High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #139 | Rest and Recuperation (Part 2)

Episode Date: March 3, 2022

The party really need a win and Lucius has a plan to cheer everyone up! 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

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With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. so we come back in uh in the city of horizon uh having taken a couple you know a couple of days rest i guess uh to sort of recover. The repairs to Horizon are underway. And yeah, life is sort of returning to normal, as normal as it can be in this junction of your adventure with great threats on the Horizon and things going on.

But yeah, this is also a moment of downtime. This is the perfect time to do research, to use cool magic eyes, to buy magic items, to investigate things that you want to do research to use cool magic eyes to buy magic items to investigate things that you want to do um that sort of thing yeah so we got spell scroll and wand dust to examine i can use my eye on that uh nova wanted to find out where exactly the titan killer is i can use my eye on that. Um, and... The eye doesn't have to be the solution to everything as well.

You can just be like, we want to research this thing, or we want to try and figure this thing out using our contacts and stuff like that. So don't feel like you have to rely on the eye for everything. I might be able to use the Wayfinder's Guide, because I've regained five charges after that long rest. I could maybe use something like Legend Lore to, I guess, try and discover some route

to the tenth circle of spells, which sounds like it will just draw me to madness. It will just consume me completely. You must make a bargain with Huda. The only way become a star spawn but maybe there is some way that we could

discover some I mean the podcast listeners I just spiked the camera with a really little smile proper like dead stare into the office stare such a gym stare office wait um uh what else is that the uh that yeah? Horizon getting repaired and Lucius and Nova wanting to go on a double date. I think

now's the time for Spell Clash. We lost our moat. We have zero moat. That's true. You don't have your entry you don't have your entry your uh your start to find that dude again yeah i mean with the five stars right re is that what it was then you get to get the yeah to get the the championship glove or whatever yeah but the first time we went there we were nobody this time we can just go down there and be like

we need we need a ticket again do you know who we fucking wait you want to fight us i've got some bad news oh you're ready to die okay in the face of callus's proclamation with the world of eros in war and that threat no clash has been cancelled no i should have killed him this is your fault century it's your fault you killed him permanently cancelled but it is until until the threat of the world is resolved then yeah no spell clash no sky joust you know all of these recreational things are on hold um i know we um had a chat with danica about like just staying on alert with starbane that sort of thing however could we get like a lowdown on our overall like war assets and that sort of thing that we had. Yeah.

While Mark is scrambling. Kingdom management ledger, real quick. Yeah. While Mark is scrambling, I'd just like to point out that the last time we did Spell Clash was 2019. 2019 was the last time we Spell Clashed. 2019. Okay.

It didn't take me as long as you thought, because I've actually got it in a cool document. What's so cool about it? Danica will assemble you in the refurbished and repaired war chamber and will remind you that as things currently stand, Horizon is still a very, you know, the alliance, the Horizon alliance is still very small. It doesn't have the power to sort of, you know, really oppose horizon alliance is still very small it doesn't have the power to sort of you know really oppose any of the larger kingdoms like gisela um or any of the

these other sort of like held territory or vortensar uh you currently have uh you have a communications and resolve defense of 13. You have an 11 for your resources, which is like a sliding scale. Those things basically just mean that those are your set amounts. Your war assets are you have the Guardian Army, which, you know, century restored through the Prime Matrix in the City of Glass, as well as a force of Guardian Scouts. So the Guardian Army is an extremely elite,

well-trained uh well trained stalwart uh defensive unit that is you know not huge uh but is also you know better than most standard infantry like they'll they'll be better than yes christophe we also have the wild elf commandos you do yeah what else you got the horizon city guard of course yeah that's right we've got the guardian scouts as well as the art Yeah, perfect. So you already had this information So why'd you ask me that one to see the situation me? Test you just want to see if we could like nudge some more blocks around and see if we can do something

Yeah, well, don't forget you also have allies you have the druids ofkir, which is on the continent of Voxar. You've got the Dragonborn. The Dragonborn, yeah. The Dragons and the Dragonborn. And we have the Sky City of Gushaven, of course, which we're going to be visiting soon. And then you also wanted to try and aid the Grand Strategist of Zephen, and I believe you actually sent a unit

to try and aid them escaping their country because they were being held. It was like, you know, they were worried about Calus and stuff like that. In terms of like where you currently stand, if this is just a couple of days

after the meeting with Starbane, it's pretty much where it was before you left for the Feywild, right? So you had sent a group to spy on Vort and Saar, like Nova wanted to establish a spy network to kind of gather information on Vort and Saar. That was being done. You had sent troops group to spy on Vortensar, like Nova wanted to establish a spy network to kind of gather information on Vortensar.

That was being done. You had sent troops to go and help. I think you had sent the Guardian Scout specifically to go and help this grand strategist. And then the rest of it, you were basically mainly focused on defense and things like that, just generally sort of keeping things protected.

That hasn't really changed. You will need a much longer period of time which we can kind of do like we can say that like you know you guys spend two or three weeks waiting for uh valor to come up with like the the next titan locations and stuff like that we can rp like going to gustven and doing all of that other stuff. But we can then also be like, right, okay, well, the next month, yeah, these things are going to happen. There are going to be changes to stuff. And I do have a small update if that was the case. But that is going to be after three or four weeks of downtime.

Very well. I think in terms of just a small small detail in terms of the grand strategist i think we did actually rescue him because i've written it i've got it written down as a success okay yeah yeah but i think that the way that that works is like you guys rolled for it it was a success but he won't arrive and become an ally until the next phase basically okay i've got it written down here that acid is here yeah that's what you do i've got that i've got it written down here that Tassadoc's here yeah I've got that I've got that too I've got it written down here on my hand

Tom suck these nuts so you don't need to write it down in your hand you've got the video oh my god right when are we going to Gustaven Oh my god. Right. When are we going to Gustaven?

Do you want to go now? Sorry, I was just distracted there. A lot of white noise in my head. Um, what? Do you want to take the teleportation circle? Oh, are you coming? I was going to go to my... I'm taking you.

Oh, okay. Wait, hold on. I didn't say these plans outside of my head. Did I? Or did I? Did I? Did Tiangong say this? Maybe it was Tiangong.

I think, yeah. I don't know where I begin and Tiangong ends anymore. Is that worrying? I don't know if that's worrying. It's probably not worrying. It's probably fine, right? Yeah. Is this all meant to be out loud or is this meant to be in your brain? Because it's all out loud at the moment, Nova. I'd say that's pretty normal.

It's fine. Yeah? Yes. Uh, okay. Right. What are we doing? It's fine. Yeah? Yes. Okay. Right. What are we doing? I'm going to take you to Gustaven to see your family. I'm going to see my family.

We'll check in with the prince. Make sure everything's okay there with the war and all that. Quill and Sentry can come along as well. And then we'll all have a meal with Thalia. Oh, Thalia's coming too? Okay. If you want. Uh, yeah, sure. I'll have to ask her.

