High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #162 | Genasi Gang (Part 2)

Episode Date: October 20, 2022

The team try out their new identities in prep for the checkpoints of Vortinssar! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes and Studio updates on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Grab some High Rollers merch: https://freshmerch.fm/collections/high-rollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound & TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. away and staying out till 2. That's stop-loss orders on Kraken, an easy way to plan ahead. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. Hello and welcome back to part two of Erois. The party have left the Sky City of Horizon, are en route to the city of Vortensar. They have had to forego the Stormchaser and are on a sort of freight airship as they make their way. And they are accompanied by a new specialist

who has joined their team for this mission called Kay Aveline. Huh? Sorry. What? He's just making a dumb joke. Oh, may. Okay. A changeling called Kay Aveline.

They have various many other persona names and personalities, but their sort of standard one that they have appeared to the party in is called Kay, and they are a sort of illusionist tailor and crafter of personas and identities, and they are helping them forge these disguises before they reach Vortensar, which is going to take a few days. I don't believe there is... I mean, we kind of talked about all your different characters and stuff.

You will need names. Oh yeah. And if there's anything else you wanna do regarding your new personas, this is the time to mention it. What do you guys think? This is kind of like the cloak that I'd be wearing. I mean, the staff's quite big,

but might work as a walking stick kind of thing. That's just, I don't, I was thinking, maybe I could try and impersonate, do you remember Dean Simon from Kaylie's Rest? Dean Simon Simmons. Sorry? Dean Simon Simmons? Yes, yes, him.

Well, I was thinking, he's not a Ganassi, he won't be going to Vortensar, so I should be able to impersonate somewhat him, I suppose. But then how would, why would I be traveling with you guys? And also, what is my name? So you're an Earth Ganassi, right? Air. Air.

Air. Yeah, air. Air or water. It could work as either. More for the drifty hair. So what's like the naming conventions? I haven't, I'll be honest, I haven't really met a's focus either, but air. More for the drifty hair. So what's like the naming conventions? I'll be honest, I haven't really met a huge amount of Ganassi.

So our names tend to be based around kind of the element that we are born as. You know, you met my mother as Breeze, my father is Wade, my stupid sister is Aurora, and my stupider brother is Cloud slash Tornado. Which one's the more, okay, yes, okay. There's the hierarchy. Okay.

What sort of name do you think would fit with a scholarly, old... Well, you're not born old. Well, I'm old, that's true. That would be weird. Yeah, no, you're right. Benjamin Button scenario. Who's that?

Have you not heard of the legend of Benjamin Button? I need to write this down as my test. No, it's a famous play. I think he was one of the free men that Lucius spoke about in his The Legend of the Free Men story. No, I don't think he was it. They did have names, but they could have had a name. They could've had a name, yeah. Anyway.

It's not part of the joke, it wouldn't really work, but no, I haven't really heard that tale, but either way, I mean, something airy, something windy. Gust. Gust. Sorry, I like Gust Havens. Kay just sort of like sits back

and is letting you kind of formulate things. Is dust not like a more Earth Ganassi? Dust? Dust would be maybe a mixed air and earth. Billow. Billow? Billow. Willow.

Yeah. Would you like a suggestion? Huff. Oh, yes, if you have one. Wisp. Ooh. Again, quite a young name. So young.

But a name passes through generations. I think that Wisp could work for an older it would not be it would not stand out against an older figure. And I think a young person could also be called Wisp. Okay, Wisp. Would we need last names? That is a question for your Ganassi expert I'm afraid. Mark. Vija.

Um. I think that it's that classic thing of we generally don't refer to the names. They probably do, but I think that they would be the generic verb plus noun, like Meriwether and stuff like that. They'd just be generic Erosian surnames. I guess they would be Ganassi names, actually.

Wisp. Willow the Wisp. But I think people don't tend to just use their surnames. Surname is more meant for businesses and things like that. Wisp. But I think people don't tend to just, they don't use their surnames. Surname is more meant for businesses and things like that. Also, I think if I was Wisp Veeja, I mean, I don't know. That would be probably alarming, I suppose, given... What? Oh, that's true. Why are we...

You'd be associated with the heroes. Yes, exactly. The heroists set out to destroy the Valkyrian Empire. You'd be associated with the heroes. Yes, exactly. Oh, yes. Set out to destroy the Valkyrian Empire. You do have quite an unusual surname. Don't be a V'ger. Wait, what? Don't be a V'ger. I won't be a V'ger.

I'll do my best. Just be Wisp. Okay, I am... Wisp. I'm Wisp. Get away from me. So I think that as you're kind of like Krenn's persona, Kay will... The head of the Spear of Destiny

gets covered in this kind of malleable clay, like Kay pulls out like a jar and melts it and it quickly dries into almost like rock hard kind of like wood. And that kind of disguises the tip so it's no longer a spear, it looks more like a quarterstaff now, like almost like a gnarled, natural-looking branch

or something that's been pulled off somewhere. Perfect. And then the cloak, Kay will kind of surround you with this big cloak that draws quite tightly in. Around your feathers, they dress you in full clothing so that most of you, like, because you don't normally wear like a full shirt and trousers and things like that,

but Kay makes them for you so that it will sit and fit right and stuff like that in case anybody touches you. When Kay's making all of this, they actually, as they are kind of like fitting you, a little, a kind of little creature that's almost made out of like a thread bobbin, like a thread little spool with little arms and legs and holds like a little needle.

And it uses its like, they can command it almost like a little creature to like help them sew and make things. And it kind of like climbs up you and then sews itself as like a way of helping sew and make an outfit. Oh, that's so cute. Like a little spider thread. Yeah.

And they kind of, your face is like mostly wrapped in bandages and then they use like a kind of almost like a prosthetic over your beak to like replicate like a fleshy like material and then they basically you kind of look like um like somebody's got a disease that you're wrapped up like this big hunchback as well with your bird sort of like wings kind of tucked up in um and like you're having to like keep your wings pinned back and stuff like that and your hands are just like right in front of you're having to keep your wings pinned back and stuff like that, and your hands are just right in front of you,

so they're really spindly and closely held. But when they use the illusion, it completes it, and yeah, you look like this wizened, long, crazy, wild, wispy hair all over your body, like, oh, there it is. But not too crazy, wild, like, A wild man from the hills. Yeah, like the kind of person

they're immediately gonna spot in a crowd or whatever. There's an element of that, just because you are so wrapped up in these bandages, but then, but you definitely have that look of like, you probably wouldn't wanna meet this guy, or go up and disturb this guy naturally. The last thing he does is they pull out another perfume thing and they

spray you with it and it makes you stink of garbage. Because you're like an old man. It's like old worn books but like stinky leather. You haven't washed yourself. Oh, it went into my nose. The voice is really good right now,

or is that just because of the... Oh, it's not the voice. We'll need to get used to it, I'm afraid. I'm gonna stand over here if that's all right. Do you have any sweets, like boiled sweets in your pocket? You crying a little bit. And then does this... You have magic armor, don't you?

Do I have magic armor? You have the Wyvern armor. I do. I don't think it's... Is it magical? It counts as magical, yes. It has resistance against poison or whatever. Yeah, I do that.

You will either need to take that off, or it will need to be hidden by magic. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I also have that. I can only do that on four objects. So your staff is one. Your staff has a magic aura, Nistl's magic aura cast on it to hide the magic aura. So it's still like a walking... It will now look against things like detect magic

and stuff like that. It will just register as a non-magic light. Okay. Yeah, I think that's... Epic. I mean, other than maybe the Wayfinder's guide, I think that's something that has to kind of stick around. Wayfinder's Guide,

as long as you keep it in like a bag or something, it should be okay. Yeah, I think the Havocite can put a lot of the stuff in. Yeah. What about my eye? Your eye...

So the way that Kay's made it look is like you're blind in that eye. Okay. Because it's already cloudy. Unless somebody's looking at you and sees the sparks of thunder and lightning in it, it would just look like a cloudy blinded eye and you still have like the scar and stuff.

