High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #168 | I Am Nova V'ger (Part 2)

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

Nova makes a desperate bid with the people of Vortinssar to cease their planar plans! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes 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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for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. welcome back to part two of high rollers everybody uh just before the break our party have been trying to come up with a plan uh for this newly accelerated situation in the city of vortensar after seeing a proclamation by harmony and shansara revealing that ganassi that vortensar the city would be transported back to ganass this evening uh following a concert by shansara the party have done their last ditch attempts to try and find the planar devices hidden somewhere in the city as well as make preparations to infiltrate this concert and put a stop to shensara and harmony's plans directly you guys had basically done all that you could you have discovered where these devices are the seekers are going to try and

take care of them maybe disable them temporarily if they can or permanently if they can do whatever they can to try and give you as much time as possible whilst you have made preparations to infiltrate this concert and confront both shansara and harmony as well as potentially try and give nova vija the opportunity to speak to her own people here in volunsa with your stolen nobles outfits that lucius had acquired several days earlier as well as the changeling k's uh expert uh expertise in creating disguises um you have disguised yourselves as ganassi nobles uh not using any illusory magic this time relying on purely physical disguises that can be easily removed um as as clothing you have set off to basically make your way into

this concert the city is a buzz many are forced to watch from plazas and public squares or from their own homes if possible as the concert area the central district of the city at the very heart of Vortensar is packed with people. The concert arena is built into the very central area of the city. What would have once been a great kind of government plaza, this open space has been decked out with hastily built seating and lighting rigs and gantries. And there are security forces, both the local Ganassi troopers as well as the Valkyrian forces, on heavy patrol, high alert as drones fly through the air, scanning people looking for signs of magic, as well as checking people's identities as they make their way through.

However, thanks to sentries efforts, you have located that there is something of a VIP entrance, mainly looked after by the Ganassi security forces themselves for more influential individuals in the city. And this is what you had chosen as your entry point, using the disguises that Lucius had acquired. Your group approaches the gate, and a very well-dressed, handsome-looking Ganassi man is like, Ah, dear guests, thank you for coming. If I could just see your tickets and get your names, please.

I nudge no. Did we have tickets? Likely. Okay. As an aristocrat, nudge. We didn't have tickets, okay. Was that part of scouting the concert? Yeah, I mean, no, I mentioned that there was tickets,

but it was just the hope that, yeah, you might be able to blank your way through. Oh, I didn't realize otherwise we were doing it. My dear, you're telling me- There was no time to like, this was literally, Century was the last person to act and you didn't have time to do anything about it. My dear, you're telling me you don't recognize us?

Are our names not on your list? Well, I do not know your names yet, madam. I'm sorry, just a little bit flustered, but yeah, it's like... Can I sneak a look at the list? Do they have a list that I can sneak? Yeah, you can make a perception check. I'm really good at perception. I got a minus on perception.

I lift up the box that Quill's in so he can look. He's in a box, right? Yeah, he's in a box. He's in like a luggage box. Why did you roll 2d20? Because I get advantage on perception. Ah. Why did you get advantage on perception?

I don't know. It says... That's the rod of security, which you don't have anymore. No. Shard shield. Oh. I want my shard shield back. Too bad. Can I use my natural 20?

Nope Okay You can re-roll one of those dice once Fucking four Down to a three You try and glance at it But she's just out of vision You're like

You can't see it Can't see any names on there Do you really want me to call daddy? I'll call daddy She like looks at you Make a You'll be Daddy? I'll call Daddy. Giant looks at you. Make a... You'll be in trouble. You'll lose your job if I have to call Daddy.

This is an intimidate check. Can I stand really close to them as well to try and intimidate? Yeah, absolutely. Kim can take advantage. So intimidation plus five. 16 plus five. 21. I mean, she's like,

I don't want to cause any trouble. Well, that's exactly what you're doing right now. Causing trouble. And she kind of looks flustered and you see there's a queue forming behind you and another Ganassi is like, what's the hold up? We're going to be late for the concert. We want to see. And like,

there's like a murmuring and a more senior looking guard he's like, what's the hold up? We're going to be late for the concert. We want to see. And like, there's like a murmuring and a more senior looking guard just is like, it's fine. Of course, madam, please. We don't want to keep you up. And just like shoves this one in the shoulder. Just like, look, just let them through. It's fine. Thank you. Daddy will be pleased. It's like, they're not, look, they're not the bloody terrorists, are they? So they just like

let them through. You drag the box of like supplies. You hear like them um a feather just comes out yeah century like dragging it behind like uh but yeah you are passed through uh that initial security checkpoint you do see a couple of like maybe in the distance like a valkyrian is like looking over towards your gate but you get into the concert area beforehand um this particular entrance you've picked uh there are kind of like uh walkways in amongst these high-rise hastily built scaffolding seats um and you are led to a much more kind of stable looking structure it looks like it may have been once prepared for

sky jousting it's been hastily moved over here and rebuilt like a kind of box um and a couple of ushers are asking to see your tickets and things like that but you can also see that this area splits off towards the sort of main seating area as well or you can start moving into sort of like trying to sneak into the backstage areas or you can just take seats here uh in the more vip area um so you say like we're an hour out of it happening. At this point, no, I mean,

it's bound, it's going to start like soon. Is there any standing area at this concert? Yeah, you could get down to like the kind of like front of like where the

stage is and stuff. Absolutely. area might be a better way to blend in. Not quite a mosh pit, but there's definitely like, yeah, like a fans,

like, you know, a big concert kind of thing, like a Super Bowl thing, like people do get up right up to the ground it was like being right at the front there'll be a barrier there'll be security guards then the stage is there a quill in a box that we need to probably it doesn't need to come out no do we go backstage with the box you could you could probably like store the like put the box backstage and then like quill can listen out for like okay it's my time and then like like fly out yeah you could try something like that flies for

the show um did you have a question kim i saw you had a question as well no can we see that there's like a barrier and you know like a yeah yeah yeah it's typical concert right like you can see this kind of like large uh circular kind of arena um you can see that there are barriers with like ganassi guards kind of like positioned. They don't look to be the most senior looking guards. They look like people you could easily overcome. You know, you guys are incredible heroes. I don't think the barrier is going to be an injury.

The barrier is me. I'll throw you over it. Cool. I'm up for that. I'm down to climb. Yeah, you could easily climb over it, jump over it, swim over it, whatever you want to do. Not quite swim over it. Swim over it? I guess like, yeah, on, whatever you want to do. Not quite swim over it. Swim over it? I guess, like, yeah, on the crowd, like, crowd surfing? Crowd surf.

Crowd surf. But, yeah, there's a lot of young grass here in that sort of, like, standing area. And you can see people moving backstage. It looks like a mixture of Valkyrian engineer techs and guards as well. Is there, like, a running... Was a running order circulated?

I guess not. Yeah, there's kind of, like, a loose running order, yeah. But, like, it's not like there's pamphlets or anything like that you know that there's going to be a mixture of performances shansara has a number of songs and then it's basically like her big performances at the end um and then that's when they're going to activate the device but i mean you could in theory depending on what you guys want to do you can jump in at any point like at this stage or try and get to her before it all begins. But it's about, like, you've maybe got, like,

a few minutes before this thing starts. Do you want to try and talk to people? Oh, sorry, Lucius. I just feel like if we don't see Shansara, Shansara can activate that device wherever she is because she has one on her. So if I was to hijack this now, she could just... Yep.

I wonder if we try and get backstage by utilising one of the earlier performances. You know, if they're going to do a big group thing, as they come off stage, we try and merge in with that group. I mean, I could certainly do it with Tiangong maybe and swapping places and all that. Distract a security guard. As you guys are having this conversation, the lights, you know, this whole place is filled with magical light. The magical lights dim.

