As the sun sets behind nearby mountains, [insert town name] is bustling as people excitedly run from home to home collecting some sort of material. It’s hard for the party to determine exactly what it is, but they’re not looting and they all seem to be headed out to a field on the edge of town.
A man sprints by, accidentally bumping into the party. “I’m so sorry!” he exclaims, collecting the items he dropped. He introduces himself as Lee Tann, one of several alchemists in town. “This is our biggest night of the year. We’ve prepped for months and months to celebrate Armstrong Appreciation Day, after our hero Neville Armstrong.” He coughs and bobbles his items before sprinting away. A Perception or Investigation check reveals that the man appears to have some sort of homemade firework.
As they near the edge of town, they begin to hear loud booming noises. Flickers of light fill the sky, confirming the source is homemade fireworks. Lee and his colleagues stand in the middle of a field, causing sparks and sending their exploding rockets into the sky as onlookers “oooo” and “ahhhh.”
Suddenly an errant firework missiles toward the crowd, beelining for a makeshift craft stand called Fannie’s Flammables. The woman, looks up from her creations, eyes wide as she stares down the incoming firework. The party can intervene at this point, but if they do not, the firework will stop and hover a few feet away from the stand as if by magic. It turns 90 degrees and shoots up into the sky just before it explodes.
Silence in the field as the Mayor emerges. “Lee!” she bellows, “Be careful. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorched, especially when she’s your fifth ex-wife.” The town erupts in laughter and Lee chuckles, more embarrassed at the errant firework than his failed marriages.
The mayor turns to the party, introducing herself as Owma Hannz, a now-retired battle chieftain. “You’ll have to excuse Lee, he’s a bit of a dolt. He just gets so excited for Armstrong Appreciation day.” More fireworks begin to go off as the party looks on.
Here Comes The Gloom
Nearing midnight, the only lights in the sky are those of the fireworks. Between booms, a new noise begins, more of a low rumble. A few more booms, a louder low rumble, seemingly one of frustration. The noise draws nearer and as the next firework explodes, the light shows the outline of a figure perched on the mountain. An Adult Red Dragon has awaken and is not taking too kindly to the display (can swap out with a wyrmling for lower APL). Its voice echoes, “the noise ordinance agreement states that loud noises will be quieted after 10:00pm, have you no respect for our treatise?!”
The townsfolk begin scrambling and screaming “oh no, he caught us!” Mayor Hannz begins walking toward the dragon yelling back, “Gary we all agreed we get this one night per year that we can have noises past 10:00pm.”
Gary replies, “Owma, it’s been the whole week, enough is enough!” The dragon swoops down and sprays his fire breath across the field, hitting the pile of fireworks and singing Lee and the alchemists.
Owma looks at the party and says, “We have to keep Gary in this field, if he reaches town my people are done for. Follow me!” She sprints into the field where the earth was just scorched, taunting Gary further out into the field and away from the town.
Red Sky At Night
Along with Owma, the party must try to defeat Gary in the field. The sky is filled with random fireworks that were still placed in the ground and a few will go off each round of battle. The party must pass a DC12 Constitution check or be Deafened by the booms for a round.
Owma is a sturdy comrade in battle, but is a bit limited against Gary as she is a warhammer weilding firecaster (warhammer, more like warmhammer). Gary is immune to fire damage, so the party will have to get creative.
The first portion of the battle will be in the fields where the fireworks were being shot off. Gary will land every other round to catch his breath and leverage his multiattack at ground-level for more direct combat. Once Gary is at half HP, he will fly to the village, much to the Mayor’s dismay.
“Quickly! Our homes are shoddily built with crap wood. If you can get to Lee Tann’s shop, we might be able to use some of his remaining fireworks as projectiles!”
Burninating The Village
As Gary flies over the homes, townsfolk scatter. He lands on the roof of one of the dwellings, his massive weight causing the roof to buckle slightly. Three buildings away (however DM wants to lay it out) is Lee Tann’s Whams & Bams, the store that sells and creates fireworks.
As the battle continues amongst the homes, if the party goes to the fireworks store, they will find it is nearly depleted, but one firework remains on the table. Labeled “Interplanar Unicorn Fulminator,” it appears it was accidentally left behind.
If the party opts to use the lone firework, they will need clear line of sight, and the target must be within 60 feet for an accurate hit. Setting off the firework will take a full action (aim, hold, fire). On impact, the Fulminator does 8d8 damage to the target, and leaves it stunned for one round as colorful glitter explodes in clouds around the stunned creatures head.
Finishing the battle, Mayor Owma does not seem to care if Gary lives or dies. They are welcome to grapple him and reason with him, but in the Mayor’s eyes, he has betrayed their trust and treatise, and therefore must meet whatever ends the party determines.
As a reward for assisting with neutralizing Gary, the party will be rewarded with their own Interplanar Unicorn Fulminator if they are willing to stick around for a day (and the DM didn’t specifically unalive Lee Tann). They are also given any flammables that they need (within reason).
Owma Hannz will now welcome the party back with open arms any time they are passing through. She also lifts the noise ordinance, effective immediately.
