High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #160 | Howard

Episode Date: September 15, 2022

The team returns, tired and beaten, to a welcoming Stormchaser where they catch up with crewmates and more! 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

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Order now. Alcohol in select markets. See app for details. Hello, and welcome back to Hyrolers. After an arduous journey, the champions of Erois have defeated Kevara. Titan of Erois, bestowed with divine power over the dead, she was driven to desperate and selfish acts because of the burden of her role and the despair of the incoming threat of Hadar. But defeated, her essence has

rejoined with Siaska and the champions finally get a moment for a well-earned rest. And that is where we jump back in today. Yeah. As mentioned, you guys have leveled up to now, I believe, level 18. 18, baby. Do a new quick round table of who got what. Start with Katie. What did you get? More hit points.

And also, if I, is it indomitable might? Yes. If I roll a strength check and it's below my strength score, I can use my

strength score instead, which is 25, so I can't roll a strength check below 25. Not saving throws, but like ability checks and things like that.

Athletics checks. 25. In 25. Athletics checks. 25. In 25. Huge. Tommy. Because I'm a little bit behind on the curve because of my multi-classing, I got to a level 16 in Cleric, level 2 in Wizard. So I got the ability score increase or feat, and I love feat.

Don't take that out of context. Hi, TikTok. And I love feet. Don't take that out of context. So I went through. I could have taken Warcaster to give me advantage on the concentration checks. But I've got Holy Aura now. Don't need that. So I picked the skill expert feet and gave myself expertise in perception. My perception checks are now plus 18. My passive perception is now 33.

Oh, my God. And I also increased my dexterity with that skill as well, so I have a higher AC. That was half the reason I picked it. Might not be on the overlays, but that's fine. Well, that's fine.

33 perception is good. Imagine if your Dungeon master pointed out that feat as like a little tempting little treat. Yeah, I mean, I needed it. I needed it. A little crummy. But the extra AC was probably the main reason I picked it. What's your AC?

It's now 15. Oh, cute. Or 20 if I use shield. Yeah. That was pretty good. Lovely. Pretty good. Kim, if I use shield. Yeah. That was pretty good. Lovely. Pretty good. Kim, slash no?

None. Nothing? Well, I'm in a weird void between my multi-classing. So I'm five warlock. I'm 13. I chose to go one up in fighter. I think I'll probably stick with leveling up fighter for now to the end. Yeah.

Because it was a choice between level six warlock. You get that Accursed Specter ability back. You know that one where I managed it once after several years of playing where I rose like the little gremlin

from the dead and then he followed me around like a little minion. Yeah, I could have gotten that back. But no, instead I went for that which means I now have

two uses of Indominatable. And you know, more hit points. Fighter gets more hit points every bad thing. Which one is Indomitable? That's the one where I can reroll a saving throw. That's pretty good.

One of the four. I've got two now. It's pretty good. It's a pretty good town. So yeah, pretty... can't think of the word. Good. Lucius? Nothing big.

I just got a new sorcery origin feature called Prismatic Mastery. Oh! Which, you know, spends six sorcery points, changed my eyes into brilliant prisms of light. Do you remember that, Mark? You wrote that. Whilst transformed in this way... I might have forgotten about this ability. I might need to check it again.

It says here it kills all titans. No, it does not. I gain true sight for the range of 120 feet. Oh my gosh. I also gain resistance to fire, acid, lightning, poison, cold, thunder, force, radiant, necrotic damage. It's only for... Not permanently.

Still, that's really good. In addition, it's not finished. Once per turn, when I use your dichromancy feature, I can choose to have it deal damage of any type. Listen, dichromancy. Wow. It doesn't have to be the one that I cast. It doesn't have to be the one that I cast.

It doesn't have to be acid and cold now. And when I do so, that damage is increased to my charisma modifier plus my sorcerer level plus 18. Plus 18 and your charisma. And charisma. You can remain in this state for up to a minute. That's cool. And it ends immediately if you die, obviously.

Mark's like, I need to do some stuff. Six sorcery points, true sight for a minute, and among many other things. But this is like the top end ability for the sorcerer. This is like the last big thing Lucius will get. How many sorcery points do you actually have max? 18, I believe.

18 is the amount I have per level. But keep in mind he has to use them for all of his seeking spells. True, yeah. I thought six was the majority of them all. Yeah, it sounded like it was. It's a good chunk. It's a third. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But still. But yeah, I mean, the only thing that might get changed is the bonus damage to the Dicromancer. No. Only slightly. Boo. No, it's not boo. Boo.

It might go down to like half sorcerer level or something like that, but we'll see. How about... We'll see how it plays and then I'll see. You could nerf that. Yeah. The compromise is I can't mess with Chromatic Orb. No. It's always in that 20.

No, because as we found out in the last fight, you Seeking spell it and then you roll on that 20 when you reroll it now. That was pretty great. That is how it works now, apparently. Well, I mean... I don't need i mean all the time well i mean a big a big milestone for lucius then yeah this one is like the height of of lucius's uh sort of power power special special unique power i look forward to unleashing it on quill yeah good yeah nice top that re finally yeah she probably will yeah she'll find a way hello so i've got've got five more lay-on-hands points. I'm now up to 90 lay-on-hands points.

The auras for aura of protection, aura of warding, and aura of courage, they're now... Bell save, plus 30 save, and all of those. They're now a 30-foot radius. So I haven't got to be right next to people. They can be literally anywhere, so it's huge. Well, not anywhere, but literally 30 feet away. But it's a huge...

Yeah, it's not big. 20, it's 30. It was 10 before, wasn't it? Yeah. And then I've also got another paladin spell. So I've chosen Circle of Power as my fifth level spell. And that is another aura ability. And it gives people in 30 feet of me advantage

on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. And it also halves magical effects damage. If they save against an effect that would allow you to half the damage, you take no damage. So it's like evasion against spells. Oh, wow. To everybody within 30 feet of you. Oh, damage. You take no damage. So it's like evasion against spells. Oh, wow. But to everybody within 30 feet of you. Oh, wow.

It's pretty big. Out of all this, which class do you think D&D favors the most? Just, you know, just listening to everyone. What do you mean? They're all equal. D&D loves all classes equally, Kim. No, it's you, Paladin.

You're my favorite. It's like Wizards saying, I love all my children equally.adin, you're my favourite. It's like Wizards saying, I love all my children equally. You, you're definitely my favourite. Paladin's just like looking at their dad, I love you. I was just imagining the kids swimming in the pool. Yes. All the other classes.

Like Ranger and Warlock. Artificer and Mug. Artificer just dead. Skeleton right at the bottom. No, I joke. Yeah, our opposite just dead. Skeleton right at the bottom. No, I joke. Warlock's an

interesting one. Warlock's very good for like the early levels and then it very massively tapers off. Anyway.

Also, multi-classing, that's just the danger of it. Jokes about classes aside. I went from two multi-classing

because Warlock's boring. Yes, so, leveled up. You guys, I believe, are currently

still in Nightbloom Hold. We hadn't actually left there. But you are in the temple of Calara that would have once been there. And I believe Nova had just lit a fresh candle in there.

And I wasn't exactly... I think there were some discussions about where you wanted to go next, but I figured that we would just refresh it now.

Yeah, I think we close up on the candle as you were leaving. The cinematic exit. The cinematic teleport light blasts to the walls and we were heading to the Halls of Infinite Resplendence, right? We were planning on... We usually visit there when we finish.

We check in. You know all the times we've called a Titan. It's part of a, you know... It's just what we do. It will help to Titan, not always kill, but sometimes helped. While we're there, I believe the Stormchaser is looking for strays. The guardians that you had told to basically said, get out of here. And Cor's going to ping us onto the Stormchaser when we're done.

Yeah, with a book. Well, you feel the familiar multicoloured light of the Wayfinder's Guide pluck you from your current location pulling you at a rapid pace away from

Jakesh the jungles of Jakesh where you have spent the last few days though it may feel much much longer feels like three months and you arrive

once again seeing the mirrored, endless halls. These beautiful, white, enormous, arched corridors that just seem to stretch on forever. At the centre of which, the crossroads of which, there is a large crystal sarcophagi embedded into sort of a plinth into like a sort of raised platform and yeah you now when you arrive you see that before you you do not see any sign of Sayana but you do see the sarcophagi there okay because last time we saw Sayana she was looking elderly older yeah weaker elderly and weaker yeah um mean, I'm definitely looking around to see if Sayana's around anywhere.

What's your perception? With a 33 passive. 33 passive, no sign of Sayana. You do hear... And where in a row is she? Because I can see that too. The sarcophagi bears all the similar things that you've encountered before. You hear the cry of seagulls,

kind of the waves of the ocean. You hear the hammering of an anvil or a forge. I'm trying to think of the other ones. And now it is joined by the sound of bells. But also growing around the plinth, you see beds of flowers, like moss and grass has grown around and sort of flowers have grown. Mostly sort of black roses, but occasionally like other plants and things like that as well, have now grown around it, creating like a little miniature garden.

Has Valor joined us? Yes, I hope so. She's always with you. Her and Max, I believe, are both with you, so... So is it like this monument that's forming, is it like almost taking over

just a larger space? No, it's not really. I mean, it's always been the same thing. It's like a raised kind of platform with this crystalline tomb, almost, upon it. But no, it's more that like the ground around it,

rather than being stone and polished, this kind of bright, shiny, polished stone, has just been grown like as if like moss and grass has grown around it really. It's not enlarged in any way. And it's just more sounds and the smells and sensations. enlarged in any way and it's just more sounds and the smells and sensations uh the mix of sort of the salty sort of the the sea um but now there is also the strong smell of of earth as well and uh freshly freshly overturned soil okay muddled together as if like all again like little traces of each titan are being left surrounding the sarcophagi. I think I'll sort of turn back and almost step aside

and almost gesture to Vala and say, well, I think it makes most sense for you to go forward to see her first. I mean, yes, if you want me to, I don't really mind, but also you're the ones who defeated Kalara, and you are Mother's champions, in a sense. I know she's there, and I've witnessed her, but don't feel like you always have to wait for me. I know where she is. I can sense her.

It's probably worth us seeing if there's a way to have some direct communication. At this point, we're being built up as the champions. And like Valor says, we've got a lot of assumptions about what our purpose is. I'd like to hear it directly from the source. We have heard a voice multiple times now, not just in dreams, but even out there. I'd like to hear it outside of a big battle.

