Mirror Madness is the second episode of Fantasy High: Sophomore Year.
Recap[]
"Last week, we established that they are off to retrieve the Crown of the Nightmare King. We began last week with something a little bit more peaceful. We moved into Mordred Manor. Indeed, the school's guidance counselor, Jawbone O'Shaughnessey and a border park ranger, Sandra Lynn Faeth, have moved in together and given homes to some of our PCs, including Kristen Applebees and Adaine Abernant, who now live at Mordred Manor, a spooky old haunted house up on Haversham Hill and having a nice little life together here. We also learned from Arthur Aguefort, the principal at Aguefort Adventuring Academy that retrieving the crown of the Nightmare King that went missing at the end of last season was gonna constitute 60% of your grade this year. Eek!"
"However, you had some clues, Adaine researched some lore, Riz Gukgak, one of our missing companions, did some snooping around, and Fig had heard some gossip on tour, all that sort of picked up some leads. Your most promising lead was to make your way to Fallinel where the captured sister of the Elven Oracle, Aelwyn Abernant, might have some clues-- [Adaine: Or we could go somewhere else, that's also fine.] That's also fine. You guys got loaded with some cash from defeating Kalvaxus at the end of last season. You guys put a lot of work into discussing which hirelings and companions you'd bring on your quest. And you guys went to sleep knowing that on the morrow, you would embark on your wonderful quest."
"Now, at the end of our very last session, I'm afraid it got a little bit more troubling. Strange dreams haunted your nights. Gorgug saw your companion and adventuring party member, Ragh Barkrock, eyes bloody at the edge of a vast cliff overlooking a stormy sea asking if you were his dad. [Gorgug: I'm not his dad.] Fabian Seacaster fell into endless darkness astride the Hangman, ringing of gold in your ear, (inhales evilly) the void yawning underneath you. Kristen Applebees saw endless expanses of pages blank, trying to draw a face you couldn't recognize. Adaine Abernant, not asleep but in an elven trance, saw herself drowning in the sea. What Fig and Riz may have seen is a matter truly not important at this time."
Synopsis[]
Last night Fabian had a dream of falling through darkness astride the Hangman. Adaine in her trance envisions herself drowning. Kristen dreams of trying and failing again and again to draw the face of someone she is trying to remember. Gorgug in his dreams is on a cliffside beside an ocean with Ragh who has his eyes missing. As Ragh cry tears of blood, he asks Gorgug if he is his dad, and Gorgug tells him he has been there before.
Fabian Seacaster awakes at Seacaster Manor, and converses with Cathilda Ceíli before they leave for their mission. Fabian discovers Cathilda does in fact own other clothes including a few t-shirts, and he eats breakfast with passion fruit juice made by Scurvy Pete before Cathilda goes to get ready. When Fabian goes downstairs, he sees Hallariel Seacaster in a black and grey floral grieving kimono with thick bags under her eyes, still suffering from a months-long hangover. She is eating breakfast with Gilear Faeth, who is clearly taking his intern duty for the Bad Kids seriously. He is carrying a clipboard and wearing a short sleeved plaid button-up shirt, slacks, a surveillance earpiece, a pen behind an ear, and an intern lanyard. Fabian mentions his nightmares from the previous night, thinking they’re normal to witness before a big adventure. Hallariel says that Bill Seacaster also experienced intensely physical nightmares, jumping out of bed "fully naked", screaming, swinging a sword at the air, and shooting his gun wildly. Fabian wishes he will one day experience the same level of nightmares. Gilear is going out to get coffee, and Fabian gives him a wildly complicated order, threatening to "kick [his] fucking ass" if anything is wrong. Hallariel puts a dagger to Fabian's chin to reprimand him for threatening her lover rudely, but also restates the threat of violence to Gilear, showing Fabian how to word a threat in a respectful manner. Gilear is not at all excited for the mission, but is wildly unprepared and scared. Cathilda (wearing a light gray, comfortable-looking sweatshirt and sweatpants, chunky white tennis shoes, and a "little aerobic headband") walks back into the kitchen in after Gilear goes to get coffee, and runs after him to put her order in. Fabian mentions that Gilear might not come back, seeing that it’s a very dangerous world, and Hallariel says that if Gilear does not come back from the mission, she will duel Fabian to the death on top of Seacaster Manor. Hallariel then kisses Fabian goodbye. Fabian leaves to see the Hangman outside, who’s incredibly excited to go to places without roads with people who may not have seen a motorcycle.
