Kenton grabs the end of a rope, securing it to the vessel itself and taking hold of the other end firmly, then draws his rapier and with a cheery For Taldor! leaps overboard.
INITIATIVE:
The general seizes the chance for a quick meal and rushes in to eat Xavien:
, and thankfully it's angle is poor.
ROUND 1:
The General: ATK
Kenton: Go
Ianthe: Go
Xavien: Go
Corran: Go
Aurela: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Too thrilled to be intimidated, Xavien holds his blade forward as a lance in both hands, stabbing forward at the mighty catfish.
I hear the horses' thunder down in the valley below.
I'm waiting for the angels of Elysium,
Waiting for the eastern glow.
The apples of the valley hold the seeds of happiness,
The ground is rich from tender care.
Repay, do not forget, no, no,
Dance in the dark of night,
Sing! to the morning light!
Corran looks about, confused and feeling powerless for a few moments, but he looks at his boots and the floor of the dinghy and decides to give it a go. He starts stomping and tapping, doing the rhythm and baseline from the National Anthem. He gives is a little extra gusto, to project his thumping through the water to Kenton and Xavian.
Bardic Performance, Inspire Courage.
The general's massive mouth clamps down on Xavien: and miraculously, Xavien avoids the grab.
Xavien fights back, poking his blade slightly into the General's side. Corran's pounding on the hull stirs the blood, even in the water.
ROUND 1:
The General: ATK
Kenton: Go
Ianthe: Go
Xavien (26/39): Hit
Corran: Bard
Aurela: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Let's try to give Lord Xavien more of a fighting chance...
Ianthe begins casting Enlarge Person on Xavien.
"Good idea, Ianthe," Aurelia says, speaking the abbreviated words of a conjuration spell. It feeds upon a wellspring of stored magical power, and within seconds a water elemental emerges.
She points at the general direction of the General and says, "Kill."
Though it does not understand Taldane, it understands intent and disappears under the water to attack the big fish.
Ianthe seeks to balance the scales with a complex spell while Aurelia brings forth an elemental that doesn't have any immediate impact.
ROUND 1:
The General: ATK
Kenton: Go
Ianthe: Spell
Xavien (28/39): Hit
Corran: Bard
Aurelia: Summon
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Kenton finds swimming while holding a rope in one habd and a rapier in the other to be more difficult than he thought.
Kenton makes some progress, but it's not great.
The massive fish takes another gulp attempt, still looking to eat Xavien for lunch:
for the bite is bad
the grab is worse. It looks like the General is going to swallow the foolhardy Xavien in a single bite!
ROUND 2:
The General: ATK
Kenton: Go
Ianthe: Go
Xavien (14/39, Grabbed): Go
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Corran continues his stomping, tapping and dancing.
Corran takes aim with his Darkwood Shortbow and fires!
Xavien knows that he needs to survive going down the General's gullet---it's probably safer inside than out, after all---so he fetches a wand and taps his own brow with it, singing all the while.
The apples turn to brown and black,
The tyrant's face is red,
Oh! war is the common cry.
Pick up your swords and fly!
The sky is filled with good and bad
Mortals never know, oh!
Oh, well, the night is long, the beads of time pass slow,
Tired eyes on the sunrise
Waiting for the eastern glow.
With the fish preoccupied at the moment with its oversized catch, Kenton tries to skewer it!
Xaxien uses the sure magic of a wand. Kenton tries to harm the General, but alas, misses
ROUND 2:
The General: ATK
Kenton: Miss[b]
Ianthe: Go
Xavien (24/39, Grabbed): Heal
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Aurelia maintains concentration on the magic binding the elemental. The creature, in turn, continues to follow orders.
Knowing that the quickest way to end this fight is to end the fish, the arcanist draws more stored magic power. She uses this to fuel a trio of magical missiles that fly unerringly toward the giant fish.
Ianthe completes her spell, causing Xavien to engirthenize.
She then follows her friend's example, sending a duo of force darts at the fish.
The elemental still struggles, but then a pentad of magic missiles strike to wound it.
Additionally, Ianthe's spell makes Xavien too large to swallow!
ROUND 2:
The General: ATK
Kenton: Miss
Ianthe: Magic
Xavien (24/39, Grabbed): Heal
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Magic
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Keep the beat and shoot again!
Nope!
Kenton has no success.
But is able to control himself in the water.
Neither Corran nor Kenton have any luck against the legendary fish. While he can't swallow Xavien, a leg would still make a good snack.
MISS
It then slashes at Kenton with fins!
for
for
ROUND 2:
The General: ATK
Kenton (25/41): Go
Ianthe: Go
Xavien (24/39, Grabbed): Go
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
With the fight turning desperate, Xavien slashes vigorously with Koriana's Blade.
The pain of war cannot exceed
The woe of aftermath.
The drums will shake the castle wall,
The dread wraiths ride in black, ride on!
Sing as you raise your bow,
Shoot straighter than before.
