High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #41 - Moonstar, Monsters and Money (Part 2)

Episode Date: July 25, 2019

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Plus resources for artists and athletes. Learn more at rbc.com slash support youth. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Erois, run by Dungeon Master Mark Sherlock-Humes, with me, Tom, playing Keela Kadkala, the bard slash cleric. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Sentry. I am a guardian paladin. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Viren, Elowen Elanastro, and I am a High Elf Sorcerer. Hi, I'm Katie, I'm playing Ayla, a Wild Elf Barbarian. And I'm Kim, I'm playing Nova, who is an Air Ganassi, and she is a Hexblade Warlock.

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anyway on to the episode the party await a message from arval dagos and figure out their next steps Butts. Hello. Butts. Welcome back. Butts. The High Rollers. We're a D&D show. It's a lot of fun.

I hope you're enjoying it. Yeah. I should have spent that break working out what Arvel was going to say. Instead, I was wrestling with trying to order food for later on. Great. Professional. Professional. Right now. So before the break, the party have been discussing what they would like to do. They are currently in the sky city of Gusthaven,

and Quill had just scryed on their old companion Arval Dagus. The dwarven merchant that you travelled with for a long time. I forgot what his surname was for some time, but I've just remembered. I had it! So, you, after

a few moments, you get back the message. What the hell? Can someone make me a smeek plush? Okay, the message. All right, this is going to be real rough. I might retroactively change the place for them.

Okay, fine. By the stars, because he doesn't know that there's a word limit. By the stars, Quill is, yeah, Quill you're alive. I think that's six. Yep. Yep. I'm like saying this to everyone else as it comes in as well. What happened? Useless. Great.

Okay. Where's Valor? Uh-oh. Is she with you? Uh-oh. How many words am I up to? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Five of the stars.

Thirteen, fourteen. Fourteen. I mean, he doesn't know that there's a word limit, but I'm just kind of like, you've spoken very broken things, so. Okay, what 14 have you got? Five of the stars. You also didn't know that you were like six shorts. I don't trust you. Seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.

Huh. Just don't write any more, Tom. What? Why do you mean Starbane? You haven't written it off. Kayleigh's rest was fine. What do you mean, Starbane? Kaylie's rest was fine. I'm back in Goldthrone. Kaylie's rest was fine.

I'm back in Goldthrone. I'm back in Goldthrone. Love, Abel. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Right, so... back and goal love marble kiss kiss kiss right so 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 is I'm back so there you don't get back

you just get I'm back and then it ends and then he spends another 5 minutes talking still yeah well yeah he absolutely would like he's just like no no no

quill quill I'm not going to send him another message like it, but... What are you... Sorry. So I guess Kaylee's rest is fine still. If he's been gold thrown, he might not know about it, but he doesn't know anything about Starbeam.

What? How is he fine? He was there. What do you mean? He's probably amassing armies in Kaylie's rest. Did he do something to make some people forget that he arrived, maybe? I don't know. Well, they were underground. Nobody in Kaylie's rest would have seen him.

He could have come in through the gate and then just not done anything immediately. He's probably being secretive. Yes. So Arvel, not able to find Valar... Went home. Probably went home and doesn't know what's happened. We also don't know what happened in the cathedral after we left. Delicious.

But from the sounds of it, at the very least, what they were planning in a thief cathedral we did stop so there's like yeah we did make it worse though did we? I mean the racist

avatars is but the purge didn't happen starving Hadar no purge and as yet no starving or Hadar technically purge And as yet No Starbane or Hadar

Technically Starbane's trying to stop Hadar But he's talking to Nova Do we know that? Arvel's fine You told us I told you Little victories Arvel's alive

How did he look? He looked tired And he was drinking the moment he got up but I don't think that's unusual That's just Arvel And he didn't look happy, I'll say that much But he's in gold for him

He doesn't know anything about Valor We don't know he's in gold for him That was cut off And then nothing But he's We don't know. We don't know who's going to put that. That was cut off. Oh, and he just goes back. And then nothing. But where he was, it looked like it was his home. Maybe. Or at least it was filled with his possessions anyway,

unless he's made some kind of home away from home in Kelly's Rest, which is pointless because Goldthrone is so close. I think he may have noticed something going wrong in Kelly's Rest if he was there. I mean, if all of us just vanished, as far as he's concerned, we went to the abbey and then just didn't come out again? He might have assumed we just died. Far is Callie's rest from Goldthrone. I believe that you still had three or four days of travel. So he probably stayed a week and then...

I reckon he must have gone through that cathedral looking for Vala and us only to give up and leave. Well, he could have been turned away. Yeah. He would have said that, though, if there was something strange. There was also all the field wardens that were backing us up there as well, maybe investigated after we didn't come out. That is true.

There's probably a lot of unrest after what we did. But no purge. No what? No purge. No what? No purge. Well. Just Starbane. Just a world ending.

And Hedorah. Yeah. But not a city destroyed by Starbane. No. We did a good. Is this a win? This doesn't feel like a win. No, it's not a win.

Not with us, no. I'm just saying it also doesn't feel like a loss. It doesn't feel like a win, though, it doesn't feel like a win. Not with us. No. I'm just saying it also doesn't feel like a loss. It doesn't feel like a win, though. You're right. It feels pretty bad. But. Do we tell him about Valor? Do we tell him about Starbane?

Well, we did say the word Starbane. Don't think we should maybe say anything about Valor because, you know, it's a limited message, right? What can we convey to him? I think that's an in-person conversation. Also, we don't really want a crossbow-toting dwarf to go marching up to Abby looking for Starbane. He can use guns. He knows how to use them. Crossbow-toting at the moment.

That we know of. That we know of. He's going to get a temper and he's going to do something dumb and it's a bad idea. What if we told a white lie and said Valor is safe

because she's safe with Starburn. I did say that we're safe. I think if we leave it at that he might just be happy to assume. But he did say is Valor with. I think if we leave it at that, he might just be happy to assume. But he did say, is Valor with you? Yeah. He explicitly asked the question about Valor. We could just ignore that.

I like that, saying Valor is safe. We'll just leave the message on red. Leave him on red. Yeah. We'll get back to him. Arvel's a hardy man. Exactly. And if he's in Goldthrone

He'll be with the trading company So he'll have all of these resources at his disposal He will also be able to Yeah, no, I'm just We need to keep him out of harm's way Exactly We don't need him to be Jumping on any airships to go anywhere

We just need to Go in on a one dwarf crusade. Yeah. He would. He probably would. He absolutely would. It depends what our next plan is. I think gathering power,

such as an Eterna, is a good idea. I also think transport. Make it with the bank. Yes, I need to get money, and we need to consider this airship idea that I've got. Okay.

Do we want to do that? I think so. I hate them. A lot. But it means we could get around a lot faster. That's true. Without devices that Piri has, we can't get around. I agree with you there.

