High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #103 | Moving On Up (Part 2)

Episode Date: March 11, 2021

Safely back in Gusthaven the Stormchasers prepare for the long awaited meeting in Horizon! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. app for details. Now at Joe Fresh, get 20% off children's activewear only until Wednesday, August 14th. Shop smart with one cart and check everything off your back to school list all in one place. Now that's some smart shopping. Conditions apply. See in store or joefresh.com for details. Everyone's back. Let's play some more D&D. So you've all taken a long rest in the city of Gusthaven where you have informed Sky Prince Aradan of everything that went down

in the weapons facility, Shadowsong Pinnacle. They have sent some guards to secure it, and you are now at that kind of junction of wrapping up a few frantic things in the next sort of day and a half

before you have to head to the City of Horizon, the next sort of day and a half before you have to head to the city of Horizon the sky city of Horizon to attend a meeting of all the different leaderships of Aroes. No biggie. No biggie. No biggie.

You have a couple of quick things to, I'm assuming you would like to do and adjust and account for um you tell me it's over to you guys what would you like to do yeah there's the uh facility we want to take care of we also

kind of want to take the uh captain and everyone back to their crew so they can get their airship back as well I suppose that's gonna happen anyway like he once he's given his testimony and stuff, they'll escort them back. You do have stuff to give to your airship crew, which you haven't handed over and given to.

Can we do that? That would be really good. We're carrying all that around, yeah. Yeah. You find them. Ayla is maybe carrying it. You find them, and also the Dwarven crew um did all have them but you

can have the guards from gustaven kind of ferry stuff for you and things like that uh they are all staying in an inn uh which is um uh in the cloud harbor the docks area of the of the city um and yeah it's not hard to find them they're not too far from the airship you know they these guys aren't you know they they don't have as much income as you guys do they have they are well paid but uh it is not uh substantial so it's a fairly comfortable inn um where you find oraya uh and uh kamara especially um kind of helping organize a lot of other things um some of the crew are out on leave they're kind of patrolling and having fun in the city. None of the others, Howard, Penny, Lansian,

Lookout is with them. Lookout doesn't really seem to go out outside of the ship that often, so it doesn't really tend to go off. So it's Kamara, Lookout, and Oriya and Grey Lano are all kind of in this inn. The rest are all out having fun in the city somewhere.

But when you arrive, Araya kind of just slaps the table. Ah, Captain, all of you, it's so good to see you. Everything went well, I assume? Yeah. As well as could be expected. Right?

We are all alive. We're still standing, so yeah, but it was toughy. It was toughy. Considering some of the fights that I've seen you all in, the fact that you have all come back alive is definitely something. No pieces of wood piercing through our captain,

or explosions going off, so I would count this one pretty successful. Not to mention, we have acquired count this one pretty successful. Not to mention, we have acquired some goodies for the crew. Mm-hmm. What a lot of goodies.

Are we talking goodies like alcohol and dirty novels, or are we talking weapons and armor? We're talking magitek rifles and armor. I don't know what that first word means, but I like weapons and armor. It's like a bow that shoots energy.

That sounds awesome. Okay. Raya's just like, that sounds exceptionally awesome. Yes. I will give the rifles to them. These are going to require some of the armor as well. I'm getting used to, I'm sure.

They are unusual objects. But maybe we can give you some pointers. Nova's very astute with this sort of technology. Huh? Okay, sure. I mean, she knows what it is. Magitek. You. Magitek. I was going to suggest that maybe

Sentry and Ayla run some training programs. They're the drill sergeants, not me. I have a hammer. Point it. Big hammer. I mean, no, we don't need... Combat drilling, we don't need. We're not a bunch of, I don't know, peasants.

We know how to hand ourselves in a fight. It's more the conditions of the weapon. That's what's going to take it. I just meant getting familiar with a new weapon. I'm just getting familiar with a new weapon. Which way to point it, how to reload it, how to care for it, all of that. Sentry and A and ala do you guys know how to do any of that stuff i don't know how to do any of that stuff i use that i have a big hammer yeah

yeah none of you know have any proficiency in these weapons like none of you know how to use any of this stuff like you've seen it being used but nova you can make a best guess of like well i think this is how you recharge it and i think this is like where you you know how it works but if this is going to take trial and error look the important thing is this end here is where bad stuff comes out of this button that's the bad stuff come out of it that's pretty much if what... If we can figure that out, yeah. We can take the rest and we can figure this out. If you do know anybody who understands how this Starbane tech works... Starbane.

Starbane knows how to... Thalia. Yeah, Starbane. Thalia might know. What else is Thalia? Nova. Nova. Not Starbane.

No, no, no. Thalia. know. But also Thalia. Nova! Nova! Not Starbane. Huh? No, no, no. Thalia. Yeah, she'll know. She's worked with outer weaponry like this. You're going to see her anyway, so we could just tie that into, you know, training Wolfpack. Nova seeing Thalia

by other things. I don't know who this Thalia is, but if she knows how to use these weapons, or if they know how to use these weapons, send them over, and we can at least get the basics done. And then it's just going to be practice. I mean, the ship's going to take at least maybe a sort of week or so, so we've got some time, but it's going to take us a while to get used to these things.

Show how the armor works real quick. One of you put it on. Yes, this doesn't look like it's going to fit half of the crew. That's what they say. They all say that. Quill, put it on. It couldn't possibly fit Quill, right? He's a strange bird shape.

