High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #57 | The Unlikely Alliance (Part 2)

Episode Date: January 23, 2020

The party form an unlikely alliance with some "wanderers" in the City of Glass! 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

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Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com to learn more. That's BetterHelp.com. We come back in as Century holds this echo, this angelic, celestial-style echo in her hands. And, Century, you feel the immense relief from this echo. It feels free, but there is a sense of urgency. There is something it needs to do, or it feels it needs to do. Maximilian and Dana look cautiously,

but don't say anything immediately. What's it saying? What's it doing? I can just feel it. It feels... It needs to do something. It needs to do something now. I don't know what it is. Pass it to me, Guardian, and I can tell you. I can read orders of these things. Messenger ring. I wouldn't do that.

I too can do that. Oh, really? Yes. Oh, they did say... Yes. Can I get one of those? No. Can I hear, what does it say about...

Yeah. I'm just like craning, trying to like... Oh, sorcerer, I see. Your magic's innate. Can we read what... Spoke about... It's more than an eight. At least a nine.

Oh, no. A little man. A funny fellow. What do you mean? Elf. He's an elf. Never mind. Is the...

As for what's on these files, you don't need to know. I just want to see... I'm sure you do. But I'm not going to be showing it to you. All right, well, I understand Maximilian's the nice one, but I understand you're not going to trust us right away,

and we are in something of a binding predicament, aren't we? Well, we've got a guardian that can read an echo, a sorcerer that can read its aura. By all means. I'm here. It's the sole reason we're here.

You're here. Maximilian is like, it's fine, Dada, allow them to do this. This does not interfere with our mission. It's not like we work for Hadar. I do dancing lights of red around midnight. Not the time to... Not the time!

So what, Lucius, you want to reach out? Yeah I'll let Lucius reach out and touch Faith Have you tried it yourself first? Well, I think you'd be the best to try it You've done this before, you can both Yeah, both of you touched it before

You and me? Together Very well both to try. You've done this before where you can both do it. You and me? Together. Very well. Touching faith. If we both do that. You both hold on to the echo and breathe deep and make sure you allow your matrix to connect to it to try

and glean the information from it. With Lucius it is a deeper, it's a mystical connection. You can feel the magic swelling in this creature and the magic in you and a connection is formed, a bond. You both have flashes of memory. Not a specific moment, but multiple moments. Over years. It's all from the perspective of a being. You can't see yourself, but you instinctively know you are a guardian.

Called Herald. You stand before... The first memory. You are in a dark chamber. The heat is oppressive. Swelteringly hot. Impossibly dark. Except before you, you can see a huge being.

20 feet tall, but it is buried beneath rubble, parts of it sealed away by cooled magma. It is a guardian, but not just a guardian, the guardian. You stand before the Prime, an impossible androgynous figure. Tall. Royal, almost. Its matrix, like a galaxy of colours, swirls in its chest and his eyes stare down to you. Harold.

Go to the City of Glass. Await the successor. This is your mission. Await the successor. This is your mission. This is your purpose. The memory shifts. Fades. You walk through the streets of the city of

glass for the first time. It's empty, barren. There is no life here. There is a sadness that wells in you. Your only companion is Echo. Golden light in darkness. And years go by. No successor comes. You feel yourself beginning to fade as your own life comes to an end.

You desperately begin putting out a call. Find the prime. Find me. Come to the city of glass. Successor doesn't come. More years go past. You're near the end of your life. So you put out another call. You hope that another guardian will come.

Maybe you can task them with your mission. And one comes. A young scout. An unimportant guardian in the grand hierarchy, in the grand scheme of destiny. Unimportant. But one comes. It finds you. You become your friend.

But they can't carry on your mission. They are not herald. That is not their purpose. And you face a terrible choice. You have the power to give life to guardians, to give life to a fallen guardian once more. But that means you also have the power to take life. Your mission is to wait for the successor. You cannot fail. So you consume him, your friend. You crawl up on him when he sleeps, when he rests, and you

drain the life from him and watch as he turns feral. But you have new life to wait for the successor to complete your mission. More guardians come. You form a community, but one by one, as your years drift away, you know you have to keep stealing that life to keep your mission. More and more guardians turn feral. The last memory. You stand atop a throne of broken guardians. You rule this domain. All you want is more life. More fuel.