Yeah, yes, I agree. But she may not be ready, I don't know. Spanner will gesture and say, there's one way to find out. Yeah, anyone who wants to go first is totally fine. I'm right behind you. We've seen her before, and I can already sense Hesper's presence in there,

so anyone else? Century will start walking forward. Right behind you, Century. I mean, it's big enough that it's not like one at a time, and platform's big enough that all of you... like one at a time like a platform's big enough that all of you I think it's quite a large thing you know clearly for somebody you know if somebody were to be laying inside the sarcophagi they would be sort of 10 11 feet tall you know by the size of it and things like that um but yeah you make your way up there and um as you draw

closer those sensations the smell of the earth the smell of the sea the sound of gulls the smell of the earth, the smell of the sea, the sound of gulls, the sound of the hammer and the anvil grow a little bit louder. And you see it pulses with, like, a soft radiance from within. There is, like, almost like a heartbeat. There is this... ..of light kind of pulsing through it. But, yeah, you approach the sarcophagus. Do you do anything in particular,

or are you just sort of getting close to it? What's the play? I think Sentry will, sort of, as she's making her way up towards the sarcophagus? Do you do anything in particular or are you just sort of getting close to it? What's the play? I think Sentry will as she's making her way up towards the sarcophagus sort of make herself aware of the life that seems to be flourishing around Siaska. Like before

especially when we first saw her I feel like the atmosphere was very different and now it seems to have completely 180'd almost. So I think Sentry's going to be looking at all the flowers, looking at the glowing light from within, just sort of taking in that shift. The glowing light, although it kind of appears initially

just as a silvery kind of light, like a glow, you begin to see that the light itself is actually not one single source but hundreds dozens thousands of like little tiny star-like pulsars and they all kind of because they're so small and they all pulse together it makes it look like it's one giant light but it's actually more like looking into astral space itself but just like magnified you. So much condensed starlight. It just appears like a silvery miasma. As you get closer,

you begin to see the individual little points kind of pulsing. Yeah, that's so cool. But yeah, you stare there and look at it, but there doesn't appear to be any change. You stare there and look at it, but there doesn't appear to be any change. Siaska, I wanted to thank you for your assistance out there, and I pray that you can hear me right now,

and I'm really hoping you'll be able to respond in some way, but I don't think we could have finished that fight without your assistance um so you feel you don't hear anything you don't see anything but you do feel uh that sort of sea breeze quill almost gently push on your back as if pushing you forwards i'll yeah i mean i'll follow the it pushes you right up to the sarcophagus if you kind of follow and then as you get close to pushing you forwards. I'll, yeah, I mean, I'll follow the... It pushes you right up to the sarcophagi. If you kind of follow, and then as you get close to the sarcophagi, it seems to die down. I'll lean in a little closer

and hope that helps in some way. Yeah, I mean, looking inside, you can see now the outline of a form, feminine form in flowing robes, the hair flat, lifeless, but still the source of that light, almost like this kind of pulsing scene of astral sea and space of stars, but almost looking like they're sleeping, but the form is still hazy, translucent like a spectre's. They appear almost as if sleeping, but just sort of like peering in.

Okay. Well, I presume response in any way will use up too much of your much-needed energy. So, but we are very close. Just two remain? A Telkis and Syanna, but... Three. While this is going on, Nova is looking around everywhere for Syanna.

That's fine. Does not appear. Hmm. Yeah. Alador, Telekis, Syanna. Yeah. Can I just put a hand on the sarcophagus? When you put your hand on the sarcophagus,

you hear a voice in your head, not in anybody else's. You would hear, yeah, I think it would just, knowing you as well, you would hear a very soft, muddly voice similar to the one that you heard just before you faced Kalara for the second time. Hello, Aayla. Oh! Oh! Oh! What? You do not need to be alarmed.

I can only speak. Please let Kelek know that I can only speak if he places his hand upon the sarcophagus. If we all did it, could you speak to us all at once? Could we have a conversation? Wait, you can hear right now hello oh there it is she's here hands on yeah this is a champion of my son she would call you girl she would say specifically um yeah uh so if you all go up and place your hands on it, you would all hear, My champions, I cannot speak with you long, but I have enough strength for a brief moment. I don't know what to say.

What's your favourite colour? I knew you were going to do it. There is a genuine sort of like little laugh almost, like a little motherly sort of like, oh, child's asked a funny question kind of thing. Laugh. Special thing. The stars do not have one color, but many.

Any light, any source of vibrancy brings me a lot of hope. Is Sayana with you? No. She is still present of the world. She is on something of a little journey, I think, before the end. There were many places, people, songs that she wished to hear before the end. Please do not be alarmed. She is not in any danger and she is still strong enough to travel. But before, she knew that she would succeed and that it will not be long until it is time for her to rejoin me.

Well, I hope to see her one more time, at least. You will. You will. What about Paladol? My bright and glorious son is no longer connected to me in the same way. His energy has reached me in a form, though I will be lesser for it when I am myself again, but his connection to the Sunship, a powerful Genesis relic of itself, has changed him, severed our connection and bonded the two of them together. So we only need to stop Atelicus's rage and see Syanna one more time and you'll be back?

That is correct, though Atelicus is the one I worry most. I had not realized how far Calara had fallen. But Atelicus, my rage, my desperate need to protect and to survive lingers in him and with that that gives me great cause of concern. He is more cunning than you think as well. He is no fool. Do not think him a mindless beast. There is a reason that he has not yet revealed himself and he manages to hide so well from my daughter. How much time do we have? I do not know, Saint Dupre. My understanding of the world is still so limited, even with the power that you have restored to me. I can see little beyond my children that allow me to, Sayana, Vala, yourselves, what connections I have, but beyond that, my sight, my understanding is limited.

Beyond the Titans, rejoining you, what do you hope from us afterwards? You. I... What I hope for is that you will help me defeat a creature that has not been defeated. That you will help me protect everything from the end. But that is merely a hope.

I understand that it will be a great burden to ask of you, and I would never enforce it upon you. ask of you and I would never enforce it upon you. But I believe that you may represent this universe's best hope. Perhaps its only hope. Forgive me, I just don't understand. Why us? Do you wish me to be honest? Please. I did not know it would be you, Lucius, son of Varian, son of Elowen.

I did not know it would be Nova Vija, student of science and magic in the plains. Kelek, former messenger who lost his wing. Aela, a very interesting story, but also a member of the Eredith and of the wild elves of Arise. Or even a soldier lost from time, transported from a world hundreds of years ago to today, and now the leader of her own people. It could have been anyone. It is perhaps fate, the will of this universe alone, or perhaps just that you have what it takes to be heroes.

But it is you now, only you, that have the strength to do what must be done. Not just the strength, I correct myself, not just strength, but also the heart and the mind and the will. I know many who are strong, but they would not be able to defeat the evil that awaits them. There have been ones who have asked me to help them do so, and I have refused, perhaps to my own cost, to the cost of many that I held very dear. But they were not ready, they would not have succeeded. In you, perhaps you are my last chance, my last hope. But you are hope nonetheless. Okay.

I'm sure we are all in this 100%. And you know that. You're with us all the time. I do not always know what is in your hearts. And it is one thing to make a decision for oneself, and another to feel that the decision has been thrust upon you. Well, I think, given the situation, it's either we'd fight or Hadar wins. Even I cannot tell what is in the future. I believe you to be a hope.

I believe you to have the strength to stop Hadar. I may be wrong. Perhaps there will be others in time. Perhaps there are others who I am not yet, that I do not yet know. You are simply the ones that I have put my faith in. But it is always your choice. And if your choice is not to fight, then so be it. That will be a choice that you have made. And those who remain will do what they can. If we can stop what happened to Alfheim from happening to Erois, that's a no-brainer.

Yeah, I wish not fighting was an option, but if we don't, I think we all know what's going to happen. Not be able to see the future or not. It's going to happen. So, fighting will stop it. We've fought enough to get to this point. What's another fight amongst hundreds of fights before? We can do this. If nothing else, take heed in this.

Hadar is an ancient and powerful evil. But, like all great evils, Hadar underestimates those it sees as beneath them. Hadar is cautious around Calus and I But it knows it can defeat us Hadar thinks it could easily destroy you But it does not know you does not understand you it does not know your capacities

That is where its error lies It believes that mortal life is inferior to immortal, simply because that is what it has always known. It was a capricious, arrogant define before its corruption. Now its corruption only increases that belief, that it is superior to life that has limits. I do not believe this. You may not be divine, you may not be immortal, but there are things that mortal life can do that a god or goddess never can. And it is in that that I believe perhaps lies the key to Hadar's defeat.

What do you think we can do to make Calus see what we see? From the knowledge that I have at least witnessed, you, Aela of Alfheim, have already done much to do so. I would not be surprised if my former... If that man does not surprise you once more before the end. He is stubborn. Frustratingly stubborn. And he is driven and perhaps sometimes too cynical.

But in the depths of his heart, I know he cares for this world, for every world, and for the universe beyond. If there is a chance that he will see that his way is flawed, that you can offer something that he cannot, I...

I hope he will see it. If you believe in us, Siaska, I believe in us. Of course. I have always believed in you, as I believe in all of my children, all life upon earth. But you have proven yourselves.

You do not just need my faith. Look at all you have accomplished. Look at all you have done, the lives you have saved, the deeds that you have told. Look at your story. You need not my faith, just faith in yourselves. My power is fading and I grow weary. Oh, oh, do you want to speak to Vala?

Vala's here. You should probably speak to Vala, right? Vala! It is all right. We are closer than you know. I have no need to speak to vala vala's here you should probably speak to vala right vala it is all right we are closer than you know i have no need to speak with her i would await the day that i can hold her and see her with my own form we'll do everything we can to make that happen for you. Thank you, Sin. I'm fine. Thank you, Siaska. Good luck. Bye, Jem.

There he goes, flying. Is that what you wanted to hear? Yes. Yeah? Yes. Good, because, hmm. I like this room. This room is nice. I like it here.

Can we stay here? Let's not stay here. Boredom. Sorry? She was saying that mortals can create something that immortals and divinity can't conceive of, and that can defeat Hedar. Boredom. Sorry.

Elaborate. Yeah. We know how to be bored. Could you imagine being a divinity and creating bored? You have the divinity of love, of death, of adventure. You don't have one of boredom. You should tell that to Hadar. I will.

That'll bore him to death. Well, maybe that will work, and that's the answer. Maybe that's why all these divinities can't get the job done, because they don't know boredom. Okay. So that's plan A right now? I might have to think about that. Put some lists together.

Work out the probabilities. See where it is on the hierarchy. Isn't boredom what drives people to do things, though? I guess, because if a divine's bored, then they just make more stuff. They do something, or they become corrupt, or they have a stronger motive. Yeah, it's just... I think boredom can drive a divinity as much as a mortal. It's like the opposite.

It's like he's too cocky about it. He thinks he's conquered everything, and then we come up and he's like, oh, I've done this before, you know, defeat little mortal people, and then he doesn't get it, really. I'll have to go back to the drawing board with that one. I was thinking about that the whole time she was talking.

You were thinking boredom the entire time? No, I was thinking of the answer to her statement. I didn't want to bring anything up but you had such a furrowed brow throughout. Yeah. I was just trying to

Could you hear her? Are you touching it correctly? Well, she gave me a puzzle and I was trying to work out a solution. Siaska would have known the furrowed brow was a thinking face.