Well, we could use teleportation circles with the money I've got, but that limits us to places that have teleportation. It's also in purely business sense they're not cheap to use them they're expensive to have it cast on you. So it's like just throwing money at the problem rather than something you can reuse. And we can get

plus I want you to have an issue. We can get places that people don't suspect. That was the other thing. Teleportation circles are fixed locations. If someone's chasing us and they know that we're using teleportation circles, they could send somebody to the location we...

or the destination. Can we name the ship? Yes. Of course. We'll think of that a little bit later. It needs to be built. We haven't even custom who we are. So maybe I get this money and we start that process straight away under a pseudonym.

I said it in a fancy way. Well done. Nanny told me that one. But also in terms of hating skyships, if we are all in charge of this thing, mostly Lucius obviously, then the threats... If I'm in a skyship and it fucking crashes again, I'm out.

I'm just saying, the crew will be aware of the threat. Don't worry. You can kick Lucius' butt. I advise that whenever we're on the airship, we all have the parachutes already on us, so that the next time, there's a little bit of hope I can't you know I think that's a good safety procedure let me just misty step away and just I can just teleport and be like I'm out there is an interesting argument of like I'm

gonna wait until I'm 30 feet away from the ground and then I can't make a step but would you not already be going at that speed and landing I think that that's the point where I'd be like roll initiative

to see how quickly your reactions can be the ground so do you not have to and the next question is when you teleport

do you keep the momentum at which you're moving at that's interesting because if you did and you just the momentum at which you're moving at? That's interesting. Because if you did and you just misty step sideways you just go

Super fast. That's a question for another time. I am speed. What's the plan now? Holy shit, it'd be really cool if you're like skydiving. No, stop talking. Stop.

I'm just thinking if stuff is flying towards you and you're trying to dodge stuff you just misty step to the side. I don't believe with misty step it would but there is a spell called arcane gate which is basically

the portals from portal where you create two portals and anything that goes in one comes out the other one so basically

I would keep speedy thing go in speedy thing go out but moving on anyway let's reply to Arvel at least tell him

Vala is safe um being a real shitter of a week. That. Very important. Okay. What

happened in Callie's rest after we disappeared? P.S. Message limit, 25 words. Okay. So I'll cast ending again on him and say, message limit, 25 words.

It's 25? 25 words. I said it really quickly. 25. Damn it. 25. Valet is safe. What happened in Kali's rest after we left? How many is left?

You're not, I think. I'm on the same team. 16? No, you didn't count the start message that you said. How many is left? You're not I think 16 I'm on the same as him 16? No you didn't count the start message that you said So 16

You're at 16 10 words Stop counting 9 words 9 words I love how every D&D group right now is like

sending go and count these fucking words I could just leave it at that You don't have to use all of the words You don't have to After we What happened at Kelly's Rest after we disappeared Okay That's it What? I could just leave it at that. You don't have to use all of the words. You don't have to, no.

After we... What happened at Callie's Rest after we disappeared? Okay. Tell him to... That's it? Keep safe? Tell him to keep safe. Also, don't do anything stupid. Sure.

It's like 20, 21. All right. Okay. I get a bit of time. So, what happened at Callie's after we left okay nothing happened y'all vanished

few days later harvest guard investigated investigated is one word investigated investigated Harvest guard investigated. Investigated is one word. Investigated. Investigated.

Found nothing, just bodies. Didn't know what happened to y'all. Glad you're okay. Thanks. Nice. So there you go. He's going to now assume that Val is with us. Nice. So there you go. He's going to now assume that Valor's with us. Yep.

White lie, bitch. Let's go to the banky. I'll get the money. I will also say that the monthly running cost of an airship is quite expensive. So we need a little bit of leeway. If I get the compensation, that should cover that for a good year. £1,500 a month for the base

airship that we're going for. That covers the wages for the staff, general maintenance, docking fees. So if you go to a place, you don't need to worry about like, oh, you're going to pay £100 a dock here. It's just that's covered in that monthly upkeep. A continent worth of travel is worth three hundred golds of fuel as well.

Okay. So we just need a safety fund which I can provide with compensation that I'll get from the expenses and whatnot. As a general reminder as well, you technically still own the land

that the estate was on. Could he rent that out? Yeah. And, well, Lucius would know this. Well, maybe not Lucius. I'm going to bottle up some ash. It's, you can't rent it privately. You can rent it to either the state of Gusthaven or you can sell it to the state of Gusthaven.

And they'll basically build something on that land that they would then use. Maybe like a farm or they'd build like housing on it or they'd build like a workshop and get people to work there. Because land is so necessary. Do we want a base of operations in Gustaven? You can also privately have anything you want built on that land. Sounds like a good idea.

That. I think that's a good thing to do, but currently the El Anastos are under target from this group of shitheads. So... How about... Can we put, like, a pinnacle and at some point when they're gone do that?

How about we use it as a deception so some other family or whatever buys the land and starts letting it out and our base of operations is underneath that in a basement. Ooh. Secret base. I like the idea of that. And the whole thing is a facade.

You would need to arrange that privately with one of the noble houses. And I can tell you the noble houses that exist. I'll go to the most trustworthy one. If I'm going to do that. You can just talk to the Sky Prince, right? Well, do you want the Sky Prince to know about it is the next question.

So the thing is, I'm guessing that Lucius wouldn't go to the Magronas and sell them the land exactly so you have a couple of choices if that was

something that you would like to do and basically have some sort of secret alliance with a noble

house can I do all these things without taking up too much time yeah

absolutely so I'll go to the banky you go to the bank you have your arcane mark which is

that proves you are Lucius trying to be like going there I'm being quite quiet until are Lucius Varian Ellenasto. I'm trying to be, like, going there. I'm being quite quiet until I get to the front desk, and then I'm like... Well, basically, yeah, you show them that, and they're like, oh, yeah. And then they have a, like, a very well-kept elven woman who comes out, who is basically like a, what do you call it, like, when you have, like, a premium account,

and you get your own personal kind of, like, assistant. They come out, and they're like, oh uh master leno so of course um uh yes the there has been a significant deposit has been made into your account by several other families do you mind if we um obviously considering the sum of money i don't want to attract too much attention yes could we go somewhere do you have any private meeting rooms they'll take you to a private meeting room um you've proved your identity they can do this a number of ways if you want to go and start the process of building an airship you could come back to the bank and say i'm authorizing you to transfer like a payment transfer to this company i know the company already right yeah lillian sprocket ship shipping so what i'll say is that can we allot a certain amount of money to them?

To them. To pay for a transfer. Yes. And then that company will contact the bank and say. And then the only thing is you might need to just provide an approval. Like come in and say, yes, I approve this payment. The rest of it, what they can do is you can keep it here in Gusthaven. And they can just basically keep it for you. And then you can withdraw an amount now and do what you want.

