High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #172 | Festival of New Stars (Part 1)

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

A new Nova appears and they desperately need a new set of gear... It's time to visit Azaria and friends in Horizon! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes and more 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. I'm naked. Hello, everybody, and welcome back. Really hope that didn't make it in. Anyway, welcome back to Erois. Last time, inside the Hornsilver Vault, the party searched for the Star of Siaska, a rare and valuable diamond needed for the magical ritual

to bring back their friend Nova Vita. The vault itself involved riddles and traps, and eventually a battle against an unending horde of vengeful spirits. Whilst protecting the halfling descendant of the Hornsilver family and their ship's cook Howard, the party opened the vault and obtained the Star of Siaska. A moving ritual was performed. Quill traveled to the astral sea and found nova's soul an intense conversation followed and quill tried to convince nova to return for the benefit of arois but the energy of the spell was quickly unraveling and at the last minute nova took his hand a wing and she returned to Erois.

Happy tears and joy from the party welcoming her back. But Nova, once the initial rush of a return had faded, realized that for the first time in a while, she was alone, no longer able to feel Tiangong's presence within her. And that, my friends, is where we're gonna pick up a little bit. I am going to, and unless there is any, if you guys have anything that you would want to have done in this time,

absolutely do. Another level up? We are going to skip ahead a few days. I'm no longer naked then. You have had time to absolutely, you would have had spare clothes here on the Storm Chaser and an identical outfit to your character art. But no, basically the trip back to horizon is

uneventful it takes a few days um you probably arrive back in horizon and also you know you're absolutely going to do things like go and you know find nova's parents find thalia catch up with everybody and i didn't want to spend a whole session just me kind of going over stuff that we know is going to happen anyway so um especially as we want to kind of crack on with things moving forward yeah but if there is anything you want to do absolutely like tell me but i was just going to suggest that maybe we jump ahead a little bit of time all i want to do is promise howard his fridge okay yeah you have to go get it yeah where did you buy it horizon that man is nowhere to be found we're not in horizon yet mark when you get to get to Horizon, the man that you bought

that fridge from, what was his name? Zim Zam Zambalor. Nobody has ever heard of him. Why the fuck would you do that? Sorry, I wasn't here this week and this is the first time we've been hearing

that you got conned. Yeah. It was when everyone was having a... By a man who sounded exactly like Zim Zam Zambalor. He was very convincing. Very convincing. I was at my wit's end.

Everyone was having a spa day and I was trying to figure out how to make this fucking fridge. And in the end, someone came up to me. He said he was good at some school of magic. I don't even remember. Oh, for fuck's sake. Conning. Hopefully it was necromancy, the only applicable school for fridges. Deception.

It's all about preservation. But I mean, I don't... I've got tools. How much did you give him? the only applicable school for bridges. It's all about preservation. I mean, I don't... I've got tools. How much did you give him? I gave him a lot of money, didn't I? You gave him like two, 300 gold or something like that? Was it 200, 300?

No, it wasn't like crazy. I thought it was like a thousand. No, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a thousand gold. I don't know, I don't care. I knew as soon as you gave him that money, I was like, I'm not writing it down. Yeah, yeah, it's gone, I'm not writing it down. It's gone. Locate creature. Doesn't work.

Howard, I'm so sorry. He's a planeswalker. How else would he have got to Eros? My next character in campaign three is going to kill that man. That's your sole mission is finding him. Find the planeswalker, zim, zam, zim, zim. Something in the back of my head. Oh, my friend, this man. I've traveled across multiple mission is finding him. Find the planeswalker, Zimzam Zimbalor. Something in the back of my head. Oh, my precious man!

I've travelled across multiple worlds to find him. Anyway. The hunt for Zimzam. You can definitely spend a couple of days doing that. One shot, one? Write that down because I'll forget it. That is jingle jam one shot. 100%.

The hunt for Zimzam Zimbalor. Anyway, to crack on. Just get the wiki team to remind us. You return to Horizon. You notice that Horizon and the Astoria are on the move. And judging Quill, knowing the world of Horizon and the maps and the navigational skills of a cartographer and a messenger,

they are in the process of heading towards Al-Saraf. The Astoria is still not fully powered, and it is incredibly slow. Horizon is able to move faster, but is protecting the Astoria in this case, and is traveling with it. But you use sending spells, you catch up with Rain, you know where to meet, and you make your way back to Horizon. During that time, Nova, you absolutely can get clothes, but weapons and armor would

have to be mundane gear for the time being, unless you would like to fully examine the stuff you recovered from the Horned Silver Vault. We got a... Adamantine Scale Armor, Bracers of Archery, plus two Longsword, and Staff of Frost. The Longsword, by the way, there is more to the Longsword, but it has not been

fully identified yet. The Longsword needs to be... Here's a sword! the longsword, but it has not been fully identified yet. The longsword needs to be... Here is the sword. Yeah. I'd like to imagine that it's just like Nova's moping around, like maybe in her bunker or something like that, and then Nova just... Hela just kicks in the door and is like,

weapons! Sword! Armour! On your feet, soldier! You are not protected! Take this stuff, make it work. Might not fit, we'll make it work, okay? Put it on.

No more dying. Stop that. Just so we're clear, Ayla, we don't actually know what the sword does yet, so if you want it identified. Swing it around a bit, see what it does. Don't do that, don't do that. Don't just swing it around and see what happens,

because it might explode. Actually, this room has exploded before, so we should maybe able to do that. Points at the wall where it's been prepared. Yeah, you can see the joint. The scale armor will need to be resized by a proper blacksmith. It is currently made for a dwarf warrior. Nova is definitely not a dwarf proportions.

But because it is adamantine, you will need a very talented blacksmith. You will need to find a master blacksmith. Oh, I wonder what that one is. There will be somebody that you can find for that. Horizon will definitely be able to find somebody that can do that. So is Max not very talented? Max is very talented, yeah. Max would probably be able to work with it.

I was hoping it would just take him longer. You just want to see Max. Out of the people that you know, Maximilian would probably be able to do it. Rethra, the wild elf, would probably be able to do it. They were a smith as well. Or like a really talented dwarven smith. This is dwarven armor. Zim-zam-zimbalo.

So that would have to wait, but you can definitely do that when you get to Ryzen. The longsword, if you want Quill to fully examine it, I can give you the details on it. I don't know if I can fight anymore. I mean, sure you can, it's just the same as always, right? But before Tiangong was guiding me, teaching me how, and I don't have them anymore, I don't know. Nova, not all of that was Tiangong. If there's one thing I know about Nova, not all of that was Tiangong. If there's one thing I know about Nova, is she can learn and listen to lessons.

So it would have sunk in, I'm sure. Do you want me to throw rocks at her until she can learn? Not the rock thing again. I'm sure Tiangong learned as much from you as you did from them. Lucius would probably be like, you say that they are gone, does that mean that you can't use magic and things like that? Have you tried? I'm too scared to try. Would you like me to help you? I connected with Sentry's Matrix, maybe I can see if there's magic still there? I could try, maybe? Get the rocks. Get the rocks. On it.

I'm scared that there is nothing. He kind of just puts his hand on your shoulder. I guess I should try sooner or later. Okay, let's try. Even if it's gone, I'm sure that you'll find you can use science or something. You can build a gun or something. You're very clever. You can do something or something. You can build a gun or something. You're very clever. You can do something, I'm sure.

