High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #145 | Titan of the Forge (Part 1)

Episode Date: May 3, 2022

Forge Titan Valena invites the champions into her demi-plane for her final project! 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 & TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. away and staying out till 2. That's stop-loss orders on Kraken, an easy way to plan ahead. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register Rollers. Last time, our heroes descended into the magma chamber of the immense Volcanos, a huge volcanic mountain in the Hawkstone Archipelago. Protected to some degree by the demigoddess Vala, who conjured up a sphere of magic that kept out the worst of the heat, the party slowly floated down through the magma

to deliver a device that would stabilize the eruptions in the region. However, this endeavor was interrupted by Gulzor, the great worm! Gulzor! A magma-infused worm that attacked them, knocking them out of the sphere and into the scorching lava, or swallowing some of them entirely. Defeating Gulzor and activating the device, Nova teleported

the party back to the Stormchaser, their airship, to recuperate. But during this recuperation, a rather careless comment from Lucius caused the wish ring he had gained in their fight with Grazt in the Feywild became active, and the handsome Hiaf became a glorious peacock Arakokra,

much to Quill's dismay. Now, the party have been invited to the Titan Valena's demiplane to help in the completion of her final projects with the hope that she will then rejoin Siaska for the good of Erois. And that is where we're going to pick up today. You are all already aboard the Stormchaser. I believe that Quill and D1, this diamond dwarf woman, like made of diamond, who is some sort of construct connected with Valena, was

inputting a navigation. They are basically planning their route, which will take you beneath the sea. Okay. So, yeah, D1 will sort of be like, I've made the requisite preparations and plotted the course, but please be aware this will take us into

a high-pressure underwater environment, so I suggest you make your preparations now. Okay, okay. So we're going to need the shields. The shields, right? Do they work underwater? They work underwater, right, Nova? Yes.

This is the preliminary flight using them, though, so I can't give you 100% confirmation on that. That would be rather reckless of me as a scientist. What can you give me? 65.25%. 65.25%. I'll take the 2.5%, but 65? Is everyone okay with 65%?

I don't need to. I can breathe underwater, so I'm kind of fine. I don't need to breathe. Oh, good. Yeah. No, no, no, neither. Sounds like it's a birdie problem. I need to breathe underwater.

One of the wolf pack just puts his hand up. Yeah, I mean, all the crew need to breathe underwater. I mean, it is a birdie problem, Lucius. I'm a bird. You're a bird. I keep forgetting. A beautiful bird. Okay.

Told you, you were my favourite. I'll take that. But still, 65% doesn't sound great, Nova. Well, if I'd had more time to run all the tests that I wanted to, then I could have brought that percentage up, but, you know, everyone was like, end of the world, we have to go as soon as possible, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah.

It's rather important that we do it sooner rather than later. And that's why you get 65.25%. Okay. Also, Lucius is standing, like, he hasn't figured out his physical space yet, so, like, a wing is going into, like, Nova. A tail wing. Yeah. I'm, like, plucking feathers off.

Well, that reminds me, swimming might be different for you now. You've got a lot more... Oh, he is absolutely not gonna be able to Okay, we're gonna have to drag it along aren't we it's less kicking at the talons the kicking won't do much It's all wing at least he has hollow bones now, so you could drag him He was fighting for as well. Oh, no, you've got hollow bones. What do you mean? Bones what does that mean? I mean get them out. Oh no, he's got hollow bones! What does that mean? I mean... Get them out!

No, you remember all the times bits have been taken off me? Remember that time I got my jaw shot off? Oh! You got stabbed, burnt. Oh! Lost an eye. Lost his beak.

Already lost an arm when we met him, so I mean. Yeah, that might be you now. Actually, it's quite short, I think, a peacock's beak. Yeah, it's a little... I forget what peacocks look like. Yeah. D1 will say, if you have any questions about the journey,

I am happy to assist. Okay, how long are we going to be underwater for? The journey should approximately take four hours from our current location. Right. Okay, how much of that is underwater? Almost all of it. Oh, good.

Okay, good. Then we've got 65% chance throughout the entire journey. 0.25 0.25 Do we have any options to emergency evacuate back to the surface if things were to go wrong? Like we sprung a leak or something? Yeah, it's called fly up. Good, yeah, go up. Can we go vertically up with our vessel? Yeah, of course you can, yeah.

It's a nice ship. How deep are we going? We will be approaching near the bed of the bottom of the current area's plate. It won't be a quick trip to the surface. It is quite a distance under the water. Okay. Which, you know, crew. You may get the bends.

The who? That's where if you repressurize too fast while you're coming out of the water, all your blood goes funny and your brains may explode. Not if we're in an enclosed space, I do believe. Yeah, this has definitely been pressurized. I hope so, because we need to breathe. Mm-hmm. And not sustain injuries.

Who can cast the water breathing stuff? Nobody? Not me. Not me. I think that was Nova's domain. You had some scrolls and Lucius is the one who can cast it, I believe. Can I? I believe so. I don't remember.

I believe it's on the Sorcerer's Spell list, so if you use a scroll, you can cast it. Oh, I use the scroll. Because Nova used to have it until I swapped out the Eldritch of the Ocean. And then it was you. It was all you, big one. We have a scroll. We brought more scrolls. Yes, we brought more scrolls.

I will be casting the Water Breathing. Okay. It will only affect, I think, up to ten creatures, so it won't affect the whole crew. But the crew also have their uniforms. They have sort of like atmospheric helmets, basically. They can give themselves a very... But they don't have...

They'll basically only have the air that's in there between their suit and their helmet. They won't have very long. Uriah! Fucking... Sorry. Sorry, everyone. Yes, Captain.

Can I have you for a moment? Okay. He's trying to tuck like, tuck his wings in and just look like an elf. How are you? Are you okay? Yes, I'm a little disturbed by this. This is a sudden change. Is it disturbing?

Well, it's just unusual, isn't it? I wasn't expecting you to suddenly become a birdman. Me neither. No, it seems to be fine. I think that the encounter with the volcano, now that youman. No, it seems to be fine. I think that the encounter with the volcano, now that you've dealt with it, seems to be okay. But the crew's holding up well. Now, we're going to be submerging for at least four hours.

Yes. Do we have an emergency evacuation protocol for the crew? As in the ship is no longer functioning, we cannot just lift the ship up? It gets real bad. What do? If we're going down that deep, I don't think that we have enough air in our suits to be able to swim up to the surface.

My hope was that if Miss V'ger is here, she may be able to teleport some of us away. Why does everything come down to me? Because you're the most useful one. Aw, thanks. But I think that this is... But my understanding is... It's not that I doubt Miss Nova's calculations.