You can have it traded in like you have it pressed into like gold bars and you can carry a bunch of gold bars around with you it's quite heavy and you'd be carrying a lot of money if anything happened to you um or you can have it in gemstones like you can basically have that money as you kind of need it because the bank can provide that i'm gonna do an intelligence check sure 13 13 13 is that intelligent i mean it's above average not by much but what i'll do is keep half of it in the bank what is left over so you if you want to have 30 000 set aside for the airship that would put 14 000 left so you could take 7 000 now yeah yeah uh what i'll do is get that put into uh jewel crafting so what i'll do is go to an artisan jewel crafter get that put into different

jewelry and then that will be deposited in the bank for now but i want to move that into the secret base so do you want to keep 7 000 on you as gemstones or do you want to keep 7,000 on you as gemstones? Or do you want to keep 7,000 in the bank as gemstones? Uh, yes. They'll store that. It's like a modern bank where they just say on their accounts, they're like, yeah, you are owed this amount, and then they've got a big fucking vault full of gold bars and

jewelry that accounts for their wealth. And then they just say, yeah, we owe you this amount. Collateral damage in case. Well, the collateral damage is like, I mean, if anybody takes the bank, all of it will go. Is that what I mean? That's what I mean. They'll just take whatever, right? It doesn't matter whether it's in jewelry or gold or coins or whatever.

They'll just take it. It's what you have on your person that's going to matter more. Because 7,000 gold coins, that's fucking huge bag and it's very heavy if you want to say i'm going to take out 7 000 gold and have 7 000 gold diamonds in a bracelet that i keep on me you could do that how much would it cost to start building uh and clearing the land well so that's another question right because it depends on how you want to do it. You own the land. If your idea is that you're going to go to a noble house, another one of the noble houses of Gustaven, and say, I am going to privately sell you my land

that you can build on it as long as we can build something in the basement and you don't ask too many questions. As a contract of secrecy. You can do that. So they'll cover the cost of building the main building. Now, do you want them to pay you for the land as well? Or are you just going to basically say, I'll give you the land if you let us build under it in secret?

How much negotiation do you want to do? I want it under a leasehold. I own it and then I'm renting out the building space. But they get to basically claim that they've built it in their name. You're a secret land. Publicly, it's their land. Okay. But really, I'm the leaseholder and I'm renting the space to them.

For a set amount. Yes. Okay. Make a, so this is how this is going to work. I want you to make three persuasion checks for me. Because this is going to represent your negotiating ability with them over time. And the total of the three checks, if you get over certain

amounts, will depend on how much you get and how well this is kept. 18 plus 7. So 25. Can I just stop? No, you've got to... I want to see all three. 15 plus 7. 22. 13 plus

7. 20. You've got over 20 on all three checks. 13 plus seven, 20. 20. Nice. You got over 20 on all three checks. You get everything you want. Oh my god. Wow, nice. So they will pay you. This is for you, daddy! This is for you. In a minute we're going to discuss which noble family but basically what you're going to get out of this

and the only one you can't choose is the McGrowners. They're the only family that you can't really go to. Also, you'd probably be better off going to one of the minor noble houses rather than the big noble houses. Yeah, I don't want it to be like a big deal. Okay, so you can go to one of... There's three minor noble houses. What I might do is go to the ones...

You know the assets of the company were sold to one of... It was split amongst three. Three houses. Yeah. What I might do to make it less inconspicuous, well, make it more inconspicuous, is go to one of those families. They're all three big houses. Shit. Mine do to make it less inconspicuous. Well, make it more inconspicuous is go to one of those families. They're all three big houses. Shit.

In my mouth. It's up to you. You can still go to that. You can still go to the Aetherons or the, well, it's the Magronas, the Aetherons, and then the Pirells. Or the three. But they're the three big families. Oh, I won't go to those. Did you have a good working relationship with the Aetherons?

Only with Matthias. He's the only one you've spoken to okay and he was kind of like he didn't he was a minor yeah he was very much his his brother is very much the one in control and his brother's a bit of a cold he's a bit of a hard businessman wanker yeah um well basically what you're gonna get is you will get let's per month, you will get 800 gold from this family as a rent for the land. Okay. How are we going to do that? You just ate every in-game month. I mean, it's been a month since we started.

It's taken a year. In terms of payment, they'll basically make a deposit in secret into your bank here on Gustaven. You'll have to come back and get that money. Okay. It's fine, because we'll have an airship. I guess we'll be taking... In fact, no, we'll make it a thousand gold. No, because it's per month.

800 gold. 800 gold per month. So they'll pay you that. They'll basically construct their building, their manor, but it'll be completely separated from the basement level, which you will have free access to control and build, and they will also handle the building in secret for you. So you just tell them what you want and give them the money,

and then they'll sort the contractors out. So it's less suspicious. I also want a different building company to do the underneath part from the guys that are building the surface. It's like Breaking Bad now. Yeah. He's covering his tracks. I want it to be hidden underneath a washing machine.

And I want all the ones that built the one underneath to die. You can't have that. No, I don't want that. Right. So we'll talk about which noble family you're going to be. And by this, by making this deal, you are forming a formal alliance with this noble house. You are working with them because they'll have leverage over you. They're going to know that you've got something going on under their house,

but you're also going to know, well, I own your fucking manor house now. Like, I own the land that it's built on. So there's three choices. As a trade of goodwill, I'm going to give them the prototype. Oh, okay. Yeah, sure sure that's great okay all right and that's as a gesture of goodwill yeah that's what i'm coming in with a deal with okay so you have three choices none of them are are ethereum houses but they can still use that prototype um so you have the choice of house namus. House Namus is primarily focused on agricultural needs of the city.

They have the largest and best orchards in Greenborough. They make use of druidic magic. They create wine, which is regarded across almost all of Eros. They're vintas. So they're not Ethereum money, but they're still good money. They're a very rich, affluent house. House Namus. House Eleonoreore which is seen as a minor house um they're not very rich but they're heavily reliant on the city's um city's provisions well they have great pride in their work maintaining the climate ward which is the weather system that keeps gustaven's weather the way it is okay so they're not very rich and they don't have lots of like material wealth but they've got a lot of influence because they control this kind of really important thing that the city needs to make it rain on someone well they could just

basically be like no we're not gonna yeah we're like gonna make it miserable your house always always um and then the last minor house is house viranore uh house viranore was known for their craftsmanship and owning land without many members of magical talent they missed out on the ethereum trade but they turned its skill towards another vital element, housing and refurbishing buildings. So they're mainly architects, masons, that sort of thing. So they would probably make their own, they'd probably build the construct, the

house themselves, and then they could also privately have your work done through contractors. Could Nova help with the decision by maybe like reading up on the houses and like put a report together for Lucius? Yeah, that's the information I just came here.

You're not going to find any like super family secrets in any immediate time. I'll sit down with Nova and be like, what do you think out of these three portfolios? Yeah, you can guess. At this point, it's more, you know, you've basically got one which is very rich. So this is the way to think about it. One house which is very good at one which is is very rich so this this is the way to think about

it one house which is very good at making money and is very rich one house which has quite a lot of political influence but isn't very particularly wealthy so maybe they'll have problems making that payment you know on a regular basis and then the third house is kind of in the middle it's not really rich it doesn't have a lot of influence but they're probably the best ones to keep your building secret and they can complete i think i might go with the masons only because i feel like they're not going to draw too much attention to themselves as well as make a actual good building okay um and because i don't have much information about these houses who you is the leader of this house who is it is it uh like a matriarch? Is it a mother? Is it like a female figure, a male figure? Let's go with a female figure.

