One-Shot · What Happens in Magus · Echoes of ITYS
A magic-hating bunny boxer wanders into the casino-city of Magus to fix her glitchy brass knuckles — and accidentally decks half the population on the way in. Two players, one GM, zero working microphones: what happens in Magus stays in Magus, because the mic literally didn’t catch it. A Harengon fighter and a debt-trapped cat-waitress brawl to an hour-long draw on live magic-TV, then team up to hunt the Peter Rabbit siblings.
| Campaign | Episode | Date | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Echoes of ITYS | One-Shot (ch2.1.5) | 2024-11-21 | 2h 24m |
| GM | System | Arc | Status |
| Dave | D&D 5e | One-Shots | Complete |
A note on the recording
The GM (Dave) had no working mic this session — his narration and NPC voices leaked as bleed onto the two player tracks (Basil and Renata). The DM’s lines have been reconstructed from that bleed (~60–70% recoverable); nearly all the world-exposition and NPC voicing survives. Sarah was a brand-new player, so Renata’s own lines are sparse.
This Basil-centric one-shot is, beneath the casino lights, a lore depth-charge for the city of Magus — a place that becomes central to the main campaign’s dream-loop and its endgame. Basil wakes to find her enchanted veil-stone brass knuckles “fritzing out,” punching of their own accord, and is told the only fix lives in the magic-city of Magus (“it’s like Vegas”). She bounds there, crashes backward through the opalescent gate (a color-shifting gel membrane that scrubs her spotless on the way through), and is greeted by Ulterior, the High Mage — a giant holographic entity who installs himself as a GPS-like guide-voice in her head and lays out the rules of the city: a magic-only casino economy where nobody trades gold, everyone barters spell slots and items on a running ledger, and a negative balance means you physically cannot leave (“there are still people locked in”). Detouring to the Forbidden Fruit Cavern — one of 9,652 taverns, “the Applebee’s of taverns” — she reunites with the blindingly beautiful, gold-tattooed Eros, scores a foresight potion, and picks a fight with the Tabaxi waitress Renata.
The brawl becomes the session’s set-piece: Ulterior broadcasts the duel city-wide as a Street Fighter match (“STAYS IN MAGUS!”), the whole city bets on it, and the two fight to an hour-long draw before shaking hands. The twist lands in the payout — Basil’s winnings come as ledger credit, not gold, and that credit is exactly enough to clear Renata’s debt, the very leash that’s kept her trapped working the tavern. Freed and grateful, Renata becomes Basil’s guide, and the two head to Norm’s market (Magus has no blacksmiths — all gear is magically made and mended) to fix the knuckles. Mid-repair, three small rabbit thieves — Flopsis, Mopsis & Cottontail — raid the shop, KO Norm, and trigger a parkour chase across rooftops, climbable slot-machine arms, and a rubber factory. The trio is captured (one nearly killed, then stabilized), a full-grown samurai boss jumps in and drops Basil to negative HP before she survives, and the session resolves quietly: Renata’s ledger is zeroed, the knuckles are re-gemmed with new powers, and the thieves — revealed as Harengon “clan members in training” who’d made off with Basil’s original veil stones — vanish into the city.
🎰 "Stays in Magus" (The City-Wide Brawl — Episode Recap)
(A neon Vegas showtune, narrated by a holographic High Mage who is everywhere and nowhere at once.)
Ulterior: Welcome to Magus, where the spell slots are chips, the cube cleans the blood and the ledger never slips — Basil: I hate magic, I punch things, I came here to fix my fists — Renata: (champagne bottle in hand) Those bitches were betting against me? Add me to your lists.
(They fight to a draw. The whole city watches. The payout clears a debt nobody mentioned.)
Ulterior: TWO IN ONE NIGHT! Let’s give a hand for Basil! Basil: I’m not magical at all… but I’m kind of loving this place. All: What happens in Magus stays in Magus — (except the lore. The lore comes with us.)