Well, that's rude, but I was thinking that one of the people getting the armor would put the armor on. Give it here, Quill. Kamara just holds her hand out i'm too weird shaped for it unusual yeah great well

i've got a tail so we'll see how this plays out normally we have to get that custom we have to cut holes in it for our tails uh she'll take the kind of like and it's like a kind of jumpsuit right it's like a leather kind of like jumpsuit with like plates it's like very sci-fi and she's like looking at it like this ain't gonna work um and then uh she'd be like she kind of looks around the inn's pretty quiet there's just like the the little kind of waitress

uh waiter sorry and like the owner who are kind of like pottering around and she's just like shrugs off starts like taking her shirt off and like taking like her trousers so she's just in like her garments and then uh starts slipping into it um and you know kamara's like a she's kind of probably middle-aged for a beast folk so she's kind of you know uh she starts kind of slipping into it but she's very athletic you can tell that she like takes care of her body quite muscular and she starts pulling on like this suit and she's just like okay how's this and then she's like confused as like her legs are going through it even though they didn't look like they would and then she kind of like pulls it up starts like putting her arms into it it kind of like molds to a body shape and then she feels it kind of connect and there's you just notice there's

like a like a bump where her tail is kind of like bundled up under the suit and then a hole just kind of and the tail just falls out of it and she's just like and then she's just wearing this like skin you know almost tight black leather suit with armor plates all over it and she's like moving around she starts jumping around is it on yes it's on captain

it's on this is impressive actually is this magic it's on. This is impressive, actually. Is this magic? It's beyond us, but powerful. Nova knows everything. I thought that it would restrict my movement. It looks so tight, but

this is great. Black's a little edgy, but... So is the entire airship. Certainly not my colour, yes. Well, still, it does the job. And this isn't metal, and she's, like, tapping the plates. Like, I don't know what this is.

It's, like, what is it, some sort of stone or crystal? Not sure what it is. However, it's... All right, hit me. Maybe this is a public... Slams a sword onto her. Careful, careful, careful. It's fine.

It's fine, Sentry. I was aiming for the armor. It's not like I was trying to hit her. I'm worried about you two. I'm worried about everybody else in here. I know you two are perfectly fine. Ah, they're fine. Places like this, they see worse fights.

They see worse fights almost every night. This is nothing. This is a really good find, Captain. This feels like it's great. Having the whole crew in this and even get some of the officers, Penny and Lookout, well, not that Lookout needs Alma,

but maybe Howard and Lansian as well. This is great. I mean, I'm still preferring, I prefer to get up close and personal, but if we can get the rest of the crew equipped with these rifles, I think you called them, this will definitely give us an edge

over a lot of other airships. They've got some range on them. Maybe it'd be good for, you know, shooting outwards as well when people aren't up close and personal. That's why I have the rest of the wolf pack. The rest of the wolf pack takes care of anything out far, and then if anything gets on the ship, that's when I get involved.

Well, I suggest assembling the crew so that you can get the rest of it, because we have enough for the whole crew. And maybe keep the rifles to the officers for now, before the training commences? Well, I mean, to be honest, Grey Lano, you're not going to be shooting much. No. Howard's not much of a shooter.

I think if we can get... I think the best person that we can get, if we can get Penny trained up on this, you know, she's a Deadeye with a longbow. If we can get her trained up on one of these, I think she can teach the rest of us for sure. Perfect. I just don't want any negligent rifle action from the crew accidentally.

Captain, please. We're not children. We're not idiots. Oh, I didn't for once think that, but this is confusing and alien technology that we should be careful of. Buttons and whatnot. Button discipline.

Yes. Alien technology on a ship is very dangerous. She looks at Nova. What a bird. Nova goes purple. She just kind of lets it slide, remembering that, like, one of her family did get killed by alien technology on the ship, but she lets it slide.

She kind of, you know, there's a wince of, like... Still, this is... I think this is a great help, given that encounter we had against that sorceress outside the temple. The more advantages we can get, the better. Likewise, if there's anything you can think of to help protect the ship being an open air ship against things like that swarm of rocks and fire if we can find a way to protect the people on the ship a bit better protecting the ship itself or something like that that would be useful expensive probably i was going to say

i know the ship is currently undergoing some upgrades, but if we just took over an Ethereum facility filled with equipment, maybe that's the place to take it. That's very true. Those two gnomes, they've been babbling on

about ideas for the Stormchaser. They've got some... They're pretty clever i don't know much about i've worked on a lot of ships but those two they're pushing boundaries of things i mean even the twin engine idea that we put for the storm chaser i don't think i've ever seen that ever done effectively before if anybody can think of a system especially to put our two engines to use those two with an ethereum facility that, they'll come up with something I'm sure. I can't promise it will be

cheap, but they'll come up with something. Maybe we can come up with some kind of deal with them as well. Upgrade their entire operation to an Ethereum facility and they give us something in return. Upgrades, re-repairs maybe. That'd be useful.

When we finish our mission there at the Aetherium facility we'll bring it up with the prints, how about that sounds good to me yes, sounds good to me more ships, the more upgrades we can have for the Stormchaser, the better like

Kumara mentioned, if we go up against powerful sorcerers like that one from before I don't fancy the chances of wood and steel Like Kamara mentioned, if we go up against powerful sorcerers like that one from before, I don't fancy the chances of wood and steel. More magical protections will be needed. Without repeating everything we just did, I summarise what happened at the facility for them, just to keep them in the loop, and also let them know that the council meeting is in like 36 hours,

and we're preparing to go to that. Yeah, there's just the thing, the ship won't be ready, but what they'll do is Araya makes a plan that if you aren't back from Horizon, if you don't come back via any teleportation, they will set sail and come to Horizon, assuming that you're either trapped there or you need help. They'll fly to Horizon to try and help you is the assumption, unless they hear from you otherwise. You can also use

sending to let them know what's going on. Cool. With that, all of that stuff, you hand it over to Kamara, Araya, Greilano, and look out basically take out all the rest of the weapons and armor, and they'll store it on the ship and then they'll prepare it for when the crew get back. But yeah, you have now upgraded your crew's weapon and armor uh to make them far more effective

against high level threats uh this is you know if yeah this basically just means that they'll they'll probably won't do any more like damage or anything like that but they can now actually do something against the kind of enemies that you're probably going to be going up against right uh this is this is giving all of your team hydro weaponry rather than guns that shoot bullets. But yeah, the next thing you guys wanted to do, you wanted to go and deal with this brain, right? I believe so.