You two can go on a date and we can sit on the table with you. What? Sorry, what? I'll pay. Huh? It's the creepiest fucking thing. Why are you there? It's so creepy. Because I want to be there.

Okay. Good for morale and all that. You know, we're going through a lot at the moment. I think we should all have a nice meal together in Gusthaven. I'll take you to the best spots. Friends together. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. Sound good? Yeah. I'll go. I'll go. I'll go. I'll go. I'll take you to the best spots. Friends together. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Sound good? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go. I didn't finish that sentence, did I? You didn't need to. I know where you're going. Going to pass her about.

You do want me to leave. I get it. I'm leaving. Oh, that's okay. Yeah, let's go. What go what yeah where's tiangong oh yeah oh yeah i'm gonna i'm gonna go see thalia that's what i'm gonna do thumbs up from luus. Quill, Sentry, we're going to Gustaven. Do you need me to take you?

Is this a book journey? We can use the teleportation circle in Horizon. That works too. Wait, why are we going to Gustaven? I thought it would be a good time. Whilst we wait for Valater. Never want to see her family? Her mother? I want to see my sister

edea she's around and uh we can check in and it's gustaven wonderful food i think this downtime would suit us well after what we've been through it'd be nice yeah yeah i can bring the chest i i guess we're gonna need the money i mean i get the impression that you only know the most expensive places to eat you have to pay well i've got all the money but usually just the i'm confused you go to these places, they provide the food, and then you walk out. No. No. Not ever. Not anyway. That's how it works in Gust Haven. You're probably not

used to our customs, clearly. You have several waiters standing at attendance to either side of you at the table. They provide you the plates and are on hand and on cue, and at the end of it, they bow to you and you walk out. That's the custom.

Where are you having these meals? Are these in your dining room? We often bring the restaurants and the local produce to us. Yes. No, I suppose in this instance, we're going to them. Hmm. Yes. I understand.

Yeah. So making it even easier for them. Why would we pay? That's just how it's... I don't know. I'm young. You're only two. You don't understand.

Maybe Lucius is right. No, it's like going out to see a play or a show, but instead you consume sustenance for entertainment. You know, you gather around... it's like a social occasion, right? I don't think people go to restaurants to eat for fun, do they? Like, to watch other people eat. Do they? Lucius just said he wants to watch me and Thalia eat. Yes, and then you can propose. I know a perfect

place where you can do it. There's a wonderful balcony that overlooks the skyline of Gusthaven. It's beautiful and at dusk you could offer, if you want to do it in the Gusthaven tradition at least, I can sort you out a ring. What's your ring finger size? Lucius you want to do it in the Gusthaven tradition at least, I can sort you out a ring.

What's your ring finger size? Lucia's going to do grabby hands towards Nova's hand. No! Slap! No! It's okay, Lucia. I can tell you afterwards. I can see it from here. You can use the wish ring.

Do not use the eye to guess my ring size. Quill looks at your hands and he begins to measure the diameter around it on the ring finger. We see a little dotted line of Quill's brain. If I compare that to the size of a silver piece, it's like the scene in Sherlock where things come up and all the calculations.

You just hear a pop and Nova goes invisible. Now, come on, Nova. There's usually an exchange before a proposal, right, where you have one family that has to agree and then the other family then also has to agree and then they have... I'm going out! Stomp, stomp, stomp.

Door opens, door shuts. I think she realises how loud she's being. She's very easy to follow. She's going to keep stomping. I think you're being a bit too pushy with that. I was being pushy. Come on now, we haven't got time to waste. Let's go to the teleportation circle.

We don't know where Nova just went. Honestly, this party sometimes, and Lucius swishes his cape. This century? sometimes and Lucius swishes his cape. Um, this? Sentry? I thought we were going to go watch each other eat. What happened? No.

I thought Sentry was just going to watch us eat. What else was Sentry going to do? I wanted to ask Lucius what the cookery was like. I don't know. I don't know. This is all... I'm going to go

make a coffee over there. Ayla? Don't look at me. I've literally been staring out the window for 20 minutes. I didn't hear a word of it. I've been picking stuff up my toes. Ew.

Ew. hear a word of it i've been picking picking stuff up my toes i don't know what the plan is now i don't know what you were talking about oh so where you going nova what are you doing lucius lucius storms back in grabs his suitcase he's like, I forgot this. Teleportation circle. Come on, we're going to Guest Haven. Okay. Chop, chop. Okay. Century's making a coffee. Can you get it to go?

I've got one here in a flask. Really strong. I love the idea that you've got like a little metal thermos, mate. You just carry it around. You can't drink it. You just carry it. I was in the Matrix. I'm really, really tired.

Arvel will probably be like, oh, we're going to Gusthaven? He wouldn't. It'd be great to get out of the city for a while. I think Petal should come along, too. It would be good for all of us to get out. What about Valor and Maximilian?

What about them? Shouldn't they be... We don't want to leave them on their own after what's happened, right? Yes, we should bring them along too. The more the merrier. All right. Yay! Quill, can you send a message?

Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Valor and Maximilian, right? Yes, please. Anyone else? Oh, I should probably let Aradan know that we're coming.

Oh, if you wouldn't mind. I can do that. Edea? Yes. That'd be lovely. What NPCs can we load up here? Can you also message Araya and ask if the Storm Chasers are around in case we need it at Gusthaven?

What about Faeith? Do you want Faeith to be there or do you want to come with you? Or like, you know, Howard and... It'd be nice for the crew to stretch their legs. Oh, yeah. Rain? Should we bring rain along? Why not? You're not there. You went off. You hushed. This is Kim. This is Kim speaking.

Right, okay, that's fine. Nova's invisibly stomping through the streets getting Thalia so uh let us just say that through expenditure of Quill spell slots he's out of spell slots now sending sendings um we we can have in Horizon marching to the teleportation circle, we have Lucius, Aayla, Nova, Thalia, Quill, Sentry, Arvel, Ethel, Max, and Valor. All this huge group makes their way. Because you are there, because Valor and Max are there as well, basically the teleportation circle

is briefly halted access to public, and you guys are given exclusive use of the teleportation circle. More for security reasons than anything else. They basically kind of lock everyone off and then you guys come and use it. You arrive in Gusthaven where

you are then briefly met by the crew of the storm chasers. Well, the main crew of the storm chasers. So, Araya, Kamara, Fayeth, Howard, Lansian, Penny, Grey Lano Lookout Well the wolf pack

There's too many of them for them all to come Kamara is their rep But the wolf pack they don't want to come to dinner with you The wolf pack are like no we're gonna go Find a cheap bar with like It costs a copper piece to drink in Not wherever the fuck you mega adventurers Are gonna go they're to go and do that.

