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Airship Ambush is the fourth episode of season 2, Escape from the Bloodkeep.
Recap[]
"Guys, we find our vile villains here, in the skies above Gorgar, on board The Siren, flagship of the Forgotten Fleet. We also see-- not only is John Feathers accompanying you wonderful people, we also see our friends here, Lilith and Maggie aboard the crow's nest, Captain St. Vincent at the helm, with Bad Henry behind him, Ol' Pickering down here. The rest of your crew is belowdecks, manning the cannonade and everything like that. And over here, as well,, we have Efink Murderdeath, Sokhbarr, J'er'em'ih over there by the side, and Leiland, ready in the front, as two more eagles arrive."
Synopsis[]
We begin with the vile villains, plus John Feathers and Markus St. Vincent's crew, aboard The Siren, Markus's ship, after having escaped from the Bloodkeep, and Olag's army. However, they immediately see that they are being pursued by a flock of eagles bearing Bulric Bellbarrel, the dwarf, Goroomrara, the treant, and Tavian St. Vincent, Markus's older brother. The team readies prepared actions, and the eagles drop Bulric, Goroomrara, and Tavian onto The Siren. A fight breaks out, using special, airborne ship rules.
Sokhbarr acts first, using a bonus action to cast Ensnaring Strike on his blade, before moving to Bulric and attempting to hit her. His attack misses. Efink Murderdeath tries to convince Bulric not to attack her, as she is the daughter of Telmeir the Calm, whom Bulric is aiming to avenge, but Efink's creepy skull (her 'bone') means Bulric is not convinced. Maggie jumps down from the crow's nest, and attacks Goroomrara three times, dealing him forty eight points of damage. She notices that the fire in her hammer appears to be hurting the treant more. Efink calls forth her Spirit Guardians, the Elven Paparazzi, who will grant her enemies a sense of celebrity, but also the crippling insecurity that comes with it.
The enemy eagles go next: one of them attacks John, and the other heads for Lilith. The eagle attacks her twice, dealing her thirty points of damage. She succeeds on two strength saving throws, narrowly avoiding being thrown into the ashy skies. She takes an attack of opportunity on the eagle using Web Whip (Thorn Whip), dealing them nine points of piercing damage, and pulling them ten feet closer to her.
Markus argues with Tavian: he is angry with his brother for sending him out on a scouting mission, and then not looking for him when he got lost. Tavian attempts to convince Markus that he did look for him, but Markus does not believe him. Markus moves to Tavian, sneak attacks him for thirty five points of damage, halved to eighteen by Tavian as he Uncanny Dodges, and moves back to his original position at the helm of The Siren. Tavian starts his turn within the reach of Efink's Spirit Guardians, and takes twenty six points of necrotic damage from them. He sprints down the ship towards Markus, taking a bonus action Disengage as he does so. J'er'em'ih runs over to Tavian, attacking him with disadvantage from behind some barrels, in order to avoid being too close to the edge of the ship. He deals Tavian thirteen points of damage.
Lilith attempts to persuade one of the enemy eagles to join the Lieutenants' side by telling them about the golden nests, sexy eagle partners, and pants that John has been promised for working with them. The eagle, whom we learn is named Matthias Feathers, is convinced, and turns over to her side. She uses a bonus action to cast Grasping Web (Grasping Vine). The webs attach themselves to Goroomrara, and try to pull him off of the ship, but fail to do so. John claws one of the enemy eagles, badly injuring them, before throwing a handkerchief at them and ordering them to clean up.
Leiland climbs onto the edge of the ship, hangs off of it, and casts Cone of Cold, purposefully catching only Bulric and Goroomrara within its reach. He deals thirty nine points of damage, halved to twenty by both Bulric and Goroomrara, as they succeed on their constitution saving throws. As he casts the spell, he fails an athletics check and critically fails a dexterity check, meaning that the force of the spell causes him to fall off of the ship. Anne of Kilkathery tells everyone that Leiland has fallen overboard. Bad Henry harpoons Tavian in the side. Ol' Pickering misses a shot at Tavian with his flintlock. Anne hurls a chain over the side of the ship towards Leiland, catching him with it.
Bulric fails a constitution saving throw on the start of her turn, and receives twenty six points of necrotic damage from Efink's Spirit Guardians. She hits Maggie with her axe for thirty six points of damage, halved to eighteen as Maggie is raging. Maggie succeeds on one strength saving throw, but fails on another, being knocked ten feet backwards by the second strike of Bulric's axe. Maggie casts Hellish Rebuke on Bulric, dealing her eleven points of fire damage. Goroomrara fails a constitution saving throw on the start of his turn, and receives twenty six points of necrotic damage from Efink's Spirit Guardians. He bangs his two fists into the deck of the ship, and begins to grow roots into it.
