Check in Question: What is something your friends would say about you?
- Miranda: I think my friends would say I am fun and caring, but need to learn to take time for myself more. Lysithea would first be surprised she has friends. Then she would think her friends would say she is very smart, but needs to work on her temper with stupid people. Also that her Fire Ball is amazing.
- Kevin: My friends would say that I use puns a lot. Gobbles’s thinks that he friends think he is the most awesomest adventurer in the whole world.
- Ian: Some people have told me I am reliable. Professor has no friends, but if he did they can’t say anything because they’re inanimate objects.
- Shannon: I think my real life friends would say that I’m loud. K’un-Lun would say that his friends think of him as the bravest man they’ve ever met in their lives.
- Liz: I have been told by a friend that I am a keeper. Octavia is loyal to whoever has juice, so her juice-loyal friends would say she drinks really well.
- Justice: Reliable to my face, and then many of them would say lots of different things behind my back. Sometimes to my face as well. Danny Man-Elf’s friends would definitely talk about his creative energy.
- Cordelia: That I’m silly and weird. Surina’s friends would say she is strong.
When we last left the party they had successfully made their way into the semifinals of the Ryphyet Battle of the Bands. They investigated Danny Man-Elf, who, with his band Oingo Boingo, was planning on cheating his head-to-head with Surina and the Crystal Gems. Lucky for the party Professor was able to sabotage their sabotage. Attacks are still happening, bands are still missing, and the party is still trying to solve the mystery.
K’un-Lun awakens from a very deep meditation. He stretches and pops every bone in his body at once, creating quite the sound.
Octavia: Are you sure you didn’t break something? Welcome back!
K’un-Lun remains in his stretched pose for a minute, then comes down really slow.
K’un-Lun: I was thinking about those beans. But I’m back.
Lysithea: You’re going to be so excited. There’s a Gregorcian Chant choir here!
K’un-Lun: Yay!
It is nightfall. The sense of hostility is still running rampant, except for the party. The terrifying image of a banshee reappears above the stage, cackling. (see Session 21)
Banshee: YOU FOOLS STILL HAVE NOT LISTENED TO MY WARNING! YOU WILL ALL BE PUNISHED!
With her call multiple areas are now under siege by different monsters. Some people can be seen running to the different areas being attacked by monsters, and others are running away. The food court is the closest area to the party currently under attack.
Octavia and Lysithea: NOT THE FOOD!
Professor: The beans!
Octavia: Save the juice!
Lysithea: The nachos!
The party rushes over and prepares to save the food court. Currently rummaging through the food stalls are 2 large manticores.
Lysithea: We need that to eat!
The manticores (Nature Gobbles 2, Professor 22, K’un-Lun 12, Octavia 21, Surina Nat 20) are probably in the employ of the banshee. They have tails that can fire spikes. Surina knows that manticores fear and avoid dragons, including Dragonborn. The manticores are currently inside the various food stalls so they have slight cover.
Gobbles: That’s a weird looking bird, guys.
To the back of the area, slightly hidden behind some crates, is a floating spectre. (Religion Gobbles 19, Octavia 18, Surina 19) The banshee feels no happiness, feeling only distress in the presence of the living, bound to this place of extreme hostility. (Arcana Professor 25, Lysithea 19) Simply looking at the banshee will cause horror and despair. The entire party has a feeling that since there is a banshee there will be some horrific wail soon to come. (Initiative Gobbles adjusted 20, Octavia 12, Surina 17, K’un-Lun 9, Lysithea 16, Professor 13).
Begin Food Court Battle
Gobbles moves towards the banshee, close enough to hit but far away enough to not be affected by the banshee’s horrifying appearance. He pops 2 Confetti Eldritch Blasts at the banshee (attack 25, 16), doing a total of 9 force damage.
Gobbles: I ain’t afraid of no ghost.
The first manticore flies up and fires tail spikes at Octavia, but its attack misses. It then barrels towards Gobbles to bite and swipe his claws at him, but Gobbles is able to avoid both attacks. Surina casts Hunter’s Mark on the first manticore, then moves in to attack. She strikes the manticore with her longsword (attack 26), doing 8 damage. She swings her sword again (attack 22), dealing an additional 11 damage to the manticore. Lysithea shoots Fire Bolt at the second manticore (attack 26) for 17 fire damage. Professor uses his bonus action to cast Arcane Weapon on his crossbow, then shoots Fire Bolt at the second manticore (attack 16) for 11 fire damage. He then shoots his crossbow at it, but the arrow misses. Octavia sends Onza to bite the first manticore (attack 19), whose powerful jaws deal 8 damage.
