High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #134 | Valiant Knight of the Briar (Part 2)

Episode Date: January 13, 2022

The team journeys towards the Briarwood and meet a valiant knight on the way! We're sponsored by D&D Beyond! The ultimate Dungeons and Dragons toolset. Clean up your dungeon delving life and speed up your games here: https://bit.ly/HRDNDBeyond2022 Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes and Studio updates on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Grab some High Rollers merch: https://freshmerch.fm/collections/high-rollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Or bring your classes with you for outdoor runs, walks, and hikes led by expert instructors on the Peloton app. Call yourself a runner. Peloton All Access membership separate. Learn more at onepeloton.ca slash running. you guys with the spirits now fully destroyed and Zarkira Simulacrum vanished you stand on the precipice of the

great temple to Hesper that has been conjured here in Lunaria, in the Feywild, in this old wood. And there is a gentle peace, a peace and quiet that spreads over these woods. Is anyone else really concerned? I mean, I feel like we won. She was laughing a lot, you know?

Is there some other plan? Is everyone here? Is everyone accounted for? Who's here? Who's not here? One, two, three, four, five. I think we're all here. I think...

Rose Meadow? Hello? Yeah, I'm fine. Rose Meadow's here. Okay. Okay, so... great. I mean, Nova, I saw you pick up the sword and... I mean, throw it to the ground. Tiangong! Tiangong was screaming!

Are you okay? What happened? What happened? My apologies. My apologies, Nova Vita. The presence of the undead Eterna was very unwelcoming, unpleasant. I cannot quite begin to describe the sensation, but if I could feel pain, I could only imagine it would be something similar. So deathly cold. So it was such an antithesis to all that Eterna are. So what can we do? Are they still sentient? Are they still functioning?

I could sense no such presence within them. In the same way that if you were to encounter a wraith or undead creature, a ghoul, a zombie, it is of a similar nature. It is a shell of what it once was. So what you're saying is I should never pick it up? Ever? Ever, ever? I would be afraid that you, because of our symbiotic bond, it would be difficult for me to overcome this sensation. It is possible that one of your companions could perhaps wield these weapons, but

I would fear that these things have, for lack of a better word, they have been made dangerous. These things are not eternal anymore. They are close to a being of Hadar's make than they are what they once were. All life, all energy taken from them to the point that they now can consume the energy of others. They can divide space and time itself to sever the connections of the living. Well, we should definitely not leave them here. I don't know where these things would be safe, regardless

of if we use them. Probably. I concur with Aayla's justification. It would be dangerous to leave these in the hat where any enemy could acquire them and i i don't know if anyone well i i don't know if any of you would be happy to to use them as tiangong said these are dangerous this is well you all felt what the weapons did to you. I think we should return maybe to Lady Dawnweaver. Zarkira

to have this, ever. So let's just take them away. It is likely that a being as powerful as Dawnweaver is, she may be able to destroy them, permanently. Where we lack such capabilities, it's likely that a

being that is capable of such powerful magics would be able to destroy them I'd concur with that let's take them back there and also inform all the centaurs of the good news we've vanquished the very thing that's chasing them and keeping them contained this whole time

yes we should let them know that they're free good news we should let them know that they're free. Good news. We should focus on the positives. Yeah. You're safe now too, Rosemeadow. I mean, these things were... I was safe anyway. You were all here to protect me and everything,

so I was safe anyway, but I'm glad that all those other centaurs are safe now. Great. Can we check out the, I guess, melting snow pile of Zarkira Simulacrum as well? The ice is pretty much all full faded, but there is a silvery metallic bracer with a purple amethyst embedded into it. I'm still wary of picking up anything.

I'm literally wearing something. I'm wearing something a simulacrum had. It's on my head. I know. That laugh got into my head, Nova. It's really messing me up. Don't worry about it, Quill. It's a simulacrum it's not really zarkira they they wouldn't they were just doing it to scare us they don't feel pain or i am assuming

but they're just a spell all right okay uh i'll pick up this bracelet thing and i uh at earliest convenience we'll try and identify it. Ritual cast identity? Yeah, you take 10 minutes and ritual cast it. I mean, you've got the temple, you can just go inside the temple and know that you're perfectly safe. Or mostly safe inside there. Yeah, it is called an Amethyst Lodestone. You should be able to find it on D&D Beyond.

Okay, Amethyst Lodestone. You should be able to find it on D&D Beyond. Okay. Amethyst. Amethyst. Lodestone. Do you want to try and identify the eternal weapons? What are you guys doing about them? Are people picking them up? Are you putting them in storage chests? Who's carrying them? Nova is not touching them.

That scream went through Nova's soul. She is not touching them. i can put them in there uh sorry have a sec yeah uh maybe i mean i mean you can when you you touch these weapons and they do look odd they're they're kind of like it's almost like they're made uh from like crystalline substance they look quite alien um I mean, just picking up the sword, you can feel how powerful this weapon is. Like this is, it kind of hums with power. It feels, you know, beautifully balanced. Well, you know, this is an incredible weapon.

And then when you pick up the longbow, you get the same sense. You need to, if anybody wanted to use their power, you do need to attune to them, which takes an hour. So the lodestone bracer as well, the amethyst lodestone. Yeah.

I really wanted to try the vorpal sword, but Tian Gong will be right for you. Unfortunately, Tian Gong's symbiotic relationship, this is like, it's like, hey, I'm just going to wield this incredibly corrupt dead version of one of your people. Is that cool?

No. That's not cool. Oh, sorry. Is it alright if you watch my friends use it? Yeah, yeah. Is that cool? I mean, you've not asked how he personally feel, how they feel about it, but it wouldn't cause

them pain. Yeah. What if we just melt down your old dead friends and put it into the hammer or something? Put that magical energy somewhere else. No. Okay. I mean, we are far from home.