Is that the next plan? Does anybody want to do anything different? I think so. I mean, no one wants to go see Italia. Yeah. Yeah, true. I think so I mean Nova wants to go see Thalia yeah true I was thinking like if the team feel confident in dealing with the brain themselves

Nova might go and see Thalia on her own to kind of deal with the data yeah deal with the data yeah would you guys want to do that so you guys happy do you guys want to leave Nova to do that and then you go deal with the data. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Would you guys want to do that? Do you guys want to leave Nova to do that and then you go deal with the brain? Sure.

I mean, we weren't just going to deal with the brain, right? We were going to look around more at the facility. You were going to search it and stuff as well, yeah. I mean, there's... I'm sure if there's anything Nova esque we'll bring it back for you alright in that case the rest of you make your way

to the teleportation circle of the city and I'm assuming one of you Lucius or Quill will cast teleportation circle do you have the components for it yeah we bought enough for three, I think. Cool. I've got two on me.

Okay, well I think Lucius bought two castings. I think Lucius bought two castings and Quill bought two castings. So you've used two already because you did a trip there and a trip back, so you have two left. Okay. One of you mark off the slot for Teleportation Circle. You travel there. you did a trip there and a trip back so you have two left right yeah okay all right so yeah one of

you mark off the spot uh the slot for teleportation circle you travel there on arrival the docks area of the facility is already being patrolled uh by a number of gust haven guards uh you can see that there are also various kind of mages who are just sort of examining everything um they've pulled apart some of the constructs, the little turret ballistas. They've pulled those down and are examining them on long tables set into the docks. The Auric Spear, which is Orgrim Dallas's ship,

is still docked. And when he kind of sees you all emerge, he's just kind of stood on the bow, looking down at everybody working as his own crew seem to be doing something behind him. And he's just like, Hello, friends! Good to see you! stood on the bow, looking down at everybody working as his own crew seemed to be doing something behind him. And he's just like, Hello, France! Good to see you.

Your Sky Prince and his mages are friendly folks. Got in, gave them my business, and now we're just getting everything ready to head on out, travel back to Savona. Excellent. Good, I'm glad everything's come back for you. You've got your ship, you've got your crew and all this armor and weaponry. Maybe you have someone to train

them at least. Do you have a message for Mr. Dagus that I can pass on? Oh, uh... Yeah. We're still here. For starters, hello. We miss you. Yep.

All right. And we can't wait to see him again. Anyone else? I can't wait to see him again. I can't wait to see him again. It's been too long. Everything's good. Yeah. we are still on the search for yeah we maybe we want to say something about

uh we're still searching for V say that searching for V will do fair enough alright well I mean I know that Mr. Dagus he's been making a lot of gold and

selling off some of his assets it may be that he can find a mage who can contact y'all but i'll pass the message on all right i'll let him know uh take care look after yourselves and he just kind of gives you a tips the tips the big stetson hat uh and then uh yeah goes back to his business you guys wind your way back up uh to the main courtyard and head down into the strange lower levels of this alien-like lair that you had encountered Xantus in. Nothing seems to change. You don't hear any music as you begin making your way through the strange corridor.

The guards have left it alone. They haven't come in this far. They are out up in the courtyard uh you can see them like dragging some of the crates down to the docks below they do appear to be kind of examining the whole place um but yeah you do make your way down there you enter a large room you can have hope as well wisdom saves yeah as well you enter the large chamber with the stone desk the statues of these bulbous headed large eyed tentacle mouthed figures uh in each corner you just see the bodies and blood of xantis that you had killed previously nothing seems different or out of place

and then there is just a door on the side of the room leading into the chamber where you'd encountered the brain. So what's the plan? We go in smash or go in what? I don't know. I don't know what the thing does. It's a big squishy brain. We can't trust it.

It's susceptible to hammer. I'll say that much. Is it? And it's our heroes involved in this in this portion of the facility. Nothing good can come of it.

Yeah, her emblem is still on the wall. Yeah. I say we deal with it quickly before it can take our minds again. Okay. The old hammer and swords will do the trick, I'm sure. Mm-hmm. I'll stay back just in case it does try and take you over.

Thanks, you from afar. Who's from afar. Thanks for your support. I don't want to get my brain taken! I don't want to get mine taken. It won't do if my brain doesn't get taken. I'm probably the one that it will get because I'm the dumbest. Yeah but if my brain gets taken then everyone's brain gets taken. It's just how the entire thing works. Top of the pyramid, you know?

My brain. Do I have a brain? Do I have a brain? Yes. You asking that question means you must do Sentry. Yeah. I never thought about it before. I don't know.

Nobody does Sentry have a... Oh, wait. He's not. So used to her being around, you know? You have feelings? Do we hear anything from the door? Go up to the door? Can't hear anything in there. I'll push the door open.

You look in, you can only see the top half of the room, you can't, you know, unless you I'll push the door open. You look in, you can only see the top half of the room. You can't, you know, unless you step in, you won't be able to see the creature. It was on the far end of the room. Is there light in here? Nope. It's black.

So it's only your elven darkvision. It's kind of grey shapes. You want to light this up? Cast dancing lights and send them in. Swirling around. Swirling blue and orange lights. Century doesn't have dark vision, right? Yeah, so Century and Aayla are both

near the door. I'll send them forth to where I think it used to be. Yeah, I mean, it's not so much that it's dark that you can't see, it's that you're kind of stood at a door, the room then heads, like, south from you, or, like, to the... Like, there's a corner,

and it was at the far end of the corner. You have to enter the room to actually see the creature. Fine, I'll enter the goddamn room. Yeah, if Fela's going in, I'll go in with her. Second you two enter, you do see this kind of dark tank-like shape at the end, this housing unit. And yeah, as soon as you do,

you see something kind of writhe, this kind of pinkish shape. You have returned. Ah, Brain's still here, guys. I can give you answers. Release me. Sentry,

you don't hear this really in your head. This is speaking to Aayla in its head. You can't hear the brain. You can see it, but you can't hear this really in your head. Like, this is speaking to Aayla in its head. You can't hear the brain. You can see it, but you can't hear it. I have no brain. It's a different form of insight. Can't give us any answers.