Yep. Three sisters. Okay, three sisters who run the family. Yeah. Sure. Perfect. Okay. So, yeah, the Virenor sisters, they're basically the...

They run the house together. Okay, yeah. So you have now entered into a formal kind of alliance with House Virenor. They agree to the terms. They'll pay 800 gold. They'll also build the structure for you, so you don't need to pay any money to have... But it will be unfurnished.

They're basically going to build you a series of rooms that you can choose to do with what you want. And if you want to hire staff, that's going to be your money. But you're also going to have the airship. Sounds great. Okay. I'd like to be your money. But you're also going to have the airship. Sounds great. Okay. Okay. How long is this taking?

We're going to hand wave some time because I'm also assuming that you want to go and put in your order for your airship, which we're going to have to do in a minute as well. And then Nova, you want to go to the library. Well, to the... To the... The what? It's funny because there's a library library. Well, to the... To the... The what? The trade districts.

But it's funny because there's a library there. There is. And it comes from the Hesper. Fuck. Don't worry. To the library!

I was going to have Tiangong basically point the directions. You can do like a divine rod. Where is it? It's in the Imperium Archive.

So what we'll say is that while Lucius is doing that you can leave him to it or you can leave a bodyguard with him while Nova goes to look for this Eterna. Bodyguard. So you're going to bodyguard Lucius. With Smeek.

While that goes on with Smeek. So you're kind of doing a lot of this. You're going to the bank and then you're kind of setting up these plans. I'm like, we have to go over here now. We'll do the airship stuff as a big group because there's going to be some group elements of you guys getting to create the crew and stuff as well. A library do the airship stuff as a big group because there's going to be some group elements of you guys getting to create the crew and stuff as well. A library on the airship.

Sneaks the captain. Maybe, maybe. But we'll do the... So, in Farron's Fortune, the trade district of Gusthaven, one of the largest buildings is an enormous temple to Hesper.

His holy symbol, the winged book with the single open eye, dominates the stone visage front of the building. It is one of the largest buildings you've seen. When the Sundering destroyed much of Erois, a lot of the history of the world was kind of lost. You know, the cities crumbled, fell into the sea, they became ruins, buried near birth. With the Sky Cities, a lot of it was preserved. Over time, the Imperium archives, the Imperian archives, have become the greatest repository of, of written knowledge in a row. Yes. As serving as a temple to Hesper,

the God of knowledge and magic, their dedication is that the annals of destiny will not be forgotten again. Many disciples of Hesper bring their scholarly work here. This is a huge library. You, this is the kind of library where you don't just go in and be like, where's the Eterna section?

It's walls of just scrolls and parchments. And whilst it is categorized, you need the assistance of the priests of Hesper to help you find stuff. Also, it's everything.

It's not just important like, tell me where the blade of Galgoth is. It's like just important, like, tell me where the blade of Gargoth is. It's like, turnip farming. A guide written by A. Plumbus. You know, it's like, there's just loads of garbage here as well. I love that guy.

A. Plumbus. I love A. Plumbus. Aaron Plumbus. Very consistent work. He loves farming. He loves it. She's gone. I'm really hoping Mark has written down A. Plumbus and we'll just find the works of A. He loves farming. He loves it. She's gone. She's gone. I'm really hoping

Mark has written down A Plumbus and we'll just find the works of A Plumbus. A Plumbus. Can I say to Nova before she goes if I'm staying with Lucius?

Sure. Can I ask if she can look up anything to do with clan? No. Yes. Because you said that you would

if we were in a library. I got you, boo In terms of, again, because we don't need to roleplay every interaction This library is huge, so there's a couple of options here If there are specific subjects you want to learn about You will need to research them Researching subjects takes time and it takes money Because you basically have to pay you know a donation to the

temple to say i want your scholars to help me research this subject and that is they'll spend the day like going and finding books but also the books can't be taken out of the library you have to copy everything down here um and that's going to represent that so it depends on the subject you want to research do it depends on a how hard it is how much money you have to spend and how long it takes you. But it might be that you can ask, if there's a certain subject, they might have a specialist, and they might be, hey, come and speak to this person, and we'll have a role-playing camera.

Sorry to get meta about it, but that's how it works. I figured that this entire section is just a massive part of the time we're kind of montaging it. Yes, absolutely. So what are the main things Nova wants to find out about? Well, first of all when i kind of get in there into a corner can i talk with tiangong and see if if they can tell me like a vague direction or like this building so you get the sense that there is an eternal in this

building somewhere he can't he can't communicate anything more complicated than that, like direction or distance or strength. Just, you know that there's somewhere in this temple, in this huge library, there is an Eterna. Okay. What would it cost to research four things in terms of money and time? Do you want to know what those are? Yeah, tell me the subjects. So, any notes on Hadar? More about Starbane, including Zarkira.

Aayla's clan. And anything written by Dean Alessandra Vastra. On Eterna. Okay. And so, Lumbus. And then the Laerdalan is the... Laerdalan. Laerdalan is the name of the collective clans of Aayla's type.

And then you want to know about Alessandra Vastra. Anything, if there's any papers... So, before we go into the other subjects, because I'll need to do some thinking about that and provide the information, and it will take in game time. When you mention Alessandra Vastra, the young, let's say, human, um, priest, uh, of Hesper who is, is helping you, uh, it's like, ah, uh, you, you seek, uh, Dean Alessandra Vastra. Yes.

Ah. Well, she is here. Ah. But you should be warned that you, if you wish to speak with her, I would advise you to be cautious. Well, why? She is not well. There is magical affliction. But she is here if you are so inclined to speak with her.

Yes, please. I would love an audience with her. Is it just yourself? Do your companions wish to come with you? I assume at this point Quill and Sentry are with you. No, we are there. I'm assuming so, because I'm assuming Lucius is just with... I mean, if I find out that Nova's going to the Temple of Hesper, then I'm... Yeah, right in there.

So while I've got you two there, is there anything you guys want to research independently as well? I'd like to research anything about the City of Glass or Volcanos, or look at anything about solving any scripture. I'd probably, yeah, be interested in the city of glass as well. Plates and how to warm them. A. Plumbus, again. A. Plumbus.

Oh, man. I love that guy. Oh, my goodness. Keep moving. A hundred uses for a warm plate. A. Plumbus. Oh, man. Quill. A hundred uses for a warm plate. Hey, Plumbus. Oh, man. Quill?

I want that book. Well, the difference with you, Quill, is they recognize you as a priest of Hesper here. You can actually make yourself available to this as a place of worship. You can conduct rituals here if you need to. They will provide you with aid as long as it's not immensely financial.