Xavien manages to get a cut in, though the water lessens the impact of the blade.
Xaxien uses the sure magic of a wand. Kenton tries to harm the General, but alas, misses
ROUND 2:
The General: ATK
Kenton (25/41): Go
Ianthe: Go
Xavien (24/39, Grabbed): Hit
Corran: Go
Aurelia: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Corran swears, but keeps the rhythm up and nocks another arrow.
and this time, Shelyn guides his shot!
, Plus
Corran makes up for his last with an epic shot! It may be enough to deter the fish from continuing the fight!
ROUND 2:
The General: ATK
Kenton (25/41): Go
Ianthe: Go
Xavien (24/39, Grabbed): Hit
Corran: Hit!
Aurelia: Go
-----------------------------
Location: Lake Pensaris
Kenton heeds Xavien's song and tries to filet this fish.
He glides through the water, but while he could easily make the boat, he is unwilling to leave Lord Karthis' side.
Aurelia repeats her spellcasting from before, producing another trio of missiles that, once released, slam into The General!
The rapier pierces the General's side and when Aurelia's missiles hit, the fish thrashes, releases Xavien... and goes belly up!
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The scale of this endeavor was larger than I fathomed. I'm glad we were able to net a success.
Kenton chuckles at Lady Clement's wordplay. Aye! And I daresay the General has disavowed us of the notion that we had bigger fish to fry!
"We need to immediately show this off to the folk. I suggest we host an enormous, impromptu fish fry and serve all comers for free! We'll be legends!"
Kenton lends a hand to Xavien to haul the fish to the boat. After grabbing a breath of air, he slides back into the water to secure a rope to the prize, then climbs back aboard to head into shore.
When Kenton starts tugging the massive fish to the boat, Xavien shakes his head, pointing at the boat and narrowing his hands towards each other, to say boat is too small.
Instead, he helps Kenton tie a rope around the floating fish and then affixes it to the stern. He pops his head out of the water. "We shall have to tow it. Every lad to an oar!" He waits until he shrinks back down to size before clambering back in.
To pass the time, he sings as he rows.
No comfort has the fire at night
That lights the face so cold.
Oh, dance in the dark of night,
Sing to the morning light!
The magic runes are writ in gold
To bring the balance back.
Bring it back!
At last the sun is shining,
The clouds of blue roll by,
With flames from the dragon of darkness
The sunlight blinds his eyes!
Ahhhhh!
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
Aurelia peers down into the water, eyes focused not on the General but where he was. "You know, I think I see the remains of a proper ship in the water. Is that right? The General was known to be a blight to fishermen, but perhaps also sailors? Just what ship is down there?"
Xavien's face lights up at Aurelia's query. "Mm! Perhaps a duchess's pleasure barge?"
He dives back down to investigate.
Corran is elated!
"Could that be... COULD IT BE?!?!"
Xavien dives back down. Searching the muddy remains turns up four bottles of bloodberry gin (worth 100 gp each), a ruby-and-sapphire wedding ring (worth 1,000 gp), and a deck magical playing cards in a teak box; decades of water damage have rendered the box into twisted garbage, but the cards within are in good condition, if slightly stained.
Xavien eyes the cards, careful not to turn any of them over---at least not yet. "What do you make of these?" he asks the Clements and Lady Basri.
Aurelia takes the proffered items, whispering a simple spell to identify if any are magical.
Should any proof to contain magic, she makes a more diligent study.
She then hands them over to Ianthe to study and corroborate.
Lady Aurelia fails to decipher the magic.
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Corran admires the ring and can't help but wonder if he'll have need if it sooner rather than later as his thoughts drift to Sepsinia. Then he looks up and catches Aurelia fixing her hair in the sunlight, biting her lower lip as she examines the cards. There's a twist in his gut and he pushes away unknown, unexplained pain. But his eyes move to the cards. The pain fades.
He snatches them before Ianthe can get them. "Let me see... Oh I've heard of these! They're..."
Corran has heard of magical decks... but this one is beyond him.
"...Cards. Sorry, I considered making something up to be funny. I must be distracted."
He holds the deck out for Ianthe and pulls is away with a flick of the wrist when she reaches for it. He holds it out again only to repeat the jape. The third time he drops it and catches it with his other hand before presenting it to her.
"Rule of Three."
Oh, magic cards! Most interesting!
Unfortunately, I can't recall anything like this from my studies.
The party fails to figure out the cards.... so they....
Xavien looks carefully at the stains on the cards.
Then he shrugs and wraps them gingerly in a dry cloth. "Let's haul this fish into town."
Kenton knows little about cards, including playing them right. But he visibly brightens at the prospect of showing off the spoils of Xavien's exploits. Indeed! What tales they'll tell of you now, Lord Karthis!
"We can study this very interesting deck of cards again tomorrow. Let's get back to land please."
"Ooooh we's a gonna have ourselves a Fish Fry!"
Corran helps to the best of his ability to recover the beast.