Health. I have all the answers. Long have I lived. I have seen many worlds. I know of Alfheim. I know of your destiny. Ayla, you ready? Should we get it?

I'm gonna, in the messenger ring, say to the guys the brain's telling me that he knows about Alfheim. The brain's talking to me. Be careful. He may just be plucking information from your brain and using it. Uh...

You wanna help? Help out in here, guys? You know, something at a distance? uh you want to help help out in here guys you know something at a distance I will tell you all you must know I have not I've just had a thought this is all in messengering what if release me

means smash the tank and by smashing the tank I'm going to unleash the brain, and then I can't smash it. Smash the brain bit. And it's got its problem. But it's in the tank. I can't get to the brain

without smashing the tank, Lucien. Smash through the tank, into the brain. Shards of tank will go into brain. It wants me to go closer to it, and I don't want it to go closer, because I have to go closer to Lucien. Throw your hammer break

my cage but you wish to end me I'll start charging like my son beam it knows if I only had a brain stop stop the genesis relic stop it do not let it destroy me or my answers will be lost no you're not you're not on our side no genesis relic

no one is on anyone's side but I have answers you have questions Genesis relic? No one is on anyone's side. But I have answers and you have questions. No, I don't have that many questions. I'm not very smart. I've lived for eons. He's insulting me now, guys. He's insulting me.

Is he? Yeah. Is it only Aayla that's hearing this only Aayla is hearing this yeah because Quill and Lucius are still outside the room and Sentry's still next to it but you are not hearing any of this Sentry I can hear a loud whirring is Sentry

charging Sunbeam oh yeah you hear that you hear the there's like an orange glow filling the room from the matrix yeah Sentry Aayla you guys do anything There's like an orange glow filling the room from the Matrix. Yeah. Sentry, Aayla, you guys do anything? He's just going to insult me, and I don't feel like I need more

answers, because everything's messed up anyway. We're just going to continue. You know so little. You know so little. I can fulfill that. I know a lot I know enough unlock your memories unlock the things that you cannot remember

I'm doing okay without that alright in that case what are you going to smash do you want to hit long distance, Sentry? I don't want to release this. As soon as the tank opens, that's it. Do you want to cast Sunbeam, Sentry? I will cast Sunbeam. I'll let it go.

It cannot physically save because it can't move, so it fails its deck saving throw, so just roll max damage for me and it's concentration as well so you can do this every round you can just 27 damage okay so the glass is just part of it is melted more by the sunbeam than broken like sections of it are just kind of like warped blown glass that's been melted by intense heat uh the brain is engulfed by this light and is scorched you can see it beginning to turn black and these long tendrils kind of begin whipping out

it's all is it it's also blinded can it can it be blinded uh it cannot be blinded well it can be but it still seems to be able to sense like and you see it centrally so you concentrate them some beam roll damage again for me because after the first blast it then these tentacles pull itself out of the tank and it begins dragging itself onto the floor in this stone chamber. Oh, shit. 25 points of damage. It's moving, guys, it's moving. 25 points of damage. You got any long-distance shots? One of its tentacles, you can see parts of it

beginning to break away as it turns black. Nah! Ah! It drags itself closer. It gets like 10 feet closer as its tentacles are kind of gripping onto the stone floor as it pulls it apart. I'm assuming you angle the stun beam century you want to keep dealing damage to this thing yes i've got one more charge left on it oh well it's concentration

so you cast it once and then you can concentrate on the spell yeah yeah it's very well uh from uh roll damage for me again one more time. Oh, so good. Mark, some names are concentration spell. 32. I remember. 32 points of damage. Most of it is broken away. Like, you can see the outer shell of this brain is all black, crusted in burns and scabs.

But with its last disparate thing, it drags itself about 10 feet closer. It's about 10 feet away from Aayla and Sentry at this point. It's still going. Are you guys doing anything different, or are you just hoping that Sentry's going to incinerate this thing? I'll cast Chromatic Orb if necessary. Lucius ducks into the room and...

Sure. Acid. So you do have to make an attack for me on this. Here we go. All the little dice are rolling around that's a 12 to hit still hits still hits this thing is not particularly hard to hit 37 points of acid

with that as the sunbeam continues burning this thing away Lucius kind of just steps in pulls out this orange kind of sphere of magic throws it down the acid where it's been burnt and crusted over by the sunbeam the acid breaks it apart and you watch as the brain turns into then it shuts off it like cuts off and just leaves this puddle of mess can my dichromancy smash the symbol of zarkira turn around and this blob of acid flies out splashes all across it and pits the stone,

melting parts of it away, breaking it apart. Good riddance. Yes. Is there anything in this room, like, anything else in it? We didn't look at it before, really. No? Nope. Okay, cool.

How's everyone doing? Is anyone brains? Anyone's brain? Anyone brain? Nice one, Sanchry. Anyone brain by this thing? No, but I feel brains? Anyone's brain? Anyone brain? Nice one, Sentry. Anyone brain by this thing? No, but I feel like if it's little... I need to kill Quinn.

Oh, no, Lucius. That's fine. That's fine. I'm joking. Sentry, you are still concentrating. You can keep concentration on something. Like Iron Man turning

I'll turn it off okay oh my god so you guys get back you say don't kill me you say don't kill me I was gonna heal you

Lucius when you guys get back Nova where's Lucius is he all right so for those of you at the facility i'm assuming you then want to basically spend time exploring and searching the place right that's what you're gonna do i can tell you uh and then we're gonna jump over the kim because actually you don't really find anything else. You speak with a couple of the mages and guards here.

