Iron DM 2015 Round 2: The Lost Crayon Caper
First Day –
The first day of school
Lonely Ranger –
John Reynolds, who knows the location of Victor's new club-house
Mighty Leap –
What it takes to reach the yacht
Rotten Hull –
The outside of the yacht abandoned in the woods
Undone Deed –
Returning a stolen crayon, Ziggy's quest to reclaim his title
Unfinished Masterpiece –
Ponies Parachuting into Pakistan
Deposed King –
Ziggy, the former “King of the Monkey-bars”
The Lost Crayon Caper
A S.P.I.E.S. FATE adventure for 1-4 players.
The previous school year at the Super Private Investigation and Espionage School (S.P.I.E.S) ended rather dramatically for the first grade class. Vesper Lynx was just about to put the finishing touches on her most ambitious piece of art ever (Ponies Parachuting into Pakistan) when her favorite black crayon came up missing. Victor Von Mood accidentally blew up his club-house. James Tonto, the best friend of the eccentric John Reynolds, was transferred to a different academy. And Ziggy Krycsiwiki lost his “King of the Monkey-bars” title in a surprising playground upset. With so many unresolved issues, now that summer is over, the first day of school for the new second-grade class promises to be interesting, especially for our stalwart PCs, who must find Vesper's crayon and thwart Victor's nefarious plans, all while avoiding the wrath of Ziggy, who wants revenge, and his title back.
Dramatis Personae
The PCs: Second Grade students at the prestigious, and very secretive, S.P.I.E.S. One of the PCs is also the reigning “King of the Monkey-bars,” having deposed Ziggy Krycsiwiki the previous year.
Vesper Lynx: A coquettish artist, devoid of her favorite black crayon, but determined to retrieve it.
Ziggy Krycsiwiki: The former “King of the Monkey-Bars.” Rumors based on his size suggest he spent three years in the first grade before finally graduating last year. He is notorious for biting people.
John Reynolds: Despondent after the transfer of his best friend to another school, he spends recess exploring the woods behind the playground. He habitually wears a white Stetson and carries a silver pea-shooter in a holster on his belt. He is generally considered the best shot in the class.
Lewis Snap: He possesses an unfortunate milk addiction and stole Vesper's crayon in order to fund his habit.
“The Baron,” aka. Victor Von Mood: On the playground, he wears a green-hood and a mask. He seems to have plans of school-wide domination. Currently in possession of Vesper's black crayon.
The Set-up
Victor Von Mood was despondent after accidentally blowing up his club-house last year, along with all his blue-prints for fabulous machines of school-domination. Determined to rebuild, Victor settled on establishing his new headquarters in an old, yacht inexplicably dumped in the woods behind the school's playground. He also needed some new crayons and hired Lewis Snap to find him some. Snap stole exactly one crayon, Vesper Lynx's favorite black crayon, before losing his nerve. As the new school year begins, armed with his crayon, Victor and his band of loyal henchkids, are determined to turn the rotting yacht into the best super-secret-clubhouse ever. Meanwhile Vesper begins the first day of school with a dogged determination to find out what happened to her crayon. In the background of all of this is Ziggy Krycsiwiki, who wants vengeance for losing his “Monkey-bar King” title to one of the PCs.
Beginning the School Day
As PCs enter the S.P.I.E.S school-ground to begin the first day of second grade, Ziggy looms threateningly, looking even bigger then he did in the first grade. He threatens the PC who stole his title, demanding a rematch and making specific threats as to what he is going to do to the PC's face. Meanwhile Victor Von Mood disembarks from his father's helicopter and sweeps up the front steps in his usual over-the-top manner. Vesper Lynx is questioning people as to the whereabouts of her crayon, lost at the end of last year. Sharp-eyed PCs can spot Lewis Snap slinking into school, pointedly ignoring Vesper.
The Second-grade teacher, Mr. Carre, welcomes his class, and begins with basic bomb identifications – a subject Victor seems unusually interested in. Meanwhile Vesper unrolls a parchment, her unfinished masterpiece, (Ponies Parachuting into Pakistan) and spends her time sorrowfully gazing at it. It should be clear she really wants her crayon back.
The PCs will have an opportunity to question Lewis Snap as to the whereabouts of the Crayon at target practice following their bomb-class, and with just a little bit of prodding he breaks down, admitting that he stole the crayon and sold it to Victor. Vesper hears this but before anything can be done, the bell for morning recess rings, and it is clear that Victor is no-where around – he and his henchkids have disappeared. Vesper pleads with the PCs to help her get her crayon back, being practically in tears.
On the Playground
On the playground, Ziggy immediately zeros in on the PCs, demanding a Monkey-bar fight (one kid stands on the top of the Monkey-bars and attempts to push all the others off as they try to push him off). Victor is not anywhere to be seen. If the PCs give in to Ziggy, all the other kids gather round to watch. If one of the PCs wins, Ziggy sulks for a while, and then later follows the PCs to exact revenge. If Ziggy wins, he is triumphant and once more, as last year, won't allow any of the other kids onto the Monkey-bars without shoving them off; that is, he insists that all who want on the monkey-bars play his game. Meanwhile, while the PCs dealt with Ziggy, Vesper wanders off, into the woods, where she is subsequently captured by Victor's henchkids while they work on the yacht.
PCs who want to find Victor or Vesper can ask questions and get pointed towards the woods by other students who saw them entering the woods.
In the Woods
PCs who try to explore the woods soon realize they have no idea where they are going. Soon they are confronted by a couple of feral dogs. Enter John Reynolds, who knows the woods quite well. John is quite lonely, and when he finds the PCs, if they show any kindness at all, he agrees to help them. He knows where Victor is, and can lead the PCs straight to the yacht.
The Yacht Hideout
The yacht lies in the middle of the woods, on the other side of a ravine. Victor and his friends reached it by swinging across on ropes, but currently all the ropes are anchored to the side of the yacht on the other side of the ravine. Reaching it is going to require jumping. PCs who fail, and fall into the ravine, can climb back up the side they began on, and try again, but there is no way to climb up to the yacht, and the ravine stretches for miles.
The hull of the yacht is quite rotten, the paint is basically holding it together, and entrance is gained via a large hole in the side of the yacht.
Vesper is tied up inside the yacht, her crayon on a table nearby. Various diagrams for outrageous robots and other machines have been drawn up and are on the table with the crayon. There are four henchkids in the room with Vesper, busily trying to hammer new boards up on the side of the yacht, to strengthen their new club-house. The henchkids are each armed with pea-shooters and they put up a fight.
Once the henchkids are defeated (John Reynold's helps, though he eccentrically only shoots at their guns), Vesper can be freed and reunited with her crayon. At that moment, Victor Von Mood enters, accompanied by a large wooden robot. The robot attacks and must be dealt with. If Ziggy lost the Monkey-bars battle, he shows up at this time also. Unfortunately for Victor, whenever the robot attacks, it does damage to the rotting walls of the yacht, and soon it is clear that the yacht itself is about to collapse. As the PCs flee with Vesper, Reynolds and the crayon, the yacht collapses behind them – Victor has once more destroyed his own lair.
Conclusion
Vesper, reunited with her crayon, finishes her masterpiece and presents it, framed, to the PCs as a reward for their efforts. Victor swears vengeance against the PCs for the loss of his hideout. Lewis Snap tells the PCs he is sorry for what he did and is going to do his best to kick his milk habit (unfortunately, he's fated to fail). John Reynolds thanks the PCs for a fun time, but still continues to spend the days roaming the woods; but now he is determined to be a guardian of the woods, helping those who might get lost in their depths. And Ziggy continues to be a playground bully.