The Row and the Ruction is the eighth episode of Fantasy High: Sophomore Year.
Recap[]
"Last we left off, our intrepid heroes, they were deep in the pirate city of Leviathan. They are on their sophomore year quest to retrieve the Crown of the Nightmare King, having gotten a bunch of new information from the Compass Points Library and its headmistress Ayda Aguefort who was befriended here in the city of Leviathan. However, Captain James Whitclaw, the Captain of the Crimson Claw, has seized the crown of the Pirate King, burnt the Ramble to the ground, and has headed off to the Row and the Ruction, which is the bicameral legislature, slash bar brawl of Leviathan. Our intrepid heroes now face off against Captain James here in the Row and the Ruction, and with that we will dive right in to our game."
Synopsis[]
Following last weeks session, Our Heroes start out on the bottom level in the Row and the Ruction, having just walked in the door and facing down Captain James Whitclaw and eight of his crew.
Starting, Brennan reminds the players that Fabian has two levels of exhaustion, causing his movement to be halved and to roll disadvantage on all ability checks. Brennan mentions that, between sessions, he and Lou have discussed changes to Fabian's character, electing to lose the Champion subclass and all class features.
Fabian is first to act, looking down to where Gorgug has planted the Sword of Seacaster, he grabs the sword, looking to Cathilda and asking what he should do, to which she replies fight. He backs up ten feet and fires his crossbow at Whitclaw. His attack misses.
One of the elves in the rafters casts a globe of protection around themself and the other two elves. As they do, the Air Elemental that they brought and control surges forward, causing Fig, Adaine, and Gorgug to make saving throws. Fig and Adaine save, while Gorgug gets blasted twenty feet to the left, taking 15 points of damage and knocking him prone.
Fig attempts to cast shatter the ground under the elves feet, but the globe repels it. She takes no movement, but uses her bonus action to put a Hexblade Curse on Whitclaw. One of Whitclaw's crew attacks Fig, who casts Shield. Their attack deals seven damage. Another pirate attacks Cathilda, who parries. More crew members attack Gorgug, causing 38 points of damage, which were not halved since he was not yet in a rage.
Tracker attempts the create a bubble of twilight around the fighters, but is quickly banished by one of the Elves. Gorgug starts his turn by going into a rage and yelling to Gilear to get out of the building and take the van to find Garthy O'Brien. He then stands and attacks one of the three pirates surrounding him twice, causing first 16 and then 14 damage, fully decapitating his opponent on his second swing. Fig steals the pirate's soul. Gorgug frenzies, attacking another pirate for 10 damage, badly injuring him.
An Elf in black robes looks down at Adaine from the Ruction and says "Oracle, heed the call of the earth," causing her skin to start to harden and turn to stone. Adaine attempts to counterspell, but doesn't make the save, using her last third level spell slot.
Cathilda disengages from the person she was fighting, advancing on Whitclaw, and attacks three times. Whitclaw, casting shield, blocks two attacks, but, rolling a Nat 20, She slices one of the tentacles off his face, making a quip about the time for talk being over. Sandra Lynn fires two arrows into a pirate and uses her bonus action, Battle Command, giving Gorgug the ability to attack his opponent again, causing 12 points of damage. Ragh then attacks and finishes off that pirate.
Whitclaw screams, using a psychic blast, causing everyone but Cathilda and Sandra Lynn to be stunned and take 17 points of damage, except Fabian, who takes 7 because of Warding Bond, causing the caster, Kristen, to take half his damage for a total of 35 points. Whitclaw walks into the Row.
Adaine uses Boggy the Froggy to make a Constitution saving throw, passing the first of 3 needed saves, but immediately rolls a Nat1 to try to come out of her stun. Riz sneak attacks the elf that banished Tracker, trying to disrupt their concentration and get Tracker back. The elf doesn't break concentration, but does take 25 points of damage. Riz uses his movement to sneak towards Whitclaw, using his bonus to hide.
Whitclaw uses a legendary action to shoot Fabian and hits him for 10 points of damage, which is halved to five for him and five for Kristen.
Kristen realizes she can't really do anything while she is stunned, and attempts the save to come out of it. She misses. Fabian also misses his save, remaining stunned as well. Whitclaw uses teleportation to move up to the Ruction.
The Air Elemental carries Adaine to the Ruction as well, getting attacked by Cathilda in the process. Fig, Fabian, Kristen, and Gorgug roll Dexterity saving throws, attempting to avoid fire damage. They all succeed except Fig, but it doesn't matter because she is resistant to fire damage. They all take 30 damage, halved to 15 because of their saves. Fig rolls a dirty 20, coming out of her stun, and uses her bonus to give Adaine bardic inspiration.
As Adaine is dropped onto the Ruction, her father, Angwyn Abernant, appears, having used Greater Invisibility to stay hidden until this point. He looks at Adaine and tells her it is time to come home, while casting Dominate Person, which Adaine resists, telling him not to tell her what to do.