I think they are quite correct. But Miss Perel, the one who built the shielding systems, has offered me as much assurance as she could that this should protect us from underwater, that we should be fine. It will keep us pressurised. Almost 100%. There's no leaks to be

popped. It is not a hull. The shield should be, as long as the ship has power, the shield should function. As long as the crew are aware of the risks and we give them the options. We know what you are getting involved in. We are prepared to fight evil

galactic planar emperors, giant stars that want to eat everyone. Meteors. Everyone's pretty much on board. Yes, we've had meteors thrown at us. I think at this point, we're all in for the final push. That's great to hear. Mm-hmm.

Clauses change. They are, yeah. You'll get used to them. Do I have to trim my pinky nails? Occasionally. You normally just scratch against wood. Would that come innately? I start scratching like...

I don't know, is that a bird thing? I know that's a cat thing. We're cats now. I think, yeah, you would have been better picking a cat man. You don't know anything about cats. I don't know anything about cats. You tell Tom has two cats. Just scratch them. Scratch everything.

D1's like, well, I am ready to proceed and guide the ship as necessary. Thank you, D1. Yes, we'll get underway immediately unless anyone has any urgent things they need to attend to before we go underwater for four hours. I don't think so. I mean, are we preparing for a fight? I don't believe so. This is just an invitation preparing for a fight? I don't believe so. This is just an invitation, right?

Aren't we always? Are you asking D1? Yeah. I do not believe that violence will be involved. I do not know the exact nature of the project that you will be working on, but I would not anticipate to involve in any combat. That does not mean to say

that the process will not be dangerous and you should not make yourselves prepared for dealing with the situation. Very well. Make it so, Nova. All right. Okay. Engage.

Well, so Nova, the question for you is, are you or Tiangong going in the control chamber? Star Trek. I'll go in. All right. So, yeah, Nova makes her way down into the storm chaser's engine room, enters the sort of coffin-like pod. Coffin.

Stop saying coffin! It's a pod! It's a pod! It's a cod. It's a cod. You step inside it, and again, you feel that sensation. You become more of the ships. And, yeah, you can activate the environmental shielding.

And, yeah, you become very aware of the depths in the situation, and Quill, your readouts begin, actually they shift, and they begin showing a sort of depth, so rather than altitude, as you lower down, it begins to now register depth, and so your sort of displays change. Might I make a request? Nova, can you hear me over the whatever, communication?

We can hear all. Very well. It's that strange personality shift into the I Am ship. Could you, as this is a new venture for the ship, I think logging all scenarios would be very vital

for research. You're doing that anyway, aren't you, Nova? Engineers log. Stardate. I don't need a second-by-second analysis, For research? You're doing that anyway, aren't you, Nova? Engineer's log. Starting. We don't need a second-by-second analysis, but the crucial bits would be good to learn from this. Captain Lucius Varian Elowen Elinasto dictates that there should be a log made. Little does he realise we have been making logs since day zero.

Thank you, Nova, for announcing that to the entire ship. Anyway, can you let the crew that we're going under? Crew of the Storm Chaser, prepare to dive underwater. Prepare for submersion. Prepare for the worst. Have a nice day. Okay.

As the shield, actually, that shield actually surrounds the airship, the water is displaced almost. It kind of pushes the water to the side. And as it lowers down, yeah, the ship peels down. And Araya and the other people who used to work on a sea ship and even the crew who used to work on an airship kind of take a brief moment of sort of like

they voluntarily suck their breath. Don't be alarmed, everyone. I'm a little alarmed. I'm terrified right now. The ship fully submerses. The sails, there's no need for the crew to take all of those in. The skylines are taken in, and instead now it is

simply being propulsed by the Ethereum engines and the magical nature of the airship itself. D1 on Quill's display, D1 has projected a course and is currently basically stood next to you watching the whole thing. But the storm chaser almost follows

this path. It's been a predetermined path that it's now following and Araya is just keeping an eye out for unexpected dangers. How much can we see around us? Not very far. Visibility's not good. When you're at the surface, you can see a lot more,

but as you get deeper and deeper, it becomes this dark blue, sort of ominous darkness beyond. The shielding, you can probably see maybe 20, 30 feet beyond, but even with your senses, it is like trying to watch through a camera like you see kind of thing. Okay. So your little scrying senses, it is like trying to watch through a camera like you see kind of thing. Okay. So your little scrying senses, sorry. The journey is fairly quiet.

There is no... You don't encounter any creatures. You do see sea life, but none of it aggressive and all of it of a smaller scale. As the ship descends into the kind of much more tropical waters around the Hawkstone Archipelago. Big coral reefs, you see much more unusual sort of sea life brightly coloured as it begins going lower and lower. And as you near sort of the bottom of this section of the sea floor, you do see more of these kind of scattered broken remnants of Solvin ruins of this ancient city that Sentry would probably recognise a bit more. Solvin was this enormous metropolis. It was massive, you know, this huge,

huge city. But pieces of it are kind of scattered in the seafloor, dragged along by currents or bits and pieces. Eventually, the Stormchaser comes to a deep underwater gorge, which, you know, the land splits open and the course has you going down into it, which is deeper and deeper underwater. The gorge is narrow, tight, sheer cliffs, you know, underwater cliff faces around you. And a Raya is very nervously at the controls, making sure that like any loose rocks won't block their passage and things like that as you slowly begin to make your way through. How's everyone feeling? It's like you are basically almost like

it feels like you're at night. On the deck of the ship, you're dry, you can breathe, but it is so dark that the crew have had to bring out lights and light magical torches and things like that. And it is pitch black beyond this little shimmering field around the storm chaser. I mean, I'm just intensely monitoring. I don't know what the display is right now,

but if it's like arrows we're following or something like that. Yeah, it's basically like there's a kind of dotted line and D1 is occasionally she will lean in and make adjustments. She just touches the console and it makes little adjustments as it looks like some of the... She'd probably say something like, it appears that the seismic activity has shifted this area. I'm making adjustments.

And it just ever so slightly shifts the dotted lines over a little bit. Yeah, I mean, I'm just intensely monitoring that. If the ship is veering slightly off course, I'm saying, okay, left, left, left, right, right, right. Just trying to keep it on track. And I guess any time... I suppose if you're underwater, it's just any noise, just going right past the ship and seeing any light.

You probably would hear in the faint distance, like sea creatures, like you can hear sort of distant noises, but it's very muffled. And you don't see any signs of threat or danger, for sure. Don't see them. Anything else from anyone else? Yes Sentry's just like it's just like astral space it's just like astral space only it's very deep and very dark and very scary I don't know what's down here it's just like astral space it's just

like actual space we'll be okay we'll be okay. I imagine it's kind of like when you walk into a library and everything's really quiet and everyone just starts naturally whispering because it's kind of like when you walk into a library and everything's really quiet and everyone just starts naturally whispering. It's like just really quiet. It's ominous, right? And they're having this kind of like pressure around you. And yeah, the ship navigates this labyrinth of narrow cracks in the ground, basically.