The whole arena goes dark and you begin to see twinkling kind of magical lights spraying up along in the air, almost creating like a field of stars. And this deep voiceover just begins, Ladies and gentlemen, people of Vortensar, the concert is about to begin please take your seats

and welcome our hosts our friend our guiding star shansara and there's like a few minutes like there's a moment of like people taking their seats and that hushed kind of like murmuring whispers and things like that and the a large spotlight illuminates this round circular lifted up podium stage uh and there's nobody there initially um and then the whole arena begins to warp and shift and magic and illusory magic fills it to turn it into a glade, like a grassy flower-filled glade that you somewhat recognize, clearly seeing influences of the Feywild that you have visited, that you have traveled to, and emerging from like a rosebud so that you can see flowers begin to

bloom. And it's all hallucinatory terrain created by this illusory spell creating this shifting arena um you watch as it shifts and from these like blooming flowers you begin to hear the sounds of you know water flowing and wind blowing and things like that laughter and like these kind of joyous sounds um and then this faint music begins to build uh and yeah kind of emerging from the center of this kind of main central podium uh that almost appears to be like a glowing uh it would probably take on the form of a castle like a spired castle similar to the one that uh you encountered in heartspire um emerging from it bedecked in this green yellowy springtime outfit um as opposed to the orangey autumn colors and summery colors you saw before uh shansara herself appears um along with harmony uh the leader of vortensar who appears next to her and uh you see shansara just beaming to the crowd like everyone kind of

like big smiles and the crowd cheers and you know everyone screams for her um she's just like the time is nearly here but first let us enjoy the wonders of these incredible performers of ganassi uh telling the story of vortensar and enjoying our last few moments before we go home and she smiles your wonderful leader harmony my dear friend has a few last words to say before we let the fun begin and she kind of smiles and then she gestures and she watches as like these kind of risen steps form almost like giant petals to stand on and she lets Harmony kind of take the floor as she kind of moves back and Harmony looks around and you can see like wide eyes they kind of moves back um and harmony looks around and you can see like wide eyes they kind of look around almost stunned for a little moment and then they seem to find their voice my people i i i have

always wanted to do something too long have the other harmonies of Vortensar kept the status quo. We have always been responsible for keeping balance between the elements, but sometimes it is so easy for us to do nothing in keeping balance, to only let the scales shift so that nothing changes. That has not brought us anything. That has not brought us happiness. That has not brought us progress. I did not wish to be another harmony that would do nothing. And when I met my friend Shansara

and we spoke of returning home, I knew that this was my chance to give you something, a legacy, a gift that could be remembered for all the ages. We're going home." And with that the crowd just sort of lets out this like, Yeah! Home to Ganes for harmony for the shoot for the guiding star this kind of cry goes out amongst them um and shinsara kind of swoops down you can see she's now flying stood on this kind of rotating flower almost she like flies down and scoops harmony up and sort of takes her on a tour gliding almost over and you see all the ganassi reaching

out to try and touch harmony and shinsaraara and they kind of all these like flower petals spray down the illusory they fade into nothing as they pass over touching hands and she brings her back to the as she brings uh them back to the center um and with that music begins to play and you begin to see performers filtering out onto the stage and the whole illusion begins to shift away from this illusory Feywild now to early Erois, a plane of an elven city that begins to shift and change, and the story of Vortensar being transported, replaced from the elven city of Jasavir,

begins to tell, and Shansara and Harmony disappear. You don't see where, you don't have Quill with you. He's in the box. But you see them vanish into the illusion and they just seem to disappear away. Okay. You okay, Nova? Lucius is bought into it.

Let's go home yeah Nova doesn't say anything but you can tell if you can see her hair like it's really like a storm like you know it's kind of shifting and you know just does this history of

Vortensar do anything you know does this glaze over the dark wars and, like, you know... It probably glazes over, like, the wars. Yeah, for sure. I think it glazes over that. And Vortensar joining a Roess against... It doesn't know. It shows that.

But it definitely paints it in an image of... And which isn't, to be honest, like, you look at it and it... I mean, you remember having teachers kind of tell you this story in this way. You've since changed because you've gone out and explored Erois. But being in Vortensar, it's not an uncommon belief that it was a kind of, yes, join Erois. It's not like you've got any other choices, join us or else kind of attitude because they didn't. Siaska basically enforced the law not to study planar magic siaska basically said well you're here and i'm not letting you leave so deal with it i thought it

was no it was siaska that was this was when siaska was around this was this was a long time ago um and you know there's mixed beliefs of why she did that but certainly one take of it is well you're trapped here and you better better live learn to live with us otherwise you're a problem you know it was that kind of attitude um but the other the other history which you now know is that like yeah siask was like we're very sorry that you got transported here that wasn't our wish i'm afraid you can't leave but we'll do our best to look after you and we'll do our best to kind of protect you and provide for you and stuff like that. It's a story of many sides, unfortunately.

When we saw Shansara, did she have her microphone on her? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Cut you in hand. She was speaking through it. No Britney mics. We need to lock down the devices. Only when the devices are locked down can... I'm not talking until then.

She's taking it with her. We'll have to wait. I wonder if we can swap it. Mm, yes. Trying to get backstage, throw her one that she thinks is still real that way. Yeah. I don't think she's gonna let go of that thing.

She may not, but it's worth a shot. But if she doesn't, we need to find her while she's, and get it off of her when she doesn't expect it. And then there's the other one at the desk. I think we need to go now then, at least one of us. Yes. I think we should all go. All right, we all go, except Quill, who's in a box. Quill!

I'm going to open like a... Quill! Are we going? Is it go time? We're going to take you backstage. Okay. Okay, and we're going to try and see if we can get Shansara's microphone, and either swap it or sabot you backstage. Okay. Okay, I'm gonna try and see if we can get Shansara's microphone and either swap it or sabotage it.

Okay. All right. I'll stay in the box? Just stay in the box for a second. Okay, all right. Shut up. You got enough air and stuff in there? Yeah.

Got any worms? You all right? Just take out a pocket of bird seed and just pour it in the box. It's like a couple of little air holes. He's like, oh, oh, oh, oh. It's been about 12 hours. You hear like a beak against pour it it's like it's like a couple of little holes you hear like a beak against wood as he's like what's allowed um quick question yeah it's completely irrelevant yep you know his box which goes big and small

the the chest yeah which is kind of like a pocket dimension kind of yeah you can't get a person there's no oxygen in there no and you can't die no well yeah if you had uh something like that where there's a pocket dimension you go in and you put someone's entire body in bar their mouth yeah can they breathe like a straw. I think that the... So like a bag of holding and then they just have their mouth sticking out the top of it. Quill's beak. I think the idea is that when you go inside it, they just fall into a void.

They're literally floating in nothing. So there's nothing for them to hold on to to keep their mouth... Or if we held the beak. You could try and hold their face. Yeah, you could try and do that, yeah. I'm just wondering for the future. Maybe. You can try it in the future.

I'm not going to tell you right now whether that works or not. Quill, you're in a bag. I'm holding the beak. It's fine. He's not dead. Well, you don't have a bag of holding, so it's irrelevant. No. You have a backpack that does a similar job,

but you can't fit people in it. It fits most things, but not people. All right. So, what things, but not people. All right. So, what's the plan? Tell me what you guys want to do. Go on backstage. I mean, as you look to move backstage, you can see that there are guards

positioned at the backstage entrances. I wonder if we should cause a ruckus somewhere further down so that the guards are distracted and then we go in. Maybe start a fight or something. That sounds good. All the secrets are away from us, aren't they?