Well, I say home. Far from the centaurs. We can start traveling. I think the forest will be safe now. I assume so. I think so. It's still the Fae. Well, while you guys are having this conversation, you do see, sort of when you look out the windows,

you see walks on morning dew escorting Thalia, Kairi, and Big Cat, as was agreed between Nova and Dawnweaver, that they've brought them to you. Walks on Morning Dew, this giant sort of phase spider just seems to appear out of nowhere, along with the three of them. Thalia is sort of kind of her arm, the cursed arm is like hanging quite loose at her side um and she's she's sort of walking around with a bit of a grimace um and kairi's kind of helping

her as they go but yeah uh the giant spider sort of appears uh you see the spider looks up at the temple uh oh yeah that was the temple i was talking about. Turns out we had enough time, the plan worked, and the riders are gone. We think permanently this time, we have their weapons here too. I think we're safe, I think we won? I can't tell if you're smiling or not, I'll be honest. It tilts its head. What has happened to the forest beneath this temple? Where have the trees gone? Where are the bushes and the shrubs?

They will grow back. You see it's kind of little mandibles droop a little bit. We needed a space to put this thing. It served us well. It was,

I'd argue, the very reason these spirits are dead. So, a couple of trees, headhunting, heart-seeking spirits. Now, I don't want to say that's a good trade-off. I know you love the forest very much, but

a good trade-off. I know you love the forest very much, but... I had a good trade-off. I could regrow some of the plants, if you'd like. And I'll just cast Plant Growth, just like around the temple. Wait until the temple is gone. The temple, like, yeah, you watch this Plant Growth, like, the trees and the bushes, like, crawl up and, like, quickly, quickly like overgrow the temple like vines begin sort of drooping down over the beautiful windows like it quickly becomes like an

overgrown ruin from this spells that quickly kind of indulge it oh are we both happy the spider just kind of flicks his head mistressornweaver wishes you good luck in your travels. Now that the spirits have been destroyed, the centaurs will be free to roam Lunaria once more, once they have gathered their things. Oh, we were hoping to come visit and deliver the good news. Oh, you are many miles miles you are nearly a day's travel from the sanctum that's true and i'm looking at thalia now hmm you're right um we

have something for um lady dawn weaver can you take them back to her she'll she'll know what to do with them i hope i presume i can carry objects yes um we have these two weapons they were the weapons of the um the the black stallion riders they are incredibly dangerous and evil are you safe to take them back to her i cannot wield wield a sword. It's like giant spider fucking legs. I can web them to my body. Yes. Place them against my abdomen, and it kind of like tucks its little body in, so you can like place them.

Well, someone else is going to have to do it. I can't touch them. Taylor's got them. I was going to put them in my bag so yeah yeah sure whatever so you just go up and you kind of scream at me so you place the weapons against like the spider's abdomen and then it starts like pulling its own web and sort of making like a makeshift like sort of like hatch across it where it's stuck the things to you kind of get like loads of webs over your hands as you have to hold it there

for a brief moment um and then eventually yeah just kind of like tucks its body back and it's just got these weapons like stuck underneath it i can carry them i mean yeah i mean i thought i thought we were getting did you want one sorry

i i can i don't really mind. I kind of have a hammer that I prefer to be using. That's what I thought. Great, well, anyway... If you take these weapons back to Dawnweaver, I'm sure she'll find some use for them, hopefully examine them, find out whatever she can from these, or just lock them away forever and ever and ever in some alternate- The alternative is that we could take them

to Horizon, make use somehow. You do not wish to get rid of these? This sword and stick? I think considering the dangerous element of them and the potential looming threat of invasion maybe it's safer in a isolated area with someone that understands that there are multiple universes out there yeah that'd be fun away in uh eros too is there is there a stegnoros? I can't remember. No, probably not. Although if there is, maybe there's a quill too. Huh? Anyway, uh, we should probably be making our way,

because of, you know, time. Time, everyone, time. So... Yes. Time. Very well. The spider just turns and it begins to... Thank you for your... Yes, time Very well The spider just turns Thank you for your hospitality and send our wishes to the centaurs

Thank you Yep The spider just turns Oh good Scuttles off into the woods Rosemeader kind of like waves, and you see her watching it go. And she's like, I think I'm going to come back.

I'm going to come back one day and meet all the centaurs, but right now I just want to help. I think it's best if I help all of you. I think I should help you do what needs to be done for Thalia. That's why you came here. We're going to do that. Thank you so much for saving them. I feel so conflicted because I don't really know them, but yet you did all this for them. But I'm still glad because now I know where I'm from and I know that my mother was a unicorn or something. That's really exciting, but I still

don't really know what's going on. She just looks a bit confused. Well, look, with this book, the Wayfinder's Guide, we can always come back here whenever we need to. Okay. We're back to Oroes, wherever you want to go, and I can take you wherever you need to be. Oroes, we're home! I feel like it would be strange to just not go back and stay here.

That would be odd. But a fleeting visit to see the centaurs and see them thrive yeah no that sounds nice it's a holiday little holiday little vacation when this all blows over the whole thing and the looming curse yes it's what don't worry about that anyway well how are we getting to um well i think i can make i think i can make a way for us to get back to do you know where we first arrived with those big trees and then we saw the the centaur the nice the nice central camp next to the lake i think i can get it i think I can get us back there. Because I can open up a door in a tree

that goes to another tree near there. Wow. What's wrong with these trees? Why not just use the trees all around us? I can make one tree here go to a tree there. Right, and where we need to go is actually all the way back there? I don't know where else to go. It was the closest point.

