High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #123 | Zephyr's Domain (Part 1)

Episode Date: September 7, 2021

The first Titan realm has been discovered... we're heading to the realm of the storm god Zephyr! Check out the full High Rollers collection and grab the new merch when it releases on Sunday at 4pm BST: https://freshmerch.fm/collections/high-rollers 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. health. And part of mine includes biodiversity. Why care so much? Because Canadian dairy farmers hold themselves to higher standards. That's what's behind the Blue Cow logo. Dairy Farmers of Canada. This episode is brought to you by Mazda. When you drive a Mazda, you'll find out why RSUVs won more 2024 IIHS top safety picks than any other brand as of June 2024. Find out what makes Mazda different at Mazda.ca. Hello, welcome back to High Rollers. Before the episode begins, I wanted to let you know that next week we're releasing some brand new merch. Releasing this Sunday at 4pm BST that's UK time. We've got three brand new design shirts including a Storm Chaser baseball

tee. We've also got a Clear Skies cropped hoodie and some Reynard and Juto pins from the Lightfall campaign. You can grab those on freshmerch.fm at 4pm BST this Sunday. Anyway, on with the show. Last time on Erois, our heroes, the crew of the airship the Storm Chaser, have spent over a month organising and reinforcing their forces as conflicts and intrigue begin to grow across Erois. Called back together after defeating a squadron of Eladrin propagandists, the party meet with Vala, the daughter of the goddess Siasca and the tyrant Kallus Valkyrian, who updates them on their search for the errant titans of Erois and the

demiplanes that they have hidden themselves within. With one located, the party must now travel to breach the titan's domain and take them down. And that is where we are starting today. One little quick kind of retcon to some of the stuff we did last week. We just bought a little magic item for Lucius just to give him a little kind of like bonus to his spell attacks. And it's been kind of built into the captain's command,

which is a sword that Lucius has. Just for any of those of you who are interested in tracking numbers and things like that. There you go. But yeah, otherwise, you guys are on a horizon. We pretty much left things off last week. Valar has informed you that she has found Zephia, one of the Titans of Eros, one of the gods of Eros, really. They have found that their domain, they know roughly where it is,

you will need to travel there. If you have any questions, if you need any reminders about the things that were discussed last week, I can update, refresh you. But otherwise, other than that, it's over to you guys, really. There was a lot of me speaking last week, and for this start, I think it's more over to you guys. I've got one question. Can't we just queue for the duty and it will teleport us there straight away? I'm a healer, so we should get in pretty quickly and find a new group.

Tom has been playing... We've all been playing a lot of Final Fantasy XIV recently. Tom has been playing an exceptional amount of Final Fantasy XIV, and he may just be stuck in that space a little bit. That's fine. I'm the white mage. I'm the white mage,'m the white mage guys and it does mean that he's more likely to heal uh this time around so unless i just cast holy so you guys are in horizon um you have all of the you know all the information that you were

kind of given last week again happy to refresh you on that the storm chaser is ready to go it is still being worked on the storm chaser is still kind of undergoing this transformation um into a vessel that can go into astral space um thalia and azaria perella in the process of making that but it's not quite there yet um vala did mention that it probably won't be the best idea to take the storm chaser into the titan's domain um She actually recommended getting a traditional kind of sailing ship to do so. But yeah. And also we're taking Valor and Maximilian with us, right? I mean, Valor has to go with you.

So Valor is the one who is the only one who can open the domain, breach into Zephyr's domain. And Maximilian will not leave her side so it's less okay you are taking max that max is going with you um cool yeah if you have like yeah and like i said if you've got questions about like what exactly valor is going to be doing or or how it works or what to expect um either now or when you decide where you're going to get the ship from and what you're going to do with it is the way to go. I guess all of our other allies are kind of locked up now in this domain stuff, right?

We've sent them on different missions across the months and stuff. I mean, there's definitely a few of them who are being kept busy for sure. But if you have ideas of people that you want to either ask to come along or you know anything like that you could you can certainly ask but i would need to know who those people you want to bring up rose meadow um not really much of a fighter uh probably would decline such an offer okay okay brett brookstone oh that's an interesting one. He's not on horizon. I think he's a good guy. I believe him. I trust him. I think Lucius would ask, let's break down what we know of Zephyr

and see if we can prepare ourselves in any way, shape or form to improve our chances going into this domain that is entirely crafted, as far as we know, tailored them would ariah know about zephyr being an orc and being a seafaring orc yeah you can you if you go and art if you like ask ariah to come in and kind of talk to you about it yeah she'll come in and just say well you know we know um we know a little about zephyr or all orcs do. We are connected in some ways. Many people say that our adventurous spirit comes from Zephira, our recklessness, our

fickleness. Some people also claim that the glint, madness which can overcome some orcs also comes from Zephira. She is very tempestuous. Sailors who travel on open waters always give tributes and make prayers to Zephia for safe journeys, but they know that if the mistress of the sea chooses to send them on an adventure, as she would call it, then they can... Safe seas are not something to expect. No guarantees. But seas. Very important.

Oh, yes. Yes. Lots of water. It is something of a strange one. I know that perhaps Mr. Quill would... The Arakokra believe that Hesper is very much related to sky and storms and things like that. But Zephir is also storms, wind,

anything which can be involved with sea travel, adventure, these sorts of things. Many stories of great whirlwinds taking shifts to sunken wrecks, but also dashing them against rocks or summoning sea beasts to fight

them. All of these things happen in the stories with Zephir. Is there any evidence Zephir is also afflicted by this glint? Maybe some offering can be made from us. I think that the glint is something which affects orcs, but there are many non-orc worshippers of Zephir. They do not seem to be afflicted by it. I believe that Zephir is, the glint is part of Zephir. Zephir is,

how do I put this? She is not a good goddess, nor is she evil. She is fickle, tempestuous. She can be violent, angry even, greedy, but also can be generous, can be ambivalent, can be love's freedom. She is the wind, she's the sea, the storm, all of these things. I love her freedom and we're going there to ask her to surrender divinity. This is going to be a problem. render divinity. This is going to be a problem. Valor at this point will say, I

