High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #53 | The Tunnels Beneath (Part 2)

Episode Date: November 21, 2019

The team re-focus their efforts in the battle above the pits. Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond! D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Create your FREE account now and start digitising your campaigns here: www.dndbeyond.com/ Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Add your team to your Uber account today. Shop Best Buy's ultimate smartphone sale today. Get a Best Buy gift card of up to $200 on select phone activations with major carriers. Visit your nearest Best Buy store today. Terms and conditions apply. mark i'm pretty sure dragons meant to appear dragon. Well, you're not entirely wrong. You were currently on round... What was that? You're about two rounds away from reinforcements arriving. Oh, cute.

But it's okay, because you're going to pursue this snake lady now. Yeah. I mean, I was going to blast her from a distance. So, when are we in there? That was... Ayla was the one... She killed the giant. So, it would be the joints go next he's dead

so lucius would actually be the next one to go i just did a thingy didn't i no no did a whole other round yeah i think so because i think like most of everything was dead yeah nova protected herself the ice melted we went to ayla who killed the giant yeah it's lucius and you can see that she is just at the very lip of the the. You can't really see deep down into it, but you can just see her head. She does have some cover as she's fleeing. I will move to 5, 10, 15, and then cast Lightning Lure to try and bring her out.

Strength saving for her? Oui, oui, bonjour. Oui, oui, bonjour. She does have advantage for magic resistance. That is a 19. Yeah, that will feed. So you kind of try and catch her. You catch her on the bow and she just kind of throws the lightning lure to the ground and it

kind of breaks the spell as she begins slithering away. She kind of hisses back at you. You can see, now that you're a bit closer, looking into the pit, the pit goes down about sort of 5-10 feet and then forms into quite a large tunnel of like perfectly shaped stone. Like

perfectly circular stone. Like a tube of stone. Very weird. I might use the rest of my movement to get up in a grill. Okay. Clamber over. Okay. Into the pit. So you slide down, you kind of pull yourself over. Oh, she's in the pit?

Yeah, she's like down in the pit. I can see her head, right? Yeah, yeah. She's tall. She's massive. She's like a large creature. So she was kind of like sliding her way down and you just saw her head kind of as she's sliding. Can I just be on the lip then? Yeah, sure. Still within like opportunity range. You have to get next to her.

You have to slide down. If you want to be within opportunity attack range, you've got to get down in the pit. I'm not going to, I'm going to retcon that. Okay, you want to try and punch her in the head? Hell no. Sentry? I want to cast Moonbeam on her. Oh my god, she just reached up and went like Okay, remind me, do I make a save now?

Yeah, con 13 save. Con 13. She does still have a magic distance, but that's a natural 20. 21. But she takes half damage. She does take half damage. So someone in Reddit had an interesting question. If a row has no moon, how does moon beam work?

I will tell you how it works. In theory, we should rename the spell to star beamam because any kind of moon powers or moon deities, the oceans and stuff, it comes from the cradle and the stars because it's Siaska's power, effectively. So a cradle beam doesn't sound as cool. It's more of a starlight. So any kind of thing which is like the moon or light

is normally starlight. Cool. Question two. Also, because it's from Sentry, technically it's not anything to is like the moon or light is normally starlight. Cool. It's symbolized by. Question two. Also, because it's from Sentry, technically it's not anything to do with the moon. It's just like her own energy that she's summoning. Yeah. Question two, though. If the cradle was to fall, could people still cast Starbeam if the power's from the cradle?

Depends. Carry on. If the cradle falls, does it fall because it's been destroyed or is it because Siaska's come back or like what? Yeah, but Siaska would be there. If the cradle wasn't there in Siaska, star mother, star, power of stars anyway. Star, star, stars. Use the cradle.

Cradle's not falling. Quill. Can I cast on myself Expeditious Retreat? Yes, bonus action. Yep, and then I want to dash all up to this. So this little speedy sonic boy with his little spinny legs. Gotta go fast! And then I'm going to try Lightning Lure.

Okay, good job. Natural 20, 21. What the hell? So technically. Damn it. So she's getting surrounded and she's like being thrown around by these lightning. There's this beam of light is completely eclipsing her. On her turn, she will finish the rest of her movement, get into the stone tunnels and disappear from sight.

She's gone. Damn it. Goodbye. Goodbye. I was going to create a bonfire. Oh, well. Bonfire? It is Nova's turn. So do you want to do anything? If I can't see her, then. Goodbye. I was going to create a bonfire. Oh, well. Bonfire? It is Nova's turn.

I'm going to create a fire in the pit. So do you want to do anything? If I can't see her, then... Nope. You're just going to let her go? Yeah. In that case, I think that's the point where she's probably going to escape. Yeah.

Unless you want to go down into the hole after. Not right now, no. No. I don't. Okay. I'm not that bloodthirsty. Or am I? Apparently you are today.

My next question to you as a group is, you can see that the citizens of Vivec City are clearly shaken. There is still the sounds of fighting going elsewhere on in the city. Are there people around that I can cast Spare the Dying on? Yes, yes. Let's see how many you can save. I'm going to just make one death saving throw, because these are non-named NPCs.

I'm going to make one death saving throw for them. If they succeed, then you get to them before they die. So we've got one, two, three that were down. All right, first one. Second one. Okay, third one. So, you rush. The first dragonborn, a dwarf, was the first one who was thrown to the ground by the giant. Second one. Okay, third one. So, you rush.

The first dragonborn, a dwarf, was the first one who was thrown to the ground by the giant, this dwarf up here. You rush over to them. It's too late. They passed. They were crushed when they fell, probably broke their neck or their back and died.

You rush next over to a tiefling woman that was killed as the giant emerged, kind of crushed her legs. You manage to spare the dying on her. You actually manage to reach her in time. There is a faint pulse. You weave the magic of Tiangong over her and stabilize her breathing and keep her alive. She's unconscious. She'll probably take her a long time for her leg to heal, but she's alive. Finally, rushing back to the rest of the group um or maybe you did this one first sadly too late bled out from multiple stab wounds from the cultists um unable to save them but you did save one and i guess like one out of three escaped as well yeah the others all basically you can see them kind of peering out from buildings a lot of them have armed themselves

but you can tell they they were literally doing it as like in case they kill all these other people and come after us we're gonna just try and do what we can yeah um they're trained in arms and armor but they are not military or if they were they are no longer military um and there is a distinction that they were not able to fight how does the rest of the city i guess sound because i guess we can't see well that's my next question is do you guys want to take a moment to kind of hold yourselves up and catch your breath like catch your breath and rest or are you just like we need to go and help out the rest of the city what what is everyone's immediate reaction like

you can still hear there is the sound of battle there are no immediate signs of reinforcements available to you immediately what What do people do? What's the group's reaction to this situation? Probably frazzled and spent. I'm just taking my moment to fall to a knee. I smashed into a giant. I saw that. Yeah, how?

A slight miscalculation. I was aiming for the thing, the cultist. It worked, I think. I mean, it definitely did something. My head hurts. This is going on all over the place. Everything hurts. A lot.

I think the rage wears out, and yeah, like, Aayla, you are not in a good way. She probably just falls down to her knees and is just like On the ground at this point Okay Mine just go black And I fall down Oh Oh Oh

I'm gonna run over And healing her Okay What does the healing do Rihanna? Nothing It was a joke Ha ha ha Say what?