She's clever enough. Resting thinking face. Yeah. I was going to say that you do have a there it is. Most importantly She to say that. You do have a... There it is. Most importantly, she doesn't have a favorite color. Well...

She likes all the colors. She said it was space, so space color. Yeah. So I think every color. Space was lots of colors. And that's exactly like me, so we have so many things in common. I don't know, you seem to be missing brown. That's not true. A bit green as well, I haven't seen green on you.

I'm not even a stranger. That's not true. Red? I have all colors, all kinds. Actually no, you do have red, Jules. Pink? Yes. Where?

Lucius shows the lining of his purple, which is very pink, and it's patterned with gold filigree. Okay. It's vibrant. It's closer than the other colors. Also the brown. I mean, I've seen you take color from other things before, and you've definitely taken something from my feathers. You dyed your hair brown once.

Oh yeah. In Gusthaven. All colors are great and me and Ziasca were like this. Okay, good. If this is a competition, it's not a competition. I'm an interesting story. I still don't really know what that is, by the way. I'm just here.

I'm just here too. I'm just here. I'm just here, too. I'm just here. Boarding. Just here. Trying to do things. I think we should just turn up the fire and just hope that he thinks that we're terrible and that he's going to defeat us easily and then, bam! You uppercut the god of death.

You did? Yeah. And smashed her down. So I wouldn't say just here. Yeah, yeah, there was lightning, lots of lightning. That was huge. So. At the very least, I hope that if it all goes badly,

Hadar eats us and we get stuck in his throat and he chokes from the inside out. He would, yeah. It's like form a line and make ourselves really long. Spiky, yeah. Yeah, you can get real big. Yeah. I can duplicate.

To be fair, it's either world ends, boring, or world ends but we go out in a cool way, right? And? Warrior's death. The seed that we helped Velaena create will be found in some other multiverse somewhere else,

somewhere along that web. And the web gets severed. If it works. We're going to save for us. Oh, we are? Yes. Oh, yeah, but I'm just saying, you know, worst case scenario is a pretty epic death. No worst case scenario.

We need to stop thinking about worst case scenario. Sure. We put too much focus on... She's done her thing again. She's gone. She's thinking about boredom again. I'll let her think that. I'm working out the probabilities of your statement.

Never tell me the odds! You don't need to. Siaska's already given us hope. And that's enough for me. We have to believe in ourselves, that's what she says. So I won't hear another word of worst-case scenarios. Only best case. What kind of variable is hope? Infinite. Okay, how about we all defeat Hadar and everything goes to plan.

What then? What would we like to do? Wait, as in a world without Hadar? As in a world after Hadar. All we've thought about is Hadar and saving the world. When that's done, what next? Sail around the world on a giant airship that we've thought about is Hadar and saving the world. When that's done, what next? Sail around the world on a giant airship that we've inherited somehow. Siaska showed it to me in some form. At least I saw a potential Arois with people travelling to and from,

exploring other worlds. It looked peaceful. That would be what we'd face. But what would we like to do? What would you... What would you like to get excited about? You know, planning for the future. Something to carry us over that final hurdle.

What would you like to do? I'm going to start a shop. Yeah? Yes. It's going to be a fine bespoke tailoring to provide the fashion to all of Eros, inspired by Gusthaven, and seasonal. Would you hire an accountant? Please hire an accountant. I would need the money side of things sorted out, yes.

Yeah, please don't set the prices yourself. The nobles and everything in Gusthaven. We know a very good dwarf who's very good with business. Ooh! You could team up. That would be pretty cool. I feel the clothes that I wear, everyone should get to wear them. So I'd offer these clothes to everybody. How much did your clothes currently cost?

Oh, that doesn't matter. A few coppers here and there. Coppers? It would be more of a charity. Pulling in favours, finding resources and giving back. And making people look stylish in the process. That's true, they would. Sounds nice.

But if... No, I don't want to dampen it. That's what I would do, Century. And I'd use airships like my father sent me on to trade them. Sounds lovely.

Hold on to that. No matter how hard it gets. Fashion. What about you, Century? You asked the question, do you have an answer of what you will do? I don't know. I've got the guardians. Suppose you would be a leader for them. You would need to guide them into whatever they do next. I would. There's also what I used to do as well.

And I don't know, being a teacher again and maybe helping lost children around Arois, maybe around all of space

setting up a safe place to help guide not just children lost guardians, just lost souls being a protector for everyone and I can make tiny little outfits for them tiny shoes yes

tiny little shoes I can provide the clothes that they need. Yes! Amazing. Tiny shoes. I mean, yeah, that's got me excited. Max, you look confused. Not confused, but it's a centuries question. Would you go back to... Starbane?

Like, what would you do? The Emperor? I don't know. I don't know if I would be welcomed back. I... I don't know if I have... I don't know. It's... Being a soldier, being a...

member of the army, you'll never... The idea of defeating Hadar, it's... It's not really ever been something discussed. We know that there is a threat. Many of us expect to die in the battle against the great evil, the great all-encompassing, all-devouring evil we are proud to give our lives in the service. I don't think I've ever thought about what would happen if it was defeated. It's just not something that's really been a concept. I know that the Emperor wishes to have a peaceful, united universe. I guess perhaps

I always thought that if I outlived the battles, if I grew too old to fight, I would be a mentor perhaps, a teacher as well, training troops. But if there was no need for battle, if there were no need for further troops, I don't know. I really don't. You never had anything else? I've only ever known battle and... that's it.

You know, blacksmithing, perhaps? Not as a passion. A trait taught to me by my father, the nature of his people, but... not as a... I do it because I know it is useful. It's not something I particularly care for. I guess I suppose it would be something.

I just don't know if that's the life I would choose for myself. But then I don't really have any other better ideas. I guess it's just, I just was surprised by it. It is just not something that we've ever discussed in the Empire, the idea that Hadar could one day be finally stopped. It's been going on for so long. You just sort of stop thinking about it, really.

Hm. What about you two? Oh, um, that's a, yeah. I shouldn't train people, I did think of that, but last time I did that, I threw rocks at the wolf pack and they didn't dodge them very well, and I'm not allowed to do that anymore but they are a lot better at combat now I have noticed are they cuz they did get hit in the head quite a lot less yeah I think it might have done some serious damage they at

least don't scatter as much they don't scatter but they still don't scatter as much. They don't scatter, but they still don't dodge very well. So, maybe not. And Lucius did throw a lot of spells at them, too. Yeah. But, I mean... Yeah. You were as good as teaching them combat as I was teaching them about magic. I don't think I'm a good teacher. To be fair, I did hit them in the head before they went into the class, so it probably didn't help the learning situation. It was your fault. Sure. I'm a fine teacher. Most things are.

I don't know. I think I would restore Yohandrius back in the Valley of Storms, I think. Oh. Try to build the world that Siaska showed me. Maybe train with the Messenger's Guild again. Work with librarians. I mean, Hesper gave me this site. So I may as well use it as a gift to give out to anyone who needs it. Working with librarians, researchers, anyone. I guess become the Seer of Aroas. working with librarians, researchers, anyone.

I guess become the Seer of Aroas. Yeah. I just want to actually find someone who can do what I do. Like, same powers, same source, figure everything out. Where did I come from? And why? And how do I keep that going? You're my first client.

Cool. Actually, I could do that now. I mean, we're going to see a lot of wild elves. You know, Italicus might be helpful. But I guess spend some time there, but then I'll probably get bored if I don't have fights for that long, so then I'll just try and find some help out with smaller fights that, you know, don't end the world.

That might be fun. I could come with you and help you with guardians. Yeah, no, I was going to say, I was scared of a future in which I wouldn't be travelling with any of you again. So I would help out as much as I can. I'd want to journey with you to find your past and help you set up the saviour organisations,

the City of Glass. Yes! Restore that to its former might in some way. Maybe make that a guardian stronghold. See, this is why we still need each other. No matter what end comes. And also, this cloak is very red. It could be a lot more colourful.

Lucius? Don't get me started. I have so many ideas about how we can just change all of that. Okay, perfect. You could have a champion's fashion line. As long as it's available for everyone, yes. You could have a champion's fashion line. As long as it's available for everyone, yes.

Nova, would you just fly by in space with Thalia? It sounds nice. I would definitely be linked to Tiangong. I still need to return Tiangong to what they want. If they want the Triumvirate, if they want to reunite the Eterna, I'd be linked to that. But after that, you know what, Quill?

I'd need your help. I want to set up an astral library. Oh, my God. Are we stuck with each other forever now? Is that what we're saying? Could you imagine a central resource with knowledge from the entire universe that would be incredible that's a lot of clothing could bring could bring future generations there to learn about eros and learn about the universe and but that's the thing so

many people don't know about they're outside of their world and and i think not knowing connect people scared so yeah if we could connect a row is connect all the planets people could learn about each other's worlds and cultures and I think that would be a Really big library and I would be so happy Okay, so yeah, I think we're still question we are Stuck with each other. Oh, fantastic.

You know what it won't be? It won't be boring. So take that, Hadar. Yes. We have defeated you. Your one weakness, your only weakness. Friends we made along the way. And hey, we do have a giant city ship.

We do. Oh, yeah. We still need a commander for that,. We do. Oh, yeah. We still need a commander for that, by the way. Yes. Yeah. We should maybe... Max? Max.

Max? You thought about commanding a giant city that is also a ship? I have not had experience in the Astral Navy. I know a little. I could certainly provide tactical knowledge. But again, I still do not... This is still a very difficult position for me to be in. I am...

I still do not consider myself a sort of member. I... You are... I would call you friends. We did it! a sort of member. I, you are... I would call you friends. We did it! But, but, I am still, in my heart, a knight of Gideon and a knight of the Empire. I could not command a force of Erosian troops,

not while my emperor and this planet are still at war. We're talking about after, though. This is future things, so when he comes to his senses, which he will. Just to say we're not at war anymore. I guess, I mean, if Hadar is gone, who else will, what, other threats? If there were other threats, then yes, I would continue to serve as a military force. I suppose if there were parts of the Empire that broke away or caused disruption, I've long suspected that the fiends will not,

once the threat of Hadar is gone, I imagine the fiends will not be so easy and willing to work together with many of the others without a common enemy. There you go, there's a thing. So that could always be a danger, but yes, without a threat, I don't feel there would be much need

for commanders and warriors, but I suppose if there were still things to face against threats, military... There is always a need for warriors somewhere in the universe that's not just a rowist. Like a universal space military that acts on the same rules and principles everywhere. Some kind of UN Federation? Sounds like you're describing the Valkyrian Empire to me, just with Eroic.

Or maybe with a less conquering against people's wills. Conquer the Valkyrian Empire. Eros perhaps, Alphine perhaps exception. Even then, Alphine voluntarily, as far as my history has told me, they voluntarily left their world. Eros perhaps is a little different. I don't want to just expose more wounds that are starting to heal, but maybe speak to the people of the recent acquisitions.