It's just us here. I mean, there's people around you. I'm assuming you guys are having these very whispered, hushed conversations, but there's not really any place to be alone. You are kind of surrounded by people wherever you go, but you're having like, you know, it's loud,

the music's playing, like you can have like a quiet conversation, but you're not really alone anywhere at this point. Shall I just push through over there, cause a problem while you guys go in? Because I can't carry Quill. I can carry him. Yeah, that's what I mean. You go in while I cause a't carry Quill. I can carry him.

That's what I mean, you go in while I cause a problem and then I'll catch you up. You could be asking for VIP access maybe, backstage. Maybe something you promised to- I could cause a problem with the security guard. But you're a performer. Not anymore. That character died. Oh no. On the stage.

When did he die? When we- Is this the time? Kim's like freaking out. Kim's just like, so stressed. All right, I'll go first then, up to the security line, and just be a snobby, snooty asshole that's like, oh, the VIP area is just abysmal,

and there's people that haven't paid that are up in the stands right now, and they're causing a nuisance, and I need all of you to check it out right now. Hello, are you listening to me? Yes, I'm listening to you. It's very rude that you're just on an earpiece instead of speaking to me.

We've got a lot of guests, sir, I'm afraid. You make a persuasion check for me, Lucius. Persuade the fung out of him. Yeah, that's a good check. Plus nine. Oh no. Can you roll more in the middle, please? Natural one.

Is that a natural one? That's a natural one right there. Yeah, he just has a, we got a lot of guests, sir. We'll try and send somebody to deal with anybody who's sneaking into the area but we've got other bigger things to worry about right now i'm sorry i look worriedly at the rest of the group and it's just like we're going to ask you to leave so this is backstage only we've got a lot of tech there's a lot of dangerous equipment back here we got a lot of tech we need to you need to leave all right i'll blend back

into the crowd yeah you kind of move back. Homer at the edge. They know that people are trying to sneak in backstage and stuff. There's some hardcore Shensara fans who are trying to get through and they're literally shoving them back and stuff. I couldn't do it. I'm sorry. It's okay. They are locked down. What can we do?

Maybe use... We've got Quill in the box. Could we use the box to try and... Like, we're carrying equipment, like we're stagehands, trying to get onto the stage with this box of equipment, maybe. What? Sure. Can I teleport, create, manifest Tiangong,

like, behind wherever this guard is, like, sort of backstage? You can say yeah, you could try. And then swap? You could. There might be a bit of a stealth check involved just to see if you'd bump into something and draw attention to yourself as you swap and stuff. I'll give it a go. All right.

That's a five plus a three. Five plus three. You manifest Tiangong. You switch places. You kind of come out of the teleportation a little woozy. You kind of put your hand on something and, yeah, you kind of knock maybe a piece teleportation a little woozy, you kind of put your hand on something and yeah, you kind of knock maybe a piece of like, you know, piping or something that's been used to build

one of these gantries and you like brush it and it and the guards turn around like, oi, how'd you get back there? And three of these guards are like coming towards you. I've been working here. I need to get our performers backstage. You need to make a deception check. Disadvantage is you are currently dressed like a noble.

Can we use this distraction to protect ourselves? I was gonna say, can I go up to the, with the box at that time, and like, if we, cause I assume I can see that the guard is just like, has heard something. There's like a group of them, like it's not just one guard,

it's like a good chunk of like six of them or something like that at like this entrance. Like a bunch of them are now like turning and like focusing on this person who they think has either jumped or somehow slipped past them or something like that they're dealing with that you can see all of that from like sort of like a little bit ways back like imagine you're in like a little side area or something like that watching this all happen um 14 14 on what uh deceptionception. On the deception check? They like, they like look at you and they're just like, yeah, okay, pull the other one

because you're clearly dressed like a noble, like they're just like, you don't work here. We know people who work here and they're gonna try and basically grapple you. Are you resisting? Can I see what they're doing? I don't know what they're doing. I was gonna bring the box up the door and just be like...

Walk it through. Sorry, this is... Clear the way! Expensive, important equipment coming through. We've got cable, we've got... It's really heavy. It's really heavy. Everybody step back, step back, step back.

Sentry, can you make a deception check for me with advantage? I was supposed to just personalise. Oh my fucking god! Why are we so cursed tonight? We literally can't do anything today. We're so cursed! Well, it was with advantage, so use the white roll.

It was, but it was... My first was a five, my second was a three. Well, what's the total with the five? Eight. That's good, because I rolled a one. This is why you've got to check it. You've got to check it out. And I'm like, I rolled a one. Why you got to check it? You got to check it out. And I'm like, I rolled a one.

It doesn't matter. They're so distracted with Nova and, like, checking everything else that they, because also you guys were dressed more like bodyguards rather than nobles. Yeah. So they don't really clock you. Like, they may be a light look, but at a brief glance in the dark with all the flashing lights, seeing you carrying this heavy box, they're just like, whatever, and you just pass through.

But with Nova, you see them moving past you, but these three guards are like, come on, and they're literally trying to grab your arms and try and drag you out. Can I be like, hey, excuse me, come with us. What are you doing? You're with us. You want to draw attention to that? No, can I go up to Nova and be like,

Mistress, here's your costumes that you asked for. Please, where do I put them? Hey, look, can you make a deception check for me, please? Well, someone's going to have to make a deception check. Maybe. You also absolutely had a clear path through. You could have just left Nova. No, no, no, roll the deception check.

I like the idea that Nova. No, no, no, roll the deception check. I like the idea that Nova could just be like, yeah, take me, at least those guys are in. And then Sentry's just like, um... 13. 13. When you sort of start talking to them, now they, because before they just kind of glanced at you and just like, yeah, whatever.

But when you start talking, you and Sentry start like, oh, Mistress, they look over. And now they like because before they just kind of like glance to you and just like yeah whatever but when you start talking you and century start like oh mistress they like look over and now they start like looking at you but wait you guys you guys aren't dressed like right you guys aren't here with us and like they're now like who are you guys and you can see them like going for like truncheons and stuff like that now that they're all distracted I'm the best. This is so dumb. We're literally gonna get all of St. Kills. Our rolls are the worst. Our rolls are the worst.

How are you on? How are you on? Yeah, you slip past. As this commotion goes on, you are just like... Solid Snake and Metal Gear 4. Yeah. Like, worm crawling. Under the canvas and stuff like that yeah absolutely they're not looking down i'll tell you that much um no they're looking at these three and they're just like who the hell are you guys like we're not like get out of here before

we call before we call the valkyrians? And they're like, Yeah! I am going to assume you are joking, sir. But yeah, so what's the plan? These guys are going to try and grapple and force you out. Or do you want to punch?

Do you want to get punch in? No, no, no. Is it just these three? There's six in total. Six, okay. That's a lot of people to knock unconscious in one go.

Who have earpieces in and could call for a bath. No, these guys, like, I was doing that just as a joking, like they were playing guards. These guys are Ganassi guards. These guys aren't, like, Valkyrians. These guys are, like, dressed like normal city guards, basically. Can I try and, like, persuade them? Just be like, um...

Be like, um... We're the replacement for the third act. I hate them. She'd be like, be like, um. Oh. With a replacement for the third act. You can make a deception check, but keep in mind that these consecutive lies of like, one story now,

a different story now, these guys are involved. Who does it? And like, you know, it's progressively harder. Eighteenth? Total?

Yeah. Not with these, but, like, they're just, like, you shut it, you. And, like, they are, at this point,

they go to grapple Nova. She's just one person. She's not, like, the hordes of fans out there. Sorry, no. I just want to see Shanzara! It's her birthday! It's my birthday!

Like, just be lucky we're not kicking you out, and they're just going to put you back in the concert area. But they're not going to kick you out. Yeah. All right. Meanwhile. Does the box come with us as well? The box comes with you as well.