My thing from Mark Was you are fine But tease them Say Wow Say what? My thing from Mark was, you are fine, but tease them. Wow! So as Quill runs over to heal you, you just, ha ha ha, joke! And you literally are just like, I got you. I was spending a level two spell slot to heal you.

Mark it off. She still needs healing though. Here's the thing. Here's the thing, Quill. That's not Sentry. That's completely out of character for Sentry. Sentry, is this your attempt at humour? Have you been reading a manual about humour?

I thought we could have a laugh. We need a laugh, right? That was sad. We need happy time. We're in the middle of the city's under attack, Sentry. This has happened to you before. I thought it was great. It need happy time. We're in the middle of the city's under attack century. Yeah. This has happened to you before. I thought it was great. That was a good one. To safety now.

We're taking, we're finding humor in a bad situation. I like it. Let's find it inside somewhere. Yeah. There's a few buildings around. I think most of the people ran into that building over there. Seems to be some sort of restaurant or cafe. Could be a target richrich environment for people.

We could save them, though, or help. Reassure at the very least. Or we could draw attention to that place. I look very reassuring at the moment. Yes, let's go into the building. Do we need to find another healer? We could ask for another healer. Yeah, I don't have much magic left.

Are you having this conversation as you guys make your way over to this little cafe restaurant that you can see you can see people like peering out the windows with crossbows and stuff like that also I

healed you for 11 oh thank you I mean I didn't need it though technically this is how she gets you to heal just pretend to die maybe I'll just

pretend to fall over next time can I have a quick rifle through like one of the cultists? So everyone else starts making their way over and Nova limps over through a cultist's body and is like, loot time. No, I am looking for Zarkira emblems.

Loot time. Loot, loot, loot, loot, loot. Looty loot. Now what you don't know is that off camera, Mark had a big old rant a couple of weeks ago about how we never loot anyone and he leaves all this amazing stuff no but we never pick it up and he got real pissy about it but kim actually learned nothing that's nothing even if i was there for that conversation i don't

think that's true there's no way you don't i do i believe i believe what i was ranting about was not using things that you loot, like scrolls and potions and stuff like that. I don't know how many scrolls and potions. Or thongs. Or thongs. Or four scrolls that we carried for 20 episodes. Three tiny thongs?

Right. Well, when you look for the bodies, they are, they are, they are, you can see that they've dressed in a way where, yeah, there's not really any armor. They've left open their, you can see that they've dressed in a way where, yeah, there's not really any armor. They've left open their, like, wounds. There's ritual scarring that covers them. It looks like they routinely carved, like, ritual symbols into their skin and then let them heal over. Not quite sure.

But all of the cultists carry these very unique shaped knives these kind of they're slashing knives they're like curved and rather than being a stabbing knife they're designed to cut um more like a sacrificial bloodletting knife they carry two of them um they don't have any armor uh but i think that they would have some jewels on them i think that they would have jewelry of some value. Let's roll some dice. Okay. Why am I doing this? Okay. So I think across the three of them, there you find like earrings and necklaces, which are beautiful. They're pristine, beautiful pieces of art, probably stolen or maybe they always had them, but they are little golden cuffs set with tiny rubies,

delicate silver rings, necklaces. There's probably about 37 golds worth of jewellery amongst them. Do you know what, Mark? I'm not going to take it, but I am going to note down all the ritual marks of Zarkira and what yes and that is the ritual scarring that they've done to themselves there are elements here that you recognize from some of the zarkira emblems and things you've seen before there is images of snakes there is images of knives there is images of um a woman with like what like hair kind of spilling out wildly around her all scarred into the skin um if you are you just searching the cultists yeah i just i mean and like joking aside in that

no way she just wants to learn more and like you know put into her notebook what a zarkira cultist looks like and what kind of activities they get up to. No problemo. Mostly cutting, mostly stabbing. Probably some dying. A lot of scarification. Yes, and even noting, like, I mean, you weren't really here for the fight, so you don't really know how they fought. But, yeah, there is... I can show you. See all these tiny little cuts?

Nova will literally get out a tiny little ruler and start measuring. She's too tired to stop her so she's going to let it happen. So I'm guessing at the moment you're still kind of just gathered all outside and stuff like that. Outside. I'm like, is everybody inside okay? Hello? Oh, so you go up to the building? Yes. I think we were all sort of. Okay, so you're making

your way over there because Nova and Ayla are now currently by all the bodies. So the rest of you make your way over to the little restaurant and you see a couple of people kind of peering out um at least two dragonborn and the two dragonborn have basically taken position of guard one has got a crossbow on the windowsill the other one appears to have some sort of like probably it looks like a piece of uh furniture that they've broken into like a makeshift club and they're ready by the door if anything came through. The drangoborn looks at you, kind of peers out

Is that all of them dead? Did you finish them all off? In this area, yes. Alright. Get your people inside until the rest of the army arrives and finishes everything else off. Is that protocol? Is that the procedure? Yes, yes, absolutely.

Get inside quick. Like, you've already done enough fighting those outside. Are you sure inside is safe if they can just come up through the floor? When you say that, there is, you see the humanoids behind them and there is probably a tiefling,

a couple of dwarves, a human. They are all like, wait, he's right. They just came out of the ground. And they start looking around. They're like, we should, we shouldn't be in here. And the Dragonborn are like, it's better to be in here.

If they attack us from outside, at least we have cover in here. If they come up from the ground, we can leave. And the Dragonborn are trying to keep order, but the people are freaking out now. Whoopsie. You freak them out. Okay. Let's go inside.

That's the best we can do, right? Yeah. I'm going to walk over to the room. Okay. Let's go inside. That's the best we can do, right? Yeah. I'm going to walk over and go inside. Okay. Yeah, I'm trying. Nova finishes making her notes and makes her way. Yeah, you guys head inside. You can see that they've flipped over some tables to use as cover.

They've gathered what supplies they can, but they were literally just hiding, it seems. And now that you've removed the immediate threat, they are no longer in that position. The non-Dragonborn look very nervous and kind of like shuffle around looking at the floor, glancing constantly like, is that moving? And then they're like,

standing on a table. The Dragonborn... It's like Tremors. There is an element of Tremors, for sure. When you enter one of the Dragonborn, he's younger, a silver Dragonborn. The other Dragonborn is an element of tremors for sure When you enter one of the dragonborn He's younger A silver dragonborn The other dragonborn is an older woman Probably brass or copper coloured

And as you enter the young man kind of snaps a salute And is just like I don't know who you are Travellers but thank you I think they would have killed all of us In the market if you hadn't come along You're welcome buddy You should probably lie down I think they would have killed all of us in the market if you hadn't come along. You're welcome, buddy.

You should probably lie down. Yeah. Yes. And he kind of snaps his fingers, these clawed hands. He's like, you, bring over, like, find whatever blankets or chairs you can. Give these people somewhere to rest. And two of the dwarves are like, look around,

almost like an indignant, you can't tell us what to do. And then the dragonborn is just like, now! And the dwarves, like, they kind of shuffle off, and they begin pulling out, like, a sofa and whatever kind of furniture this cafe had that they can bring over to kind of help you guys recover with. The human woman begins bringing over, like, bottles of, like, glass decanters of water, little bits of, like, fruit and things like that.

Not really sure what else to do. Very kind, thank you. Much appreciated. Well, it's the least we can do. We should wait here. The military should finish their own battle soon enough. Once the dragons can deal with this, I'm sure it'll be over quickly. But if anything, it looked like from what I could see, I took a look out the window. The ship itself was under the heaviest assault. There were multiples of that giant creature.