Or maybe the high elves of Jasavir? Gideon's a good start. Well, they did, from my understanding, they transported themselves to a world already part of the Empire. is they transported themselves to a world already part of the Empire. So you impose what rule you want to and perhaps not consider sending them back? Well, I don't know if that is even possible. I can't speak to it.

But imagine if an alien force suddenly found themselves transported to a rois. I don't have to. My ancestors literally did that. Very well. It is a case of the people... I do not know your history. Are you saying that there was never conflict

between the Ganassi who arrived here and the people of Eros? There absolutely was, but I don't understand. In our case, the Ganassi eventually made peace with the Rosians, worked together in the Dark War against you, but the Jasavir High Elves, where are they? I could not tell you, I'm afraid.

You know what? I do not know. It could be a good thing, though, because look at us. Look at all of us. We're an Arco Cry Ganassi, a High Elf, a Wild Elf, a high elf, a wild elf, a guardian, a half-fire giant who's part of the Valkyrian Empire. We're a very, very... Goddess.

Goddess. Demi-goddess. Sorry, goddess. And we could do a lot here because, you know... Yeah, we're quite diverse. And I remember every time we used to walk into everyone looked at me like I was a piece of shit yeah

so other end of this I want to see everyone be nice I don't want to walk into a town and people look at me like I'm awful when I do good things I sometimes do crap things but I mostly do good things jeez to go back to your point when I do good things. I sometimes do crap things, but I mostly do good things. Jeez.

To go back to your point, Nobomedia, I am learning that there are perhaps elements of the Empire that are not, that don't live up to the same ideals that I have always held, and that I know the Empire does, that has good things about it. I don't believe the Emperor would want to cause harm to these high elves but it could be that they were they were taken

somewhere for their own safety for example or maybe they're being kept somewhere to protect the rest I don't know but I maybe there's been something nefarious done. I can't say that that is not always the case. I am aware that the Empire is not perfect, but at least its intent is not to be a conquering force. It is meant to be a unification, a force that fights against Hadar. And to my understanding, many of the worlds have that. The Feywild, for example.

They are not conquered, they are voluntarily vassals, they keep their own laws, they have their own nobility in charge of their worlds, but they join us. We have treaties and trade and the like to keep us united. That is my understanding of the Empire, at least. That is what I have always seen and been told that the Empire is meant to function as. I understand your point of view, but in the case of Erois, you can't deny that there's conflict here. No, and I'm beginning to understand that the history I was taught about that conflict

is not accurate, and it seems as well that from your own understandings it is not your own history is not entirely accurate either. This sounds like it is... sounds like your goddess and my emperor have much to answer for in that regard. They both made decisions for other people and it is unfortunate. I have seen much good of the people of Oroes, and it does... I'm saddened that there has to have been conflict, and I know in particular sentry, you and I both understand those costs perhaps more than many others.

Yes. Yes, I do understand that, and I hope that my Emperor will see that there is another way now Now, I hope that. I genuinely do. So I do understand. Patisserie. You could make very bespoke, tiny little cakes. Oh, no, I am not a cook. I'm... But the fire you forge, you could put into an oven.

And... Blacksmith? We already... I mean, yes, I can make those things. You said it wasn't his passion. Yeah, but... I'm not much of a chef, either. I've mainly lived off rations and military.

Yes, you haven't tried. No, to be exact. You've unlocked the passion. You should try some of my mum's cooking. I mean, very well. I do find your Erosian food very unusual. It is very, quite often, very sweet. She makes fire Ganassi food

that appeal to a hotter palate. There is like a, mmm, interesting. I do find most of your food to be very bland and sweet, overly so. Don't you remember the, what, sentry cooked at one point? Yes, the appled crumble. Yes, it was very sweet. You liked it, though?

It was not unpleasant, but I could not eat it as a meal. A nice once in a while, perhaps, but too much of it, I feel, would be far too sickly. And as I mentioned, a strong lack of flavour beyond that sweetness. But perhaps if there's something a bit more powerful... My mum will sort you right out. Very well. Look at us. You hated us when you arrived here.

Oh, I did not. I did not. I did. Do you not remember our first meeting? You were such a grumble pug. You were like this... Grumble. I'm here to protect Valor, Valority. My memories of our first meeting are very different.

And Valor was not the first time we met. We met in the City of Glass. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you were pretty honourable then, I must admit. Yeah. Honourable but grumble. Where's my fire elemental? What?

I gave you a fire elemental and you went away with it. Ah, my companion took it afterwards, I'm afraid. Can I have it? Never mind. I don't think they're in contact. It's not important right now. No. Well, I want some apple crumb.

I'll gladly make some. Wait, do we have the stuff on the ship? Well, you're the court master. I know, I know, and that's why it's worrying that I don't know. You've been off the ship for, like, what, a couple of days now? Yeah. The Seer of Erois. Doesn't know if we have her.

Has scrolls and information back on the ship. You need a workforce. I need help. You do need help. I mean, I can't run a ship, and that's an airship. Now we have the capital city flying around. Yeah, we still need to really put someone in charge of that because it's kind of a big thing. Oh, we should probably see Azaria as well

because she's got all of our money. Not all of it, not all of it. We need a to-do list for sure, but I think for now, Storm Chaser, check in on any guardians or anyone else left in Nightbloom. Yeah. And then Apple Crumble time. Once every once in a while.

Maybe Horizon. If we have those ingredients. I'm going to stay here for just a little bit, and then I can take myself and Max back to Horizon, if that's where you're travelling to. Eventually. Yes, but don't think you got out of this, Bella. Out of what?

We need to know what you want to do after all this. Oh, that's a very different question with me, I think. Not really. No, really. I have a feeling that they're... my calling will be something very different as my power grows and when Mother reawakens. It's one divine returning to the universe. There used to be many of them and technically her hand kind of flickers with the magic like... returning to the universe. There used to be many of them, and technically, her hand kind of flickers with the magic, like...

But, heed the words... Oh, you weren't touching them. No. So, I bet you could hear. Either way, Siaska says, we make our own choices. So, I think that means her daughter counts for that, too. It's very sweet of you to think so, Lucius, but don't forget, you are all mortal.

As I have come to learn, I am half not mortal. I don't know what choice I have. I don't know yet. It may be that there comes a time when I can't just be Valor anymore, and I have to be something bigger than that. I don't know. Do you know what boredom is? Pretty sure I've got a good idea. Okay, that's your mortal side speaking, I'm sure.

Pretty sure, well, I don't know. Maybe immortals can't get bored. Wait, I've done an awful lot in three years. I haven't had a Maybe immortals can't get bored. Wait. I've done an awful lot in three years. I haven't had a lot of space for boredom. So I'm not really sure. Are you a god? I might be immortal.

You know I died once. Yeah, you did. Yeah, no, I died. I'm not immortal. I've just done a lot. I'm not really sure. Well, most of you... She does sort of side-eye Sentry.

I'm pretty sure most of you are mostly mortal, but doesn't look at Sentry when she says it. The Prime. Tiangong might be. Very... Well, I think... Not to put a fine point, I think that Tiangong might be very well I think not to put a fine point I think that Tiangong and

Sentinel Prime may be more closely aligned than than that's fine I can share have you ever seen them

in the same room oh no wait they're right they're right yeah right now they're wandering over there we are here yeah

I think we might be a bit frazzled from fighting Calara. Well, I've never been clearer. Someone said apple pie. I can see a whole lot more now. But yes, crumble. Yes. Let's go back to the storm chase. Well, and among other more pressing things.

Before we go, can Sentry go to Max and just put out a hand? It looks like it. Curious. Put his hand out. You're livid. Sentry will just shake Max's hand and say,

I'm glad you're here, Max. More than I think you'll know. Thank you, Sentry. You, all of you have taught me a lot in the last few months. But I feel that you and I, there is something, we understand each other more than perhaps I can understand the rest. And I'm glad to have your companionship and your friendship. Past is in the past.

Indeed. Nod. Why are your feathers so puffy? Very puffed up. I don't know, I think it's the air here. Different. Anyway. It's just fuming.

We'll see you in Horizon, friend. Yes, we will see you there. I'm going to write this in my diary. Friend. Max considers us friends. Bye, friend. I regret my use of words. Say considers us friends. Bye, friend! I regret my use of words. Bye, friend!

He runs up and hits the book. And it jumps away. You guys transport your way back to the storm chaser. You arrive on deck, startling a few of the wolf pack. Oh, sorry, sorry. See, they do. That was a quicker reaction. That's good on you.

Well done. Diver erupts. Don't meet me. Don't make me. They run. Scurry down. Their ears go flat and their tails sink down. I can still see you.

So can I. Uriah up on the top deck. Champions, sink down. I can still see you! So can I. Jesus Christ. Uriah, up on the top deck. Ah! Champions, welcome back. Uriah. We are currently... We are just currently patrolling the outskirts of the jungle

near the southern borders, trying to locate these guardians, your errant guardians. I've got Lookout and Penny are both scouring the horizon, the treeline. Wonderful. Any signs so far?

No, but if our keen-eyed navigator and quartermaster wouldn't help, wouldn't mind offering a hand, I'm sure he'll be able to find them a lot faster. What's that perception there, Quill? On it. Make a perception check for me, Quill. So key. Please roll a natural one.

Seven. Seven plus... 25. No, I was going to say, seven plus 18. Yeah, using the kind of crystal screens and the various senses of the storm chaser, you do manage to locate

the missing guardians pretty quickly. Just on the southern edge of Jakesh's kind of like jungle border, near the river that they'd been following, there is a small clearing, and you detect what looks to be a campfire. You know, smoke, tiny bit of smoke trailing up, and you see that they have made camp,

and it seems that they've established sort of like a rest camp that they've been using. And it does, yeah, it looks to me that there is a selection of guardians there. Where's Shade? We sent him back to the storm chas- We sent him back to the storm chaser, right? Yeah, that's what I presumed. No, did he come with us to the pool?

Did we leave him there? This is another fucking Rosemeadow situation. It might be a Rosemeadow situation. Oh, fuck's sake. To be fair, we did just defeat a titan. We were not really in our right minds.

Please don't do this, Mark. Do what? Please let us retcon that we sent him to the storm chaser. We did say we'll take him to the storm chaser.

I don't remember those words. We did in the last episode. I don't know about that. Can you see him? No. He must be hiding in the shadows,. I don't know about that. Cook, can you see him? No. He must be hiding in the shadows, right? He's stealthy. He must be just hiding really well.

Did you write down in your book that you sent Shade to the Storm Chaser? Wait, let me see. Pass me the book. No. I'm pretty sure. Look, it was close to midnight, but we were like, we said he could join us on the Stormchaser while we reunite him with other Guardians. We did say that we were going to take him.

Shade to Stormy. Shade to Stormy. You did say that he was welcome to come with you, and technically you didn't. So here's the thing. Shade would have basically had to come with you to the Halls of Infinite Resplendence and then just stood there like, whoa. You all had this lovely conversation, like, with the gods. Nothing for him to hand behind.