mentioned this before my friends, but I would not go into this space, perhaps with some of the others, with Killaro, with Valina, but with Zephir and with Atelicus. Do not go in expecting a negotiation. Do not think that

trickery will work. This will expecting a negotiation. Do not think that trickery will work. This will be a battle. Probably the greatest battle you have fought so far. Zephir is, as your friend Araya here has said, Zephir can be violent, and if she feels threatened, she will lash out. And we are threatening her. she will lash out and we are threatening her whether we believe it or not

we are asking her to give up herself we are asking for surrender but we need it without Siaska I do not think that Erois has a chance against my father okay how do we get to this realm

and the exact location I will need to How do we get to this realm? The exact location, I will need to, as we get closer, I will be able to determine a more precise location. I know vaguely where it is. I believe that perhaps we could use the storm chaser to get close enough or perhaps assist us in reaching the destination. But I don't believe that Ethereum engines or Ethereum would be wise in Zephyr's domain. These domains that the Titans create, they are,

in essence, we are sort of entering Zephyr's essence itself. Ethereum is a thing of Eros, and I fear that there may be some difficulties with things like airships working in these spaces. I think we would be far safer aboard a more traditional vessel. I can protect a ship, I could maybe protect a crew if need be, but that would be the limit of my powers. Getting us into Zephyr's domain and keeping us in a relatively safe space will take everything I have. It will be on you to fight Zephyr. I will not be able to assist

you much. I maybe have an ace up my sleeve if things go very badly, but I won't be much use. And how do we ensure your safety beyond Maximilian who will follow you? You don't need to worry about me. I will be protecting myself. I'm the only one that can get us out. And so I'm going to be focused on protecting myself and the ship so that you have something to stand on.

Don't worry about me. Maximilian will be there if, I don't know, there is something, but I can protect myself. You need to focus on Zephia. I think that you may be the only ones that can actually stop her. Alright. Let's find a ship. If there's anything else you want to know, I'm happy to answer now. Or if you can think of anything on the journey, if you wish to make preparations i just wonder if if she's the representation of the sea and the ocean do we think there's any chance that we might be underwater or at risk of you know yes i would say that that is a possibility i i know i don't ask me how i know this it's knowledge that's come to me as i've been connecting with this space. Zephir's domain is called the Maelstrom.

It has a name. It's older than Zephir itself. It is connected to her essence, but it is its own thing, in a sense. And I know that there is something odd about it it it is not a normal sea by any means but it is entirely likely that you you may need to fight underwater or you may be you may be drowned i don't know in which case um we best be prepared um i i have this scroll of water breathing that i uh bought a while ago for a previous adventure that I thought might be underwater. It may be a waste, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I think it's probably worth

us casting this before we go in. Just in case. Good idea. How many does that work for? Well, none of the girls need it. We can all breathe underwater. It's more for the boys.

It's more for the boys. Nova can't breathe underwater. Nova can just hold her breath as long as she wants. But if she wants to speak and stuff like that, it can still be helpful. It can still help. It could be a big help. Yeah.

But it's up to 10 willing creatures. And it's a scroll. So if it's a scroll, does that mean Quill has to cast it? Because I'm a Phil. You need to have the spell on your spell list. So otherwise you can use it, but there's a chance it will go wrong. You make a check. What one is it?

Water Breathing. Water Breathing. It is Druid, Ranger, Sorcerer, Wizard, Artificer, Circle, Sorcerer. Oh, there you go. I don't have it. I'll be Lucius casting that one.

How long does it last for? 24 hours. Oh, okay. What level spell is it, Kim? It's a third level spell. What level spell is it, Kim? It's a third level spell. Third level spell. So, yeah, anybody can cast it, technically. Well, anybody who can cast spells.

Ayla can't use a scroll. It's a piece of paper. You can wipe your bum with it. But anybody can use it. You would need to do a DC 13 spell check. So, basically, a D20 plus your spell casting ability modifier so plus wisdom or plus charisma or whatever it is but yeah lucius can use the scroll without making a check because it is on the the sorcerer spell list i'll do it yes not a problem um in terms of sourcing a ship

should we do that now yeah yes um i mean we'll just need a small transport vessel, I suppose, just to get us into the place. Araya will probably turn around and say like, well, I mean, you know, people in Mirskir, there's many sailors there and things like that. I know a few captains that I could introduce you to, but let's make this clear. You are going to fight a god, yes?

Maybe a bit of a hard sell you suggest we steal one I'm suggesting that between all of you Lucius you know how to you know how to captain a ship now I've taught you it's not so much different piloting an airship to piloting a ship on the sea you have strong hands smartators. I think that you could, if you wanted to, for a short journey at least, you could maintain the boat yourselves or find a crew and maybe don't tell them exactly what you're doing. Maybe? Oh, I'm fully intended for us to steer the ship so to speak without endangering other lives

where possible it's probably for the best so let's just go rent a boat or a boat you know yeah I'm sure we'll return it in peak condition well if let me give you a little...

There's one... If you were to requisition a ship from a certain individual that maybe I hate the guts of and he's my brother. Oh, you're a thrash! Maybe that's a ship that...

I mean, when I first met you, I think that perhaps the crew of us would have had a difficulty dealing with my brother. He's an asshole, but he's a good fighter and everything else. But now I have a feeling that you would not be so troubled

by my brother's crew. So, you know, maybe wait for them to go into the tavern, get quite drunk, steal their ship, my ship. You can have it. You mean take back your ship? Yeah. Yes.

Are you implying that we're assholes now? No, no, no, no. We're just helping a friend. You're getting my ship back, Quill. That's a good thing. That's what friends do, yes? And then we're destroying it immediately by taking it to go and fight a god. Yes.

Valor will say, well, I think, don't worry about destroying the ship. I think I can protect that. I think. I've not done it before, but I have an idea. I haven't done any of this technically before. Up until a few months ago, I was like 14 and now I'm like 20. So it's all very new. It's all very exciting. Lots of new things to try.

Well, if we have the go-ahead from Oriya, I think this could be a good option. Let's go be pirates. She'll just nod. We'll take the storm chaser down to Myrskir and we'll give you an escort in case there's any Valkyrian forces or sea creatures along the way. The Arcane Cannon should make short work of such beasts.