So it kind of just looks like, one-eyed crazy old man. What about the ability though? The ability, yeah, it's still fine. All the abilities still function as normal. Yeah, and the ability of the storm eye has always been indistinguishable for everyone else. To everybody else, yeah.

Again, they just see a very slight flash of lightning but you would have to be like staring at you like that to see it okay cool nice all right so quill aka wisp is done anything else i only picked one cool because he started describing how yeah yeah stuff if anybody else role play yeah yeah um yeah okay now you also so probably lucius uh k will remind you that they can make one outfit using the um where is it uh the special stuff that they have well you're gonna be air gonna see where you're gonna go it's gonna be air gonna see um and yeah they have a special material, this shift weave that they make an outfit out of,

which you can have up to five programmed outfits in. Do you want that for your thespian? Yes, please. All right, so Lucius is going to have that. And, yeah, like, they, you know, it's up to you, really, what your character looks like. The only thing is the Ganassi elements is your hair. They almost have it kind of float a little bit

by using like a special gel that kind of keeps it kind of like it almost seems to like pull away from your body. And then Kay will probably say to you like, if you have any magical sort of cantrips that you can use to sort of create a bit of air or sort of gusts and things like that, that would be very useful. I have dancing lights. Not particularly useful.

Can you create illusions or anything? No, I'm not that illusionary. Never mind, never mind. Well, we'll use the gel for now and it will sort of create it. So it looks like it has more volume. I've got acid splash. No. Unfortunately, yes, this will be the best we can do with your hair.

How much do you want me to change it? I can lighten it so it's almost white, like a wispy cloudy white it's my character yeah you know when galantriel goes crazy over the phone okay yeah i don't know how that looks i can't remember him i can't picture in my head how that looks well essentially as an elf when she's got real like white hair it's like oh i will be your queen because it inverts the colour and polarises it basically negative

but you want to have like luminous white almost hair glowing yep that's easily done Kay pulls out from their tailor's vest

sort of like a bottle like a lotion bottle works it into the hair and it becomes bright white and it will stay that way for 30 days

is this a conditioner or something it feels like it is a magical dye it will last about 30 days that will can be washed out with repeated use and things not bad thank you uh but yes that will stay in that way and it's uh do you want it longer or do you want it shorter as well i think as as i adopt so many roles as this i i probably would have it at a regular length, not too long. So a bit shorter than the one you have now.

Maybe a little short. Yes, yes, yes. It'll take our paracysm. Just so I can adapt to my role. Get paracysm, cut your hair. Okay! I can grow it back. I know, it's just not, it's fine.

The last time we did this was for very different means. And it's very good. Kay's very, very good at what they do. Well, I was disguising it. I was a bit more, oh no, it's very similar actually, yes. But yeah, they cut your head to like a sort of more reasonable length, like maybe like shoulder length or something like that.

Yeah, so I can tie it up or hide it under a cap or something. Yeah, I think rather than maybe like, rather than this gel to kind of give it volume, maybe tie it up, they kind of do like a man bun thing, so it kind of has a flowy look to it. Yes. Yeah. They kind of give you that kind of thing, so it kind of has a flowy look to it. Yes. Yeah, they kind of give you that kind of look to it. Nice, I like that.

Nice. You'll need to think of a name. Clothing-wise, I've programmed in a few different sort of outfits for different roles. You can decide what those are. But yeah, generally they don't change Lucius too much. The only other thing is that with magic, they have to make your ears appear human.

But they can't make the, they can't really do that physically, so it's all illusion, basically. The hair is like almost hiding it. So like the base of your ears will be natural, but the top, if anybody were to touch it, they'd be like, oh, that's like an ear, and it's an air.

Okay. Other than that, names. What about Cloud or Squall? Squall would be very fitting, I think. Tempest? Fallstreak. That's a type of cloud, I looked it up. Or a...

Azur, Azure, or Cerulean? Nimbus. Nimbus. I think something quite theatrical. Cerulean, Iridescent. Cerulean. We could add a little bit of iridescence into there if you wish. To the hair perhaps.

I do like all colours. The last thing as well, you mentioned about removing sort of physical parts of yourself. The wobbly bits, yes. I hand you a potion. Drink this. The wobbly bits, yes. I hand you a potion. Drink this. Um... Uh... And focus on the intended intentions.

Yeah. You drink it. Quite sweet. It'll take about an hour for the full process, for the full effects, but you'll... It should be painless, you shouldn't feel anything. Still got nippies. Yeah. But over the hour, the design effects take place.

So I am now action-made. Smooth. As designed. Or kendor, I guess. Lucius doll. Yes, I will leave the rest. Anything, any other elements, I leave to you. Anything else for anyone else?

Wait, what was your name again, sorry? Didn't pick one, or did you go with cerulean? I like the azure azure azure like the azure sky blue sky azure yeah i never know my stage name is azure yeah you pronounce it azure but it's azure yeah it's very nice azure yeah nice it's a zoo well it's like tornado and cloud isn't it uh so for century not much needs to change uh k fashions you this kind of like mask um and uh really doesn't do too much more your armor they give a fake appearance of making it look more worn because it's not magical armor is it no normal mundane plate don't you they make it

look more worn um they add like they almost do some weathering effects to make it look more worn because it's not magical armor is it no normal mundane plate don't you they make it look more worn um they add like they almost do some weathering effects to make it look a bit dirty and a bit more kind of like you know uh you know uh broken and sort of like you know not cracked but like it's seen it's seen a lot of more i mean it's seen a lot of use anyway but you can tend to keep it a bit more pristine so they make it look a bit more dirty um you're tabbed they have to take your tabard off like like you have to put that away. And instead she would take it off and fold it like neatly, put it in the bag and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And everything you can keep in your bags and stuff.

And instead Kay will measure you and fit you with kind of very standard looking Earth Ganassi clothes. I'm kind of imagining like three quarter length sort of almost shorts, leaving your feet quite exposed, maybe with a pair of sandals. It's your first time having to wear shoes. It's very strange.

I can feel the wind on my feet. Pickles. Maybe a loose tunic underneath the armor and stuff, or maybe a gambeson, something that a humanoid would have to wear to protect themselves from chafing against the armor. So a brown gambeson, a paddedded wool kind of gambeson underneath it. And then yeah, just like this kind of pair of like almost like three quarter shorts

and then like no armor on your legs. It's just all on your body basically. And then- Very exposed. Yeah. And then they use the seeming spell will fill in like all the wooden bits, overlaying them with fake flesh

that has a grayish tone to match the stony parts of your body and armor that they make more textured and rock-like, making you look like an Earth Ganassi. But you just have a very, like this face mask is the thing which is covering your sort of unblinking, unmoving mouth. I might like pull my hair forward a little bit

to try and just help blend the disguise around the face and stuff. Yeah, like the long vines kind of come down. Yeah, like come forward. Yeah. Yeah. Very, and long vines come down. They come forward. Yeah. Yeah, and you appear to be a massive, very imposing looking earth ganassi woman, like of warrior type. What do you think?

Quite the transformation. You look amazing. Thank you. I feel so comfy. Could you stand over there? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll just back up over here. My eyes are starting to water. I was trying to take in sentry, which is not your name anymore.

Oh, yeah. Hmm. I suppose guard is a bit too... Guardian-y. Yeah. You need a name. Crag. Crag. Crag. I guess it would almost be a little bit like wrestling. Like, you'd have your name and then, like, your kind of wrestler's name.

I'm trying to remember the guy from Avatar. Oh, yeah. Boulder. Who's actually played by Mick Foley. Do you know who has actually Mick Foley? Who does the voice for that. Boulder. Boulder.

Boulder? So you're going to go with Boulder or Crag? Some Crag should. Craggy Boulder. Boulder Crag. Craggy Boulder? Yeah. Because that would go with your face as well.