And then, like, Valor and Max, and it's like, oh, Apple Crumble, what are you going to do? And then just in the background, Shade has just stood there. All my friends are dead. Or, like, looking at this infinite hallway of like divine just like there's no corners for him to hide in

either and then when you transport to the storm chaser you basically were like oh shit he's still here

oh yeah hey shit and then he's just still stood on the deck just like we need one of those men in black

memory wipers yeah but I mean look he's not gonna yeah he's he's just grateful to be alive it's not like he's gonna be doing much he's just sort of like chilling uh cool well that answers that yeah i do remember you saying specifically like i remember lucius doing the whole like you are welcome to come with us and and you know you should come with this kind of thing. I do remember that. I remember that, too. Sure you do, buddy. Okay.

Quill, what's your bird eye see? Everything. They're taking the guardians to somewhere. Potatoes. They, honestly, the whole shade

thing threw me. There's a camp. Okay, brilliant. Yeah, some of them are down there. Is there,

are there any pursuers? Is there anybody nearby? No. Oh, what? Sorry,

are we keeping you up? Yeah. In actual reality yeah breaking the cave for a minute yeah

yeah I mean it didn't look like there was any sort of danger like they were resting yeah in all of the it's like a tiny camp you're only through

your incredible perception thank you you were managed to spot it and Oriah like when you send the coordinates to Oriah she can begin guiding the ship in all of my searching did I see Thank you. You will manage to spot it. And when you send the coordinates to Araya,

she can begin guiding the ship. In all of my searching, did I see any threats beyond the regular natural order? No, no, no, not at all. You didn't see any kind of shuffling of the trees, no undead creatures, no... Like the rock hearts, you can see that any of these large trees seem to have returned to normal uh the darkness basically

gone like the the eternal darkness that was looming over the valley is completely gone lucius is running around the ship saluting everyone excitedly all the wolf back hello hello captain hello like, just doing all of that. You would probably encounter Howard is, like, carrying loads of pots and plates and, like... I just, like, salute. Oh, sorry. Hands are everywhere.

Hello, Captain! Hello! Are you okay? Everything okay? I think so. Yes. Sorry, I've made a mess. I was just trying to

That's alright Like after we had a busy lunch Rush Oh lots of Full bellies now I'm sure Yes Okay Sorry you've

It's just that we've not seen you in a few days And I was told that you were fighting Goddesses of death Oh yeah they're dead now It still amazes me He slowly picks up the pants. Okay, bye. Okay, bye.

What is a lunch rush on a ship that has a regular amount of crew every single time? They are a wolf pack, Matthew. They eat a lot, I expected. They've got something to look forward to in the day. His lunches are legendary. Howard, there is no, like, Howard is just, he'll feed anybody who's hungry and the wolf

pack will sometimes just appear in like eight loads of them just at once and he's like he's like Bilbo with the dwarves he's just like running around trying to look after all of his forks and plates. I love that. I want to go watch that again

now no don't bother that bit's that bit's not that bit's okay

that bit's okay it's the rest of the film no problem just watch all the things

Thranduil is Thranduil's alright yeah Thranduil is pretty cool

until he becomes an asshole nah but Lee Pace is still cool though he is cool

Lee Pace nerds just watch all the things just watch Extended. To end Lucius' roleplay, he will just open the captain's quarters.

No, I actually want to talk about Lord of the Rings more, Chris. Fuck your roleplay. The power is coming out. Are we all feeling about that now? Can we turn this into a Lord of the Rings campaign? I do have the one ring. We could play. We could do that as like a one shot.

Maybe one point. I've got a little starter set where we could do that. It's like a one shot, maybe, at one point. Plays, I've got a little starter set where he plays Hobbits. Campaign's over, kids. Bye. Bye. Right, carrying Lucius. Lucius goes into his captain's quarters. He opens up a little side drawer,

and inside is the one ring. And he puts on the ring. I'm ready. Now he opens his door. It's happening! He breathes in. He got me. And he feels homely.

And he just flops on his bed starfishing is that the right word? yeah and just like breathes a sigh of relief and takes his messenger ring off

and gazes upon the eye and just holds it up my own life process what is business of yours what I do with my own things It just holds it up. My own life. What is business of yours what I do with my own things? Yeah! I'm really good at it. I'm not trying to hurt you.

Anyway, wonderful. I can't cry, I've got too much eyeliner on. I didn't wear any. As everyone else did, I'm scanning the horizon like a one-man Big Brother. Yeah, I mean, it's only going to be like... Your head is like... I would say it will take about an hour for Oriah to take the ship over to where the Guardians are and then descend to a safe point where lines can be lowered, because you don't have a skiff anymore, so they have to manually lower you down.

I will remember you in the night. That was a good move, man. It was. Once my watchful duty is done, I'll start to head downstairs just as Howard has come around the corner. No, no, no, Howard!

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang. Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, that's the second time this happened today. Second? Captain Lucius came by and he scared the bloody bejesus out of me. Oh, I saw him running around saluting everyone, yeah. I'll come run the other way. Hi, Howard!

Any food? Food, that's a point. I need to check. Apples. Flour. You don't know what? Sugar. Sugar.

Flour, we've got some. Sugar, we've got some. Apples? It's running pretty low. We'll probably run out of snacks. We need some celebratory apple crumble. I mean, there might be, I mean, there's towns and stuff

a few hours to the south. We could try and pick up some supplies but okay okay I'm gonna have to tell Sentry that we don't have any apple crumb

do you have any other fruits no fruits is kind of hard to keep fresh fruits after a long period of time on the ship we have to do regular

supply runs sequester them all can I make can I make can I make biscuits can I make can I make can I make biscuits can I make some biscuits I wouldn't mind some biscuits I'll go make some

if you want biscuits I can make some bloody biscuits I'll make some shortbreads you sound shortbreads why did he double down on biscuits you sound

stressed we can make some biscuits. That's just how we see biscuits, Captain. I'm in bed. We've got biscuits. Can we make some aflin cakes? Look, if it's too much trouble, I mean, we can help you pick up all of this stuff,

but you sound stressed. It'd be lovely. Yes, please, yeah. Well, it's just that the... Well, like, when you're all gone, you don't know this because you're always off on your adventures and things. Fighting the goddess. But when you're gone...

Exactly. When you're gone... Titan. Titan. You know, the wolves, they're very stressful when you're not here because they all... Because the problem is, is you don't know this. They're all worrying about you. They're all panicked and worried.

Are they? Yeah, and that makes them... They're, like, constantly hungry. They're drinking. They're stressy. They're stressy, and worried. Are they? Yeah, and that makes them, they're like constantly hungry, they're drinking. They're stressy. They're stressy, and they stress drink, and they stress fight,

and they stress gamble, and they do all that. And it's worse when you're not here. Are you feeling sentimental because the wolf pack like us? Because I'm not sure they do. I do throw rocks at them. One of them looked at me

and said he was going to eat me. But they like me. pack like us because i'm not sure they do i do throw rocks at them one of them looked at me and said he was going to eat me but they like me of course they do but they like you're the yeah of course they well personality they like what you represent you know i only throw rocks because i care i'm trying to make them better you know the wolf pack really don't mind the throwing rocks thing i mean a few of them are still, a few of them definitely haven't been right since you did it,

but, but, Oh my God. I seem like their memories are gone. Do you know what I mean? I don't mean anything rude. Concussion is a very serious thing.

It's a serious thing. It has long-term effects. If you have, if you have amnesia from concussion, you need to go see a professional. Go to a...

I don't know what people would think of me. Don't listen to Howard. I'm not here. But yeah, maybe they won't remember that I hit them with a rock. Well, I definitely... I hope so. I hope. I'm not here.

That was Kim saying, you know. Listen, they do worry. And when you're not here, I have to provide twice as much food Twice as much Twice as much? Yeah Yeah Yeah

We need to start buying more in then We do, yeah I think we need to work a little closer I mean, more supplies But also, I don't Is there a, you know You know lots of magic people, right? Could they make a thing

Like a box That's got like magic cold in it, and then I can keep things fresher for longer? A sequester box. No. I don't know what that is, but something like that. Just something to keep foods fresher for longer. It would preserve something indefinitely.

That'd be perfect. Incredibly expensive. Yeah, but you're the champions of a row. You've got to be really sure, haven't you? We could do it. There is actually an item that does that. It's basically a fridge. Really?

Isn't there? I don't know. I'm pretty sure there is. Well, I mean, we can definitely look into it, Howard. I'm pretty sure another stream has done it before. That doesn't mean nothing. Yeah, but there's still other streams. Worth watching.

Well, Howard, I will definitely look into it. There is literally a magic item. What's it called? It's called the Chest of Preserving. It's a common magic item. This common wondrous item has the following magical property. Food and other perishable items do not age or decay while inside it. It's two and a half feet

long, one foot wide, and one foot tall with a half barrel lid. It's basically a freezer. You know what, Howard? Yep. I think I could spend the next couple of days, or weeks or months, or however long it'll take, to make one for you.

What? That'd be amazing. That'd be perfect. Could you make pots and pans that aren't really heavy? Or could you make me like a little, a little, little creature that carries them?

Like, I'd love to have some assistance, because at the moment, it's just me trying to cook for like 20 people. We're saying hire another person. Is that what you're saying? I mean, you could hire somebody or, I don't know, make, like, a little magical thing or something.

Yeah. Or something. I think it's possible. That'd be perfect. Otherwise, it's an extra amount to feed if we hire someone. And that's just more complicated. I could write down a list of just things that would be really useful to have here. We need a box.

Like a box for you to... Just everyone to put suggestions in. Suggestions box. That's a great name for it. A lot of them will probably be, don't throw rocks at me. Oh, yeah, no, sure. But we can just burn those. Don't attempt to at me. Oh, yeah, no, sure, but we can just burn those. Don't attempt to train me ever again.

Don't attempt to teach me things in a classroom setting ever again. Maybe we should have another one that's a feedback box. Oh, I'm going to ruin that. I'm going to fill it with suggestions that you just don't want to hear. I can't wait to hear all of their messages. Where are they all right now? The wolf's back. I need to go see them.

They're around. I'm back. And I love you. Sure. Just as much as you love me for who I am, but not as a meal. Except you. The guy that was eating that bone. Just look.

And as always, you look through the hallway of the ship and he's just at the end. Pulls the bone out. Don't think I can't see you. I know where you are at all times. Is he always following Quill? He's always got a bone, isn't he?

He's got a bone to pick. Just leans up. He's got a bone to pick! Picks his teeth with it, looking at Quill. If he wasn't such a good worker. Nom, nom, nom, nom. God, is he effective, though. What's everyone else doing?

I need to know that he does that at all times that Quill publishes. He absolutely does. Only when Quill mentions it. It's only when Quill speaks to it. Otherwise, he's just not around. He's doing other stuff. Yeah. I just like that that was his full-time role.