But even if it is, we'll find a way to make it all work, won't we? We will, yeah. I guess I did take notes from Tiangong. I can read them again. It's strange. Now that you think about it, you felt them like a guiding hand, like a mentor. You were holding the weapon, but it was like their hands were around yours, guiding you, like a mentor, like you were holding the weapon, but it was like their hands were around yours, guiding you, showing you how to strike,

showing you how to move. And you can remember those lessons, but yeah, there's that lack of confidence, right? Like it's probably no- This is the first time she's been out, like- The training wheels are off. Without anything, because like she met Tiangong very shortly after she left Hortensaur so this is so weird like just not it's like there is a presence missing

yeah yeah yeah I'm saying that presence missing but there's still that weird sensation maybe not

something maybe I don't know if that would scare Nova or if that's curiosity but yeah not in the same way but something Maybe, I don't know if that would scare Nova or if that's curiosity, but yeah. Not in the same way, but something. How can we help? Would you like us to do something?

Do you want to try casting a spell? I can clear the wolf pack. Do you want to try and cast a spell on the wolf pack? I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Cast a spell on me! I've seen some of the spells she casts. Hit me! Don't kill me! Hit me! Okay, I could throw a rock off the side.

I'll turn the rock from going to throw it at you. I don't think the ship would have rocks on it, but there's probably like points. I've collected them! She has training rocks. Sure, Aayla has rocks. I selected them. She has training rocks. Sure, Aayla has training rocks. In the haversack, I've got a compartment dedicated to training rocks. It's just like a pile of my 10 rocks. Does the wolf bag need a training?

As I walk around. I rescind my comments. Yeah, as I walk around in ruins. The ship does not have rocks, Aayla has rocks. If I spot a good rock on the way, I'm like, oh, that's a training rock. I'll save that for later. That's a cutter.

I'll throw a rock. You throw a rock? I'll try and Eldritch Blaster. Okay. You watch and for a second, you're like, oh, I was right. It's all gone. But it's strange.

The presence of Tiangong is gone there's no doubt about that they as a being were destroyed along with the others and you have been brought back but they have not but there's like a vestige an echo very much like you you managed to summon like a manifestation of tiangong when you try to manifest your echo in that way that you would kind of call them forth and it works but they were less substantial like it was like a memory of it and the eldritch blast works the same way you know there is no magic in you because tiangong was the source of that magic but it's like you can call on the memory of the magic and that almost makes it real.

And the Eldritch Blast casts. But it is, you can see Nova had to, there was more intense, like she had to focus to do that. Like it wasn't natural. It was like, and then it's like it kind of appears. But it's like the magic remembers that you had it. That was weird. But, rock down.

It was harder. Before, it was like I think, and Tiangong, and it made it happen. But this time it happened, but I had to remember what it was like. What did it feel like? When it manifests, I have to concentrate, and they're still not there. Interesting. I'm just writing a quick message to Quill about something. As long as you keep hold of those memories,

I'm sure you can still keep casting. Yeah. Yeah, no, I... It's good to know. It's good to know I can still... I'm just... This is just very strange for me. Yeah.

It's... It's very strange to have an emptiness where once there was something. I, yeah. Quill, if you could identify this weapon for me. I don't know how this works anymore, but I'm sure Ayla can take me through some training. Yep, just hit things real hard. Throw it.

It's like, Katie, pass it. I'll let Tom read that, and then he can do the Ida Frenes. Lucius is like, this is fantastic, this is wonderful, you have your magic, I'm sure you remember all of Tiangong's lessons about swordplay, I know a thing or two I did practice, we could maybe spar, I'm a bit rusty, maybe we could do a bit of dueling. I would love that, Lucius. Yes, of course, we'll set a time for it, We'll do it just before tea and then we'll have lunch

and we can have that in my cabin and we'll exchange notes. Thank you. Just for an instant. Can I do like a... Like an Arcana check? Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Because I just want to figure out what that could possibly relate to.

It's high DC. That is a 26. 26. There was something of the Feywild about it. The thing that you saw, it's like you remember seeing them when you were there. Okay. Okay. Okay.

All right. But yeah, Nova hands you back the sword, like, yeah. Says like, could you identify this to me? Yeah, no, yes, yes, absolutely yes. Identify. All right. You've got to identify. Is that how you identify?

Is that how you cast it? I know you, semantic components. Everything you are, everything you've been. So you are mine. Double claw weight. Double claw. It's not legend lore, so you don't get to know everything it once was,

but you do understand it. This is a blade, it has a name. Over to Blade. I'll describe it again as well, so you have the visuals of it. This well-made longsword has been crafted with fine dwarven steel inlaid with intricate runes dedicated to Siaska and the Astral Sea. It features a sapphire pommel and delicate silver decoration

around the hilt and guard. It's a longsword. This is called Farseeker, the Starlight Blade. That's pretty cool. It is a plus two magic weapon, so it has plus two to attack and damage rolls. As a bonus action, you can speak the command word, which I'm happy for Kim to come up with,

it would be in Celestial, to cause the weapon to create a trail of glittering starlight from the blade for one minute. Whilst this property is active, the weapon deals an additional 1d8 radiant damage to any target it hits, and you can cast the spell Misty Step as a bonus action on each of your subsequent turns.

The effect ends immediately if you stop holding the weapon or are incapacitated. Once you activate this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. And it's called Far Seeker, and it should be available as a custom item to add. Are the runes dwarven? They are.

Can I read? Yeah. It is a prayer to Siaska. Oh, cool. I can't make up a prayer on the spot, but it's a lovely prayer to Siaska. It's probably along the lines of, like, seeking out the mysteries of Siaska's blessings.

But it's a nice prayer to Siaska, basically. And the runes have been shaped to almost look like stars, and it's like they're on a river along the edge of the blade. It is called Farseeker, the Starlight Blade. I think, Nova, this might actually be to your liking.

Now, it's not the same. I understand completely it's not the same, I understand completely it's not the same, but spend some time with it. Come up with a good word to command it. The word exists. I just want Kim to pick the word. So you know the word and you know what the word is,

but I figured you'd come up with it. And you will, when you want to activate it as a bonus action, you have to speak the word to activate it. So if you can't speak it, you're in silence, you can't do it. But. Those damned wolves. But there is, I mean, now that you know its name, there is, it feels right. It's like, I don't know, fate.

From starlight, from stardust to starlight. Fate. From starlight, from stardust to starlight. The world has a funny way of turning. Yeah. Oh, and yeah, we're going to get that armor reforged as well, right? Yeah, I can only fit... Yes, it's a bit big around the waist, I think, for Nova. Big? Or... The armor. You're tiny. But it's a bit big around the waist, I think, for Nova. Big? Or...

Armour. You're tiny. But it's dwarven. Yes, they're big, you're small. Yeah. Sick. You also have the Braces of Archery and the Staff of Frost. Obviously, I don't want to play Lucius. Lucius might want the Staff, I don't know, you might just want to sell it. You do what you want with it.

We'll hang on to that then until... If you need to know, the Staff of Frost, by the way, it has 10 charges. You can cast a bunch of ice spells. They all have different costs. It's like Cone of Cold for five charges, Ice Storm for four, Ice Wall for like three or four.

It's pretty good. You get some pretty good spells and the staff is like basically free castings of it, right? The Braces of Archery are, I believe, plus two to damage rolls with ranged weapons. So if you use a bow, you get plus two damage with it. Yes.