K’un-Lun: Good kitty.
She then fires an arrow at the same manticore (attack 21) for 12 damage. K’un-Lun rushes in and dive rolls into the food stall (acrobatics 22), poses, and then attacks the first manticore.
Professor: Show off.
As he leaps over the side of the stall his eyes make contact with the beautifully horrible creature that is the banshee. (Wisdom saving throw 5) As a result K’un-Lun is now frightened and cannot move any closer to the banshee. He punches at the manticore 3 times, but only his 3rd punch makes contact with the beast (attack 16) for 7 damage. The banshee does not move and remains floating, observing the battle in front of it. The second manticore fires its tail spikes at Professor, hitting him for 7 damage. It then flies in and bites at Octavia for 8 damage, then claws at her for an additional 7 damage. Gobbles moves in a bit closer and gains sight of the banshee. (Wisdom saving throw Nat 20) He is completely immune to the banshee’s horrifying gaze. He takes an attack of opportunity from manticore, but he’s able to avoid it. As Gobbles passes the barrels that were hiding the view of the banshee a gelatinous cube emerges and grabs onto Gobbles. (Dexterity saving throw 8) Gobbles takes 14 acid damage and, along with Thistle, becomes engulfed by the cube. As the gelatinous cube is slurping him up, Gobbles hits the banshee with Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, incapacitating it for at least a little while. Gobbles and Thistle are now inside the gelatinous cube. All the party can see is Gobbles and Thistle floating inside the clear glob of jello. (Arcana Professor 15, Lysithea 24, Octavia 8) They know that the cube cannot move very quickly but it is uncomfortably close to some of the party and can swallow more creatures before becoming full. Surina swings her sword at the first manticore (attack 9) but misses. She attacks again (attack 22), hitting for 7 damage. The manticore fires its tail spikes at Lysithea, hitting for 7 damage. It then tries to bite and swipe at K’un-Lun, but he expertly dodges both attacks. Lysithea spends a Sorcery Point to shoot Fire Bolt at as a Twinned Spell. Her first bolt hits the second manticore (attack 25) for 8 fire damage. She shoots her second bolt at the gelatinous cube (attack Nat 20) for 19 fire damage.
Professor: I believe we’re a little outnumbered here.
He tosses out his new Eldritch cannon, Bulette Bro, which he made from the remnants of Spider Bro and the bulettes (see Session 23). Bulette Bro fires at the gelatinous cube (attack 16) for 14 force damage. It jiggles sickeningly as it gets pushed 5 feet back. Octavia casts Hunter’s Mark on the first manticore as she gets out of melee range. She fires her longbow at it (attack 24) for 11 damage. She shoots again (attack 18) for an additional 12 damage. K’un-Lun, feeling like he can now gaze upon the banshee’s horrifying image (wisdom saving throw 17) bucks at the banshee. He punches at the first manticore (attack 19, 14), then activates Flurry of Blows to attack twice more (attack 24, 16). His attacks do a combined total of 31 damage. K’un-Lun absorbs the manticores HP as he slays it.
Lysithea: You just punched that manticore to death.
Octavia: Huzzah!
The banshee shakes off the laughter, but doesn’t do anything else. The gelatinous cube oozes forward, jiggling as it moves. It deals 22 acidic damage to Gobbles and Thistle, who will be running out of air soon.
Gobbles: blbblINEEDANADULTblblb!
The remaining manticore fires its tail spikes at Lysithea, hitting her for 6 damage. Lysithea reacts with Hellish Rebuke. Her flames hit the manticore for 10 fire damage, defeating the manticore. Gobbles tries to thrust himself out of the cube, but mostly just thrashes about. Surina thrusts her arms into the cube, grabs Gobbles (strength 19), and pulls him and Thistle out of the cube. She took 8 damage from putting her arms into the cube, but Gobbles and Thistle are now safe outside of the gelatinous horror.
Gobbles: Yay! Freedom! Who made this jello? I think it’s gone bad.
Lysithea casts Scorching Ray, sending all three rays at the gelatinous cube (attack 12, 10, 13). All three rays hit for a total of 22 fire damage. Bulette Bro fires at the gelatinous cube (attack 23) for 9 force damage. The cube gets pushed back 5ft, further away from Gobbles. Professor courageously moves in forward in front of the cube and casts Thunderwave. With a confident and stern look he claps his hand in front of him (passes constitution saving throw) casting the spell. His look instantly turns to regret as the cube takes only 5 damage and does not get pushed back. Professor stares back in terror, with his hands still clapped together.