And you can see again, like remnants remnants of buildings now like wedged into the sides of the gorge itself like almost like projecting outwards you see like the tip of a spire or like the top of a rounded dome of a tower maybe but it all broken and ruined overgrown with sea life and things like that um eventually the ship comes to a dead end. The pathway leads to just the end of a gorge where this great tall underwater mountain and cliffside just looms in front of you. And you've descended deep, deep, deep into the ocean at this point. And yeah, the navigation just stops. and yeah, the navigation just stops. Valor and Max, who are kind of on the deck with you,

Valor sort of kind of closes her eyes for a moment and she's just like, this isn't the Demiplanar Breach, but Valena's magic is incredibly strong here. Like her presence is suffused into the earth here, beyond this region, beyond this gorge. It's very unusual. I've never encountered anything like this before. D1? Yes, Captain?

Have you ever been here? Yes. You were created here? Yes. When was the last time you were down here? Approximately... In days? 96 days and 7 hours.

Right, so it's relatively recently. Yes. And does anything feel different? In days. 96 days and 7 hours. Right, so it's relatively recently. Yes. And does anything feel different? No. Okay, good to know. It will just take me a moment to request the appropriate activation. Please do. And you just watch as she just stands there completely still,

this diamond dwarf woman just stands perfectly still, nothing changes, her expression is smiley round smile, completely still, this diamond dwarf woman just stands perfectly still. Nothing changes. Her expression is smiley round smile. And then you hear she's just like, activation complete. And you hear this grinding of stone as not a mechanism. The stone is magically pulled apart like a curtain. It kind of drifts to the side, pulling open, rippling with magic as it turns. And you can actually see that D1's hands, even though the rest of her isn't moving,

her fingers are ever so slightly controlling that movement as they kind of split the earth of the mountainside. And beyond, in the thick of the earth, in this deep underwater gorge, you find the storm chaser begins to pass through an immense cavern, the scale of which defies any reality or expectation. It is like entering another world, a sky that you can't see. It almost becomes this voluminous space. You see great columns of stone minerals and metal are placed throughout this cavern on either side of you with dozens of bridges and platforms connecting them it's almost like you're going down the street of some fantastical enormous city but you can't see beyond these columns and

these bridges what you do see is flashes of light just here and there moments like flashes you can hear the faint sounds of hammer and steel and stone you can see quill from your position with your scrying crystals on these bridges like almost like scaffolding, these stone bridges amongst this space, of Maidens of Velenia, and all different gemstone types and colors, working at something. But you can't see, the sensor range just doesn't quite reach. You can see the outline of something, maybe buildings, but they appear to be working on something. And the storm chaser begins moving once again following a long slow line past it through this enormous cavern holy crap has this been under solving the whole time we are not under solving where where are we we are currently in the major metropolis zone that houses the majority remains of the city of Solvin.

We're in Solvin? A section of it. What? How? I guess it must have been submerged. That is correct. Most of the city was submerged when the cataclysm took place, when the telekis broke, sundered the earth.

The sundering, yes. What century have you seen this place before? It's hard because you can only just about see the outline of stuff. You can't really see any details. If you want to make a perception check for me, you're like peering through the shielding that's like keeping all the water out and it's really hard to see any sort of definition or shape um beyond shape

rather where are you going 12 plus 12 24 24 okay yeah even though it's hard to make out details, you do begin to, you recognize, unlike the rest of where you've seen the ruins of Sovereign, which are like a scattered tower, a broken piece of wall, you are seeing like full buildings. Some of which have been destroyed or removed. I might have rolled that wrong, sorry.

That's all right. I might have got a 14 instead. That's okay. Yeah, so I mean, I'll still say that, yeah, you can see like four buildings, like towers, spires, domes, streets. You can see the outline of streets. Like you imagine that you would be flying over Solvin

if this were not underwater, but now you are sort of drifting through it. But these stone archways and bridges, that's all been constructed. Like this cavern is almost like it's been formed over Solvin and it is now being sort of rebuilt and reforged. Like you're not sure what they're doing. It doesn't look like they're trying to...

In fact, I would say, yeah, you don't know what they're doing. They're working on the city somehow. What are you building? What is all this? I'm afraid that the information regarding the Valena's second project is currently not for me to share. But it's solvent. It's here. I could walk. I could walk on that. On the ground. Like I was back home. It's there. It's so close.

My apologies, Sentinel Prime. I am not at liberty to discuss the nature of the second project. That is only for the Forge Mistress to discuss. It's okay. We'll get our answers, Century, as soon as we get access to Velena herself. Yeah. Anything from anyone else? Squirrel just taking it all in? Yeah, I'm just seeing, like, I guess I would try and figure out,

A, how many of these maidens there are. Are they just all over the place? There's hundreds of them, yeah. Yeah. You lose kind of them, yeah. Yeah. You lose kind of track and count. Like, you only catch, like, glimpses of them, but, like, looking out in the distance, you see, like, a little speck of light here,

a little speck of light there. And it looks like they have, like, magical tools that they're using. You know, almost like the kind of spark of, like, a welding gun or, like, something like that. It's almost like they're doing, but something, you know, a magical version.

I guess they illuminate quite a lot as well yeah and then it kind of catches the light um but yeah you see like hundreds of these bridges like these columns have been sort of like built around the city um make a perception check for me quote because you've got the sensors and also like you do have much keener vision than most of us it's still like silhouettes and stuff yeah for you guys it's all just like flashes and silhouettes and stuff. Yeah, for you guys, it's all just, like, flashes and silhouettes of buildings. Like, imagine, like,

a shadowy cityscape around you, right? 24. 24. Do we have dark vision? 60. Oh, I don't. You.

Yeah. And Gong does. Yeah, so, like, yeah, you're really weird. It's like, why isn't my vision changing? Just, nope. No black and white vision for Lucius anymore. It's very strange. Quill, like, why isn't my vision changing? It's just, nope. No black and white vision for Lucius anymore.