It's not super useful for this group. Aayla maybe, but I think it does require attunement, so it might be worth giving. I have things for a bear. You could also give it to an owl. But if you're throwing your hammer, does that count as a ranged weapon if you throw it? It does not.

It wouldn't in this instance. The Howling Templest is a very special weapon. Yeah, but it turns into a lightning bolt when you throw it. It's ranged to It wouldn't in this instance. The Howling Templest is a very special weapon. Yeah, but it turns into a lightning bolt when you throw it. Sounds ranged to me. Yeah, it turns into a lightning bolt. It's not... It's... Yeah, it wouldn't apply to this.

Anyway... Ranger. Ranger. You cut off my fucking head. Yeah. But yeah, that's probably on the journey back on the Storm Chaser. Yeah. I mean, yeah, if Nova is separated away.

What? I want to talk to everyone else. Oh, when I'm on my own. Yeah, that. Is the word you were looking for there. Yeah, no. Before Nova to go back to her quarters. Nova, are you talking to us?

I'm talking to everyone, but it was clear. Yeah, yeah. It was plain English what I said. It was a bit... Did anyone see... I mean, you might have been focusing a lot on the rock and the blast and everything. Did anyone else spot the little green that came out of the spell?

The blast? The little... kind of looked like... Now, it was very quick, and I think my eyes might be deceiving me, but they've never done it before. It might've been like a tiny green, like butterfly, kind of Feywild-y. Did anyone else see that? Might be imagining things. Maybe some moss.

I think I picked up some rocks that had some moss on them. No, no, no, it came from the spell itself, and it was- Are you staying hydrated? More from Nova's body. Sorry? Are you staying hydrated? Are you having enough to drink every day? I mean...

Probably not. Same as everyone else. Three licks of water. Burgeoning. Burgeoning perception I have given something. I feel like I saw it and it just looked

a little Feywild. I don't understand why that could be. What could have possibly happened? Could it be Thalia? She's from the Feywild. Could it be Nova's connection to Thalia? Possibly. We could try and...

Two of. It's the two of. Two hearts become one. That sounds horrible. Actually, yeah. That sounds horrible. Actually, yeah. That sounds like a nightmare. I wouldn't like to see that happen. You need one, a whole one for yourself.

Yeah, don't go taking over people's hearts, that's rude. Anyway, that's just what I noticed. Okay, so next time Nova casts something, look for green. Look for butterflies. Butterflies. Oh, I like butterflies. I mean, Coral, you only just barely caught it. It was so small, so quick, so faint,

you barely saw it. Do you want me to throw another rock? It won't, I mean, it wasn't the rock. But I can throw it, and then that will make Nova cast the spell, you know, reaction, butterflies. You have noticed Nova's not here. Yeah, but I can find her and then throw it and you can come with me and see if it happens again.

She's on a ship, the ship's not that big. Sure, why not? I'll tell you what happens there is Ayla goes and throws a rock at Nova who gets hit by a rock and it's out. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, a rock. I'm assuming you- No, no, no, no. And it's out. Surprise, surprise. I don't, I don't, I'm not that mean. Nova's just come back from the dead, so in this one case, Ayla would go, Nova, think fast.

Huh? Think fast, do it again. What? What are you doing? Just, I'm gonna throw it. Blast. Go! She's gonna see your reactions, go.

Just lean to one side. No, no, no, blast it. No, nothing this time. We're in a corridor. It's our corridor. It's fine. Okay. Blast it.

Make a ranged attack roll for me. Do it with disadvantage, actually, Kim. My jaw! Again? Blown another fucking hole! Six plus 11, 17. Yeah, I mean, it's weird. This time it's like, normally you're used to Tiangong

helping track what you're kind of firing the magic at. Now you're like, oh, I have to, it's gonna be there. And then you do just about manage to catch it. You know, you triangulating the angles. You're like, ah, the Simba. And she does catch it. This time make an active perception check for me, Quill. Everyone, both Sentry and Ayla can.

Shards shower the wolf pack. My perception is so good. Ah, nat 20! Add it up. They're not all our successes. No. I am of the DM of no auto successes on the 20. 19.

Plus seven. 27. That was bigger than your last one. Oh, my God. Did Ayla beat Quill? Oh, she did. No. What'd you get?

23. 23. And'd you get? 23. 23. And then 19 for Sentry. Aayla is the only one who catches it. But it's not. You don't see a little green butterfly, Aayla. Okay. There is a strange...

Like, when Nova casts that Eldritch Blast, and it's only because you've never noticed this before, and it's because it's not necessarily tied to you, but it's like you feel a gust of wind, like a very brief like, whoosh, brush against you. And you know it came from Nova when she, it was when that spell was cast. You would know if it was just the atmosphere.

Like you're a survivalist, you know storms. I know the air. Yeah, you feel the air. No, it's like a gust of wind, almost. I must have been imagining things. Thank you, Nova! That was really... Please don't do that again. Okay, but I'm just testing the reflex.

You were doing really good. We're going to spar, and we're going to practice that way. We're going to do it very organized and very civilized. We're not going to throw rocks. Please don't throw rocks and blast them. Stop blowing holes in my ship! Please stop destroying things. It's my ship.

I don't want to get a reputation as someone who keeps blowing up ships, specifically this ship. No, we're going to rope off downstairs. I'm going to have lovely seats and cushions when we want a little resty, and then we'll have a little spa. Okay. That sounds nice.

I've never been to a spa. I just sort of got a lot of rocks, so I thought we'd give it another go. Maybe on the deck. Sure. Okay. We're just trying things. But I'll warn you, though.

That would be nice. I warned you. I didn't just throw it. I appreciate that. I mean, you say think fast, and then you waited like five, ten seconds. No, I waited until I pointed. I said I was going to throw it. I didn't even just blast it.

It was the most warning one can give for a think fast. There was no need to really think fast. It was a think slow. It was extremely considerate of you. I thought so. If I said think fast to one of the wolf pack, I would have just thrown the thing. It's true.

She would. That's how they learn. I saw them all flinch when you said think fast. Well, all but one. There is that one wolf pack I was looking at you. Oh, fuck. It's him again. Just scan this.

Where are you going? I mean, he can't hide. You'll walk down the corridor and you'll see him later. That reminds me, I checked the crew logs for the first time ever. Yeah. I found out Howard's last name. He did actually tell us his last name. He's not on the crew.

That one wolf pack. I don't know who he is. Where did he come he is i don't know you have you seen the new uh put in boots movie i haven't okay so there's like a wolf guy in it who's got this like menacing coke and he looked menacing as and like now i'm only gonna pick to him he's just like there in the corner with like this big dark hood and red glowing eyes he's like two sizes basically couldn't read the glowing eyes. He's like two-sighted. Basically, he's like a rocket. He's fucking mega cool.

Anyway, and hot. I'm going to watch the Puss in Boots movie. Yeah, me too. It's doing really well. You guys are welcome to keep harpeeing, but would you like to jump to Horizon and do some other stuff? I was going to take Quill and go, Okay, thank you Nova! We'll see you in a bit! And I'll just grab Quill

and just... Ow! Okay, ow you, Nova. We'll see you in a bit. And I'll just grab Quill and just... Ow, ow. Okay, ow. I was imagining things, turns out. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't. You didn't see something. No, I didn't see anything. There was no bunch of flies. But when she did that time, there was a little gust of wind. We're on an airship. No, I know.