We deviated. Yeah, we detoured to come here. Yes. Sorry. What? I'm Thalia. Thalia. I'm going to go talk to Thalia. Hey. Yeah, she's just like, is everything all right?

Yeah, I definitely didn't almost die. How are you? Are you okay? She shakes her head. Do you need anything? You don't, just don't say stuff like that. I figure that when you go to fight something, you're probably going to die. You don't need to say, I nearly actually died. Yeah, just don't tell me that. No, I didn't say that. I said I definitely didn't.

I said I definitely didn't. Don't say stuff like that. Just, if I see you, I know you're alive. Don't give me things to worry about. I'm okay. I worry about you. Pain, my arm's dead. I can't even move it anymore.

Do you want me to... I can pin it up, so it's... I don't think it's gonna help, honestly. I don't think it's gonna help. I think that it's not like it's broken or anything like that. It's just... I can't use it. It's this curse. And you can see that the briar thorn is like basically engulfed the entire arm now. Dawn Weaver said that we don't have a lot of time. A couple of days at best. We're on our way now.

Rosemeadow can get us there really quickly. So we're on our way. We can do this. If she can take us back to where we first arrived near that camp, I think maybe we can find our way from there. Yeah. Rosemeadow is going to do that. Exactly that. That we can find our way from there. Yeah. Rose Meadow is going to do that. Exactly that. That's what we're going to do. Chin up. Yeah, we're definitely...

I know that this was probably dangerous, but I fear that the worst is to come. Mesmero is going to be a challenge. I still don't really know if there's a way to fix this. I don't think she's going to... She's never going to forgive me. She's not going to accept that I'm not the same person I was. I know what it's like to be blinded by hate and rage and bitterness. If you want to try

and talk to me where you can. Sure. But we'll figure. Sure. We don't know how to do a lot of things. And we've got this far. So that's really all we can do right now is just put one foot forward in front of the other. And figure it out when we get to the... Yeah. I don't know what to do. I don't like seeing you in pain. It's fine. Honestly, it's fine. I don't like seeing you in pain. It's fine.

Honestly, it's fine. Just, I'm glad that we're back together. I'm glad that now that you've done this business, we don't need to separate for a while now. So, if we can, I just want to spend as much time with you as I can. I was going to get you armor. I don't think it's going to matter. I forgot to get you armor.

It's fine. Nerd. It's fine. I, it's fine. I don't think it's going to make a big difference. Okay. Well, come on. Let's go see the others. Using her good hand, she'll reach out and take yours.

Sort of like grips, like interlaces the fingers and then grips your hand quite tight. And just kind of very quietly stays close. Nova's like, if anyone was looking nova is blinking back tears like she is trying so hard to just not cry at this like seeing thalia like this like yeah so i think yeah for anyone else especially quill i think with um having a good high passive insight, you definitely get the sense that Thalia is quite calm and collected, but is very resigned.

Like, there's very much a kind of like, this is going to happen. Like, she doesn't think that this can be stopped now. Great. I mean, okay. So, run, so, run me by this. We walk into the tree? Or the tree grabs us? Or...

I don't know, because I've never done this before. And I think in my head, at least, where I keep, there's like, I just have a sense of this now. Like when I did the healing thing, and when I cast when I cast the spell, it's just kind of there. But in my head, like a little doorway, like a little cute door is going to appear and then it's going to open. And then that goes to another door and another tree. And then, yeah. And then we're there.

Yeah, but the door doesn't last very long. We have to be very quick. We can't d last very long. We have to be very quick. We can't dilly-dally. We have to just straight through. Okay. Let's form an orderly queue. Is this only in places that you know about, or could we just find a tree? No, it has to be somewhere I've been or I know, I think. I have to be able to visualize it.

Right. Okay, great great in that case i mean i remember there being a pretty nice tree somewhere next to that camp yeah i'm seeing it yeah yeah that was a good tree huh remember that tree yeah great tree great tree so good so cute so pretty oh yeah and uh let's go through that tree If there's no other objections Rosemeadow will move over to a tree And she will use her once per day casting Of travel via Plants

And as she imagined it You watch as kind of lines Appear on the huge Thick ancient trunk And it forms a really cute little door With a little heart shaped window with a little heart-shaped window and a little sort of like handle made out of wood uh and she pulls it open and you see on the other side yeah the kind of golden uh rolling golden hills um and the kind of purple grass and the uh

the the no purple trees and i think it was blue grass or purple grass and blue trees, of where you first appeared, that sort of first area where you appeared. You can see the lake and the sloping down towards the now packed up, no longer there, centaur camp. But you can see that there are sites of where there were once centaurs. Okay.

And yeah, you've got six seconds. So Rosemary's like go go go this country might be pushing over and farlier through like go first you go first it's my you will get through uh and yeah uh you travel via plants to where you basically first arrived in the Feywild. Amazing. I imagine there's a change of humidity coming out of like a dense forest into like a mountain. But it's also magical, so I don't know if there's too much of a change because

it's very much like, yeah, it's the Feywild, right? So it's not like these are natural environments. These are all very magical. But yeah. Okay. I mean, those centaurs have gone now so we can't really ask directions here but where now where are we pointing and running and flying and whatever else we need to do to get to where we need to be so remember where we saw that the sky was getting dark um the the um. Centaur guy who I've completely forgotten the name of right now. I've got a lot of things in my mind right now.

But he said that the sky was getting darker where Heart Spire was. And we passed a point. I remember a while back where Dark Sky. Yeah, you can even see it. Dark Sky. Nice Sky. You just look up and you can see in the, in the distance, heading off to the... Probably be... I think it was west, because I think you guys went east.