It's very strange. Quill, like, yeah. I mean, yes, you can definitely see them working. You still don't quite know what they're doing, but you begin to notice other things. You realize that whilst you are traveling down this main section, it is very purposely being cleared. And actually, looking beyond,

you don't think that the city is very wide. It's almost like it's long and thin, like a kind of cut of a city. Like something has been sort of... Like somebody has taken a long slice of the city and kept it intact. You do also notice that the maidens, you recognize pieces that they're working on it's not just that they're

some of them seem to be repairing buildings or building new things like tunnels and connections between them some of them appear to be installing weapons like the arcane turrets that you have on the storm chaser oh my god this is cool as hell um century if you know this part of the city would you know why this particular area would be preserved

yeah i mean with 14 i can't say that you know it exactly this is definitely a solving somewhere in solving it's not the royal it's not the royal palace, you know that. But the city was so massive. Like, you're not really sure what part you're currently in. Yeah. It's hard to know. There's nothing that could tell me where we are right now. Solvin was huge.

Would a commune of nature help? You can try, yeah. You can do whatever you want. It's the wonder of the game. Oh, yeah, I'll cast a Commune of Nature. Yeah, just give me a reference on that. What does it do? So you briefly become one with nature

and gain knowledge of the surrounding territory. The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as dungeons and in towns. But I gain knowledge on three factors of my choice, which could be terrain and bodies of water, prevalent plants, minerals, animals or peoples, powerful celestials, fey, fiends, elementals or undead, influence from other planes of existence and buildings.

Okay, which three do you want? Could I do buildings, influence from other planes, and let's do prevalent plants, minerals, animals, or peoples. Minerals? Oh, man. Right, plants, there's no people. I'll tell you that now. There's no people here.

Plants, all kinds of aquatic sea life, seaweed and all sorts of like, you know, what you expect. They're not afraid of this area then? Who? The aquatic life? When I say aqua- I mean like plant life. Oh right. Kind of like seaweed.

There's no animals here. There's no fish or anything like that at all. And then in terms of minerals, you detect over 100 different sizable chunks of ruby, topaz, sapphire, emerald, quartz, diamond, all of that stuff, which you do immediately. And also, that's weird, there's a huge chunk of diamond next to you. Influence from other planes, none. I don't think that the Titan would count

because they're not an elemental or anything like that. I guess there is some hint of a celestial influence, but you think that that is just because this is obviously somehow connected to Valena in some way. But no, like, oh, there's a devil at work or anything like that. Buildings, it's interesting because the spell doesn't function in a city, but this is a city that's been overtaken by nature. So I'm going to allow it.

And I would say that, yeah, there's key buildings here. The chief barracks of Solvin. You also, one of the... I didn't come up with a name for it, but basically the place that provided magical power to the city. Solvin basically had electricity, but through magical energy, right? So it had, like, yeah, like a power grid. It had, like, magical lighting, so it had, like, streetlights.

It had functional, like, transportation in Solvin, like carts and things that would move by magic. That building, like, the core building of that is here. No palace. You detect all sorts of like different, you know, things. But also some of it has been changed. Like you're like, some of this is definitely different. Like buildings have been taken down and built.

New things have been built in place and stuff like that. Where the buildings are, obviously I can't see anything, but just for fun, the buildings are, obviously I can't see anything, but just for fun. The buildings they're making... Quill can just say, I can see this, and you can ask Quill a question. Are they like Solvins-styled, or are they just doing it in a totally different look?

There is an element of Solvins architecture, but the form and the functionality is completely different. It's hard to tell. You can't really see. Even Quill's vision is still only limited to, like, he can't see the whole thing. He knows that it doesn't go. It is this, like, vertical slice.

If anything, if I was to say to Quill, like, it looks like they're building more sort of covered structures, like tunnels and things like that that connect the buildings to one another. But hard to say. Oh, interesting. Would Tiangong know why Starbane targeted Solvin? Initially.

Yeah. Yeah, Tiangong would tell you, yes, Nova Vija, Solvin was the height of Erois' magical magitek weaponry. Kallus envisioned it as his greatest threat on Erois, along with the Titans. Solvin's magitek was comparable to the Valkyrian Empire's at the time. Interesting.

And did he succeed in his mission to stop it, to basically destroy it? The Sundering took place before Kallus could complete his conquest of Erois. The city was besieged, as Sentinel Prime will likely be able to tell you. However, Solvin was maintaining a defense at the time. It was close to defeat, and essentially you would hear that, like, because you were there, you know it was near the verge of the city was being overrun, but it hadn't been fully taken, and then Atellicus pfft. But the other thing Tiangor would say Kallus was not present for the siege of Solvin. Zarkira and other forces were the ones primarily attacking the city.

Kallus was, at that time, engaging Siasco. Hmm. So I guess through the ship's comms, you'd hear Nova just being like, we have a theory based on Starbane's attack on Solvyn. It could be Velena is trying to use Solvyn's superior magitek ability as a defense against Starbane now. That would make sense. But I just sense the energy around me now.

There's great magical energy still present here. I think we're near the power plant where the main source of power was for Solvin. Well, it's currently inactive, if that's the case. Yes, there's no way. I can't see anything. Yeah, it's currently inactive. It looks dead down there. This could be why Valena's here.

The storm chaser eventually reaches the end of its destination. You've travelled, like, miles, you know, just tracking across this long slice of the city. Like, it's been significant. And it eventually comes to rest at a... Again, a large edifice carved into the back of this cavern. Like, you reach another stone wall at the back of the city. And here there is an edifice.

The edifice is of an older dwarven woman hunched protectively over a small forge that she's almost sheltering the flame kept within it. The forge is decorated with hundreds of rubies that give the image of a faint dying ember still in the forge. And the Dwarven woman is sort of around it protectively. D1 just says,

we have reached our destination. As in the ship can go no further? Valor, I think I know what she means. This is the breach point. As in the ship can go no further? Valor... I think I know what she means. This is the breach point. This is a sort of landmark to signify that this is where we can access Valena's realm. Okay. And D1, would you want to come with us into...

I will not. I'm afraid I am not permitted to enter the final forge. My duty was to bring you here. I have done so. And afterwards? Are you remaining on this ship while we go in? My duty is to help finish the final projects. So you'll be going back to work?

She doesn't... Right. She doesn't seem to have a... You know, like, she's given her statement. I guess we'll make our own way back to work? She doesn't... Right. She doesn't seem to have a... You know, like, she's given her statement. I guess we'll make our own way back to the surface. Or maybe we'll get another helper on the way up. So we don't lose our way. D1 will say,

The Forge Mistress requests that you leave your crew and your ship here. I've been told to assure you that it will be safe. Okay. Again, cut off completely there. I'll get the scroll ready for water breathing. Valor just says, I think I can access the breach from the deck of the ship. I can take us through.