Now that Ayla says it, though, because you got like 23 and that prompting, you're like, oh, there was that weird kind of like, I did feel something on my feathers, but I thought it was just the wind on the airship. But when Ayla says it, you're like, oh. I know the weather. Weirdly timed. That's true.

You do know the weather. That wasn't the weather. Okay. Okay, so we've got a little butterfly, gust of wind. You want to throw another rock? I mean, yeah, but she doesn't want me to. Okay, let's not throw more rocks.

There you go, Sentry, there's all the evidence. Work out what that means. Now it's your turn. You saw Butterfly, I got Gust of Wind. Think of another way. And Butterflies. The Temple. What? Your Temple. The temple. What?

What? Your temple. Your temple. Of Hesper. Yeah. In the storm. Temple of Hesper. It was windy there.

It was windy there. Windy valley. It's fucking windy. It was windy. It was windy. It was fucking windy. It was fucking windy. It was.

It was hecking windy there, yeah. It was. It was maybein' whimdy there, yeah. It was. Maybe... It was a wee bit blowy, as they say. Maybe it's to do with the... That's the wild elf sound. And it was magical. It was magical.

I'm glad that we can share in this enjoyment. This is how I feel most of the time. It's great. It's a great feeling. Maybe she's connected with... I'll show you. ...different magical places we've been. Right, because we've been to the Feywild, we've been to the Hec and Wimdys.

That's what it's now called, the Hec and Wimdys. The Hec and Wimdy Valley. It's just a complete new... The Wimdy City. I've remembered it. The Valley of Storms, that was it, yeah. Great religious meaning and cultural heritage from now on. And also, you have the excuse of being able to go, baby brain.

Baby brain? It's taking the blood, I got the baby brain. Wimdy babby. Wimdy babby. Wimdy babby. Wimdy babby. Wimdy babby. Wimdy babby.

Wimdy babby. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear. So maybe, maybe she's formed some kind of a connection. Or maybe she's always had a connection, but because of Tiangong she's never noticed it. Right. Like Lucius's magic is about colours and maybe Nova has some kind of... Like...

Journey magic. I don't know. The ninth school of magic. Journey magic. The past. Friends we made along the way. My magic comes from a glowing orb inside my chest, so... Mine comes from a dead god.

Magic can come from... Magic can come from anywhere. A room is full of magic. Astral space is full of magic that I've never seen before. It can come from literally anywhere. I don't know. You know what? I put a lot of pressure on you to try and figure this out.

I was joking at the time, but so far, that's a good theory. I like it. Thanks. It's better than turning a key on a statue and then having that try and destroy yeah i think we need some kind of like puzzle protocol that we need to follow next time no no no please don't take that away i want rihanna to turn more like curious yeah yeah i like yeah i didn't really no you know what we're here now. It's like an enthusiasm. Almost. Don't just share memes! Showing pictures on a half-podcast.

Don't just look at me! It's so wimpy! It's so wimpy! We know the meme! Blowy as fuck, man. Also, my last day. But I don't know, that's my theory. Yeah, it's good. What other things, if those two things have happened? What would be the worst thing to happen?

Well, we did go to the Astral Sea. Yeah, space, the Astral Sea, that's bad. Meanwhile, while you guys are in it, Nova, anything you want to do? I was wondering if I could connect with Tornado. We don't have to do the whole thing out, but I guess the main thing is just check in with him and ask what's happening in Hortensar. I think that they would probably have met up with you, because Tornado would probably want to go and see your parents as well. He's okay and stuff like that. So I think he's probably on the storm chaser. Okay, okay. And, like, that you guys can spend a load of time

catching up and just kind of, like... I mean, like, the relationship is different. When you've come back, he's always been goofy and he's always been, like, really silly and stuff. And you know that he loves you and cares for you, but it's like a protectiveness now. It's like you can see that he was terrified knowing what happened to you and that he couldn't do anything.

So, like, now it's just, like, not overly protective, but, like, he's really, like, there's seriousness to him that there wasn't, that is rarely there before. And, like, you know, you probably have a couple of, like, really long conversations talking about, like, having this realisation of, like, oh, God oh God, you're literally going off and fighting gods and there's this war that's gonna come to our planet. There's things that he wants to tell you

and things that he's like, yeah, don't tell Mom and Dad. And is there anything you want me to do if anything happens to you and stuff like that? Does he still say bro though there unfortunately there is always going to be a bro in there no matter how serious he gets like he is part of his vernacular that there is like a really like he's like just you know if anything happened to you bro he kind of catches himself and you can see he's trying not to do it but like he can't help it you can bro it's okay thanks. But yeah, and I think that there's probably, like, it's, you know, again, we don't have to necessarily roleplay that.

Yeah, I think just, like, Nova would be asking what happened in Vortenstar afterwards. Like, you know, are the people okay? Yeah, and... There would probably be some discussion of, like... I think Nova would know that they probably hate her because, as far as they know, I think Nova would know that they probably hate her, because as far as they know,

Nova's responsible for the explosion and the death of Harmony and Shansara. That's what I will tell you. He's like, well, I don't think they hate just specifically you. I think that they blame you and your friends, the champions of Eros. There's a lot of people who still think that they blame you and your friends, the champions of Erois. There's a lot of people who still think that they came in to kind of keep Vortensoy there, but they also hate the Seekers. They think that, you know, we were part of it.

They know that Fuego was the one who destroyed the statue, and that's probably what caused the problems. Is Fuego, did he make it up? Oh, no, no, he died. When the mech was, he, apparently they were losing the fight and he just set the thing to blow up, charged it with too much energy and just flew it in there. I'm sorry.

Oh, bro. It's just like, yeah, he knew, we all knew what we were getting into. We all knew that this was possible. I just, I guess I didn't know it could happen to you. But yeah, I mean, the Seekers, but they're alive. That's, you know, we always said that that was the point of it, right? That's the main thing, right? Yeah. They're alive. The citizens of Wartensar are alive.

And hopefully now we can at least— we've bought time, and we can figure out this next bit. If they want to go back to this world, then we can make that happen. I was never going to stop them. I just wanted to show them the safer way that wasn't going to blow up the entire city. And you know, the Seekers, we got everybody, as many as we could, out, and there are more coming. You know, they're leaving and things. But we don't want to leave Aroah, so we're gonna find a new place.

We're gonna go and live in the cities here and things like that, and there's a lot of us. There's a lot of people who like Aroah, and we want to stay here, so. And that's the freedom of choice, isn't it? Right, that's what we were fighting for, so. That's all I ever wanted them to have was the truth, and so they could make a good decision.

Yeah. And they can, because of you. Puts his arm around you. You're such a moron, you know that? Yeah, yeah. You died, though, so technically you're the biggest moron. I probably am the biggest moron, yeah. Got yourself killed. Yeah.

Jumped into a magic pit, blew up. That was pretty stupid, wasn't it? Pretty stupid. Yeah. I'd do it moron, yeah. Got yourself killed. Jumped into a magic pit. That was pretty stupid, wasn't it? Pretty stupid. I'd do it though, so. Well, no you wouldn't, because I'd stop you. No, I'd stop you. No, I'd stop you. I'd stop you.

I'd stop, bro. Just. Super silly point. I think probably the last thing I would ask is, you know how, it's just a really small thing, but because Nova lost everything, like all her physical items, she no longer has her scarf from Mom.