Professor: Please kill it! Someone?
Octavia shoots at the cube (attack 11), dealing 12 damage. She fires again (attack 9) for an additional 9 damage. The cube dissolves down, defeated. K’un-Lun flips back out of the food stall and runs towards the banshee. He cannot make it to attack range, so he prepares a dodge action with Patient Defense. The banshee floats right by K’un-Lun, whose head follows slowly as she passes, staring in disbelief. The banshee is now visible to the entire party (wisdom saving throw Octavia adjusted 20, Lysithea 21, Surina 13) who can look back upon her without being frightened. The banshee lets out the most depressing, mournful, sorrowful wail they have ever heard (constitution saving throw Gobbles 19, Octavia 19, Lysithea adjusted 20, K’un-Lun 16, Surina adjusted 20, Professor 19, Onza 13). Luckily they only take 11 damage; however, Gobbles is down! He is barely holding on (death saving throw 18) and continues holding on (second death saving throw 17). Surina turns to Gobbles, who Thistle is actively giving CPR to, and uses Lay On Hands to heal Gobbles for 25 HP.
Gobbles: Thank you Surina! I’m alive!
Lysithea fires Magic Missile as a level 2 spell at the banshee for a combined total of 18 damage. Professor steps around Gobbles, who is still laying on the ground, and fires Bulette Bro (attack 22) at the banshee. The attack does 12 damage and pushes the banshee back 5 ft. He then fires his crossbow at the banshee (attack 17) for 5 piercing and 6 fire damage. As his final action he shoots Fire Bolt at the banshee (attack 23) for 9 more fire damage. Octavia moves closer for a better shot and fires (attack 27) for 8 damage. Her arrow pierces the banshee, which floats down in defeat.
End Food Court Battle
The food court has been saved and remains mostly intact. After a while the chaos dies down, all monsters having been defeated. The party limps back to their tent, but not before Gobbles scoops up some of the gelatinous cube jello to eat later.
Gobbles: What? You mean you wouldn’t want to scoop some of this stuff up to eat it? It looks delicious.
Lysithea: I may scoop it up to do experiments on it, but not eat it.
Arriving back at the tent the party realizes that most of the bands that have been eliminated are sticking around; however, after the chaos Arrowsmith does not return to their tent. Octavia wants to investigate and walks up to one of the workers packing up Arrowsmith’s belongings.
Octavia: Where’s Arrowsmith?
Worker: The monsters took them and they sunk into the desert.
Octavia: That is sad.
Lysithea: Do you know what monsters took them?
Worker: Nope.
He continues packing up the tent and leaves.
They wake up well rested the next morning after a good night’s rest. Archibald Bickerford Pembleton Esq. will be the MC for today’s head-to-head.
Archibald: After the events of last night we are going to continue on with the competition anyway.
Professor: Classy.
Lysithea: Oh my god, why?
K’un-Lun: The show must go on!
Archibald: We have handled everything perfectly fine. None of the competitors for today have been damaged or maimed. We are now proceeding to the head-to-head battles, simultaneous production. Our first bands will be Surina and the Crystal Gems vs. Danny Man-Elf…
Lysithea: We have to go first?!
Archibald: …and his band, The Oingo Boingos.
Lysithea lets out an annoyed sigh. Instead of the singular large stage the party approaches two stages facing each other. The audience is further back, and there is a center ring between the two stages, like a wrestling ring.
Octavia: Get my metal chairs ready. Get my folding chairs!
As enter the area they feel Fey magic all around them. Gobbles will receive advantage to anything magical he does due to this faerie-dragon “patron”. Professor has made Lysithea a pedal for her cowbell, which is basically just a stick and a base, so that she can play duel instruments for the battle.
Professor: I stayed up all night making this. I found this stick in the woods, you see.
Lysithea: I’m surprised you didn’t steal a stick.
Octavia: Don’t give him ideas.
Professor: This is where I get my best sticks!
Lysithea brings on an orchestral bass drum as well as her cowbell. K’un-Lun brings his kalimba to add to the orchestration of lute, kazoo, upright bass, cowbell, bass drum, and vocals. Together they prepare to perform their song “Eye of the Liger” against Danny Man-Elf’s “Dead Man’s Party”. They notice that all of Oingo Boingo’s instruments have the mosaic skull from the bulettes inscribed on them.