All right, just in case, I've got the scroll ready. You should keep it ready. I don't know what's going to be on the other side. That's the difference here. Unlike with Zephir, I knew the sort of environment we were going into. This is locked down. I can't even glimpse inside. The only reason I can access it is because Valena is allowing me. I can feel her presence here. She's allowing me to open the door for us. Are you getting any glimpse at all of Valena's, I want to say, emotional state? Sort of. She's calm. She's not like Zephyr. Zephyr, I could feel Zephyr's rage.

There's sadness, but there's calm here. But also a sort of anticipation, like she wants to finish something. Okay, that's reassuring, I think. You ready to go? Sure. I'm really good at talking to people and, you know, sorting stuff out and definitely not fighting

and it's all my strong point. So. I just thought maybe it would have been good to have some of those helmets that the crew have. We'll get those ordered next time. Next time, next time. Yeah, but there still wouldn't be, there would only be like a small amount of air in them.

True. How does this work with Nova and Tiangong disengaging from the ship? I mean, they can run the ship. You're not needed to be here. It's just easier. Like, you've trained some of the Wolfpack as apprentice engineers, and they're like, yep, we can run it. They don't go in the pod.

They're like, well, I'm not going in there. I'm not going in the coffin but they can run the power they just can't do anything like if you leave them here like if they were to come under attack it would be harder for them to use

certain systems but the shield the warbler they can keep yeah yeah yeah they can keep all of that active that's what they did when the Volcanus

was attacking as well yike so yeah like the kind of... The pod opens, you can step out and join the crew, join your companions up on the ship. Max and Valor will kind of stand up. Max is obviously going to stay by Valor. And Valor will just look and say,

well, I'm ready when you are. I can open the door. Again, I don't know what to expect, but we will do our best and it does seem that Valena at least wishes to talk, which is not the impression I got from Zephir or what I get from the others.

Let's just prepare for any circumstance, I guess. Like disagreeing with her plan. Yes, but let's not forget she's a god. Titan. We'll treat her with that sort of respect.

Technically speaking, she's a titan. I know technically she doesn't want to be called a titan, I'm sure. All right. All right. And Val will just say, step behind me. And she sort of raises her hands and she focuses and you see sort of her hair begin to lift up from the back of her neck, almost becoming this shimmering nova, like nebula around her like her mother. And her eyes open and they become bright purple energy,

like no more eyes, just this blazing energy. She puts her hands in front of her and as she parts them, a kind of glowing purple door in space, kind of this triangle opens up, and there is now this just big, glowing, white-purple light. Cool. I love that shit. And Valor's just holding her hands like this, kind of in a triangle shape in front of her,

and she's just like, I should go through last, you should step through first. All right. I am walking on the spot, you should step through first. All right. I am walking on the spot hoping that someone goes first. I think Sentry with your connection to this place and I suppose to Velaena, you should probably take the lead. Okay, I will. Guide us into Solvang.

Sentry goes in first and then everyone follows, I'm assuming? And then Valor and Max come last. And, what you see before you I can't flick it because that will knock a lot of things out

oh my god oh she big yes put it up like I had to oh she big lovely very big okay

so you find yourselves on dry land Oh, she's big. Lovely. Very cool. She's real big. Okay. So, you find yourselves on dry land with breathable air. The transition is somewhat disorientating for a few moments. The world around you seems to spin and haze. When your vision clears, you feel a strange sense of familiarity. You stand on a stone platform before an almighty forge. The platform and the forge appear to be raised and suspended 30 foot of the ground of a larger chamber of rough natural rock. To the left and right, pathways seem to split off to smaller sections, almost like shrines. Whilst ahead, the space is dominated

by an enormous anvil with a large forge behind it, and on either side a curved staircase leads up to gated chambers that look down on the central area. Stone columns and arches lead upward, but there is no ceiling here. Instead, there is a night sky filled with beautiful, bright stars and the shifting pattern of the cradle. And stood behind the giant anvil is Valena. Valena is grey of hair, dwarven in appearance, although at a colossal scale, nearly 20 feet tall. She has leathery skin and corded muscles that have shrunk slightly with age. She stands in a heavy, firm mantle clasped by

golden brooches, wearing a fine circlet of mithril and adamantine upon her brow. A dark braid falls behind her and along one shoulder. Her ears are studded with numerous rings of gold and silver, as well as studs of precious stones. Her bottom lip is pierced by an onyx stone, and a mithril ring pierced through her nose connects to one of her golden loops in her ears. Three diamonds are studded above her right eyebrow, and her features are round

and warm. Her skin seems to shift, streaks of colour ranging from dull grey like stone to black onyx to brassy brown and finally an almost porcelain white dance across her like clouds. A thick leather apron and a belt with all sorts of handmade steel tools hangs at her waist and her hands are shrouded in giant leather gauntlets. She rests her hands almost leaning on the anvil in front of her. Welcome, champions of Erois. I'm kneeling as much as I can as a bird. Just instinctively.

Sure. The sentry puts her hands over the matrix and just bows her head. It's good to finally meet you. I am glad that you can come to this place. I have a great need of you. And I know

that you have something you must ask me to do as well. I ask only that you assist me in this final task, and then I shall gladly join my mother in the halls of infinite resplendence. I'll leave a sigh of relief to everyone else. Do not be so eased. This task will not be easy. But I expect you have many questions. And whilst time is short, I am happy to give what little there remains to you in this time. What are you doing here? What... What's your plan?

Fair question, Sentinel Prime. When my mother died, when her body became the cradle, she gave tasks to Calara, my sister, to ward the dead. And a task unknown to any of the other Titans to me. Two, in fact. She asked me to prepare a tool for those who would rise up to face the enemy, and to

build a contingency that might keep the dream of Erois from falling into darkness, should everything fail. For many years, my grief at my mother's death left me with no spark of inspiration or creativity. I was desperate to fulfill her wishes, and tried and tried, but nothing worked, no ideas came to mind, no schema, no design. I fell into despair for many, many years. And then, well, when Hesper told me that Calus had returned, when he told me of you, I began to watch you, and through watching you, I have seen Hadar. I have seen the

great threats that face us, and the state of our world. And I have found myself in these last few months. Well, my spark has returned, and at least I have settled upon an idea. I do not know if it will work, but it is all I can do in what time I have left. Hell yeah. Cool. So I guess let's start with project one. The first project, you would have seen some of it in the cavern before you came here.

