Cool Kids, Cold Case is the eleventh episode of season 1, Fantasy High.
Time passes as the Bad Kids begin to re-enter a period of normalcy. But Riz's hunch that their quest isn't finished is confirmed when Adaine begins to suspect that her sister is working for the bad guys.
Recap[]
"Guys, last we left off, we were on the Bloodrush Field. Coach Daybreak had been shot in the back of the head, after being stabbed through the neck, after being axed in the back, after being made to violently shit his pants... You guys stand over the body of Ragh Barkrock, who is weeping, terrified of you guys and Fig's insane, potent, necromantic, bardic, fiendish magicks. You see that Ragh is just weeping on the ground beneath you..."
Synopsis[]
Gorgug lets Ragh out of the headlock he was keeping him in. Ragh stands and wipes his face. Fig forces him to kneel before Gorgug and "tell him that he's a big, strong man", thinking it will be therapeutic for Gorgug. Gorgug, uncomfortable, asks Fig to make it stop. Fig passes around the flask of dwarven vodka that she stole from the hospital and offers it to Ragh.
The Bad Kids begin to interrogate Ragh. He reveals that Coach Daybreak took him to a "bench house" (the Cathedral of Sol), softened the stone around an archway, and told Ragh to pull the archway out of the wall. Kristen asks him if he did anything to her bible before throwing it into the vat of corn on the first day of school. Ragh says that he didn't do anything to the bible and that no one told him to do it; he did it because he heard that Kristen bore false witness - the excuse that Coach Daybreak used to give her detention. Ragh says he regrets stealing her bible, though, because Coach Daybreak got really angry at him for doing it.
Riz asks Ragh if he loved Coach Daybreak. Ragh gets upset and punches Riz in the face. Gorgug grapples Ragh again and Fig intimidates him again. Riz apologizes to Ragh, and Ragh reveals that he hates when other people think he has feelings. The group tries to encourage Ragh to let his feelings out through crying: Kristen uses Thaumaturgy to create sweet, sad music; Fig uses Minor Illusion to create the image of a puppy cleaning a kitten; the rest of the group chants "Cry!" at Ragh. Ragh eventually cries and Adaine recommends he "work on his emotions" and "take a druid class or something".
The Bad Kids continue interrogating Ragh. Ragh says that Daybreak told him to keep an eye on Zayn and kick his ass to make sure that he never got friendly with anyone or asked for help. Riz realizes that Ragh is just a goon who doesn't know anything about what was really going on. Gorgug asks him if anyone else was giving him instructions; Ragh says that Daybreak "didn't take shit from anybody" but that he seemed terrified the day after the battle in the cafeteria. Ragh reveals that he always thought that Daybreak was his dad. Gorgug comforts Ragh about thinking that Daybreak was his dad. Ragh quiets the group, looks up into Gorgug's eyes, and reveals that he doesn't know who his dad is either. After Ragh gives Gorgug a kiss on the cheek, Fabian quickly puts a stop to the interaction.
Ragh tells Gorgug that the Owlbears would be lucky to have him and also reveals that he's jealous of Penelope because Dayne spends all his time with her. When Kristen questions him, he reveals that he has several dreams about Dayne. When Adaine quietly messages him and says, "I think you're gay, dude," Ragh freaks out and starts punching the air. The party recommends that Ragh talk to Jawbone the next day and start working through his feelings. When the group tells him that they're glad they brought him back to life, Ragh begins crying again and swears to fuck with anyone who insults them.
The Bad Kids go Coach Daybreak's apartment and find a lot of incriminating information concerning The Harvestmen. They find a list of names of everyone in Elmville that are involved with The Harvestmen, research about hellmouths and portals, and a lot of other incriminating information. Adaine finds an arcane lock in the back of the apartment. She opens it and finds personal information and financial records that belonged to Daybreak. The information that shows that Daybreak was funding Zayn Darkshadow's apartment and communicating with him about Johnny Spells. It also shows that, although Daybreak was broke, he made vastly more money than an average high school gym teacher and made frequent deposits into a trust fund at KVX Bank. They find nothing about the missing Aguefort girls. The party discovers that Daybreak was the brains behind The Harvestmen and their plans.
They find a few cops on the list of Harvestmen members, but no one that outranks Riz's mom; the party decides to turn the information over to Sklonda. In a flash of uncharacteristic insight, Gorgug confirms that Sklonda is not his father, and that she is intent on using their information to clean up the police department. The Bad Kids go downtown to the police station to answer questions. The defeat of Daybreak combined with Sklonda's investigation completely dismantle The Harvestmen in Elmville. Kristen's home is raided because of her parents' connection to The Harvestmen. Although her family is cleared of all crimes, Kristen's relationship with her parents is permanently fractured and she starts staying with Fig at Gilear's apartment.