So she would probably ask him if she can borrow the scarf that she gave. Because when we met up, she gave the scarf. He's like, he just puts it around you. He's like, oh, I lost my scarf when we were leaving Vortensar. Mom's going to kill me. But he knows that he can get away with it. Yeah. She'll forgive you.

Because he's the moron. Yeah. And he'll just play dumb. And he's just like, oh, I'm so stupid. I left my scarf there. I'm not going to be able to get back. Oh, it's probably lost. Good thing you kept yours, though.

Oh, yeah. I am the responsible one. Thank you. Yeah. And then he just wraps it around your head and like, I hate you. And he lifts just wraps it around your head and like, I hate you! And he lifts you up and runs you around, like runs around on the ship like,

I am the champion! Turns into like a 12-year-old. Yeah. I think very much needed from both of them. Good. Would you like to continue the theorising? Nah. Okay.

I mean, you can. I like the idea, but I feel like you would stretch that out as far as you probably could. Oh, my God. I like the idea that while you're theorizing, you just see Nova Tornado running past, like, just... And everyone's like, ah! And everyone step back a second. Okay, and volcano?

Yeah, maybe. But it's definitely... I mean, you can keep an eye out next time Nova cast a spell. Maybe there might be more info, but. Now that you know what to look for, it'll be an easier check. Yeah.

You arrive, yeah, it probably takes a couple of days to reach Horizon and the Astoria, and you would probably spend a couple of days there just in a bit of a time skip, kind of like, you know, settling back in. There is a message from Danica that they want, danica and rain want to meet up with all of you to discuss next steps uh they have got word about al-saraf that's why they're heading there uh they have a plan that they're like yep it's gonna take us a while so there's no rush but we

have a plan we've been working on things while you've been away in vaunsaar rain kind of relays all this through messengers and couriers and things like that. You also have a message from Azaria Perel saying, basically, I still have all your money, we're working on the ship. She has found a way to obtain an energy source. It won't be super powerful, but she has found a way to capture two Opposed Elementals herself. Okay. So if you don't have time to do that, but it won't be,

if you want to get super powerful ones, that's still on you to do, but cutting, if you are desperate and are unable to, she has found a way to do that, but it is going to cost money. It's probably going to cost the money that you gave her to procure that kind of system to do that.

But she says, she's like, when you come back, there's a message probably delivered by a skeleton. Like, just turns up. They're just roaming the streets now. Yeah. It's like, it's dressed nicely. It's dressed like a little butler. And it comes with like a silver plate. Oh, that makes it okay.

Whose ancestor is this, don't you think? Yeah. And it basically is like a, come by and see me, let me know if you need anything, working on these stories and everything else. Can you write, need you to stop sending skeletons on that? She's a master of magic. Probably no sending. Yeah, this is unnecessary.

She's a wizard, she didn't go, no sending? Do wizards get sending? I'll check that. Probably not, but it works for Azaria. I think it's cute. It fits her aesthetic. It's waiting for, like, a response or something. Oh, right, yeah, so do we want to go ahead with the backup energy power plan?

Wizards do go. I suppose. I mean, didn't Lucius say that he threw the magic sphere into the... I did, yeah, I threw it in there to try and get it. Oh, so we actually have no way of capturing even if we want to? Well, I mean, maybe there's another way, but I don't want to... What if she turns me into a zombie or something? Can we pretend that it got stolen or something?

Maybe we don't bring it up? Maybe say it was on me when, you know... As long as you're all right with that. I don't want her turning you into a zombie. It's OK. Also, even if we did have another one, I haven't really put much thought into getting... We've been so busy, we've got lots of things to do.

We've got to fight gods and emperors and all sorts. Do you remember two weeks ago we crashed in an airship? We need to hold on. It wasn't two weeks ago, I know. Technically you had a time skip, so it was longer than that. About a year and a bit. About a year. No, that was a year ago.

Yesterday. Four years. Four years ago. So much has happened. Okay, well, let's go with that plan for now, because I don't know if we're going to be able to solve that. And honestly, I think it would be useful to have. I don't really know any alternatives to spend the money on.

So, yeah. And you also just got tons of new money. Also, we're loaded! I wouldn't mind buying some sort of magic item if that's all right. I don't know what yet. Of course. From Azaria? Whoever. Yeah. Okay, what are you thinking? item if that's all right i don't know what yet of course from azaria uh whoever i yeah

okay what are you thinking boots helmet um uh armor um a shield would be nice a shield a magic shield i don't like not having a shield okay what do you want it to do? Because I know a guy. Whatever shield we have, he'll make it for you. Who is this? I haven't actually heard from him. He's the guy making the fridge.

Sorry, this is the first time I'm hearing about this. I was making Howard a fridge. Okay. Everyone was on a... Remember when you had a spa day? Yes. Yeah, I wasn't there. It was awful. Probably the worst day of my life. Right. wasn't there. It was awful. Okay.

Probably the worst day of my life. Right. Trying to figure out how to make this fridge. You didn't tell any of us. Well, I also spent some money. How much? Some. I'm the quartermaster, it's my,

that's for me to know, for everyone else to, look, okay, anyway, which kind of shield would you want? What is the name of this man? Zim-Zim-Zambalore. Excuse me? Zim-Zim-Zambalore. A bit louder. Zim-Zam, it could be even Zim-Zam-Zambalore or Zam-Zim-Zambalore. Excuse me? Zim-Zim-Zambalore. A bit louder. Zim-Zam, it could be even Zim-Zam-Zambalore or Zam-Zim-Zambalore.

You've been scammed. See, this is why I need you around at all times. Okay. Right, okay. What kind of shield do you want? I guess something as similar as, well, the... Use your words. As similar as to what Tiangong was.

Right, okay. I don't know what Tiangong was in relation to the shield, though. Maybe at least an aesthetic, at least. Oh! Oh, we could do that, right? Yeah. Yeah? You could draw it. You're good at drawing things.

I do have schematics here, actually. I took schematics of every shard that Tiangong had. I'm sure we can find a person to make that for you. Making just a mundane shield isn't too difficult. If you'd like it to be magical, Azara is probably your best bet. She is very talented at making it. Can I have some teleportation magic? Maybe.

Can I have Archangate? Maybe. I'm not making any promises. Kim's been talking about teleporting. I need teleporting back in my life! Okay, look, depends on what Azara commits. All that matters, Nova, is when we were looking for the Star of Siaska, there happened to be quite a sizeable amount of gold there. And somehow, I don't know know how i think it might have

been someone else it ended up in my he scooped it in there with his little claws every last piece he was like a little broom yeah my family's called that he just swept it into his little chest i was gonna say howard are you okay with that oh yeah no i'm fine with it i don't want it but yeah well he just didn't even ask he just went went in, knelt down on the ground, and scooped it all up. There was a purpose. The ghosts were angry with Howard. You knew that before you started scooping it.

I didn't realize. I was gonna say, weren't you in danger? Wow, you're so careful, Mr. Quill. Foresight. He wasn't even cursed by the treasure to do it. It's just, he just wanted to. I will say now, just because, you know, making sure we get some stuff done today.

Oh yeah. Make some progress. Make some progress. I will tell you now, Azaria will be able to make a shield for Nova. Nova, it's gonna cost about a thousand gold to get the adamantine scale armor reduced to your size to be refixed.