It seems that there is a lower level that was built into the underside of the floating island where Ethereum collectors have been dangled, and that's where they've been gathering lots of Ethereum. There are these kind of gangways that run across the bottom of the island, and it looks like there were these kind of gangways that run across the bottom of the island and it looks like there were these, um, kind of lightning energy generators. Um, but no additional treasure, no kind of like resources or anything like that. No guards, uh, all the schematics and kind of, uh, plans that were in the docks area, uh, appear to be missing. The supplies that you found before, they're still being taken away and carted

off but you spend time and there really isn't that much else either everything was either destroyed or you guys found it beforehand um and it doesn't take long for you to realize that and then potentially think about heading back meanwhile nova vegia uh you make your way to the dock where you know in the sky prince's dock uh the twin star longbow is being kept um you make your way inside the guards recognize you give you kind of polite bows let you inside uh you do see that uh quite an extensive scaffolding has been kind of placed all over the twin star and uh azaria perel lady azaria perel this elven woman who dresses like she's at a funeral in these long big dark black robes

she has like a veil like almost like a black bride's veil over her face um very pale very delicate kind of long white hair um is you know undergoing some sort of investigation she has these big tables drafters tables in front of her with all sorts of magical looking texts and theorems crystals she's clearly in the middle of like with all sorts of magical looking texts and theorems crystals she's clearly in the middle of like quite a lot of research and preparation um and is completely engulfed by the uh the matters of the the ship itself uh she gives you a very polite sort of gentle wave uh when she does notice you kind of making your way through the hangar but doesn't seem to pay you any mind whatsoever yeah I'll wave back in that very Nova way of

starting a wave, tripping over my foot falling over, getting back up, dropping everything wave, carry on awkwardly knock on the side of the ship yeah you do hear a kind of a hiss like a the lower gangway kind of comes down um of this

crystalline mixture of methyl and crystal ship uh that you traveled in and stood there looking tired and like dark circles under her eyes like her green kind of skin ever so slightly discolored to a darker shade under her eyes um shirt buttoned up um no sign of any sort of like alcohol or like booze like on in her hand or like anything else um she kind of looks dumbfounded is captain thalia whisperwind uh this medusa gorgon uh who has been who transported you back home and she kind of looks down and there's a kind of moment of fear like there's a moment of looking quite scared hey uh nova wasn't expecting you to come by hey hey hey hey are you alone right are you well have you been sleeping you look tired uh no honestly i haven't been sleeping i haven't been sleeping very well at all um

it's just big cat uh kairi's actually... Sorry? Are they bothering you? Are they bothering you? Do you need me to tell them to stop bothering you? Bothering me in the way that that woman, that walking funeral attendee, she's got a lot of questions. She asks a lot, but she does leave me alone for a period of time, yes.

No, they're not bothering me not really uh no it's it's just just big cat and i kairi's uh she's actually off exploring the city which is kind of amazing uh that she's she feels pretty safe here so she's um yeah she's she's flying around checking it out. You want to come inside? Sit down? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got a couple of questions for you. I'm used to those these days. So, yeah, sure, come up.

I essentially gave you the scarf back then yep thank you for cleaning it that was really nice yeah yeah thank you of course um yeah it's kind of uh getting blood out of clothes i kind of gone used to it by now uh all right and she kind of turns and you can see she's not wearing her guns or harnesses or anything like that she's just in a kind of plain shirt and tight tight pants uh and like yeah i'd lead you back up into the ship it's familiar um it looks in a much better state the last than the last time you were here where parts of it had been ripped up and broken through and things like that most of the repair work seemed to have been done.

There's a couple of sections you can see actually like holes in the hull. They've not been patched over with metal. It looks like the crystal has been regrown and it's discolored. So where it was this kind of blackish red crystal, it's now almost like a pale gray that's kind of been regrown over. She points at it as you're passing. Strange, the hull sort of repairs

itself normally out in astral space, but ever since we came through into Arois, it flew in your atmosphere. It's not... It's growing a different colour. Don't really know why. Huh. Interesting.

It must be something to do with the atmospheric properties. Maybe something to do with the change in gravity. Huh. I think it might be that Ethereum stuff. You're the woman out there, the Enchantress. I've been talking to her about it. It's unlike anything that we've seen in astral space before. Yeah, it's had some sort of effect on the twin star.

It's changed its composition. I think that's why the infernal engine doesn't like it. Ah, well, I might be able to help with that, actually. We have just returned from a facility where we discovered that, unfortunately, Starbane has been working away, making Magitek an Aetherium-infused weaponry and created a giant Titan-killing colossus

that is powered with an Aetherium engine. Sounds like Valkyrian, yes? He's always overcompensating for things, I think. Well, maybe I'll be able to... I actually have some of the notes here. That's why I'm here. One of the reasons why I'm here is because I was hoping you could maybe help me with this data crystal that I'm waggling around

and copy the data around because this is very sensitive data and we need to share it. But then I could probably retrofit the Ethereum engine and fix the twin star with it if you want to yeah yeah that sounds great just for the data crystals and the engine

I mean the engine would be an incredible help if we can figure out what's causing it I mean I feel like I don't want to replace the infernal engine completely this ethereum stuff's impressive but i don't think it's got enough juice to really handle long distance astral space but maybe there's something that we can figure out i i almost feel like it's the planar nature of the engine you know like you've you've mentioned before that this cradle prevents planar travel, right?

What if it's inhibiting the planar creature? The infernal engine has it's got a demon in it. Maybe it's messing with it somehow. Maybe we could create some ethereum shielding that protects it from the effects of the cradle, maybe? So, um...