Crag. That could be your, like... Yeah, that's the other thing, is your face is definitely marked by, like, heavy cracks, almost like scars. Like, almost basically obscuring one whole eye. You can still see out of it, because it's an illusion, but it almost covers one of your eyes,

and then your other one is like, there's no eyebrow, there's no, you can't move it, it's heavily broken up. You look pretty fucked up. But maybe like, Boulder Dash could be like your, not sports name, I don't know. I guess my autograph name, maybe. Maybe I sign as the Boulder Dash could be like your, not sports name, I don't know. I guess my autograph name, maybe. Maybe I sign as the Boulder Dash, but I'm Crag. I like it.

Boulder Dash slash Crag. Crag, very good. It's important that you like the names that you give yourself. I do like it, yes. Good, good. Then with Nova, we'll leave Ayla, because Katie's not here and I don't want

to make any decisions for her, but with Nova, you'll leave Ayla, because Katie's not here and I don't want to make any decisions for her, but with Nova, you are given a potion, which will temporarily alter your physical sex. It won't change, like, musculature or anything like that, or any other body parts and things like that, but it will change, yeah, parts, I don't want to say it. I don't want to be crude. I was about to shout it out, but I knew you'd make a face. Yeah, so that will take a place, and, you know, that physical change. But Kay will then, you get a prosthetic beard, first of all.

And then over that, the illusion is going to make it look more airy and watery kind of thing to match your existing hair. So a kind of embellishment. Yeah. Now, air ganassi hair, obviously it's not cut because yours is like cloud. But can it be I kind of imagine it could almost be cut away

and then it just fades to nothing yeah it's like a leaf blower to it yeah so K will cut your hair to be like almost

short and cropped with the understanding that when this mission is finished K can just replenish and grow it back it'll be like you know when I went

through my K-pop phase and shaved my hair real short yeah so it's just kind of like buzzed on the sides, kind of keeping a little bit of length on the top, but that kind of cloudy, wispy substance.

And then the beard matches it. It's almost like a kind of very straight beard. I got a beard. You are given latex and makeup on your face with the same kind of bluish skin tone to make yourself look older, but also to build out your nose, your cheeks, your jaw, to get a bit more masculine, sort of like traditionally masculine masculine I should say anyway um and then the same with your body as well like uh Kay actually makes you a sort of undersuit that you wear under your clothing that

like pads your arms out to be a bit more muscular pads your shoulders um a binder and and then basically yeah it makes an outfit of fitting of a kind of like a writer and a book you know critic and things like that you keep your satchel um again any magic weapons uh like you either have to put away or kay can still do can still do three mask auras um so but it wouldn't just it wouldn't mask the fact that i got two giant magical swords on my back though right uh because they technically count as one item the eclipse twin blades are a unique item in that they're two swords but they always count as one k can mask them so that they don't give off magic they'll still look they still look like a big they'll look fancy but that doesn't necessarily mean they're magical they could just be made ornately it's just a bit weird that there's a journalist

just going around with two whopping yes that. Yes, that would certainly make a play to it. It's a rough world out there. Yeah, it is a rough world. Now, Kay can make them look like other things. Like, they could make them look like... Kay doesn't have to, because Tiangong can. That's true, that's true. Tiangong can change their shape.

So, yeah, if we could mask the aura, and then Tiangong can make it just like a little dagger. Yeah, they can make them look like a pair of daggers. Yeah, a little pair of daggers. Because they are two. But, Yeah, they can make them look like a pair of daggers. They have to look like a pair because they are two. But yeah, they can make them look like a pair of daggers. They still have the same visual elements of the Eclipse to Mumaids, like the dark and light kind of thing, but they would look like little knives, basically,

like throwing knives almost. Just for protection. Yeah, exactly. Like somebody a traveller might carry for protection. Angry chefs, you know. Tiangong hasn't ever assumed a form of cutlery. Would Tiangong be insulted by that? Probably. Yeah. Kay will stilllery. Would Tiangong also be insulted by that? Probably.

Yeah. Kay will still mask the magic on Tiangong. Yeah, yeah, not bad. But do you have any other magic items that you wanna keep on your person? I guess the breastplate. Is that magical? It's ether something?

Ethereum breastplate? Etherforged. It's not magical magical it's just made from ethereum which would be very expensive so k can make it look less expensive with the illusion amethyst lodestone helm of teleportation both of those are magical items and are very obvious ones i'm gonna take off my stormcrawler chain you can just take it off completely i to take off my Stormcrawler chain. You're going to just take it off completely? I'll take off the Helm of Teleportation. The Prismatic Gauntlet, by the way, would look like... It would just be made to look like part of you.

Okay. And as it's a focus, is it... They will need to mask it as well, because it does have a magical property. So there's one mask left. I'm taking off the Helm of Teleportation if I could have my Amethyst Lodestone mask, but obviously that depends on...

Yeah, well, the only thing I just need to check in with Katie, because I don't think anybody else has got anything else. You would need to unequip your flame lance, just because that's built into your arm. Helios? Helios would have to be either gone or masked, yes. Okay. What about my wing?

I'll take off Helios. Your wing doesn't count as magical, it's mechanical. Oh, but I do... Oh, even though I tuned to it? Yeah, which I want to change anyway, because it's unfair that you have to attune to get your arm back. Well, okay. I mean, yeah. I'll take it.

Tom loves cabbages. I'm not going to do that today, but that is something I would like to do. It's on the to-do list. Yeah, well, I'll take it. Because Nova made it, and it kind of is, there is a magical element to it, but it wouldn't register as a magic item, I don't think.

Okay. Well, I've, yeah, I've gotten rid of, well, I've not gotten rid of, I've... Or even if it did register as magic, it would have come up as a prosthetic arm and that could just be explained as like yeah because it's i used air elemental dust yeah yeah so it can like well i don't have the wayfinder's guide anymore um not on you not on me it's in the bag and the wyvern armor yeah so i guess my ac was being reduced just take it off and it should do it automatically beyond um and the important thing to remember is like,

these items, you still have access to them, you just, it will basically be, if you're putting them in Ayla's bag, you have to be next to Ayla, and it's an action to get them out of the bags. Yeah. I think as long as we all go in with fighting stuff, weaponry more than anything.

Yeah, if you want any mundane weapons, Kay can provide them to you. They can literally provide you with any weapon in the Kay can provide them to you. They can literally provide you with any weapon in the Player's Handbook, a mundane version of it. So like if you want to have a rapier, if you want to have a greatsword or something just as a separate thing, you can have that. So I think for Sentry who has had to hide the lance, you might want to have a backup weapon. So like if you want a battle axe, you can have a battle axe, you know. If you want to have a hammer, you want to have a warhammer.

Morningstar. I suppose you still have like battle axe, you know? If you want to have a hammer, you want to have a war hammer. Morningstar. I suppose you still have your original axe. You can't use that with your shield. No, I gave that to Danica. Oh, okay. Yeah. With regards to the halberd, you just won't be able to use your shield, because it's two-handed.

But yeah, you can do whatever you want. I'll let you guys figure that stuff out. What's Quill's new name? Wisp. Wisp. Is it Craig? I think I'm gonna call myself I have I don't know if this works but like Julian as in like you know you use

Julian vegetables. Cool. But it's also very elemental though is it? No but it's my pen name. Right I see okay. Because I write for the culinary magazines. Yeah okay well what's your Ganassi name? That's pen name so i'm still mixed aren't i yeah i mean yeah k's not changed that so um water and air yeah oh mist what's the name of the steam sous vide sous vide oh yeah when you steam oh my god is that like a vacuum seal? I just wish, yeah. Vacuum seal, but then you cook it in water

and it's the steam and stuff. I guess it is a food deep. I just wish the sous wasn't like sous, like a feminine. Oh, true, yeah. Sal-vide. Sal-vide.

No, sauron. Or just vide. Yeah, vide. Sous-vide is pretty good, yeah. Dou. Dou? I'm trying to think of like Oh, as in do. Yeah, yeah. Do. Do? I'm trying to think of like, other elements. Oh, I think do.

Yeah, yeah, do, do. Do. Do. I might have to get back to yours on that one. You know me, 10 page backstory. I can't, you can't put me on the spot like this. You might need it soon. Julian is your pen name.