K’un-Lun climbs up to the top of the rafters in preparation (acrobatics 11). As the rest of the party takes the stage they the musical energy emanating from them takes form in the center ring. At the moment it looks like a floating blob of energy. Lysithea hits the cowbell foot pedal on 1, 2, 3, 4 and then hits the bass drum on 1 to cast “Needs More Cowbell” (arcana 12 – AC for the first round). The blob of energy takes shape and turns into a giant Liger. Oingo Boingo comes in with a guitar solo, and a giant Skeleton forms on the other side of the ring. Musical notes are swirling around both entities. Professor comes in with the bass line (performance Nat 20, bonus 15), and the Liger rears up and slaps the Skeleton’s face for 7 damage. The Skeleton begins throwing some of its bones at the Liger as Oingo Boingo begins to play. Octavia comes in hard with the power chords on her lute (strength 21) . The Liger crouches down and pounces on the Skeleton for 7 damage. The skeleton gets ready to attack again, but Oingo Boingo’s drum set doesn’t seem to be functioning properly. The bass drum seems muffled, the heads aren’t fully vibrating, all thanks to Professor’s sabotage (see Session 23). The Skeleton tries to throw the Liger off of itself, but instead goes incorporeal and phases through it. K’un-Lun flips down from the rafters, lands heroically (acrobatics 18), and begins playing the melody on his kalimba. The crowd goes wild for K’un-Lun’s stunt, and the Liger gives the Skeleton a swift uppercut for 9 damage. Danny Man-Elf sees that things are not going well and he begins singing as an entire orchestra appears behind him…
Lysithea: I knew it!
Gobbles comes in humming the lyrics into his kazoo ala Peter Frampton (performance Nat 20, bonus 1). Thistle joins in and makes the lyrics appear around the Liger. The Liger bursts into a thousand tiny Ligers with rockets which then bombard the Skeleton for 11 damage, and then reforms into the full Liger. The brass joins Oingo Boingo, and the Skeleton takes off its head and spikes it at the Liger. Finally, Surina joins in singing the lyrics, clapping her hands above her head to encourage the audience to clap along (persuasion Nat 20, bonus 11). The Liger comes down from its previous uppercut attack and bashes down on the Skeleton for 15 damage. Oingo Boingo continues its groove, and the Skeleton takes two mallets and begins playing on its ribcage, dazing the Liger.
Getting towards the end of the song Lysithea senses that Surina is going to do an epic finish. She moves her bass drum mallet to her tail to hit with so that she can assume clapping duties from Surina. She claps above her head while hitting the bass drum on beats 1 and 3 and the cowbell on beats 2 and 4 (intelligence 21 – new AC for the round). Oingo Boingo’s drummer is going to town on his set, but it still doesn’t seem to do much. Octavia, who is having a lot of fun, continues with the power chords while adding in syncopation (intelligence 13). The Liger jumps in the air and elbow drops on the Skeleton’s back for 10 damage. Danny Man-Elf continues to sing, making weird faces to try to scare people. The Skeleton detaches one of its legs and swings it like a golf club, hitting the Liger into the air. Gobbles rounds his kazoo playing to create a stereophonic sound so that no one can tell where it’s coming from (stealth 25). The Liger, up in the air from the golf swing, sprouts dragon wings and dives bombs Skeleton for 8 damage. The keytar player from Oingo Boingo is trying his best, but the Skeleton’s attack misses the Liger. Professor continues to play his bass but takes a moment to throw a ball in front of the group and Flamethrower Spider Bro gives the group pyrotechnics (arcana 24). After diving the Skeleton the Liger uses its tail to sweep out its legs, making it fall prone for 5 damage. Oingo Boingo’s horn players continue playing, but the Skeleton is unable to attack. K’un-Lun climbs back up the rafters and hangs upside playing his kalimba (acrobatics 26). The Liger bites the leg bone golf club out of its hands and shakes it about for 10 damage. They can feel the energy that Danny Man-Elf brought is starting to fade away. His band and orchestra are not working together, the dissonance is increasing, and they are falling out of time with each other. Surina brings in the big finish, shooting her flame breath as she sings the final note (arcana 14). As she breathes her fire so does the Liger. Danny Man-Elf, his band, and his orchestra begin to fight on stage, and the Skeleton falls bit by bit into a pile of bones. The Liger epically poses, breathing its fire into the air in victory! Final Score: Liger dealt 88 damage, Skeleton dealt 39 damage.
Archibald: Surina and the Crystal Gems are going to the finals!