The Bad Kids often hang out at the Strongtower Luxury Apartments because Fig, Riz, and Kristen all live there. Riz and Fig try to set up Sklonda and Gilear with mild success. The group never found the palimpsest with Sam Nightingale inside of it. When they ask Sklonda about it, she says that they think Daybreak sent the palimpsests to Highcourt. She mentions plans to speak to Adaine's father, the Elven Ambassador, about beginning a foreign investigation. Adaine tells Sklonda that she should probably bring an elf with her because her dad sucks and Fig recommends Gilear.
As the weeks and months pass, the trail goes cold. The Bad Kids become respected and well-liked at Aguefort. Ostentatia is doing well and back at school. They start acing their classes because they've had so much real combat experience. Porter is impressed with Fig's barbarian work despite the fact that she's a bard. He also calls Gorgug "Gorbag".
The gifts they got begin to exhibit the properties of magical items: Fabian's wax for The Hangman now works as a mending cantrip; Kristen's book gives her advantage on religion and nature checks; Fig's guitar pick allows her to cast Protection from Fire, Burning Hands, or Charm Person once a day; Gorgug's holster gives his handaxe +1; Riz's briefcase acts like a Bag of Infinite Holding.
Adaine still has her 45gp gift card. Adaine, Riz, Fig, Kristen, and Fabian go to The Gilded Coin so Adaine can finally have her makeover. She gets a dark blue t-shirt, skinny jeans, and a magical, wool-lined jean jacket that can conjure items from its pockets. Fig asks Adaine to conjure her an oyster and she names it Little Gilear. The party realizes that hundreds or thousands of people are hidden inside of the jacket. When Adaine asks how many people are inside of it, she receives a note that says:
Mind your own fucking business
During the holiday break, the Thistlesprings host a Solstice party that The Bad Kids, Gorthalax, Gilear, and Sandra Lynn attend. Fig discovers that Little Gilear has died. Gorthalax asks Fig if she's okay with him staying in Elmville. She excitedly encourages him to stay and he accepts a job as the new bloodrush coach at Aguefort.
After winter break, Vice Principal Goldenhoard hosts an assembly and introduces Gorthalax as the new bloodrush coach. He also mentions that, because the coach was murdered, the Owlbears had to forfeit this year's season. Gorthalax says that The Bad Kids can join the team if they want to; Gorgug and Fabian are the only ones who ultimately accept the offer.
Kristen casts Augury on some moonstones to find out if things will work out with her parents. The answer she gets is both "woe" and "weal", which means that dark times are ahead but past them is something good. As she casts the spell on the bleachers, Tracker arrives on a bicycle. They start talking about moonstones and Lida, the Goddess of the Moon. Tracker reveals that she's visiting her uncle, Jawbone, and that she's a cleric of Lida. Jawbone arrives while talking with Ragh about how he needs to be honest with himself about his feelings. After they finish talking, Jawbone walks over and greets Tracker and Kristen. Gorgug thinks that Jawbone is Tracker's dad. When Fabian notices this, he punches Gorgug in the back of the head. Jawbone breaks up the fight and de-escalates the situation, telling Fabian that "violence usually comes from a place of fear". Tracker and Kristen say goodbye and exchange phone numbers. Riz keeps Edgar the rat as a pet.
Adaine is frustrated with her parents because, even though she's doing well at school, they still don't care about her achievements. Gorgug is happy to have friends and unsuccessfully tries to talk to Zelda. Fig's rebellion is calming down, so she finally starts going to bard classes. She also fakes sick to visit Dr. Asha at the hospital. Fabian is happy to be captain of the Owlbears and to have his adventuring party with him. Kristen goes with Tracker to "insanely gay events", hides in the bathroom, and almost always leaves early. Riz feels residual guilt over not finding Penny but is still happy to have friends. He fears that he was a better detective when he was a loser. Adaine does extracurricular reading on palimpsests and talks to Riz about it. Riz feels like he's missing something but keeps getting distracted by his friends or the fun adventure. Fabian confesses that he is the one who got everyone the gifts in Episode 9. Fig tries to emulate Gorthalax by charming people into revealing their "true selves".
One night in late February, Riz has an intense dream where he's in a crystal dome with Penny Luckstone. He asks her where she's been. She says, "Time's coming up pretty soon. I'm not gone yet. I don't blame you for not finding me." He tells her that he's going to find her. She says, "I hope so. I love you, you're a good kid. But the time's coming, and it's worse than you think." Riz suddenly wakes up.