But the maker of the storm chaser also arrived. Edea is there. Do you want Aradent to come with you? What's the plan here? I was sure that I would or Lucius would want

to catch up. He knows. Okay. Yeah. And see how things are going. I was going to get to the family as well. Yeah, I think that basically there is like

20 of you. Lucius's head counting as they're going into the teleportation circle. You're walking through the white stone cobblestone streets of Gusthaven. It has this very, you know, Gusthaven is this very sort of white blue palatial kind of vibe to it. Very kind of Grecian in sort of some of the architecture and the design, but you are making your way.

Lucius is like head counting as he walks along and you come to, head counting as he walks along um and you come to uh there is a place lucius called um the the gilded black bottle is the name of this restaurant um often just referred to as as the gilded bottle or or the guild um and uh it is one of the it is like a very high-end uh restaurant like a kind of like brassiere kind of of like a sort of like the kind of place that you would go and have a very nice wine, very lovely meal and that sort of thing. And when they sort of see you coming, more importantly, when they see the Sky Prince is coming,

it is like they basically clear out the restaurant. They're like, you all need to leave now. Like, goodbye. And they set up an enormous long table that fills the northern quarter of the restaurant, which faces onto a series of balconies that look out onto the sort of blue sky and the skyline of the noble district

and the palace of Gustaven looking out onto it the table is laid with silverware it is laid with decoration and yeah they are basically the owner who is well not the owner but the sort of restauranteur the kind of like not head chef but like the

what do they call it the head of the front of staff maitre d the maitre'd is a elderly gnome, but very sprightly still, even though in his fair age. And he's just like, Oh, Master Elanasu, yes, of course. If you could just give us...

You've caught us quite unawares. If you could give us... We will take some time to prepare the meal, but we can bring things out piecemeal. We can bring out beginning kind of snacks and starters and that sort of thing. And tiny foods.

What's that called? Entree? Canapes? Entree. Canapes. We will have canapes before we serve up a full dinner. We can certainly arrange small plates. Tapas is dinner but we can we can certainly arrange but the entire gang is now you have a squadron of Gustaven guards the guards outside and wait for the sky outside for the Sky Prince.

But the Sky Prince, it seems like he is basically, he's clarifying this as a sort of diplomatic meeting, but he's also used it as an excuse to get away from the palace and the nobles and things like that. Business expense. And he is a very rowdy, this is going to be expensive. Lucius. But it is beautiful. Like is going to be expensive. Lucius. It is beautiful. Like the table is laid out.

And also this being, you know, Gustaven, it's not like chandeliers hang from the ceiling. It is like floating magical lights that illuminate the place. The drapes are enchanted so that they kind of swoop out of the way to give you the best views. There is faint music that plays from some unseen force. Everything is perfectly, you know, the perfect temperature as, yeah,

you are left to have quiet conversation or loud conversation. It's amazing. Kasadar's already here. He's not here. Lucius whispers once the staff member walks away after telling them that they're going to do their best. Lucius turns around and says,

I'm sorry, it's a little rundown. It's obviously not the best, but it's got that homely feel at least. Anyway, take a seat. Yeah, like most of the others, I think everybody but the Sky Prince, Valor and Max are like looking around this place like holy crap this is amazing um your father nova is like exact he's like examining

like there's all this beautiful art over that like the walls are covered in like portraits and landscapes and he he's like looking at one almost like with tears in his eyes and it's like i don't believe they've they've got a genuine they've got a genuine spring painting here by by the by the water ganassi spring i can't believe it it's genuine and he's like examining it's like it's real i can't believe it it's just completely taken away that they have this painting that he obviously admires and like he's just flabbergasted by um your mom is sort of like examining the food and like you can see she's like like sniffing it and like tasting that little canapes. There's probably some element of approval from your mum.

She looks over to you and she gives you like a... It's pretty good. She's making notes for her cafe. Yeah, she's probably looking around and making notes and stuff. Considering the last place we had a proper sit-down meal, which was a centipede house that traveled across a swamp, I'd say this place is pretty good. Nova's sister is like, sorry, what?

And it's like, tell me about this centipede house. What are you talking about? It had a million legs. It traveled across a swamp. It stopped from time to time. And if you didn't catch it in time, it's gone. No meal for you. Quill, did you tell her about the giant creepy hags on stilts

that we had to kill before we got to the creepy? Like, this is Thalia. I need to identify which NPC. Thalia jumps in and says, yeah, you should tell her. And then your sister basically turns on Thalia. It's like, what? on Thalia and is like what and Thalia begins sort of helping Quill tell the story of some of the stuff you got up to in the

Feywild and your sister's completely enamored just like what sounds like the coolest thing ever like completely taken by amazement for it. What is Sentry up to while this is going on? I imagine while they were walking through Gusthaven, Sentry had

Petal up on her shoulders and was shoulder-carrying her through Gusthaven. Is this like Sentry desperately wants Petal to do that? Because keep in mind, Petal is now a 24-year-old woman. No, it doesn't matter. She just puts her up on there, basically.

She puts her up, like old times. Yeah, let's go! I think the rest of you, especially Quill, And then Sentry just puts her up on there, basically. Just puts her up, like old times. Just like, yeah, let's go! Woo! I think that the rest of you, especially Quill, the rest of you see that she is a little embarrassed and is like, yeah, yeah, it's great, Sentry. Remember when we used to do this all the time? Yes, I do, Sentry.

It was a long time ago. Maybe you should put me down. And there's this kind of awkward, she doesn't want to say no but it's clearly embarrassed by the way what's he's doing um but yeah like and you draw a crowd like as you're moving through when you were on your way here like there is just a crowd of gustav because gustav even all knows who you are as well not just the sky prince but like you know you are being watched by uh this crowd of people and uh a few cheers and things like that but yeah petal eventually probably eventually manages to convince you to let her down i would

imagine like she's just like okay century please put me down um but she does like mark remark on like the beautiful colors of like the mosaics and like the the beautiful like clean air and things like that and the way that gustaven uses plants to create these little gardens and stuff. Is it smoky in here? I have it cleaned. Sorry, everyone. No, it is unbelievably clean in here. I don't know what you're seeing. Well, I just thought it was a little run down

is all. Dad used to say that he just used to go here for his bulk buys. His bulk buys? I think a day would just be like, it's definitely not quite He just used to go here for his bulk buys. His bulk buys, okay. I think Edea would just be like, it's definitely not quite how far I've painted it. It definitely seems... A bit drab, isn't it? It is a little drab.

Even Edea agrees. But the rest of you can't imagine how on earth this could be drab. Gustaven's slipping away, isn't it? Well, it is wartime. It is wartime, you're right. We should give them some slack. You're saying that in front of the prince!

Yeah, the prince is sort of like... Well, I will... How about you let me speak with them, Lucius? I will speak to them privately once we've finished. Oh, no, not at all. Of course, we're all doing our own part, aren't we? And I understand that the budget is stretched thin in certain areas, displaced troops and all that.