And we'll give you an escort to where you need to go. Now, where do they get drunk? Well, on that question, yeah. So, Uriah will, if you guys are ready, Uriah will take you on the Stormchaser. And over the course of a couple of days, will fly you to Mirskir and takes Port in. Fuck me if I

didn't actually look up the names of places. Port, Port. No, there's a whole list of places and the wiki people will be on my balls if I don't get it right. The Spanish city of Porto Sobrano. No,

that's in the archipelago. That's not in Merskir. Silly boy. Is it Spanish? You got that. They had a bunch of wineries and stuff there. Yeah, you could try and go there,

but you don't know anybody there, and Araya can't really point you to any people. If you want an easy... Is that the... Can it be called Qwethus? Qwethus. Oh, no, that was that one, yeah. Someone mentioned Final Fantasy?

Qwethus Hall. Katavag. Katavag is the big city in Mere's Gear. Katavhal. Katavag. Katavag is the big city in Mere Skier. Katavag. Katavag. There we go. Katavag. Yeah,

Araya will basically fly the Storm Chaser down to Katavag. Lots of, you see a lot of very burly, rugged looking folks. It looks like people have been coming back into Mere Skier after the Valley of the Storms incident. They're beginning to kind of like rebuild lots of building works like all the buildings look like they were there they've been recently repaired or are undergoing constructions um there is a large port kind of in the same way all being repaired and rebuilt

lots and lots of of docked ships um And all along the kind of coastline, this kind of port town, there are dozens of little, you know, they can't hold more than like six, seven people at a time, but there's dozens of them. These little tiny bars. And, you know, you can see throngs of people

coming and going all day long. And you can hear, you know, people sit outside. all day long um and you can hear you know people sit outside uh you can hear singing and drinking you know for hours on end um there are the occasional patrols of very druidic looking ranger types um who kind of keep the peace um and you see at least one of these groups a group of sailors gets a bit too rowdy. And one of these rough looking ranger types transforms into a giant owl bear. And very quickly basically puts them under arrest with the help of a few humanoid rangers as they kind of like pile in. But again, you guys are well known. You're allies of MereSkier.

MereSkier knows who you are. Everybody knows that basically you saved their kingdom from the Valley of Storms so nobody gives you any trouble yeah and a riot points to a particularly dingy looking bar called the Kingfishers cabin and she just points there and you can already see that there's you know a crew of orcs and humans and a couple of dwarves all sort of like hanging around there and she just kind of is like she just like nods and then she points to an ostentatiously decorated ship like this ship has got like gold gilding all along the sides um you can see that uh there is

like flecks of green paint but it's been painted over red. And you can see where it's been chipped and like scraped. You can see that like the green is kind of showing through from underneath. But yeah, very ostentatious. You're even certain that the figurehead at the front, which is a kind of orc maiden with like gem encrusted like clothing. It's like literal, those are real gems that have been like studded into this figure head and like gold leafing that's been done across it and stuff like that very very uh obvious it's pointed out and her eyes just like there she is uh did you ever come up with a name for the ship ria i can't remember oh god it was so long ago so long ago yeah yeah i don't think i

don't think i did i can't remember check your notes after the thing and then yeah like ariah says if there is a name she says the name of the ship um and uh you can see as soon as she sees as soon as ariah sees the ship something changes in the eyes and you can see like her hand is like on her on her scimitar and she's like looking at the the inn and she's looking back at the ship and like she you can see that like she almost like starts to walk forward um lucius looks like he's just sucked a whole lemon and is staring at this boat all right i don't mean to be she's beautiful i've missed her so much and the storm chaser is good so don't get me wrong i love the storm chaser very powerful flying never thought i'd

do it in my life but i miss i missed you and she just like looks at the ship longingly i love it too it looks fantastic it's it's very expensive yes that's why it's just all this sparkles yeah oh yes that's why it's so good everyone can see that she's the most beautiful ship the most expensive ship the most beautiful ship, the most expensive ship, the most valuable ship. That's why she's so good. Definitely your ship. Yes, of course. Yeah, and you can see it, because Arai is covered in... Because she's covered in jewels and gemstones and gold, very ostentatious. Yeah.

And we're to expect him to give this to us. How? No, I'm not expecting him to give this to us how how how no i'm not expecting him to give it to you he is probably in there and she points at the kingfisher getting very drunk he has left the skeleton crew on the ship my brother is reputation his crowd is quite um, people don't mess with him. Let's put it that way. You are the crew of the Storm Chaser. We're about to.

I'm going to be so naughty in a minute. Whatever crew he's left on there... I mean, keep in mind that the people he's left on that ship, they're just sailors. Don't kill them. Just knock them out, throw them overboard. They'll swim to shore. And then you sail the ship away easy we could try a little mischief if you want to do a bit of mischief i won't say no

i could i could change myself to look like him and then i could be like our captain get off and and and get everyone to leave and then when that doesn't work bop them on the head throw them over the side. Does it alter your voice and mannerisms? Yes. Wow. Very potent. Yes. Maybe Uriah can give you a few cues as to what to say and how he would speak.

Yeah. It's good work. Valor, would Zephyr know that we are, uh, hunting? I would say Valar wouldn't have come with you down to, like, the port city and things like that. She's gonna teleport her and Max once you have the ship secured. She's just gonna teleport them there. I'm just wary that our journey into the seas is going to be arduous enough, and a captain of

a false captain of a ship like this, he'll have maybe a fleet. And the moment he sees his prized ship is gone, won't that trouble our journey even more? Maybe we can just take one of these tiny little boats

they've got a couple they're all super gross and dingy and they look bad it might survive the joking aside there are a couple of very serviceable ships just as a point like a rise ship stands out but there are absolutely a couple of serviceable sailing ships here in the dock um some of them are pretty dingy and rubbish but there are very serviceable of serviceable sailing ships here in the dock. Some of them are pretty dingy and rubbish, but there are very serviceable ones as well. You don't have to take a rise ship. Sorry, Katie, what was that? Ayla's just looking at the dingy ships,

just like, I am not fighting a god on that. Yeah. And she's probably going to start walking towards Araya's boat, saying, come on, Araya, let's get your ship back. Oriah just immediately is like, she's like immediately with you. Do you want the fancy plan?