Surina: YYAAAYYY!
Octavia: That was so great! I feel so alive!
Lysithea: Ahhhh how did we do that?
Danny Man-Elf walks over to the party.
Danny: Well done. Well done.
He’s in a very foul mood, and not just because he lost.
Octavia: What do you think about all the monster attacks?
Danny: Crazy. Crazy. You never see anything like that at a festival. It’s something out of a nightmare.
Professor: WHEREWEREYOULASTNIGHTDURINGTHEATTACKSFROMALLTHEMONSTERS?
Danny: We were fighting our own monsters.
Professor: Hmm… What did you fight? (insight Nat 20)
Danny: There were a bunch of skeletons and a minotaur skeleton.
He is telling the truth.
Professor: Any casualties?
Danny: Not in our band.
Octavia: It seems that Arrowsmith was taken after they were defeated.
Danny: Yes, and I heard They Definitely Are Giants disappeared, and same with Phish. Lycan Park for some reason couldn’t control their transformations. Weird things are going on.
K’un-Lun: Well you got that right.
Danny: It’s a shame. We tried to stop our competition, tried to join in on some of the chaos.
Lysithea: You did what now?
Professor: We have it recorded!
Danny: All the bands were trying to do it to each other. We just joined in trying to get rid of Halfling Metal. Didn’t need to cause we won anyway.
Lysithea: You almost got rid of me!
Danny: And that would have helped us as well.
Lysithea: Hold me back, I’m going to light him on fire.
Professor: I’m not holding you back.
K’un-Lun: I will not hold you back.
Octavia holds her back. They can tell that Danny is in such a foul mood that he just can’t help but tell the truth.
Lysithea: So you didn’t start all this, but you definitely took advantage of the situation.
Gobbles: Do you know who was the first one to start doing these shenanigans?
Danny: No. But you know, it’s a band-eat-band world out there.
Gobbles: Bands aren’t very tasty.
Danny: We just borrowed some voodoo magic.
Professor: *whispers* I guess we did that, too.
Danny: Good luck in the finals.
Lysithea takes out a small notebook, writes Danny Man-Elf’s name inside it, then puts it back in her bag, evil staring at him the whole time. The party decides to go tell Archmage Rogers what they have learned so far. They find him at the judge’s table. Lady Pippa is there casting spells, concentrating on providing the magic for the battles.
Lysithea: Excuse us Mr. Sir Archmage, can we speak with you for a moment?
Frederich: The next band is coming up. What is it? Tell me, tell me. I always have time for everyone.
Lysithea: We have found that a lot of the bands, if not every band, have been taking advantage of the chaos and have been trying to sabotage each other. The attack on Halfling Metal was done by Danny Man-Elf, which he openly admitted to.
Professor: We have a recording!
Frederich: But who is the cause of all of this negative energy?
Lysithea: We’re still not sure but we know they’ve been taking advantage of it.
Professor: It was you! *points to Archmage Frederich* Wasn’t it, Rogers? Who else could cast such powerful magic, hmmm?
Frederich: No.
Professor: So it wasn’t you, Rogers? (Insight 11)
Octavia: I do not sense any lies in him. (Insight adjusted 20)
Gobbles: My money is on the choir.
Professor: Then who else can perform such crazy magics? Is it the Fey Fighters? Are they still here?
The next band is going on, so Archmage Frederich excuses himself from the party. The St. Warrrggh!-Ustine Choir, which K’un-Lun is excited to see, is going head-to-head with Josie and the Tabaxi.
K’un-Lun: I love chant! I love Gregorcian chant.
The party decides to watch the battle to see if anything suspicious happens (and so K’un-Lun can watch the performance). The choir starts with a deep bellow of a sound, sending chills down K’un-Lun’s spine. He reaches out and grabs whatever was closest to him, which just happens to be the Professor.
Professor: My leg!
The bellow echoes, and from the ring a giant, musical warg covered in bass clefs appears. As Josie and the Tabaxi strike up their chords a giant sphinx flies in from the heavens.
K’un-Lun: BOOOOO! BOOOOO!
While watching the battle Gobbles begins to nibble on the gelatinous cube jello and takes 2 acid damage.
Gobbles: This is good, this is good. It’s a little spicy.
Octavia: Gobbles! Throw that out!
Gobbles: But it’s good!
Octavia: But it’s hurting you!
Gobbles: We earned this!
Lysithea: Give me that! *takes the jello from Gobbles*
Gobbles: No pain, no gain! I heard that somewhere, it must be true.