It's more off to the west. You can see the sky does get more sort of grey and black. And Thalia kind of looking around is like, I think when we draw closer, I might be able to help guide us a bit, but this area isn't particularly familiar. But I think once we can get to a point where I'm hoping that maybe my old

senses will kick in, maybe I'll be able to know where we are, but it's deep. The problem is that, I mean, we should be able to see it when we're close by. The tower is extremely tall. It should stick up even amongst these high trees, but

I don't know what miss mayor has done she may have changed things is there a dark sky there are my new chance that i can still see the sky from where we just teleported from um no the door is like six seconds i don't think you would be able to glance but you can remember I mean, can I see it in the distance? Oh, I mean you can see yeah if you look to the east which is the direction you went for the the swamp and things Like that the sky, you know, it changes color. It gets to become more sort of like can you see my cool lightning storm cloud?

Like small thing. No, you wouldn't be able to see that that was like 60 feet and you wouldn't be able to see that that was like 60 feet and no you wouldn't be able to see that because you guys traveled like days as well like you traveled for days just gonna use that as like an orienteering like that's where we came from all right yeah i mean you vaguely know that anyway because you can see the central camp and the lake you know which direction you vaguely went so yeah all right yeah well let's head towards the darkness you just start trekking on a the thing is is that the fey wild is this kind of beautiful natural landscape covered in wilderness um but you can use yeah following the sky kind of going in the direction where it appears to be growing darker and darker and then eventually maybe after maybe after several hours, we're probably talking about another six, seven hours

of hiking and traveling, you move through great rolling fields of golden wheat. You pass by old, worn, dirt roads, but you don't really see many other people. You can see off in the very, very far distances what appear to be glittering jewels on the horizon. And Thalia will say, that's not Harkspy, that's another one of the cities. That's one of the Eladrin Lord cities.

But seeing those kind of cities, she does start to get a better mental picture. She's like, yes, I'm remembering now. There were cities, mother and father spoke of cities this way and this way. I think that could be that. And she begins to kind of be able to orientate herself a little better. After about six or seven hours, you come to a valley

and you begin making your way down into this valley. And the valley itself, you know, this big, deep carved valley, you know, shaped out of the mountains kind of thing is completely full with tall flowers that probably would come up to you like on sort of Lucius. They come up to sort of near your chest high, like, you know, stomach height level.

Like these are, you know, super tall sunflower or like kind of like white sunflowers with sort of blue interiors kind of thing and just covers this valley. Like this valley is just completely full of them. And seeing this, Thalia's like, I remember this. And she points and you can just see on the horizon past this valley, the tip of a briar wall.

You can see like this line of dark black green and just sticking out the top of it. You can see what appears to be almost like a disney castle like sleeping beauties castle tip of a tower just sticking out from the top of this thin green wall and she points and she's like there that's it um and it's still probably a good few hours it's probably sort of like three hours travel to reach it but uh uh eventually she just points to it and she's like that's it once we get through this valley and with that and she's you can see thalia's like struggling now like uh her wound is definitely not that the curse is like spread up and she's like nursing her shoulder and she winces and sort of coughs now and then and things like that um is there a way we can get

there faster say some of us flying big, could you take Thalia and run? I mean, we can certainly try, but for such a long period of time, it's still going to exhaust quite a few of us, and I can't imagine that sentry is going to be too light to carry for any of our flying companions and that sort of thing, but we can certainly try, yes. Well, it's up to you. and that sort of thing, but we can certainly try, yes. It's up to you.

I feel like I don't want to... The fear is that using things like your magic, I worry that once we enter Heart Spire, I'm not sure if we're going to get a chance to really rest. If you want to do that, I would suggest we do that in this valley now while we're somewhat safe and secluded. Once we get to Heart Spire, I can't imagine that we're going to have a peaceful time. That's what I was going to say.

Magic be tapped. Not for me, but for you guys. I'm honestly not terrible, like, time-wise, and in terms of getting there quicker, I could carry on. Yeah, just more that if you wanted to use spell slots to cast fly on people and stuff like that.

If you've got hit points to do that. I could cast Arcane Gate, get us 500 feet, and then if we take an 8-hour rest, I can... Just for travelling purposes, Kim, 500 feet is nothing. It really doesn't help.

Arcane Gate's good for combat situations, but for travel, it really doesn't help. Yeah, I can't cast Fly, but... If someone else can, great. I can. I am expended quite a lot. I think a rest is probably the better idea. What if I cast teleport?

Okay, this is Kim asking Mark. If I cast teleport while we're looking at the briar, presumably I couldn't get us into Hartspire, but maybe to the briar wall, would that work? Obviously, there's all the kind of like you know familiarity destination you choose must be known to you it must be on the same plane of existence uh your familiarity with the destination determines whether you arrive there successfully uh so permanent circle no associated object no very familiar seen casually viewed once i would say it counts as viewed once um okay like you can see it

but you don't know like you can just see the top of the wall you have no idea what's like below it you don't know the terrain the topography just teleport into a tree i mean yeah yes that is possible so um seen so viewed once is basically close to a 50-50 chance of you arriving exactly where you want, and then it gets significantly worse. The odds of being off target or whatever. I don't think I can risk that. In fact, actually, viewed once, it's a 25% chance of being direct on target,

and then it's 25% chance of worsening, basically. Yeah, no, the odds are too slim I think to mess around with it really yeah yeah that's all I got that's all I got teleport wise

I mean yeah we can long rest if needed and then use things like fly expeditious retreat and stuff like that to move faster. Yeah. Do you want to rest before you go down into this valley of flowers? Do you want to travel for a bit further and then rest? Do you want to...