Yeah, you're doing the correct thing. Right, of course. He just sort of smiles. You can take, I think, like, maybe, like, he probably walks past, nova or like quill and probably just whispers something along the lines of you can take the elf out of gust haven but you can never quite take the gust haven out of the elf um after hearing lucius's little remarks it's strange like when a day is here and i'm in gust haven i feel like i i fall back into old

habits all right no i i can't believe you would say that no no it seems i mean you are a man and I feel like I fall back into old habits. No, I can't believe you would say that. No, no, it seems, I mean, you are a man changed, Lucius. You've gone on all these wonderful adventures. I can't imagine, I don't imagine that you're the same man who left this place a long time ago. From what I have understood, you've changed quite a lot. But I think it's good to come home and to be amongst the familiar for a little bit of time.

It's certainly good to see you. I have greatly missed all of you very much. And the Sky Prince sort of like nods his head. You will be pleased to know that things have been relatively quiet here. We heard there was some sort of attack on Horizon, but so far we seem to have been left alone. I don't believe that there's... I'm afraid things have been a little boring,

I must say. Not that that is a bad thing, given that everything that we went through before, I think a little bit of quiet, a bit of stability has been good for Gusthaven. I wouldn't recommend the alternative to Horizon, nonetheless.

Indeed. Indeed. Indeed. Lucius, you should tell the Sky Prince about everything that's happened to us. Catch up with him. Spend all night talking to him. Well, I suppose. Well, we've got a meal to eat as well. But we can fill you in on the summary of everything we've done from the Feywild

to visiting domains, the Titans. But you know about- Please do. Yes, of course. But also, there are so many people here to introduce me to, so many faces I am not familiar with. I know that some of the folk here assembled are part of your crew, and I certainly would gather by the familial appearance that some appear to be Miss Vija's family. Yes, that's Miss Vija there and Mr. Vija. Say hello. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, your daughter. And the Sky Prince goes over and he takes your mum's hand.

Your daughter has been an enormous part of Gustavum. Without her, I fear that this city would not still be standing. She has my thanks. My thanks to you as well. And your mum is just, like, you know, properly, like, taken back and is very sort of, like, thing. And your dad's, like, shaking his hand, just like, oh, thank you very much.

No, we're very proud of her. Very proud of our girl. Here we are. Brilliant. Purple. Yeah, and he's like, are all of the paintings here first? Are they not replications? Are they real? And he's just like, are all of the paintings here first?

Are they not replications? Are they real? And he's just like, oh, yes. If you have a love of art, sir, the palace has a number of marvelous paintings and sculptures. You are more than welcome to come and see at any time. I know that you are staying here. You are more than welcome to come and visit at any time. And your dad is just like, completely amazed by all.

Aww. That's sweet. I just don't really like that i don't know i love my dad yeah thalia is like desperately trying to avoid talking to your family though like she's it's not like she doesn't want to but like she's embarrassed and like she's like like constantly trying to find other people like she probably catches up with some of the storm chaser crew and ariya and howard oh man i forgot about howard uh howard is just like the whole time just bubbling away he's just like oh hello nice to meet you look at this place is right all fancy in it century i haven't seen you in ages how are you doing hello there he's like who's this lovely young lady with you hello nice to meet you my name's Howard I'm the ship's cook hello Petal he's my ward he's the very reason I'm here

oh lovely to meet you I'm so glad and yeah Howard and Petal exchange I am not going to do every single image however if there are specific NPCs you want to talk to you can do so.

But otherwise, it will be an incredible big family dinner, basically, of like a beautiful meal is pulled out. All sorts of sort of braised and steamed meats, grilled platters of vegetables, all sorts of like large and it's beautiful eloquent food but also comforting it's kind of like really really fancy uh bistro kind of pub food so it's like hearty and warming but also you know excellently made beautifully cooked everything delivered to uh an absolute fine level of quality. I don't really know a lot about food,

so I'm not going to try and make up what all the different meals are, but it's just really delicious and nice. Probably no bugs for Quill, but there are like corn meals and things like that, like seedy kind of like things that you can eat away at, vegetables, fruits. One on the cob and corn off the cob this place is a luxury yes very much that um cobbler's corn cobbler's corn yeah um yeah um well that was a little tasteless. For fuck's sake, this guy. Ugh.

It's me. Also, like, I've described this as, like, one of the best places in Gustaven. What was life like at the Elinasto mansion? It wasn't nearly that good. He ate, like, golden-crusted quail eggs. Yeah, yeah. Amuse- Bouches. Reduction

of buff and all that. I think Lucius has a bit of rose-tinted nostalgia. Yeah. Also, wine, if anybody wishes to partake of them at Alchemer Halls, very much, this is the kind of place where you can order.

I think there are definitely certain NPCs when, like, and I'm assuming, by the way, that the NPCs have all believed that you are all paying for this. So, like, there are certain NPCs, like, Oriah is, like, finest bottle of wine, finest bottle of whiskey, both of them, please. And, like, she's, like, got both of them

and is, like, drinking both. Howard's just, like, oh, i'll have some of that captain thank you very much first mate and he's like happily helping himself to the wine and like beautiful or aged whiskey and like you know distilled gin with fruits and things like that like a couple of the crew are definitely like helping themselves uh nova i don't know about your family i imagine your mom would probably enjoy like a really nice wine but yeah it's probably enough right because of the whole like like she has one glass yes bright purple red um yeah um yeah i i just want like i think after the meal like as we're all like mingling and stuff like that. Yeah, Nova hasn't been drinking. She's been drinking a lot of sugar cordial,

so she's hopped up on sugar. But yeah, she kind of awkwardly shuffles over and is like, Mother? Father? Hello, sweetheart, yes? This is my... Talia Whisperwind.

She's the princess from the Feywy wild you hear in the distance lucius is like shut the hell up shut the hell up and he just like sits and you're shushing everybody so the everyone my side of the table everybody looks thingy at this happening um your mom's like thingy at this happening um your mom's we met her out in space and she brought us home she has a spaceship called the twink twin star longbow and the twink star that's what i thought you said um she brought she brought you back from from out there yep okay at that like your your dad's eyes go wide your sister's just like oh and your mom sort of like looks at thalia quite you know quite suddenly like ever i think the whole table goes quite because they sense this moment of like your mom like staring at thalia and your dad's like he's holding back tears like he's

trying not to cry but your mom like looks her up and down and thalia i'm gonna roll a roll the dice okay uh your thalia kind of looks at her and tries to to keep her gaze and then very politely she just really deeply bows her head and she just says, Miss Vijja, I'm so honored to meet you. It's a genuine pleasure. I hope it's all right, what Nova's just said. But yes, I'm really glad I could meet you. And your mom sort of looks her up and down and is like,

you brought her back from wherever she went off and she just stands up and just hugs Thalia and pulls her and is just like thank you for bringing my girl home and definitely very grateful and then she whispers something in Thalia's ear

the only quill here is if you break her heart I know many ways to cut things. Or something along those lines. Like, I have a lot of experience in knives if you break a heart. The only Quill hears that. Oh my.