More power. There is a part of you that remembers why you were here, that remembers who you were. There is a part of you remembers that you were an agent of good for the people, for the guardians of Varroas. You walk to the edges of the glass scar. You take Echo, who has watched you suffer through all of this. you suffer through all of this and into Echo you instill every last bit of goodness you still

have as you place him into the containment prism and leave him there. And the hunger comes. And that's where the memory ends. Oh man, I got chills! Oh!

That's a spicy meatball. That is the spiciest meatball, Mark! Holy shit. I did think we had some confusion over the prime, because I thought the prime was man. Or male. So I didn't think this was a prime-y boy. I think the only prime we ever saw, or Sentry ever saw, was the angelic wings. Well, the thing telling us about the prime. Well, I went back to my notes to the first vision in Dwellenden and it was like,

yeah, male, male voice. And we've only ever heard male voice come out of Sentry when Oh, yeah.

Yeah. But you have that very clear memory of Herald put out the message to come here to find the prime because it needed.

This is at the point of like, I just want to eat guardians. No, she put out the message when she still wanted to accomplish her mission, but felt like I'm going to die if I don't find a way to keep myself going.

Right. It's that horrible thing of so desperate to fulfill her purpose. And the two of you can infer this from the memories very easily. So desperate to fulfill her purpose that she did something unthinkable but you and so the the main thing though is is you know that in this echo and century you know how echoes are they contain fragments of you they are echoes of yourself in this echo is everything that was good about herald yeah in this thing and she must have put it here to protect it, probably from herself and from others as well.

Okay. So that's, there's a glimmer of hope. My theory was right. Kind of. A little bit wrong, but. Maximilian waits very patiently. Danva is kind of watching curiously as you're both examining this. I know where the prince is.

And Maximilian just waits. Were you successful? Does it contain any information or clues about how to defeat this corrupted guardian? She's not corrupted. I mean, this is very clear, Century, that this thing is corrupted by the Craven Star. It consumes its own kind. Only to keep its purpose going. Only to ensure it has enough life to complete its mission. That is still beyond the realms of any sentient being's choice.

It is no different to the undead monstrosities that Hadar creates. It destroys to perpetuate itself. But we can fix it. We don't different to the undead monstrosities that Hadar creates. It destroys to perpetuate itself. But we can fix it. We don't have to destroy it. We need to find a way of returning this guardian to it, or this echo to it. You are idealistic, as Kala said.

All of you. I'm sorry, Cintri. I have to agree with Maximilian. Although I understand I was the Herald, its choice to remain here to fulfill its duty should not have been superseded by consuming its own kind. Its duty should have ended there rather than destroying more guardians. Is that really the purpose of the Prime?

But what is the Prime? It's clearly very, very important. So much so that this Herald gave up its sanity and consumed other guardians for its purpose. If we destroy it, we'll never know. We'll never know what it is. We will. The Echo has everything left.

Does the Echo say anything about who the successor might be? Any identifying features? No. The memories were scattered. It didn't have all of the memories. The only thing it really said... They communicated all the stuff they saw, right?

Yeah. Also, they seem to have set out multiple desperate calls to find the Prime. I think almost every Guardian must have received it. But what if it was one that was asleep for a long time? I mean, there's every chance, Sentry. But at the same time, there's also every chance it may not be. Look how many

this herald consumed because they were all led to the prime. Do you remember the one guardian that Rama mentioned? The one that was looking for the prime? Yes. But everyone else was looking for the Prime. Yes. But everyone else was looking for the Herald. Maybe that's connected in some way.

Maybe the one that was looking for the Prime is the friend, the original friend of the Herald anyway. Interesting. Some sort of magical communication over great distances, entirely within their own kind. Guardians truly are a bit of a magical marvel. I fear the safety of this echo, if we are to go anywhere near Herald in her current form. Herald in her current form, I fear that it may destroy what's left

of the goodness that's remained instilled in this. Then maybe we just keep it safe, I suppose. I don't know. Lucius wouldn't know this because Lucius isn't a guardian.