You're thinking of going back out there over the cradle she kind of like gestures uh she starts like making like a drink like a coffee or something and uh she pulls out like two cups and stuff no alcohol you don't see any kind of uh alcohol bottles anywhere um and uh she just kind of looks over and she's like, well, first of all, data crystals. Yeah, I've got a ton of them. She opens a cupboard and like four of them fall out. And there's like loads of other stuff in there. You can see some like, you know, you know, hair, you know,

like maybe like, you know, moisturizers and oils and things like that. And she's like, puts that back, pulls out these data crystals and like slides them over onto the little counter in this little mess room that she has. Well, the truth is, is that, I mean, your world's wonderful. It's beautiful. And the people here actually seem nice, which is a very different change to most of the worlds I go to in astral space.

which is a very different change to most of the worlds I go to in astral space. But, I mean, unless I can fix this, and she points at her snake hairs and things like that and her green skin, there's not really a reason for me to stay. I mean, even the people here, they're nice, but they still look at me the same way everyone does. Oh no, she's going to turn us to stone any second. Don't look at her for too long. I don't look at you the same way everyone does. Oh no, she's going to turn to stone any second. Don't look at her for too long.

I don't look at you like that. Um. That like, she just doesn't say anything. She catches her words when you say that. I am, I uh, I'm working on it, by the way. I'm working on it.

And sorry, things have been a bit... There's a lot going on right now. But it is on the top of my rather impressive to-do list and week planner of things to do as I really want to try and help you with that. And I got some ideas. I'm not asking... You don't need to make me a priority, Nova.

I've been living with this curse for, what, three, four hundred years? It's not- I'm not worried about it going away anytime soon, but... I told you before, the only thing I've got left is this ship. Those stars out there. I haven't got a home to go home to. I don't have... I don't really have a reason to

do anything. So yeah. At this point, Nova's like... Nova's like... Nova's purple. Just purple. And she fumbles around her belt and she pulls out scroll and I'm pulling out the scroll like five other scrolls just fall on the floor and

then she goes um Talia I'm gonna I just need to look I'm just gonna I'm gonna read this mm-hmm Talia I am no good with words, you know, better than most. I'm better with equations. And I've never, I don't know how to do this because there's a distinct lack of text on what to do and processes for expressing emotion. And I asked Tiangong, but Tiangong wasn't any help. What happened between us, it scared me a little bit. I've never been in this situation before, and I don't know what to do. And as you can see, I'm terrible at it, which is why I am

reading from this letter right now. Hello. I like you. You're strong and brave and confident and when you fly the twin star your eyes fill with the light of the stars in the astral sea and it makes my heart double in tempo,

and I want to watch the stars with you. That's very sweet. And she just comes over and places like a hand on, like puts a hand on yours. You're terrible at this, and she holds the scroll. Don't do this. There's no manual for it. I know, kid know kid listen she takes

your hands i am very sorry i drink i did i drank a lot because i don't really like myself if you haven't figured that out yet i think i'm a colossal fuck-up. I'm a mess. I genuinely use flirting and being rude as a way to push people away. Especially, it sounds strange, but if you make yourself an easy target like that, people stop looking at the snakes, they stop worrying about being turned to stone. They just think about more primal matters. I tend to use it as a bit of armor. I think I like you too. A lot.

You've got the curiosity that I once had. And you've got a kindness that I never did. At least not until recently. I just don't want you to make a mistake in ending up with someone like me. I'm not worth someone like you. I'm a piece of space debris cast out from my home world

where I was somebody where I made terrible terrible decisions I was a I was not a nice person Nova I was sick, I was cruel I was twisted and this was my punishment she points

so don't make any mistakes kid I'm not some lovely princess who was done wrong by I I got what I deserved. And I've had to live with it. That time has given me a lot of time to change and think. And I wish, I wish so deeply that I'd had somebody like you around to point me in the right direction. To point me in the right direction. Just don't waste your time with me.

I'm really not worth it. There's so many better people out there for someone like you. I disagree. And I don't know what could happen. I don't know how to do this. And it scares me. But I do know that I want to return to the astral sea with you. And I want to help you. And it doesn't matter what's happened before.

I've done bad things too. I've done stupid, foolish, reckless things that put my friends, and probably now my entire family at risk. So, baby steps. Here. And I'm going to take out a little bit of fabric, like a fabric bracelet that I've made, that Nova's made from the end of her scarf. I just want you to have this for now.

And I don't know what the next thing is. I don't really know when it could be. We've got so much to do and a whole universe to save. But it's just, I'd like you to have this. And whatever happens, happens. And I don't have the answers. and whatever happens happens and I don't have the answers but the best I can do

is try trust me Nova I've been across the astral sea twice and back again and nobody's got the answers not even the emperor does I think he's a bit more of a he's more human than some of your friends realize.

She kind of takes the bracelet, but as she does so, she also like, wraps her fingers in between yours, kind of like, you know, interlacing her fingers with your hand. You're pretty bad at this, but I also know that I might have scared you away last time. So when you're ready, if you would like to do anything, and she kind of winks, just say the word. But not before. And then she'll, she doesn't take any steps, but she'll just

kind of like, sit there with you for a second. I guess for now, if we could just sit, have a cup of coffee, talk data crystals, wait for everyone else to get back. That sounds... nice.

Snake heads hiss along. We'll just leave it at that. Cool. Nice. The rest of you, return. Meanwhile, in the facility boy yeah uh no meanwhile everybody you guys finish up and you can head back uh there's really not too much at this facility i mean like i said most of it was destroyed it was all stuff that you found

previously you explored all of the the the tower floors that you didn't go to the two lower basement floors just appeared to be more of the similar kind of workshops where clearly something was being done all empty, cleared out long before you guys had even got there did we come across Sky Prince Aradan while we were

there or no? no, he wouldn't go there himself he has his guards and mages. No, he wouldn't go there himself. No. He has his guards and mages there, but he himself wouldn't go there. Okay. No worries. I'll make him. You can easily go and meet up with him.

Like, we can just jump around and say, you guys go get Nova, and then you go speak with Sky Prince if you want. It's more a case of the whole Stormchaser upgrade thing and the two gnomes. I mean, you can, again, we can hand wave some of that stuff and say, yeah, you guys send like, you know, send words to the Sky Prince or you go and speak with the Sky Prince.