The giant! We've heard stories about them, but that's the first time I've ever seen one this close to the city. It was in the city. Scary. Yeah. They can just emerge in the city immediately. They've never done this before. They've never done anything like this before We didn't even know they could do this

They've been hitting caravans Out on the outskirts They've been in the ravines We've never even seen them On this number, this scale before Sounds like those attacks were just Distractions while they could coordinate this Clearly they're not the only ones working here.

They were under control of the weird snake woman. Yes. The Naga, I think they're called. We've heard reports from the soldiers about them. They fight them sometimes out in the ravines. In the wastes. Is that an increasing number recently? I'm not the one to ask, friends. In the last month or so? I'm not the one to ask, friends. In the last month or so?

I'm not the one to ask. I gave up the military life a while ago. I'm just a trader now, but if you know anyone in the military, I'm sure they'd have more information. The Draconis Militarum. Once you're no longer in the service, you don't get a lot of information about military matters. Well, I'm sure once

we've taken a rest, we'll make our way to someone that knows. Um, I... He just, he's like, are you sure it's safe outside for now? In this area, at least? No. Well, maybe this area, but I saw... Well, before you go,

let me get you something to repay. Oh, when I was coming on the way over here, I could see there were attacks on other parts of the city as well, so I don't know how others have fared. Oh, my goodness. Draconis Militarum will take care of it. If they weren't so short... If they had more numbers,

if we didn't send our legions out to the other kingdoms, this wouldn't have been an issue. Should we try and get the people that ran off in different directions, at least to come back here? There were people who ran into different buildings all across this place. I think that there's safety in numbers, at least. If more of those creatures, or at least the cultists, come by, we can deal with them. Yeah, they're angry people. Yes. if more of those creatures or at least the cultists come by we can deal with them yeah they they're angry people yes

very much so did we leave that poor tiefling woman outside I imagine we you can have her with you yeah sure

or the one you sped the dog yeah here you go your leg's broken but um bye you're not dead bye

yeah just gotta go ruffle through this cultist underwear I don't think any of us are really in a position to face anything else

right now are we I got a couple more swings in the hand we're left in yeah I'm good I can barely walk I'm like clutching

my side. Oh, yeah, you're really bad, aren't you? Yeah. You need to short rest. My face is on a right angle. Jesus. There's no point putting ourselves in harm's way if we're not going to be effective.

No. No. So maybe we rest. You can take a short rest here if you want. Yeah. Good for Nova. Sure. I mean, you can spend hit dice on a short rest.

Yeah. You can heal. And you've still got cantrips. Yeah, so you guys can take a short rest, spend hit dice. Remember, if you roll hit dice, add your con mod for each hit dice you roll. Yeah. Cool. Whilst you take your rest, the Dragonborn man who introduces himself as Zargaz.

It's a Dragonborn-y name. Zargarn. Zargarn. Zargarn. We'll do it Zargarn. Zargarn. Zargarn. Zargarn. He's a merchant trader. He comes back and he has a long discussion. He kind of helps gather all the other people from nearby, the people that you saved.

The tiefling woman is eventually sort of like nursed back to consciousness. And he pops out and kind of sneaks out onto the road over to a large merchant shop um and you can kind of see that there is a a large kind of stylized zed with like uh merchant scales kind of built into it um and he kind of sneaks his way back with a kind of bundle a kind of cloth bundle and he he kind of, once you've all rested, he's like, I don't have this.

I would like to give this to you as thanks for what you did. And he kind of places this small bundle in front of you. There's also the others wanted to contribute as well. They're not as rich as I, but they've put a little collection together just to, without you, we would have perished, so this is the least we can offer. There's a

small bag of coins, and then you can see kind of a slender, long shape beneath the bundle. He opens it up, and there is a slender, golden wand. Yeah. Yeah.

This is awfully generous. We merely reacted to being attacked. It's what we do. Your friend there tried to rescue as many as they could. This one, well, you saved me. No worries. It was fun. Really.

Like to take out a bit of anger on really horrible, horrible people sometimes. I smashed my face into a giant. That was so good. I think if this is happening across the cities, money like this would best be used in repairing it. The Draconis Militarum will have that covered, but they won't reward you for what you've done.

They'll expect it, and I don't believe that. I believe that you are not Dragonborn. You should not. They will treat you as if you are, but you are not. You had no reason to help us. You could have run. You could have fled.

You could have only looked after yourselves, but you didn't. And to me, that is something that should be rewarded. Trust me. I create, I make enchanted wares. This is, it is not a powerful

thing. It is a small thing. What does it do? It is a wand of magical missiles. It can conjure magical missiles. It has a limited number magical missiles. Oh. It can conjure magical missiles. It has a limited number of charges per day. Please, it is the least I can offer. And the money is a small amount. It doesn't look like there's more than like 50 gold.

Thank you so much. God damn it. This will certainly help my lip blush. Do not worry about the city. The Draconis Militarum has the treasury. That's why we send our legions out. They make money for us for these sorts of things. It is a well-managed city, if nothing else. There will be a budget for any sort of disasters like this. Of course, anything more you can do for the city would be appreciated. Thank you, travelers. Who are you?

Why are you here? I mean, we were actually grounded by the Minotaur. We flew over their airspace. Many of my traders suffer the same problem. It takes weeks to sort out the paperwork usually I'm hoping that you are not going to be here That long Well it might take longer than weeks now

Depends on the situation of our airship Yes I hope it wasn't damaged in these attacks Who wants the wand? Who does want the wand? So only a magic master. Look at his little face! Look at his face! I thought you said you didn't want any rewards, Quill, but just the warm feeling of having helped the city.

Yeah, also physical goods. Mark, down in your inventory please it's a wand of magic missiles yeah more dps for the bard not a bard anymore actually it'd be freshly made

so it'd have all seven charges dps the cleric yeah it's actually a very good item for core to have yeah do they show out little feathers this would be designed by Yeah. It's actually a very good item for Quill to have. Yeah. Do they show out little feathers? This would be designed by the maker, so you don't know what it looks like until you use it.

Scales. Dragons. Tiny dragons. That would be little dragon heads, probably. Yeah. Like,. That's cool. Like, roaring dragon heads.

That's very cool. Cool. That is very cool that's very cool actually but it's not feathers I don't like it no he's reading it he's like it's a cool wand

it's a cool wand it is seven charges boo yeah yeah you need to keep track of those it does it in D&D Beyond in D&D Beyond I know but I mean more like daily

oh yeah charging yeah we need to be better that's cool cool so what's the plan in D&D beyond I know but I mean more like daily recharging yeah we need to be that's cool cool so what's the plan so are we staying here

you've taken a short rest I guess in that time I'm good in that time yeah after an hour

you no longer hear the sounds of fighting and you see a quite a large draconic shadow fly over the street like it kind of fills the air and you look up and you see the silver you see a silver dragon um she is bedecked in barding um that you can see like draconic armor that's been built specifically for a draconic form. And hanging off of her, there are six, like, ropes

with plate mail-wearing dragonborn, all with these strange golden crystal rifles, like, holding onto it, like, scanning the streets. When they see the carnage, the dragon begins hovering in place, and in this kind of deep, guttural draconic language. I think, do you speak draconic? So anyone who speaks draconic it's like uh she basically is like reconnaissance team move down secure the site find out what happened here um and the ropes just begin lowering so cool they're literally like

dragonborn spec ops they land on the ground and they begin covering each other you can see they've got um long swords at their side smaller combat knives on the other. They all have backpacks with, like, looks like climbing gear and things like that. Oh, my God. And they begin just checking down all the alleyways. They move over to the bodies. They, like, kick them over,

check the tunnels, begin making their way down, and then they signal up to the dragon like this, and the dragon continues flying on as they begin to slowly around. A heli-dragon, a dragon-copter. A drag-copter. It's an assault dragon-copter. Please, more names.