You don't know that pulls off his mask the echo is true what Lucius says the echo could become corrupted but the echo by itself can't do anything

it's a whisper a tear in the rain. But there is a possibility that Echoes can transfer back to their guardians. Same way that when you send Echo out to scout, you can retrieve those memories. You can, if you were to be knocked unconscious, if you were to lose your memory but Echo was to continue, you could take that information back as your own. If you were to be knocked unconscious, if you were to lose your memory but Echo was to continue, you could take that information back as your own. If your personality was to become corrupted, that Echo could be used to almost restore you to who you were.

There's a chance that it could work the other way. That this Echo could... Yeah. If you could render that... If you could render Herald unconscious, you could force it to replace its matrix that's only something Sentry would know because that's what you are

you know you could do that your friends even used parts of Echo to help restore you to life when you were resurrected yeah it's symbiotic in a way but both ways, it's a riskic in a way symbiotic but both ways yeah

there's a risk but there's also a hope yeah that's what you need to decide you want to do well whatever you decide

can we have an agreement that we will work together to try and stop this creature and I suppose you'll be logging all the information you find on us that we will work together to try and stop this creature. And I suppose you'll be logging all the information you find on us. Dan is like, I've certainly taken a note of everything you've said about guardians. It is something that we are interested in.

It is a technology beyond even the great emperor's finest artifices. But, of course, just because we learn something from each other does not mean that that means no reason we cannot work together. I'm sure that you will learn something about myself and Knight Maximilian here. Think of it this way.

Right now, we could be enemies. We could fight each other, or we can go our separate ways, try and fight this thing separately. But together, we could be enemies. We could fight each other or we can go our separate ways. Try and fight this thing separately. But together, we stand a better chance. If it helps, and I know that from your perspective, you have no reason to trust me. He stands up straight and he puts the great sword in the ground. He stands up straight and he puts the great sword in the ground.

I swear upon the three rings of Gideon Prime as a knight of Gideon and forsworn in the ancient oaths for Emperor Vicarion. I, Maximilian... Taldros. Taldros, will take, will not bring you to harm and will defend you as best as I can until this mission is complete. As long as we do not interfere with each other, I will not harm you in any way until our next meeting.

Until our next meeting? I cannot promise that my Emperor will not command me to try and fight you. But for now... Does Dana have a cool swear? Dana is not a knight of Gideon. She is a sorceress. And so she is prone to her own whims, but he nods at her.

I'm not going to do anything if Maximilian's not going to. I'm not going to try and fight you on my own. I'm not that stupid. If he's sworn his stupid fucking vows, then I'm a bit out of luck, even if I wanted to, which I don't. You Erosians, what do you think, that we're all just trying to kill all of you all of the time? No.

I'm here after magical knowledge. I don't care. I mean, that's been our experience with everyone from Starbane's forces so far. You have been unfortunate to deal with the Remnant, I'm sure. These... the ones who were left behind, the ancestors of our old forces Shansara tried to kill us you've met Shansara no interesting

she is a propagandist and she is a fanatic an insane fanatic at that I'm not surprised she is a little unstable just a bit. Well, I mean, at least we have a joint goal. It does make sense, unfortunately, for us. Do we, Sentry?

They want to destroy this herald. At least, well... I wish to see its corruption brought to an end. At least, well, there's things... I wish to see its corruption brought to an end. If you genuinely believe, and I know you're kind, we have many reports of guardians and of you. In fact, I know one who speaks very highly of you. Who's that?

If you say you You know of... The Emperor's secret. Oh. The V. The big V. Valor. We may speak of her. She speaks highly of you.

If you genuinely believe that you have a way to... Stop this creature. Remove its corruption. Without destroying it, I will give you the opportunity. But it will be a chance. If I fear that that has failed, if I fear that it has

influenced you, I will destroy it. I make you this promise now. At least let's try it. Just once. And then... Then we'll do it the hard way. If it fails.