Octavia: Instead of eating it what if we mount it as our victory trophy?
Gobbles’s eyes grow wide in joy at the idea.
K’un-Lun: It will just look like a glass of water.
Lysithea: We’ll label it. I have labels.
Professor: Of course you do.
The party’s attention returns to the battle as they feel an extreme amount of negativity coming from the magic bubble surrounding the ring. The fight is intense, with the sphinx clawing and swiping at the warg.
K’un-Lun: Go warg, go!
The druidic bass chants can be heard echoing throughout the entire area, causing the earth itself to vibrate.
Octavia: I can really feel the music.
K’un-Lun looks down to see that Professor is wearing a Josie and the Tabaxi t-shirt, causing him to grab onto Professor’s leg even tighter. As the fight continues the feeling of despair deepens. The warg and sphinx collide and a huge pile of dust erupts. The audience is on the edge of their seat, waiting to see who is victorious. The dust settles, and the sphinx is standing triumphantly over the warg.
K’un-Lun: NOOOOO!
K’un-Lun stands up shaking his fists in the air, one of which still has Professor in its grasp.
Archibald: The final will be Surina and the Crystal Gems vs. Josie and the Tabaxi!
Lysithea: We shouldn’t have helped them out so much.
Professor: They’re good!
K’un-Lun: I’m less afraid of defeating them than the Waarrrgh!-Ustine Choir. I honestly would just let them win.
Professor: Will you put me down?
K’un-Lun: Oh, sorry.
K’un-Lun lets go of Professor, who then drops straight to the ground.
Archibald: The final will take place tonight! Each band is recommended to get some rest in their tents.
K’un-Lun: Recommended? It doesn’t mean that we have to do that.
Octavia: Yeah… me and Onza are going to stand guard outside the tent because there’s a lot of weird stuff going on.
Lysithea: I need to practice.
Octavia and K’un-Lun remain on guard outside of the tent. Gobbles decides to bolster his nerves by getting 5 Hydra-Meat burgers, amongst other snack foods. Lysithea, Professor, and Surina enter their tent and try to figure out what song they need to play. Suddenly the ground beneath the tent begins to quake and shake, becoming softer under their feet. (Dexterity saving throw K’un-Lun 19, Octavia 26, Surina 14, Professor 6, Lysithea 7) K’un-Lun and Octavia are able to leap free, but Surina, Professor, and Lysithea get pulled down into the quicksand. Octavia and K’un-Lun turn around to find their friends and the tent gone, and the ground solidified.
Octavia: Oh my god.
K’un-Lun: They’re not very dexterous, are they?
Surina, Professor, and Lysithea find themselves in a white room.
Lysithea: Ah my eyes! It’s bright!
The other bands are with them in this room. Arrowsmith, the Merfolk that are Phish, and some Gnomes they’ve never seen before are among them. They seem to be trying to find a way out, but they are more intent on fighting with each other.
Arrowsmith: You got sucked down, too?
Professor: You got sucked down first!
Arrowsmith: We got attacked as well!
The negativity still doesn’t seem to be affecting the party, but as they become more frustrated with the situation they can feel their energy get siphoned off. They can definitely feel that the negativity from the arguing bands is being siphoned to somewhere.
Gobbles has been walking around eating and hitting up the souvenir stalls. He moseys on back, carrying a leg of mutton in one hand, a giant Hydra-Meat burger in the other, and a Josie and the Tabaxi hat on his head. He makes his way back to the tent to find it and half of the party missing. K’un-Lun and Octavia are just staring at the ground where the tent was.
Gobbles: Hey, guys, where’s the tent?
K’un-Lun: I’m thinking… I’m thinking really hard…
Octavia: Yeah, nothing’s coming. To me, anyway.
K’un-Lun: Uhhhhh, where did they go?
Octavia: I don’t… know… I don’t know. Gobbles! They’re gone!
Gobbles: But why? Who?
Octavia: They’re gone!
Gobbles: Where?
Octavia: They got pulled into the ground! They’re gone!
Gobbles: That’s not good!
Octavia: I KNOW!
K’un-Lun starts screaming into the ground.
K’un-Lun: HEY YOU GUYS! They’re probably dead.
Octavia: NO! If they die I won’t get my money!
K’un-Lun: The show must go on.
Octavia: We need to find Mr. Rogers.
Gobbles sounds the Kazoo of Gondor, trying to call for the Archmage. They run off with his blast and find the Archmage Frederich by the judge’s table.