Okay. Well, Julian is my pen name, Spray. They're just trying to- Spray. They're suggesting Spray in chat. Nice. Oh, so you're Spray. What about Spritz? Moist. Spritz. Spray. They're suggesting spray in chat. Nice. Oh, so you're spray. What about spritz? Moist. Spritz.

Spritz is really cute. Okay, spritz. We're going with spritz. All right, spritz. Damp. And again, I'll chat to Katie. Moist. Moist.

It's more of a water galactic. Yeah, moist. Moist. It's more of a water galactic. Yeah, moist. All right. And then Katie, I'll talk to Katie because I won't make any choices for her while she's not here. Squirt.

Karsten! No! Stop looking at chat. Put chat away, please. Good. I don't like any players having chat. You just needed a name. I know you need a name, it's fine.

But I don't want you there when they're all moaning about stuff. Leek. Trot looked at me and I thought he had like a knowing look in his eyes, like he had something prepared that he didn't want to say. I probably shouldn't say that. Is it rude? Of course it's rude. Look at him.

Look at that face. It's always rude. Mice. That's always rude. Mice, that's the group. Are we gonna have to, okay. Crab with spritz and to be decided. TBD, but it won't matter, I'm not gonna use that against you as well. Yeah.

Ayla is on pause until Katie's back, basically. All right, so if there is anything else, you know, you basically spend the three days, once you kind of have these personas, Kay will spend three days with you, desperately trying to help you, you know, create that identity in a more realized way. Not just building out the details of a backstory,

but also, for example, with Nova, it's like changing the way you walk, and it's things like that. For Quill, it's like remembering that you've got to walk with like, you know, you don't have your wings. You've got to walk like a person. But I have to change my voice as well. Like myself.

The voice does deepen naturally because of the potion that you drank. It has a natural deepness. But again, like Kay spends time with you, like you're being too, you're modulating your tone. It's more too melodic because, melodic because your natural speaking voice, you have to make it more monotonous. A lot of traditionally men have very monotonous voices. Yeah.

I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. And again, we're only talking about traditional societal norms and stuff like that, right? Because that's the idea as well that you wanna blend in so you're trying to be as socially normal based vanilla as you can be in most cases. But yeah, so that is complete. So unless there's anything else you guys want to discuss amongst yourselves, one thing I actually not forgot to tell you,

but it didn't come up till now, obviously as well when you get into the city, what's the plan? Like, did you... Oh, God. We're going to go to nova's right um we've got to be careful about that yeah because it is it probably will be watched possibly um we could try and i don't know if if uh we can communicate inside the walls of what it's on but we could try and reach out to nanny norfolk on that yeah

that's the one thing i forgot to mention is that norfea would have left some like some in her last message norfea would have provided you with a if if you come to vault and sarn and need to reach me or find me there's like a cryptic in a very spy-like fashion a cryptic message that was left but that's already self-destructed, right? No, it's fine. You learnt this before it self-destructed. Oh, too late. Norfiz, last communication, had a message that said,

in the fire district, there is a food market called Coalsmoke Street. It's crowded and busy. Look for the sign of a spicy rabbit and order the Bantau mix, Sky Elf style. Coalsmoke? Coalsmoke Street. Street? Mm-hmm. of a spicy rabbit and order the bantam mix sky elf style uh coal smoke coal smoke street street look for a sign of the spot of a spicy rabbit like doing sexy dances or you know all that all it says is spicy rabbit. Okay. And then order the Bantau mix, Sky Elf style. Okay.

So no chili. Basically, Nova knows that's what it means. It means not spicy. No flavor. Yeah, no flavor. Then there's a small message after that which just says, if things ever go bad, find somewhere to lay low. You don't need to write this down. This is just like an instruction.

If things ever go bad, find somewhere to lay low in the city, blend in for a few days, and then look for anyone or displaying a sky jouster's favor. That basically indicates that somebody's a friend of the Seekers, but it's warned against doing this unless you're desperate because that obviously puts normal people at risk. These are just like normal citizens, but they're the ones who can help you find if if anything goes wrong they'll try and find a way to like sync you back up with the seekers um anybody with a sky jousters

favor on them or in their shop or on their house or something like that sure um okay so that was just a little bit of information from uh nannyfair before you head off, so you have at least that idea. That's so cool. My nanny was so cool. I'm starting to learn that, yeah, yeah. She is cool, I don't know why I used the past tense. Is she okay? I presume so, she's still sending messages to us.

She's okay. Yeah, of course she's okay, she's Nanny Norfair. Yeah. Do you happen to know the way to Coalsmoke Street? Do I know the way to Coalsmoke Street? Yes. What is that song? It's a famous Ganassi song.

Like I said, we're very into music. Do I know the way? I like it. Yeah, it's pretty good. Yeah. Nice. Well, maybe a couple of listens, but anything more than that. If it gets repeated over and over and over again,

I imagine it really grates on you though. We have a song like that. I think they call it Earworms, where it's called Baby Grung-do-do-do-do-do. Baby Grung-do-do-do-do-do. Okay, I'd like to throw in the I don't want to make that canon part. Daddy Grung-do-do-do-do-do. Daddy Grung-do-do-do-do-do. Non-canon.

Mommy Grung-do-do-do-do-do. That's declared non-canon. Stop now. It's getting deleted from the board. Cut it out, Tom. I'm being censored here grumpy, grumpy. That's declared non-canon. Stop now. It's getting deleted from the board. Cut it out, Tom. I'm being censored here. Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are.

Don't want to be censored? Don't come up with shit content. I bet you everyone loves it. I bet everyone in chat is like, that's great, Tim. I'm sure they do. Just because chat loves it doesn't mean it's good. Wow. Chat.

Chat likes smeek. I'll put it that way vindicate me chat okay it's not allowed to show up on the wiki either no um warning crispy's more friendly crispy will put it in the trivia but that's fine yeah uh so yeah if you guys want to chat about your plans and stuff there is also some special gameplay mechanics that i can tell you about some special gameplay mechanics that I can tell you about. Oh. It's a bit different. Well, I was hoping on having

a 30 to 45 minute introduction between all of us of meeting our brand new characters. Please don't. That would genuinely annoy me. Nice to meet you. Oh, God. You don't need to do that.

You know each other. We don't know each other. No, we don't know. No, we don't know the new us. We don't know who we are. You can decide that, that's fine, but please don't just role play like, nice to meet you, I'm Blanc.

Oh, hey there. It's more locking in who we are, our relations to each other, why we were in a mix-an, so. I was there reviewing a new restaurant. Oh, is that the voice? Sorry, is that your voice? I think so. Do I sound masked, Catelyn?

I think so. I think it's very good. I think in world it probably works a lot better than the voice you're doing at the table. It's hard! Yeah? Well, hi. My name is Wisp. How did I find myself in Imikzan, you might ask?

Well, I had a library in Gali's Rest, but some bastard burnt it down. And now I found myself traveling ever since they joined the goddamn Erosian Front. But I came to Imikzan, part of the... What do they call it nowadays, a new, the army. Kay, does he have to smell like this?

It was only initially. I don't think that Kay has continuously sprayed him with this stuff for three days. I can still smell it. It's probably still lingering in the room. I'm a little worried because I can't smell it anymore, and I'm worried I've gotten used to it. Is that bad? This is very convincing. I'm not very, my can't smell it anymore, and I'm worried I've gotten used to it. Is that bad?

This is very convincing. I'm not very, my sense of smell isn't... You don't have it. Existent. No. I'm using my air ganassi ability of not breathing. Oh, I wish I had that. I don't need it, can't smell it anymore. Well, I guess not breathing,

but holding my breath indefinitely. Interesting. Oh, wait. If Ganassi and Ganassi don't smell with their noses, then... No, we do. We just can hold our breath indefinitely. Okay, then would they probably choose just to not smell me? And remember, Wisp, you are also an Eganassi. You can also hold your breath indefinitely.

I can't. Quill can't. Whoever that is. No, but you need to pretend that you can. Oh. I don't smell like anything. Huh? And what about you? I'm very convinced.