You know your kind the best. If you truly think this is possible, I say we go for it. I'll try and make it work. I believe in Senshi's idea. My worry is Hadar. We didn't see anything in the memories of the corruption leading to Hadar. Oh, I have a theory about that. Okay.

Hadar is the destruction of life. So if someone does something like a guardian that fundamentally is good, like take other people's lives to feed their own, that very act is evil. So it corrupts it. It makes it evil. Remember Breeze?

He would take life and transfer it. I don't know if he's Hadar touched. Maybe he's on his way there, but I think there could be something in that. Why do you keep doing that? You are very smart, Nova Vija. Your theory is very correct. Hadar's presence is more than just... The Craven Star does not need to have direct access to an individual to corrupt it. It is not necessarily just the act of destroying life. Sometimes there are very justified reasons to destroy life. If a man seeks to harm you and your family and you kill him in return. That would not invoke Hadar's corruption. It is the essence of consuming for the sake of destruction,

for entropy. What I have witnessed of this herald is that perhaps whilst once, from what you say, she is consuming to preserve a mission, that has now become hubris. She consumes because she can. Because these guardians constantly come to this place seeking some sort of angel. And instead they find simple destruction, entropy. This is what Hadar, this is what the Kraven Star represents, hunger. The need to destroy, to feed oneself for no other reason than because it wants to.

You said from your vision, hunger. The hunger took the Herald. Yeah. Every Herald Hadar touch we've met has always spoken of hunger. It is an ever-expanding star of death. It consumes everything it touches, constantly growing. It has no need to feed in this matter, but it does,

because it is entropy. It is inevitable death. This is why it is the greatest enemy this galaxy, this universe faces. This is why the Emperor's will must be followed. I wonder if the Emperor's will must be followed. I wonder if the Emperor's will is out of guilt.

Guilt? You speak of things you do not know, Lucius of Eros. You have no idea of what my Emperor has done, or what he has achieved. You call him Starbane, and he calls himself Starbane, I understand, but he has many names. To me, he will always be the hero of Gideon Prime,

the one who saved my homeworld. Yes. He is the great uplifter. He has risen many planets to technology they deviant possess. He has lifted their culture. He is the reclaimer. The cost of Hadam? No, the cost is of personal freedoms in exchange

for service, for a greater, safer galaxy. Gideon Prime, I remember now. That's why it sounds so familiar. Your planet is thriving, isn't it? Indeed. It was not once. It was threatened by... We call it... I'm trying to think. A common name for it is an Abyssal Dreadnought. I call it, I'm trying to think, a common name for it is an abyssal dreadnought. It is a servant of Hadar. It is a thing it creates by, from its malicious will.

And it seeks only to consume planets. One attacked my home world long, long ago. And that is when the Emperor's great ships appeared in the vast astral space. They suffered huge losses, pulling it away, saving my world, and eventually they destroyed it. The Emperor himself was the one who delivered the final blow, inside of its own stomach. That is why I am a Knight of Gideon. It is the highest honour of my planet to ascend, to be so

martially trained, practised in magic and technology, to serve the Emperor in the manner that I do. I do not say this to preach, but to give you understanding. I understand you have been taught one thing of my world, of my emperor, and perhaps you have seen a darker side to what is necessary to control the galaxy. But it is necessary. Of that I have unshakable will.

So all that death and solving was necessary. I do not relish death in war. War is nothing to ever be celebrated. But if we do not all fight, if we, if a planet tries to hide,

tries to be independent, it weakens everything else. There are tries to be independent. It weakens everything else. There is more to it than that. If a roest was to remain free because your goddess wished it, what of the other planets in the galaxy that are unhappy with things?

Should they be let free? What if we need their troops, their resources, their weapons? What right do you have? The right to protect. Without the Emperor, the Craven Star will not stop. It will consume this world,

it will consume you, it will consume the next. It will consume the very space between the stars. It is not a pleasant thing, my Emperor does. I understand this. But I have no doubt that it is necessary. But let us put these matters aside for now and focus on the current situation at hand. Nothing has broken through your friend, so I'm assuming that perhaps we may be safe to emerge, make our way

inside the deeper city. Okay, so we return the echo to the herald. Hopefully that will restore whatever goodness is inside it. Hopefully.