He's definitely happy to have them, you know, use the facility. But really the technology is, it's going to take them some time and there are materials and stuff there it will help but it's not going to give you like any free upgrades or anything like that you're still going to need to pay for the actual physical supplies you need

I wonder if it's best to tell them to just focus on finishing the storm chaser and then maybe check it out afterwards or something like that because I think in terms of turnaround and having IS ship ready as soon as possible for this council meeting would probably be better than trying to shoehorn in some upgrades that may not well the other thing not to hand wave too much but the other thing is azaria perel who is this enchantress and moon star moon stars knowledge of magitek is somewhat limited um but azaria perel she she's a genius like when like when you go and pick

up nova she has clearly made progress in understanding the enchantments on the twin star and things like that um she is more than happy to help make improvements to the twin star if you give her permission um but yeah and then she basically she basically says to you that she'll put it on your bill that you can pay at a future date but she's got some ideas I've just realised my camera has just run out of battery as well I forgot

to charge wow one level of exhaustion for that battery I plugged in my Kindle I plugged in my Kindle. I plugged in my Kindle using the camera charger and then I forgot to plug it back in. Amazing. It's been a day, hasn't it?

It's been a day. I mean, yeah, I think Azaria working on the airship, I mean, we've got her working on Twinstar anyway, right? Like, what harm can she do? What more harm can she do if she decides to do any, I suppose? We don't know yet. Get some upgrades for the airship, that'd be cool. Big Ethereum upgrades.

Get a roof. That'd be pretty cool. Yeah, we'd get a roof. We've got quite a lot of roofs as it is. I feel like we just need some kind of magical shield system. We add a roof to an upper deck.

Does it just become a middle deck and then the roof becomes the upper deck? I don't think it's actually possible to put a roof on the upper deck of a ship. Well, if it's not being used for anything other than a roof, then I guess it is a roof? So, what can be done is

rather than, if you didn't want to have the ship turned into like a, you know, have a roof or like a canopy or anything like that, you could have like a magical barrier, more sort of like a kind of protective shield that would provide you with some protection okay cool also i'm back hi hello

i was uh i was gonna do this you were gonna put yeah at least it's not slow blink. Cool. Well, the other thing that happens, by the way, Lucius, at some point you probably either go and check yourself or you receive a message to come to the kind of El Anasto hidden base. Just got a secret message to go to the secret base, everybody. I'll have to go. luchas messenger ring i need to go to the secret base that's better that's better okay good can we name that something that is not secret base secret base over it just this is over the

messenger ring secret hideout can we just have a name? Just a code word that you say that's not a secret base, Lucius. Pineapple. No. Maybe the basement. Huh? No. I don't think anyone will look twice at it. I'm going to the basement.

I'll think about it. The shop. I'm going shopping. Pine. I'll think about it. The shop. I'm going shopping. Pineapple shop? But we always go shopping. But we use that. We do go shopping. We always do.

Something we don't need. While you're having this conversation via the messenger rings, Lucius, you make your way back and kind of working at her stick. I can hear wind rustling through the ring because i'm like on the move like a cell phone yeah when you're biking around when you when you arrive into uh the el anasto kind of hidden area um you see uh your sister not wearing the moon star uh helmet so she's just got like her brown hair um her blue eyes uh she's just working on projects um but you can see that she's been adjusting the the gauntlet the prismatic alternator gauntlet this device she made you to help kind of

make the most of your chromatic magic ah uh brother good um i finished the work on this i know we've not got too much time left um but i've i've finished working on this i did have to use the ring that i took from you this barrier ring to make the right adjustments that's been sort of absorbed into the the gauntlet now i've i've made use of its uh technology frankly it really was garish on the silk gloves so and it didn't quite fit. And also, it's so off-season. You understand fashion far better than I, brother. I will leave that to your skills to determine. Come, and she brings it over,

and she clamps it back onto your arm, and you feel the kind of connectors, like... Right? Kind of lock back into place. Still feels as maneuverable as before this kind of like banded metal metallic arm over your own with the gauntlets and the gemstones into the hand

I've adjusted it without it feels cosy if you've been wearing it for a long time you'll get used to it I'm certain I'd like you to try something it's still experimental but I believe I've got it correctly I would like you when you something. It's still experimental, but I believe I've got it correctly.

I would like you, when you conjure one of your spells, and I know that you see magic differently to how I or Father did, but I want you to channel, rather than using it to conjure the effect you want, channel it into the gauntlet itself. You've used it before to absorb another's spell energy, yes? Think of this in the same way but rather than absorbing a spell that has already been cast channel your own energy

into the gauntlet itself the level of power that you charge will charge the gauntlet up to a different amount interesting so I can put the spell into it you can charge it, and then, like before,

you can use that power, that charge level, to enhance your spells, but also your innate ability to deal this chromatic magic you can create. It can either enhance that, but I've added another thing, a more defensive technique, but we need the charges in there for me to show you how it works so just try it you need it now right

not something too powerful oh not prismatic spray then that was that was on the cards just then I was about to do that that's very powerful spell right something smaller a chromatic orb

so when you channel it you could miss powerful spell. I would not. Right, something smaller. A chromatic orb. So when you channel it, you kind of... I could miss. No, you, like, very much like she said, you focus for a moment, and rather than casting the spell, you just kind of channel that arcane energy down into the arm, and you watch as the kind of bands of power power up.

So expend a first level spell slot, and add one charge to the prismatic gauntlet oh you can now do this as you can now do this as a bonus action um but you have to take a short rest before you can charge it like this again so you can once per short rest you can basically spend a spell slot and gain a number of charge points equal to the level of the spell in the gauntlet right i've written this in the item description, but we'll do it as an actual RP thing. You feel that power kind of

coalesce. She's like, now you won't be able to do this too frequently, so perhaps you may wish to find a good balance between a spell, a certain amount of spell energy that you feel comfortable sharing, expending. Now, this is where I've made the adjustments.