Yes, Nova. Do you want the fancy plan or are we just going straight to bopping? Okay. Oh, no, no. Fancy plan, then bop. Bit of both. Aayla's covered in furs and dirt and now she cares about decadence. I don't care about decadence. I care about vengeance here. He stole the boat.

Vengeance. Tactically speaking, using a bigger ship would be more advantageous to us because we could spread out in the battlefield. These ships are quite small. We'd be rather cramped in. Yeah. Yes.

Also, her brother's an ass. Yes. This is very true. My brother is an ass. The, yes. Also, her brother's an ass. Yes. This is very true. My brother is an ass. The greatest ass. How does he carry himself? Oh, you know, he puts on a voice. He puts on an accent when he's trying to sound impressive. You know, obviously

he has an accent like mine normally, but he puts on this ridiculous pirate persona when he does, trying to be intimidating. Lots of gurgles and growls and very rough-voiced. I can't do it, but improvise. Improvise, Nova.

Okay, okay. Arrgh, me hearties. Yes? I've read a lot about this. You guys, yeah, I mean, like, Aayla and Uriah are, like, currently at the front. Lova comes trotting up behind. And, yeah, you guys make your way. There's a lot about this. You guys, yeah, I mean, like, Aayla and Oriah are, like, currently at the front. Lova comes trotting up behind. And yeah, you guys make your way.

There's a gangplank. There's two kind of sailors. They're just wearing, like, shorts, flip-flops, little loose white sort of, like, tunics, like little medieval tunics. They've got bill hooks, so, like, these kind of, like, tall spears with, like, hooked ends, like, bladed hooks.

And they're just kind of stood looking really bored. They passing like a bottle of booze between them um yeah do you want to try and like go up and impersonate right who i i again uh i should have looked up his name do you have his name there so i can find your notes look uh I couldn't find a rise note They're probably in like my Aria doc Old notebook Let's see Whilst this is going on

Lucius suggests To the strong people of the group Maybe it's worth us stealthily Unfurling the ropes that are tethering it to the port and dock whilst, you know, negotiations are made upstairs so we can make a quicker getaway.

Ah, I found the notes. Oh, nice. So, Oriah would tell you, by the way, this ship is called the Goldtooth, is the name of the ship? Yes. And her brother is called a gear there we go yeah incredible yeah yeah that's the one i realized because i was looking in all my g docs for like a doc but you actually just emailed it to me that's why i couldn't find the ah that's why you just email it to me yeah

nice um yeah nice yeah okay what do you want me to do I can fly you know what this is such a decadent beautiful boat I'm worried that we're going to be so obvious in the sea we'll have to dull it down

somewhat maybe get rid of some of the vibrant colours and what not the gilding obvious in the sea. We'll have to dull it down somewhat. Maybe get rid of some of the vibrant colors and whatnot. The gilding and fashion. We need to get rid of the red. I can't believe he's painted over it. Disgusting. Get her back to a beautiful

sea green. Sea green like moss. Kelp. Yes. Yes, exactly. Wonderful. That's what we use to dye many of our cloths. Kelp. Such fashionable colours.

I'm fine. I'm going to go do the ropes down here. Well, so far you guys aren't on the ship. You're literally looking at this gangplank leading up onto the gold tooth with these two schmucks just kind of stood they start shoving each other I'm like I think we should start

unhooking the boat whilst Nova does a flawless impression of a rise brother flawless forget the accent well here's the thing with alter, it changes your voice as well. Yeah, but you don't know what he sounds like. Yeah, I don't know what he sounds like, so...

It's a work in progress, don't worry about it. This is gonna go off flawlessly, why are you guys down? Rhi, what were you gonna say? I think I cut you off. That's right. No sentries just said she was gonna take keep a lookout in case anything happens. She can jump in. Hello. Keep a lookout. I just pictured a little like lookout under your arm. Actual lookout. Hold him up. There he is. Looking around. I do not see anything other of the ordinary Sentinel Prime. Sentinel Prime, please put me down. Yeah.

Cool. Sorry. Okay. All right. Sure. In terms of Lucius, once Nova's up on the deck, he's going to be a little bit more of Sorry. Okay. All right. Sure. In terms of Lucius, once Nova's up on the deck, that's when I'm skulking in,

looking at ropes that are tethered to the ship, untethering. Yeah, there's probably only a couple along the dock that are actually secured. You can see that there are a couple of crew hands up on the deck as well. But yeah, Nova, you walk up. Go, go go go go for it what'd you say okay so i guess i'm gonna yeah alter self bet to the best of um oria's description yeah oria describes him and that's what you have to go off so you know there's maybe yeah you don't you i mean oriaaya looks at you and is like, yeah, that's good. Yeah, it looks okay. Yeah, okay, okay.

Do you have any terms I could use? Well, here's another question. Does it change your outfit? Change appearance. You transform your appearance. You decide what you look like, including your height, weight, facial features, sound of your voice, hair length, colouration, and distinguishing characteristics.

Ooh, yeah. Does it say anything yeah so you look like ariah's brother you're wearing nova's clothes so you know if you make yourself big and bulky like it's stretching like your little jacket and you know everything else like you you look like a big burly orc man stuffed into little Nova's scholarly little, you know, armor and jacket. And it's like... I'm adorable. I've just put it in chat just in case I've missed it because dyslexia and panic reading.

But I don't... Yeah, no, I just checked it on Dindy Beyond. And yeah, I think it only changes your physical appearance, not your actual, like your physical traits, not your clothes. That's funny so yeah you you walk up to them um and they kind of like squint and raise their eyebrows avast you scurvy dogs stand to attention captain on deck i would like you to make a performance check with disadvantage

Because you are currently wearing the wrong clothes. You do not sound anything like him. She literally Mashed every pirate trope into one sentence. Yes All I've got more Five to performance. I rolled a natural one! Perfect! Plus five. That's a six! They look at you. They look at each other. And they turn back and are like,

Do you think we're some dopey idiots who don't know magic when we see it? And then they're gonna like, they're just like, clear off! Aye! You look like dopey idiots, you scurvy dogs. He doesn't even talk like that. That's actually... Do you think that's what all sailors talk like? They're just like...