Leiland can hear a goblin war Zeppelin, with Olag hanging off of the front of it, approaching The Siren. Brennan rolls a nat 20 for the Zeppelin's attack on The Siren, but Efink is able to turn this into merely a successful hit by classing The Siren itself as her ally, and using her Sentinel at Death's Door ability. The Zeppelin, resultantly, deals a reduced thirty nine points of damage to The Siren.
Returning to the top of the initiative order, Sokhbarr fails to hit Bulric twice with his axes. J'er'em'ih attempts and fails to take a co-ordinated attack at Tavian. Olag accuses Leiland of causing Zaul'Nazh to fall, and leaps towards him. He attacks Leiland, dealing him thirteen points of damage, and taking twenty five points of damage from Leiland's Armour of Agathys in return. Rekha (Maggie) rolls a nat 20 on her first attack on Goroomrara, dealing him, with her Brutal Critical skill adding extra dice, forty points of damage. She then deals him twenty three points of damage on her second attack, killing him, and ripping him from the ship. Goroomrara, however, has managed to deal fifty six points of damage to The Siren with his roots already.
Efink tries and fails to command Tavian to grovel to Markus, who she names as the 'rightful leader' of Kaelstoop. The enemy eagle attacks John, rendering him badly injured, and Matthias attacks the enemy eagle in return. The eagles then head out of the line of sight of the ship, so the rest of their fighting happens off-screen. Markus tries to non-lethally attack Tavian, who easily parries his attack. He then turns The Siren, so that it is in range of the goblin Zeppelin. Efink and Sokhbarr fail dexterity checks, and go prone as the ship turns. Olag uses a legendary action to attempt to climb up the chain to the ship, but Leiland, on a nat 20 roll from Matt (Leiland), grapples him, stopping him from doing so.
Tavian takes three attacks on Markus, succeeding on two of them, and dealing him twenty two points of damage in total, which Markus uses Uncanny Dodge to halve to eleven. Markus then uses his Slippery as an Eel feat to head over to help out with the chain, leaving the helm of the ship in Bad Henry's hands. J'er'em'ih attempts to see if he can smell Galfast Hamhead onboard the ship, but is unable to sense her nearby. He attacks Tavian with his beak for fifteen points of damage. Lilith attempts to persuade Tavian not to attack 'his kin,' and Tavian says that, if she chooses to join his side, he will pay her handsomly for it. Lilith says that she does not want his money, but can sense that he is no longer hostile towards her specifically. She uses her Grasping Web (Grasping Vine) to yank the chain, sending Leiland and Olag flying.
From in front of The Siren, the three remaining Vinguri appear, riding on dire bats. Miles leaps to the crow's nest to fight Lilith, Toby lands on the deck next to Sokhbarr, and Oswald lands on the deck next to Markus. Upon landing, two of the Vinguri and one of the dire bats fail their constitution saving throws, taking twenty one points of necrotic damage from Efink's Spirit Guardians. The dire bat that suffered damage immediately dies. Miles hits Lilith on two attacks for fifty five points of damage total, and she fails one of her two constitution saving throws, causing her to take a level of exhaustion. Toby misses one attack on Sokhbarr, and hits him with the second one for sixteen points of damage. Sokhbarr fails his constitution saving throw, and suffers a level of exhaustion. Oswald misses two attacks on Markus, and the dire bats miss their two attacks also.
Leiland tries and fails to land on the goblin Zeppelin, but manages to wrap a length of chain around it, bringing Olag and himself to ten feet away from the Zeppelin. He then moves onto the Zeppelin itself. Brennan rolls a nat 1 on Bad Henry's broadside attack with the ship, meaning that the attack does not hit. Brennan also rolls a nat 1 on Ol' Pickering's attack with his flintlock, and he blows his own hand off as a result. Ol' Pickering is so ashamed by this that he retreats belowdecks. Anne stabs Oswald, the Vinguri with Markus, for twelve points of damage. Bulric starts her turn within the reach of Efink's Spirit Guardians, and fails her constitution saving throw, taking twenty three points of necrotic damage. She deals Efink twenty points of damage over two attacks, causing her to lose concentration on her Spirit Guardians.
Returning to the top of the initiative order, the goblin Zeppelin rams The Siren for maximum damage for their ship (25d6) by using their mangler. The Zeppelin deals The Siren eight four points of damage, and the pilot of the Zeppelin succeeds on their piloting check, allowing the Zeppelin itself to take only forty two points of damage from the ram. Markus realises that the goblins in the Zeppelin are regular goblins, and, hence, do not pose much of a threat to them, but then remembers that there is a small chance that any goblin from the Bloodkeep has a bomb inside them. Leiland takes twenty point of damage, as goblin archers fire on him.