Because you could rest just before you get to the wall. You could basically go down into this valley, get to the edge of the valley, then rest, and then you'll basically be arriving at the wall within an hour. Or you could rest now and then try and fly over this valley way, if there's anything. You could expend the remainder of what we have now. Yeah, and I'd say it's probably getting to late night,

spending six, eight hours traveling. It is not nighttime, but it's definitely getting darker. It's probably the sun is down and the stars are starting to come out and things like that. Yeah, sure. I can cast it at fourth level so I can do one other person.

Every other spell slot above that is gone. Ah. Okay, you're in a much worse position than I am in that case. Lucius burned a lot. Lucius was doing tons of damage. That's what Lucius did, like, so much damage for the Rhinos and Sargeras. I think it was Lucius and Sensory, basically,

which is why they're both mostly tapped out, because I think it was those two really sort of kicking ass. My level 2 Frees and 4s are all gone. I mean, Aayla can already move stupid fast anyway, just as a base level. Yeah, I mean, like, Kairi and Quill can also fly. Like, Kairi probably would say something like,

I can help scout if that helps. Like, she's happy to fly ahead and Aayla can move faster so she can sort of move ahead. She's also, Aayla's used to traversing through wilderness as well, which makes her a bit more adept at it. If you want to send, like send a Scouting party ahead or... Yeah, and Big Cat could take Valya. So the Fly spell on yourself and one other slower person

would get us through it pretty quickly, I suppose. Century Nova, yeah. Well, Nova's quite light, so if you cast it on Century, Century can probably carry Nova um whereas nova can't carry something yeah i could i could probably carry someone like as well yeah well yeah right so who's flying and who's going through the valley if that's what the plan is you tell me i will cast fly on myself at century okay I will cast Fly on myself.

It's entry. Okay. Let's see if I can... Fly as well. Slower than the Fly spell. The four of you flying over the valley whilst Ayla, Big Cat, Thalia, and Nova go through the Valley of Flowers. Can someone carry Thalia?

Yeah, Thalia will ride on Big Cat or like... I mean, Thalia can still walk, but she's probably going to get... You can see that she's kind of wincing with rain. Yeah, she can kind of climb on Big Cat if she's starting to feel like she can't keep up, basically. Rosemallow has got crazy movement. Rosemallow's happy to carry Thalia as well.

Good point. I forgot about that. Do you want me to carry you, Nova, or do you want Nova to go with Thalia? I think Nova would want to go with Thalia. If you've gone Rosemeadow, you could be side by side with Big Cat and Thalia, roaming through those beautiful flowers. I'm happy to carry you.

Well, yeah, if you're okay with that rosemary i'll do that yeah okay sure all right so those of you who are flying you guys kind of fly over the flowers um kind of a little bit ahead of everybody else whilst the team on the ground is basically gonna you're gonna spend like a couple of hours basically jogging like to your destination to try and get there a bit faster you're gonna travel at a fast movement speed um the team on the ground we'll call you ground team um as you're going to travel at a fast movement speed um the team on the ground we'll call you ground team um as you're kind of like running ground force as you're running through this like you know whole field of flowers which is you know coming up to sort of like you know stomach chest height on a lot of characters and things like that um as you're kind of running through you

occasionally just have to stop and catch your breath or like take a moment um during one of these moments uh you see mood like you see something like rustling like some of the trees uh and the the sorry not the trees the flowers like rustle to the side like something's moving amongst them um and you see this kind of like rose meadow is like oh look at that And she points and there's like, and the flowers. And big cat starts, starts like growling and like his haunches go up and he's like looking around. Hello? Who's that? Okay.

You call out. Are you here? Yes! I shall see thee! Oh my God. Yes! okay you call out you hear and you like Rosemary like no not Rosemary who's standing like I guess I guess Nova is like, are you like stood or are you riding on Rosemeadow, right? So Ayla, you feel like it doesn't, I'm not going to have any, like maybe it would do one point of damage, but you feel like something just like bit your like leg, like something like a thorn or something like got your leg. And then you see like a flash of movement as the flowers kind of around.

But there is something like underneath these flowers and you, it's so thick. You can't see the ground. Like these flowers are like so thick and overgrown around you. You can't see the ground, but like something literally just kind of like, yeah, poked your leg and then is like vanished somewhere.

Okay. I don't know what you are but i shall defeat thee i very much like that and like stabs your toe yeah that's not gonna do it i'm afraid foes allies of those false knights you shall not defeat me yeah can I can I see if I can grab it yeah yeah 100% you can I'm not even gonna make you roll for it

you wait for like that stabbing motion again and then like quick as a flash you just reach down and grab something and you grab a plant you feel like the stem of a plant and then the plant starts fighting back like you you feel it like struggling and like pressuring and like something's having your hand um with my 25 strength does it even move i'm not even gonna roll i'm not even gonna roll

it's no way this guy possibly break through. I need to get his stats up actually. I'll hold it up. And I'll just say, look, we're new here. We don't know you. We're not villains. We're just walking through this bin. So when you pull something up,

God, I've got to try and find him now. What chapter is he in? He's looking for Hadar. There he is. That's what I'm looking for. 100%. Oh, there we go. He Wizard of Oz does. Oh, God.

What you pull up in your hand, Ayla, is probably a little bit smaller than a halfling, you know, maybe like two foot tall. So hidden beneath these like thick growing flowers is a dandelion. But this dandelion, its leaves are like little hands and it has leaves for like little legs and it's holding a tiny little rapier and it has this big bright yellow head it

doesn't have a face but it looks up at you as if it does True knights of Lunaria, nice out to feed thee! Okay, okay, are you going to listen? I will not listen to your lies. Just like those false knights who cast me out of Hartspire, I shall not be deceived again. Return my beloved to me! You've been cast out of Hartspire.