That sounds like what my mom said to Ted at the wedding. I am trying to base this a little bit more on your like the kind of things i imagine that your mom might have said to boyfriends or girlfriends in kim's life perhaps one yeah no it's right it is very accurate my mom is very good with a cleaver um yeah exactly that's because she's a baker and a chef right so like your mom knows knows her way around the kitchen utensils uh and thali just sort of like grins and smiles. And it's just like, you don't have to worry about that. And I think if anything, she's probably-

Cause I'll defend myself. I'll defend myself. I've got a shit. She's had plenty of opportunity to break mine and she hasn't. So, and yeah. And then I think that she probably gets pulled into a corner.

You also get sat down immediately next to your mother. Like, she makes Faith get up, who had been sat next to her, but she's like, you, go over there. She just sits you down, and it's like, tell me everything. Like, your dad comes over, and he, like, hugs you both, and he hugs Thalia. And, yeah, they're just happy to meet her and, like, start trying to get to know her.

Lucius is sobbing and taking other people's napkins and stuff to, like, wipe his tears. And also he's trying to make eye contact with Nova while she's getting grilled by her mum. I mean, you guys can catch each other's eyes, yeah. And he just subtly points at the balcony on the other side that overlooks Gustaven. She's just mouthing back like what why are

you pointing it why why he does the gesture of putting a ring on it oh my god no okay for podcast listeners one of his hands was a ring there was a finger going into it. On the balcony. Let me just make some rolls for some of the other NPCs. You just see Nova's mouth just drop open like, what? What? Okay. Out of everybody, Quill kind of clocks it. Like, not everybody else is involved in conversation. Quill, you clock it.

Also, Howard, like, you just hear Howard, like, stop on his drink. Kind of clocks it like no everybody else is involved in conversation quill you clock it also Howard like you just Drink he's like Looks panicked between I Was like looking right in his direction blah blah blah Okay I was like, are you okay? And now it's just like... He's just like looking wide-eyed. Lucius, Lucius, Lucius, no. No, Lucius. What?

What's the matter? Don't do that again. Don't stand in the way of love. That's not what you're suggesting, Lucius. I know what you're trying to say. Yes, I get married. That's not what you did. It's not what you're suggesting, Lucius. I know what you're trying to say. Yes, we get married. That's not what you did. It's not what you did.

Etea looks at you, Lucius, and is like, brother, how long have they been sort of together? It feels like years. Next question. Okay, I know what it feels like. Very specifically, how literally long has it been? Long enough, sister. Come on come on okay they're meant for each other it's destiny intertwined the nexus determined it i know nanny in every reality we've seen they are together i know you read nanny we used to read you all the fairy tale books about true love and princes and princes and princesses and princes and yes and all of that we're witnessing

it seeing those were those are stories lucius people can't you can't just marry the first man or woman who comes into your life in that way you have to see how things go you have to play it out and things i'm letting them just naturally fall into marriage on that balcony tonight so that i can see it sister that's all marriage on that balcony tonight so that I can see it, sister. That's all. Just a gentle nudge from a dear friend. Do you... is this... is this because you don't have that special someone? Is this what this is? You want it for them because you are looking for it? Is that the sort of thing? What? Don't be absurd, sister.

Hmm. We're fine on our own, aren't huh you don't have why are you assuming what i i'm who said i'm on my own she kind of looks at you offended oh yes sorry you did yes you did remember what i was doing the night everything happened i do yes i forgot about that. That's fine, but it's... We don't need to be alone, Lucius. And she kind of looks and she's like, I think that you might be surprised at how many people might be interested in yourself as well.

And she glances and she glances at Faeth and Prince Aradan. Like, she kind of, like, glances at them. I'm next to Lucius like, huh? Come on. Quill, we know that that ship will never sail. No, you're destined for Max's waters. It sounds like there's a love triangle between Century Max and Quill at the moment.

Fight. At this... Oh, my God. You could... You don't know what Max is into. Yeah. this oh my god you could at this there's a slight gust behind uh lucius bloody city of it's gusting yeah yeah yeah

thanks and then a tap on his shoulder and if you turn around tiangong is there just right up in your face lucius virion eloine alanasto yes nova vija has requested that you cease and desist with the Tiangong is there, just right up in your face. Lucius, Virion, Eluin, Elinasto. Novavidja has requested that you cease and desist with the lewd gestures.

Lewd? What do you mean? What? I don't understand. And he starts doing the gesture again. Exactly. Now Tiangong has spoken, everybody's looking and you do the gesture and a bunch of people are like,

What's wrong with this? Stop it! Stop it! Valerie's trying not to look. Max is like, how dare you? Oh my god, Lucius is going to die tonight. Sorry, I didn't know what... The sky prince is bright fucking red. Faith is fucking bright red. Everybody's looking at lucius like sure orio is pissing herself laughing probably ailer as well like orion ailer just like

they're just laughing the utter naivety of lucius but now all attention is on him he is going beet red as well I didn't mean to what did I do? sorry who's the most likely? I think like Lance Lance I was trying to think of like

probably Lookout because Lookout's incredibly blunt I think Lookout would probably say something like perhaps it would be better if you do not imply suggested sexual intercourse over dinner, Lucius. Captain Lucius. He jokes.

But I think also, like, there's this beat and then everybody at the table just laughs. Like, there is this kind of, like, everybody just snickers or giggles and it just breaks into a more sort of, like, general sort of, like, amongst the NPCs, they all sort of sort of like have a bit of a laugh um which is like embarrassment cowers and hunches and tries to hide behind a plate are you having a plate i'll have one

and scene and scene that's that's probably the point where i'd be like yeah the rest of the dinner continues but um if you guys if there's things you want to talk about or things afterwards but yeah i think that i mean yeah but when everyone is ordering oh, I'll have a seventh glass of wine, I've got the miniature chest in front of me, I'm just like... Yeah, eventually, cool, as the evening wine's down, the gnome does come over and is, like, whispering to Lucius, and he's like, how will sir be settling the bill this evening?

Very funny. Oh, wait, no. Sorry, that's me. I'm settling the bill on this one. Oh, great. Oh, very well. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Keelik, wasn't it? For the evening and the... Well, i specialize in versing in many languages um for

the evening uh for the food the drink and the exclusive use of the space uh we we would be looking at approximately 300 gold uh oh honestly not as bad as i thought he's like well I'm very pleased to hear that obviously that does for those individuals for those individuals who do wish to remain here who don't perhaps feel that they are capable of returning to wherever they are staying we also have rooms available here as well which are included in the in the price is that so uh lucius just stares at nova okay i think at this point like most people like lucius we told you i know i'm so naughty uh when he said he said like one glass of wine i have had a little by this point sherry

when he said all the people who can't make it back uh can i look around the room and see who that would be uh yeah there's definitely a few like uh ariah's definitely not getting back to the ship tonight like ariah most of the crew just like boots on the table like she's taking her boots off her feet are on the table she's got like oh she's nursing a bottle like a baby and then she's got the other one just like very happy drunk smiling happy drunk like um howard's probably not in a very good state to go back uh he's crying in a corner somewhere yeah like i think like there's definitely enough people that like yeah and and they've said that there's enough rooms for everybody if they need them. Okay, well, I mean, let's see.