Yeah. So if you want scrolls, they can potentially provide you with scroll as long as it's not immensely financial so they'll, if you want scrolls they can potentially provide you with scrolls if you need them. Would my history as a cloistered scholar help with any of this? Yes it will. So it says I have library access. It will it will reduce the cost and it will help you but again this is stuff where I'm going to need

some time to actually tell you what this is going to be and how it's going to be Paying Mark for Mark's time building this some time to actually tell you what this is going to be and how well it's going to be. Paying Mark for Mark's time building this world. Yeah, to actually write it. You can have a think. You don't have to decide now. Yeah, I don't really think that... Unless there's, like, some maps of, like, Voxar of, like... The thing with the Temple of Hesper, as he is a god of knowledge,

there are maps. You are more likely to find thing with the temple of Hesper as he is a god of knowledge there are maps you are more likely to find maps with the messenger guild yeah okay that's that's their job yeah the job of the

temple of Hesper is to kind of contain written knowledge and stuff like that okay um yeah no I I'll assist with the

manual don't worry I'll assist with the city of glass and in the library, it's a library the attendant of Hesper is like you want me to follow me if you would, please

I would, yes follow me I'm like visibly excited at this point I'm like meeting a rock star he takes you to a back room and to a spiral staircase that goes down deep into a basement. He leads you down stone corridors

past restricted areas of the library and of the temple. He leads you down another set of stairs into a darker stoner area of the temple. Stoner area. Stoner area. Stone area. Whoa! Whoa! So much knowledge, bro!

I hate so much. Why do you think I'm so keen to go to the library? Because your hardback's the basement. Sorry. And he leads you to a... Not well. He leads you to an iron door set into the corridor,

outside of which there is a bright globe, which is giving off this bright, almost like sunlight. It's like bright light right outside the door. He looks at you and he says, I will need to inform the Grand Dean that you wish to speak with Alessandra. You should be safe as long as her companion is in there with her. But I would advise that you stay close to the door. You said she was sick.

Yes, she's been afflicted with vampirism. Oh. Oh. Okay. She is still a dean, and Hesper has not relegated her from his site. Why did we split the party? It's fine. It was a library! Yep.

Hesper has not relegated her from his site, so she is still one of us but we take precautions she seems dedicated to our research so and we provide her with animal blood but just be cautious out of curiosity does Tiangong get the sense the Eterna is here

closer closer like I'm thinking as Nova, it's probably hers, if she has one. Maybe. He's like, good luck, and then he leaves to go and inform the Grand Dean of the...

Okay, so what do we know about vampires? Sentry is the only one who really would. Because they were part of Zarkira's attack forces. So vampirism

was something that Zarkira gave to her most trusted lieutenants to make them stronger. Powerful to give them command over creatures of the night. And they were a force of Starboy, of the Court of Shadows basically

okay that's how you know them you've probably seen people fight them or you've heard of people fighting them terrifying commanders on the battlefield very difficult to kill, nearly impossible to kill most of them would have their

they would have chambers coffin rejuvenation chambers aboard Oh, gosh. Most of them would have their... They would have chambers, coffin... Rejuvenation chambers aboard Starbane ships. They're coffins, effectively. Oh, wow. But they would be, like, chambers that they would go and reform into. So they're effectively immortal commanders of Zarkira's forces. That's cool. That's cool and scary.

Yeah. Starbane himself, like the Court of Shadows, didn't deploy a lot of undead, but vampires were one of the types that he used. Was Arkyra used? You probably would have noted, because you were very involved in military matters, she and her forces were very separate to Kalos in many cases.

She would often go off and just attack with her own force separately to what he was doing. So there you go. In terms of, you don't know too much, you know that they don't like sunlight, that they are very resistant

to weapons and things like that, that they can regenerate. Is vampirism a curse? Maybe. Okay. Maybe. I feel like someone would have tried that already. Yeah.

Well, maybe you're going to have to forgive me, but who is she again? Oh, the dean, Simon. Simon told us about her. She knows about Eterna. Okay. She's written, she's interviewed Eterna.

And she's interviewed some of the Remnant, I think, as well. And she just knows lots of stuff about Eterna. And I kind of wonder if she might have one. Are you willing to show her Tiangong that's a good point I was going to say yes but

look at me I feel like she might have been imprisoned here if if there's this orb of sunlight she can't leave this room

would Sentry have told us about vampires yes okay There's this orb of sunlight. She can't leave this room. Would Sentry have told us about vampires? Yes. Okay. Yeah. As soon as upon hearing that there is one in the next room, I imagine Sentry is like, Really impossible to kill.

If vampires were a part of Zarkira's force, maybe a part of her is working? We know Zarkira is, well, her worshippers are in this world. That's true. I mean, but you also, I mean, Koala, you can't deny the fact that the attendant, like, he called her a dean, which means she's a priest or a princess of Hesper. I mean...

He said that she was still following Hesper's light. And that she is being sated. So... It can't hurt to be cautious, at least. Yes. We can't trust her. Yeah. At least from what we've heard.

Maybe I should hide Tiangong. At least for now. We'll gauge the reaction. Do you think I should hide it outside? Could I cast Arcanist's Magic Aura on it? What does that do, Tom Hanksville? Tell us, for podcast listeners. I place an illusion on a creature or an object I touch

so that divination reveals false information about it. And I can give it a false aura so that it doesn't even look magical anymore. So it would still be, like, physically it wouldn't change, but it would hide any magical aura. Yeah, so it's a false aura or mask. So I think false aura is detect magic, and all of those things just don't work on it. A mask would make it look like non-magical.

A false aura would make it look like a different type of magic. That's cool. So you could basically make Tiangong just look like a magical sword. I can make a magical object appear non-magical. Yeah. There you go. So you can just make it look like Tiangong's magical sword. Or I can change it, yeah. non-magical. Yeah. There you go. So you can just make it look like Tiangong's

magical sword. Or I can change it, yeah. Yeah. So... 24 hours. I lost, yeah, 24 hours. Cool. Interesting.

Sounds smart. Is that what you're going to do? Yes. Yeah. Are you going to cast that? So you don't need to... Well, you can... What's your spell safety, C?

It's 15. Okay. Yeah, so Quill reaches down, touches Tiangong, and... Was Tiangong resisting it? You, Nova, get a sense of... As you're kind of, like, feeling this connection, it kind of goes blank.

Like, you know it's there, and you can still draw on your magic, your warlock power from the pact. You can't really feel Tiangong. Like, you can can always always feel him there or them there. It's numb. Oh this is really strange. So you can still hide Tiangong. I feel like I've lost my arm. This just helps a bit more. Okay yeah. But he's still there? Yeah. No that's fine. But it will at least stop that concern.

Yeah, yeah. Okay. It's worth going in. The risk outweighs the... Let's do it. Reward. Yeah, the reward outweighs that one. Yeah, the all-around.