K’un-Lun: Our friends have been killed!
Octavia: K’un-Lun, K’un-Lun we don’t know if they were killed but they were definitely sucked into the ground and are gone.
Frederich: I cannot interfere.
Octavia: What do you mean you can’t interfere?
Gobbles: I mean, you could. You’re just choosing not to.
Frederich: It is up to everyone to make their own way in life. It’s my job to be proud of them.
Octavia: Way in life? Way in life?! Proud of them?!?! They might be dead!
Gobbles: Instead of interfering do you want to go on a walk with us to a useful location? Not in an interfering way, though.
As they get more frustrated they feel their energy being sucked to… somewhere (investigation Octavia 5, K’un-Lun 17, Gobbles 11). K’un-Lun can’t fully sense where the negativity is going to, but it is fueling something.
K’un-Lun: Guys, stop being so lame.
Octavia: I’m scared! I’m worried!
K’un-Lun: The lamer you are the more we are feeding something, I can feel it. We are being fed upon. We’re being taken advantage of.
Octavia: Okay, okay, I hear you.
Gobbles: Happy thoughts! Eagles!
K’un-Lun: Happy thoughts! You’re so cool, dude. My god, you’re so strong and tall. I love it.
Gobbles: Yes I am!
K’un-Lun: And Octavia, your aim is insane. I’m so envious of your aim.
Octavia: Yes! Best cat-mom ever!
K’un-Lun: And your cat! I don’t even have a pet. I’ve never had a cat. Oh no, I’ve never had a cat before…
Octavia: But your acrobatics are unmatched!
Gobbles: You have 2 arms and they are arm like!
K’un-Lun: God, yes! I love my arms! I use them so much.
Surina, Professor, and Lysithea start searching for a way out.
Phish: We already tried searching.
The bands are just constantly arguing with each other and the party cannot properly search for a way out. The negativity from the arguments is swirling, fueling something, which is clouding any arcana checks they could make. Lysithea, wanting to concentrate, booms her voice at the other bands.
Lysithea: HEY, KNOCK IT OFF!
Professor: If you’ve been in here for so long why can’t you figure out a way out? We just got here, you can’t blame me, I’m innocent!
The bands hold their ears at Lysithea’s voice, then turn their heads to yell at her.
Arrowsmith: Why would you do that?
Professor: *looks to Lysithea* Why would you do that? I was listening to that!
Lysithea: If you would all chill out for a second then maybe we could work together to find a way out of here!
Phish: Why would we want to work with liars? *points to the Gnomes*
Lysithea: Who are these Gnomes?
Phish: They’re liars! They’re They Definitely Are Giants, and they definitely are NOT giants!
Professor: Well they might be.
Surina: That’s what they’re band should be! They Definitely Are Not Giants!
Lysithea: So none of you do anything for showmanship when you perform?
Phish: Of course we do!
Lysithea: So you’re liars, too.
Phish: Yes! That’s what musicians are!
Lysithea: SO THEN WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Suddenly a portal opens above them and a whole choir of orcs falls into the room. The St. Warrrgh!-Ustine Choir is brandishing weapons and immediately starts arguing with the other bands. Lysithea makes a mental note to write all of their names down in her notebook later and starts rubbing her temple from the headache all the stupidity is giving her.
Surina: What’s going to happen to the battle?
Outside, an announcement calls.
WILL THE TWO FINAL BANDS PLEASE COME TO THE STAGE.
K’un-Lun: Oh my goodness…Nonegativethoughtsnonegativethoughts. Wecandothiswecancarrythebandwe’rethebestoftheband.
They realize they do not have Surina from Surina and the Crystal Gems.
K’un-Lun: Oh my gooooooooooood!
Gobbles: It’s fine. One of us can just get some fake scales and put on a wig.
K’un-Lun: That’s a great idea.
Octavia: That’s so disrespectful! What about the panther? Onza is very good and will sit in the middle of the stage if I tell her to.
K’un-Lun: We can say that Surina is a Druid and turned into a cat for our final performance.
Gobbles: Yes!
Octavia: I like this. Onza, you hear this?
Onza is standing back and hissing at the party.
Octavia: Okay, seriously though, we need to decide if we want to try and do the competition or figure out what happened to our friends first. I say we find our friends. Can we ask for a time extension before the competition goes on?
They don’t have much time, so they quickly discuss which judge they want to approach to ask for a time extension. They know that Archmage Frederich will not interfere, and that Archibald Bickerford Pembleton Esq. has been scoring the party low so he probably won’t care. They decide on Lady Pippa, who has scored the party well in the previous brackets. They find her off to a side area, which is very green and cool, drinking a sparkling juice.