There's actually a number of common magic items. You can also get a cleansing stone. You touch it, it immediately removes all grime and dirt from your clothing and body. It's like a magic shower that you touch. I've got precipitation. It's basically that, but in a thing like... So you could have, like, installed in the wolf backwaters

a stone that they touch and then it cleans them. So it's not a shower room. Quite handy. I reckon it shouldn't be something they voluntarily touch. It should brush them. Yeah. They have to. Like, I'm entering where you...

We make an entryway in the narrow. It's like a... It's like a stink wall. Yeah, yeah. It's like a car wash. You know narrow. It's like a stink wall. Yeah, yeah. It's like a car wash. You know what? It's like a car wash with bristles. It's an entuator, the dining hall.

Yeah. And it's like, it sprays them with water and shampoo. And then a quick burst of air. And then you come out of it like a groomed dog. Like, puffy. Lightly perfumed. Yes. All of that.

Howard would also like an orb of gonging to sound when it's dinner time. I mean, he could just use the ship's intercom. No, he wants an orb of gonging. I mean, if it's a common magic item... Orb of time. Tells the time. What doesn't Howard want?

You're just going through going, yep, yep, yep. I want orbs. I'm a walking cuckoo clock. He doesn't need that. Yeah. Oh, a pot of awakening. What the hell is that? Oh, no, you put a plant

in it and it becomes an awakened shrub. Can I have the assist? Did you use the travel by plants then? No, because the shrub is not a shrub. I want a shrub. It's a huge plant. An ordinary shrub in this

clay pot and let it grow for 30 days. A shrubbery An ordinary shrub On this Clay pot And let it grow For 30 days The shrub magically Becomes an awakened shrub At the end of that time When the shrub awakens Its root breaks

The pot destroying it So you basically Grow it And then it sprouts And it's like Mother Can they hold pots? Like pans and...

Can they be a kitchen system? Technically, a shrub could, like, yeah, probably hold something like that. Get a sentient shrub. Because they have, like, little iron growth on it and make it big. I think you technically could, yes.

I think technically you might be able to do that. Oh, tankard of plenty? What? Speak the command word and it fills the tankard with pints of ale. No. That's a terrible argument. Yeah, we'd never get off the ground.

Banned. Thermal cube? Creates pleasant heat? 35 degrees Celsius? Pleasant heat is probably not cooking temperature, is it? I could do with that in winter. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I'll definitely look into making him the uh the box of preserving the

fridge what about a wand of smiles oh what does that do you uh it's three charges you can use an action to expend a charge and target a humanoid you can see within 30 feet target must succeed on dc10 charisma save save or be forced to smile for one minute. That's it. Harold could impose that on his staff members. Smile! Service with a smile, right? I think I had that as a bit of loot in one of my one shots. Yeah, I remember it. Yeah, yeah.

I like finding all the silly things to put in them, but you guys never find them. We found the smile one, I think. We did. It's more when these three take an hour to walk up a path. Yeah. What, you mean like taking an hour to walk up a path. Yeah. What do you mean, like, taking an hour and 90 minutes to check on some guardians?

How are the guardians? Well, I mean, yeah, you guys can head down to them at any point. Sentry is just leaning over the edge of the ship, just like... Like, waiting. Where are they? Where are they? Yeah, I mean, like, you probably get caught, like, Oriah's like, Sentry, maybe don't lean quite so far. We'll be there in a moment.

We'll be there in a second. Okay. Just sort of afraid. I feel like I've tied a rope to Sentry's waist and I'm just standing back holding it just in case she decides to do what Sentry does and fall off the boat. Again.

I've never done that before. So many times. What about Nova? What? What's Nova? What? What's Nova doing? It's like one of those toddler reigns that you have to do. Except you're eight feet tall. I imagine that sometime later after their conversation,

Howard's doing whatever, washing up or something. Don't torture this poor man. And the air shimmers, and Nova teleports into the kitchen. Boo! Howard? Hang on, I'm going to roll a constitution save.

He shits himself. He has a heart attack. No, he's fine. He's just like... Hi, Howard. Are you alright? No. Oh.

Do you want some... Well, here's the thing. I found cake in the engine pod. Why is there cake in the engine pod? Wolfpack took it down there, didn't he? I served that cake three days ago. It shouldn't be down there. I mean, it's quite cold down there, so was there...

You might be trying to serve it. I've just had quite cold down there so was there... We might be trying to observe it. I've just had a bit of a long day. Everyone keeps scaring me. Everyone keeps trying to have food. Would you like some cake? No. It's cold. I want to get rid of it because it's very bad. I don't think it's very good anymore. Okay. Would you like me to make you a fresh cake? Come on, baby, go and make biscuits. I'll make you two oldie biscuits. Oh, biscuits sound nice. Okay, I'll make it. Oh, the biscuits.

I've got all trays of them in the oven. I've got so many trays of biscuits in the oven. Have you had a break recently, Howard? It's been really tough lately. You should probably take a break. I can't. There's too many people to feed. I need help.

I'm sure they'll understand. There's no one else. Who else is going to feed everyone over? Who's going to do all the cooking? Who's going to do all the cleaning? No one. It's always Howard's job to do it, isn't it? I'm just going to...

And you know he just slowly backs out. Who's going to deport Howard? Who is him? Could create... Could defeat gods of death. Back it out. Could go into the world and back it up. Teleport wherever they want in a row. Can't find Howard anymore. Help in the want in a row. Can't find Howard anymore

helping the bloody kitchen. No, can't anymore. Howard, you've got to do it. He's... Hi, Howard! He's got nothing better to do. His husband's dead. Oh, just let him work

all the time. Fuck you! Wow! Oh, my God. Oh, Jesus God. Oh, my God. I'm going to turn to Chiang Kong. I believe that Howard requires assistance in the kitchen.

I do not believe we are particularly trained at offering such assistance, but perhaps a suggestion to make to Captain Lucius in the future. Would you like some cake? No. Okay. I'm just going to go and throw it off the side of the ship. This episode will just be called, Howard.

In memory of. RIP. RIP Howard. Make everyone think that he's dead. He's just dead inside. Oh my god. Consentry tiptoe down. But up quiet. Quietly. Oh, stealth check. I'll try and be quiet.

Oh! I imagine he's in a bad place. We're going to go in from upstairs. Clang clang clang clang clang. We're disadvantaged. Oh, okay. Nat 20. Disadvantaged. please roll another nat 20.

16. That's good for a first trick. That's probably the best ill trick you've done in a long time. Howard has no idea that you're there. Why couldn't you roll this in the jungle? I know! Scarlet's pulling biscuits out of the oven. Everything is clattering, like the butler from the first Tomb Raider. It's just jittering

all over the place. He like freezes in place. Do you need a hand? Slowly turns around. It's me, it's Sentry. It's okay. He didn't know you were there.

Hi. It's like looking around is anyone else gonna jump out no no no it's just you it's just I think so I think it's just me I didn't hear you coming are you a ghost I can hear shouting from upstairs are you a mirage no no no I'm here I'm here

do you need help I can help you I need so much help Sentry I will I can help you. I need so much help, Central. I will come and help you. It's been three days. I've not slept. I've not slept. Okay, Howard, Howard. Go get some sleep.

Oh, I can't. Biscuits, the captain wants biscuits, Quill. And Aayla wanted biscuits. The wolf pack, they want biscuits now. I can make them. Plus I gotta make soup. They wanted soup for dinner. I gotta make soup for dinner.

And then they want, and then Quill was asking about apple crumble. He said that you need to... You haven't got apples for the crumble. Okay, okay. Don't worry about the crumble. Don't worry about the crumble. It's fine.

Just tell me what else... What needs left doing. You go get some sleep. Get some sleep. And I'll handle this. It's okay. Make a persuasion check. Four.

Total? Yeah. He just looks at you and he's like, you can't help me. No one can. Save yourself. Gotta go back to making biscuits. Holy shit.

It's just a broken man. Broken. This is Keelakad Kalar to the Storm Chaser. That's super loud. The first light blast. Natural one. Biscuits!

Whole tray of biscuits goes through the air. The tray. Oh my god. Lucius startles awake. Howard faints. The whole tray of biscuits goes through the air. The tray. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Oh, my God. Lucius startles awake. Howard faints. No!

We are approaching... A roll of two. Collapses. We are approaching the guardians. I'm taking Howard to Grey Larno. I'm just going to take him to Grey Larno. What happened? He's overworked, the poor man. I've been telling him he needs to rest.

Why hasn't he been resting? I don't know. He's just fainted. She'll take him off you and put him in bed. Like, put like a blanket over him. I will take care of him. Okay. She'll like start making sure he's got like water and stuff.

Thank you, Grey Larno. Thank you. So we have a wolf pack with concussion. We have... An overworked cook we have a wolf pack with concussion. Mm-hmm. We have... An overworked cook. With a mental breakdown and heart problems. New heart problems, I think, yeah. Yeah.

I'm pretty sure our ASMR had PTSD. He did, yeah. Flansian. Yeah. Anyone else? Penny? Penny's fine. Yeah, Penny.

She's great. Look out's all right. Yeah, look out's all right. Grey Lino and Araya, yeah. It's all fine. Okay. Let's great. Lookout's all right. Grey Lano and Oriah. Yeah, it's all fine. Okay. Let's just park that. The wolf pack member that's hungering for me,

he's got scars from the explosion, the ILS explosion. Oh, that's true. Forgot about that one. Are we the bad guys? When you mentioned him calling you a co-friend. That guy. Yeah, I would lock your door tonight, actually. He actually keeps his distance.

Right? Saying that, you can see him from up there. He never speaks. He just watches. What's your name? He goes... Like cockroach. He just scuttles away.

Gets on all fours like he's never spoken since the last thing he said which was like well he did speak then but he was like I know what I'm gonna do

yeah that was it ever since then he's only the others know speak to him but not you I'm gonna ask

another walk back member what his name is I think he had I think he had a name. I think he deserves one. If he had a name, I forgot. I wrote down a bunch of names, but God knows where it is in this book. I can't remember.

Anyway, I have sent out an intercom message, whatever the erosion variant of an intercom is. Yeah, so you have like a communication system. A communication system. I sent out a message saying that we are getting close to the Guardian camp. Yeah. And that's what made... By the time folks make their way back up to the deck,

the airship is basically hovering over... The tree line here is not as gargantuan as it was further into the valley. It's more like a normal sort of woodland here. And the airship is basically hovering over, blasting the trees under it with magical force um but the wolfpack like kind of hook ladders like rope ladders to the side that then trail down um allowing you to disembark and you can see a camp uh very basic it looks like it's been cobbled together from like you know the the trees and vines and sort of like you know survivalists camp kind of thing has been put together um on the banks of this river um but the land here looks a lot cleaner there's no sign of that rotten infestation that you had encountered

uh elsewhere um during your travels um and it looks like they've been tending to various injured guardians and things like that and they a few of them are waving up at the storm chaser. How far off the ground are we? I would say probably 50, 60 feet.