One gold. Two. Three. Four. Five. Shall I just count this all out? Give me some time. Five.

Six. Seven. Yeah, I think 300 gold would be right because it would be about 10 gold per person based on the amount of food, the amount of drink, and the room room you've got about 20 people there plus the use of the space for about 100 yeah i think about 300 is about right plus you've got the sky prince with you they don't they're not going to nickel and dime you so oh a platinum piece 20 nice um he's only two

quill eventually quill eventually pays the man. 299 and 300. And you know what? For abiding with me for all this time, a tip. One. How much tip do you give him? A good 10%. 330, let's call it.

Let's just take a handful of gold and just like... There you go. So he gives 330 and then Century just grabs a handful and gives it to him as well. Century, for the records, I've got no idea how much you just... Give it all back.

Give it all back. You do need to count that slightly. I do need to count it. For the records, I need to have a proper, accurate reading. I'm quartermaster of the ship one They all deserve it Not that much Looks a bit sad when you say that

Century gave you like 500 gold. Reasonable. She didn't give him 500 gold. She slapped the bottom of the chest and loads came out. It's like a big root, a root the size of a man's fist. A root just clatters down. He's like, oh, I'll have that. I cast enlarge and then I have my hand in the figure.

Now, if you had made yourself big and then done it, yeah, then it's like 500 dollars. 250, 251. Nice. Done. Right. 330, as agreed. Thank you very much, sir.

Actually, have another five, then we can call it even. I've got an even 16,000. Oh, that's very kind of you. I think also, like, quite a few, some of the, like, the Sky Prince will probably also, like, put in a small amount as well, just as a sort of thank you. And, yeah. But, yeah, you guys have a very lovely evening.

You get updated by the Sky Prince, but eventually it just becomes more of a social thing. And you have this very lovely evening of just moments. And especially for Thalia and Nova, like there is this deeper sense of kinship and closeness is like Thalia, especially I think Thalia would get on very well with your sister, especially they have this same sort of like adventurous nature. And like, it's quite a, you know, there's a bit of a worry, but they seem to get on very well with your sister especially they have this same sort of like adventurous nature and like it's quite a you know there's a bit of a worry but they seem to get on very well um your

dad finds her stories a little bit too terrifying like it's just like panics every time she starts telling a story about some of her adventures and things like that but uh yeah i think it's a good moment um for sure yeah lucius has a second glass, and by that point, he's probably near centuring Quill and is going through the motions of, like, sitting back and be like, this is wonderful. Look how happy. Everyone's so wonderful.

And I haven't been this happy in a long time. This is a good idea. This is a good idea. This is really good. How many drinks did you... How many have you had? Like, two. Century's not had any. Century's, like, crying next to me.

I can't believe we get to do this again. It's been so nice. And Pet was here, and you're all here. Howard comes over. I know, he's just so lovely and it's so nice. Come on in. He's like wrapping his little

halfling hands around. Climbs up onto Sentry into a lap and just gives her a hug. Give me a big hug with arms around everyone. This is so nice. I don't understand how you guys consistently get so emotional at events like this. Hug me.

Tangong just wanders over. Why is everyone crying? Get over here, Tessadon. You're having a really good time. We are not Tessadar. He gets pulled into a hug. There. There.

There. Just awkward pat. Is that actually physical? Like, I can't remember. Is that a physical manifestation? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a person. Like, they are there. Made out of stars and nebulas, but there is a weight to it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a person. Like, they are there.

Made out of stars and nebulas, but there is a weight to it. Tengok, tell me, it's never proposed yet. Pardon you, Lucius, Fyrian, Elowen, and Elinasto. It is difficult to understand what you are trying to communicate. It's an eternal bonding, you know?

I know you're going to be together forever anyway but the ceremony and the ring has she done it on the balcony yet Nova Vija has been nowhere near the balcony now okay I think at this point probably Fayeth is like trying to like pat Lucius on the back like let it go Lucius

I just want everyone to be happy they are happy they are happy Lucius it's fine they don't need a wedding to be happy we can assure you that Nova Vija is experiencing great emotion at this moment in time

that's good hopefully happy once that Nova Vija is experiencing great emotion at this moment in time. That's good. Hopefully happy ones. Immense happiness. That's so nice. It's time to hear it in its entry. She is incredibly proud to have relationships with you all. No, stop it. I can't handle it. Thank you, Tessa, She is incredibly proud to have relationships with you all. Stop it!

I can't handle it. Thank you, Pasadar, for keeping us safe. Our name is not Pasadar. Our designation is Yangon. I'm sorry. I've had a glass. She just poured it down like a neck gap. Just like soaking into the roots.

Into the roots. My roots are soaking it in. It's so nice. Humanoids are curious creations. Ayla's just like, you're telling me, spaceman. Just like next to Tassadar. I'm calling him Tassadar now. This is incredibly rude rude We're almost there

Tassadar is almost at this part He's not You're lucky Kallus isn't here Get him down Get him down This is so nice We were meant to open communications with him. Yeah, Starbane just needs to get drunk, brah.

Like, that's all he needs. Just needs to get drunk, have some broskies. It's all good. Nice. Unless there is anything else, the night will pass. Yep. Yep. I think that there is, you know, some people do head back.

There is a sort of a few people begin making their way back to where they're staying in Gusthaven. They begin making their way back up to the rooms. I think the Sky Prince will sort of have a sort of lingering goodbye with Lucius where sort of like you know he's being very prim and proper but it's a very sort of like you know doesn't want to go

kind of goodbye of just like well thank you very much for the lovely evening Lucius yes I hope that you'll come back again soon and um Gatsby Wonderful and he just he embraces Princess like he's like like are you all right

are you lucius it's fine i've always looked up to you i'm stopping don't no please please lucius no i think if anybody has to look up to anybody it's me to you you've done so much for the city and um i can't believe i did this in front of everyone i must admit that was it was a little funny and he does sort of like grin at you like a cheeky grin like i can't believe you did that that was very anyway um i think i need to lie down i i think i think you should too um and he will sort of like hug, but it's that holds for a second too long and then puts you at sort of arm's length and then just sort of bows his head and leaves and he will make his way out.

But definitely, as he gets to the door, he does the look back and then he leaves. I see that. I'm fanning my face. To himself. I can't believe I did it. You're trying to figure out what it means. Quill would be like, what? I don't get it.