Pippa: Welcome, welcome.
Octavia: Hello, Ms. Pippa.
Pippa: Shouldn’t you be on stage?
Octavia: That’s what we came to talk to you about. The rest of our band was swallowed into the earth…
K’un-Lun: They were earthnapped.
Octavia: … Earthnapped is a good way to put it. It’s just the three of us left. Is there any way we could postpone this next round while we try to go find them?
Pippa: Postpone? No, seeing as how you have deliberately helped the people behind all of this. As I tried to cast my spell to ruin their chances, you all have given them instruments and saved Elvish Presley. Why should I help you? I thought you were the bad guys, too.
Gobbles: We’re not!
K’un-Lun: *sadly* Our friends are gone now.
Octavia: How could we be working with Josie and the Tabaxi if we are about to battle them?
Pippa: To assure that they win?
Gobbles: Why would we not just forfeit to assure they win?
Pippa: Are you not coming to me to say that you have to find your friends or you will need to forfeit?
Octavia: Okay, then can we go up with half the band?
Gobbles: We’re flipping heroes!
K’un-Lun: Yeah, yeah!
Pippa: But you have helped the bad guys every time.
Gobbles: And the good guys! We saved Halfling Metal!
K’un-Lun: But we didn’t know they were bad guys!
Octavia: Yeah, we didn’t know any of that!
Pippa: Fine, I will give you 2 hours to find them. At that time the battle will start.
Octavia: Thank you! Thank you, Miss Pippa!
Will the party be able to reunite and stop Josie and the Tabaxi? End Session.
Check Out
Spotlight on Another Player:
- Miranda: Cordelia for choosing to heal Gobbles instead of continuing to attack. She saved Gobbles twice today.
- Kevin: Shannon’s climbing up and jumping down during the performance. Actually I’m changing it to his constant “They’re dead” just deadpan with no emotion.
- Liz: Gobbles for putting up with a gelatinous cube and not dying, technically. Plus he ate some.
- Ian: Cordelia for putting my dice in jail so they can repair themselves and heal so I can roll better.
- Cordelia: Danny Man-Elf telling the truth without us interrogating him.
- Shannon: I personally thought that the Gregorcian Chant choir should have won and their performance was my favorite out of all of them. They really made my day, honestly.
- Justice: Ian for always coming up with hysterical things with the Professor. I mean, everyone is playing their character’s great but Ian is ridiculous.
Challenge/Something Learned:
- Miranda: I learned not to trust Josie and the Tabaxi. Don’t help everybody. No, seriously, I’m still going to say that even though it was better I’m having trouble being more creative during the performances.
- Kevin: I learned not to immediately trust people we are helping. Once we helped Josie they were not even on my list of suspects at that point.
- Liz: I definitely learned that Josie and the Tabaxi are the bad guys, but we had to lose 3 of our party in the process.
- Ian: Don’t mess with a banshee. Use your inspiration if it yells at you.
- Cordelia: Answering these questions.
- Shannon: Sometimes you gotta meditate to come back at 100%.
- Justice: Trying to make combat hard but move it along quickly so that you have time to get through everything.
Hope or Prediction for Next Session:
- Miranda: I hope we get out of the white room, save the day, and win the whole thing!
- Liz: I predict that we are going to make it by the skin of our teeth, running up to the stage to say we are ready to compete as they are about to announce Josie and the Tabaxi win by default.
- Kevin: Hoping we can come in, save everybody, and win.
- Ian: What Miranda said.
- Cordelia: I hope we win the battle.
- Shannon: I hope Josie and the Tabaxi all go to jail because they’re criminals. And we deserve to win because we’re better musicians.
- Justice: I hope things have calmed down enough so that Shannon can play more often.
Analysis: The creativity of children never ceases to amaze me. Cordelia has trouble sitting still and we often find her under the table or squirming in her chair when there isn’t combat. Today she found a way to occupy herself in a way that also makes her feel productive – she is the warden of dice jail. She took an Easter Egg, drew a jail cell on it, and declared it dice jail. My favorite part is that she isn’t putting the dice in jail to punish them but to heal them. She took a few of Ian’s dice and one of mine and put them in jail to rehabilitate them. Her face lit up so bright when our dice rolled well after she “healed” them! She not only found a way to occupy herself without being distracting, but she found a way to feel useful when she’s too shy to roleplay.