Should we go in? Let's go in. We go in. Just to let Sid know, I have ordered food, so... Great. I'll let you know. So, do you knock on the door, or are you just going to open the door? Knock.

I'm a polite girl. Okay, so you knock, and you hear a... Yes, yes, come in. Open the door? Okay, you open the door, and you see that there is a thick black curtain, almost like an antechamber that you step in and the sunlight orb from outside kind of hits inside Please, we'll make

sure you close the door behind you Okay Nah, it's alright Sid, I'll just let you know if it rings So you shut the door behind you You shut the door behind you the sunlight suddenly goes away. There is a dull blue light from some glowing orbs in the ceiling.

But the curtain, the black curtain antechamber, is suddenly drawn back. And standing in front of you is a six foot four slightly glowing armored warrior that has a leonine feature so almost like a lion man oh with a kind of lion-like face a huge mane of golden you know fur um and his armor is slightly glowing um he holds a big spear in one hand and his armour is beautifully intricate, carved and detailed. And he just sort of looks down at you. I'm a fire lion. Oh, he sounds hot.

He kind of just looks down. What? It's a lion. Yeah? He's a lion man. In this world? I saw Annie Beck. My apologies.

It's a lion man. I'm a fire lady. I don Annie Beck. My apologies. The lion man. The lion lady. Sure. I don't judge. Be careful. Alessandra. Alessandra. They seem fine.

And then he kind of steps back. And as he steps back, you can see at the far end of the room, a very lavish kind of decorated room with a large four-poster bed, desk, piles of books everywhere um you see i mean she can't be more than in her 30s when you see her but very pale long dark hair like blood red lips um an elven woman high elven so long ears like lucius's um uh in a very sort of like you know very, very fitting blue dress of Hesper. You can see that our holy symbol is kind of tied around her wrist

and kind of dangles loose. And she appears to be flicking through a book and she has a wine glass filled with a dark red liquid. And then she turns and kind of like sees you all. And her eyes are blood red. Like rather than being colored irises, they're just like red with black. So they look very striking against her pale skin.

Ah, excellent. Do we have some more tutors, students that wish to learn? Please come in, do not be afraid. I'm sure that the man outside gave you some terrifying speech about my curse. Yes. Do not worry, Helios here will not let me hurt you, will you, Helios?

That was our agreement. Perfect. Perfect. Well, Nova? Helios, that's a cool name. How can I help? Greek mythology, yes. Oh, a guardian.

Oh, how fascinating. I have not seen many of you walking around, mainly bodies inside or non-functional ones, remains in battlefields across Eros. It's fascinating. What is your name? My name's Sentry. Ah, Sentry. Very interesting. Is that the crest of Solvin? That is. How... Ah, very interesting.

Do you... I'm a student of history, dear guardian. I know lots of things. I'm afraid that Solvein is not an area of my expertise, but I know enough to recognize the symbol of a famous city such as that. Oh, that gives me some comfort that you know. Of course, yes. Many of Hesper's worshippers, we study history. I mean, we cannot let such things be forgotten to time. Still,

how can I help you and your friends? Who are you? Huh? Sorry? Who are you? Oh, I'm Quill, Kilakad Kalah, a priest of Hesper. Ah, a fellow dean. Uh, no, well, I... An acolyte, perhaps? You're still

learning about the Lord of Knowledge? Yes, learning and exploring. Ah, well, I... An acolyte, perhaps? You are still learning about the Lord of Knowledge? Yes, learning and exploring. Ah, well, that is exactly what he would wish of you to do. Well, it is good to meet a fellow worshipper of Hesburgh. And yourself, my dear? Hi! My name's Nova Vigier, and I've heard so much about you. Well, I've heard one thing about you, but I really wanted to meet you. She takes a sip of her blood,

and you see these very prominent Vampiric teeth Slightly biting into her red lips as she drinks And puts it down I heard that you're an expert On Eterna It needs to settle down today There's hot people in this episode

Come on Glowing lion man Sexy hot vampire lady, come on! Gothmy is like, yes. Yes, you have come to the right person. I am indeed a student of the Eterna. I am very fortunate to count one of them as a close personal friend. This is Helios, by the way.

And he turns and he's like, Matterborn! And he nods his head. Matterborn? It's what I call you types made of your substance-ness. My substance-ness. Still odd.

Are you comfortable in these conditions with a guard and a sunlight orb? Of course not. I would love to be out there in the city and out there exploring Eros as I once did, but the Deans of Hesper seem convinced that if I'm left to my own devices, I will be going around sucking the blood of every citizen that I come across. Not the fact that I ignored, I didn't need such protections. For 20 or 30 years, I had Helios here, but still.

If it makes them feel more comfortable and I get access to their library, then I'm more than willing to stay. Yes. I'm just staring, so Nova's just staring at Helios. Like, something in that conversation, she's just staring at Helios with her mouth open and kind of just pointing. Yes. conversation she's just staring at helios with her mouth open and kind of just pointing yes are you an eterna he could not look more exasperated uh and elisadra just is like oh my dear uh of course he is he's just like he's glowing he's not like a normal person

imagine like he's just radiating light you know he's always like a like he's made of

energy but he's taking this humanoid shape and form for podcast listeners Nova's mouth is wide open yes

he is in fact the very reason that I am not some crazed blood blood sucking monster how so he's Yes, he is in fact the very reason that I am not some crazed, blood-sucking monster. How? So he's... So you wish me to tell this story.

I was exploring ruins, a place called Dust Hallow in Al-Saraf, many years ago, a hundred years or so ago, back in my early days, 50, 60 years ago perhaps. It's hard to keep track of time when you do not age. It was there in the ruins that I discovered a starved, feral lieutenant of Zakira, a vampire, some sort of crazed old warrior, I guess. He attacked me, bit me, but I managed to destroy him before the curse fully took hold, blasted a hole in the ceiling, and the sunlight destroyed him. It turns out that this commander had been bound to an Eterna, a piece of armor, specifically.

Well, sensing the curse beginning to take my mind and strip away my empathy and my humanity, I reached out and bound myself to the armor, knowing what I did of the Atano, and the symbiosis between us. And when I first heard Helios speak, I uttered my first and only command to him, that he must not allow me to ever harm the innocent.

