by Emily Maesar, Associate TV Editor

Fantasy High: Junior Year
Episode 12 “Baron’s Game”
With Brennan Lee Mulligan, Emily Axford, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, Lou Wilson, Ally Beardsley, and Brian Murphy
Streaming now on Dropout.tv

“I just remembered we’ve been rolling all those d8s… wonder what they mean.” - Emily Axford

Having escaped the fight at the ruins, the Bad Kids are still trapped inside of Riz’s briefcase but are now inside a dark and shadowy version of Fig’s room at Mordred Manor. Baron, the roëmænce partnær of Riz Gukgak (Brian Murphy) from Sophomore Year, shares the room with them. Having only told them the lie about Baron, Riz now must confess that he made up Baron, but that they became real because of the Nightmare King’s magic. (Baron’s “stark father.”)

The party, distressed and unsure about what’s going on, starts to look around the room to try and notice anything. Adaine (Siobhan Thompson) and Fig (Emily Axford) notice that there’s something coming through a crack in the ceiling that’s attached to Baron, along with the skittering of limbs outside the room. As they continue to talk to Baron, and say Cassandra’s name, they confirm that the Nightmare King is in fact back—or something like it.

Kristen (Ally Beardsley) casts Circle of Power and the party decides they want to keep exploring and see if there are other rooms in this weird dimension. Before they actually get into exploring, though, Brennan hands out cards and instructs the players to do whatever it says before they carry on. The party all make saves and then are able to reveal the piece of information their character has noticed. Like, Fig notices that while the objects in the room remain still, their shadows are moving.

Fig sends a double into the mirror, which tried to pull Riz in during his check, and sees that they are openings to other bedrooms in Mordred Manor. She sees a faint, yellow grow in what she believes is Kristen’s room. Intrigued, Fig sends the double closer to Kristen’s bedroom mirror, but before it can get there a figure from under the water of the universe snatches it up and destroys the double. Kalina’s back, baby! Fig Hexblade Curses her before she disappears.

Except that, actually, the Nightmare King isn’t back—can’t be back. Not as long as Kristen lives. She realizes that, perhaps, the Nightmare King wishes to return, but knows he cannot as long as Kristen believes in and worships Cassandra. But this might be the perfect place to snuff out the final light of Cassandra and bring back the Nightmare King. Adaine knows that she broke the curse on Fig, but she realizes that this dimension makes physical ideas and that the curse armor (broken into pieces) is still dangerous and must be present somewhere near them.

Having surmised all that, they think they can in Fig’s room, the party decides to venture out past this room. Mordred Manor gets to be the deeply haunted house that it always claimed to be! The group is forced to split, as they cannot stealth around in groups of more than three. As Riz and Kristen find her room, Brennan brings more room minis onto the board, giving it a very Betrayal at House on the Hill vibe—a board game that absolutely rules.

Ragh, Fig, and Gorgug (Zac Oyama) all go together and make it to Kristen’s room as well. Adaine and Fabian (Lou Wilson) make it to Adaine’s room, rather than Kristen’s. Fabian locks the door behind them and starts behaving… oddly. To say the least. As Adaine is about to roll for Perception, it becomes quite clear that something (aka that Baron has possessed Fabian) has happened to him and they end up in Initiative.

Baron, as Fabian, absolutely bodies Adaine, doing 31 points of damage on the first attack and 25 points of damage on the second attack. She loses concentration on the smoke mephits, having taken attacks, which does alert their friends in Kristen’s room that something has happened. Adaine tries to cast Dimension Door and rolls well enough on an Arcana Check to pop directly into Kristen’s room. The party heals her, including Fig doing a slow-dance hug with Lay on Hands.

As they try to formulate a plan, they’re pretty sure the spectral rat that Kristen and Riz saw when they first entered was Edgar, Zayn’s familiar. They try to find him and also fan out looking for any clues or things that might help them figure out where they actually are and what’s happening in this funhouse version of Mordred Manor. Fig puts on her mask and casts Animal Friendship in their search for Edgar, which is successful, and he comes over to her. In the general search, though, Adaine and Kristen find a card for a rideshare app that glows with a yogurt-y yellow, clearly a piece of the curse. They roll to see if they can find a way of handling it without potentially being overtaken.

They collect the object, without touching it with bare hands (which is certainly a terrible idea). Everyone in the room, with the exception of Fig, gets another card from Brennan and rolls checks again. The party splits again with Ragh, Kristen, and Riz going in search of Fabian in Adaine’s room and Adaine, Fig, and Gorgug trying to find another piece of the curse. Before she leaves, Fig asks Edgar about where the glowing pieces might be, and they follow him. Their half of the party doesn’t roll great on a group roll, however, and they’re forced to roll Initiative.