As you're right. Give me a moment to get into character here. Okay. Hello. Wow. I am Azure. Unbelievable. And I am Azure. Unbelievable.

And I am extremely wealthy. And I act and do other things too. Wow. What? I have five outfits. Please tell me, what plays have you been in? Oh, I've been in many plays. Name four.

Here's a few of them. Okay. A Plumbus and Me. One. A Plumbus and Me. One. A Plumbus and You. Two, the sequel, I like it. A Plumbus and Us. Oh wow, the franchise just kept going, didn't it?

A Plumbus No More. Oh, that was the horror. And then the gritty reboot, right? A Plumbus. Return to Us. Origins. Unchained. And then finally, The Divine Tarrasque. Oh, my favorite. A plumbus. Returns. Returns. Origins. Unchained.

And then finally, the Divine Tarasque. Oh, my favorite. I remember watching that one when I was just a wee little boy. Well, you wouldn't have because it's actually quite a new age one for the young Ganassi that I'm hoping to inspire and get rid of these old traditional stories. I think one thing I should introduce to you all is the concept of yes and. When speaking with one another, try not to immediately say no

to each other. If somebody introduces something about your character, if you have not already established it, try and lean into it and go forward with it. OK. Very good. Well, thank you. Just to prevent you because an argument of yes, no, yes, no

would draw attention. It is much better to an argument of yes. No. Yes. No would draw attention It is much better to accept and move on new What about you very Masculine not huge. What's your name? I'm just people will be talking to you in the city. These are the kinds of pressing questions We're going to be getting when we are in Borden saw proper. I think he's lost in the room I just if I get into it the face is he's not gonna have that good of a performance sex his charisma This is one of those like Tom's performance great, but quill in universe is

So much that means a lot anyway tell me about the sport of what was it again? Skyjacking. Interesting! Battle of Elroes. Where did you come from? You must be a sentinel from the heroes of Elroes. Outed. Bem.

Battle of Elroes. Is it Bem for short? And you're a guard. A guard. You guard plate bearers. I'm not a soldier of Solvin, I'm not a guardian of Solvin, I'm a guard from the Battle of Elemental Mountain.

Kay, could you transform into a Valkyrian guard? I could. I have diagrams. I do not have any of their clothing or armor. Or perhaps an imposing figure. I could make myself look like, physically. That would give a shakedown of someone. Yes, physically I could make myself look like anything,

but I don't have, I would need to procure clothing or costume. I have imagery of the armor, of what they would look like. Yes, if I can see that, I have a little bit of spellcasting energy. I could create a shadow version of it for a brief period of time, or if I could find some materials, I could make something. If you could give me a sketch. I'd show the data slabs that I have, you know, with all the intel and stuff like that. Praxis Val, that's a key phrase they say.

May I borrow this? Yeah, sure. Kay begins studying it. I said Praxis Val. But only in response. He didn't mean it. It didn't come from the heart. It's true. Turning. Anyway, sorry. Hi.

Heel turn incoming. Perhaps when we are at the gate, if a shakedown is required or someone does need to come into contact with me personally, maybe you could volunteer yourself to be- Your quill! Yes. Oh my god, is that Lucius? I think-

Do you remember that high elf that- I will need to travel with this. I don't know who I don't want is anymore. I love how to travel with this. I don't know who anyone is anymore. I love how in stuff like this, everyone's like, my intelligence is five now. Who's that? Oh, my God. And then the rest of the time it's like,

I will summon the angels of heaven with my 20 wisdom. Oh, my God, that was lucius anyway we did this last time all right quill he's just appeasing him yeah okay um no he was quietly despairing in a corner with because you're asking k if they could become a guard to kind of intercept you. Yeah, yeah. If that was their plan. The difficulty will be that I will need to be travelling with you. I will just be disguising myself as a Ganassi.

I would have to somehow get away, transform, re-equip new clothing and then come in as a guard. It would be far, far too impractical. Okay.

I will study this, this Valkyrian Empire so that if you need me to be a guard in some scenario, I may be able to do it, but I would not... You are the ones on this secret mission. I am here to enable your personalities, not to be involved myself.

I'm not a spy. I'm not an agent. This is for all of you. I am your tailor. It's just very mind-me of Garak in Deep Space Nine. Garak? Is that, yeah. When I was like, oh, who's going to be the specialist? I was like, I do like him.

I'm just a simple tailor. I know. Right. Let's try this again. Who are you? Why? I am Krag. Yes.

I am a guard from the Battle of Elemental Mountain. Now don't check your notes. The Tectonic Titans. That's a team. I am from the Tectonic Titans. I'm not looking at my notes. I was training in Imoksan in the mountains. Yes.

And I heard the Valkyrian Empire calling everyone to come back to Vortensar. I can see your eye flickering a little bit. Insight check. So we are returned back to Vortensar, to our home. Is that good? I don't know.

It will be fine. Perhaps only answer questions if you have to. Okay. Like which questions do you think I'll... Well, if somebody, if you are being questioned by a guard, answer their questions. But if your companions can do answer questions I would perhaps let them. Okay. You there! Give me your entire story. All of it. From start to finish. Okay, crazy old man. My name is Julien. You may have read my writings in the Culinary Guide. Take notes, but don't look at your notes.

It's like we start a cyber battle on our computer. I'm a staff writer in the Culinary Guide, and I have been in I Imixan testing their cuisine. Wonderful. I don't know why I'm leading this. I've got no performance skill myself. I don't know why you did either. I'm just being cautious. I'm scared. I'm so scared. You really do look like the adult-minded old man very well. He's very good.

Do I look handsome? You do, I love it. I feel handsome. I love it. I like stroking it. That's a look. Do I look wise? Stay there.

It's good, it's good. Yeah, it does suit you. It does suit you. Thank you. Check this out. No nips. No nips. It's amazing, it's so freeing.

Mm. Mm. Oh. No chaffage. Nothing in the way. It's phenomenal. Very good. Thank you.

Quill. I mean, sorry. No, I don't. Wisp. No, I'm Quill now. Well, no, I'm Wisp. You need to do a sign so we know, like a Q or like a... A Q? W.

Or like that. Yeah, something like that. What does that signify? So when I'm talking to Quill, do that, and then I know. Otherwise I'm talking... Because I don't want to accidentally call you Quill. Well, I'm not Quill. I'm Wisp. You're Wisp. Okay, good.

But when you're Quill... And I look and sound exactly like Wisp. But when you're Quill, do this so I know it's Quill. If I'm talking in a completely different voice, it should be immediately recognizable. I don't know if I can trust myself with that. We're doomed. Kay is looking very worried.

We're doomed. I've done my best. This puts me in the mind of the last mission we did where we spent an entire episode talking about our stealth plan, and the first thing we did was roll shit stealth stealth rolls and it just went out the window pretty much straight away yep yeah there's but this one is guised in hilarious role play yeah true rather than just talking about it's so funny the funniest dnd show on the net what you what were you gonna say i can't remember I'm so sorry

he's in it something about nipples but it's probably not proper okay classical men to guardians anyway

what don't worry I'll just add a counter to my like how many episodes I thought this arc would be I'm just going to add yeah

just chalkboard raise that I'm going to take away. Yeah. Just chalkboard, raise that. I'm gonna take away your ability to make decisions for a second and say that three days pass. I'd like to use my stormlight. You can go into practice. No, I don't.

You can use your stormlight, don't mind that. That's fine. No, it's fine. You eventually arrive and are deposited several miles outside of Ornstar. You'll have to walk the rest of the way. Kay, on the morning that you depart, does not appear as Kay. Instead, a, I think, fire ganassi? A fire ganassi woman.

Middle-aged, kind of like well-built, well-travelled. Probably looking similar age to Julian. Sort of 40s, 50s. Tailor, but the outfit is more rough and sort of like worn and sort of like a seamstress, like an older kind of seamstress. Like fiery ponytail tied up. Kind of looking a bit more sort of weathered. They make it clear it's them.