More names for it. So is there still sounds of battle and things like that, right? No, not anymore in the city. And you see one of these dragonborn in the plate mail on the rifle is checking buildings and as he sees you, or the people in the building, he's like, it's all right, it's all right, it's over. We've repelled the attackers.

They've all cleared out then. And he kind of looks over to you. You don't recognize this particular Dragonborn. He doesn't seem to recognize you. We've managed to either, most of them have now either fled the city or they've been dealt with. Traveler, you're safe now in the city. Do you know what happened here?

Who dealt with these? I smashed my face into the giant. There was a giant, there was a lot of things. I think my nose is a bit flatter actually. Just a little bit. You all dealt with these attackers yourselves? Yes. Yeah, they came from the ground.

The other citizens are like, yes, they did. They saved us. They saved us. And he's like, oh. He kind of looks around. He's like,

well done. We've, very well done. Captain, Captain Archon. No, not Archon. Not Archon. I'm trying to think of Dragonborn names

and it just came in my fucking brain, all right? What about Arkhand? Argos. No! No! Does he have a little book of dreams? No. Dakar.

Dakar. Yeah, Dakar. Dakar! Get to Dakar Dakar Get to Dakar I'm Sergeant Dakar Sergeant Dakar at your service Well done Where's Colonel Dakopter I am bad at coming up with names I accept it

I'm not very good at coming up with names on the fly Just run with me Sergeant Dakar up with names. I accept it. I'm not very good at coming up with names on the fly. Just run with me, alright? I just was trying to think of consonants and vowels that I was like, what kind of guttural Argos.

Argos. I saw an Argos bag. Every time we go to Argos now. Argos. I hope it does shop there anymore. Well, my first thought was, literally, Dragonborn name, Arkhan. Nope, can't use that one.

Yeah. Argos. It's not sponsored. It would have gone like, Arges or something like that. Arges? Yeah, like, I don't know. Well, I've written it down.

It's Dakar now. Yeah, Dakar. Sergeant Dakar. Yeah, he just comes, he congratulates you on the fight. He asks you what happens Well, I've written it down. It's Dakar now. Yeah, Dakar. Sergeant Dakar. Yeah, he just comes, he congratulates you on the fight. He asks you what happens to detail how many of them there were.

Did any of them escape or did you destroy all of them? One went down the hole over there, and I point out. Okay, he kind of signals his men and women. He points to that pit and you see them Basically begin to form up

And they begin making their way down into the pit itself Well good luck to them We won't be following the whole pit We want to see how far it goes The tunnels that they made Crisscross across the city There's a maze down there Are there holes that

They first emerged from These smooth ones Different from the one the stone giant the city, there's a maze down there. Are the holes that they first emerged from, these smooth ones, different from the one the stone giant popped out of? Same. They look amazing. So they utilised the tunnels? Well, this is the thing. These are not natural tunnels.

Being a person who knows magic, Felucious, I'm not going to make you roll those tunnels were created by magic the stone around it looks like the earth itself it's not necessarily stone tunnels but sometimes it almost looks like compacted like dirt, like it's been shaped

like somebody has magically shaped the earth to create these tunnels my question is how quickly do they do it is that stone giant just doing it on the fly that is, I think if you wanted to? Is that stone giant just doing it on the fly? That is, I think if you wanted to know that, that may be an Arcana check. Don't try to do a nature check to see how old they are.

Sure, yeah, absolutely you could do, yeah. Nature checks are great. Could I check? Natural 20. On an Arcana check? Yeah. Okay. I've got a 15 on the nature check. 15.

I am a tube. So, Century, these are pretty new. These tunnels aren't, like, ancient. And again, yeah, they're tunnels, but they've been shaped perfectly and, like, compacted dirt, compacted stone, compacted earth, rather than, like, you know, pure bedrock kind of stone. Lucius, you know know with a natural 20 again probably stories that that nanny probably used to tell you but also mixed in with a bit of um just maybe reading or things that you've heard um

there are magical creatures and beings in a row it's not necessarily just creatures but beings that do have innate magical abilities that they can use to shape the environment and you you've heard of giants giants are there's a bit of controversy on where they come from um some of the giants we know that giants fought in the war with siaska they fought with starbane but they also fought against him it seems that the giants just split into these different groups some of them fought for Siaska

some of them fought against Siaska the stone giants were by legend passively neutral they dug themselves beneath the earth and said that they would wait for the dream to be over. And they just let time...

They didn't take part. Fire giants and frost giants fought for Calus as well as hill giants, gluttonous big, gross creatures. The cloud giants and the storm giants joined Siaska and they fought for Erois

but they're very rare they're very rare they're not really heard of much they're supposed to be creations by the gods the different giants were made by the gods when they were trying to experiment with creating life

and they made them more like themselves they made them these huge you know gigantic titanous beings that embodied the elements around them um and then they perfected the art of creating life and created the the lesser races um the smaller races um it's it's a lot of this is all just like stuff rattling around in your head tunnels different legends and stories. Well, it's also seeing the stone giant and then beginning to think, you're like, oh, actually, yeah, I remember.

You know things like frost giants were said to be able to sculpt snow and ice and things like that. Fire giants can manipulate flames and fire. Storm giants can do the same with the storms and the air. Cloud giants live up in the skies. They were the original inhabitants of the clouds. Cool. It seems like with these stone giants under the Naga, I don't know what it is. Possession?

Control? Control. They're creating these at speed. Yes. And with stealth. We had no idea that they were capable of such things before. We've seen stone giants are able to... They're very strong. They can hide well in the earth.

Me and my squadron have dealt with them a few times out in the ravines, but we didn't know that they were capable of this. This is new. The perfect weapon to infiltrate a city. Yes, worry me so. We'll need to find out their home base and wipe them out. It's the only way to protect the city.

We just came from the main Draconic ship. The Vivex? Yes. Why were you aboard the Vivex? We were taken there on a special mission. He looks at you very curiously. We have a thing, do we not? No.

What thing? What was his name? A writ. A passage. We weren't actually given anything physical. Amadrasos. Custodian Amadrasos took us there. Custodian Amadrasos?

He kind of looks at you for a moment, and he kind of stops, steps back, and you can see he's wearing like an earring, which is very similar to your messenger rings. He kind of holds the earring for a second. Custodian Amadrasos, is he dealing with a number of foreigners? Non-Dragonborn. They've been given passage? All right, thank you, Central.

All right, yes, I've had that confirmed. You're guests of Amadrasos. Given the situation, I'm happy to escort you back to the Vivex, where you'll be safer. Well, it's more a case of debriefing and making sure they're okay. Yeah. Oh, they're fine. Custodian Amadrasos, they're fine.

And he just kind of looks at you like, are you crazy? They're dragons. Of. They're fine. And he just kind of looks at you like, are you crazy? They're dragons. Of course they're fine. Good old dragon-boring cockiness again. Do we want to check on the storm chaser? Yeah, can we check on that first? That's a good idea.