That's not a clacker. Elves, isn't it? He's a bird man. Think about it. He's not got his feathers and his wings up, you know, doing a little dance. That's true. He's got his feathers up.

That's why when Lucius went full rainbow, I was like... He popped it. Oh, damn. There's a bob in his head. Oh, no. Oh, my God. I don't think we should be doing this episode. I think this is the perfect episode we needed.

I am gutted Katie has missed this. Fuck me. Right. Long rests all round. Long rests. All round. Long rest all round. You can get rid of that second exhaustion. Yes. You make the entire party slightly exhausted.

That's why she got drunk so easily. Yeah. And yeah. You guys wake up. Things are as good as they can be. And you can easily head back to Horizon, teleportation circles,

the storm chaser can take you back. All of that stuff is all good. Anything else? Lovely RP moment. That's what Lucius wanted to do. And it is fulfilled. That took up the entire second half of the episode what does anyone else want to do?

we've got a few minutes left if like I leave it to the table checked I mean sure I'll have a cursory glance through the wayfinder's guide let's get back on track a little and I'll try and

discover some route to the Tenth Circle of Magic. Are you casting Legend War? Legend War. Costs five charges on the Wayfinder's Guide. Name or describe a person, place or object. The spell brings you to your mind a brief summary of the significant lore about the thing you named. The lore might consist of current tales, forgotten stories, or even secret lore that has never been widely known.

If the thing you named isn't of legendary importance, you gain no information. The more information you already have about the thing, the more precise and detailed the information you receive is. So yeah, you need to name or describe a place, person, or object. Could I describe, even though I've only got the ashes of it,

or the dust of it, could I describe that spell scroll? You could. If you knew more about the scroll, that would help. You will probably get more information out of it if you did. Because right now, you literally only have a secondhand description by Valor and the dust. But if you knew a bit more about what it was or things like that then that might help as well

or you could just try it as is at risk of asking the is it worth question is it worth taking it to Azaria Perel and saying like hey got the dusties here can you restore dust is that something you can do

if you actually go and speak to her yeah like um if you take the time to go and investigate with azaria azaria is continuing her work on doing things like upgrading the storm chaser working on uh studying horizons engines um but yeah she will definitely take a great interest in this scroll and when you begin explaining that it's this tenth circle of magic she turns on, this black veil covering her pale elven face. And she's just like, really? A 10th circle? Quite impressive.

Well, let us examine it. And she takes the dust. She casts a few. She places it on like an apparatus, like on a workbench. She casts a few spells, drawing in some objects, and immediately she's like, oh my goodness. Yes, this is, this is indeed. Are you able to restore? Have I seen magic?

No, no. As knowledgeable in magic as I am, this is far beyond my ability to restore it. But I can certainly give you more information about it itself This was a scroll of the gate spell Normally used to conjure portals between planar realms it can be used to call forth Specific planar creatures as well if you speak the name the true name of a demon or an angel or a devil They will actually come through the portal it will open directly to them and they will be summoned through it this scroll has been made by

a creature capable of transcending the limits of magical power whoever Whoever crafted this, whoever inscribed this, had access to more than just a tenth circle of magic. I believe that they have even more power. Oh, even more than ten? It was created by them. Likely to create an object of this nature would require vast amounts of ethereum or residuum, other magical substances that would cost, this must have cost hundreds, perhaps 200, perhaps millions of gold to craft, to create this. Or if they had access to some incredibly powerful magical reagent,

we are talking something immensely powerful, something that contained vast stores of magical energy used in place to create this. I can't recreate it exactly, but I could constitute a sort of simulacrum of itself. It wouldn't have the same power. It wouldn't even be a functioning scroll. But if you were to use your divinatory powers upon it, it should aid you in learning more about it. That would be incredible. But out of interest, the resource cost of this, if someone did have access to those resources, and clearly they had, how long would it take to create something like this?

Normally, months, years, perhaps. But I have a feeling that whoever created this did not spend so much time, which means that they have a way of bypassing the time required to create such a thing as well. whoever created this did not spend so much time, which means that they have a way of bypassing the time required to create such a thing as well. I can imagine that even for a being that has transcended the powers of magic,

it is one thing to cast a spell that has such power, to inscribe it upon an object that another could use. That would be costly. I imagine that whoever did it would require significant time to regain that energy spent. Perfect. That is exactly what I needed to hear. We need to figure out some kind of defense against this.

And unfortunately, that might mean transcending that level of magic ourselves but i don't know how preventing this this gate ability would be difficult yes i do believe that having examined the remnants of the draconic corpses as well as what was recovered in the war room and your own descriptions. I believe I can fashion a way that can prevent the anti-teleportation field from being established around Horizon. I will not be able to put that device on anything smaller than the Sky City. It will require node points spread throughout the city walls to erect a sort of disruption if a similar barrier is created.

to erect a sort of disruption if a barrier if a similar barrier is created but i don't believe i can i don't believe there is any power that you i danica i don't believe that any of us have the power to prevent this spell from being activated incidentally if it was a simulacrum that used it there was a chance a significant chance that the simulacrum could have destroyed this scroll without the effect ever taking place. Being able to cast magic that one does not have the capacity to use yourself is dangerous. There is a risk that it could backfire. It could be misused. So I think that it is unlikely that an agent who is not capable of using this level of

power to strike again. This was a gamble. This was a significant risk on whoever, well, we know who it was, but on the individual involved. Okay. So even if it takes months for them to be able to recreate anything like this, there's still a chance it won't even work. Unless they are the caster themselves, the one who created this would be able to use this without error.

But if they gave it to someone else, as this was the case, they provided it to their simulacrum. Okay. Okay. A version of this scroll as it was before it crumbled would be very useful to find out more about it and yes i'll do what i can to try and tap into some route into this thing and if i discover anything i'll let you know but oh i mean you yes i i must admit i thought that the ninth circle was a limitation i thought that there was no possible way to bypass it. This has awakened immense possibilities. Oh, good. Good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good. Do let your guardian friend know that I would still be deeply interested in examining their core, their matrix. They keep avoiding me

for some reason. Hey Azaria, Azaria I'm going to come clean and I don't want you to take this the wrong way. Sometimes you come across as a little creepy. Ah, I have been informed of this before and it delights me to know that I find that others find me unsettling is quite wonderful, really. I don't generally enjoy the company of others. I find smaller minds to be irritating and frustrating. So often I like to intimidate them into avoiding me.