I see. And I have done my duty ever since. But how are you... How are you... How are you in this form? A humanoid form and not a weapon? The armor? He, like, looks down to Alessandra

and just basically... She kind of marks and says, like, oh, I have no use for such barbaric things as armor. I would not wish to wear it. Eterna can take... Eterna are beings of energy. Back when they lived in their system, their home system,

they would be effervescent. They would be energy, clouds, nebulae of it. But they could always take a humanoid form to interact with other creatures, other species they met from other worlds. This is how they came to communicate with cows, back before the Sundering. But since they came to our world,

since their kind has been bound by the Court of Shadows, they can now take these more crude forms of weapons, armor, and such things. But I have no use for that. Why would I deny this creature the ability to walk and speak and enjoy the world? No, I have asked Helios to remain in this form, and so he does. Oh, so you can... But the fact that you knew of Eterna, you know of their abilities, you have learned

this from somewhere, yes? It is not very common knowledge. I'm interested to know how you know. I learned it from Dean Simon. Ah, but Dean Simon would not have mentioned my name unless you knew something. I was researching the Eternal Triumvirate, and I wanted to know more about them. And he recommended I speak to you. You are playing very coy with me, my dear, but the Eternal

Triumvirate, that is something only a few of us know, even within Hesper's Holy Walls. So you know it from somewhere. Okay, quick pro quo. Can you tell me where

the Eternal Triumvirate are and I'll tell you why. My dear, I wish I could. If I could speak with Tassadar or Elhalia, or even Tiangong, to do so would be incredible, but sadly they are lost. Tiangong was splintered into many shards, pieces, powering Starbane's numerous war machines

and vehicles, his weapons. Starbane himself is said to have wielded a chunk of Tiangong. As for Tassadar, nobody has seen him or heard of him. Helios has tried to reach out to many of his companions that wander free, but no luck. Does that mean stupid sexy Starbane has a part of Tiangong? Yes, he does. Well, get a load of this and then dunk Tiangong. Tiangong basketball form. How important would it be to recover Tiangong? Extremely. If you know of the Eternal Triumvirate, they were the leaders of the Eterna. What they

refer to as princeps or princeps Eterna, their leaders, their governors and chief among them was the Eternal Triumvirate, the three greatest. Tiangong was one such Eterna. Helios here, he is what we call a Slyphus, a Slyphus Eterna, a protector, a guardian. They would form shields. They would protect the others in the nebula. There's also another type called Gladio Eterna, who are the attackers, the spears, the warriors. Okay.

Helios steps forward at this point. Why are you asking so many questions, travelers? This is knowledge far beyond just wandering priests or ancient weapons. You know something.

What do you know of my people? Are you one of these scum that enslave us and bind us to fight for you? No. I want to free you. Easy words for a race that has showed that they are capable of betrayals. Come now, Helios. There is no need for any of this. I know that you do not think very highly of our kind, but surely you must understand that this girl is not some traitor like Calas Starbane.

I've seen the face of a traitor. I saw him the day that he came to speak with the Eternal Triumvirate. Charm and words of victory against a powerful enemy. Look what he did to us. Slaved us. Turned us into things to be drained. Batteries. And what of the Triumvirate? How did they serve Starbane? Different ways.

Tassadar was... Tassadar was placed within his greatest ship. His warship. Given the same name as Tassadar himself. Cool. That's pretty cool. As for Alea, nobody knows.

She vanished. And as for Tien Gong, he was broken. He was powerful. Sid, if you wouldn't mind stepping outside, or if somebody wouldn't mind stepping outside, go get our McDonald's plates.

I don't know, because I'm going to probably finish this up. Okay, thanks, Sid. I'm sorry. Nice. Tien Gong, they were split up into so many shards, used to power so many war machines. No one knows. You can see that his demeanor diminishes.

A sad tale for the Atang, I'm afraid. They were convinced that they would be helping protect the universe. Perhaps in a way that they were, but they were used to attack you. Nova's going to be staring at Quill at this point, like, kind of like... I'll, like, nudge my head. You may as well.

Wait, what? Just trying to be, like, I don't know, trying to convey, like... I'll cast Message. Okay to convey like... Our cast message. Okay. So you turn and do this. No sound comes out. Yeah. And what?

Should I tell them? Yeah. They seem safe. Can I be close to the door? Yeah I'm assuming at this point You're basically stood in front of The black curtain That separated this room

From the main room Don't freak out And then I'm going to draw Tiangong Yep So gong. Yep. So, um, I have cast an aura on this that covers its power,

but I think, well, I know, this is probably what you're looking for. Elisadra raises a very polished, nailed finger, clicks it. It's a third-level spell. What's magic aura? A third level or lower?

It's second level. It dispels immediately. You feel the aura, the illusion you've cast upon Tiangong just shatter as she dispels magic. feel the aura, the illusion you've cast upon Tiangong just shatter as she dispels magic. And Helios, his leonine eyes go wide and his face begins to turn into a snarl. You!

I said don't freak out! You have taken him! No, I rescued them! You have enslaved him! I rescued them! He begins picking up the spear and Alessandra is just looking wide-eyed. You said enslaved him. I rescued them. He begins like picking up the spear and Alessandra is just looking wide-eyed like

You said you wouldn't freak out. I promise nothing. They are one of the greatest of my kind and you carry them around as some meaningless blade. No, I'm trying to reform them. Century, you're moving in front. I'm moving in front of Nova.

I'm leaving. front I'm moving in front of Nova I'm leaving bye meanwhile Ayla's just having a really meaningful chat with Smeek trying to teach him how to say Lucius properly no closer closer

he's almost there one day I'm going to get him to say, Lucius, Ellen, Verwin, Elena. Hey, hey, Katie did it. Why? I haven't said anything for a while. Oh, for God's sake. Speak me as it's time, Tom.

It's time. So, come back. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, like, this figure is, like, looming down on Nova. He is, like, this giant six-foot-four figure is just kind of, like, stepping towards Nova, like, release him now! Tiangong speaks to me! He looks down.

and there is a pause where you feel nova a pulse from tiangong like you know him speaking to you but this is projected outwards as best as it can weaken its state but you see helios like stagger back like reeling from some unseen force that you can't comprehend, and he just drops to a knee. It's like, it can't be. And he just bows his head. Uh, Princeps, it is you.

Alessandra's like, well, well, quite a development. To think that you have had, you know, carried around one of the Eternal Triumphant. How did you come across them? I found it. I found the first shard in an abandoned skiff.

It was a Court of Shadows skiff, and I didn't know what I was looking at, but it called to me and I took it but it wanted to come with me I promise I haven't enslaved it my dear I believe you you must understand that this is

as if imagine that imagine that he was carrying around a king or one of our gods imagine he carried around Hesper at his waist I understand that's why I've been cautious you are wise to me there are many who would be very keen to get your hands on such a thing

it is very interesting indeed what do you want? what are you here for? I want to reform Tiangong I want to find as many pieces but I don't know? I want to reform Tiangong. I want to find as many pieces but I don't know how. I can hear sometimes Tiangong is trying to speak to me, but I don't know.

We communicate with feelings and dreams and emotion and I don't know what I'm doing. But I want to do the best I can by them. In such a weakened state, I'm amazed that Tiangong is able to provide even that.

He was broken into many shards. By my research, I believe that he's been broken into thirteen pieces. That's a lot of shards. Calus carries the largest and most powerful. Still, to this day apparently

it was never recovered but the others the others some of them may be here on Edrois you've already encountered two you say yeah but some will also be powering his ships still out there

along with many other Eterna but I'm sure that there will be moreing his ships still out there, along with many other Eterna. But I'm sure that there will be more. His invasion of Erois was... His invasion was very thorough, and many of his greatest war machines were sent here. Only Tiangong had the power to bring life to them.