It is adamantine, so it takes like a lot of work to do. Maximilian is happy to do it for you, and he's like, yeah, I'll do it. But he's like, so it takes a lot of work to do. Maximilian is happy to do it for you, and he's like, yeah, I'll do it. But he's like, I will need a lot of resources to do this, because he'll have to go and rent a forge, and he has to get the forge super, super hot in order to reshape the adamantine. He has to redo all the leather work.

He has to redo a lot of the armor itself. So he's kind of salvaging the scale armor, rebuilding it to suit Nova, basically. Is he topless while he does it? Yeah, if Max is in there, the forge is hot enough. He probably would be wearing a leather apron, but would not have a shirt on underneath the leather apron. Does Quill have to watch this procedure to learn?

Tom's going to be in the fan art channel today. Look, I need to make sure that my money is being well spent. Yeah. The hammer. So it'll be 1,000 gold to reshape the adamantine scale armour. I have no gold. Let me get that for you. I have no gold.

Quill has lots. I'll cover it. Mark off 1,000 gold. 1,000. No, do it now. I've done it. Have you? Yeah. Okay, very nice. 1,000. No, do it now. I've done it. Have you? Yeah.

Okay, very nice. So what is this on? So it's adamantine scale armor. Adamantium scale armor. Scale armor. So if you look for scale armor, it might be able to find it. I believe it means that basically critical hits don't work against you. What?

Even against like vorpal. Oh, yeah. While you're wearing it, any critical hit against you becomes a normal hit. So vorpal weapons on a normal hit do tons of extra damage. They can't decapitate you, but they still do loads and loads of damage if they roll a 20. Damn! I would say Adamantine Armor only works if that's a weapon attack, so it's like a bow or sword. If it's like a magic spell, the adamantine, I'm still going to crit it. Or maybe people are going to be like, that's not the raw rules! And I'm like'm like makes perfect sense to me though our game can't stop when someone crits your mind yeah

exactly um true i've got disadvantage on stealth as well yes yeah it's heavier than the attack yeah scale armor is like it's not like heavy heavy armor but it's not as form-fitting it's not as padded and cushioned as the breastplate that Nova had before. But it does have the benefit of the adamantium. Azaria, when you go and see her, you get directed. She's back on Horizon. She's not on the Astoria now. And she is...

Oh, no, she would still be on the Astoria, so you have to travel over to the Astoria. And you find her in her makeshift lab that she's taken over, basically. It's very easy to find because you just look for all the skulls and the black. But you actually find her not sleeping because she's an elf, but meditating, basically. She's curled up in a chair, a big bone throne. Bone throne! And she's curled up and she's just sleeping sleeping. Like she's just sort of like fallen asleep.

She's so peaceful. Scare her. No. Don't scare her. You don't know what she's going to do. I'm just already worried about being turned into a zombie or something. Yeah. Yeah.

Azaria. Zari Perel. Zari Perel. For a moment, her eyes are pure black and then it's like, turn that. Hello. Hi. Hi. Sorry to have disturbed your trance there. No, no, it was very peaceful. I didn't realise I had drifted off into a meditation.

I've been very tired. Oh, a lot of work? Yes, yes, yes. Still busy, busy, busy. Any developments on the Astoria? We are making good progress, but it is such a vast and incredible piece of enchantment and technology which I still do not quite fully understand. But yes, we are making great progress. Wonderful. Most of the systems are now functional, as I understand it, is the terminology.

But, yes. Great. Well, we received your, I don't know what you want to call it, skelly message. Stephen. We received your Stephen. And I think we would like to go ahead with your variation on powering the storm chaser, capturing the elementals. Very marvellous. I will take most of the gold I believe you left in my care, but I can make it work and also function on some of the other systems that we were discussing in the ship.

But yes, I will get to work on that immediately. Great. Is there anything else I can help you with? You know, I'm always delighted by the little puzzles and trinkets that you bring me of things to make and craft and enchant for you. I died. Oh, yeah. Oh, dear.

I bet it was, well, oh dear for you, but rather exciting. Was it enjoyable? It was peaceful. Yes, it is. I got to swim amongst the stars. No remains were left, I assume. You would have brought them.

I lost everything. Oh, dear, what a shame. Mm, and that's the first sad news. The second sad news. The second sad news is that we're actually bringing you a mundane shield. But we'd like it to be enchanted in some way. Nova has some plans. Yes, of course. I was wondering if you have time, if you could enchant this with some sort of teleportation,

maybe Dimension Door or arcane gate? Yes, I mean, with enchantments it is not always necessarily within my control to determine exactly what the properties will be until I have made the item. Fluctuations of magical energy, the resources that I have available, but I can do something. I can't promise you exact effects right now, but I can certainly make you something. Thank you. Yes, I will do my best. I am knowledgeable of these spells that you mention. I should be able to replicate at least one of them at least, but yes, I think I can do something. Thank you. Yes, I will do my best. I am knowledgeable of these spells that you mentioned. I should be able to replicate at least one of them at least. But yes, I think I can do something. I already have an idea. And you wish to keep the design as it is, yes? Uh...

Uh... That's fine if you do. I don't mind. Okay. Do you know Nova's old shield that she had? Do you remember how that looked? Yes, I have a very, I have a perfect memory for up to around about a month. Wow. Yes, I remember the design.

If it could look like that, please. Would you like it changed ever so slightly just to represent this transitional period, or would you like it to be an exact replica? An exact replica, please. Very well. Yes, of course. In terms of costs, we would be looking around...

5,000, I think. OK. Add such quite powerful spells in some way. They are not the most powerful, but they are not small spells. They require energy, and that must be provided from somewhere. About 5,000. And anything else? Anything extra to replicate the style? No, no, no, the style.

No? That's not a problem. This won't be, this will not provide you any additional defensive magic, but it will enable you to use these spells as if you were able to cast them a number of times, exactly. So it will not be enchanted in defensive capabilities, but instead would grant you these additional spells. That's fine, thank you.

Of course. Anything else? I know that we had discussed improving your hammer. I did have some ideas, but it would be quite costly. What were your ideas? Well, the weapon is already at a point where I'm not sure if I can improve its general enchantment for harm and accuracy,

but the explosive power of a storm excites me. And I had this idea of perhaps I could make it so that were you to strike a particularly critical blow, I had to make it more potent. Mmm. Sounds good. That would be interesting. It would be because of the nature, your howling tempest, I believe you call it, is already quite powerful and the resources to improve it further are greater and greater.

It would be about 10,000. Sorry, this is Nova's money. Oh, go ahead. I think Nova's okay. And with the handmaidens here, I should have both of these done within a few days. Wow, okay. A few days, perfect. Normally it would take me much longer, but the maidens have shown me ways to speed up the process. Great. Well, I mean, we have a meeting that we have to attend to, so hopefully we won't get thrown somewhere else in Aroas,

but we should be back to pick that up. Just send us a Steven and... It's not a Steven, he is Steven. Oh, he is my courier, my butler. Do you have others? Oh yes, yes, of course. One of your butlers. Yeah.

Are their names the names that you give them, or are they... Yes, they're the names I give them. Right, at any recollection of the? I don't know their original names. Right, okay. No way of tracking who that is. Could probably speak to them.

That's Steven there. Yes. Who was he before? It doesn't matter, he's a messenger now. But he was somebody before Quill, who knows? Just remember where she got them from. Oh, no, wait. She said she just got them from her graveyard.