And then, yeah, Ayla starts moving up behind you. Ayla! Yeah, sorry, but I really want the boat, and can I just try and, like... Are they holding, like, they're holding big spears, right? Yeah, yeah, they've got, like, bill hooks, yeah, big spears, basically. Grab the spear and throw him off. Yeah, I'm not even going to make you roll. Of course you can, you're Aayla, you've got a strength of 25.

Like, you just grab his spear, yank him he's like his trainee's like oh i i should keep hold of this and so he just goes with it and he just falls into the water just like and then the other guy looks and he like is completely taken aback uh nova what do you do throws that guy in into the drink with ye okay he'll probably just try and lay a second sure I mean I think like Eldritch blast him sure actually no cuz I'm big now, so I... Hold on a minute. Back to the spell. You don't get any bonuses to strength or anything like that.

No, I don't get any bonuses to strength or anything like that. No, it just changes your appearance. I'm just going to try and trip him up. Why not? I'm in pirate zone. I think I'm bigger than I am, but I'm not. You have a strength of seven, so you can roll a strength, Jenk. You just roll d20 plus strength.

Okay. Oh, that's actually not very good. I rolled a four minus two. That's two. Oh, cool. I rolled a five plus two is seven. So you try and like shove him or like trip him. Like you try and kick him in the knee and like shove him.

And you just bounce off this guy. He's like, what are you doing? He's just like, who are you? Alarm! Alarm! I want your ship, Vlad. I'm trying to steal this ship. What are you doing? It's just like who are you? Pick him up Sorry, I mean again what we don't we don't need the combat music because this isn't a combat I love looks in pushes this going to the water

Aayla walks in, pushes this guy into the water. Sentry and Lucius, you guys come up behind, you guys can just be like cantrips and these guys collapse. Aayla was giving Nova a really good opportunity to try, though. She was like, just... She bounced off. Go on, go on. Okay, no, well... Sorry. Yeah, yeah.

But she gave her a good... She's like my big sister. Yeah. She's like, okay,. Yeah. It's okay. We'll get it one day. Is there something that Quill and Lucius and Century do? Like, you know, there's maybe like 10 guys on this ship, but like, you know.

No, I land on Kim's shoulder. On Nova's shoulder, sorry. Okay, yeah. I don't, I don't. I'm not a parrot. Aha! Sporks Mackenzie! My thankful bird.

Do you guys want to help out, or are you just walking behind the punch squad, as punch squad just make their way through this shit? Yeah, I'm just seeing people splash down as I'm furling this rope. Coiling the rope. It could be expected, I guess.

And just slowly walk up. They like swim up to the surface. They're like, oh, what's going on? They're like swimming to the shore and stuff. There is definitely commotion coming from that bar. All right, better get going then. Let's go, everybody. Chop, chop.

Araya is like running around, Spartan kicking these guys off the ship. She's just like, get off my ship! Like Spartan kicking them off as like Aayla and Sentry and Araya take over. You guys see that a crowd gathers and Aegir comes out and he's like

Bye, what's going on? Who's trying? They're taking my ship! And he slips back into his normal accent. He's like, get after them, you fools. And he's directing all the other sailors and they come charging forwards. But by this point, the ship is already beginning

to turn and then the storm chaser just is like hovering over the docks and you just hear probably Howard would like oh hello ladies and gentlemen if you wouldn't mind just leaving the ship alone on behalf of the horizon alliance thank you very much everybody just go back to your drinks all right you just hear like this magically projected voice kind of coming down of all the people on that crew

well i thought because of ryan's with you kamara wouldn't do it like you know i bet you got on the speaker then i was like well do it i can talk i'm good at that and he's like all right hello oh just in the background like the big flood floodlights of the arcane cannons are like... In the background of this you'll just hear Nova, just full pirate, like, Hoist the mainsail! Avast! Why is the ram always gone? Just going through every single checklist in her little book. We don't need any of those. Lucius is just dismissing them.

Living her life. We don't need to hoist the sails, not yet. Ahoy, ahoy! To the mizzenzen with he i'll make you walk the gang blank every single person the alos throwing off the edge of the ship you know it's not really your boat anyway though so really sorry about this but you took it so i don't know what you expected you just hear like most of them it's like curses and things like that and then one of them just goes like well actually under laws of sailor proper under maritime law technically it's like as he's thrown into the water bye i'll look over deck to ariah who i assume is not joining us on ariah is at the the the wheel

of the ship like of the gold tooth and she has like grit and she's like hugging the wheel of the ship, like, of the gold tooth, and she has, like, gri- and she's, like, hugging the wheel, and she just is, like, letting out, like, this, like, she's just laughing, like, she's just, like, big, bellow, she's got, like, her hat in, like, one hand, she's just, like, waving it, like, letting the wind blow through her hair, and she's just

laughing like a lunatic. Um, and, like, kissing the wheel, she's, like kissing the the hand like gold encrusted you know ship's wheel well ariah who am i to give up this for you it's your choice you know this could be a one-way trip she said well I the the the the girl it promised that she would be able to look after her and I don't really feel like I have any place getting involved with your God battles no I will it's just knowing that she's out of a gears hands is good enough for me. But you will look after her, won't you, Captain?

She looks at you. Of course. Yes, every jewel. You won't be the scratch. Every gilding, every piece of paint will be immaculate. You can get rid of the red. You can get rid of the red. Okay, right.