At the Thistlespring Tree, Gorgug Thistlespring wakes up (in his once-more broken bed) from his dreams to see Wilma and Digby Thistlespring with breakfast for him. As they converse (and his parents cast Mending on the bed), Gorgug eats 80 eggs and mentions the dream he had about Ragh Barkrock the night before, Digby tells him that dreams are always significant in this world since there is magic in this world, and tells him to talk to a wizard or warlock because any dream he remembers will never not come up again. Gorgug says that Zelda Donovan may also be upset at him for going out of town, and Digby says that when Zelda looks at him and sees him going on big adventures, it may not be him but instead a reflection of her insecurities or worries. The conversation takes a turn when Digby starts talking about infidelity and STIs, which makes Gorgug very uncomfortable. Then Gorgug asks for a cloaking device for their vehicles, and the Thistlesprings say they’ll see what they can do before Gorgug leaves.
Adaine Abernant "wakes up" first in Mordred Manor, and realizes that last night, something should have happened to her, but didn’t because she’s a full elf, and therefore immune to sleep effects. She casts Detect Magic to try and see what happened, and finds powerful enchantment magic, somewhat like a Suggestion or a Command spell. She casts Find Familiar, and appearing on the floor is a magical mist frog that is "as close to spherical as a frog can get". The nametag, which is around the widest part of the frog, is blank, and Adaine names him Bogariel Frogariel, or Boggy the Froggy for short. She pulls out from her Jacket of Useful Things a backpack-sized frog bag, which is essentially a textured plastic wrap, one section with water and logs, and one with dry leaves. To Adaine, Boggy feels so good, she feels herself physically relax, realizing that the nightmare last night really messed her up. Adaine also realizes a Nightmare King might not be great for her in terms of her anxiety, and she takes her anxiety meds. Boggy hops down and again chills Adaine out because his one mood is just “Happy to be here, gang.”
Kristen Applebees wakes up and records her dream in her dream journal, as Tracker O'Shaughnessy gets ready to sneak back to her room before Sandra Lynn Faeth wakes up. Kristen explains her dream to Tracker, her inability to draw the face, and on a Nat 20, knows that she was trying to draw the face of a person she doesn’t know, yet the face she was trying to draw was one of familiarity and comfort. Kristen realizes that the face she may have been trying to draw is that of a god, or something she can worship. Even though Kristen truly believes in the power of doubt, in the face of something that deals with nightmares, she realizes how little comfort doubt truly provides. She talks with Tracker about possibly editing YES? again, and reverse engineers her way back to doubting her doubt. Kristen knows she can’t go back to Helio, because even though he’d take her back in a second, she wouldn’t be happy there, because Helio would want her to marry a nice man, and she wants to marry Tracker (in the future). Tracker says it’s a little messed up that Kristen didn’t ask her to come on the adventure, but Kristen didn’t want to ask her to come on her homework, even though she really wanted to, so she asks her to join them. Tracker says she will be happy to go with them, if The Bad Kids agree to let her come. Tracker reveals that she has been helping Kristen with the YES? church because her moon goddess doesn't restrict her from worshipping other gods. She got bit by a werewolf when she was 13 and got her spells on the next full moon. Her rituals of worship are very primal and practical so it is easy to complete, but her religion doesn't offer much in the way of philosophy or ideals. She satisfies those needs by being with Kristen, whom she loves because she is always on an adventure, a lot of which takes place in her head, which Tracker finds beautiful.
Fabian and Gorgug arrive at Mordred Manor, and Fabian sends everyone’s (very complicated, likely impossible) coffee orders with another threat of severe physical violence to Gilear. However, no one has said anything about how much Fabian is threatening Gilear, so he wonders where Fig Faeth is. Gorgug notices that the tour bus is gone, and when Adaine plays the chord to the piano room, all of her tour suitcases are missing. Fabian calls Riz Gukgak, but when the call goes straight to voicemail, he knows something is horribly wrong, because every time Fabian calls Riz, he picks up quicker than he thought possible. Sandra Lynn rides in on Baxter, dressed in Crocodile Hunter gear, and after finding out that Riz and Fig are possibly missing, calls Sklonda Gukgak. Sklonda is down at the Elm Valley Mall, where a robbery happened that morning, but says that Riz didn’t come home last night, staying at his new office. Sandra Lynn goes to check the bus depot for Fig and the tour bus, and the rest of the Bad Kids get ready to go to Riz’s office. Kristen asks if Tracker can come on their adventure, and after Adaine stipulates that they cannot have sex while they’re in the tent with other people, they agree. Tracker walks out and says she’s incredibly excited to join them, and Adaine says that she is an honorary Bad Kid. Kristen and Tracker get excited to go on their first vacation together, and the others rebuke them, reminding them that it's not a vacation and is worth 60% of their grades. Kristen tells them off, "You guys won't be crying when we're 69ing and healing all you guys." Tracker texts Craig, the single follower of the church of YES?, about maybe putting the church on hold. Craig agrees and says he can't wait to see what the girls come up with next since he really needs something to worship in his life but doesn't like anything else on the market. Adaine introduces Boggy to the Bad Kids, and when they squeeze him, he ribbits and swells like a water balloon.