Gorgug walks up the stairs and ends up making one of them squeak. From the rafters comes Zara Sool, the warlock teacher, and from behind them comes Zayn, both clearly powerful illusions created by whatever is keeping them in here. Zayn goes first and casts a spell, which Fig attempts to Counterspell. They all take 19 points of necrotic damage. Because Gorgug cast Warding Bond on Fig, he ends up taking half of her damage. As Gorgug goes to attack… Adaine reveals that she’s been taken over, having failed the roll during the card section. As Baron takes over Adaine’s body, Fabian comes to in her bedroom as Ragh, Riz, and Kristen enter. They attack on site, not knowing that the spirit of Baron jumped bodies. Riz clears him with his magic necktie. The possessed version of the realtor for Mordred Manor bursts through Adaine’s trap door and they enter battle with him.

Gorgug attacks Zara, critically hitting her twice since he crits on a 19 with his axe. He does 40 damage and knocks her prone before using Branding Smite. As he finds the rhythm of his barbarian rage and artificer powers, he realizes that he can keep concentration (famously a thing you cannot do in a rage) and is able to meld his two classes together in a way that no one at Aguefort ever thought was possible. He finds focus and sees a glowing yellow tub of cottage cheese at the bottom of the stairs, another piece of the curse for them to collect.

Adaine, as Baron, tries to cast some spells on her friends, but Fig throws out a Counterspell to stop it dead in its tracks. She moves behind Zayn, to protect herself. Back in Adaine’s room, they begin the fight against Gulsom. Riz does 38 damage and Fabian does 39 damage. Riz notices that there are glowing yogurt cups on the floor (another of the broken pieces of the curse) and some belladonna and wolfsbane are glowing in the corner.

Cutting back and forth between the two fights (a genius way to do a split party fight), Fig also attacks Zara. She fails to hit, even with advantage, and gives Gorgug a (newly non-cursed) Bardic Inspiration. Kristen tells Ragh to grab the plants before he attacks, as a “just in case.” Zara uses Dominate Person on Gorgug, having failed the save against it. Zayn frightens Gorgug, though Fig manages to save. Kristen casts Banishment on Gulsom after ascertaining that it’s not really the realtor.

Riz goes off on his own and heads to Jawbone’s room to keep searching. Ragh, Fabian, Kristen all burst out of Adaine’s room and onto the platform that Fig, Gorgug, and Baron!Adaine are all on. Gorgug, being controlled by Zara, asks if he should go into a rage, which she agrees to. However, in the heat of the moment (and as a great player pull) Zac very calmly reminds Brennan, as Gorgug rages, that he has Mindless Rage, which means he cannot be charmed or frightened—which ends both effects on his person. Truly amazing stuff!

Freed from the control of a teacher who is not his own, Gorgug attacks Zara. Kristen uses her Staff of Doubt to try and dispel the magical hold that Baron has on Adaine, which succeeds! Baron goes off into the ether, but she uses Raulothim's Psychic Lance to find and attack them. As Riz enters Jawbone’s room, which has a mirror in it, he sees Baron. However, Adaine’s Lance stops him from attempting to take control of Riz, shatters the mirror in the room, and does 18 damage.

Safely, or as safe as he can be, in Jawbone’s room, Riz tries to grab a bean-covered button-up shirt, which he collects. However, as he puts it in his bag, Jawbone appears in his werewolf form, a form the party hasn’t really seen since their freshman year. Back on the landing, Fabian jumps and attacks Zara.

On her turn, Fig enters another room in Mordred Manor which she knows contains a mirror, since she thinks all the pieces of the curse got scattered through the mirrors. She’s out of sight of the mirror, but does see a pair of glowing, upsettingly wet sandals. She casts Greater Invisibility on herself again, though, before she goes for them and is protected from Baron’s watchful eyes.

On the landing, Zayn attacks before disappearing through the walls followed shortly by Gorgug killing Zara, causing her to turn into mist. Riz, having grabbed the shirt and alone in a room with Jawbone, uses his sword to cast Misty Step and leave the room before anything too terrible happens to him. He appears in the kitchen, finding the final object (a glowing yellow spoon) and some garlic. Adaine uses her ethereal sight and can see where Zayn is trying to attack them from a wall. She hits him, instead, and does 46 damage to him turning him into mist, like Zara before him.

As they grab the final items, a portal appears in the graveyard. Kristen, knowing that Cassandra created this place (despite it being twisted) touches the banister and uses Sending to send a message of support to her goddess, wherever she is. Cassandra talks back to her, and Kristen is given visions of the world outside the briefcase, as well as memories from Cassandra’s wedding.

As the party books it to the graveyard, they see Gilear that Never Was—a well-dressed and put together version of the man. He beckons them to bring him the objects. As they head toward him, they do one final roll for time and Murph manages to eke out a 1 on the d4, meaning they have no penalties for time and make it there without any issues! They avoid the entire second act of the fight with a giant, very scary ultimate form of Baron. However, as they bring the talismans together, the curse is truly broken and Adaine has a large amount of infernal magic at her disposal for the next fight!