It is nearing completion, and you do not need to assist me with it. The maidens will finish it. I have given them what power I can, though it has drained me, to now complete this task. When you leave here, you will witness it and all will be revealed. For the second, a contingency to keep the dream of Arois alive. My power is not enough to recreate the wonders of a device like the World Engine, nor is it strong enough to develop a weapon that can defeat Hadar. But I have come up

with something. I call it the Starseed. It is a device that will connect the souls that Calara gathers when they die. It will house the knowledge, the memory of Eroes. And the hope is that should everything fail, it will be sent to another reality, beyond the web of eternity, to find somewhere to take seed and to grow. Perhaps the divine powers of such a reality will be able to restore the dead to life in their world, or perhaps if there are already inhabitants, they will learn of

Erois and at least tell our story. But such a device, to survive the passing into a new reality, to contain all of the knowledge and memory and lives of the people of Erois is no easy task. Once I would have called upon the other titans to assist me, but with Hesper and Zaphir gone, Syanna weakened, and the rest, as you know, they are in no fit state to aid me. I must call on you." What do we need to do? That's so good. That's so cool.

That's so cool. That's very cool. What? I like the name. The name is cool. Starseed. Starseed. So cool.

Like when you're not in space. No. No, Tom. That's such a cool idea. Valena gestures at the forge around her, and she points out six columns, each embedded with a light that you can see upon it, a glowing light.

The process for creating the Starseed. I will forge it. This will take almost all of my power to do so. These six columns each contain a foci. The foci are the components that will make up the power, the essence of the seed. Memory. She points to the one on her left.

This one here. On our right. Yeah, your right. Magic. The next one along. Next to a bridge. You can see like a stone bridge leading to this column. Spirit. She points to one on a sort of broken

island that seems to be disconnected from the rest. Knowledge. She gestures to the one on a sort of broken island which seems to be disconnected from the rest. Knowledge. She gestures to the one on her right in one of these gated compartments. Connection. She gestures behind her above the forge. And then finally she points to the very ceiling

and a platform floating above the forge itself. On the map it's the levitating one. Okay. And hope. These six foci must be infused. I cannot tell you what this process will specifically involve, but one of you must do so. Once it is infused, you will not be able to leave it.

You must remain by that foci. During which, I will call out which foci must be infused. We must do them in sequence and only when the preparations are ready. In the meantime, there will be other tasks as I forge. This will take considerable power. It may break sections of the final forge. It may require you to assist me in its creation. You must best aid me as you can. I will also need the aid of my sister. She gestures to Valor. You contain a spark of mother. The starseed cannot be made without it this will drain your power too but I know you are strong

as for what else will happen I can tell you that there will be dangers as the forge breaks there may be eruptions of magical power there may be consequences if you are unable to infuse one of the foci. You must be prepared. I'm prepared. If you have any further questions, I am happy to answer them.

We have time. I understand this is a great ordeal that I have asked of you, and that you have many questions not just about me and this forge, but of Mother, of the nature of Oroes. I will answer as best I can, though I have been withdrawn from the world for a long time. the world for a long time. He said magic, spirit, knowledge, connection and hope. And memory.

That's the one he forgot. His memory. Ah, that's good. He does not speak for us. It writes itself. They will be constructed in that order. Memory, magic, spirit, knowledge, connection, and hope. Okay.

Oh, no. Did you think it was going to be easy? You think like, oh, we fought Zephyr and it was this big, complicated combat encounter. We'll just walk in. I figured it would be puzzly. Yeah. I was like, it's going to be puzzly.

I didn't bring a pen. Sentry, do you want to ask her anything about Solwyn and maybe Queen Astoria? This is your chance. What? Oh, my God, so many... Take your time, said Norbryne.

I know that Solvein was your home. Did you meet Queen Astoria? In the same way that we meet many of our followers, Guinevere often prayed to me. I gave her inspiration where I could. I knew her. How did she... do what she did?

I know she met Root, but... Guinevere was a very talented woman long before she encountered Root Prime. She was curious. She asked many questions, was never satisfied with the answers that she was given. She drove herself. She wanted to make a better world. It seems... seems fitting that this is how Solven will be used.

how Solvon will be used. She was also a warrior and a protector. She knew that knowledge alone would not protect what she loved. So where possible, she built both infrastructure, architecture, weapons, magic. infrastructure, architecture, weapons, magic. She was no saint, but I know her heart was well placed. It was. It really was.

Thank you. You are welcome, Sentinel Prime. Well, if there is such a thing as fate, and having seen a very big spider that literally weaves reality, or at least assists with it, I think fate has brought you here, Sentry, back to Solvyn to help save Eros. I think fate has brought you here, Sentry. Back to Solvin.

To help save Eros. Or at least send it somewhere safe. It's nice to think of it that way. Seems like all the destruction wasn't entirely for nothing. Now that we can use it again. Max just puts a hand on your shoulder. He doesn't say anything. Just a hand on the shoulder.

I think with the creation, with this star seed, it just makes me feel like instead of us being flapping around with no tether and no real answer in sight, this feels like an anchor, you know? On a very, on the end of a very, very, very, very, very long rope, but it's nice and comforting to know that there is something at the end of this if everything goes wrong and it feels like an anchor to me. The starseed will not... It is the best contingency I can offer. It is not invaluable.

If possible... For the first time, she smiles. She's been very stoic and kind of, like, serious. There's a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. My siblings and my mother would like you to succeed. I have done what I can. The Starseed could have failings. There is also limited. It will perhaps save the souls of Erois. But our reality is more than just our world. Whether or not they are our enemies or our foes, if Hadar consumes them, they will be irrevocably destroyed forever.

Any souls that Hadar consumes before the Starseed can save them will be lost. It is a contingency, a last hope. That is all I can offer. Still better than nothing. That is what it is meant to be. Could you provide for the bird brains out there just a summary of the capability of the starseed? What it will retain. Is it just historical records or is it life itself?

It is difficult to explain exactly. It will hold the essence of Eros and it is connected to the afterlife where Kalara takes Ardett. The idea of it is that it will contain Eros' history, our culture, our knowledge, memories of people, of places, of things. It will also act as a beacon that should the worst come to pass

and Hadar consumes this world before the web of eternity is cut off from Eros as I know certain individuals intend to do so I will launch the star seed through the genesis well where it will seek out a new reality the star seed will act as a beacon calling the departed souls beacon, calling the departed souls to it, where it will house them. It will also be made to survive such a journey. Travelling between realities normally cannot, is not possible. Most of the construction is to create a device that is capable of travel in that regard. And it will be usable by other divine powers. My understanding of Mother's magic,

other divines would be able to use the Starseed to bring back those it has within it, but also to perhaps conjure up replicants of places, of things, of people. It would be able to reshape parts of replicants of places, of things, of people. It would be able to reshape parts of a world into ours. If it is discovered by another divine. If mortals discover it, they will be able to have access to our knowledge,

what we have learned, everything we know. Stories, tales, our history. We will live on in that way. Can only Kalara add souls to it? Even now, Kalara has stopped adding souls to the afterlife, but any who can journey into Eros's afterlife will be called to it. So if I were to add a guardian, for example, could I... It is possible. I do not know exactly how your own magic and existence

will tie to this. My powers are limited to what Siaska has given me. My connection is here on Aroas. Your matrix is beyond our world. It came from another reality as well. I do not know, Sentry. I do not know. Likewise, for anyone who is not born on Erois, who is not bonded to Erois,