Could we bring these people with us? If they're safe in the Vivex, would it make sense? He looks over. He's like, I'm afraid not, sir. They're not military personnel. They're not under specific protections. Is there anywhere that they can go? Just now? Yes, I recommend we're trying

to get all of the citizens to head to their nearest guard post and barracks where we do have more secure facilities. I recommend he kind of speaks past you to the others. You know the drill. You should head there. And they're like... And you can see that the Zagan kind of looks and he's like, we didn't really have much time before now, Sergeant,

but thank you, yes, we will head there now. And you can see that the Sergeant is a bit sort of like, he's being cocky, but he's also like... You can tell that he's holding himself from kind of like probably kind of saying, oi, stop like, because he's with you. Like, he's kind of, don't you take that cheek with me. Because it is a very, you know, disciplined society. Yeah, well, a bit of backtalk is not acceptable.

Monetary hierarchy. Yes. We're heading in this direction towards our airship so we can escort any... We, I... He's like, these people can make their way to the guard post, sir. That's fine. They know where to go. I'd rather have me and a couple of my men take you to where you're supposed to be. If you're guests of Amadrasos, it's my duty to make sure you get there all right. Surely you should protect those that can't defend themselves rather than us.

I'm following my order, sir. All right. Fine. To the airship, I guess. I think, like, anyone who moved a passive inside of, like, probably 15 or higher, that I am following orders was said so easily that he didn't even really listen to what Lucius said.

I'm following orders. Yeah, just like... If he was given the order to kill you You don't think this guy would probably doubt that He would just be like, yep, okay What did they do? Well, actually I don't care Stop, stop, stop Shoot, shoot, shoot

And if you wait and go with them He will have a couple of his Elites join him who come up from the pit They kind of speak in draconic Novo, you understand it They basically say, the pit. They kind of speak in draconic, no view understand it, they basically say the pit, the tunnels continue like all the rest, they go deep down and seem to go beyond the city, we're not going to pursue them down there. And you hear the sounds of crews being ordered, you can see that there are a number of laborers who are bringing in shovels,

who are bringing in shovels, pickaxes, boards of, like, wooden boards and metal, like, pittance, and they are beginning to cover up the tunnels and the holes and fill them in with dirt and soil, and then also, like, fix boards over them. You've seen that that's not going to stop this team. But it's a thing to do when it needs to be done. Health and safety hazard. Nothing else is definitely that.

And yeah, these elites will escort you back to the Storm Chaser. On the journey back, how is the rest of the city looking? It's not like on fire or anything like that. This was not like a siege. This was a surprise guerrilla attack where they popped up. You see blood spatters every now and then you see that there has definitely been some wounded some injured um probably some dead um but for the most part it looks like the attack was focused on the vivex and you can now see as you walk past this

giant golden crystalline form you can see that there are dragonborn mounted on these ballista but without the crossbow arms they're just these long cannons um and they are just mounted on them like moving them around scanning the horizon uh you can see that there are dragons younger smaller looking dragons but they're flying around overhead um there are charred corpses of giants and nagers everywhere. They just look like they've been incinerated by flame. And you begin making your way back. I think I'm just going to summon Echo and just hold him. Yeah.

And he just kind of floats in the air. Just hold him close tightly. As you're making your way back, you near the entrance to the kind of airship field which is just outside the city um it's not like a tower or anything like that it's basically like a big open field where there are these kind of um big wooden siege towers like stairs that let you dock and like get up to your ship doesn't seem to be that much damage. You can see that there was some fighting here, but it wasn't as heavy as the Vivecs.

It's actually more what you notice is as you begin making your way up, you see another group of people moving their way towards the airship field, and it is your crew. You see the Beastwalkers, you see Lansian, Lookout, Penny, all of the crew basically are all led by Raya. Some of them are bandaged. Some of them have got like cuts and scrapes. One of them kind of looks like they're carrying

one of the Beast Walkers unconscious. Alive but knocked out. You can see Raya has definitely got quite a few cuts and scrapes where she's been fighting. Pretty much all of them look like they've been in a fight as they begin making their way. And as they see you, they kind of call out, Captain! Captain!

And they're kind of like calling out and they begin making their way over to you as well. Is everybody okay? Has everyone accounted for? Araya kind of nods. She's like, yes, Captain. Luckily, we were all staying together when this attack came. We saw that there were giants and some snake-like women, but they did not seem to trouble the little inn where we were staying. But these crazed women with knives came in. But we all banded together and we fought them off,

along with a few of the dragonborn in the city. But now we think it's safer for us to stay on the ship. Absolutely. And it seems like their main priority was the Vivex, the central ship. Yes, it seemed to be the case. So stay way away from that. We will. Kamar is like, Captain Lucius, tell me that we're going to be getting out of here soon.

I don't want to be around if more of those things come by. I think we're all making that a priority. All right, excellent. They said maybe a couple of days, but it depends. They might speed it up since we helped out. I mean, do you have to wait for these dragons? It looks like they're pretty busy with cleanup. We could probably get the ship out of here if we wanted to.

If they just mounted an attack like this, to reinforce and do it again, I don't want to assume, but it could be okay for now. The dragons are airborne. It's a good point. Dragons can fly. They might be suspecting us quite a bit. We just arrived, giant attack, and now we're leaving while the dragons are on flight? Probably not the best idea.

We've been wrongly suspected before. Yes, looking at the wider picture, diplomacy is quite important right now. Alright, sure. Okay. Quill, you notice there is one beast walker who is looking at Lucius

really weirdly. And I'm obviously not trying not to look at her. There is a female beast walker. You is a female Beast Walker. You've seen her around before. You think her name's Feath. And she's, you know, dressed. She dresses a bit differently to some of the others.

Like, she actually wears, like, more nice clothes. The rest of the Beast Walkers kind of wear, like, wrangling leather vests and, like, big loose pants. But she kind of dresses a bit nicer. And she's, like, awkwardly, like, looking at Lucius, like, trying to catch his attention. And he's just looking away all the time. So if that's everything, then I guess... Kamara, like, looks, he's like, well, it's not everything, but it's the only urgent thing.

When you've got a minute, I think you and I should have a talk about some crew morale issues. And she looks at you specifically. Right. Absolutely, yes. Just you and I, Captain. Get the details straight. Can I help at all? I'm morale officer. Oh, that's very kind of you since you know it needs to be me and the Captain, I think.

Century is morale. You know, I did put her in that position for a reason. Do you really want me to have a conversation with Century, Captain? Let's just make sure this is something of Century's worth. It sounds very important. I hope you get it settled. We will. We will.

She's joking and everything today. She's in a really good place. It might be good for morale. Happy times. They're like, Howard Slate. Oh, that's right. Yeah. I tell you what.

I wish we'd had you around when we were fighting off those people. I did get a big pan and I clopped one round the head. I did. Oh, well, I wish we had you around, Howard. Oh, I don't know about that. I don't think my pan's much use. Oh, I think you're pretty good with a pan, Howard.

That's true. I did, I used to fight in the old local pan fighting ring. Pan fighting ring? Oh my God. Only allowed cooking utensils.

Oh, I can see. I can probably do some damage with that. Yeah. Yeah. You teach us this, Howard. This sounds like a very Oh no, I was terrible.

Oh, got knocked out in 20 seconds, I did. Old big, big Tim got a big barrel, just knocked me over the head with it. How is that a cooking utensil? I said the same thing. He said, well, you put cooking things in a barrel, therefore it's a cooking utensil.