Aelwyn asks Adaine if she can borrow one of her divination books to study for an upcoming test. Adaine gives her a hard time but allows her to borrow the book. Aelwyn comes back downstairs with the two library books that Adaine borrowed at the beginning of the school year, forgot to read, and never returned. Adaine reads "The Eons of Solace" and "Abracadabra, Look at Me Now: My Life in Magic" by Arthur Aguefort. She learns from "The Eons of Solace" that Solace was once a human monarchy related to Highcourt; however, it was conquered centuries ago by Kalvaxus. Alexandria the 12th, Queen of Solace, defeated Kalvaxus and liberated Solace. The monarchy was then disbanded and the first Council of Chosen was created. She also learns that Arthur Aguefort was the secretary and paramour of the first Elven Oracle, who was a member of the first Council of Chosen. She then reads Aguefort's book, which is incredibly spicy and not very helpful as a historical text. She finds a line about "chucking prophecies in the bin" and wonders if they should look for something in Aguefort's trash can.
At Seacaster Manor, Fabian sees Mr. Hughes, a bank worker from Bastion City, talking to Bill Seacaster and giving him a bag of gold. Bill tells Fabian that he's been doing some work for the bank because he's been getting bored in his retirement.
A few days later, Aelwyn tells her parents that she's skipping dinner to study for a test at a friend's house. Adaine sees Penelope Everpetal at the door and Aelwyn leaves with her. Adaine questions her about studying with a sorceress from Aguefort when Aelwyn is a wizard, but Aelwyn and Penelope quickly leave. Adaine tells her parents that she thinks Aelwyn is sneaking out, but they ignore her.
Sklonda arrives with Gilear to talk to Angwyn Abernant about her case, which is apparently going to be shut down soon. Adaine learns that Daybreak was found responsible for both the attack on Biz Glitterdew and the murder of Zayn Darkshadow. When her father sends her upstairs, Adaine casts Clairvoyance and keeps listening to their conversation from upstairs. Adaine learns that the book she stole from the library on the first day of school, "Watches and Wards", should have prevented the conjuration of the corn monster.
Angwyn reveals that perditional contradoxy is an element of the treaty between Solace and Highcourt. He reveals that perditional contradoxy would have broken the treaty and likely caused a war. Sklonda asks him about the death of the Elven Oracle; he says that all he knows is that she was aboard a ship called The Cerulean when it sunk. Sklonda reveals that her husband was working for the state and was involved with that case. Sklonda thanks Angwyn for his time and leaves.
Adaine uses Prayer Chain to tell her friends that they need to meet up immediately. The rest of the party members get invitations from Ostentatia Wallace to a dope house party. Fig and Gorgug offer to play music in the backyard and Ostentatia agrees. They find that the party is being thrown by the Hudol Hellions; since the Owlbears forfeited the bloodrush season, this is the first time that Hudol won. The host of the party is the Hellion's quarterback, Percival Nevelsvine. The party is full of "weird-looking dudes".
An elven woman walks into the party in a tied-up peach shirt and cutoff shorts. She makes an exuberant entrance into the party, conjures beautiful, elemental Aguefort cheerleaders, kisses Fabian hard on the mouth, and snorts dragon spice off of his chest. The party realizes that the woman is Adaine's sister, Aelwyn.
Back at the Abernant home, Adaine sneaks into Aelwyn's room. She finds a copy of a spell called Modify Memory. In the back of Aelwyn's closet, she finds a small model of a ship called the Harpy surrounded by evocation storm runes.
People Adaine knew from Hudol text Adaine pictures of Aelwyn and Fabian making out. Riz also texts Adaine and tells her to come to the party. Adaine shows the pictures to her parents, who claim they could have been doctored. Adaine runs off to the party.
The party is "fucking going off". Fig and Gorgug are in the backyard playing the bass and the drums. Two cheerleaders approach Kristen. After a very awkward interaction where Kristen realizes that the cheerleaders are robotically repeating themselves, she starts making out with one of them. Adaine gets to the party and grabs Riz. The two of them run upstairs to follow Aelwyn. They find a locked door and hear her talking to Ostentatia on the other side. Aelwyn casts a spell that she crafted herself on Ostentatia. She says, "Oh, goody, you were telling the truth. Goodbye, Ostentatia." Adaine and Riz break down the door. They rush in and see Aelwyn holding a crystal palimpsest as Ostentatia is sucked inside. Adaine goes to punch Aelwyn in the face and the party prepares to fight.