Keep the green. We'll treat her well, Oriah. Thank you, Captain, yes. I should get back up. I don't really trust Howard and Lansian to do everything, so I'm going to go back up to the ship. And she just is like... You can see that she's still holding the wheel

and she's really reluctant to let go. Kind of like very Bilbo with the one ring, where she's like, after all, why shouldn't I? I can see it. Just like... If I'm angry, it's your fault! ring where she's like after all why shouldn't i just like but no she's just kind of like let's go uh and then she signals like she probably has like a little magic sort of like light that she signals and the sky skiff little sky skiff comes down to

pick her up um and she'll go back up to the Stormchaser. But you can see like the port of Kul's Hall is like, there's like cheering and like singing and fights have broken out and you can hear you can see like druids like coming in on like these giant like eagles fly down and they start

like administering the peace and things like that. Quill probably does get ascending from one of the druids of the, like the main druid of the city. He's like, Stormchaser Quill, am I to correctly understand that you've commandeered a vessel from our dock? Yes, we have. And I'm very sorry.

We're going to bring it back. I promise. You don't get every message to respect. You know, the sending is only one But there is a kind of like Almost that you get the sense of like Please tell us when you're going to do this I mean

I feel terrible about this I'm at the top of the boat looking down at the entire Port right now and I'm just like I'm so sorry We're the heroes of a road Don't you worry I'm so sorry Just drift as it gets further and further Yeah, I said sail

Perfect. All right. Um, yeah the journey We're not you're not getting it back. We're not coming back. I'm just going to bring it out back. What's wrong? Once you leave, Fustal, there are probably, I'm not going to run them as encounters because they're inconsequential. With the Storm Chaser overhead, there are probably things like sea creatures, you know, not like anything super scary like a Kraken or a Dragon Tail,

but there will be, you know, creatures. the storm chasers energy cannons sends them off or it takes like a couple of spells from lucius or ayla to punch it once and then these things fly off right um things in terms of valkyrian engagements you don't actually engage any valkyrian forces they seem to not be in the area that you're taking um and after you kind of get out into the open sea there is a kind of shimmering of purple magic and another rip in reality forms and you see vala and maximilian on the other side you can see horizon and they step through it and then the rift kind of seals it kind of rejoins and then vanishes. And Valor immediately is like, okay, this is a little... And she's like swaying all over the place.

I've never been on a boat before. I've just realized this. And she's kind of like staggering around. It's like the ship is like properly going up and down and everything else. Maximilian seems oddly like sure-footed. Like he just kind of like steadies Valor and like holds onto her and like, you know,

she takes his arm and it's just like i told you that we should not have come lady valor i do not look at the horizon valor look at the horizon yeah she's like looking up and she's like right divine power of space and time i can do this i can do i can be i can be on a boat it's fine it's fine and then you see that she just slightly like levitates herself off the ground she's like that's much better just kind of like hovers around that works okay yeah um and yeah uh you guys uh there is a journey valor is going to take you know maybe a day or two of sailing to get to where you need to go.

As Valor guides you towards a thing. Valor will actually tell you, we're heading to something... The way that this sort of works is I need to locate something called the Anchor Locus. It's a point that is connected to Zephir's energy here in the material plane. She can't completely

cut herself off from Aroas. Aroas is part of her power. She's connected to it. So she has to have an anchor point and that's where we need to breach. I think if we sail out into the deep ocean there's more than one I fear but I think that the closest one to where we are is out in the deep ocean, there's more than one, I fear, but I think that the closest one to where we are

is out in the deep ocean. Okay, have you got any idea of, well, I mean, direction now? Is it pinpointing now? Yes, yes. Lucius, I can guide you, and Maximilian, make sure you help them with the ship if they require any extra hands. And he's just like, very well, Lady Val yeah valor will basically yeah accompany lucius and and help navigate

basically so coil your skills as a navigator are more focused on weather and predicting tides and waves and things like that um as valor gives you a corner um the whole time i'm like you want to steer i want to steer for a bit give it a a go yeah she'll absolutely take it and be like oh this is very mundane she's very disappointed I just sort of do this do I? my back kind of hurts after a while honestly it's just a lot of standing up

yes I can see you should get one of these and she taps under her feet and you can see that there's like this very thin purple sort of almost glassy platform that she stood on um i should you're right it's very useful yes i'll just go conjure one up yeah she just goes back to it and like steering away uh we should when we tonight we should gather everyone there's a few more things i should tell you about before you go into face with zephyr all right okay sounds good

um there is something quill because i imagine quill would be the first one to pick up on this with perception and insight and everything else max is like looking out at the sea a lot like you can see that like he's trying to hide it but he is amazed by the sea like he's just like looking out at it like what is this like wow um but he's hiding it he's keeping it kind of close in he's fully decked in his armor by the way and he's got his great sword with him what's the uh protocol on uh salute by the way i mean i know we've got the aeronautical salute for the storm chasers is it different on the sea same team same crew same salute same salute okay now maximilian uh is kind of taking your orders right now which means she's part of the crew.

I am assisting with navigating the ship. I am not part of your crew and I am not taking your orders. Spoilsport. I mean, we do need to go a little higher on the sails. You are still the enemy of my Emperor. I am here to protect Lady Valor. That is all. Understood. Salute. Go back. Come on, Max.

He walks away. And starts checking ropes and sails and things like that. Anything from anyone? Again, I don't want you guys to feel like you have time to RP or chat or make plans. I don't want you guys to feel like I'm rushing you. I think Sentry would just be below decks looking at all the food stocks, seeing if you can make any nice snackos on the waves. Oh, I think that the food stores that these guys would have left would have been like not nice century foods like this is all just like kind of not gross like it's good

food but it's all like you know very rich like fatty kind of salt like anchovies and like you know things that can keep and things like that jerky and um hard fruits and biscuits and things like that it's proper sailors foodor's food, this. Yeah. But you could probably still make... They probably taste alright. I don't know how... They can't taste very well. I don't know what tastes good to them. I'll tell you what Howard would have taught you

that you think you can make. I think that you could absolutely try and make a sailor's apple crumble because there's sugar, apples, biscuits to turn into a base like a crumble kind of form or something like that. Sentry is making an apple crumble. Sure.