Player Characters
| Character | Player | Race | Class | This Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basil | Brin | Harengon | Fighter (samurai-trained) | Veil-stone brass knuckles (malfunctioning); boots of leaping; Fighting Spirit + Rabbit Hop; hates magic, loves Magus; dropped to negative HP and survived |
| Renata | Sarah (new player) | Tabaxi | — | Quarterstaff of warning; high acrobatics; trapped in Magus by a ledger debt, working it off at the Forbidden Fruit Cavern — freed by Basil’s winnings |
| — | Dave | — | GM (mic failed — narration reconstructed from bleed) | Voices Ulterior, Eros, Norm, and the city itself |
NPCs
| NPC | Description |
|---|---|
| Ulterior (the High Mage) | The arcane proprietor of all Magus — a giant hologram at the gate who becomes an omnipresent guide-voice in newcomers’ heads and narrates the city’s betting spectacle. “Everywhere and nowhere.” Catchphrase: “What happens in Magus stays in Magus.” Lore-critical. (Name unstable in the bleed — Ulterior / Alcarius / Altyrius; canonize one spelling.) |
| Eros | A blindingly beautiful figure — black skin, gold tattoos, gold “Roman-circle” horns — drinking with a Goliath at the Forbidden Fruit Cavern; an exasperated acquaintance of Basil who hands her a foresight potion. (Clearly the same Xeros/Eros of the main campaign; also riffed as “Jack, an agent of chaos.”) |
| Norm | The long-lived magic-smith/artificer at the market; friend of Renata; mends the knuckles and Renata’s staff. KO’d in the raid, recovers. |
| Flopsis, Mopsis & Cottontail | Three small Harengon thieves (parkour fighters in samurai padding) — “clan members in training” who raid Norm’s shop and steal Basil’s original veil stones. |
| The Samurai | A full-grown, white-furred samurai boss who attacks at the climax and nearly kills Basil. |
Factions
| Faction | Description |
|---|---|
| The City of Magus | Ulterior’s administration + the automated ledger/casino apparatus effectively is the government. Basil: “it’s the essence of government, damn it.” |
| The Harengon Thief Clan | Flopsis/Mopsis/Cottontail + the samurai — rabbit-folk operating as thieves in Magus, who raid Norm’s and take the veil stones. |
| The University / School of Magus | Referenced (not shown) — the city’s arcane academy. |
Story Beats (GM attribution reconstructed throughout)
~00:07:36· 💥 Inciting · 📍 Camp — Basil’s veil-stone knuckles malfunction (“like a drone doing the opposite”); fixing them becomes priority one.00:09:07· 🎭 RP · 📍 Roadside — She asks three tattooed stagehands for a magical blacksmith; they point her to “Vegas.”00:13:34· 🧭 Discovery · 📍 Magus wall — The opalescent “haunted” wall, ~4–5 mile circumference, four gates (N/S/E/W).00:14:49· ⚔️ Tension · 📍 South gate — Basil’s knuckles deck a passerby; his friends pull magical orbs to retaliate.00:19:10· 🎲 Action · 📍 Gate barrier — Basil leaps backward through the gel barrier, emerging spotless and “glowing.”00:20:41· 📖 Reveal · 📍 Interior — Ulterior manifests: “Welcome to the city of Magus… what happens in Magus stays in Magus.”00:21:33· 📖 Lore · 📍 The Arcade — The magic-only casino economy explained: bet spell slots/items/scrolls; self-cleaning gelatinous cubes; “magic plates.”00:25:03· 📖 Lore · 📍 Streets — “No blacksmiths in Magus — it’s MAGIC GEAR.” A magical arrow-HUD draws on the ground to guide her.00:27:23· 📖 Lore · 📍 Streets — Reaching the city center means passing successive gates “through the infinite void at the end of time,” each a high-level skill test.00:28:34· 🧭 Travel · 📍 → Tavern — Past the shadow-battle show (people fight as shadows, dying and resurrecting as entertainment) to the Forbidden Fruit Cavern.00:31:40· 🎭 RP · 📍 Forbidden Fruit Cavern — Meets Eros (with a Goliath); slaps him; he’s exasperated.00:35:00· 🎁 Item · 📍 Tavern — Eros gives the foresight potion (8 hrs sight, then temporary blindness).00:36:33· 🎭 RP · 📍 Tavern — Meets waitress Renata; a spilled drink escalates; they take it outside.00:44:52· 🎲 Setpiece · 📍 Outside — Ulterior broadcasts the duel city-wide as a Street Fighter match; the whole city bets; Basil and Renata fight to an hour-long draw, then shake hands.00:48:48· 📖 Reveal · 📍 Outside — Basil’s winnings pay out as ledger credit (not gold); the casino-style conversion is explained.00:51:45· 💗 Emotional · 📍 Outside — Renata’s ledger debt is disclosed — the leash trapping her in the city — and Basil’s winnings pay it off. Renata becomes her guide.00:57:00· 📖 Lore · 📍 Norm’s market — Meet Norm; the veil-stone “infinity-stone” mechanic explained (each gem grants a different power; gems must be “tailored”).01:06:36· ⚔️ Action · 📍 Norm’s shop — Three rabbit thieves raid the shop and KO Norm; the heroes give chase.01:11:04· 🏃 Chase · 📍 Rooftops/slots/rubber factory — Parkour pursuit; Renata lassos a thief; Flopsis captured.01:24:00· ⚔️ Action · 📍 Streets — Mopsis & Cottontail captured; one nearly killed (cut, cauterized), then hogtied with the others.01:35:00· 📖 Reveal · 📍 Streets — The thieves are Harengons (“your people”); Ulterior crowns Basil “TWO IN ONE NIGHT!”; a dying thief is stabilized.~01:48:00· ⚔️ Boss · 📍 Market/streets — A full samurai attacks; Basil uses Fighting Spirit/Rabbit Hop, drops to negative HP, survives.~02:05:00· 📖 Lore · 📍 Norm’s — Recovery; healing-potion ledger economics (a sliding scale by proximity to death); Renata zeroed out.02:16:00· 🎁 Reward · 📍 Norm’s — Basil cashes winnings into gem-crafting (pink diamond, rubies → fire, 3 opals → shield); Norm fixes Renata’s staff.02:21:24· 🧭 Denouement · 📍 Magus — The thieves had stolen Basil’s original veil stones; Renata is debt-free; casual wrap. Session ends (02:23:41).