Oh, yeah, that's true. I heard fighting on the ship the other day. Was that the pan fighting? Were you doing some pan fighting? No, it wasn't me. I've been sticking to the other thing that we talked about, Mr. Quill. Yes, yes. My hobby. Yeah.ill. Yes. My hobby.

Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Can I roll insight? Yeah. I mean, who are you rolling insight on at this point? Howard.

Howard. Ten. That's weird. No, I'm oblivious. It's just, obviously, yeah, he's talking about his hobby. Yeah. Maybe he's got a weird hobby, like he collects stamps or something, and, yeah, he's talking about his hobby. Yeah. Maybe he's got, like, a weird hobby, like, he collects stamps or something. That's why he's talking to Quill.

Nova would be all about that. Well, maybe Nova's just like, oh, quite a bit. I think maybe then it's just like, I'm interested. How is hobby? Anyway, yes, it's definitely safer for you to be on the airship. If anything comes up from the ground, go up. I'd rather have the ballistas and things like that. Yes. Well, you arise

like, well, going up will be a problem while she points to the big clamps that are still attached to the ship. But I think that we'd at least be in a more defensible position, i.e. not on the ground. Well, hopefully this entire affair won't delay our leaving longer than

this. I hope so. Quickie, is it worth one of us giving up our messenger ring to give to Oriah so that we have constant communication with our airship and its crew? I could give up mine. I can give up mine. I've got message. I'm not giving up mine. I still want to be able to tell you to fuck off from a long way away.

Give it to Quill to give away. I will give mine away. Okay. So you give Araya the messenger ring? Yeah. Okay. She'll need to attune to it. I've got sending and a message, so like...

Okay, cool. So you remove that. Any future issues, you are free to use this communication. She like comes up like, hmm, another piece of jewelry. Yeah. Araya's not going to turn down a free fucking magic item, and I'm like, hmm, another piece of jewelry. Yeah. Right, it's not going to turn down a free fucking magic item, I don't think, right? Yeah, exactly. Obviously we don't need to tell you this is only for urgent matters. Yes, Captain, yes, of course, yes.

For communicating with the ship and the crew. Yes, Nova? I can't say it now. Everyone's looking at me. Oh, nothing. Okay, great. Everyone notices this female beeswalker is, like, pushing through the crowd and edging closer and closer to Lucius, like, trying to get, like, next to him,

but trying to do it stealthily and failing miserably. Just roll the stealth and it's like excuse me excuse me and it's like and like it's blink

we can have that discussion now I just might honestly like oh sorry yeah yeah go through yeah

okay yeah and she's coming and Kamara's like yes we should go and have that discussion now you and I I'll be just a minute honestly it's

it's nothing it's trivial as they go off can I just quickly whisper? Doesn't that mean Araya can hear everything we say now? We can selectively... No, we can't. It's to Elna Ring. So we can't talk about Ixnay or the staff.

I mean, I think she knows most of the stuff anyway. I mean, Araya's like... It's like, I can see you whispering, by the way. No, I'm not using the master ring. No, but you're like going up the quill like, it's like, I can see you whispering, by the way. No, I'm not using the master right now. No, but you're like going up to Quill like, Hey, Quill. That's fine. Okay.

Well, you guys can have that conversation. Kamara goes up onto the airship into the captain's quarters with Lucius. Kamara, leader of the liaison for the Beast Walkers. If anything happens to me, I want you all to know I love you all very much. Raya's very confused. Actually, no, she's not attuned to it yet, so it doesn't work. What did he say? Oh, it doesn't work for her. It doesn't work. She's got an hour. She's got one hour for the

attunement. So, Kamara, you've kind of learned that she's very much older than the rest of the Beastwalkers. You can see little tufts of white fur on some of her points. Like, she's not covered in fur. She's not, like, a furry humanoid.

She's mainly a human. She just has these kind of, like, very thick grey hair with, like, wolf-like ears coming out of her head, and then she does have a small tail coming out. But she mainly wears, like, normal human clothes. She has normal human skin tone, maybe a bit tanned. And just, like, a slightly flatter nose, like, slightly pointed canines.

And she kind of pulls you in into the captain's quarters. Permission to talk freely, Captain? I don't know how to restrict you otherwise. You are the captain. I have to speak to you properly. Speak freely. All right.

We need to talk about what happened the other night. That's the problem I have to speak to you properly? Speak freely. All right. We need to talk about what happened the other night. That's the problem I have. Yes? You see, I don't... You don't remember it? No. No, I don't. As I expected.

But I do know what's happened. We all know what happened, Captain. Well... Right. This is perhaps trickier than I expected. I'm not mad. I want to make that clear. Alright?

You were going to be mad? No. I thought that you might think I was going to be mad. Yes, I did, actually. Yes, yes. Quite scary. Alright, so I'm making it clear. I am not mad. The rest of the... The rest of my people are not angry. There is going to be some confusion, and I think that some things need to be cleared up. Right. What do I have to do?

Well, that's up to you, Captain. We do appreciate you coming to try and get to know us a bit better. And we like you. The crew really does like you. We see you as a very kind, very well-meaning man. And it's been a long time since we've worked for somebody with that kind of nature. Thank you. You're making me blush.

Well, I think it's that nature that drew faith to you. Over the nights that we got to know each other, she became very infatuated with you. She's a bit different to the rest of us, Captain. She's a bit... She's not interested in some of the things that Beastwalkers are normally interested in. What are you interested in? You know, physicality.

Oh, yes, I felt the effects of that. Well, Faith, perhaps your memory... You don't remember anything? I do remember getting very jovial and a big group of people and a lot of fur. Yes. I had lots in my mouth all the time. Probably just proximity of a lot of wolf people.

Yes, yes. I mean, we were eating, drinking together. Was I on the bar at one point? I think I was. You were dancing. I was. You were fencing with some of us. I did some were eating, drinking together. Was I on the bar at one point? I think I was. You were dancing. You were fencing with some of us. I did some fencing, yes. We had a good time.

We had a very good time. And I do remember Faith. Yes. And us having a very long conversation. I just remember nothing of it. Luckily, we've been drinking a lot longer than you have, Captain. So most of us know how to handle our booze

I thought I could it's fine Howard's stuff is pretty strong Faeith is not like the rest of us she's not interested in physicality which is strange for a beast walker and she spoke to you over the last

few nights and I think she finds something of a kindred spirit. She tells us that you are very kind and very caring and you have you spoke of ambitions and desires and things Did I mention anything

you know, pressing in terms of secret mission stuff? I remember I caught a bit of your conversation. You were telling her how you had come very close to dying and it had made you think about things that are important to you and things that you should think more about and people you wanted to help, I think.

Something along those lines oh good fifth let me make it clear I'm not a captain of a ship I'm not a legal person and she points to the ring

that doesn't mean anything in your world just in ours and she kind of gestures to the ring. That doesn't mean anything in your world, just in ours. And she kind of gestures to the tribe. It is a symbol of partnership between two individuals. Normally, that partnership indicates a desire for certain things. I don't need to explain that to you, I'm sure. Physicality. Oh, yes. Sex. Indifference. Children. Okay to you, I'm sure. Physicality. Oh, yes. Sex.

Ingenuity. Children. Okay, yes, I know now. But, but, that is not what Faith is interested in. She simply wants somebody that she can trust. Many of the other crew pester her. They think that her lack of desire is from a shyness or from a playing hard to get. They don't quite understand that she's not interested in them in the same

way that they are interested in her. Is this going to make her a target? No, quite the opposite. It gives her a reason, an excuse not to. She is not interested in their actions. And I think she explained this to you, and she told it to me that you wanted to help her, that you wanted to make her feel safe on your ship, and that you would do that in any way that you could. And that is when she came to me with the idea of the Bond ring.