Sentry, make A. So I think that this would be, I'd say that you are now proficient in cook's tools because you were training with Howard, but this would be intelligence. So proficiency bonus plus intelligence, which i think is a minus one so what's your proficiency bonus normally plus five uh yes yeah so plus four

20 20 it's this is a good crumble like you yeah it's good it's sweet uh it's got like it's not burnt uh very very hearty um but very very very tasty very lovely little treat uh that you bring up from like the the ship stove um and lay on the table uh vala just is like ah and like start scooping it just like you i mean horizon's good and but you have no idea how bad Valkyrian food rations are. And you see Maximilian like, Lady Valor! She's just like, Maximilian, you answer honestly. You cannot tell me that this is not better. This is worse than that paste we ate on the Tassadar.

And you see Maximilian takes a fork. He looks at Valor and like scoops up a bit of the crumble and he's watching. Anyone want to make an insight check? I'm watching very closely as I feel like I am

yeah natural 20 31 oh my god! You watch, like... So for Quill, like, he... For everybody else, he's just like... It is very sweet. But I suppose it is indulgent enough.

It is a treat of some sort. Some sort. He's just like... You can see that he's never probably tasted anything like this in his life. Like, he's just like... There's an eye twinge. Yeah, there's definitely like, you can see that he's never probably tasted anything like this in his life. He's just like... There's an eye twinge. Yeah, there's definitely an eye twinge. And then you see him just be like, he takes another scoop.

He gets another bite of it and he's just like, just be certain. It is good. You have done well, Sentinel Prime. He loves the crumble. I feel to be better than Valkyrian food, that means a lot. I would not go that far. I said that it was good,

not that it was better. I'm taking it. Taking it, Max. Anyway, Eta, I've got a big battle coming up. I want you to all be strong, full of energy, ready to go. I can try and make more food.

If there's anything else you want, I'm here. Okay, great. I mean, if you can make this out of that, then 100%. Go to town on the rations. It's just what Howard taught me. He said, if you mix a certain amount of this with this, you'll get something like that. So I'm just following what Howard taught me. It is impressive that you are able to cook without a sense of taste or being able to eat food yourself. It shows that you do greatly care about others.

Sentry gets excited about Max saying that. She's like... Is there a slight noise like that? Well, there's like a complete reverse on Sentry because Sentry is just like, you're my enemy. Like, you work for Valkyrie and damn you. And now it's just like, yay, Max said a nice thing. She feels like she's kind of like winning him over. Yeah, absolutely.

You definitely feel that there's an element to that. Like, you know, you're kind of, well, I guess like for Century, right? This is showing him what life on Arois is. This is like what he's missing. Like this is what the Valkyrian army doesn't have. It doesn't have this. These moments of like soft candlelight, the gentle sway of the ocean, you know, all your friends around you.

Like Valor has got like, you know, she's like smeared her fucking face with crumble. Like most of it's gone. Like she's just eaten, you know she's like smeared her fucking face with crumble like most of it's gone like she's just eaten you know loads um and yeah there's like this nice vibe to like the atmosphere right um uh Valor will kind of like wipe her mouth a bit of magic she kind of

like teleports crumbs away and then she kind of looks and says well I don't want to ruin the mood but um there's some things that we should talk about before we arrive at the anchor loust same I'll get it out the way first. I can't handle the color coordination on this boat I've been trying to fleck off the jewels on the front. I'm sorry I'd You go you go Bella you go

As you can see she was about to say something and she's just stunned into silence wait are you trying to you promised ariah that you wouldn't get a scratch on the ship you can't be prying off gems i know i just i something took me over where have you been you better put them back i put up them in the ocean i was flacking them into the ocean i know i didaking I got carried away it's just so garish down there you have to believe me have you seen it were they real gemstones real yes yeah they're real gemstones I will replace them we can't tell a riot how do we what do we do she can't know she'll be devastated was we do? She can't know. She'll be devastated. It was only ten.

We can blame it on Zephyr, right? We can blame it on Zephyr. We can say that Zephyr scraped the ship. No, my plan was to keep the ship intact. If we were successful, my plan was to have the ship completely unscathed. You're in on this now. You can't imagine telling Oriah to you have to keep this up for lucius's sake i can't lie i'll tell her

i'll have to say this you need to i'll need to rest after this but i think okay hang on and you see max is like i mean don't follow. Lucius, we have to put them back. I have to. If I don't do it now, I won't be able to. When did you remove them? How long ago? I've been doing it the whole trip, all right? Every time people look away.

I can't fix this. I can't fix this now. If he's been doing it the whole time, I can't fix this. I'm sorry. Sorry. I mean, it's gross, right? We're all in agreement here right friends

a little bit garish not gonna lie thank you Ayla actually well I suppose thank you Ayla but saying that it's not your ship Licious you've been flicking all the gemstones into the ocean how would you feel if I went up to your coat

and started picking gems? Don't you dare! Sorry. That's what you're bad for, Raya! You're right, you're right, I'm sorry! How on earth did your forces manage to defeat the Valkyrian Empire? You just hear Max muttering

under his breath. With compassion, Maximilian. Indeed. Lucius's crimes against the ship aside, dealing with Zephyr, I know a little. I've researched a little about the Titans. My advice when you face off against a fear don't try don't try anything too clever honestly this is a titan of arois she can't be charmed she can't be frightened

she can probably see through things like invisibility things like that changing her form won't work this is her space um banishing that may have an effect on the domain but it won't work the way you think it will um try and keep these things in mind just remember that you're not just entering this isn't like entering a a tomb or even another plane of existence this is you're entering a space that she is the the mistress of that she has almost complete control over okay i'm gonna look at sentry and go eh ayla lucius and then nova nothing clever we won't try anything clever well that's not to say that you shouldn't i think there will be when she gets aggressive it's very clever thank you very much i will do i'm not saying that there

won't be you should be tactical but tricky trying to be trying to uh dominate Zephyr's mind, trying to trick her with illusions. These things probably won't work. But the more tactical you can be, be aware of her powers. Her powers won't be like the spells you can cast. They won't be mundane things. They will be titanic, for lack of a better word we've had meteors rain down on us before i'm sure we can yeah that went great that went really well reference point i thought we

agreed we were never speaking about that again the other thing to mention is now that we're drawing closer to the anchor locus i have a better understanding of it from what i can gather there are three states of being the maelstrom is normally uh a phrase came to mind i've called it the squall it's like a rough sea heavy wind heavy rain but not a full storm things like flying will be difficult visibility will be limited but think of it as a terrible ocean storm but no thunder or lightning then there is a space that i've called the calm i i don't know how this interacts with it but it's almost like it's a sea. The maelstrom is like a sea split into three.