Notable Moments
On character creation philosophy
“I identify as a cat. I’m not apologizing.” — Sarah / Renata,
00:04:15
On recruiting a new player
“No stress — it took me eight hours to convince her to do this.” — Brin / Basil,
00:05:11
On the city's defining law
“…stays in Magus. And you look around — this place is bat-shit crazy.” — Dave / GM (as Ulterior),
00:21:04
On the local industry
“Here in Magus we don’t have a blacksmith. We have magical everything… It’s MAGIC GEAR.” — Dave / GM (as Ulterior),
00:25:12
On hating magic in a magic city
“You know what, I like this place. I hate magic and I like this place. You wanna fight?” — Brin / Basil,
00:41:46
On discovering the house always wins
“Wait — those bitches were betting against me?” — Sarah / Renata,
00:51:45
On a friendly warning
“Promise me that you won’t sleep with that guy.” (re: Eros) — Brin / Basil,
00:55:33
On heritage
“I was raised by turtles… I’m actually half — I’m half turtle.” — Brin / Basil,
01:48:06
Encounters
| Type | Encounter | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 🎲 Setpiece | The city-wide duel (Basil vs. Renata) | Hour-long draw; winnings clear Renata’s debt |
| 🏃 Chase | The rabbit-thief raid on Norm’s | Trio captured; Basil’s veil stones stolen |
| ⚔️ Boss | The samurai | Basil dropped to negative HP, survives |
Lore Discoveries — The City of Magus (ch5-critical)
- Magic-only economy: no gold inside Magus — everyone barters spell slots, items, and scrolls, tracked on a personal ledger (casino tokens = “magic plates”).
- The ledger trap: a negative balance means you physically cannot leave the city — directly confirming Renata’s canon (trapped working a tavern by a Magus debt). Cash out like a casino on exit.
- Ulterior, the High Mage: an omnipresent host-entity who installs himself as a guide-voice in newcomers’ heads and runs the betting spectacle. (Lore-critical; canonize the name spelling.)
- The concentric rings (the Arcade): the outer “circle of fun” holds most people; the center is reached only by clearing successive gates “through the infinite void at the end of time,” each gated by a high-level magical skill test.
- The wall & gates: an opalescent “haunted” white wall, ~4–5 miles around, four gates; the barrier is a color-shifting gel that cleans anyone passing through.
- Self-cleaning ecology: roaming black gelatinous cube creatures dissolve dirt and blood from the streets (acidic if you linger).
- No blacksmiths: all gear is magically made/mended at markets.
- Veil Stones: rare gems set into gear (lightening it); each gem grants a different power (rubies → fire, opal → shield, diamond → other effects) — “infinity-stone”-like, and tailored to a receptacle.
- Shadow battles: real people fight as shadows, dying and resurrecting as first-circle entertainment.
- Scale & history: 9,652 taverns; the Forbidden Fruit Cavern is tied to “the Forbidden Hour” — a historical event that likely connects to the broader Forgotten Hour lore.
Ending
No hard cliffhanger — a one-shot that lands quietly. Renata’s ledger debt is zeroed (she’s free of the leash that traps her in Magus), Basil’s knuckles are re-gemmed and her gear repaired, and the rabbit-thief clan has slipped away with her original veil stones. The two part as established besties — and the city of Magus is now firmly on the map for everything to come.
Full Transcript
Source: 241121-what-happens-in-magus-transcript Format: DaVinci Resolve SMPTE —
HH:MM:SS:FF(session-absolute) Speakers: Dave / GM (bleed-reconstructed) · Brin / Basil · Sarah / Renata Runtime:00:00:00:00→ ~02:23:41
Related
- Campaign: Echoes of ITYS · Arc: One-Shots
- Around: Ch 2.1 → Magus → Ch 2.2
- Characters: Basil · Renata
- Factions: The City of Magus · The Harengon Thief Clan
- Locations: Magus · The Forbidden Fruit Cavern · Norm’s Market
- Lore: Ulterior the High Mage · The Magus Ledger · Veil Stones