Fabian and Kristen jump on the Hangman while Gorgug and Adaine take Jawbone O'Shaughnessy's car to go to Riz's office. Kristen, Gorgug, and Adaine teasingly ask Fabian if he kisses the Hangman when they overhear him telling his motorcycle that his kisses are perfect and he doesn't need to learn anything. As they leave, they see Jawbone walk out onto the veranda "wearing only a pair of tighty-whiteys over his extremely furry body." When they get to the office building in Ballaster, the front door is locked, but Adaine casts Mage Hand and opens it from the inside. Getting up to Riz’s office, the door is locked again, but when Adaine tries Mage Hand again, it doesn’t work. After trying to find a key without success, Fabian tries to kick the door down but fails. Adaine casts Misty Step and enters the room, finding signs of struggle inside. Adaine finds a key and is about to use it, but Gorgug breaks the door down before she can open it.
Inside the room, there are bullet holes in the wall but no blood. There are also "little goblin claw marks" across the floor boards that lead to a standing mirror, and at one section of the floor that the claw marks lead to, there is a secret compartment. Inside is a picture of a very handsome goblin man, who they assume is Pok Gukgak, Riz's dad. In the photo, Pok is raising a glass, and has his arm around nothing, with a dry erase red circle drawn around the empty space where (presumably) something should be. After a round of Investigation checks, in which Fabian does not find anything with his name on it, Gorgug finds that the claw marks go all the way to the very base of the mirror, but do not continue behind. Kristen finds a photo of Riz as a baby, on the day Sklonda was awarded a medal in policeman’s regalia, but Riz is still visible in photos, confirming he has not been erased, and neither has Sklonda, so neither of them could be missing from the photo. Adaine checks to see if it is a magical effect on the photo, but instead finds a conspicuous absence of magic. Adaine knows that Pok was not doing a bit in the photo, since his clothes are not folded as if something was there but invisible.
In the midst of this, Gorgug touches the mirror, and avoids the adverse effects with the help of Adaine's Portent roll of 19 on a Wisdom saving throw. Adaine sees her head being chopped off by a raging Gorgug 6 seconds in the future and stops him at the last second. Adaine looks into the mirror, and sees that the claw marks that are not the same as the ones in the room, and Riz is lying in the middle of the room. His limbs and head are horribly disfigured, and as Adaine describes the scene, the rest of the Bad Kids start to see him. Adaine casts Dispel Magic (with help from Boggy) and, on a nat 20, the mirror ripples and the reflection is gone. Riz’s body is now in the room with them, but they quickly realize that it is not Riz, as he hisses and snarls at them, so they enter initiative.
"Riz" does not attack, but instead tries to instill Fear by pulling his face apart. Fabian is immune to Fear because of wearing his father's eyepatch, and Kristen succeeds on her Wisdom save. Gorgug fails but flies into Rage to negate the effect, and Adaine fails as well. Fabian attacks and crits, dealing non-lethal damage. Kristen, on a nat 20 Perception roll, knows that it’s not Riz, even possessed, but an illusion or reflection. She casts Destroy Undead, but since the creature is not undead, it fails. Adaine's fear is dispelled after she uses her second Portent roll to give the creature a low score on its concentration check to cancel the Fear effect on her, and she then rolls Arcana to figure out that this is a fully extra-planar being. She casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter, but the being swallows the spell. Gorgug flies into a rage and attacks, hitting twice.
The being bites Fabian and tries to pull his eye out, healing as it damages Fabian. Fabian hits it, and it disappears into a shadow, but they do not exit combat. Adaine tries to Counterspell, but it’s an ability, not a spell. Fabian tries to swing wildly and misses. Kristen, by using the deep and profound absurdity from her religious/philosophical doubt, is able to see and target the entity. She hits it with a Banishment spell, and it disappears immediately.
After the party looks around Riz’s office for a bit and take the photo of Pok and Riz's file on the Nightmare King, Sandra Lynn texts to tell them that both Fig and the bus are fully gone. Through the conversation, the dreams they had last night are discussed, per the Thistlesprings advice, and both Gorgug and Adaine realize there’s a suspicious trend relating to eyes.