I could probably go get them with teleport, because I've got my teleportation helm. You can teleport up to 8 creatures, I think, at a time. The force is more significant than that. It's about, sort of like, I think 30 guardians, 40 guardians. I miss Arcadia. But a lot of them were like, I think 20

of them were heavily, heavily injured and were being carried by the others. If anyone has their notes, I actually couldn't remember the names of the two guardians you sent with them. It was Wayfinder was one. Helper. That was the other one, I think. It was Helper and Wayfinder that you sent

with them. You can see that those guys are there attending to them. These were all community-created guardians as well. Not all of them, but some of them. The Shade one? Shade is one.

Bandai Nenensai your guardian has been in the halls i don't think hot shot was i think hot shot was one of my ones but i think protect i know protector was i know tinker was rough tinker helper shade protector commander hot shot wayfinder yeah yeah but they're there in uh Yeah, Wayfinder and Helper are with them, as is the Medic Vines. Yeah, Medic Vines. And you can see that a lot of the Guardians who were previously injured or sickened seem to be up and walking around.

Oh! So they don't have the slime. Do not appear to. I'm trying to remember. Who knew about Protector? Did Quill know about it? Quill knew. Ayla knew. Yeah, I knew Quill knew. Ayla knew.

Quill and Ayla knew. Dum-Dum over here. Yeah. Don't think any of them wants to. We also blew up our skiff, right? Or something happened to it. We crashed into the volcano. Yeah, that's why they've put the ladders,

so you'll have to manually climb down. But the rope ladders are easy enough for you to climb. Manually climb down, okay. Oh, all right. But yeah, what did you guys do? Yeah. Good to see you. I'll use a charge.

I'll be up with everybody, and then I'll let Century go meet them first, I think. Sure. Century is shaking a tray of biscuits. I was down there for 20 minutes in the kitchen. I don't know how. How have you been doing it for three days? Howard made biscuits. Lovely. Thanks, Howard. I don't know how he's been doing it for three days. Howard made biscuits.

Lovely. Thanks, Howard. I might ask him to do these again. They're a little on the bitter side. No, no, no, no, no. Don't tell him. Don't tell him. Don't tell him a word.

Okay. Enjoy them. Enjoy them. Enjoy them. Enjoy them. Everybody enjoy the biscuits. I'll eat whatever. I'm really not that...

I don't know how he did it. I don't know how he did it for three days. I don't know. Century, your new strategy as morale officer is wanting. I was just, I don't know how Howard did it. I don't know how he does it. There's so much to control down there. There's the ovens and there's the pots

and then there's the prep and there's the peeling and the chopping. Just leave it to Howard. He did ask. He's a desugrel chopping. Just leave it to Howard. He did ask Quill. He's a desugrelano. He fainted. I made him faint. What?

You made him faint? What did you do? I went to see if he needed help and he fainted. Century. Wow. I'm sure it'll be fine. I said I'd take over, but I don't know if I can do it. He did tell Quill that he would like a little creature to help him.

Yes! I'm just going to make like a little creature to help him. I'm just going to make him a little box. I think that's a priority. I'll get working on it straight away. Yes, the man needs help. Did you leave the oven on? Oh no, oh no! I think the sentry runs down. Smoke builds up. Sentry runs back up again.

It's fine. We'll go make contact and you can catch us up. It's fine, it's fine. We'll go make contact and then you can catch us up. No, it's okay. It's fine. It's fine. It's okay. All right. Go on ahead. Yeah. Okay. You make your way down, and as you do so, Wayfinder, Helper, and Vines will come over and be like,

Sentinel Prime, go to Champions. Oh, I'm glad that you found us. Great news, the sickness, it vanished a few hours ago. Wonderful. So everybody's fine, everybody feels... There are still a few guardians who are recovering their strength. The sickness did sort of sap them of their strength and their vitality, but it's coming back.

Before, they weren't getting any better. Now they're at least getting better. And a few of the ones who were only recently infected are back up on their feet. Incredible. Does anybody need any extra assistance? I can help provide some healing to anyone who needs it. I think if we can get people to civilization, if we can take them away

from here. I mean, we've been making our best. Wayfinder's been creating this base camp for us. The undead haven't bothered us or anything. How many guardians are here us or anything, so. How many guardians are here? About 40 or so.

I'll message Oriah. In terms of storm chaser capacity, I didn't actually get told. We can transport up to about maybe 20, 30 in the hold. We couldn't do it for very long. We wouldn't have the supplies to do that for very long, but we could take about 20 or 30 people aboard. 40?

Extra? It would be a push, I think, Captain. We could maybe do it. It would be more a problem on our supplies and the weight and everything else but it's close to town to here uh there'll be towns nearby like um there'll be a town nearby i don't necessarily know the name of it but uh the other option as well is like i mean like and wayfinder and that will tell you this they'll say that like you know we we can as long as we can

send word back to horizon we we have ships that can come and pick us up. We just need to get word to them where we are. We can make do here for now. We're not in any danger here. We just need to have somebody come and pick us up. That was the next stop for us anyway, so we can go and alert people. Yes, and how about we take on board the sick that need help. If you were willing to take some on board,

if you could take the worst of them. Yes, we'll do that, and then we'll send word to Horizon to send you some ships. There's about ten who haven't awoken. They're still unconscious. They're recovering, but they're still ill, and they need care. So if Vines goes with you as well, we'll send Vines with you to look after them.

But yes, and then the rest of us will stay here and we can keep a perimeter and we can keep a lookout for any danger. Where's Commander Hotshot and the others? Commander Hotshot fell. Ah, Wayfinder and Help will just sort of nod their heads. She gave her life to save me. That does not surprise me. Commander was, she, that's who she was. I know that she was,

she felt very personally responsible for what happened to us in the encounter, especially against that, the archer, the stalker. She felt particularly responsible for that. So it doesn't surprise me. Ultimately, it was the archer that her sacrifice destroyed. Seems that she got revenge for us, at least. It's not all bad, though. Shade, Shade is here.

And you see Shade's like Already made his way down And is like Starting to speak with The rest of them And stuff like that Well that's something I take it that

Shade is the only one That Protector and Tinker Didn't make it Well we never Well Yeah we didn't hear From Protector That they went ahead

Oh So there's All the potential Did they not Come back to this Oh Hmm Maybe we should send out A scouting party or something Am I the only one Who knows that Oh, so there's all the potential. Did they not come back to this? Oh. Maybe we should send out a scouting party or something.

Am I the only one who knows that? Quill knows. With his burgeoning perception. Yeah, and insight. Yes, we could send someone, right? Yeah, they must be out there. Protector didn't make it. What?

When we were resting, Protector led more forces away from us. Otherwise, we would all have died. As we are led to believe, there was a force that was going to attack us where we were camping and protect to lead them away. And you're informing us of this now? We thought that it would be too hard to hear in that moment.

We had to share in this, you understand. We had to push forward. We would have pushed forward. But I think you should share these things with, particularly Sentry. After Tinker as well, I saw how it affected Sentry specifically. I didn't want that to change how things went.

To say that they're not out there, so we should look. I mean, we intend to recover as many guardians as we can, both alive or dead, to see what Sentry can do. Maybe restoring some souls back to them. Maybe finding some solution to that problem. If we find Protector out there, then... Wayfinder will probably say, did Commander Hotshot know about what was happening?

Yes. Doesn't surprise me that the Commander was probably the one who suggested not to tell everyone. Well, I'm confident the sickness is gone. I will search the Matrix. If the Protector is in the Matrix, then I know what happened. And if they're not, then they're still out there.

Well, those of us who remain behind, those of us who are able bodies, is the threat over? Are the undead gone? Yes, they should be. All right, then it won't be too hard for our main scouts to locate bodies.

We did promise them that we would come back for them, and that we would bring them back to you. Okay. Well, I promised them that, so I'm happy to help Luke. It'll probably take a few days, just, this is a big area, but with our scouts and

if you have any magical means to help us locate their bodies then that would be useful. It will help speed that process up. Yes. Can you know that the sickness is gone? Can you commune with Root? Um, do I know that this, I Do I know that it's... I don't know if it's safe yet. You don't, and also you would need to find their bodies and take the spirits back into

the Matrix as well. Like if Protector died out, his spirit won't return to the Matrix on its own. You have to extract it, basically. There may be a way... The Matrix isn't still you know you don't know how it all works entirely um you know certainly it must have been the case that when root was you know the prime like you can't imagine that he was going around to every guardian and

taking their souls in there might be a way that you can sort of passively do it but it's not something you've tried yet you could always try like a kind of almost acting like a beacon to call their spirits back to you but then you would be missing their bodies to put new souls back in i'll give it some time and i'll try and find a way of locating them when i know when i know for sure it's safe to do so um yeah we can definitely in any case send word back to Horizon to get some ships to come pick as many of you up as possible. Did we want to head back to Horizon ourselves to send the message personally? Or did we want to stay here for a bit to assist in the search? Do you have anything that would be useful in helping?

Yeah. Well, I mean, there is locate creature, but does that work on... It won't work on the dead, no. Is there an object? Yeah, locate object might work as well. No, I would like to find them. Yeah. It's easily doable.

There's no immediate threat now in this jungle. Even things like beasts and animals were scared away by the undead when this valley was transformed, so it'll take time for them to filter back in. So if you did want to search, now is probably actually going to be the best time because it will just be a case of

trekking through the woods and searching for them. But you also have a rough idea of where they fell or roughly where they were, so you kind of can help narrow that down. You've got Stormchaser now to sort of help as well. So it'll just be a case of spending a few days. Just follow the journey that we took, basically, and just do that. Well, if that's the plan, then we can just say that that happens. If there's nothing else you guys want to do this day, you spend the next two or three days working with wayfinder especially um who kind

of leads a scouting party and they they start tracking their bodies not just of tinker and protector and um but of other guardians that were lost in battle and and fell could i when we do get back to the camp that we made at Treen, could I cast Locate Creature with the Wayfinder's Guide for Protector? Let's find out. Sentry, can you roll a D100 for me, please? It's going to be a low chance, but let's find out. 66.

66, okay. You cast Locate Creature. What's the range? 1,000 feet. It's basically just a... How long does it last, concentration-wise? It lasts an hour. An hour.

So with that hour, the immediate ping? No. You don't find the projector. Okay. But you maintain concentration, maybe hoping that as you begin searching for the next hour, maybe as you travel, see how far you can get, see what range you can pick up on.