We're actually going there just now. Do you want to come with? The little flower sort of looks around, and it now sees, for time it sees like rose meadow who is this you know central unicorn figure um it sees uh it sees thali who's like an elven figure um my good lady good lady have these villains taken you captive? And obviously Rosemary looks like... Rosemary is just like, ah, so cute. And she's like, no, these are my friends.

Hello, little flower. And the little flower is kind of like looking around. It looks very... You can't read its facial expression. You have no idea. It's a flower. Are you not... Are you not from... are you not those disguised

knights i thought oh no i have made a gravest i have made a grievous error super grievous please please warrior i beseech your aid i must return to Hotspire so that I can teach those villains a lesson. Join me in battle. I'm in a very generous mood, which is never the case. So I'm going to give you to this centaur. And then whatever happens next is up

to her. And I'll just give it to Rosemallow. Rosemallow is like holding our hands and it's just like, you're just so adorable. Look at you, like a little dandelion. And yeah, this little fellow introduces himself as Amador. And yeah, he begins telling Rosemeadow his story.

He basically reveals that he used to live, he was a swashbuckler, an adventurer in Hartspyre, and he lived there with his beloved, who he calls Polonella, and he says that his beloved, Polonella, and he says that... No! No! I quit! Yeah, no.

And he basically, yeah... I quit! Yeah, no. At last, we were cast out. My beloved was taken from me. She is held as a prisoner. And when I tried to fight the villains, they laughed and mocked Armador. And they took me to the briar wall and they tossed me over the side,

knowing that I am too short to see above these accursed giant flowers. And now I cannot Now I'm lost. I cannot find my way back to try and make my way to get my revenge. But I must rescue my beloved. Lucius, Sentry, Kairi, we should probably slow down. I think they've slowed down back there. I might have heard Rose Meadow squeak as well.

Let's go back and find out what's going on sure You are not from this place are you not one of the star Emperor's minions This is why I was so confused by you and the warrior you are both you are you are both clearly warriors of the star Emperor you're not Stop you going to stop you right now. Stop you right now. He's a prick. We're not with him. Right?

Let's just get that straight. Have you turned traitor and betrayed your Star Emperor? No, no, no. We were never with him. Born non on his-his-side. He killed my entire planet. He's not in my good books. Never has been.

I see. I see. Ah, strange. This does much to confuse my leafy limbs. I am estranged by your appearance and your nature. But if you are no allies of the Star Emperor, then you are friends to Armador. Thalia.

Don't look at me. Thalia, I think I hit my head. No, no, you didn't. The plant is talking. Yes, it is. That is welcome to Lunaria, sweetheart. That is a citizen of Heartspre, I can assure you. Why is it threat...

It's threat... We... I'm... I'm... I'm spraying... Ow. This is... What? I do not threaten,

blue woman. I promise you death if you cross me. No! I can't deal with this, I can't deal with this. I can't deal with this. Meanwhile, Quill and the others, the flyers, you arrive and see Rosemeadow holding a hand. What's going on down there?

Are you guys okay? There is a dandelion with a little sword stood on Rosemeadow's hands. And he's got like, he's got like one leaf like on his ship and he's like holding the sword. He looks like a little like swashbuckling dandelion, basically. And he seems to be speaking with the group. I will need someone to draw this thing immediately.

We are attacked from the sky. Birds. Bones. No. Well, is that what I think it is? Is that a plant with a sword? It's a plant with a sword, Sent is? Is that a plant with a sword? It's a plant with a sword, Sentry. It's a plant with a sword.

Oh, my. I see Asuka. Oh, my goodness. Come and face me on the ground, cowards. Okay. Hi. Hey. Levis is bleeding. It points its sword at you, Quill. Hi! Ha ha ha ha! Whew! Hey, um... Levison's blade points its sword at you, Quill.

Hmm... How many of them are you? In this field here. Because there's a lot of us, and one of you. There's only one, there's only one! There's just one. You are courageous, aren't you?

Yes. Wait. I'm a little courageous. Stand back, everyone. Lay down your arms. An enlightened lord. My lord. Have you come to aid, Hatspire?

I fucking haven't. Gracious. Most noble and elegant lord. Clearly you are a member of the royal courts. You have been sent here to aid, I see. Of course, yes. And I know of your plight. And I'm eyeing up like Nova and Thalia.

And we are here to assist. Good. I must warn you, my lord. Within Hartsbyre, there is darkness afoot. The knights, they are not of the right mind. They have become cruel and malicious.

I fear that they are not true knights. Not like you. Indeed. Indeed, I had not quite passed my test of metal. Unfortunately, I am no true knight, but I have the heart of one. And what ails you personally, noble knight? Begads, my noble lord, they have taken my beloved from me. Nay, say it is not true. It is true.

My sweet Polanella, my beloved, my honeyed queen. Oh, my heart longs for her. A sweet, a gentle kiss. Lucia starts weeping. And he comes close and holds a leaf hand. My lord. Leaf it with us. No!

I could not bear to leaf it with you, my lord. Allow this little seed to come with you and we will plant the seeds of vengeance. Very well. You may join our band and together we will return your beloved. I shall protect you with my life, my lord. I know you will. He does like a little salute with his rapier.

I try to replicate. He's like a little, you know, like the four musketeers. Like it's literally like all of his mannerisms and the way that he stands is like the four musketeers, like D'Artagnan and stuff like that. Do you require a mount or a steed? Indeed, I would, yes My beloved would once aid me in battle By serving as such

But now I am lost within these trees I cannot see above these flowers But I can lead the way to the briar wall And if you have any questions of Hotspire, my lord I will reveal to you Do these strange warrior women travel with you? Absolutely A fine band

of mercenaries. Yes, I'm the strange one here. Gotcha. You travel with my lord, but I trust thine judgment. Indeed, yes. Quite the mix. However, very potent. We'll push through

the briar thorn and we will destroy anything in the way of you and your beloved. Right. With that said, I need to go fly. So I'll leave you in these people's capable hands. Pick the speed of your choice. I absolutely... I don't want to. Very well.