Sokhbarr stands up from prone, fails his first attack on Toby, the Vinguri in front of him, and succeeds on the second attack, dealing Toby twelve points of damage, and restraining him with his Ensnaring Attack. J'er'em'ih takes a co-ordinated attack on Tavian, dealing him fourteen points of damage, and rendering him extremely hurt. Olag uses the chain to swing underneath the ship, and pop up onto the opposite side. He attacks J'er'em'ih twice for twenty four points of damage total, and J'er'em'ih succeeds on both of his strength saving throws, meaning he is not thrown from the ship. Maggie jumps through a grate, and attempts to search for Galfast belowdecks. On a thirteen perception check from Rekha (Maggie), Maggie is unable to see Galfast belowdecks, but does hear the mangler on the front of the Zeppelin chewing into the side of The Siren. Aside from this sound, and the sound of Ol' Pickering's talking, it is strangely quiet, before the Zeppelin finishes chewing into The Siren, and Hobbert and Frod jump aboard belowdecks. Maggie takes a swing on Hobbert for twenty three points of damage.
Efink stands up from prone, and casts Turn Undead, targeting the Vinguri aboard, including, unfortunately, Leiland. In doing so, she moves past Bulric to get within range of her targets, and takes seventeen points of damage from an opportunity attack. All of the Vinguri, except for Leiland, are turned. Olag calls down to Hobbert and Frod, instructing them to attack the ship, rather than the people on it. They hit the ship four times between them, dealing ninety three points of damage total. Markus drops down the grate that Maggie went down previously, and tries to persuade Hobbert and Frod to stop attacking the ship by telling them that he will take them to see trees if they join his side. On a nat 20 perception check from Ify (Markus), he sees Galfast right behind him, and holds her up in front of him. Galfast opposes Markus's persuasion by telling Hobbert and Frod that Markus and Maggie just killed a tree. Galfast succeeds, and Hobbert and Frod are not convinced to join Markus's side. Olag calls down to Hobbert and Frod to attack the ship again, but they both miss.
Tavian plunges his scimitar through Bad Henry's heart, killing him. Tavian takes control of the helm of the ship, and whips it in the other direction. Efink and J'er'em'ih, who fail their dexterity throws, fall prone as the ship turns. J'er'em'ih gets up from prone, and attempts and fails to attack Tavian. Lilith uses Druidcraft, and snuffs out the fire in the goblin Zeppelin, hence cutting the engine. She uses her Grasping Web (Grasping Vine) to attempt to pull the Zeppelin down, now that its engine has been cut, but fails to do so. Two of the Vinguri, Miles and Oswald, leap onto their dire bats, and fly away. Toby, the remaining Vinguri, however, remains restrained by Sokhbarr's Ensnaring Strike, and takes ten points of damage.
Leiland runs through the hole created by the goblin Zeppelin to end up belowdecks of The Siren. He casts Darkness, covering himself, Ol' Pickering, and Hobbert and Frod in a cloud of darkness. He is, however, still able to see, due to his Devil's Sight. Galfast wrests herself free from Markus's grasp. He attempts to use a sleight of hand reaction to steal the crown from her, but fails. Galfast runs through the cloud of darkness, dodges a grapple attempt from Leiland, and boards the goblin Zeppelin.
Anne moves to stand beside Efink, and misses her attack on Bulric. Ol' Pickering fails to hit with his attack, aside from hitting something that begins to spark, like a lit fuse, which Leiland notices and communicates to the group. Bulric hits Efink with two attacks, for twenty five points of damage total.
Returning to the beginning of initiative order again, the goblin Zeppelin's mangler deals another thirty six points of damage to The Siren. Olag calls out and tells Hobbert and Frod to take another swing on the ship, which they miss. A number of goblins run onto The Siren belowdecks from the Zeppelin, into the cloud of darkness. The goblin archers hit Sokhbarr for five points of damage, and J'er'em'ih for six points of damage.
Sokhbarr succeeds on a survival check to track Galfast, learning that she is on the goblin Zeppelin. He runs and jumps onto the Zeppelin, taking nine points of damage from a nat 20 goblin opportunity attack as he does so. He attempts to wrest the crown from Galfast twice, failing the first time, but succeeding the second time, meaning that the crown is now in his possession.. J'er'em'ih takes a co-ordinated attack on Tavian, dealing him fourteen points of damage, and killing him. As he has just killed the pilot of the ship, J'er'em'ih has to make a piloting check as he puts his paws on the helm. He fails by a very small margin, causing him to spit acid onto the helm. Anne, Leiland, Lilith, and Efink (who was already prone) fail their dexterity checks, and go prone as the ship swerves under J'er'em'ih's control.