Heading back to Mordred Manor, Sklonda is out front with her police cruiser. After telling her what happened at the office, Sandra Lynn says that Fig’s manager, Lola Embers got a call at 4 am telling her to book a hotel room in Bastion City at the Hotel Cavalier. Fig's room, unlike Riz's office, shows no signs of struggle, with her bass and suitcase completely packed. Sandra Lynn (incorrectly identified by Brennan during play as Sklonda) also realizes that she has not heard from Gorthalax the Insatiable all morning, who can locate Fig wherever she is because of his status as her new warlock patron.
Sklonda mentions again the jewelry store that was robbed at the Elm Valley Mall, where all the glass was shattered but yet almost nothing was taken. At this moment, Gilear shows up, drenched in sweat, as he does not have a car, and had to go back for replacement coffees after getting hit by a Vespa and dropping the coffee he had originally picked up. He tells them that part of having his car repossessed by the rideshare app is that he is no longer allowed to use the app for himself. Fabian tells Gilear that the walking is good for him, to keep his calves strong. Gilear says he has inhaled a lot of road dust and exhaust while walking on the side of the road. Adaine suggests to Gilear that he could take the public transportation bus instead of walking, but Gilear says that one of the city bus drivers threatened to "stomp [his] goon ass" if he ever got on his bus again. The Bad Kids try their drinks, which are awful, as the café employees didn't know how to make them according to the kids' ridiculous requests, so Gilear had to "figure it out" himself. Gilear mentions that he saw the tour bus pulling into the parking lot of the Elm Valley Mall early that morning, so the Bad Kids take Gilear to meet Sandra Lynn. On the way to the mall, Fabian texts Ragh to meet them at the mall, Gorgug stops by his parents' house and buys his parents' van from them before going to get Cathilda.
At the mall, Fabian and Sandra Lynn begin to investigate the smashed jewelry store. In an attempt to impersonate Riz, Fabian rolls a nat 1 on his investigation and instead bites into a piece of glass, prompting Sandra Lynn to send him to get a pretzel. Ragh arrives and sees Fabian crying, and they grab cinnamon pretzels together.
The rest of the party grabs Cathilda from Seacaster manor, and Kristen asks to swing by the Applebees Residence to have Adaine Mage Hand 10 gold pieces to her brothers, Bucky, Bricker and Cork, through their windows. They arrive at the mall, where Sandra Lynn informs them that the only thing stolen was a flawless, non magical ruby called the Devil’s Heart. Gorgug asks Ragh if he had any weird dreams last night, and Ragh confirms that he had the same dream that Gorgug did, but neither Tracker nor Cathilda had any incredibly irregular dreams.
Adaine talks to the owner of the jewelry store, an Earth Genasi woman, and casts Detect Magic, and discovers on a nat 20 that it was in fact Fig who cast Shatter. Kristen calls the Hotel Cavalier in an attempt to see if she checked in, but the front desk refuses to give out that information. Gorgug attempts to do the same, using the fact that he’s in the same band to try and persuade them, as do Fabian and Adaine, but Adaine hangs up immediately. Before they leave, Sklonda pulls up in her squad car. Kristen shows her the photo, and it’s revealed that the photo is also of Pok's partner Kalina. Showing the picture to the group, the only other person who can see something is Sandra Lynn, who can also see a Tabaxi woman in a dress, who Sklonda confirms to be Kalina. Kalina was an agent of Fallinel who worked with Pok when his missions involved working across country lines, and was an incredibly gifted spy, making it possible that she could have some sort of illusion on herself in the photo. Sklonda hasn’t seen Kalina in years, but obviously Riz figured something out. Sklonda asks why they asked about Pok possibly joking, revealing that there is in fact a joke in the picture, but it’s that Kalina didn’t drink, so while Pok is raising a glass, Kalina is just raising her paw. Sklonda wishes them good luck on their mission, and the Bad Kids leave Elmville, racing down the highway and pulling up in front of the Hotel Cavalier.
Locations[]
Featured Characters[]
The Bad Kids[]
- Adaine Abernant
- Fabian Seacaster
- Fig Faeth (mentioned)
- Gorgug Thistlespring
- Kristen Applebees
- Riz Gukgak (mentioned)
New[]
Returning[]
Mentioned[]
Trivia[]
References[]
- ↑ TheBroox. “List of All Live Shows [NS].” R/NotAnotherDnDPodcast, 19 Oct. 2022, reddit.com/r/NotAnotherDnDPodcast/comments/y8al9c/list_of_all_live_shows_ns.