In terms of helping you find them, my dear, if I had found any, I would have them myself. I would be trying to do exactly as you do, but sadly, I am here for now, and I cannot leave. But Helios can. Are you sure about that? Do you not want him to protect you? Sure about that. Do you not want him to protect you?

As long as that sunlight is outside there, and as long as the temple attendants bring me sheep's blood or goat's blood, I should be fine. I think this is more important that he travels with you, if you are seeking the return of Tiangong. Helios, would you want to come with us? He lurks. You realize what this would mean, Aless Alessandra you need to be unbound

I understand you will need to bind with one of these three I do not imagine that Miss Ganassi would be able to if she carries Tiangong's pact but yes I think that you should you are free to travel

as you wish. This is important to you, yes? Yes. If we can restore Tiangong to even a fraction of his power, he would be able to help the others, find the others. Perhaps we can find Alea, or other warriors, other gladios, or other syrups. Yes. I do wish to travel with you, Ganassi. Are the warriors, are the gladios, or are the syrups?

Yes, I do wish to travel with you, Ganassi. But I will not do so as something bound to you. I will do so as my own being. That's fine. Very well. And Alessandra's just like, I will need some time. A few days. Just to make sure I have everything in order.

But return. And before you leave Gusthaven, Helios will come with you. Thank you. Thank you both. I will give you what research I have. I have the few names of a few Eterna that are here on Eroes. What state they are in, I do not know. And there are several which are still lost. I will give you their names.

Thank you. Bring back whatever you learn. That is my only price. Whatever you learn, you must bring back here to be shared for future generations. Absolutely. So be it. Return in a few days. I think before we leave, I don't want to RP this,

but I think before we leave, I would probably sit and tell her about Night Frost. Just so that she knows. Helios will want to hear that as well. So I can tell just for her records. Yeah, absolutely. She'll take extensive notes, and Helios looks very pained as he hears it, like hearing thoughts of somebody he knew.

So we're going to start wrapping things up, but there's some decisions to be made. In terms of airships... We will bind Smeek to Helion. He actually, technically he doesn't need to be bound, he can

just travel on his own will. But you can maybe convince him to bind to one of you in time. Cool. Yeah, he seems pretty gruff. He is a, yeah, he is a Slyphus Eterna, which means he's a piece,

he's armor. So he, rather than becoming a weapon, he becomes armor. Cool. Give it to Bird. Give it to Bird. But as, yeah, he is just a giant lion protector.

Giant lion man. And he looks like a spearman. Like his armor and his, he has like, carries a big spear with him as well. Has he got physicality to his body? Actually, no, he wouldn't have a spear. And he looks like a spearman. Like his armor and his... He has like... Carries a big spear with him as well. Has he got physicality to his body? Actually, no. He wouldn't have a spear.

He just has like claws. He just has like big burly arms. Okay. Could he be equipped? We think so. Yeah, he pulled the curtains back. Like he has a form to him. Nice.

He's not just energy. Yeah. Unlike Night Frost, he seems to be a bit more tangible. Well, don't put him down. I didn't say that. I didn't put him down him down so for so we can start thinking about next time so we'll do a bit more of this rp next time but you can lucius you can gather everybody up you can travel to lillian sprocket i collect everybody up i now have them in my arms perfect so let's talk about airships

before we finish up so 30000 gold is the base cost. Yes. You've already associated that as funds. It will take one week. Most of the components they already have, they just will basically build it to be assembled. Lily and Sprocket are a gnomish couple. One is a tinker gnome, one is a whisper gnome.

Very slight variations. you can't really tell them apart that very well they look to be the same short weird hair big eyes with no pupils okay they have uh what is it they have seven children um who are various ages and are part of the company in various ways they basically only take custom orders, but they are very well known for what they do. Some things that I want you to think about for next time. You will need to come up with a first mate.

So basically choose a race and give me some personality of a first mate that you would like. You will also have four untrained hirelings. Again, I would recommend you come up with, like, choose a race for them,

but maybe elect one as their leader and give that a personality, and then that'll share that with the group. So imagine there's, like, a little group of NPCs. Yeah. And then a skilled hireling as well. And you also have ten members of a crew and do the same thing.

So like, oh, we're going to have half elf crew and their leader is this NPC. You can come up with names. You can come up with quirks for them. We can roll it. You can ask me and I'll roll it randomly if you want. Okay. It's up to you.

It's your ship. Lucius, specifically for you, you need to choose a cosmetic and a weapon feature. Cosmetic feature. This is all stuff that I have taken from the Akink book or it's like inspired by. So the cosmetic features, as it sounds, you can design it to look a certain way.

This can include fantastical elements as long as they don't provide any magical or mechanical benefits. So you could say on the ship we have ghost servants that fly around and do stuff. And they'll help out, but they're really just visual. They don't do anything. They're just a purely visual thing. You can say the airship looks like a huge dragon. And it has big spectral wings that make it look like it's a dragon in flight.

It's basically a purely cosmetic thing. You get to design how it looks, right? And that's your choice, Chris Drop. Weapon-wise, you have three choices. You can either have Ballistae, which is basically like a big Ballistae. You can have an Arcane Cannon. The cannon takes some time to charge up,

but then it fires like a big beam. Or you can have a hydraulic ram on the front for when you actually... But you have to physically ram things with the ship. And it's like a big piston ram. How it looks, again, completely up to you. I don't think... Hmm.

Hmm. It's tough to think about. Sure. Not much, though. It's going to look like Lucius's face, but the whole figure is... It's visually quilled, but like 25 figure. If you want for the crew, I am more than happy to roll them up randomly, but if you want to say, I want to pick the first mate,

and then I come up with the rest of the crew, that's fine. If you want to do the opposite and say, well, maybe you're like, well, can we have Nanny Norfira as the skill piling? Maybe. Can we get it right? You can we have nanny nor fear is like the skill piling maybe can we get a riot you can absolutely have oh she will not be as effective like in terms of combat and stuff i do have separate stats for like how effective they are yeah so it would be a riot but she wouldn't be as effective as when re was playing her as a player character if that makes sense but you can absolutely say like we're gonna go and hire her to be the first mate, and she runs the ship.

Cool. Well, we'll have a think for next time. Yes, that's the main thing. Have a think for next time, because we've got some stuff to read. We've got to go. I mean, first, I just want to say, we've got a frigging airship. Woo! We will do it in production.

And in a Turner. In a production. And in a Turner. Holy crap. For one episode. Hey, everyone, thanks for listening to this episode. Remember to check out both D&D Beyond and Critic.co.uk with the links in the episode description.

You can also support the podcast on our Patreon page, patreon.com slash highrollers, giving you early access to podcast episodes and more. In fact, I've been making a load of stat blocks for some of the things in Aroas that I'm sure you'll enjoy. There's not going to be an episode next week as we're all super busy, and by that I mean the guys are going laughing again

But the week after that will be the special live episode at YoggCon. We'll see you there Thank you.