Shit. So, Lucius. Or do we just accidentally... There's a box. They just forget about it. They make you take the box. Or maybe... Actually, no no that wouldn't make sense they would assume that you had picked up a backstage box and you were trying to use that so they'll be like just put that over there and then they drag the box and put it to the side um boxing so quill's boss like quill's like looking

in there he's like what's going on? Nothing good, Quill, nothing good. He's got a perception of a million, he heard the whole thing. That's true. Right, Lucius, you have snuck through. You are in the backstage area. I'm in the backstage. Okay, I immediately want to look around me for costumes. Okay.

I'm going to put on like a big... Yeah, you've got to find a costume department. A performer that's just been on stage. One that's just been on stage or one that hasn't gone on yet? Okay, one that hasn't gone on yet. Yeah, yeah, there's loads of different ones. You've got a variety of choices. You can be, there's like a bunch of like,

oh, very fancy elven looking spangly outfits that are very shiny, like tight, tight, light red latex. I don't know if I can put that on quickly, but. I mean, you probably, Lucius probably can, yeah. You're a fashionable man. Okay, I'll whip that on you don't want the other options you just want to put that one spangly elven okay what are the other options i have curiosity no we'll find out later um so you kind of like grab one of those and you go into

like behind the curtain pull it and you start getting changed and stuff like that and it's like a kind of uh probably red and orange and yellow flame kind of like tassels draping down the arms. It looks very good and you've got like good range of movements and stuff in it and things like that. And you come out and you can see this hustle and bustle going on. You've got like a, what'd you do? What are you looking to do?

Looking around, I would like to see the area around the security, the lighting, that sort of thing, see if I can just turn it off. Lighting, so there's like gangways, there's like one particularly high up kind of gantry where they've got these magical spotlights and they've got like a control system up there for the lighting and things like that. And you can see that that's right just behind

the main sort of illusory stage area. There's no, you don't see any immediate like generators or anything like that like magical generators or anything like that for it it looks like it's probably being controlled by a spellcaster somewhere um this is meant to get me pretty hard okay but i feel like tom as quill at some point would send a message sure in the box like sending spell yeah to lucius sure like what are you doing yeah well he's probably heard that like the others like he knows what's happened to nova century and ayla so yeah it would probably make sense that he would cast a sending spell and be like lucius what are you doing oh cliss guys what are you doing i'm in still in the box i think

i'm backstage now xoxo respond basically. XOXO. I would respond. Basically, I'm having a conversation with myself, Burrs, Quill. I'm trying to sabotage the lights so that they have another chance to get in and you to be picked up or pushed in by them. Okay. He's in.

He doesn't see. He can't respond anymore. Is he fully in? He's in the backstage area. He's in the backstage area, but close to the security, probably. But backstage. He is backstage respond anymore. Is he fully in? He's in the backstage area. Or is he just by the security? He's in the backstage area, but close to the security probably. But backstage. He is backstage. Okay.

In which case, I might find another performer. Is there a mask or anything with any of these costumes? The outfit you're wearing, there's like a little domino mask. That's good enough. Good enough. Domino mask is on. Okay. I'm going to go up to another performer. He's another performance like please please help um i need to bring this box in uh they look at you and be like oh uh yeah like we okay i can help you get in but you're you're gonna be on here okay well let's yeah

they'll they'll go and help you and drag the box backstage. When they complete doing that, they're like, right, come on, we've got to go. And you can see that they're wearing a blue, frosty, wintry outfit. And they're like, come on, we've got to go. This is like one of the main numbers. Yep. And they take you and you meet up with two more. Oh my God. One dressed in more spring colors, one in autumn.

And then you see her. This is kind of bad. Shensara is just like, right, everyone, come on. First big number. Let's go. Everybodyensara is just like, right, everyone, come on. First big number. Let's go. Everybody knows their positions. Oh, Christ. I'll be on the platform.

Everybody getting ready. Let's go out there and give them one hell of a show. All right. And she steps on this thing which levitates up in the air. You see it becomes like a swirling mist of kind of magic and like cloud.

And you can see that like the illusion, you can see through this illusion to the crowd where another performance is just wrapping up, but you're kind of hidden behind this illusory landscape. And they are basically, the other three are getting into positions and like taking poses. What do you do? All right.

You give me a charisma performance. This is a performance check. Oh, for fuck's sake. You picked the dancer's outfit. Podcast listeners, Lucious struck a pose. Performance. Yeah. 19.

Total. With your bonus? Yeah, it's plus three. 19's pretty good. Not bad. Like, the wintry one, because you were dressed as Summer, so it'd be the autumn dancer. It's like, hey, hand other side.

And you're like, oh, and then you have to, like, swap over. But you got it pretty close. Like, looking at what they were doing, you were like, oh, this? And then they're just like, no, no. And you're like, oh, yes, of course. Mirror, yes. So they kind of, like, take it. With, so with that, and then, like, there's a few beats as, like, you see kind of everything take it. With, so with that, and then like,

there's a few beats as like you see kind of everything getting in position. The rest of you are kind of like waiting to hear what happens. And then the performance changes and it goes from this kind of like storytelling dance, like a kind of dance number with like big mascots and beautiful kind of illusions and spectacles,

kind of like one of these big Olympic games, kind of like opening ceremony shows, right? And then everything begins to change and shimmer. And you begin to see Vortensar now filled, like it kind of, it takes on the visage of almost a galaxy, like astral space. And it gets filled with like these bridges of rainbow light and this kind of all these shifting colors. And from the whole area changes, and then you see shansara in this sparkly kind of astral nebula kind of pop star outfit big kind of like um j-pop skirt and trailing ribbons hair all done up um she has the mic in hand and she comes spinning out and starts singing this song

and then around her are these eladrin elven looking ganassi dressed as different eladrin, elven-looking Ganassi dressed as different Eladrin dancing. One of them does look really funny. And it's really awkward. Like, the other three are really good, but this one is kind of, like, fumbling through it and looks kind of a bit awkward, but it's kind of okay. Kim, I'm so sorry for doing this to your arc. I'm loving this.

As soon as Mark said Mark said concert I was like we're in it, we're the backup dancers and like the song is going on and it's like everyone's enjoying it having a good time but there's just something about this performer that you're like and then it dawns on you they turn

and you just see the kind of flowing, what appeared to at once be this kind of air ganassi wavy hair when they turn the way it moves you just see the shimmering long blonde elven hair and you're like and you realize who it is and you realize it's lucius on it lucius you are just trying to keep up because this is a fast-paced k-pop kind of style like everybody you know dancing moves and you're just like improvising it where you can you're kind of doing an okay job actually like you think you are and kind of using like ball dancing yeah and then just mirroring the others

as well so you're maybe like ever so slightly behind but you're doing similar movements no but i know that there's a big danger and everything, but this, I will never let him live down ever because it's the best thing I've ever seen. And he's wearing like a tight, probably like red hot pants, tall red boots, big kind of like cowboy-esque jacket with flame tassels. Amazing. Spangly tights.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, tiny red hot pants. I thought he was wearing spangly tights. No, no, no, not spangly tights. The whole thing is spangly. It's all spangly, but it's like No, no, no. Tiny red hot pants. I thought he was wearing spangly tights. No, no, no. Not spangly tights. The whole thing is spangly. It's all spangly, but it's like tiny red leathery pants. I mean, we've seen him in his Speedos, so. Yeah, yeah.

I think Fuego would like that outfit a lot, actually. Yeah. I don't think so. So Shansara's on the stage, right? Yeah. She's performing. She's singing. I think it's, yeah.

We don't, we've got no one at the desk. Well, if you both go for Shansara with Lucius, I can go for the desk. Okay. Get that microphone. We'll go for the desk. It's your job to talk to the people. You think I can wrestle that thing off of her?