You'll need to be quick. When you feel that you're about to be harmed by something whether a spell or a weapon you should be able to charge that energy in the gauntlet into a defensive shield now it won't it will absorb damage rather than protect you from a blow entirely but the more power in the gauntlet the more damage you should be able to absorb um wow this will be endlessly useful you don't well you do know you've seen it yes you are not you are a very powerful sorcerer lucius you have very powerful magic far more than you don't have to say these things

it is not entirely without criticism you do not take any care to protect yourself you have no fighting ability you have no ability to actually defend yourself no, this is a conversation we need to have you can't just expect your friends to always be there to protect you. Sentry and

Quill might not be able to reach you in time. You need to learn to look after yourself. This should help. Rather than, I fear that no matter what we do, we could encase you in armour and you would still be vulnerable. Instead, let us make use of what you have. Powerful reserves of magic, almost limitless reserves of magic, and not quite, but you have a lot of it. Let's find a way we can charge that into the gauntlet and now you can summon a barrier of chromatic magic to protect yourself. That should at least be able to give your friends time. If they can't reach you you can you can protect yourself for a brief period of time invaluable and now elegant I like

that indeed I know that that is important to you and still let us field test it stand there and she points at like a little wait yes no no we will test this now immediately yes and she pulls like a crossbow like a little hand crossbow from the table stand there and she walks about 30 feet away i don't need to do it right now she points the crossbow at you you'll need to learn very quickly lucius i'm afraid and then she fires sister please all right reaction yeah so you spend your reaction and the way it works is when you're about to take damage i will roll damage for the hand crossbow uh so this would be uh five points of damage oh no four points of damage actually um you can spend a reaction and spend a charge from the gauntlet and it's got it

written down in there um but you can reduce the damage by one d8 for each charge point you spend i will expend i've got two charges in there i guess there was a residual oh because you must have had one from before yeah okay yeah i'll spend one for now and just roll a d8 okay roll a d8 we'll do five five so you watch and it's it's your choice blue or orange because that's your color magics but rather than kind of conjuring a spell you see the bolt flying at you you wince and when you kind of grip the hand this kind of gel like substance

kind of in front of you the bolt kind of embeds into it and doesn't have enough force to penetrate through and just falls to the ground wow and then it kind of just dissipates that's phenomenal this is incredible well just remember you can't charge the gauntlet

up as often as you like, unless you are fighting spell casters that have cold or acidic properties. You won't be able to charge the gauntlet as frequently as you wish. It may be useful for you if you are, if you think that you'll be safe for a day charge as much energy as you can into it until it's full and then use that in reserve when you need to you always were the genius well if i am a genius then you are the one with the natural talent brother i could not conjure the level of spell energy that you have. You have mastered things far beyond me, but objects I can do. And objects almost exploded and killed all of us, so don't discredit yourself and your abilities.

Believe me, I do not. I know I'm a genius. Still, I fear that you may be encountering enemies beyond what my genius is able to handle so i wanted you to at least have a way to look after yourself and like i said please keep in mind what i said you need to learn to protect yourself don't rush into dangers that are unnecessary learn to stay out of sight if you cannot fight. Your friends might not always be there to help you. I'll take a level

of Moonstar caution with me. Please do. It's a personality, it is a persona that has helped me survive. If that is... If Captain Lucius of the Storm Chaser takes on at least even a hint of

Moonstar's protectiveness I will be pleased to hear it talking of which and I just whip out this Captain Sword look it is a fine sword isn't it I'm going to use the shout

and hit through it isn't it this I'm going to use the shout and hit through it. Isn't it? This like booming voice echoes. She kind of like staggers back for a minute, like holding her ears. You have, what is it with boys and swords? I swear you and Belenor were always swinging them around. It's so swishy.

Yes, yes, very droll anyway take your sword and go with care my brother please keep me updated won't you on your your goings on in Gusthaven the wind barris yes I will

I believe that well I'll be accompanying you and the sky Prince to Horizon, but I fear there our paths may diverge. You're the only family I have left. I know. Let's do it for them. For them. She just nods.

And she probably comes in and, and like there's a very awkward like adea has never been one for things like hugs but she knows that lucius is and so there's this very sort of like oh sister and he'll embrace her like properly yes yes big huggy for sissy oh isn't it nice doesn't it feel good you are too much like mother sometimes I put on my favourite cologne this morning yes Lucius very well good and as he

as they separate he's already got pushed up against her is the broken portrait of his father and mother. Take this. She looks at it. And even Edea just, you see a few tears coming down the cheeks but even she's not immune to it you know even she's just sort of nods you i'd get you it does not happen often and then she just goes to the desk puts the portrait down

sets it so she can see it go i have work to be doing i need to wield a whole new set of equipment for myself i need some upgrades now that i've done your work i have my own to do and then just as you're about to leave you do hear just a very faint i love you lucius he will captains i love you too, sister. I love you too, sister. You see her, like, tense at the desk, like, why are you like this? I hate you. Secret base. Damn it.

And he'll walk away. Secret base, he also says. Secret base! Secret base! Well, team, there's like five minutes the only other thing is is if there is anything else you wish to do otherwise probably next week we will start with the sky prints collecting you to travel to horizon for this meeting me in time it's finally happening uh no no did you ask about the rifles sure yes okay i thought you might have just totally forgotten whoops no it's no it's fine uh thalia is definitely thalia can show uh penny lookout and maybe a couple of the wolf pack how to use them and then

they can teach everybody else but it is going to take them time like this is just pure practice they need to practice with them uh it's probably going to take them a month to get fully proficient in a week they can probably point them and reload them but they won't be very accurate with them they still have their other weaponry though right it's like yeah they've still got the crossbows and like all of the other weaponry on the the ship but yeah it's going to take them some time to get used to them so cool cool cool alright well in that case we will end the episode there amazing amazing

big RP episode that's it that's it bye charge your batteries.