But I have no ill intentions with your friend, if that is what you require. If I had wished, I would have joined forces with this Sarkira long ago. But I am not one to... I do not wish to follow in the footsteps of another. I carve my own path. If there is a tenth circle of magic available, I will find my own way to access it. I do not need some ill-begotten,ten hungry ravenous red star to provide me with such

power i perfect myself perfect great amazing so you will tell your friend to come and let me examine them then there yes yeah yeah yeah yeah excellent i must admit you you are quite curious as well and she reaches out with like a pale pale hand from her black funerary robes, and like, strokes the side of your face with the eye. I would love to examine this at some point. This potent source of divine magic. And your book! And she like, reaches for your satchel like, this wondrous book! No, that's... yep, that's... You're going to get what you get. Nothing more.

Bye, Zarya. It flies away. But yeah, she will eventually, like a day later, a sort of non-functioning replica of the scroll is created. It's blank, but it is like basically what the scroll would have looked like, but it doesn't have any of the spell itself on there. But it should work for Legend Lore. It will certainly help, you know, clarify.

I'll let Nova know, because I know that she was interested in finding out about the scroll as well. Nova, I spoke to Azaria, and I mean, it's not THE spell. Was she creepy? Very, very. She stroked my eye. Anyway, I got a scroll, or at least a powerless version of the scroll, that was used to cast this 10th level spell.

So, I might be able to use this. Do you want me to open the book in front of you? I want to look at it. Let me look at it. I've been ages since I've had a good mystery. Let me look at it. Let me look at the scroll. I want to read the scroll. Take the scroll. There it is. I mean, be careful with it. It's basically made of snow. It's also blank.

It's, like, completely blank. There's no actual formula or magical incantation on it. It's just, like, the physical scroll itself has been restored, but the magic is gone. So the problem with this is, did she write on it with invisible ink? Or did she just forget to write on it? No, no, no.

That's kind of the scroll restored just without any of the magic. Right. And I can use this as a component to ask the book. Let's do it. I wanna do it. Great. Perfect. Can I legend lore now? Yeah. So you name the 10th level gate scroll as like the object basically. And the book shows... I gotta't think let me think from it the book begins to tell the tale of because it's always done in this way it shows

you a story version of like the of the legend right a tale of the desperate scholar is what it's called. And you see a mage who looks very much like Zarkira speaking to an infinite blackness with a tiny red dot. You see the mage traveling across multiple worlds, finding... They travel and visit places. They visit like ancient ruins. They visit ancient abandoned laboratories.

And meanwhile, the red, there's this red dot that leaks words and information, not anything you can read, but like cryptic messages are flowing into the woman from this red star as she visits all these different places. And as she does, every time she finds something there, she seems to grow more powerful in magic. You can see her eyes glow. You can see that there's almost a pattern across her body that begins to spread as if she's gaining more and more power, being led from place to place. And every world that she visits, each step of the journey, the world becomes more deteriorated, broken, abandoned, barren,

until eventually she stands on a lifeless moon, staring up at what appears to be a rip in space. And around that rip are walls of flesh and tentacles and mouths kind of all around the edges of the page and she stands before it prostrated on her knees looking up um and the red star just whispers more of this nonsense to her um and then the last thing you see is her eyes uh the last page is her eyes now are like red snakes eyes eyes, now are like red snake's eyes. They're like red reptilian eyes with like a black slit down the middle,

but completely replacing her previous humanoid eyes. And the message of the story is that, yeah, it seems to be that Zahkira gained this power by traveling to many ancient, lost, abandoned worlds across the galaxy and has taken ancient magical knowledge and and with the help of Hadar with Hadar to help unlock it has mastered spells beyond ninth level the end and that's the oh that's the story. Nova, what do you think? Not a fan, to be honest, of

that one. Nova looks at Quill and she is pale, like almost white, like just remembering the time when she saw visions of Hadar and seeing this kind of unfurl, like... I feel like... I feel like she's become almost... a living avatar of Hadar. She's free to walk this world, but she has his power. That's terrifying.

Yeah, um, I think... Well, I think we need to find some way of stopping this sooner rather than later. If she's able to break through any ward that we can place, or get to us anywhere we are, at any time, and conjure any amount of forces that she desires. One thing that's not clear from the legend or Quill, just to kind of alleviate, because I don't want you guys like being super paranoid. You're not sure if that story has happened or is happening, right? That could be like still ongoing to this point, but it gives you the idea of how she has found this power. If she had the power

to just walk in and do what she wanted, she probably would have attacked you by now. So there's clearly something there. Even if she gains that much power and then it's just like snaps her fingers and bam, there she is with her massive army of demons and stuff. I mean, that's definitely still... Eventually that is a threat, yes yes you know what this reminds me of

um it reminds me of the guardian the one that originally had my mother's name i will not i will not associate the two but he he gained his power from taking it taking energy from living beings she is taking her power and growing stronger from taking it from entire planets yeah um but i mean at least it answers the question uh we know vaguely what she looks like now what's happened to her the deal that she's made um however uh we should let everyone else know um yeah yeah oh but azaria did mention that the scroll uh oh actually no she mentioned that if a simulacrum tries to use the scroll, then it would potentially crumble and not work. However, she's out of simulacrums.

If she tries to cast it herself, it will probably succeed. So if she tries to conjure some other spell, we need to find out what her plan is and get ahead of it at some point. It's probably the eventual heat death of the universe, Quill. Oh, probably. Probably, yeah. We'll leave that out when we mention this to everyone else. Oh, okay. Okay.

I'll blurt it out by accident anyway, but yes. You will. You will. I will. Yeah. Well, this terrible foretelling of doom is the perfect time to end the episode yay followed by oh fuck because Akira's scary now

yeah she's always scary she's way scarier now amazing god damn god damn what an episode very funny that went places it did God damn. God damn. What an episode.

Very funny. Man, that went places. It did. It went everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I was thinking like, what are we going to tell to Katie to catch her up? And I was just like, before this last bit happened, I was like we just shipped a lot. We just did a lot of shipping. It was the episode of shipping.

Yeah, big meal. Yeah, that's it. It's basically, fuck, what do we do about Starbane? Nothing for now. Yep, sounds good. Time to party! Yeah, party on down, bro! Have a party.

Yeah, we just got attacked in Horizon. Let's get every valuable NPC in one place. One place. Get drunk. Get drunk and have a meal. Well, I mean, yeah. But surely immediately after they've attacked is the perfect time to do it

because that's what they'll expect the least. Yeah. That's a good one. That was a good one. Much needed. That was lovely. Yeah. that was a good one much needed that was lovely yeah two weeks away

absolutely that's kind of a good catch up of like just going back over some of the stuff that happened and things like that and I know that like yeah Katie definitely has some stuff as Aayla of like coin did the thing but we'll catch up on that next week also probably next week I will try and have

the next stuff of the Titans to go down as well so not immediately we'll jump into a fight next week but like

that will probably be the next thing that Valor is like hey I've got this thing now do we want to go and do it which one do you want to do it's probably going to be the bigger sort of discussion

all at the same time yeah split the party and do all of them no just bring them all together join that army against us like three titans versus all of you guys sounds good like civil war or something

yeah cool that's it, take care everybody bye bye bye