Yeah, she's missing from anywhere. It's fine. I just need to step outside for a minute. Probably a family man. Probably loved his children. As Century leaves, you pass by the little skull on the wall. Ah! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Barry, shut up. Okay, well, that's great. Yeah, enchant those, and I don't think we have anything else. All right. So, we can... I will need to do the Howling Tempest before the next time we play.

Yeah, that's fine. I will do an improvement for that. Shield. Search for Gateway Shield. The physical design... Oh, shit! The physical design, you can... Obviously, it would just be... I have a good argument for that. Shield. Search for gateway shield. The physical design. Oh shit! The physical design, you can obviously,

it would just be, it would look like Tiangong Shield. It was pre-made? It was made. How did he know? How did he possibly know? How could he possibly know? Oh shit! You've been winding up Kim all day in Discord,

being like, no, no portals. You treat me so well, Mark. Fucking, you better not forget it either. You did ban me from the Amethyst lodestone, though. I did not ban you. You did. I gave it to you and you jumped in a pit and got all of your shit blown up. I was saving them!

Yeah, well, consequences. Right. So, yeah, you can add that now and you'll have that and then the howling template will have an effect but we won't probably need it until next week so i i will fix that while we do that um the danica uh and rain and the grand strategist um and a few others uh kind of call you in maybe a day later or something like that uh and uh they're like oh uh i know that a lot has happened like danica say i know a lot has happened. Like Danica was saying, I know a lot has happened in Vortensar. We've had some reports.

We've been kind of keeping an eye on things. I don't want to gloss over that, but we are currently on the previous Drells of Ref and we will have some time to catch up about all of that. But we wanted to go over our plan with what to do about these great beasts, these beasts of Italicus that have been going on. There's been some developments whilst you've uh been away um i believe that the last

time before you set out for vortensar the dragons of corsari had agreed to try and delay these beasts as much as possible keep them hemmed in prevent them from getting beyond al-saraf's borders um that has been successful however we are reaching the end of their i believe that there was there was a wild elf a hunter who came by last time what was their their name rain oh varnia uh lady okay so yes varney wild of they told us that these beasts have the ability to adapt they mutate they change based on the tactics that they use against them. Most mundane weapons have become useless against them. They are seemingly able to regenerate rapidly. The dragons, in their great size and strength, the beasts have already adapted to their claws, their bites, their immense strength, but their breath weapons weren't effective for a time.

That however is now beginning to end. The dragons have been very cunning. They have cycled each of the different dragon types between the different beasts so that they were using as much time as they could, making sure that a beast was completely immune to fire or to lightning before they switched out to a different dragon and kept them that way penned in.

And the beasts still seem quite cautious of dangers that they have not yet fully adapted to. So they have been able to kind of keep them delayed, but that is now coming to an end. And I believe that, speaking to the young Lady Valor, your plan is to track down the Telekis and defeat them. Yes, I mean, if we can get to a Telekis first, that would be amazing. But somehow I feel like that's not going to be... The last time I spoke with the young lady Vala, who is still researching everything, she believes she has done all she can to locate him and it still has no effect.

When we last discussed it, Vala believes that these beasts are somehow interfering, masking where Atelicus truly is. Until they're defeated, we may not be able to locate their domain. Okay, and just so I'm on the same page, there's one of land, one of sea, one of air. Yes, yes. We've sort of divided teams amongst them all. There is the one that the wild elves and the beast folk of El Seraph are calling Stone Moor, the earth tyrant. The wild elves of El Seraph and the beast folk of elsaraf are calling stone more the earth tyrant um the wild elves of elsaraf and the borough folk are responsible for basically keeping tabs on stone

more along and currently uh the blue and bronze dragons are in uh weight uh blue and silver dragons sorry are currently in weight uh supporting them um There is the Stormwing, the Thundering Ruin, which is the giant eagle-like creature made of a living sort of storm and lightning powers, that sort of thing. The red brass and bronze dragons are all dealing with that at the moment. Alp and we are assigning a team of Duke Soes of Rano's airship fleets, and myself will be sort of responsible for dealing with that one. And then Surge Scale, they were previously calling it the Tidehunter, but a few of us pointed out that that was a terrible name.

Who would do that? I mean, the other two both began with an S. It was ridiculous. Surge Scale, the title Doom, is currently being tracked by the Tritons, an armada of orc free captains, and the white and green dragons, along with a unit of trained and modified guardians, I believe, Sentinel Prime as well, who have been adapting themselves for underwater combat. Okay. As they do not need to breathe and worry about that sort of thing. Okay, that's my favourite retcon yet, by the way.

Retcon? Don't, no, it's an Aarakocra thing, it's Auron-speak. So I guess we need to figure out what elements or fighting abilities we can bring that would surprise them individually. To help you with this, the Grand Strategist has come up with a plan. You are obviously free. If you feel that you have something else that you wish to suggest, we would welcome your advice.

But we have tried to make this so that once you were back, we could leap into action. From examinations, from study, we have reached the consensus that we believe that all three of these great beasts, if two of them are defeated and one is still alive or is conscious, the other two seem to go into some sort of protected regenerative state. They return. We believe all three must be defeated at the same time. Oh, good! Okay, right. A daunting task, we admit.

However, Grand Strategist developed something with Enchantress Azaria, a device that will sort of scan these creatures and give us an estimation of their life force, their energy, along with an improved version of a sending stone that allows for easier communication within a certain range. With these two in place, with three teams each headed up by powerful individuals and a large military force, our plan is to engage all three at the same time, use the communication devices to make sure that we are not,

one group is not ahead or behind, and then use Azari as these life detectors to make sure that the beasts are within a close range of each other as we try and strike a final blow. With regards to this, when you returned, of each other as we try and strike a final blow. With regards to this, when you returned, we wanted to say, where would you like to position yourselves? Oh, against which beast?

Oh, against which beast? Do you wish to send different members of your team along with different teams? Do you all want to focus on one? We weren't sure what you might want to do. We can make anything work. It doesn't matter. Well, you mentioned different dragons were going against different things. I'm trying to think what is our elemental powers? Obviously, lightning. I've got a little bit of lightning in power.

Cold and acid. Cold and acid. So maybe if we... Based on that, I believe that Stone Moor would be the most likely one. I believe the other two are currently immune to both of those Moor would be the most likely one. I believe the other two are currently immune to both of those elements. Sounds like the stormy bird might be fine. Well, to cold and lightning, I believe. Stone Moor is still vulnerable.

That's why the blue and the silver dragons are currently poised to engage them next. Okay. Okay, so that might be a good place for us to be, so we're not basically just hitting a brick wall. It's also where the other wild elves are, selfishly. Yes. I do believe that the wild elves,

they have been tracking these beasts. The dragons have a difficult time harming them physically, and weapons are no good against their sort of, these like plated armor that they've grown. But the hunters hunters the wild elves they can tell you more about this um uh morgaine and vanya they can tell you more about this but they have been researching a way that they think that smaller foes people of our stature our size might still be able to harm them with weapons if temp briefly temporarily um so that may be

something to investigate as well but the dragons have a harder time. It seems that these beasts, because the dragons are larger predators, adapted to them more quickly. Okay. What are you thinking? It looks like I was about to come up with a plan then? It wasn't?