Huh? Or do they just come out? They come out of Kay's room, yes. But they are wearing an outfit. Here we go. Here we go. Yeah. Come on, Trop.

Roll play it out. Be free. His wisdom isn't that low, I don't think. Ayla, can you hold on to my book of infinite wisdom real quick? Who's that? Fucking Tim Allen. I'm trying to think of a good, what's like a good fire name that begins with a K?

Oh. Kindle. Kinder. Kinder. Kinder? Yeah, kindle. Kindling. Kindle Kinder. Kinder? Yeah, kindle. Kindling. Kindle, yeah.

Kindling, kindle. I was going to say kinder is German for children. Children, yeah. Kindle. Children eggs. Yeah, it's not K-A. It's not K-A. Kinder eggs.

I know you say it like that. Kamihamiha? Kamihamiha. I guess you could use like Kelvin, but that's like a temperature. No. Yeah, I think Kindle. Kindling. Kindle. I don't think anyone would call themselves kindling.

Oh, but it's weird. I talk to everyone for like 10 minutes. I'm the bad guy, but we spend ages talking about Kindle or Kindler. It's been like a minute. It's not a minute. You're making it longer. Your attention span is infinitesimal for other people

and extra-nomical for yourself extra-nomical you just got red son it's fucking extra-nomical extra-nomical that's a great word

extra-nomical you are extra and extra-nomical what was the word I was trying to say extra-nomical but he is astronomical, though. Yeah, I mixed the two.

He's so fucking extra. The episode title. Yeah. Astronomical. That's the best Markism. So Kay, a.k.a. Kindle, will say, well, are we ready? Yes.

As we'll ever be. So from here on, we are on new Ganas. I will cast the Seeming Spell when we are a bit closer. We're still perhaps a few hours of walking. When we get closer, when we're in danger of being around others, I will cast the Seeming Spell. Just because the duration, I don't want it to be running out quicker than it needs to.

But yes, I am ready to go, as are all of you. Yes, I think we're ready to go. So ready. Remember, only speak when spoken to. Maybe if in doubt, let me take the lead. Yes, definitely. Let those amongst you, yes. Julienne has the most knowledge of ganats, but I would say that, what was the name we worked for? Azur?

Azuray. Azuray. Is, seems to be the most competent performer of amongst us. Improvisational, I would lead with Azurai. Any sort of local knowledge, lean on Julien. All right. Before we get into this in character mechanics whiteboard a whiteboard a few of them first things first you have a countdown

oh seven days you know I'll just activate it now it's with dude seven days each of those days to help us track time, because I don't want to be like, oh, how long did that take every time? What I'm going to do is I'm going to use a system called clocks. Every day we'll have a clock. It's got basically a circle with four segments. Morning, afternoon, evening, and night. When you basically, activities will take a segment,

or if you fail a check, it might cost you a segment of time. We mark off those. When a day gets filled up, that's one day gone, right? You're gonna always need to spend at least one of those segments to long rest, at least. But other activities, you can spend them as you wish to. You can do that as a group or you can do that as individuals,

you can split off into different teams and it might change, right? Like if you wanna go, we wanna tail this NPC and find out where they're going so we can learn about this thing, that might cost you a segment or a day, two segments of a day, right? So, and I'll tell you generally what it will cost before we do it, right? So every time you get a full clock, that's one day gone. You can never gain time. Time can only ever be spent. So you can't be like, well, if I do a Google check, can we get six hours back? No, it doesn't work that way, right?

Leading on from that, one of the options you have for your day segments one of these four segments of the clock is you can spend a day segment to gain a flashback point uh and a flashback point is basically a special resource rather than us basically being like i'm gonna go and specifically buy this thing and make a plan and have to constantly be like you know working, working in, you know, like thinking ahead. A flashback point will basically allow you to say, I'm going to spend a flashback point and oh, I spent yesterday buying this crossbow grappling gun so that we can get up to the roof.

Or I'm going to spend a flashpoint point to say, actually, I've already spoken and made a contact with this company or this organization I want to go speak to, and that contact is going to let us come in on something like that. So it's like a way to basically do stuff. These aren't wishes. You can't do whatever you want. There's limitations to how powerful they can be.

And the more powerful you want an effect to be, the higher chance that it will break, or there will be additional consequences or complications with it, right? So doing a simple thing like, I'm gonna use a flashback point to say, we prepared spare clothing in this building that we're hiding in, that's fine. That's probably an easy one, right?

If you wanna be like, no, I already made contact with this guy and he's actually gonna be my friend, that's a bigger ask and I'm probably gonna put some extra rolls or some extra stuff into it, right? Flashback points can be held as a group or you can hold them individually so if like quill wants to spend a part of a day going off and getting a flashback point he would get a point but only he can spend it and you can only hold one flashback point

individually or you can hold them as a group you can have like a group pool kind of like an inspiration point yeah but there's a group pool and an individual pool uh some other things i got this is why i've got the whiteboard, to remind you all of them. Because stuff like the day clock, I'm going to track that. You don't necessarily need to know what that is. I'm just explaining it. To represent your kind of clandestine nature in these disguises and personas that you've built,

you're going to have something called an incognito score. And that is a mount. It's a score that I'm going to give you based on the skills of k and in a minute your first rolls that we're going to make to see how well your performance is yeah um that score almost treat it like a passive deception for your whole group so when you go and speak to guards yeah when you speak to guards if your incognito score is high enough they're probably not even going to question it they're just going to be like yeah that's fine you can go in or like yeah they're going to not ignore you, right?

As it gets lower, when you interact with people, they will be more suspicious. And if it ever reaches four or lower, you are basically exposed. Like you are, like those disguises are meaningless and you can never use them again, like, right? You have to either find, like, build a new persona or you have to like, you know, do something else, right, you have to either find, like, build a new persona, or you have to, like, you know, do something else. Right?

And if you're exposed, that means the guards and hostile NPCs are going to know who you are, and they're going to come after you. Right? Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Yeah. Now, there are ways to decrease your incognito score, and there are ways to increase your incognito score.

Yeah. It's much easier for it to go down than it is to go back up. So keep that in mind. K is going to be like your main sort of like point of contact. Every day K can give you like a little boost to your incognito score by refreshing your disguises or building new ones. And then losing it is mainly going to be things like, oh no, we just failed a group deception check

or we failed a group stealth check. Incognito score goes down. Yeah, we're used to that. And then the last thing is there is an alert track for the city. Green, yellow, orange, and red. I'm not gonna tell you exactly what those mean, but I'm pretty sure you can fathom it.

Where the city currently is. Yeah. So, let me. Okay. Oh, I love this. So, you have seven days on your countdown. The one of the first day. You've got no flashback points,

and the day is fresh. Oh, I'm scared. I'm spooked. You don't need to show that, Sam. Oh, they're currently on the green alert then? Yes. Okay. Yeah, the city is currently at peace,

so you do know that. Your incognito score, I'll tell you what it is when it starts. I'm not gonna tell you what it is when it changes and how much it changes we don't spend you can spend time to basically go out and put the feelers out and be like oh have you heard about these guys blah blah blah and that will tell you what your current score is spend time to know what your incognito level we won't know i guess outside of intuition like if

our actions have lowered or increased or whatever. Certainly, you'll probably know, like, oh, that probably wasn't very good. You have no idea how much it goes down points. Okay, that's cool. I like that. Okay, cool. And so the way that we established that, because the incognito score is basically set as you approach the city gates. First things first, description of the city. Walking in from it.