Take it, take it, take it. I don't want to. If you're like, yes, and you off-ramp, it'll climb up onto your shoulder, and it'll hold onto your collar. Grip firm. We take to the skies. Woosh! Yeah?

Sentry? Well, yes? For lack of a better... I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Woosh! Yep. Sentry? Quill.

Yes? For lack of a better question really, what the fuck? I mean... Quill, the mightiest warriors come in all shapes and sizes. Right. And that was one of them? I believe so, yes.

Yes. From what I have just witnessed, he seems very keen. He'll lead us through the briar-thorn and... Yeah, and we shall follow. And we shall follow. Everyone good with that? Good! Yeah, surely, yeah. Good! He's with his lord now, so you know I'm fine. He's gone from my sight for at least a few hours. Yep. And if you press on, which I'm assuming you will do, you press on through the Valley of Flowers. No further sort of indications. Those of you who were flying, though, Quill especially,

you do notice that occasionally you see figures, and Quill gets a clearer description of them. The rest of you just see sort of figures who occasionally fly up behind the Briar Wall and seem to almost be patrolling the air above the city, above the Heart Spire, and then they dip back down. Quill, you see them in a bit more detail and clarity. They appear elven, sort of elven figures in sort of humanoid shape, pointed ears, but they wear insectoid-like armor.

So their armor is almost made like a carapace, and they have these insectoid wings. And they carry thin, long spears and swords and things like that, and then they dip back down. So bug-like elves. Kind of, yeah. But eventually you reach the end of the valley, and yeah, the briar wall is maybe a mile less than that away from you now,

and it's 100 feet tall. This briar wall is very, very tall. It's about 100 feet tall. It looks incredibly thick. Can I see like the floor around the briar wall or is it like thick flowers all the way up to the wall? No, it kind of, yeah, it's kind of the valley, the flowers of the valley die off

and you guys are now more in just normal woodland. So imagine that again, there's kind of like scattered copses of trees and woodland and shrubs and rocks and things like that. It's not open ground. Like the briar wall is basically up to where there is a wood. But yeah, you can see the remnants of a road, like a couple of main roads that would have once led into what you

suspect is a city behind these thick walls um but the roads have been consumed by the briar wall as well the briar wall completely surrounds it and it's a large it's a fairly large city you can see that heartspire is clearly a large city based on how wide this wall is but you can't see any of the city behind the wall itself okay well knowing there's flying things nearby, I can just message that down to the people on the ground, but also if it's safe to, like, fly lower alongside everyone else as they're riding, then I will suggest to everyone to do that.

Uh, so in case there is anything flying up and seeing us in the distance as well, then we can try and avoid them if possible. Um... And yeah, we'll carry on till we get to the wall itself. seeing us in the distance as well, then we can try and avoid them if possible. And yeah, we'll carry on until we get to the wall itself, I suppose. Well, as you get closer, Armadale will say to Lucius, Be careful, my lord.

We cannot fly beyond the Briar Wall. Your flight will be immediately disabled. My poor sweet Polonella has lost the power of her own flight. She now just lays in bed sad as can be. Please, tell me more of your beloved. Oh,

her yellow and black stripes are most vibrant I've ever seen. Her luscious antenna She's a fucking bee. She's a goddamn bee. Wait, wait, wait. There's a fucking bee wait wait wait there's a prison cell somewhere

there's a bee somewhere in the prison there's a bee in a prison cell now you're getting scared it's a bee that can't fly with tiny manacles on it it's like a little bee yeah it's a big bee does it

look like it doesn't have manacles on each of its legs it's like you know the size of maybe like king george spaniel is like the size of this bee right maybe maybe a blonde lab. You know, if we're going big giant bee. Like a Labrador. Size of a Labrador. Okay. It's called Polinella. Polinella, the bee love of

Armador the dandelion. And that's what they get up to in their spare time. Three's gone. Welcome to the Feywild. Is there art of this, Mark? Any official books? Yeah, just find a piece of a bee and scale it up. Do you remember when-

I'll put it in a- I'll just go and- We lost her mind at the what could it be video for approximately a day. Yeah. I think we're repeating that. Do you know what I've had in my head this whole time? It's just that video of like, oh, a dandelion must be last one in the season.

My deepest apologies. I've misread the book. It's not a giant bee. Polonella is just like a normal bee. No! No! Right, D&D need to sort that out. misread the book it's not a giant bee pollen polonella is just like a normal bee okay right dnd need to sort that out oh my god no i've just found a picture of of this dandelion knight as well dandelion knight as well he's messed up a thistle wow queen bee yeah i think i think just just a bee just a normal bee there there he is amador and polanella amador the dandelion amador the dandelion yep it's the best it's the best thing in this book. This is from Wild Beyond the Witchlight, by the way, and it's the best thing in the book,

so I totally wanted to use it. It's amazing. Riel is gone. This is a little dandelion knight. It's so good. A little dandelion musketeer. Oh, I love it. I love it.

I'm just losing my mind. I love it. Yeah. So just to reign things back in. Reign things back in. Yeah. Amador reminds you that, like, if you try and fly over the wall, you're going to fall into the water.