Riz has to make a dexterity saving throw to avoid half damage from being in the Row, he succeeds, then dodges to avoid all damage. Pirates are attacking Gorgug, and hit him for 41 damage, which gets halved to 20. Fig is then downed, using a reaction to Hellish Rebuke the pirate that downed her, causing him to die and have his soul dragged to hell. Cathilda takes 14 points of damage getting slashed by a pirate.
Adaine makes a wisdom save, avoiding being charmed by an elf, making a comment that her mind is strong because of her medication. Gorgug fails to come out of his stun, but Cathilda yells that "Now isn't the time for lollygaggin'!" and he rolls again, succeeding this time. Sandra Lynn drops down to heal Fig, while Cathilda attacks more pirates, dicing one, leaving 4 pirates left fighting the kids, not including Whitclaw. Baxter, Sandra Lynn's Griffin, lunges through the door and bites ones head off, while Ragh and Gorgug take out another.
Whitclaw takes another Legendary attack on Fabian, which hits, and tells the elves they need to leave from the Ruction, as them being there is keeping him from declaring himself the Pirate King. The elves respond that they are trying their best to leave.
Adaine fails her Con save, but passes her Intelligence, finally coming out of her stun. She then Misty Steps to the side of the Ruction closest above Fabian and Fig. Riz uses his Sword of Shadows to Misty Step up and try to steal the crown from Whitclaw. He fails and decides to run away, but Whitclaw just teleports beside him again. Kristen again fails to come out of her stun, even after Cathilda uses her bonus for her to roll again.
Fig grabs Gorgug and uses Dimension Door to take them both up into the Ruction, getting close enough for Gorgug to run up to the elves, and giving Adaine more bardic inspiration. Adaine again foils her father's attempt at Dominate Person.
Sandra Lynn and Kristen both get hit by the pirates' next attacks, causing Kristen to be brought down to 3 HP.
One of the elves speaks to Adaine, telling her that the fight is obviously not going well for her or her friends. She raises her hand as it starts to flicker with flame and tells Adaine that if she leaves with them now, they will leave so the rest of the party only has the Pirates to deal with. Adaine allows herself to be taken by the elves, vowing that even though she is going with them, she will never ever do what they want of her.
Gorgug uses reckless attack and attacks Whitclaw for 35 damage. Whitclaw attacks back and deals enough damage to down Gorgug, but because of his Relentless Endurance he is actually at 1HP. Sandra Lynn immediately hops onto Baxter and flies to heal Gorgug for 18 points. Cathilda kills the last 2 pirates.
Whitclaw attacks Gorgug again, hitting him for 14 halved to 7 damage. He then attacks with his tentacles, grappling Gorgug and bringing him down again, as he attempts to eat his brain. Riz hides and manages to sneak attack Whitclaw for 25 damage.
As Adaine gets teleported away, she makes one more constitution saving throw, succeeding in just enough time to cast Sending to Ayda Augefort. She sends "Help. My friends are being killed in the Row and the Ruction. Please Help Them," to which Ayda immediately replies "Your friends are my friends."
Whitclaw attacks Riz for 12 points of slashing damage. Kristen and Fabian fail their saving throws again. Riz gets attacked by Whitclaw again for 13 points of damage.
Fig uses her skateboard to give her a dash, and attempts to hit Whitclaw but misses. She uses her bonus to Healing Word Gorgug, giving him 15 HP back. Sandra Lynn gets Baxter to rush Whitclaw, as Gorgug comes out of his stun. Sandra Lynn jumps off of Baxter, basically shoulder tackling Whitclaw. They both fall into the Row. Fig attempts an attack, missing all. Whitclaw stabs Sandra Lynn through the chest, and she is down. He then uses the rigging and climbs back up into the Ruction.
Riz once again hides and Sneak Attacks Whitclaw, hitting him with a Nat20. He doubles his attack, shooting him square in the chest for 47 damage. Whitclaw stumbles back, falls, and goes prone on the ground as something erupts from his gut. Riz tries to run over and grab the crown, but Whitclaw was not actually dead. Whitclaw shoots Riz point blank, telling him that his was the "Oldest trick in the book." Whitclaw hits him again, but Riz uses Uncanny Dodge to take half damage. Kristen fails her save again.
Fig runs to her mom, yelling for Riz not to go down so she can save her. Riz is immediately attacked and goes down. Fabian fails his save as well. Whitclaw attacks Gorgug again, putting him at 6HP. Fig brings her mom back up to 15 HP.
Fig attacks Whitclaw and hits. He can not shield as he is out of spell slots, so she uses Booming Blade, Adding her Psychic blades, and remembering that she had Hexblade Cursed him at the beginning of the session. She hits him for a total of 28 damage, and if he willingly moves before her next turn he will take a tremendous amount more.
Gorgug does one more reckless attack, hitting Whitclaw twice. Whitclaw Finally Dies, and Fig grabs the Pirate Kings Crown.