I cannot speak for what will happen to them, either. I can do only what I can. Hmm. Well. It is a grim project to construct something as a gift for an Eros reborn, one that we will never see. But it makes sense. If we aren't able to do what we intend to do, then at least encapsulate everything that we are as a gift for someone to use as a warning

maybe against Hadar or even just the technology. If you help me with this I will join Siaska gladly. This is my last task. I did not wish to leave this world with her requests unfulfilled. Then we'll do our best. Very well. Under your guidance. She reached out a hand. Bala, come. And take yeah, take what positions you will. I cannot tell you how this will begin,

nor tell you how things will progress. You must make your best estimations as you can. Max turns to the rest of you and says, I will not be able to assist her ladyship while she is doing this, so I'm at your call. I guess we have to decide who's going to which. Hello, right? Yeah. Yeah, I'm not smart, and I'm not magic, and I really don't know what I can give here,

guys. I'm going to be honest. Spirit connection and hope? Mm. Can we have a just a little- what I can give here, guys. I'm going to be honest. Spirit connection and hope. There will also be tasks. I will call out one foci at a time. In between infusing the foci, there will be other things that must be done. Oh, God.

So, out of character, just to give you a rundown, the way it's going to work is Valena is going to be making the star seed. As she does that, things may happen that she might need help with or you guys need to deal with because it's going to mess you guys up, right? When she can, she will call out a foci. By the start of her next turn,

you have to infuse it. And that means you have to touch it and there will be a thing involved, right? Right. I'm just, because there's a lot of lore, but now I'm trying to get the mechanics for you guys so you understand it right yeah so yeah Valena will always act first initiative she will always be at the top of the initiative right she will begin to when she'll try and construct the thing there will normally be an event that takes place or there might be a thing that happens and then

once she's finished that she can basically call out a foci. You then go and infuse that foci before she takes another turn. If you don't do that, it fails. There will be a consequence and she can only handle so many failures, right? Valena will tell you in character, she basically says she can only allow, I think up to, in fact, I'm not going to say how many

because I'm not sure, but she says she can only handle a handful of failures. Yeah, Very well. But we've got no idea what we're actually going to be doing. But there will be things that you have to do. So you might want to have one person at each foci. You could do that. You might want to come up with it,

like have you all gathered in the middle and then you jump to things as you need them. Yeah. But when somebody does successfully infuse a foci, they must remain next to it. If you leave that foci, it will become uninfused and you will have to do it again.

Is that an automatic failure then? It would count as an automatic failure and you've got to redo it again. Did she say there was an order we had to do them all in as well? Yes, she would call out the order, you don't have to worry about that it is memory, magic, spirit, knowledge, connection, hope and it goes, memory is

the one on her left, in the gated left hand side magic is the one at the end of the bridge spirit is the one at the end of the bridge. Spirit is the one on the broken area, the kind of like broken section. Knowledge is the one onto her right in the gated section. Connection is the one behind her beyond the forge. And then hope is the one is basically embedded into the ceiling.

It's kind of like a hanging down from the ceiling kind of thing. There is a platform there, but it is very thin. It's connected by a bunch of chains up to the ceiling, which there isn't a ceiling, so it's sort of just hovering there. Okay. All right. Cool. Finally written it down.

Yeah. I'm doing it. The other thing I will tell you, mechanically, Valor will have her own initiative. Valor will tell you this, and she'll just say, I don't know what's going to be involved in me. If I am capable, I will aid you in whatever way I can, if I am able to.

There are a few things I might be able to do. I can create portals to link a space, two spaces together, to allow you to travel quickly. I missed that. I learnt it from you, Nova. I will also be able to enhance time around one of you, allowing you to actually, it will basically give you the haste spell. Oh, amazing.

So you get an extra action. It won't increase your movement speed, but it will give you an extra action each round. And then finally, I will be able to give you a mote of my divine sort of luck that will help you with tasks. And that's basically a reroll on an ability check or a saving throw. Okay. But to do that, Valor has to make a saving throw on her turn. If she fails it, she can't help you.

She's so focused on doing this thing. If she succeeds, any one of you at any time can basically be like, Valor, portal, and then she'll make the portal. Right? So it's like you get a power if she makes a saving throw. Just call on her.

Yeah. And I'll remind you of those things. If you just be like, what does Valor do again? I'll be like, she can do these three things. Okay. But it basically becomes

a free power for you that you can do. All right? All right. Yeah. We're just forging a new Arois. Sort of. Kind of. Like a little, what do they call it forging a new Arois. Sort of. Kind of.

Like a little what do they call it time capsule. Arois time capsule. In a Arecibo record. Is that what it is? Yeah.

I don't know what that is. I'm going to say goodbye to the past and make a new future. Bam. I like that.

All right. Any out of character questions? No. Where do we need to be? Oh, are we actually underwater right now? No, this is a stone chamber. It's just like normal air.

We're just walking around like normal. Great. That's the first thing you said. Yeah, that was so long ago. That's been a while, hasn't it? 20 minutes. I guess we'll just stand somewhere in the middle, right? Are we going to designate people to particular tasks?

We're going to designate because there's quite a lot of distance to cover. Honestly, you've got 50 minutes to basically figure out what you want to do. We'll go to break, and then when we come back from break, we'll actually kick off. We'll actually start the task. Nice, sounds good. All right, who wants to do memory? That was one of them.

I think that should be Nova, because you technically have Tiangong inside you as well. I kind of feel that's more connected, although it could be like Sentry as well, because Sentry is the memory of... I can tell you what the... Valenia will give you a bit more information on each foci as well. That would be useful.

So memory is the memory of people, places, the moments and stories, not scientific knowledge, but lived experience. That sounds like Guardians to me. It is kind of Guardians. I'll read them out. Magic, the power and wonder of magic, divine and arcane, the moat of possibility that magic creates. You want to double bird that thing?

We can double bird that thing. We'll double bird that thing. You can't double bird it. You can't double bird it, but you can sure. You can't double bird it? It's one person. I'll be thinking of you. I think you're knowledge.

Spirit. Knowledge. Oh, shit. Spirit is courage, determination, strength, willpower, our long struggles

in battle and adversity. That's Nova for sure. With my minus two strength. Knowledge, facts, figures, data, instructions, timelines, history, and collected law. Shit. That could be either if you do, to be fair.