Oh. Oh! Then someone goes with Nova, and then one person, and then one goes to the desk. I'll go with Nova. You go to the desk. Okay, I one goes to the desk I'll go with Nova you go to the desk find Quill okay

jump go team grab me and jump is that what we're doing? yeah stop the devices that's the number one priority yes

okay go time alright see you on the other side good luck so just so I know Century what are you doing? you're going to try and just burst into backstage and try and get to this desk yeah okay alright Okay. Go time. All right. See you on the other side. Good luck. So just so I know, Century, what are you doing?

You're gonna try and just burst into backstage and try and get to this desk? Yeah. Okay, all right. In that case, I'm gonna shift some things around. Oh God. Oh. Oh Lucien.

Is this a terrible idea? It's gonna be back here. Oh man. We are good at whacking stuff. Oh I know, but. Yeah. And you're over a jumping in from the side where the crowd is. And then, Century,

you're also going to try and burst backstage, right? Yeah. Do I have time to quickly cast Invisibility on Century? Yes, I would say you do. Yes. Yeah, so as you run, I'll just like... Yeah. Bye!

That Invisibility is what allows you to basically the guards hear something run past them and they're like what was that but it's like being deafened out by the sound of the thing but yeah with that you just kind of run through the the security and you emerge in the backstage air and you can see that where quill's box has been placed you can see dressing rooms and things like that but there is also it's just like maybe sort of 20 feet up um built into like this little box you can see that there's ladders that lead up there and like maybe sort of 20 feet up, built into like this little box. You can see that there's ladders that lead up there and like a kind of gangway system.

There is like a little control like platform that looks out on the stage. And you can see that there are a couple of techs up there working on, you know, what appears to be the device that Quill saw. A couple of techs. Yeah. I can technically make myself invisible with that as well.

Okay. So if we both go, but I'll be like, grab me and jump. So I'm just solo. No, I'm coming with you. But I'm hoping I can grapple the thing with more. All right. Just trust. Trust and believe.

I'm with you. Okay. I'll do a big old Ayla leap with Nova on my back. Do you want to spend a charge on the hammer to do this or are you just gonna try normal manual jump and like clamber through the crowd and stuff? Or do you want a Howling Tempest whoosh? I'll Howling Tempest whoosh it.

Cool entrance. Also before I before I do it I'm taking the disguise off because if I'm confronting her I'm not confronting her as anyone else

sure love it perfect so in that case the crowd think it's part of the show because from

their appearance soaring through the air with this crackling hammer made of lightning this flame-haired elven warrior woman flies through and then lands into this arena uh this illusory and to you it almost feels like you're stood on astral space it feels like you're stood on. You know that it's the arena floor underneath it. And you watch as Shansara gets into the middle, like is in the middle of this performance, looks over.

She kind of smiles when she does and carries on performing for a brief moment before eventually she just holds up her hand, clicks the fingers, and the whole illusion kind of goes... And it returns to just being a normal sort of stage. And everyone's like confused and looking around and Shinsara will say,

well, it appears that we have a special guest here in my concert this evening. One of the champions of Arois and booze, booze and jeers. Ekoran, as she points down. Ize and jeers. Ekoranda, she points down to you. I'll do a bow. Yeah. Also, Nova is off of my back as soon as I land.

Yeah. So she can go. You'll feel me slide, yeah. You're invisible, right? Yeah. She can probably see me, but hey. I do want to check that because I can't remember. Yeah, she looks down,

and it looks like her friend is a little shy. Why don't you show yourself, Nova Vija? And she will look down in your direction. So we're like down? You are in the sort of stage area, basically. You're beyond the crowd. You guys are now separated from the crowd. You're in the main stage area.

Can I walk up to her? And as I'm in front of her? Still invisible? Yeah, but as I get to the top. So you start moving up to her. Okay. Yeah, so like as you, we'll say that as you're moving up,

as this is all going on, obviously Lucius, you see your friends jump on. The other dancers are like, what's going on? This isn't in the rehearsals. The champions of rehearsal here? Oh God.

We should flee. Like we should get out of here. Yeah, and they'll run. Are you gonna run with them? No. Okay, so you stay away. But I'm gonna look like I'm running, so I'm, so Shansara can't see me.

Okay, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna stay incognito for now. Yeah, and it was a physical disguise, so the true sight didn't reveal who you were. So yeah, she's totally focused on Aayla and Nova right now. Might be able to get a little surprise on her. Yeah, so you're gonna to stay where you are. So we'll say that you're basically...

Maybe go directly behind her so she can't see. Yeah, so you can see they're very simple laid out on the map. You can see that there's one giant spotlight kind of casting it onto the stage. There is a gantry where some of the lighting and cameras, you can see that now there are these Magitek drone-like cameras, like these orbs, kind of similar to Quill's arcane eye,

but much more technological, focused in, and you can see that they are kind of zooming in and kind of focusing on now, and on the big crystalline screens around the concert, you can see this close-up of Aayla and now Nova as you come out of the invisibility as you begin emerging, all to the sounds of jeers and cries coming from the from the audience um sentry um as you emerge backstage and you begin to hear all of this you

just see this box like yes i need you come on come on okay i guess we're going um and he'll like pull himself out and yeah you can see that the engineers are just like, Mistress, what's happening? As you are walking up to her, you just see Shansara will just touch something around her ear and just be like, signal the Valkyrians, they're here. Or signal my forces, she would say. She wouldn't say Valkyrians.

She would say, signal my forces, they're here. And yeah. What do you do? So you're like... You kind of walk up to one of these cameras. So I think hearing that... So these are the cameras, by the way, up here, up here, up here.

Okay. This is the spotlight. And then this is the sort of tech deck area that Cintra and Quill are sort of looking at. Tech deck. Yeah. So can I keep walking up towards her while speaking? You can do, but like, as you, I mean,

are you trying to get up onto the stage next to her? I guess this is more about speaking. I want to speak to her, so like... I mean, she can hear you from where you are. Broken away from the Empire, then? No. My loyalty is still to Calus, but he did not understand what I was doing here.

And what exactly are you doing here? Why is Vortensar suddenly your bleeding heart cause? Because these people needed it. For the first time, it wasn't just selling the Emperor's dream. These people needed something. I'm their guiding star. I'm the one who's going to help them get home. How could I not? This is everything I've always wanted, to make a difference. So this is all about you? I suppose if you want to see it that way, Nova Vija.

But what about you? You're here, you're doing all of this. Why? Let me speak to them. She'll gesture and sort of like show her hands. It seems the champions of Erois, the ones causing all this trouble in the city, wish to speak. Who am I to deny them? May I approach?

Oh, you can do it from down there, my dear. And she'll just gesture and you see the camera kind of pivots to focus you and project. You fill the screens. What are the crowd looking like? Oh, full of hatred and just like, no, arrest them. There's all these kind of horrible cries. There's maybe like portions of the crowd that have gone silent and aren't joining in. Like you have had an impact on the city, but it's hard to to the moes are probably the ones further out and the ones at home

the people here are like the believers these are the true believers um and just before you start speaking shansara will say harmony and just like look over and you can see that somewhere in the crowd she's looking up somewhere in the crowd. If you will allow it, of course, I have no problem with them speaking, but this is your city and this is something we've planned together. And she'll just nod and say, Harmony's happy for you to speak as well.

