Xanphina

For a beginner-friendly player guide, see Xanphina/Player Guide.\n\n

Xanphina

Dragonborn Fighter

Personality

A fierce warrior who proved her might by defeating a half-dragon champion in single combat. She is, by her own account, "not accustomed to being scared" — and uses that fearlessness to steady the rest of the party. Her recurring word of encouragement is "giddy up."

Faction Membership

• Order of the Gauntlet – Rank 2 ("Defender" path), earned in Session 43
• Ancestors – Rank 2 (the orc-heritage ancestral path tied to her "Xancestors" quest line)

Character Arc

• Defeated Langdedrosa Cyanwrath in single combat before the people of Greenest (Session 18)
• Received a lightning resistance buff from Bechamel during the duel
• Promoted to Rank 2 ("Defender") in the Order of the Gauntlet in Session 43, gaining Rally the Line (an ally who can hear her rerolls a failed save). She runs with the bit that she must speak special "words" to invoke it.
• Earned the Ancestors Rank 2 boon the same session — her sub-faction path tied to the ancestral quest the party calls "Xancestors," which pointed them toward the Mine of Garmok.
• In Session 44 her ancestral quest paid off: she claimed Garmok's Flail from the faded spirit of Garmok the Chainbearer and inherited his Restraining Ward — a reaction that lashes out spectral chains (Strength save) — making her ancestral powers combat-active.
• In Session 45, Garmok's spirit named her "Child of my blood" and laid the Rite of Sundering charge on her: to seek The Ashtongue and mend the infernal rift his broken chains could no longer hold. (The DM ruled these ancestral memories are permanently recallable.) Her flail's grapple was also split from the inherited restrain reaction into a distinct mechanic.
• Ate the heart of the ancient white dragon Arauthator in Session 50, gaining a permanent +1 Constitution and +1 to her Constitution maximum (the party voted she had earned it; per the DM's ruling only one character may eat such a heart, it cannot be shared, and it only works on the heart of an elder-or-older dragon).
• Received the Diligent Folio (granting Calligrapher's tools proficiency — "who would have thought you'd be the organized one out of this bunch?"), a fiendish pact item, and the universal Tempered Soul feat from signing the Compact.

Notable Moments

In Session 43 - The Council of Waterdeep, with the party deciding their next destination, Xanphina's long-deferred ancestral quest — affectionately dubbed "Xancestors" (also "Zancestors") by the table, now a running gag — was finally chosen, sending the company to the Mine of Garmok.

In Session 44 - Garmok's Mine, Xanphina had a quietly vulnerable, character-defining moment: feeling she had been underperforming, she took grim satisfaction in finally contributing — "at least I took care of somebody. Haven't been doing very good lately, so… I could kill some lousy kobolds." The session ended with her wielding her ancestor's flail against the black dragon Voaraghamanthar. (DM ruling clarified she has advantage on saves against dragon-breath weapons, not damage resistance.)

In Session 45 - The Mind Gobbler, she shrugged off the mythic Mind Gobbler's mind-blast on sheer toughness and rallied Alexios through it ("if I can do this, you can do this!"). When the creature later Dominated her — turning her against the party — her companions improvised, sealing her inside a Bead of Force ("the hamster ball") so the distance would break the creature's hold; she came to baffled: "What happened? Why am I in this little ball?"

In Session 49 - Old White Death (2026-04-26), during the party's doomed first battle with Arauthator, Xanphina was the last one standing — the de-facto tank. Her Ancestral Protectors rage forced disadvantage on the dragon's attacks against her allies, repeatedly negating its invisibility and saving Alexios from a killing blow; the dragon "turns to Zan with understanding in his eyes as his attacks failed to hit Alexios… He knows who came in here to kill him." She fought on alone to the end.

In Session 51 - The Red Gold Reckoning (2026-06-28), her contributions were pure Xanphina: when the cured dockmaster surrendered his hoard, she simply tore his bolted-down coin box free of the counter (a Tempered-Soul-fueled 21 Athletics), hardware pinging off the walls. At the Half Moon Street forge test she also took the brunt of the discovery — failing the first melt save and taking 6 psychic damage from the coins' escaping infernal pulse.

Relationships

• Fellow party members: Bechamel, Bruder, Keyleth Siannodel, Xanphina, Gootcha Zinnoa, Cosima, Shade, Swarm of Rats

Appearances

• Session 10 – Blood and Echoes in the Dark
• Session 14 – The Calm Before Greenest
• Session 18 - The Challenge at Greenest and the Raider Trail (7/9/23)
• Session 19 - The Cultist Encampment and the Fate of Leosin (8/13/23)
• Session 21 - The Depths of the Dragon Hatchery (10/8/23)
• Session 22 - The Fate of the Dragon Eggs (11/19/23)
• Session 23 - The Pair of Black Antlers and the Caravan Plan (12/2/23)
• Session 25 - Murder on the Trade Way (1/28/24)
• Session 28 - Alliance of Scales (3/24/24)
• Session 35 - The Training Montage Begins
• Session 36 - Gootcha Talks to Death
• Session 38 - Now We Have a Hoard
• Session 39 - Waves, Wands, and Wagon Tracks
• Session 40 - Deez Nuts Brew Deals, Break Oaths, and Bake Blades
• Session 41 - Return to the Castle
• Session 42 - Bagpipes, Blood, and the Bronze Blades
• Session 43 - The Council of Waterdeep
• Session 44 - Garmok's Mine
• Session 45 - The Mind Gobbler
• Session 46 - Diggy Diggy Hole

• Session 47 - The Sea of Moving Ice
• Session 48 - Inside Oyaviggaton (2026.04.12)
• Session 49 - Old White Death (2026-04-26)
• Session 50 - Reforged in Hell, the Voyage Home (2026-06-14)
• Session 51 - The Red Gold Reckoning (2026-06-28)