Quill has already seen this, but for those of you, and no one knows this, those of you for the first time, it is arriving in Vortensar. To one side, you have great mountains that scoop down to a wide open kind of planed landscape. And then far to the other side of the mountains, you can see rivers and a large open sea. It leads out to

the sea along a river and stuff. Based on the coast, the city benefits from a great position for trade, but it has grown and expanded. And you can even still see on the very outskirts where not quite shanty towns, but temporary buildings have been built outside of the original city's walls. And you can even see the discoloration of the earth where Vortensar was first transported here still lingers today. And beyond that, there are temporary buildings, like smaller, kind of like wooden stone buildings that have been constructed as the city has grown and as traders and visitors have come. outer city is empty like it has all been abandoned and is now no longer inhabited it's been closed up all the windows and doors

have shuttered on the buildings all boarded up locked up tight the city itself one of the most impressive elements to it is not only is this a expansive massive city rivaling places like gold throne and gust haven and horizon there is a not quite magitek but an incredibly magical nature to this city you can see that there are sections of the city that hover above it literally flying streets that kind of like connect all up together you can see canals of you know almost like almost like in Venice where you have like these river boats almost acting like streets with people coming and going and trade coming and going to and from. Most impressively, there are four enormous statues, gargantuan titans that almost hold up, you know, that surround the city, cradling it in a dome-like shape. Built into the mountains,

you can see this kind of lounging earth ganassi, kind of lounging on the ground, reaching up with one hand. Opposite them is an air ganassi, almost leaning over the city with clouds and shapes kind of almost forming a half dome, reaching down towards the earth ganassi. On the other sides of those guys, almost forming like half dome reaching down towards the earth ganassi on the other sides of those guys almost forming like a compass points and the one that you are heading towards directly

is a fire ganassi with arms raised up their palms held up to the sky and lava bubbling down their arms flowing into the fire district and you can see forges and industrial warehouses where this lava is almost being funneled into power these industrial complexes. Opposite them near the docks and the riverside is a water ganassi and the same thing you have like water kind of spilling out of their cupped hands down into the city to fill the channels. The water and the fire ganassi also have plumes. The fire ganassi has these steam vents that seem to power elevators that lead up to these flying parts of the city. The water ganassi has water sprouts that kind of shoot up platforms and lifts and boats up to it as well. And it's all connected. It's incredibly magical. You can see flying carriages. You can see ganassi themselves flying using air and fire to kind of patrol around the city. It's an incredibly magical, advanced place, not because of technology but because

of this raw connection to the elemental powers that has been shaped and cultivated over years. As you approach you see the great fire Ganassi facing away from you, looking inwards to the city towards their fellow statues statues but you can see the lava spilling down their hands kind of forming these archways that you are basically going underneath them through this large main gate but it is not a quick journey because it is busy you join a queue before this k cast the seeming spell you take on this kind of like completed visual disguise and appearance and k settles in with you to basically join this queue of Ganassi that are leading, winding out of the gate, leading in. And it takes a significant amount of time, about half of a day segment, so about three hours or so,

as you are basically, you have to wait and you can see up ahead that the gate guards are questioning and inspecting those who are coming many people are bringing wagons laden with supplies and personal belongings and things like that all of that's being examined thoroughly and checked um and yeah you are in this queue there are a couple of people on either side of you uh there is a young family uh husband and wife and two children all fire ganassi um behind. And then in front of you, there are three older ganassi, all men, an earth ganassi, an earth and fire ganassi, and a water ganassi,

dressed almost like they have like mining equipment and they have like backpacks, but really not much else. The family behind you have got like a little cart with a donkey and they're literally pulling like what looks to be like their life behind them. And you can see the queue winds ahead. And you've got a bit of time before you reach the gates. Like have if you want to or we can just jump in straight to you guys arriving and having to get through the gates well i kind of want to see yeah what exactly what kind of checks we should be prepared for looking ahead like i

mean i've got obviously the perception but also lip reading whatever else like the kinds of things lip reading won't help you until you get much closer because at the moment they're like tiny little yeah yeah but i i think i want to keep a wary eye on that so i can make a perception check for me uh that is 32. 32. watching it from a period of time, and as you get closer, you begin to pick out more and more details, and even at a far distance, with your keen bird-like eyesight, you can read some of the lips. There is a selection of soldiers, mostly Ganassi city guards,

but you can see at least a couple of Valkyrian troops with them, and it seems fairly mundane, right? You don't get the exact nature, but it seems very conversational. There's no like pat-downs or like physical inspections. They will open bags and like check things like that. But it is generally a kind of like, yeah, it seems to be a bit more conversational and friendly in a sense as well. Like you don't, it doesn't seem aggressive, but it is thorough. And it seems to be that they're making sure that they keep details and records of everyone coming in.

Does it look like they're checking for documents or anything? No documents, no. It seems to me mainly more just questions, interview-like. And then checking the possessions and belongings coming into the city as well. Do we have the haversack with all the weapons? Yeah. Shielded and guarded? The haversack with all the weapons? Yeah. Shielded and guarded.

The haversack itself is not masked. It could be, but then Nova would have to give away her amethyst lodestone. But the haversack, because of its nature, whoever reaches into it, you can only pull out what you know. You have to think of what it is to pull it out. So it's a security system. Yeah. And like, you know, there is like, it's kind of a security system.

I mean, Aayla could basically be like, dump out everything that isn't our weapons and armor, and it would spill out like all of the contents of like rations and bedrolls and stuff like that. I'd love a bag like that. Yeah, it would be great. And you know, you probably need to tell Aayla like, yeah, just don't let the weapons drop out or like don't take the weapons out of it. And if they look inside, it will just look like an empty backpack,

basically, to them. I mean, I guess it kind of works like a normal backpack, so Ayla could probably just fill it with normal things and then just leave the extra dimensional space empty and then just be like, oh yeah, I didn't put anything in there. There's probably already stuff in there. But that will potentially rely on Ayla lying.

True. But yeah, so that's kind of what the gesture you can pick up and like that's coils kind of focus for that period of time yeah yeah um what about the rest of you is anything the rest of you want to do as you're kind of like waiting in this queue i think nova's just kind of maybe lost in her own thoughts really just like seeing those statues again seeing the buildings you know not seeing them for a year or so however long like about a year and a bit yeah very mixed feelings leaving feelings being back because when she left, obviously there was an element of disgrace and anger, but also adventure and excitement at forging my own path.

Also I guess just reflection that when I left I was so naive and just thought I'd be fine in the world. And my God. I think a compliment to that is almost like a mirror, right, of those thoughts and feelings is you can hear the family behind you. And you hear like, oh my God, wow, look at that. Look at that, girls.

Like, look at the fire I'm gonna see. And like, you get there, basically you hear their story, which is they have always lived outside of, they never lived in Vortenslaer. They moved out early on to try and set up a life and a business elsewhere. And they are just full of that naivety. Like, they're just like, this is going to be great.

Like, you know, we're going to go see our home world. And like, there's like a lot of that kind of like, you know, but there's also that kind of mixed in of like, the wife is, you know, saying to him like, shouldn't we be worried? I've heard that there are these Erosian terrorists in the city and stuff like that. And he's like, oh, it's fine, don't worry.

This Shansaran harmony will protect us. We have heard so much about harmony. They're the leader, they're going to protect us and stuff like that. But it's a genuine belief of this is going to be great, kind of leading themselves to there. I'm so conflicted. Oh, this is not the homecoming.

Greener pastures. Lucius or Sentry, anything for you guys? Can I look at the fortifications? So see guards patrolling the walls. How high are the walls? Are there exit points? There are several. The main gates, there are four main gates,

one for each statue. They are the main entrances and exits. There aren't really any others. But it does look like the Ganassi have lots of ways for things like they have flying vehicles. They have these carriages that seem to be elementally powered and can fly. So they can have easy access to get in and out of the city if

they needed to. There is an airship dock. You can see overhead the two Valkyrian troop transports and battleships. These modified ones that were built to come down to Erois that Kallus was obviously using to potentially invade. They are patrolling.

There are also several Vortensar Ganassi airships that are stationed, ready to patrol and launch into a fight. In terms of guards, up on the walls, you see primarily Ganassi. City guards, they would look very similar to the Horizon City guards. Not the most expensive looking equipment, pretty disciplined, but not like elite level of soldiers. You do occasionally glance Valkyrian troops, mainly rifles, like with the Magitek rifles and the Magitek armor, with lots of Magitek equipment. They seem to be a little bit of higher status and stature,

but almost like a friendly, like they're teaching the Ganassi, right? So you can kind of see them giving them tips and things like that and drilling them and things like that as they move around. I think from this position, that's all you see for now. Okay. But looking at that century with your knowledge, you suspect that there are more senior and elite troops, probably in fewer numbers,

so they won't be on the patrols and on the walls and things like that. They'll probably be in the city defending more important vital areas. Okay. But, yeah, you suspect that there will probably definitely be more higher command structures. These are the kind of the lowest level troops. Nice. And, like, I would say that the guards,

like, not to give you metagame knowledge but yeah we're talking like you know cr half cr1 guards like these are like normal dudes right normal yeah they're the scrubs the troopers not much more powerful than that but probably around cr3 cr4 um so you know tougher and for you guys not much of a threat unless there were lots of them or unless they were like working with, you know, a more elite commander kind of thing. They could quickly overpower you if they were like, you know, there was 12 of them all shooting at you at once. That could probably be even a threat to you guys.

But the regular guards, they're basically minions. Like I'll tell you that now. For you, as far as your guys are concerned, they're minions. Maybe not in like, you know, not necessarily in terms of they'll always fail their saves and stuff, but they're low hit points, low threat, really not too much of a scary thing. But you suspect that there probably will be some more elites inside.

What about you, Lucius? Anything in the queue? I think Lucius will be just soaking in the vista because it's very similar to Gustavus in terms of... Yeah, it's very magical and spectacular kind of thing. We've got the temperature regulation and there are carriages and things like that. But this is just on a totally different level.

So I think, like the naive family behind him, Lucius will be almost childlike in his wonder, asking Nova loads and loads of questions about the elements and stuff. He's like, well, as a sorcerer, elements are innate to me, so this is fascinating. Are you whispering this to Nova, or is this loud enough that the people around you might hear?

If it's quite excited. It's theatrical whispering. Okay. So it's excitable whispering. So I don't know how much Nova would respond if you're kind of caught up in your own head. But like if you're kind of, if you miss Lucius's like first questions, one of the three old Ganassi men will probably turn around and answer it. Like if they don't, like if you don't respond straight away or like, or they might get involved.

We probably all just join in and like, cause I feel like this would be quite a natural, like if you were a Ganassi that has never been here, but I am. I feel like in my journalistic background would be that I left here. Oh, yes, yes, yes. I don't think it would be too out of sorts and out of role-playing the role-play. No, no, no, yeah.

It's totally in character. One of the old ganassi, the earth ganassi in front of you will kind of lean round. You can see he's like a proper prospector. He's got like one big kind of like crystalline tooth. He's kind of got like a kind of like, Hey, sonny, you're coming back first time in the city?

Yes, first time. What a way to come home, I say. And what an event to look forward to. Yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful place. We've not been, how long has it been since we've been back? The Earth and Fire Ganassi's kind of got like a Molten lava kind of vibe to him. He's like It's gotta be about

what 60 70 80 years We came back that one time didn't we oh, yeah, we came that's right. We came back for that. That was true Yeah, but it's been a long change changed much and that's oh no no well the city or the walls and the statues they've been there since the beginning but the people i think were a little different when we came out oh lots of youngins they got these funny ideas about the world and they're all running around but not much else you know it's you you're an air ganassi you wouldn't understand but folks like us and he's kind of like

points at him and the the earth ganassi like we don't change much do we go i'm like nah earth doesn't rocks don't change like it's just like rocks don't change that's right we're just in the ground takes a long time to move around uh and then you can see the water ganassi's just like that's why you've got me around you you idiots. And he kind of slaps them on the back, and he's just like, gotta keep them nice and fluid. Keep things moving, you know? Yes, I understand that. Yeah, he kind of gives you a little punch on the arm.

I'm out for adventure. Soaking the stories when you tell them. One adventure we've got coming forward to us, you know, this being taken to our home plane. I remember my grandmother had stories from her grandmother What an adventure we've got coming forward to us. This being taken to our home plane. I remember my grandmother had stories from her grandmother and her grandmother before her and the grandmother before them of, they used to tell of coming here

and the wonders of Ganass and stuff. It's why we're coming back. I want to see it. We've seen everything in the Robust, we think, so might as well see something new. How lucky are we to be alive in this time. I know, I know. When such a thing is happening. I know, yeah.

Really. The process. I heard that this guiding star's a pretty one, too. He he he he he! He's just like, ah, you dirty old man, and he slaps him on the head. He's just. Ah ha, yes, women. I'm just feeling like I've been watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine,

you know, Captain Old, with her pendulous breasts. Ah, swinging, bending, whoa! And the other two are just like, you fucking shut up. Like, just like, don't mind it. Will we see? How many will they give a speech? You know, I saw the Magma Fire kind of guys. I saw her once. I saw them once.

I saw them once. I don't think it was this Harmony. It was the Harmony before. I mean, yeah, they're spectacular. I don't talk much. They only really come out for big events. I was a little boy when I saw them. I don't know about this harmony but uh i mean it sounds like that they've worked with this

this this singer this this musician lady that everyone seems to love this one especially he doesn't he's never even seen her he loves her already it's like uh if you've ever if you ever watched like old dragon ball it's like master roshi like with the big sort of like i imagine like like a mossy moustache and stuff. The big prospector tooth. And he's like, yeah, but it sounds like they've been working pretty hard to get this whole thing together. It's pretty amazing.

Yes, I mean, I have my, you know, I've got to keep grounded, of course. Not like an Earth Kinesin. But, you know, I'm willing to, as a young person, a young Air Ganassi, I'm skeptical. If I can give you a piece of advice, and I think this may be right for you being an Air Ganassi, but just go with the flow. Don't be like us. Like the three of us, we've been traveling around Eros for decades. We're working. We've seen the best and the worst of it. We've seen everything this world's got to offer. And there are cheats and liars in Erois. There's probably cheats

and liars here. There's probably cheats and liars in Ganass and this Valkyrian place, wherever you go. You find those kinds of people wherever. You also find sometimes, sometimes people are genuine and people are sincere and you've just got to take that risk because otherwise you just sit around and do nothing for 80 years. We know a lot about doing nothing, don't we boys? And they're like, yeah, we know a lot about doing nothing.

He's just like, so just, you know, yeah, sure, maybe be a big skeptical, sure, but don't miss the chance. It sounds like you're not anyway. That's why I'm in the queue. Yeah, exactly. You never know who's right in front of you. Yeah, exactly. They'll just go back to sort of like talking amongst themselves

and sort of things like that. But they'll probably like engage you in like, as you guys are talking, they might turn around. It's the occasional small talk. And they're like properly dudes who are just like, and they'll tell you stories about things that they've done. When I was a kid. Yeah, when I was a kid.

There was this one time, and it sounds like the three of them have been together since they were teenagers and they left the city, and they've never married. They've just hung out with each other for like eight years. Bros. Yeah, they're basically like minor bros. Bros for life.

They're all like minors that basically went around and like freelance worked for different people and stuff like that. Cool. Yeah. Very cool. But eventually the queue reaches its end and you guys approach the doors

and I realize it's time to end the episode. Oh. Ah, no. As we hit the doors. No, it doesn't have to be. It is. We can go in. It's seven o'clock we hit the doors. No, it doesn't have to be. Well, it is. We can go in. We can do seven o'clock somewhere in the world. We can just do this whole arc now.

I mean, I'll do more if you want to do more. Sam's gotta go. Yeah, I gotta go. Yeah, we gotta go. Oh, bye, I was so afraid. I know, but I got. I was so ready. Oh God. Let's also have Kate back next week.

Yeah, we need Kate here. That's very fair. All right. Hey, thank you guys so much for watching this part of Arois. That's it for this week. Please don't forget to go and check out our merch on our Fresh Merch store. Also, if you want to come and see me in Toronto, we'll be at MCM Comic Con at the end of the month in October. And that is it.

We'll see you very much next time. Take care. We love you. Bye-bye. Bye now. Bye. next time. Take care. We love you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye now.