I think as time is going on, I'm just continuously turning around to sentry and just, like, shaking my head, like, still nothing yet. But eventually, as you spend about an hour travelling in the direction, and you remember you were trying to be quiet at the time, you were stealthing, you were making your way

to Nightbloom Hold whilst being pursued. Just before the hour runs out, you get a ping. Wait, Sentry, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, what? This way, this way. Which way okay I know what I think I think I found him and you make your way back to the large tree that you took that long rest in and laying sort of propped up one of their legs having been ripped off one of their arms having been ripped off, one of their arms having been ripped off, but alive,

thanks to the natural 20 death save I just rolled. Whoa! Protector. I knew you would return. Protector. Brave soul, thank you so much for everything you've done. Thank you for done thank you for coming back for believing in me of course I'd never leave you behind

just reach down with one hand pull him up yeah it's just like can't really stand on their own you have to I'll help as well yeah'll get you fixed up. Absolutely. Sort of hobbling together. Hotshot. They did not return with you. No. She gave her life

to save us. Save Nova. Till all are one. Till all are one till all are one yeah and yeah rest you reclaim the bodies of the fallen

you find protector uh hell yeah one guardian soul not lost god fucking natural 20 yeah

I was like I mean yeah I was like over 50% I'll make death saves for them. Under 50%, they're dead. They're just gone.

Rolled it. First one was a 12, so I was like, that's a success. Next one was a natural 20. It means that they survived on one HP. I mean, I imagine Sentry's throwing out lay-on-hands points in there. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm assuming that you guys would heal and kind of help them, fashion them like a crutch or something

so they can move on their own and things like that. But yeah, it's tedious, but you managed to get them back. And there is just one last question, and I think that it's probably Wayfinder that proposes it. What about the commander's body, Hot Shots? I was going to say, Mark, yeah, like, proposes it what about the commander's body hot shots i was gonna say mark yeah like would there have been remains because it was an explosion and i know you said at the time that i would know that her matrix is lost i mean yeah like that you saw her chart using literally the energy of her matrix to charge that explosion but that i mean there could be a body yeah there could

be a physical form left but the matrix would be destroyed but there could be a body there could be a physical form left but the matrix would be destroyed but there could be something if you wanted to I mean you know you know the nightbloom hold is

I don't know how much you would allow a retcon but would you allow like that we looked before we left the temple to go to the temple

I don't even think we need to retcon it because you can just go there now like there's nothing preventing you just going there now you had this immediate thing of like let's go and do this stuff and do this

other thing and then like maybe that realization finding protector alive oh like maybe we should go back and try i think it would be like a little niggle in the back of like nova's mind of like even though i saw an explosion yeah maybe especially seeing like protect the survivor somehow like even though i said to like you like, oh, you know, it'll destroy her. Like it could be that Nova's like, well, Protector survived and we thought that they were dead. Like, yeah. Yeah.

So I would definitely bring that up quietly after seeing Protector and like, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I really want to go and check. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yes. Let's go look.

Yeah. Yeah. And unfortunately, a very different tale. Yeah. When you arrive at Nightbloom Hold, you make your way through the temple, still now quiet, but at least a very gentle birdsong, maybe from the tops of the trees,

no longer shrouded in darkness. Those mortuary gardens that you saw that were once filled with undead, now in the light of day, looks peaceful peaceful beautiful almost these kind of cultivated gardens and patches of of beautiful flowers you know covering the the grounds of the dead but also so beautifully arrayed like it is you know a very peaceful place you make your way back up to the keep and you know through the the you know across the port

cullis eventually you manage to make your way through and at the back beyond the temple where you'd fought gideon there is a side chamber you go through a side door and down a narrow corridor and it leads you out into this large courtyard where is just the broken remnants of like chunks of fallen tree and log and broken branches from this colossal tree above you. And just, it takes you maybe an hour and, like, century and era, maybe, like, hauling, like, huge pieces of logs and moving them and stuff. And then you eventually find not just Hotshot's body, but also Ceres's. Still malformed, like like not fully regenerated uh still

plagued by sickness and pox but next to her is just really a torso and like the remnants of a head and even that's badly torn up you can see that the chest cavity where hotshot's matrix is has literally like torn open there is no sign of the matrix there is just no fragment maybe pieces of fragments of crystal um but completely blown outwards and then you know anything else really resembling hotshot isn't really there um it's a little bit more horrific and a bit more sort of uh sobering than protected probably the, one of the things you maybe find her arm cannon, just sort of like discarded, like sort of blown away. Still one of the last

kind of recognisable sort of like pieces remaining. What do we do, Sentry? Is there a guardian burial rites? Um, I don't know. I've never buried a

guardian before. Could I make a suggestion? Of course. I don't know if this is too crass, but maybe we could store her body where the lantern is. Yeah. Yeah. We should do that.

Maybe you'd lay her and Elowen together as well. Let them rest. I think that would be nice. Yeah. Doesn't take long. The altar, the temple, you can easily take the body into there, lay it at the foot of the altar, just beneath the candle that's still, the lantern with its slowly, dimly, bright, no, sorry, not dimly, brightly burning candle. Easily done. There is still the body of Sir Godric.

You still see Elwynn and the others out in the courtyard as well. Their bodies are still there, but now lifeless. Protector will say, If there's not much trouble when we return, I would like to take the commander's arm to replace the one I lost. Of course.

It's all I want after all. A way of keeping her with us. Of course. I think she'd like that. Yeah. Cool. All right. Nice. Didn't expect us to latch on to protect her did you

man what a cool sometimes what a great story sometimes but yeah and I think with that we can sort of wrap it all up one thing I will say

for Sentry as well whether you commune with Root I don't know how you want to do it but in those days that you're searching you can now safely take their souls back in. With the sickness gone, you're not sure if you could have when that plague was still there, but there is no sign of a disease or sickness on any of the guardians now. Just lost strength

for those who survived, but for the dead, you can safely take their souls back into the matrix so any that were lost can be rejoined and their bodies free to place new warriors into or individuals

whoever maybe as part of Protector's funeral I guess I think Sentry would be doing that sort of alongside everything else

that's going on yeah yeah I was gonna ask is this like some... almost like... Is it a lot of bodies at once, or is it like one at a time, or...? Century can do many at once now. Like, yeah, if you have gathered a kind of group of guardians, like you did with the City of Glass, right,

you can pull their souls in and then you can replenish them one by one by one um or as a mast group as well you've kind of mastered that now um it does take it's not instantaneous it takes like you know 10 minutes an hour for you to like fully kind of do and then put back in without exhausting yourself but all the other the uh surviving guardians are they all there to witness this as well? Yeah, and it's also, I think, that, like, I mean, yeah, like, Guardians don't bury. Like, there's no burial rites for a Guardian because normally their souls are taken into the Matrix and then new ones are put back into old Guardians,

provided they're still functional. But if a body was no longer functional, like, if a body was destroyed but the Matrix was intact, they would just take the soul in and then in the past, maybe this is something Root tells you, a new body would just be forged and then they would place a new one in but that knowledge is lost now unfortunately so um yeah cool so it's a very unusual experience and even the other guardians are like what do we do like yeah this isn't to the guardians like it's so alien to know that hotsotshot is gone. Yeah.

Like, it is a very weird thing for the other Guardians. They just really struggle with it, to know that one of them is just lost forever. Yeah. I think Sentry would just say to, as their burying protector, just say... Hotshot. Hotshot, yeah. Yeah.

Just say may the golden sea guide them to whatever beyond waits for them. Yeah. Yeah. Like the guardians

kind of mumble it in repetition but yeah I think that there's like oh god like yeah what does happen? What is

what else is there? What is there beyond? Yeah like they've only ever known the river of the matrix the golden river like what else is there? What is there beyond? Yeah, like, they've only ever known the river of the Matrix, the Golden River, like, what else is there?

And since she died, she just was nothing. There's nothing. Yeah. So, there is this, like, but I think,

like, the fact that you've said it, like, a few of them, like, if they say, if, you know,

you hear, like, maybe some mutterings, like, if the Prime says it, there has to be something. Like, if the Prime says it,

there's something else. We just don't know it. And like, it kind of does alleviate it, but it's definitely like this cultural impact of like, oh God, like, yeah, we can be lost. Sentry, you might want to say something. Just a suggestion. As long as they hold her in their memories,

she'll always live on. Oh. Yeah. She's not lost. As long as you always remember her, she'll always be with you. Okay. He sort of, like, goes around,

like, murmurings of it and things like that. People seem to... It's a very... Yeah, like, you know, they do definitely sort of, like, yeah, yeah, as long as we remember. And I think essentially we get this, it's, like, it's very different for the Guardians.

Because for them it's just like, well, we've never had to do that. Like, we've just known that they're there, like in the Matrix, waiting. So just to remember somebody is a very different experience for them. But they kind of get the idea and it's like, yeah, yeah. And they start telling, those who knew Hotshot begin telling stories of her and stuff like that. But yeah, it's a very different sort of experience for them.

Cool. Can I suggest in the meantime as well, we don't need to act this out just as a point of like in the background um that maybe we enter the bodies of the knights into i imagine there's various mausoleums in the garden grounds in the um night bloom holds like that we enter mausoleums like if you spend time here you realize that there's actually mausoleums for all the previous knight commanders there is a a mausoleums. If you spend time here, you realise that there's actually mausoleums for all the previous Knight Commanders. There is a mausoleum where the Knight Commanders themselves are interred. And you actually find out that it's... Normally, it is warded against anybody in there being raised from the dead. And that's still in place.

Those protections haven't been removed, which is why it was only the four living knight commanders that you were having to deal with. But yeah, you can definitely take their bodies. When you do inter them, you can find that there are unnamed sarcophagus waiting for the next ones to be placed in. You place them in there.

Once they go into the tombs things like cerise's body all the plague in the pox begins to like burn away as the holy seals on the walls of liam actually begin sort of purifying the body of this other sort of like power um same with lamely's same same with sir elwynn she begins shrinking in size the cracked black skin begins healing till they are just themselves um not enough to like you know so godric's skeletal hand just becomes it dissolves so it's just like an amputated arm but like yeah they basically become their dead normal selves without this influencing power. And yeah, you lay them to rest. Nice. Nice.

Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot. Cool. Well, with all of that out of the way, my assumption is you will eventually make your way back to Horizon. Yeah. Oh, I definitely would have had a sending, if all of us are sticking around,

like right before all of this began, I would have sending to get the ships on their way to ferry these guardians. All done. Yeah, that's fine. That's just that background I've been. Yeah. And, yeah, I think we could all way find a guide back to Horizon. How long does all of this, like, take? A few days.

Okay. Two, three days, I think. Like, just to, like, find the bodies, to do everything in the place, bury stuff. You know, it takes a good few hours to do a few of these things. But yeah, yeah, I think like two or three days. And then, yeah, you transport back to Horizon. And I strongly keep track of the time. I think that's us for the episode.

So that is where we're going to call this one. Yeah. Oh, that sounds good. What a fucking rollercoaster of an episode. It was like, ha-ha-ha, silly fun! Sad. No, it wasn't sad. It was like bittersweet.

It was like, ha-ha-ha! It was actually sad. It was nice, though. I think it was good. Yeah, I don't know. It needed to have some... I love a good prologue to an epic chapter. Epilogue.

That one. What's a prologue? It's the one that comes before. Postlog. Postlog, yeah. That's what it is. Postlog, clarity. But yeah, postlog.

That is it for this episode. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time. We love you. Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye.