older, they can impersonate a cart or a person. After that, they usually split and restart their life cycle, kind of like a phoenix. But very, very occasionally, they choose to keep growing, and what they turn into is an exceptionally rare creature called a mimic titan.

Godric: I think it's a mimic titan, you guys.

DM: The one you heard of grew big enough to turn into a small watchtower. This is a whole village.

Godric: *crying* Fuck.

[we-are-a-dragon]

Adam (playing Billie): Do we want to try and talk to some villagers?

Hamish (playing Thaddeus): Yeah.

Adam: I call out, "There's too much fish for us to finish, but it's too delicious to waste. Does anyone want to help?"

DM: A guy hops up from his table, pulls up a chair and thanks you.

M (playing Kjell): So we're going to ask about the sheriff?

Adam: Yeah.

M: I lean forward with a low voice. "We're not just passing through Rivertun and selling grain. The sheriff of False Forest went missing two weeks ago. Have you seen him?"

DM: The guy wipes his mouth. "What a coincidence! I'm the sheriff of False Forest. This is my deputy." He points at the guy he was sitting with.

Andy (playing Una): Wait, really?

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: The mimic titan's 'child' puppet snarls. In a deep, guttural voice it says, "Fine. If you won't stop hitting me, I'll hit you."

Adam (playing Billie): Ah.

DM: The 'child' dissolves back into the ground. On all sides it starts receding, pulling back into its centre to reveal a crater where it once lay, piling up buildings-

Tati (playing Seraph): Oh my god, it's the Black Bull.

DM: -until it has created a building golem. Its head is a barn with lit windows.

Hamish (playing Thaddeus): It really is.

M (playing Kjell): *eyes light up* Okay, now I wanna hit it.

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: You're on the main street of Rivertun. Two guys are lounging on the porches of the two taverns, another guy is strolling down the street.

Godric (fairy warlock): Can I make an Arcana check, just generally now we're here? Ooh, 40!

DM: Nice roll. The whole town is magical. Every house, person, tree, road is magical. Same type, same level.

Godric: Ooooooookay...

Seraph (siren sorcerer): Can I make an Arcana check based on that to find if the town is an illusion? 26.

DM: It is not. You can sense no type of illusion magic at all.

Seraph: *narrows eyes*

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: The mimic titan sucks its 'villager' puppets back in.

M (playing Kjell): Damn.

DM: And grows a single nine year old girl with a teddy bear.

Tati (playing Seraph): I knew you were going to do that.

DM: She looks up at you with a black eye and tears streaming down her face and says, "Why won't you stop hitting me?"

Marijn (playing Godric): I yell, more for the sake of the audience in Suda than anything, "It's not a real child!"

M: I'm raging, I attack it anyway!

[we-are-a-dragon]

Tati (playing Seraph): Una, can you check if we're being scried on?

Andy (playing Una): 30 for my Perception check.

DM: Una, you see a cluster of tiny shimmering rings, like camera lenses.

Andy: Yep, they can see us.

Tati: That's reassuring. If we get eaten or turned into zombie sock puppets tonight, Farlaing and the rest will see it in real time. They'll at least know what happened to us.

Andy: ...Very reassuring.

[we-are-a-dragon]

Adam (playing Billie): So what's our plan of attack? 'We attack'?

M (playing Kjell): I hate the idea of killing such an ancient sentient creature. Let's talk to it.

Tati (playing Seraph): And say what?

Andy (playing Una): "Please stop eating people"?

M: I don't know. But let's see what it has to say for itself?

Hamish (playing Thaddeus): Okay. We approach the village. Or, we approach the mimic titan.

DM: All the 'villagers' emerge simultaneously, moving in unison.

Adam: Gross.

M: I call out, "So... You're a mimic."

DM: The 'sheriff' smiles and shrugs. "Yes, I am."

M: "How? I mean, what's your story?"

DM: "Rivertun was a nice little village. I ate it and modeled myself after it." You can see now that you're up close that it's hard for the mimic titan to run this many 'characters' simultaneously. Aside from the sheriff, most of the figures are blocky and unanimated.

Hamish: I say, "You must have known adventurers would come sooner or later. What was your plan?"

DM: "The same as it is now. I offer to not eat you, you go away and tell everyone it's safe here now, and I start over far away."

Tati: *softly* Nobody mention we're being scried on.

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: You reach False Forest, the last town before Rivertun. Do you want to stop there?

Billie (gnome ardent): Yeah, let's get the lay of the land. We're supposed to be finding out why nobody's been coming through, right? I ask what people know.

DM: Everyone you talk to is upset. The sheriff and his deputy rode out two weeks ago to check on the Rivertun situation themselves and never returned. The village is low on produce and they have no fish as they usually trade with Rivertun.

Billie: I offer to pick some up for them. "We're on our way to Rivertun ourselves."

DM: There's dubious silence.

Billie: "...We're tough."

DM: If you put in a 50 gold deposit, they give you two sacks of grain and will pay you 200 gold if you deliver them an equal amount of fish.

Billie: "Consider it done."