It was a... What are you thinking? Don't forget we do have a backup option. The Astoria? Who's in the room right now? Danica Rayne, the Grand Strategist. Starbane? Yes.

Yeah, we do have that as an option. What option are you referring to? I know that you have communications with him, but... No, I told Danica before that he would help. Do we know how you would request this aid? No, he was rather mysterious on that front. But I imagine he would join us in combat. Sorry, just pretentious and mystical for no reason, you know? He was concerned that Atelicus is going to be the most difficult of Siaska's children,

because Atelicus is the representation of Siaska's anger. Yep. And anger is dangerous. But would he help us? The way I see it is he probably wants to swoop in when we actually see Italicus, and as soon as Italicus goes down, that's when he can do more menacing things like, you know, come to Erois in full force. He's already here in Erois. Yeah, but in full force, you know, like gates open kind of thing. He's made no...

He's never hidden the fact that he wants the Krayles to come down. Yeah, but this is the moment that would cause that to happen. But we always knew that this was what we were leading towards. Absolutely. I'm just saying, if he comes in with us at that point, we need to be prepared that we could get to the end of that fight and bad things happen for us. As much as it would be nice to have some extra backup.

Hmm. I personally wonder if... if he's located his mech. Oh, I hope not. This is the Project Vanguard you mentioned, this giant construct he was building on Sky City. The last vision that you had of the mech, it was disappearing through a portal, wasn't it?

They were constructing a large portal capable of transporting the... Yeah, but it was out in the Astral Sea somewhere, I think it was, in the vision. Tell me. So, I mean, again, I can check again. I can always use the eye. Might be worth doing. It sounds like unless you invite him,

Valor is the only one who can reach Atelicus's hidden planes. She's the only one capable of breaching that space, so unless you invite him... Maybe we ask Valar. Well maybe if he helps us with the Titans and it gets us to to italicus then great he doesn't need to join us in that space at all um so we've got that assurance i suppose then again he would be right next to valor and that's never a good thing except that one time he protected her he loves her though he wouldn't her heart harm her no i, I know, I just, I don't wanna go through another ship to find her again.

Anyway. Perhaps it's not my place to say, but if you're, if you as a group are undecided on whether this, on whether Calus can be trusted, I would not bet, I would not count on it. I would plan as if you do not have his aid. It sounds like you are not united on whether or not he can be trusted. That's never a good place to be. You don't want to be desperate.

If you go to him while you're desperate then you are in a vulnerable position. True. But it will be the only time we'll ever call for his help, so... Last resorts are last resorts. If need be, do what must be done to survive. But... Keep it in the back pocket? We believe that you are more than capable of...

These beasts, we think that this plan will work. To be honest, I don't even know if I can call him anymore. The connection between us was tian gong. To be honest, I don't even know if I can call him anymore. The connection between us was tiem goal. I'm sure that he can connect to whoever he chooses to. He's able to see Lucius, isn't he? He had Lucius's dagger.

I'm sure he's probably found something to be able to see all of us at some point. I don't for a second think that he cannot contact us if he wants to, and you're probably the most likely one that he would contact because, you know, me and Sentry, we don't have the best backstory there with him. We're not really friends. We don't get a lot of me. Hasper, you know, maybe not so much.

So I think if he wants to contact you, you know, he not so much. So I think if he wants to contact you, he will be able to. Yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about his version of Tiangong. What do you know about that version? Good point. The last I know, it was different. The possibility of reunification was impossible. Or at least improbable. I don't know is the answer. Maybe there is some of Tiangong left in it.

Sounds like more of a personal matter for you to discuss. Yes, sorry, yes. No, no, please don't apologise, but I don't want to wish to intrude on something which is clearly a very deep and... I don't know what's changed since Vordensar, but I can tell something is different. We can discuss that later. But there's also... Don't feel the need that you need to decide these matters right now.

It will take the forces that we've assembled time to reach Alceraph, where the beasts are located. There is a borough folk clan there, the Bright Tales, that have offered their settlement. It is on the southern part of the central mountains that divide Alceraph, the Spearfall Mountains. It is a place called Starwatch Rise. They've welcomed us, the Alliance, and have welcomed us and allowed us to use their settlement as a sort of staging grounds. They're currently in a festival, there's some sort of festival going on in the town at the moment, but it will take several days, so

it could be a chance for you to travel there, get your decide what you want to do and then we can take the further steps i mean nice to know they're still having festivals apparently it is it is a very annual traditional festival so okay um sure i mean yeah we can go there and then figure out i mean it sounds like the land beast is uh more is the uh is the one we're most likely going to be heading towards. But yes, try and figure out how to defeat it at the same time as everyone else. Yes. I guess.

Is the Astoria going to be outfitted for battle? It's an ongoing process. We don't expect that it will be ready to fight these beasts, but we suspect it won't take too much longer. It is this constant battle of trying to keep the Astoria moving so that people don't know where it is. We keep it moving, but it is slow. But at the same time, we're trying to repair systems and things break and the Maidens are quite... they think that we know a lot more than we do, and it is frustrating. It is a constant challenge.

But Azaria and the other Mages who are working with the Maidens are confident that we will have it running soon, is what I'm told. I do hate the word, but I trust them to be working as hard as they can on all of this. Okay. Well, I'm sure there's something that can be done from the story even if it has to stay far back from the battle um the idea is that horizon and the astoria will continue making their way towards al-saraf um thanks to the astoria's proximity

uh the maidens have found a way to sort of um tether them together so uh if i leave horizon i am not necessarily needed for Horizon to keep moving. I can't, we can't use any of the defences and things like that, but it means that I can leave Horizon. And I have been specifically requested to help against the Stormwing. Its vulnerability is still to fire. And, well, that is my thing. So I'm one of them, you know,

a powerful sorceress when it comes to flames so um i will temporarily be leaving to help with that but horizon and story will be making their way uh as fast as they can okay okay um i mean it sounds like a plan to me uh at least for now um yeah i can't think of anything and except just waiting until we get there. Yeah, that's the situation. You'll have a few days, even by the time you arrive in Al Seraph via your own airship, you'll have a few days to sort of meet the locals. I believe that the wild elves, Morgay and Frostblast, they're waiting for you there, so they can kind of catch you up on more information.

And then when things are ready, myself, we will have a meeting and discuss our final plans and share out the equipment that Azaria has made and that sort of thing, so. All right? Okay, very well. Okay, good planning. Okay.

Especially you guys. Yeah, so, well, we knew that you were dealing with Vought and Saar and we are running out of time. We do need to make sure that we are ready for what happens next. So we thought it best to come up with a plan. And if you disagreed with it, we would have happily gone with whatever you suggested.

But if you're happy to follow us with this line of thinking, we think it will work. Thank you for the assistance you've provided so far. We are an alliance. We are a team. That's what we're here for. You are helping save one city. We are thinking about what to do next with somewhere else so and also frankly i believe that this plan won't work without your combat

capabilities uh the the stonewall was the one that we were perhaps the most worried about because the hunt the wild elves and the borough folk do not have the numbers that the other forces do have so your assistance there will probably be the most needed. Okay, makes sense. Okay, Stonewall? Stonewall? Sounds like Stonewall for now. Sounds like fun. Unless you want to split up.

Nope. Good. Didn't think so. With that, we are going to take our break. It's about break time. It's about break time. So we'll be back with part two. We'll see you then.

See you. Bye.