And I shall keep to that promise. Well, that is what I was going to ask you about. Think hard on it. She's a little confused that you have not spoken to her since. More from a fear that she worries that it was the drink that drove you to make a decision that you now regret. I think it just... If I'm to be frank,

and we're both speaking freely... Of course. It allowed me to speak without inhibition rather than speaking falsely. That is a much better way to be, I feel. I just wanted to let you know. I think perhaps there is... I know some of the other Beastwalkers

have an assumption of what happened. I've kept them. I've whipped them into shape. I've told them it's none of their business. Could you also tell them that they are very rough when it comes down to the play fighting? Yes, I think that that may have been a bit more of the confusion as well. It's very physical with us.

It's all teeth and fighting. It's a lot of fighting. Yes, that's what we do. A lot of the confusion as well. It's very physical with us. It's all teeth and fighting. It's a lot of fighting. Yes, that's what we do. A lot of it both. I don't have them. We're of nature. If you want to hang out with us, you've got to expect a bit of rough housing. True, but to hide it understandably. It will be

noted. We're not used to having people that are very susceptible to those things. Yes. You're not used to having people that are very susceptible to those things. Yes. You're a little bit more fragile than us, is what I'm saying. I was very sheltered for a long time. Well, the thing is, is Captain, even if that's true,

you came and spent time with us. We're not fancy people. We don't drink nice drinks or eat nice food. We're rough. We're sailors. You came and spent time with us and that means a lot. You earned a lot of the crew's loyalty that night. Just do right by faith. Whether that's to explain

things to her, you don't need to keep that, and she points to the ring, as long as she understands. It's a way of her protecting herself. And she does like you. In a... Perhaps more than friends, but not as lovers, if that makes sense. It does make sense. And she does like you. In a... perhaps more than friends, but not as lovers, if that makes sense.

It does make sense. And also thank you for this discussion. It's my job to be the liaison between you and my people, I believe. True. But it also speaks a lot to your integrity and your professionalism. And I think I made the right choice. They're my

family. As you all are now as well. In which case I should probably leave. She puts one clawed hand on your shoulder. Just remember, if you do hurt Faith, we will kill you. We'll tear you apart

like a tiny rabbit. That won't happen. That's not going to happen. And she squeezes. I know it won't rabbit. That won't happen. That's not going to happen. And she squeezes. Yeah. I know it won't happen. It won't happen. It's fine. She lets go. All right.

Good talk, Captain. Great talk. Right. Bye. Yeah, but one last thing. You did really want to wear the ears and tail. Are you all right? Bye. That's it. Okay. Yeah. What are tail. Are you alright? Bye.

That's it. What are the rest of you doing? Why that wonderful conversation is taking place. Wonderful. I'll probably go to my chambers, I think, or my quarters and just bundle up in there for a bit. On the airship, yeah.

I'll come back to that in a minute. What about the rest of you? I mean, do you want to try and, like, listen in on the conversation, or are you just being distracted downstairs? I guess I'll head back and try and get everyone back onto the ship and sort of in a

calm state and kind of ready for anything sort of thing. Get them back into position. Yeah, I think there are certain people, most of the Beast Walkers, like, as soon as they get on the ship, they just immediately get their weapons. They're like, yep, we're not leaving these again.

Like, they've got their bows, they've got swords, they strap on armour, they basically get themselves ready. Penny gets in the ballista and is just like, I ain't leaving this until you leave. And she's just like, Howard, get me some booze and some food, I ain't leaving this until you leave. And she's just like, Howard, get me some booze and some food. I ain't leaving. And just aims it towards the ground.

And she's just like, if I fucking see a rock move, I'm going to blast it. She's in this giant ballista just scanning the fucking ground. Lookout is with her and is just like, I will assist you, Penny. And is just like scanning the horizon. Awesome. And the only person who perhaps is a little shaken is just like, I will assist you, Penny, and is just, like, scaring the horizon. Awesome. And the only person who perhaps is a little shaken

is Lantian. And you can see he must have been badly beaten up. Like, he's got, like, various cuts and bruises. And he's just a bit pale and a bit sort of wide-eyed. I guess after everyone's gone,

it's just him and me standing there. Yeah, like, well, everyone's just doing their jobs on the ship. And I think it's probably Nova, you, and Aayla, and then Lantian. Unless Nova wants something you've got something you want to do. No? No. I'm just occasionally going to, in the ring, just go,

Arya. Arya. It's not been an hour yet. What? It's not been an hour yet What? It's not been an hour I'm just testing I want to know when she does want to You know

It's been like ten minutes Well Magic and stuff I don't want to start saying stuff I'll tell you when Okay So for now Wait who gave her the

Well I got everybody And I don't think Century can hear you at this point Okay I'll just go Hey Lucius Yes yes everybody and I don't think Sentry can hear you at this point okay I'll just go hey Lucius yes yes fuck off haha

still works back to work I don't know what that means I think you get back to work I don't have anything to do me neither what are you doing

Lucius what are you doing I'm doing Captain Things okay I'm gonna go see Quill Me neither. What are you doing? Lucius, what are you doing? I'm doing Captain Things, okay? I'm going to go see Quill. So you have these moments of silence with Kamara as you're like, brain conversation. Anyway. You could just take off the ring, couldn't you? I could, but would I lose my attunement to it?

I think you're permanently attuned to it. Yeah, you're permanently attuned to it. As long as it's on your it's like hanging out with the phone I can't I can't multitask so um

Lanceyan yeah hey uh Quartermaster we're back on the ship um yeah

great it should be safer here uh than the inn you were staying in. Yeah. Yeah, that was... That was pretty crazy.

What did you see? What did you... Nothing, nothing. They were just so mad. They were so crazy, you know? They just... I hit one with fire right in the chest, and I thought I, like, burned the way through her.

Like, I could see, like, I think I could see, like, the other side, and I thought she must be dead, right? And then she just came at me with those knives. Like, she just, there was something wrong with them, Quartermaster. They were, there was something really wrong with them. Definitely was, but you were defending yourself and the crew. Yeah, just what drives somebody to be like that, you know? Oh, well, they're followers of Zarkira,

so they probably believe a lot in death and ritual cutting. I probably saw the scarification on her. I think they believe a lot in bloodletting and pain, and it drives them to pain. Okay, okay. Feed on it. Yeah, okay, that's not quite necessary. Oh, did I do a...

Maybe. I mean, it's fine. It's just, I know, it's kind of hard for you guys to understand. I have a voice, an angel, all ASMRs do, we all have an angel that guides us, speaks to us. Okay. And she just, she couldn't understand. She wanted me to keep help, she wanted me to help them.

She said that they were suffering, that I needed to heal them, that I needed to help them, but she didn't understand that they were trying to kill us. And that's just hard, you know, like when you've got something in your head that's driving you one way and, you know, you've got to act another. But you can still hear the voice now? We always can. It's hard to explain. It's a lot of boring history stuff,

but all of us Azimar have a connection to one of 12 celestial beings from somewhere he gestures up into the sky. They live somewhere out there. I don't know where. But they're not like... I guess maybe they're like gods. They're like...