Well, I've also got the tome of knowledge. Well, yeah, that's probably... Connection. Bonds between people. Emotive connections to the living and the dead. The power of unity. Oh, that could be Guardian E. That sounds like Guardian E. Plus Max. Max can help us. Max power of unity. Oh, that could be Guardian. That sounds like Guardian-y. Plus Max.

Max can help us. Max can help out. True, yeah. He won't know anything about this place, though, so memories are out of the question. Yeah, I mean, like, yeah, there's six Fokine. There's only five of you. Max is going to have to help out on one.

Yeah. And then finally, hope. The hope for the future. Small hopes, dreams, wishes. Follow. Pretty good at wishes. and then finally hope the hope for the future small hopes dreams wishes Valor pretty good at wishes

moments of hope Valor is bound to do this I wish all of us were birdies no get that bird away put that in the star seed

yeah sure damn they were all birds can you imagine if you said I wish we were all birdies instead of just... Oh, my God, I'd be furious. I'd be mad at it.

Someone did the art. Yeah, and I'm a little blue jay. It's so cute. Yeah, I'm an eagle. Would that have repaired my arm if he'd done that? I don't even know why we're talking about it. It didn't happen. You've got bigger worries at the minute.

Yeah, we do. Okay. So I'm pretty solid on magic. Yeah, I'm probably spirit. I think I'm locked into knowledge. It's just the connections, the... Memory and hope. And memory that need to be allocated.

All right, which one is more sensory? Connection, hope, or memory? Because she's all three, really. I think hope. Hope? Like, you're the most hopeful out of all of us. You did also restore, like, the entire Guardian race to lead them into the future.

That is the most hopeful thing any of us have done. The other thing I would say is don't forget, Max is going to have to do one of these and there's certain things that he's probably like, he has no connection

to Arois, he doesn't have any knowledge about Arois. You've got to think who Max is as a person. Hey Max, how hopeful are you feeling about the future?

He just kind of frowns. It's not my world. I don't really know. This is your reality, though. Yes, but this seems to be very dedicated to your world. I'm really not sure. That's true. If it was not, I know I understand Alo is likely the most one,

but, I mean, battle and courage, yes, I understand those things. I have some knowledge of magic. I know magic quite well, coming from Gideon Prime, but I'm afraid the rest, I'm not sure if I will be much use. I mean, he can do spirit and I can do something else. Connection, maybe? What was connection again?

Connection is bonds between people, emotive connections to the living and the dead, the power of unity. How about another one? Knowledge? How hopeful do you feel about? No, I'm not. How hopeful do you feel about the future, Ayla?

You're going to smack the shit out of it, aren't you? I mean, memory as well. Memory could, Ayla could do memory. I could do memory. I do have weird flashbacks of... Memory, like,

memory is kind of very general. It seems to just be about sort of, yeah, your lived experiences. Like, the small stories of the world, right? Not just, like, the knowledge in books, but the places, the people, the faces. You're pretty well-travelled.

Yeah, you also have some tied connection. Not to link you to connection, but you have some link to an old version of you. No, that's what I'm saying. I could do memory. It just means that that's up first and I'm saying I could do memory it just means that that's up first and I'm out of the fight

that well yeah which is why yeah so if you need some strength I might not be

you could I mean Max might say like I mean I have some memories that since I've arrived here on Arise I could try but I don't think it would be

as strong would it? Do you feel emotional connections with us? No. Yeah, no. I feel like I'm protective of her ladyship, but... What about your connection to Vala? Yeah, she is.

It is possible. You are her protector. Is that what will be asked of Max, though? One specific connection? You don't know. And even Felina doesn't know exactly what's going to happen when you try and infuse these folk.

You probably need someone more versatile. Spirit is probably the one that he is best shot. If we're to reallocate you, considering connection, knowledge, and hope,

not up there in your top three, battle in spirit. That is something I know very well, yes. Valor, where do you see yourself? I think that I'm needed here, Lucius. I think I can help. I think I'm going to be needed in the construction.

Yeah, it's basically five of us and then one where we... What speaks to you the most? Connection and hope is what we have. Connection with your matrix or hope at the future. Oh, it's difficult i feel like you can also just see like what the scenario is like you might not be able to send the people you want to the thing you want because of other stuff going on like there might be we could just leave the last three open i feel feel like Sentry's probably the only one.

She's got spirits and dead. Yeah. She's the only one with that. So maybe Nova fits better. Oh, yeah. I have. That was terrifying. Vanilla technically brought you back,

so it's a good connection there. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. So wait, where is Nova again? Hope. Maybe hope. Hope. I guess I hope to...

Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to shut my mouth. I hope to travel to the stars and see Thalia again. I hope to see Gannis. I hope to see Vorten Sarfreed. I don't mean to diminish the hopes but in, I mean the grand scheme of an entire civilisation's

uh, posterity uh, I hope to see someone in space might not be enough well you did cut me off before I got to the real smushy stuff. Go for the smushy I hope that you survive, Quill that's not smushy. I hope that you survive, Quill.

That's not smushy. I hope I survive. All right. Well, maybe it's best to see and act on a whim when it feels right to you. Go to it. Do you guys want to position yourselves on the mat? Yeah, I mean, I'll nudge towards no ledge.

Uh, yeah. I can't remember which one's which. Well, brilliantly, Fletcher and Hope are very far away from each other. Sorry, Sandry. I'm very top heavy. We can nudge each other around during the break, I think. Do you want to be actually up here next to the knowledge column quill, or do you want to be still on the central tower? I think I'll stick to the central tower,

just in case I've got no idea what's going to happen when she activates it. I'll be at the base of this bridge, right? Where's memory? Memory's the first one, so it's this one over here. Yeah, I'll stay in the middle there, yeah. Nova? Hope is up on the ceiling. Yeah.

Hope and the other one are real far apart from each other. There they are. Remember, we might get a portal from Valor. That's true. Yeah, I'll go back to maybe the connection one. You're going to go behind? I'll go behind, yeah. He was spirit.

Spirit was this one over here. Okay. I'm sad that I don't get spirit. Yeah, I'll go back, yeah. Sounds fun. It's not that you don't have spirit It's that Max It's directly up as well So there is a platform to stand on

And it is directly above the anvil Also Valor could Throw you up there as well I guess If she makes her saving throw Gravity thrust Oh good you can start oscillating up there You can also oscillating up there. You can also just levitate, dude.

You've levitated. I know. Too slow. Not good enough. It's not our style. Um, alright. Okay. Well, in that case, let's take break a little. It's five minutes. In fact, it's perfect. Perfect time. We're going to end this part here. Join us for the next part. See you then. See you. See you.

See you.