I'm gonna look at Ayla, because I'm just like... Ayla will just nod at Nova and stand probably a bit closer to her. Like, A'la will stand behind Nova, like, to her side and just, yep, I'm with you. So trembling, because she wasn't, she didn't have this idea that all these eyes

would be on her for some reason. She didn't have this idea that all these eyes would be on her for some reason. My name is Nova Vija, and I am a daughter of Vortensar. Born at Brookmeadow Hospital, I grew up in the Water District, in the rooms above my mother's cafe. My father, Wade, teaches art at the nearby school. Maybe you've seen his paintings at the Four Corners Gallery. My mother, Breeze, has probably fed you one of her award-winning dishes at our cafe, The Voyager's Rest. My sister plays for the Tectonic Titans, and my brother was on our national skyjasting team. I, myself, I was a student at our esteemed Atlas Academy.

was a student at our esteemed Atlas Academy. That is, until I was expelled. I was expelled because I, like the elves of Jasavir, wanted to experiment with planar magic. I wanted to bring us home. And when my inquiries into planar magic caught the attention of Atlas Academy's professors, I was stopped because it is too dangerous and temperamental. This same Academy is now deeply involved with returning Vort and Sartre to Gnas by using planar magic. They've been building devices powered by this unstable element in the hopes of teleporting our city back into astral space. This magic, these devices, they are all untested. this magic these devices they are all untested i myself have seen firsthand how disastrous planar magic can be i know how this is going to end with the complete and total destruction of our city and the death of every citizen within her walls yeah kind. Kind of the building boo, this kind of disproval of this. There's a few shouts

like, how do you know? You can't prove that. Kind of these dismissal ideas. But then you kind of manage to control the crowd and they listen once again. Listen to me, please. You have not been told the truth. You have not been told all the facts. There is

a way back to Gass that is safer. I know because I have been beyond the cradle and travelled through the Astral Sea. I've met Ganassi from our home planet. They're all members of the Valkyrian Empire, fighting in a war that isn't theirs, like we are now. war that isn't theirs, like we are now. We can safely travel to Gnas on ships, but teleporting our city with untested volatile magic that has long been banned is not the answer. It will only lead to our total annihilation. As I speak, the Valkyrian army is embedding those untested devices in the statues of our elemental guardians. Shunsara has taken what is important to us, Surtr, Namaka, Atlas, Kari, the very representations of our virtues and unity, the togetherness of our people, our true guiding stars, and corrupted them, turning them into weapons of destruction.

Arois is not our enemy. They aren't going to control us or impose their rule. They aren't going to stop us from going home. Don't let fear divide us. Don't let division breed resentment. Don't let division breed resentment. Don't let resentment inform your decisions. Please listen to me. Give us time. I can prove this to you, but I need time. I ask all of you, brothers, sisters, children of Ganas, children of Vortensar, don't allow the destruction of our city and the deaths of our people. Resist the Valkyrian Empire. Resist Shansara. My name is Nova Vija and I am a daughter of Vortensar. The crowd is silent. There are still a few decisive jeers and shouts, but you know that that message has hit home and you begin to see what you can from the blinding lights of the stage.

You do see a few questioning faces, people suddenly uncertain, unsure. And that's just the people here. And Shansara does speak. But it's not just me, Nova Vija. I am not some servant of the emperor who has come to lie and cheat. I have not come to corrupt. This is all her. Them, sorry, she says. And this is all harmony i am helping harmony do what they want what they wish for you the people of this city you have been trapped here not by choice and if you wanted to help your people why with all your knowledge and expertise were you not here helping why did you not come to harmony or to me to tell us of these errors and problems that you have foreseen? You could have helped to solve them.

I think that this is a desperate gamble. You fear the people seeing home. You fear that I am just another liar. With respect, I found a way home. I found a safe way home that is not a shortcut that is going to blow our city into a hole. Then why didn't you bring it? What is it?

Tell us how to get home. We fly with airships. The creel is coming down. Shintaro looks up. You see that the air turns clear. Time. I said we need time i promise you why am i not doing this now because the empire has been getting in the way you hear why was i not here because i was in

astral space seeing our homeland shansara doesn't speak but but from the crowd, a voice does call out. We've waited long enough. No more waiting. And you see Harmony looking down at you now, and the spotlights kind of turn to illuminate Harmony. As trembling, they look down at you like, I know that you think you know what's best. I know that you have been to these places. Shansara has told me. I'm just so disappointed that you did not come to share this

with your people. I'm here now. Too late. We found another way. We have our guiding star. It's a cheat. It's a shortcut. You are going to destroy Vortenstar if you let this go through. We've waited years. I found the answer, but it's not a shortcut. I need time. I need more than a few hours. Please, Harmony, I can show you the truth. You had months. Months of us preparing this. No. Shansara, we continue. Shansara's like, my friend has spoken. Please, no! You won't leave the stage. She rises up and she's like,

I will allow one last performance. And that's where we're going to roll initiative. Oh, shit. But you see that the crowds, these two perhaps are not convinced. And there are the diehard fans who still believe, who cheer and cheer for Shansara and call out the same things that are being said.

But you know that there are those who have taken in and now do doubt and are unconvinced by everything but with shansara still being present able to kind of twist this to it and again like you know neither you or i are expert propagandists so i can't play shansara perfectly but that idea that whilst her presence and harmony are there to kind of speak against you you know that you're not going to be able to reach everybody or convince everybody until that is taken away or something is done right i would just say like as she's kind of activating this nova is just plead like turning to the audience and fleeting just like crying now like trying to just you know her whole essence just like we're going to die like you know lucius

is using that time with the distraction to get into position. Yeah. Do you wanna have Lucius take his dancer outfit off? Just the domino motion. It's me. All right. So, because I also know that we are not gonna get to finish this all today, there's a couple things I need to place down.

Actually, no, they wouldn't appear just yet. All right, so. of things i need to place down um actually no they wouldn't appear just yet all right so do do do do uh they are going to be going uh this all right lucius can i get an initiative 16 16. uh can you roll one for quill 23 23 for quick on that 20. 16 actually perfect 16. Century. 23. Oh, perfect. Nice. And then Nova. 17. 17. All right. So whilst that incredible speech, as Nova gives that speech and things,

and you see Shansara rise up on this viewing platform, you see a pair of drones emerge from a section of the stage and kind of hover up next to her. And you begin to hear the sounds of something else, other parts of the stage moving around, some other mechanical parts and things like that but quill uh is up first followed by century okay so we'll say that yeah basically at this point what you see here in this kind of mini terrain uh arena um this is kind of like a rough layout right imagine it's a bit more fancy um there is kind of it goes around in a circle and there's more backstage and stuff around here but that's kind of like the dressing rooms

and areas this is the main central stage and imagine that the crowd is all around it in a big semi-circular arena you guys are over here in the corner running towards what i assume this is the tech desk kind of thing of the magic deck you have this lighting gantry up here, and then everything else. And yeah, and then we have Quill, then Sentry. I don't know if Quill would deliver the first blow. I wonder if we're just trying to get the microphone right now. Well, there's also the activation in the desk as well.

Oh, I'm at the tech. Yeah, this is Quill. Lucius is here, but Quill is down here. I think Quill is going to fly up to the desk and just try and commandeer that button. 15, 20, and then this is up, and he's got 50 feet. 50 feet flying. So he can get up here and can get basically into the middle of this area.

There are two engineers in here who, when they see Quill, they're like, huh? And they don't look like fighters. They look like engineers more than anything, and they're just kind of holding their hands up like, whoa, we don't want any trouble. They kind of just are like, huh? He's just flying there majestically with Hesper's staff,

and he just says, go. Yeah, and they'll climb down. They'll abandon this area. It looks like it's somewhat automated, like it can be controlled remotely or programmed or something like that. I think he'll just try and assess the technology that's here. Sure. This is perception.

No, it wouldn't be perception. It would be Arcana. Oh, he can seize that. He can seize the button. So now he's trying to figure out if there's anything he can do to assist the battle down there. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to assist the battle down there. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to make an Arcana check.