They're old. And... I mean, mine's... She's always compassionate, you know. She wants to help people. I can help those crazy ladies. If it does help, think of the fact that they follow their own god. Much like you have the voice of yours in your head, they have the voice of theirs in their head.

And that voice is very much the polar opposite of your voice, as you can see. Yeah. So it's okay to maybe not listen to your voice? The voice was telling you what you could do. It was wise of you to instead do what you should do. No. It's just, uh...

I've never thought anybody like that, you know. It's just, uh, I've never, never fought anybody like that. It's just, uh, I guess a bit of a, I guess a bit of an eye-oper. Uh, that's, I'm afraid that's what this ship is going to be sometimes. Yeah, I guess I, I guess I thought it was just going to be flying through the air and fighting pirates and saving the day. In an ideal world, that's what our crew will have. And also, you did save the day. Just not like I thought I would, you know? You helped far more people by killing them than you did by helping them.

All our crew are back. I guess it's less what I did and more the way I felt about it. I didn't, it didn't feel good to kill those people. I thought it would. I thought fighting to protect your friends, I thought that I'd feel like a hero, but I don't. If you didn't, you would have felt guilt for not protecting your allies instead.

Yeah, I guess so. It's not an easy situation, but a choice has to be made, and you made the right one. Thanks. Thanks, Quartermaster. I think I just need a bit of time. Thank you, though. Of course. He's like, not.

Sentry. Hello. Hello. You close your eyes. You just think, like, I'm just going to rest for a moment. Two years later. There's a part. When you hold Echo and you close your eyes in your quarters, and you say to yourself that you're just resting for a moment, right?

You're just getting your energy back after the fight, but there's a part of you that knows that you're hoping the memories will come back. And one does. And it's wonderful it's blissful you remember an excited screech and doors being

flung wide open as a young girl with silver hair stands in the doorway pulling herself out of bed at a late hour her green nightgown has been ruined in some cases, but in yours, to your eyes, it's a wonderful little tribute. The sleeves have been ripped off and a silver paint around the edges to kind of match your tabard. And a little, probably what was once a little hat rack

has been turned into a little makeshift staff. And the little, the princess looks stern as she snaps a salute. I'm Guardian Petal, she calls out to you. Memories of giving her her first assignment as you set to work, cleaning up the scattered books and toys that have been placed around the room, your armour clanking against the stone, beautiful stone floor of the Solvang Palace. You lose yourself in those memories of that night, training up your first recruit,

that little princess whose life you've been dedicated to you're not sure how long passes the rest of you don't hear from Century until you go and find her and with that we can wrap up, we've got like five minutes my next question is

what do you guys do and where do you want to go next? Well, I guess in the time that Lucius finishes up his chats and everyone gets back into position, I think our plan is to head to the Vivex. Speak with Amadrasos. Speak with Amadrasos. See if we can leave any quicker. Okay.

Yeah. Either that or find out when this meeting is and just leave ourselves. Well, I would say that it is probably quite late at night because you guys arrived sort of like morning time. You explored the city a little bit. You had the artifices diagnosed with thingies. So I think actually like most of that battle

probably took place at like early evening. Yeah. And by the time you've made your way back to the ship, you've had these conversations, so I think actually like most of that battle probably took place at like early evening yeah and by the time you've made your way back to the ship you've had these conversations you're actually kind of getting into sort of

like 8pm territory so do you still want to go back to the palace or do you want to kind of call it for a night and go in the morning or like sorry not the palace

the ship yeah the warship you still want to go there yeah I guess should we long rest it and then do it it's up to you guys.

They're still going to be organizing themselves. Yeah, I feel like you want to give them some time to recover. Filling out paperwork. Yeah. Okay. But I think we'll stay on the ship, right? Yeah, you guys can stay on the ship. Yeah, it's grounded, so you're not going to fly anywhere without the dragons letting you go.

In that case, then the last thing that happens, Sentry, you just drift into those sweet memories for the rest of the night, basically. They take over. Nova. Here we go. Yep. Nova.

Nova. Nice. You can have this back. Nova. Oh, thank you. You close your eyes, wrapped up in your little cabin aboard the storm chaser. Uh-huh.

Where do you put the ILS when you go to sleep? I've been thinking about this. Of course you have. I've been texting Mark all week with random questions. So where do you put the ILS when you sleep? I guess I would tuck it under my pillow. Okay, so you keep it nearby. So you feel it vibrating, but it's kind of gentle, just reminding you that it's there.

And eventually you pass into sleep. You begin to dream. And in that dream, you find yourself on, you know it is the deck of a ship similar to the Aegis V space station with this kind of large curved glass window that looks out onto

the most beautiful thing you've ever seen planets, moons, stars just all spreading out before you there are consoles and stations that flicker with blue and purple light, but there's nobody else there for the time being. I'm like, can I see that I'm beyond the cradle? You are. You do not recognize any of these planets or places.

And then you begin to hear the... behind you. And a familiar presence. And for a long time, he doesn't speak. He lets you just view everything before you. NovaVeja.

There it is. He just, he doesn't move into view, he just speaks from stood behind you. It has been a while since we last spoke. Yeah, quite, quite, yeah, a whole different continent now. You are travelling. Maybe.

There is no maybe. I know you are. Why? There are many things to speak to you about, but please, ask your question. Why me? It is very simply a process of elimination. I cannot contact three of your group. The other one I can contact is a servant of one of your false gods, one of your titans.

And you are perhaps, you are curious, you are open-minded, you are smart, you understand the Eterna and our technology. I have high hopes for you. Or I had high hopes, I should say. What? Let me show you something. He holds a hand up, and you see the view outside the ship

speed up at an incredible velocity. And he shows you a planet, dark red in colour, swirling black clouds across its surface, and half of it is being consumed, broken down into tiny small pieces as a writhing mass of black and red, an undulating shape just tears the planet apart, breaking it. And you can see in the distance a vast blackness, seems to almost move when you don't look at it, and a tiny red pinprick of light at its centre. This is Hadar. This is the enemy you know that I face. And then it gets closer and you see that that writhing darkness around the black star and its very edges where it meets astral space it forms creatures shapes that do not make sense that undulate and morph and they pull themselves free of the void

and co-screening through space itself forming impossibly infinitesimal armies of endless horror. This is what my empire holds back. This is what you and your companions are trying to stop. I warned you not to go against me. Why did you go to Aegis V? That's where we're going to end today's episode. Oh! Oh!

Fuck! I love it! What? Oh, yeah! You can't leave me a week like this Yes I can Bastard Yes I can

Because also You're going to sit there You're going to think of loads of things to say And ask him It's fine It works in your favour As well as in mine Oh man

Oh man Oh boy I need some mayonnaise On my law sandwich he's so angry with me with you and with the rest of the party he told you when you saved when you I didn't know it was gonna

well I know but I'm just saying very cool nice thanks very much everybody just to let you know we'll be regular stream next week.

That will be the last Canon High Rollers until January. Yes. Crazy. Because then it's Jingle Jam. Jingle Jam.

Wow. Yeah. Spread the word, get everybody to watch next week, and then we will see you back for Canon in January,

next week, and then January. But there is going to be stuff during Jingle Jam. We've got a one-shot, possibly a bunch of fun other games another night Jingle Jam we've got a one shot possibly a bunch of like fun other games another night as well

I've got a bunch of other RPGs I'm going to be doing come and check that out also remember keep an eye on our Twitter this week at High Rollers D&D for merchandise

and Instagram and everything just keep an eye on everything new merch bye everybody we'll see you bye see you next week

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

bye