Olag hits Lilith for sixteen points of damage, and she succeeds on a strength saving throw, meaning she is not thrown from the ship. Maggie succeeds on opposed athletics checks, knocking Hobbert and Frod back, five feet closer to the door. The goblin Zeppelin fails on a saving throw, and begins to fall into the Scary Volcano, which is right below them. Efink Misty Steps thirty feet to reach J'er'em'ih, and successfully negotiates with him to let her take the helm. As Efink's intrsutction to J'er'em'ih was for him to 'back away,' he turns his body into a forty-foot wide parachute, and begins soaring through the skies. Efink succeeds on a piloting check, and the ship begins to get back on track.
Hobbert and Frod collectively manage to deal sixty five points of damage to The Siren. Markus tries, and critically fails, to push Hobbert off of the ship, rendering him grappled by Hobbert, who starts to move him towards the hole in the ship. Lilith stands up from prone, and uses a third level Charm Person on Toby, Bulric, and Olag. Olag burns through one of his legendary resistances to resist this, but Bulric and Toby are charmed. Toby, the final remaining member of the Vinguri, breaks out of Sokhbarr's Ensnaring Strike, taking fifteen points of damage, and flies away on a dire bat. Leiland casts Chill Touch on the lit fuse belowdecks, putting it out, before running up onto the deck to approach Olag, whom he casts Hexblade Curse on.
Galfast, on the plummeting goblin Zeppelin, thinking that Sokhbarr and the crown are heading to be destroyed by the lava in the Scary Volcano, decides to grab a piece of sail, and parachute away from the Zeppelin without the crown. Ol' Pickering smashes a goblin's skull apart. Fortunately, there is not a bomb inside the goblin. Lilith suggests to a charmed Bulric that she takes care of Olag, and Bulric heads over to him. A goblin attempts and fails to take a swing on Ol' Pickering. Sokhbarr drinks a Potion of Gaseous Form, and he and all of his gear and equipment (including the crown) turn into gas. He begins to move slowly away from the plummeting Zeppelin.
Olag calls for Hobbert and Frod to take two more swings on The Siren, and they miss both times. Olag leaps to attack Leiland, but he takes seven points of piercing damage from an opportunity attack from Lilith, and is yanked ten feet backwards. He then decides, instead, to attack Lilith, who takes sixteen points of damage from his attack. She succeeds on a strength saving throw, and is not knocked off of the ship. Maggie yanks Markus out of Hobbert's grip, bringing him further back inside the ship. Efink casts Firebolt on Olag, dealing him twenty five points of fire damage. Olag uses a legendary action to move belowdecks. Efink pilots the ship away from the caldera of the Scary Volcano. Frod hits The Siren twice for forty three points of damage in total. Olag attempts to hit The Siren again, and misses.
Markus instructs Efink, on her turn, to fully swerve the ship from left to right, in an attempt to knock Olag off of the ship. He then succeeds in kicking Hobbert off of the ship, who plummets into the caldera of the Scary Volcano. Lilith attempts to use her Grasping Web (Grasping Vine) to grab Olag, but he burns through a legendary resistance to resist it. She climbs onto the side of the ship, to where the hole in the ship is, and casts Web Whip (Thorn Whip) into the hole, in an attempt to drag somebody out. She accidentally whips Ol' Pickering into her hands. Leiland uses his Relentless Hex ability to teleport thirty feet to his hexed target: Olag. He misses on his first attack, but hits Olag on his second attack for twenty five points of damage. Olag succeeds with a critical hit on Leiland. Leiland attempts to use his Armour of Hexes to turn a critical hit from a hexed target into a failure, but Matt (Leiland) fails on the roll to do so. Leiland, resultantly, takes twenty six points of damage. He also decides to drop his Darkness. Ol' Pickering misses a shot at a goblin with his flintlock. Fortunately, he also misses the gunpowder. Bulric moves across the ship towards Olag.
Olag calls out and tells the goblin (who turns out not to have a bomb in them) to 'light the fire,' and, on a nat 20 roll from Brennan, they critically succeed in lighting the ship on fire using gunpowder. The fire does sixty seven points of fire damage to Leiland, thirty three points of fire damage to Maggie (who halves the total, as she is a tiefling), and does not do any damage to Markus, because he has Evasion. As The Siren is vulnerable to fire damage, due to it being made of wood, it takes double damage: one hundred and thirty four points of fire damage. Olag uses a legendary action to attack The Siren, dealing it seventeen points of damage, and leaving The Siren at only seventeen remaining hit points. Sokhbarr uses his turn to move in his gaseous form. Olag takes two more hits on The Siren, dealing it twenty eight points of damage in total, as he rips the front of the ship in half. The Siren is destroyed, and those on board begin plummeting out of the sky.
Locations[]
- The Siren
- Goblin Zeppelin
- Scary Volcano
Featured Characters[]
The Lieutenants[]
New[]
Returning[]
- J'er'em'ih
- The Vinguri
- Anne of Kilkathery
- Bad Henry
- Ol' Pickering
- Olag
- Hobbert and Frod
- Tavian St. Vincent
- Galfast Hamhead