All right. Natural 20, 28. Absolutely. First thing he knows is that he could basically, as an action, there's a number of things he can do. As an action, he can cut it off so this button can't be used at all. He could just disable that button so this station can't be used to activate he could just disable that button so it can't this set this station can't be used to activate the planar devices um he could do that that would be an action

for him to do he just cuts it off disables it entirely uh the other thing he could do is he could activate the hallucinatory terrain spell which controls what the arena looks like and everything else he can also use it to remotely shut down things like the lights the cameras or microphones but it has to be one at a time he'd have to manually spend an to remotely shut down things like the lights, the cameras, or microphones, but it has to be one at a time. He'd have to manually spend an action to shut down one thing at a time. It also projects and he can control what's being shown to the crowd and to the city outside and everything else.

He can control that stuff from here. I'd say that so far that's a movement. I'd say bonus action for him to make the check. So he's got an action left. I don't think I'm going to shut this down yet because that's like shutting down all of those no no no he can just shut the button down I'm shutting the button down okay

there's no like he can't turn everything off at once it's like pick a thing turn that off pick a thing activate it so the first thing I'm doing is disabling that so he kind of gets like one of his talons and he like takes the panel off and he's like looking at it he's like okay Nova told me about this not the green not the blue I'm colorblind finds the right thing and disables it and that now that station cannot be used

to activate the player devices that's his full term century so you see quill just why he's like century I've got this nice can I go around destroy all the ladders so no one can get up to the top so you go like 5 10 15 you destroy that one fine 20 25 30 you can't quite get to this one so okay you can destroy this one though nice I'm destroying those school flights only those. Squirtle can fly so only he can get up there. Yeah, so that was, I'd say, action to destroy the ladder, move. You got bonus action left

if there's anything you'd like to do? I will regain a level three spell slot. Okay, love it. All right, Shansara. At the start of her turn, you see that Shansara will kind of look around and she's just like, I feel you. I feel you, my wonderful friends, my fans, my community. I feel you with me and you make me strong. And you can

actually see that there's this energy that kind of builds around Shansara like a shield that kind of covers her head to toe. And you see like the drones begin to glow with magic and you begin to hear the chant of the crowd like shansara shansara how can you stop people begin like looking at her and and like you can almost feel like this this magic and love being directed at her this fervor being built towards her um that's you don't know the rest of the effects. I dislike that. So I will say, as it's her turn, very similar to the Titans, she is a boss. So at any point on your turns as a free action,

you can make checks to try and be like, I want to figure out her mechanics. I want to figure out this thing that she's doing and stuff like that, right? She is on a platform, like this kind of like disc, and that's going to fly up in the air. Oh, shit. Okay.

He's flying. Yeah, so it kind of like rises up, and she begins looking down, and you see these two drones hover next to her as well. How high up is that? She is flying currently 60 feet, and the stage itself was about 10 feet off the floor, off the main stage. So she's about 70 feet above you

and about 80 feet above Ayla currently. All right. Then for her action, she is going to begin a performance and start singing her first verse, Burning Heart of Summer. So she begins singing. She begins singing this song and performing and dancing starts singing her first verse, Burning Heart of Summer. So she begins singing, she begins singing this song

and like performing and like dancing and like reaching down. No immediate effect, but yeah, she's building this verse and singing the lyrics as she goes. And that is gonna be her turn for now. Nova Vija. Can I... Can I move up to where the central platform was? So she's within 60 foot of me?

So you can go 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Yep, yep, you can just about get on top of the main central stage. Hexblade Curse is 30 foot, isn't it? It's been ages since I've cast it. Sorry, I don't know too well. It is 30 foot. But the first thing I'm gonna do

is I'm going to use my amethyst loadstone, which I have back, and I want to cast a gravitational thrust. So she needs to pass a strength save of DC 18. That is gonna be a success, I'm afraid. Yep, just barely, but she succeeds. So yeah, I was trying to pull her down. Watch as the telekinetic force,

it causes the disc that she's on to rumble, but you can see that that disc itself is kind of giving her the strength to resist it. Like you're not pulling her, the disc itself is almost resisting. Right. Like you feel the thrust of it, like. And you can see it's a Magitek device.

It's not like a magical disc that she's on or like a it's not actually cloud it's a magitek platform that's emitting illusions and flight power cool i will um can i free action susser out uh what particular part that's the main question the um the the arm glowing and the gathering of energy yeah so you can either make for that that's either an insight check or a uh i would say arcana check do i want a plus nine or a minus one uh six plus nine, nice. Ah, so 15. The best you can gather with a 15 is that Shansara's, like, she is empowered by the crowd. You don't know exactly what kind of effect that has, but, yeah, as long as, like, the crowd is currently, like, fully, like, fervent for her,

and that is enhancing her in some way, and you suspect that she probably has some sort of defensive power and it's also probably increasing her offensive power as well okay and that's not one and done like if you want to attempt again or other people can attempt again in the future but yeah you i would say that at this point you know that there is something to do with the crowd's fervor and as long as they are in favor of her she gained some sort of benefit all right um i would like to with my bonus action manifest uh tiangong 15 foot away from me so i guess the other side of the disc maybe yeah cool and that's me

that's you at the end of your turn, Nova Vita. I think she is going to use one of her legendary actions. And she will look down at you. Oh, no, this is a range of 30 feet, so she can't do that one. So maybe she doesn't do that. That's fine. She can just do nothing. What's the range on that?

Oh, no, she'll cast this instead. She will look down at you and just be like, you need to join the performance, dear. I need you to make a wisdom saving throw. Wiz. Plus five. Sixteen. Twenty-one. Is that sixteen? Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-two. Yeah. Twenty-one? Yeah.

You feel yourself as some sort of magic grips hold of you and she's like, you'll look cuter this way and she clicks her fingers and Nova becomes a tiny white bunny rabbit oh my little sparkly outfit yeah she cast polymorph oh shit um technically no yeah weirdly yeah but you have all the stats of the bunny rabbit? Technically, no. Yeah. Weirdly. There would still be, yeah. But you have all the stats of a bunny rabbit,

including the mental facilities of a bunny rabbit. Yeah, you are bunny. Oh, God. Okay. Well, not to metagame, Ayla's probably too dumb

to realize how to get that fixed. Is she? Has she seen Polymorph before? You have, yeah. We pulled off that thing into a squirrel and kicked it yeah

if you want to go up oh yeah we did if you want to go up and whack Nova you can go up and whack Nova

do you remember the football field argument yeah it was I think it was Vincentia's thing oh yeah you did

kicked the squirrel yeah because it was a roper and they got polymorphed into a squirrel and then we hunted it

I don't think I was in the room yeah it was how far can you punt the squirrel? Yeah, how many football fields were there? How many football fields? Okay, well, what do you want to do?

We're still getting comments on that to this day, by the way. Of, like, Americans chiming in with how long a football field is. Okay, if Ayla does know that. You know that if you hit Nova, she will not be a bunny rabbit anymore. But I might be dead. No, no. I wouldn't hit you with the hammer. A little slap.

Yeah, I'll just go up to Nova. I've got 45 feet. I was standing closer to her. Well, I said I moved like. That's also five feet up, so it's five, 15, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40. 45. Oh, 45, you went the very bottom of the stairs, not halfway up.

Not halfway, but like a third of the way up. Can I throw a rock at her or something? You don't have a rock, you can throw the hammer. Oh, I'm not throwing the hammer at her. Oh, it's a shame. Can I, well, bonus action, I'm gonna rage. The lighting bursts around you. I will, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

That's the one thing I wish I had time to get multicolored LEDs. Like, I had like, again, like, because of the things last week and, like, what time we have, like, I wanted to build, like, a full, like, little stage with, like, gantries and, like, colored LEDs and, like, colored plastic strips and things like that. Imagine that in your mind's eye. Imagine that in your mind's eye.

Imagine, like, a big futuristic pop star. I have a single gold coin. Can I throw it at Nova? Because Ayla's strong. Aayla's strong. She could probably do a tactic. Say you can throw it. It's an improvised weapon, so it's at disadvantage.

