Ghosts of the Coast - Chapter Two

> "*Give a good old colonoscopy to the undead.*"
> ― Fraya Love
>
>

**Ghosts of the Coast - Chapter Two:** "**Back to the Beach"** is the thirtieth episode of Queens of Adventure. In it, a massive swarm of seaspawn attack the Golden Palace.

## Synopsis

After traveling south for several hours, the party, the tourists they rescued from the Kracken Priest, Karin and Sir Throbardon, and the ghosts from the Temple of Boom, arrive near the Golden Palace. Far off thunder mixes with a cannon blast as the place comes into view: Hundreds of seaspawn attack everything chaotically.

Lamont defends the cabana. A wave of spawn attack Liir outside the Three Fingers Inn. Others head towards the Pirate Ship playground where Sister Baccarat fights alongside Carmella La Mer, who pours tar over the ship. A squid spawn oozes over the life guard tower and a repaired Cher Noble knocks the monster to the ground. Belfry, armed for battle with leather armor, a cutlass, and a bracer of daggers, lead tourists down from the casino. She flicks a dagger at a puffer fish spawn.

Behind the party, a group of seaspawn rise up. Karin asks for cover while she and Throbardon get the unnarmed tourists to safety. The three queens and Ellen ready. Their Glamazon ally *blesses* the party. Three spawn try to attack her, only one is successful.

Arson moves behind the portable party, telling everyone to cover their ears, before turning the music up as loud as it can go to distract the monsters. The ghosts cheer.

Fraya holds up her Dark Lady holy symbol and shouts "By the power of Gay Skull!" and casts *turn undead.* The ghosts stagger away behind them, but the seaspawn react worse, they scramble over each other as they head for the waves. Before they can, they dissolve. She recalls that Kracken Priest's powers are strongest at high tide, and these spawn seem to be leaderless. She asks Ellen if they could use the Kracken Priest's Heart impaled on Butylene's spear. The fellow cleric doesn't have ideas.

The group splits up, with the queens heading for the Three Fingers Inn, while their other allies head for the cabana. The queens encounter a swarm of seaspawn and must skillfully break through. Arson flails her arm and charges with her spider body to *intimidate* the spawn. Butylene tears through several as she *naturally* knows their weak spots. Fraya uses her trident *medicially*. All of this creates a path to Liir and the tavern.

More spawn come towards them. Butylene runs into a cluster of them and chucks a bomb. As it bursts into flame, so does Butylene who uses *flames of Phlegethos*, and it burns all the spawn in the cluster around her. This leaves only one seaspawn left in this group.

Ellen casts *aide* on the queens. Newly bolstered, Arson draws her tentacle rod. Two of the three tentacles connect with the lone undead, cracking like a whip against it, blasting away first its skin and muscles, and second its bones, leaving nothing.

Throbardon and Jim-Jim join them, having cleared the cabana. Looking around the beach, the queens see Sister Baccarat and Carmella defending the pirate ship, and dangling from a crane, Patti, the cheater, armed with a sling shot. The queens decide to help the pirate ship while the two fighters head for the crane.

A larger crowd of spawn separate them from their destination, and they must skillfully navigate through it again. Arson does a silent, spooky glare to *intimidate* the undead into clearing away again. Holding up her trident of fish command and performing a vocal run, Fraya uses her *animal handling* to command the spawn to hurt themselves. It clears out most of the spawn. *Investigating* the scene with a nat20, Butylene notices a yardarm on the ship which could be cut loose in order to knock out spawn. As a discus of ice forms in Fraya's hand, she *athletically* throws it, but the ice isn't solid enough and splashes over the rope. Arson tries to *deceive* the seaspawn, claiming she is the new Kracken Priest, and holds the priest's heart over head. The spawn prostrate worshipfully below her. Using her knowledge of the ropes material *nature*, Butlyene climbs up the ship, but her claws barely can't cut through it. Scrambling for ideas, Fraya *insightfully* reads the spawn's with shade that hits their deepest psyche's. Arson leaps in, *performing* another read. Wounded and insulted, the spawn collapse. The group makes it to the ship. The women on board are busy fighting off spawn, and three other spawn are trying to get on board. The queens target those.

Fraya does a gymnastic routine (which showgirl outfit clad Carmella takes notes on) before thrusting her trident into a spawn. Butylene drops from the foremast and takes back her spear from Arson. She uses thaumaturgy, while raising the spear struck heart into the air, and knowing the Kracken speaks abyssal, she commands the spawn to obey her and flee. The last spawn do and the ship is defended.

The group surveys all of the area they have covered and the number of monsters they have defeated and see how much more is left. Across the beach, Cher Noble calls for help at the lifeguard tower. The group rushes towards her. But something roars and a massive monster pushes seaspawn aside as it makes its way up the beach. It is a giant, hulking Chuul.

The monstrous crustacean attacks Arson, and resists the drider's *hellish rebuke*. The claw grapples Arson. It's maw opens, spraying acid over Cher Noble, who resists with a nat20. With an iron fist, Cher Noble swings at the seaspawn, but it is her new arm, and not fully integrated, so she misses. One seaspawn hits Fraya, who hits it back with *wrath of the storm*. Another undead misses on Arson.