You're going to fall into the water. You're going to fall into the water. You're going to fall into the water. You're going to fall into the water. You're going to reign things back in. Reign things back in. Amador reminds you that if you try and fly over the wall you will plummet out the sky, basically. You can't fly in Hartsplire. We thank you for that information and we will land promptly. Our intentions

are to rest for we have faced quite a difficult battle. Rest, my lord? We have no need of rest. We are strong and capable. My beloved is... Who knows what is happening? Perhaps they are torturing her. I understand your plight.

However, we also face a dilemma with time. We have not got time on our side, but I urge you. Time is not on our side. More reason not to rest, my lord. We are not as strong as you are, dear noble knight. You are mighty. We're not as mighty as you are, and we require this rest. Otherwise, we will just face our end before you could even see your beloved.

I play with you. I pray for you, my lord. Please, I fall to my fall twice you require rest if you have some weak as me rest and so be it thank you thank you for your generosity we must make camp somewhere we'll meet with the others you fly back down so be it great so what what have you learned Lucius I had a lot of squeaking and we You fly back down. Yeah. So be it. Great. So what have you learned, Lucius?

I heard a lot of squeaking ahead of us. We can't fly near the wall. It will completely take out our flight and potentially all magic. I'm not sure. It might be just a ward of flying. No one can go over the wall. So we must go through it on foot. Thalia, who's kind of, you know, she's sweating. You can see that Thalia's kind of like really sweating.

She kind of coughs a few times. She's just like, I think now's a good time to remind you. Each realm that is ruled over by an archfey, the archfey has the power to impress rules upon their realm. These rules can defy... They aren't just like normal magic. This is not like charming or issuing commands. These rules can be esoteric. They can be driven by certain natures. I have no idea what sort of rules Mesmera has put in place. I don't know how to discover that information, but I'm assuming that this

inability to fly is one of them. Given my history with her and what I have done to her, I can only suspect that this is some sort of either punishment for everyone else or perhaps a way to prevent herself being reminded of what she's lost. But this will be one of the rules. Normally, an archfey can only impose three rules. Three is a very powerful number within the Feywild. An archfey is normally limited to only three rules within their domain. Right, it's up to us to discover the other two.

Use that to our advantage. Okay, I guess let's be careful with how we proceed to the spells we cast just in case they backfire or well I guess anything could happen. Gravity could flip.

Anything. So yeah. We should rest now. Make sure we're at full strength when we do try and break through this briar wall and figure out what rules we're up against. Now we're going to need the strongest of us to stay and keep watch as we rest. And I know of only one that can take on such a noble cause

say no more my lord Anador shall watch over you as you require your sleep you consume for sustenance I am sustained by my love of Polanella this shall keep me through the night

great thanks very noble of you by my love of Polanella. This shall keep me through the night. Great. Thanks. Very noble of you. Gads, a statue woman speaks. Hello. How curious. You are like the guardians of the Tower of Hotspire, made of metal and stone and plants.

I am a guardian. The guardian's here too? Yes, they are protectors of the tower, yes. What are they like? Do they look like me? Are they big? Are they small? No, not strange.

Humanoid form. Bizarre. How odd. No, they are the great lion and the great elk. They have stood as the protectors, the guardians of the Tower of Hotspire for many centuries now. Okay. Where do they patrol? Do they stay by the door? They stand. Yes, they stay by the door? Yes, they stand by the great gates.

Okay, good to know. What direction would that be in? Oh, in the centre, the tower, the great palace and tower is at the very heart of the city. A heart spire, literally. Okay, so we'll have to go through the main door, perhaps. Or maybe sneak our way in. Well, I mean, you are the prime sentry, I mean, of the Guardians of Aros, sure, but maybe that extends to whatever these ones are. I mean, try maybe connect to them

maybe reason with them perhaps but then that could put you all in danger Yes, it could alert them to our presence but maybe it's worth the risk Let's rest on it first I'd like to cast Le for Lehmann's tiny hut

while all this is happening cuz Nova's brain is just breaking at this point so she's just gonna do and just make a nice little hut you come to the Lehman's funny heart you step inside hidden and comfortable. And you guys, I'm assuming, have taken a long rest. I think so, yeah. Amador the dandelion will keep watch for the evening. As will probably Cat and Kyrie, because they both were resting while you guys were fighting the spirits. So they don't need to sleep.

God, I feel safe. I feel so safe. So safe. Can we click the button? guess and i guess that's where we will end today's episode with you finishing the long rest nice i click the button clicking the long rest button oh yeah yeah yeah it's no no threat of uh anything good good good no amador is outside yeah of course exactly nice uh cool yeah and next time oh boy bust through the briar Yeah, of course. I love him. Nice.

Cool. Yeah. And next time, I'm going to bust through the briar with Rose Medital, I'm sure. Don't forget that Amethyst lodestone as well. I don't know if you want to talk with the guys over the week and just sort of say, I've got this magic lamp.

Does anyone want it? It is not bad, actually. I will post what it does. Advantage on strength saves saves six charges to be able to cast flight gravitational thrust and reverse gravity good lord that's not it does need uh attunement though but still it's pretty cool um so yeah whoever wants that that's spicy that is spicy great cool well thank you

for Amador thanks for that thank you it's just like Tom and Trot are just like I didn't know how no I love it Ayla I love it. Ayla likes it.

I love it. So very much like Smeak. Ayla dislike, Katie like. This is the thing about playing Ayla is when the cute stuff happens, I have to not think it's cute. And it's painful. You heard the voice, right? You heard the voice?

Yeah. Okay. Okay. I think I think I lost it very early on when Katie as Ayla just went, I'm in a generous mood today.

And I was just like, I'm out. I can't deal with this. Nice. Well, we will be back next week to continue our crazy adventures until then take care we love you and that's it that's it from us

good goodbye bye Thank you.