Not that that's going to matter against the bunny rabbit unless you roll a one. Yeah, I'd say, okay, yeah, you can roll it with disadvantage. But it's basically going to be an unarmed strike for you. It's probably going to do... That's fine's basically gonna be an unarmed strike for you. It's probably gonna do, what's your normal unarmed strike damage? Let's see if it hits first, because you got disadvantage, you might roll one.

Goes right through. My little brain. 10 or an 18. Okay, you're gonna hit. You're gonna hit the body. My unarmed is, Yeah, so if you go to actions, it should just move the, I had a brain malfunction there.

Eight damage. All right, you are raging, so add your rage bonus. 12. All a brain malfunction there. Eight damage. All right. You are raging, so add your rage bonus. 12. All right, so 13 points of damage. I'm going to add one point of extra damage for the coin. Sorry. So the bunny rabbit has one hit point, and then you would, Asnova, take 12 points.

Sorry. Okay, so I take... Yeah. So Ayla like throws this gold coin. I'm just like, in my ear. Like, hits the bunny rabbit, knocks you out of the polymorph, and then the force almost like a kind of recoil.

Sorry, Nova, I love you. It's to save you, the whole planet and stuff. Quill, can you shut her up, please? Carrot. Looking at the crowd being all... So that was your action? Yeah. The only other thing I want to do

is just say to the crowd, like, you can't be responsible for the deaths of an entire city of people. Wake up! And that's it. Okay. Sure.

I don't have anything else. As that is just like you shared, that's not like a full action to kind of convince the crowd. It doesn't seem to be heard over the sound of the song and the music have anything else. As that is just like you shouting, that's not like a full action to kind of convince the crowd. It doesn't seem to be heard of the sound of the song and the music and everything else. It does look like if you were to like go up to one of these cameras maybe,

you could maybe try and like speak to the whole crowd or something like that. But shouting it from your current position, unfortunately, the din of the show is not heard. Oh, well, Nova's not a rabbit anymore. That's a win. Nova is not a rabbit. Oh, well, Nova's not a rabbit anymore. That's a win. Nova is not a rabbit. Money, money, money.

You are... You're not a problem yet. No, all right, Lucius. Lucius is going to quicken a spell with two sorcery points. Fly on himself. Okay. And he's going to fly up to that top gantry thing.

So 60 feet, so yeah, you can, so that's 10, 20, like 40 feet and then enough bangles. I'm gonna grab that camera. Okay. Point it at myself. Okay. And just plead with the audience. Okay.

This is not a performance, This is a Battlegrounds. If you have any doubt about what anything has been said today, run. Leave this place. Oh, nice. Give me a persuasion check. Nine plus nine, though, so that's 18.

18 is not enough. It does look like that you are on the cusp of about to do something. However, Shansara's hold on this crowd is just too strong at this point. And they're just like, no, the guiding star will be you. Kind of like crying out and stuff like that.

But yeah, you feel like you nearly were there. Like you could have got through to them, but her hold, like especially on her hardcore fans, you do see that maybe some of the doubters are starting to leave, but it's not enough to have an effect on those most fervent, do you know what I mean? Right, so I'd say that was your movement,

bonus action and action, so you are fully done there, Lucius. Shansara is gonna take her second, she's gonna use her legendary action, to use her second, she's going to use her legendary action to use her shooting star. This platform, she moves at 60 feet and she's basically going to, whoops. Oh, she's dead now. No, that's her drones.

She basically flies it. She's still flying, but she's going to hover basically over you, Lucius, but her platform is like spewing out magical energy and forces and creates the image of like a blazing comet underneath her. I need you to make a dexterity saving throw for me. Okay.

And you can see that she comes at you rapidly. Dex is 20. 20 is not enough, I'm afraid. High-level enemies. High-level enemies I'm level enemies that's gonna be 13 points of bludgeoning damage and 13 force damage and then you are you're flying so I think you're actually no because it knocks you prone you'll push back 10 feet and not prone which would push you off and then not prone you fall down

would I not catch myself being flying or no so the ruling in core D&D is that if you're knocked prone when you're flying

you fall right that's the ruling on it because you're near a ledge well there's another effect as well actually can you make a constitution statement

for me then I'll figure out whether you get to do a thing, because this will affect it. 25. That's enough. As this Comet of Force hits you, it's so bright, like the energy kind of blasting off this thing, you kind of quickly cover your eyes and shut them

and manage to resist the effect, and you blink them. Hard to see, but still visible. If you'd failed that same three, you would have been blinded until the end of your next turn. But you managed to keep your vision, and that, I'm gonna say, give me another dexterity saving throw to see if you can grab the edge.

I might try and grab a ladder rung or something like that. Yeah, sure, sure, sure, yeah, falling next to the ladder. Yeah, so you can make a dexterity saving throw. Oh, that's a 10. 10 falling. Who greased up this ladder? Yeah, I'm gonna say that, unfortunately, you do not, Jesus, for a fucking D6s, man.

You're dead. 21 more points of bludgeoning damage, as you are basically knocked off and you, even though you have the fly spell, you lose control of your body momentarily as you're pushed back. I will do my concentration then. Yes, you would need to do that.

So that would actually be three, that would be two concentration checks because the first for the first damage which would have been uh dc 13 because it was the damage okay and then the second one is going to be for that one is that yeah and that well possible is your con modifier eight nine just fails unfortunately so she she's just like it's only room for one star. She says this not on the microphone, so only you hear it. Room for only one star here, darling.

Put the domo mask on. Yeah. After Lucius's turn, at this point, you begin to see that from the stage, from backstage and from the stage itself, two other creatures appear. The first you see, you've seen a similar figure, Nova would recognize this as a Valkyrian phase knight.

Oh. He's dead now. He's dead now. He did call in the forces. Dead. He's got more. She's my max mini temporarily. They come running in, I'll say.

Max, why? Backstage. And then from pot. What's that? Oh, hi. Max, why? Backstage. And then, from pot. What's that? Oh, hi. What's that? Oh, hello there. We crashed a skiff into you.

You see an autonomous mech. I don't have a good mech miniature to use for this. I forgot to bring my Tau in for it. But you see an autonomous mechanized Valkyrian. Oh, it's not like the one we stole. It's not the battle mech, no. This is like an automaton, a golem basically

it comes up from a stage thing in the floor a piece of floor pulley system brings it up to the floor stage assessing threats to Shansara threats detected it turns its attention to you I'm going to say that their turn is basically spent arriving

they don't get to do anything this turn. But actually, oh, I forgot to do a thing. She began performing. That's lucky. Let's see. All right. Okay. With that, that is going to have to be where we end the episode

as it's a brand new round. And we're going to start with Kuz's turn. Shit. Okay. With that, that is going to have to be where we end the episode as it's a brand new round. And we're going to start with Kuz's turn. Shit. Yeah. That is where we're going to pick up next time. Yeah, we do need

to be back, don't we? Yeah. And that's going to be it for this week. Thank you guys so much for joining us. Thank you. We love you.

Don't forget to check out... So next week won't be... We won't be able to continue this fight. Oh my God. Next week is going to be our special Jingle Jam episode, which is a one-off for charity with charity fun stuff. Just light, happy, nice love.

I'm trying to remember, Kim, we do have an episode after that, though, don't we? Yes, we have one more 18th. So that will be the conclusion of this battle. It might not be here. It'll be also my birthday as well. Yay. That's all right. We'll make do. No, but I want to do the fight. Do the fight. I might not be here. It'll be also my birthday as well. Yay. That's all right. We'll make do.

No, but I want to do the fight. Do the fight. I want to do the fight. But yeah, that's it. So thanks for joining us. Don't forget to check out the Jingle Jam. Raise some money for Cherry

over on Yogscast. Yeah. Until then, we love you. Take care. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Thank you.