Squall is what it appears to be all the time, but there is a version of it called the Calm. I've been calling it the Calm. Still, beautiful, inspiring creatures, gold, shipwrecks, the spirit of adventure, but peaceful in in a sense and then there's a darker presence I've called it the fury dark stormy powerful winds powerful rain tides and waves the size of giants I don't know how these things interact, but I know that they all make up the maelstrom itself. Hmm. I'm wondering if this is a Temple of Hesper deal where we might have to split up again.

And if so, who can face the giant tides? I don't think splitting up is going to help us. I think we need all of our skills to get past it. Probably. This is unlike anything we've ever faced. A temple of Hesper, sure. This is a titan itself. A fragment of Siaska. Are we cornering Zephir here? Is there any escape once we get in there?

No. That was my next point. Unless you defeat Zephir, we don't get out. This is it. We have to beat Zephir here. I have my ace in the hole. I have a trump card. But at best, it'll buy you a second chance. And that's it. Once I breach the Anka Locus, think of it

like... How to explain this? If Zephir's domain... Think of it like how to explain this if zephyr's domain think of it like a ball a ball made of glass or steel or whatever you want to it's impenetrable we can't break through no force no power i can manifest can actually make a hole in the sphere what i can do is use this this spark of divinity I have to create my own domain, my own plane and then Zephir's sphere

can't stop my domain from entering it but once I'm inside I can't leave it until Zephir's domain until Zephir's sphere breaks then I can't leave it until Zephyr's domain, until Zephyr's sphere breaks. Then I can bring us back. Okay. Just trying to figure out timescale here,

how long we are able to stay in this space as well. Long enough for a fight, but not much longer than that, I'm afraid. This will take everything I have. a fight but not much longer than that i'm afraid this will take everything i have maintaining this maintaining the sphere and also keeping the ship intact this is going to be the most power i've ever channeled whatever power i have whatever this divine spark my mother gave me whatever influence what the the training my father gave me this is the sum of it as I stand now. Maybe enough time for you to fight Zephir. That's it.

There's no time to rest. There's no time to delay. Once you get in, it's fight Zephir or we lose. Okay. All right. Anyone else? Any other questions? Any other plans we can make for all these individual stages?

This goddess Zephia, this titan that your people once worshipped, you've mentioned seas storms are those her powers should you be preparing for I know that you're Aayla this warrior you can channel the power of a storm have you protection from this from that sort of magic

should you expect such forces to be used against you if you're close to me I can protect you from lightning damage I can can protect you from lightning damage. I can't protect you from other elements that she might have. I don't know what she has, but anything lightning that I can channel myself,

I can protect you from. At least a little. Is she a warrior? Or is she more of a... Is she depicted as a mage or an archer or a fighter? What depiction of her do your people attribute to Zephyr? Anger.

Like the orcs. Like me, somewhat. A warrior, then. Well, if she's a warrior, she'll enjoy close combat but she's also a titan so she'll probably summon water and use it to her advantage i assume her environment so i'm not sure what the best strategy is really, other than finding cover, seeking cover from waves, from winds, from storms. Not much

cover on the deck of the ship, but yes. I will keep Lady Valor to the rear of the ship and will protect her if this Zephir can conjure creatures, I will protect her from such things. You do not need to worry about Lady Valor.

Focus your attention on defeating this enemy. I wonder if it's worth perhaps lacing the deck with ropes that are tied down in case the boat tips or, you know, we're sent flying, then at least there's a way for us to catch onto ropes and secure ourselves. Or at least not be knocked off into the ocean. I'll cast the scroll before we get close.

Yes, you'll have plenty of time for things like that. You'll know when we're approaching the anchor locus. But that's a good idea. Maybe we should all tether ourselves to the ship in some way. But allow us flexibility to move about and avoid things and cast yeah i mean a rope has it's 50 foot like a single rope so you could but you'd have to anchor yourselves to a point on the boat itself yeah i was thinking like

with the amount of rigging on the ship um is it well the rigging's all in the sails there'll be some rope to spare but yeah i'm just wondering if it's possible to create some sort of like system where like if like say the the boat tips like we can grab onto like a rope that has purposely been tied across the deck you can you can definitely do that uh the the mechanical advantage would be you would have advantage on like any saving throw like if you were like if the boat was gonna knock you off or if you're gonna fall off the boat normally that's like a deck saving throw right if you had ropes to grab onto i'd say you have advantage on that saving throw all right nice it's not like gonna be an instant success it's because it's just giving you like like lucius

might grip it but it might burn his hands and he falls off or he might not be able to grab it or nova you might just not have the strength to hold yourself up you know that kind of thing um yeah so yeah i'd say it would probably be like advantage in certain areas there's not going to be enough rope to cover the whole boat um so we'll probably like when we get into it we'll like mark out certain areas or like you can tell me because i will say this when we get into it, we'll like mark out certain areas. Or like you can tell me, because I will say this when we get into the fight, you're basically going to have the sort of front two thirds of the boat.

The rear third, Valor is going to be in and she's going to be protecting herself with a shield. So that's going to be like off limits, basically. You'll have to fight from the sort of mid deck to the front deck. But yeah, you'll have like, you'll be able to choose. Like, let's say that there's enough rope that you can set up that like nova's uh safety system in say like two areas like

either you know the the port or starboard in the front bit or the mid deck right so you can have two of those areas covered um that would be pretty much where you can you can do that from cool nice um all right than nothing cool sure let us uh let's actually take an early break here so that when we come back we just dive straight into this hell yeah i need all the time i think we're gonna need the time good luck nice let's take a quick breaky, and then we'll be back. Cool. Double check your spells. Make sure you've got all your water stuff in there. Anything else that might help us when we go and kill a Titan? Assume you have a long rest, so you want to swap spells out.

You can do that now. Assume that you'll have enough time to do a long rest before you get into this fight.