Ellen casts *sacred flame* on the chuul, and ducks behind the scrub as the monster takes damage. Realizing she can cast spells while grappled, Arson casts *poison spray* on the Chuul. Fraya swings with her trident, but misses.

Butylene climbs the Chuul from behind and throws another bomb to a far away seaspawn. Her *flames of Phlegethos* reactivates, burning the Chuul. It uses its tentacles to poison and paralyze Arson before spraying acid over both her and Fraya. A seaspawn takes advantage of her paralysis and attacks Arson. Ellen uses a healing spell, with the others joining in on her hymn, to heal Arson, Fraya, and Butylene.

"Looks like you could use a little assistance," comes the voice of Belfry. She fires a dagger which explodes a seaspawn on impact, before sneak attacking the Chuul by throwing a dagger into its face. She then tells Fraya she has confidence in her, boosting her power. Fraya stabs the monster with her trident with a nat20. The creature's armor shatters and it collapses as a shortly lived pile of tentacles.

Cher Noble purges the poison from Arson, who has just shaken free of the paralysis. Belfry pats her shoulder as well and asks everyone if they have the treaty.

The group explains they did briefly have the treaty and read it, and know how to receive help from the Glamazons, but they screwed up by breaking the treaty. They did destroy the Kracken Priest, however. They then tell her the details of Mutual Defense requests.

Belfry says she needs time to think and plan, but for now things seem calm. The queens suggest they could say the coast is clear. As Belfry starts to say it she is cut off by the beating of the Kracken Priest's Heart that grows louder. Then they all hear the eldritch music the captives heard in the Priest's lair.

The thunderstorm at sea flashes as the waves still for a moment before running backwards into the ocean where it swells up into towering mountain on the horizon. As the music painfully deafens them, they all get assaulted with visions:

A colossal underwater beast. The ziggurat. The moon spinning towards full. Tentacles rise from the sea. magma bursts from the earth. A creature crushing everything in its path. Then a concept forms in their heads.

"By the next full moon, bring me the power that lies within the Ziggurat or else the island will be destroyed."

### Party

* Arson Nicki - drider warlock
* Butylene O'Kipple - tiefling alchemist
* Fraya Love - water genasi cleric

### NPCs

* Ellen
* Patrick and Karin
* Jim-Jim and Sir Throbardon
* Cole
* Hattie and Adrian
* Gnomi Malone
* Two human prisoners
* DJ Cyberpreppy and the Woo-Ghosts
* Lamont Du Pont IV
* Liir
* Sister Baccarat and Carmella La Mer
* Cher Noble
* Belfry Ramshackle

### Monsters/Enemies

* Seaspawn
* Chuul

## Episode Notes

### Lore

* The Kracken Priest's heart has a power of thrall over seaspawn.

### Memorable Quotes

* Can I just give them a colonoscopy with my trident? Medicine. I'm a doctor." - Fraya Love
* "As I turn to a glama bird and say 'This is getting crazy'. " - Arson Nicki
* "And I haven't used shape water once... but I did say it." - Fraya Love
* "Clam Chowder, my favorite." - Fraya Love
* "It looks like a tornado ripped through a Long Johns Silver." - DM Matt
* "Can I get some clarified butter?" - Butylene O'Kipple
* "This is chuly annoying." - "Chuly outrageous." - Arson Nicki and Butylene O'Kipple
* "I'm going to use my eighth farewell tour..." Fraya Love
* "So it's not like we didn't really trust you, but we didn't not not trust you." - Fraya Love
* "So we need to throw a full moon party and destroy a beast. Sounds like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer thing and I am living." - Fraya Love

### References

* Smash Mouth and Nickelback
* He-man "Power of Grayskull"
* Squatty Potty
* Joan of Arc
* Madonna
* Cher's endless Farewell Tours
* Evil Dead
* Hexadecimal from Reboot
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer

### Name That Tune

* Baby Shark
* "Rebel Rebel" - David Bowie
* "Happy Working Song" - Enchanted
* "Formation" - Beyonce
* "G\*psies, Tramps, and Thieves" - Cher
* "Magic Dance" - David Bowie

## Behind the Queens

* DM Matts and James incorporated a skill challenge, an element of D&D's fourth edition, for the first time. This causes the players to use various skills to overcome a challenge.
* Fraya once again mentions her desire to get a wyvern. She has been thinking about this since their encounter on their way to Watersport.
* Gilda Rabbit's song plays once again, although she wasn't credited.

**Greetings From Fire Island**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - **The Show Must Go On**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Operation Watersport**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - Ch7 - **Trials**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Ghosts of the Coast**: Ch1 - **Ch2** - Ch3 - **The Devil's Due**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Special**: The Story So Far
**The Beautiful Place**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **A Dance in the Dark**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4
**Drama in the Deep**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6 - **Whispers From the Heart**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Danger Rangers!**: Ch1 - Ch2 - Ch3 - Ch4 - Ch5 - Ch6
**Mist Connections**: Ch1 - Ch2
**Unreleased**
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