Sandra Lynn saves Riz, and Kristen and Fabian come out of their stun since he is now dead. Tracker reappears, healing everybody as Ragh wakes Kristen up, telling her that Adaine is gone. Fabian comes out of his stun feeling even worse than he did last time, saying that he is unable to do anything and that he wasn't any help in the fight. Cathilda attempts to comfort him.
After she comforts Fabian a bit, she offers to take the crown from Fig if she would like, which Fig declines as she doesn't fully trust Cathilda, which Cathilda questions. Fig states she wants to use the crown as a bargaining chip so someone will teleport them to Fallinel. At that moment, Ayda Augefort suddenly appears, answering Adaine's summons. She tells Fig that that will not be necessary as she will offer her services.
Kristen and Tracker reunite while Ragh and Cathilda comfort Fabian again. Riz tells Fabian that he understands that Fabian saw this fight hopefully going much better than it ended up going, as they all did, but that he should keep his head up because they will definitely get them next time, to which they all quietly "Hoot Growl!" albeit morosely from Fabian.
Jamina Joy walks up, seeing that there has been no pirate king decided for Leviathan, to which Fig replies she is taking the crown so there never will be again. Cathilda smiles and agrees. Fig is suspicious again. Fig takes Whitclaws sword, feeling a wave of pure hatred manifesting in the sword. Jamina then informs them that Gilear has crashed the Hangvan outside.
Fig asked Ayda to send them to Fallinel, to which she agrees, stating that she and Adaine are friends.
We cut from that scene to see Adaine appear in a courtyard where she is finally introduced to one of the Elves that took her, named Kir. Kir tells Adaine that saving her friends was very noble, to which Adaine replies that she wasn't really given a choice. Adain attempts to Misty step away, which her father dispels. In response she tries to cast Greater Invisibility, but is thwarted by Kir's True Sight, saying that she is happy to have a duel with Adaine if she wishes, but that it is truly futile. Kir makes a quip that Adaine must not be a very good oracle, as she predicted before the fight that she wouldn't be going with the elves. Adaine tries to Misty Step again, but is again hit with a counterspell. Kir and her father tell her that her friends are still alive in Leviathan, and that they need not be enemies. Adaine shakes her head. Kir tells Angwyn that it might be better that he explains and leaves.
As Kir walks away, Adaine tells her father that he abandoned her, treated her like garbage her whole life and that she would not be listening to him, to which he replies that she has always been obstinate. She puts her fingers in her ears to avoid hearing him, but he uses telepathy to speak directly to her mind, saying that if she continues to act this way, Fallinel will kill her to have a more compliant Elven Oracle. He says he does not want that to happen.
Adaine disagrees, stating that she has always been an inconvenience to her parents and that she will continue to be an inconvenience, even if she dies. She will haunt him forever and ever because she will never be satisfied with how annoying she has been to him. Angwyn sighs, telling her that if she needs any accommodations she need only ask, and walks away. Another Elf from the fight walks up, and Adaine refuses to listen, lying on the floor to ignore them. They manacle Adaine's hands, and lead her to a large room, where her sister, Aelwyn Abernant, has been made to crawl in a turning sphere for an obviously long amount of time. Adaine still refuses to cooperate, so she is brought to another room where Kir uses Detect thoughts and asks a few questions, her final question being whether Adaine intends to cooperate. She doesn't.
We cut back to Leviathan, where the gang decides to leave the crown of the pirate king where Bill Seacaster left it, so Fabian replaces it in Gibberty Square.
Gorgug takes Fabian aside, telling him he knows the fight didn't end the way Fabian wanted and that he's sorry. He tells fabian that he doesn't mean to be harsh but that Fabian needs to buck up and realize that this isn't about him anymore. They need to save Adaine. Gorgug takes his sword once more and stabs it into the ground in front of him, which Fabian tells him to stop doing as it dulls the blade. He tells Gorgug he understands and that he will work on getting it together.
Jamina Joy tells the Party that they are always welcome in Leviathan and that the Crimson Claw will make good repairs of all the things that Whitclaw had damaged during his crusade. Garthy tells the crew that they have been provided with provisions for the next leg of their journey and that they wish them well. They also tell the party that Fallinel is a big country and that the party need a more exact area that they want to go to, as the country is a big place and they don't want to trip too many alarms too quick, basically. As they look at the maps that Ayda provided, Garthy mentions the Lomenelda, which is where Fabian's mother, HIllariel is from. They party decides that they are going there and Ayda transports them away as Brennan calls the session to an end.
Locations[]
Featured Characters[]
The Bad Kids[]
New[]
Returning[]
- Captain James Whitclaw
- Cathilda Ceíli
- Tracker O'Shaughnessey
- Gilear Faeth
- Sandra Lynn Faeth
- Ragh Barkrock
- Boggy the Froggy
- Angwyn Abernant
- Baxter
- Ayda Aguefort
- Jamina Joy
- Aelwyn Abernant
- The Hangvan