I wonder if we have to incapacitate her. You do. I'll say this essentially. It needs to be incapacitated. You need to make it unconscious or dying effectively. You'll need to put it at zero hit points. Just to break the immersion for a little bit.

You don't get out of it that easy you still have to fight it in that case keep it hidden while it's still while it's still aware we don't want it to corrupt it in its wakened state we bring it to it when it's unconscious

um it's just going to float by sentry it doesn't seem to want to leave sentry's side okay good where's the pseudo

dragon with me no stayed on the ship cool sniffing out my quarters cool

what lines my quarters I'm gonna be in jail soon um which one Gideon Prime jail

it's nice I don't have jails anymore. They give you mobile phones and everything. It's pretty. It's 5G. Do you know what I like? Nobody questioned how you knew about it. I know, right? I laid it right out there. There's a mochi hair on my cake.

It's a little gift. Okay. So, how do we get the Herald to come to us then? Ideally we don't want to go to it. I mean it's a big red light flashing in the sky. Do we just make ourselves known?

Also fighting with glass surrounding us it might be quite difficult to understand where the walls are. Yeah. We need to get it somewhere open. We could leave it. There is not far from here. There is a decent place for combat.

There is an old temple, I believe, to one of your gods. Would we not be surrounded by feral guardians if we make a noise? Likely. If you wish to try and draw it to you, that will attract attention. But there are more of us now. What do we know?

If you wish to handle the herald, Dana and myself could try and hold back any others that approach. Oh, yeah. We're going to make a lot of noise. Yeah. That makes sense. Awesome. I'm okay with that plan.

Yeah. I mean, I guess let's go to the temple it's a good way to single it out for at least as long as we need to be singled out for very well come I worry for you sentry it's managed to create a pile of

guardians a throne almost as if it's managed to create a pile of guardians, a throne almost, as if it's able to persuade that what this guardian is doing is the right thing. Yeah. So, just be sure that the words that they speak, don't let them get to you. I will, thank you.

Uh, can I suggest we maybe take a little rest first? That's a good idea. A short rest? I personally would like a longer rest, but... I don't know. Eight hours? It's quite dark outside as well.

Start rolling up that nice random encounters. Let's see if they find you. What? I can roll. I can roll it. Just let me do it. Let you what I can roll I can roll it just let me do it let me do it I want to roll it

come on come on tuck up next to these killed corpses killed corpses it's all splat you want to take short rest you want to take long rest

what do you want to do what do you need Nova well if I do a short rest I get all my spell slots back if I do a long rest HP levitate, slow, and two? Levitate and slow.

Meh. Who needs them? I think my tomb's back. Eh. Eh. It's a short rest. How injured are most of you? I have 40 out of 56.

I'm tip top. I'm 26. You're about 20 down and you're... So I'm only like 10 down. You're only 10 down. Now with the lay on hands. Maximilian will speak a word. Uh-oh.

Oh my God, he's healing us. He will. What the hell? A little bit of healing. He can't do much. It's like Starbane's in you. Sentry, you are the most injured. Nine hit points back.

Oh, thank you, Agent Starbane. And he literally, yeah, you just see him close his eyes and he speaks um, he speaks like a word in an old language. Not, it's common, but it's obviously from another world. And this, you feel

like this wave of healing energy hit you. Thank you. You are welcome. If we are to battle, you should be in as best a condition as you can be are you taking some time to rest I wouldn't mind a short a little bubble

we can actually update Ayla on the situation with the messenger ring I guess she heard that and anything else that we said through the messenger ring I'm sure it was weird fragments though messenger ring Ayla is like yeah I got most of, I think... Messenger in Aayla is like, yeah, I got most of it.

Like, I think there's still some monsters out here, but most of them are leaving now. Well, I've mended the crossbar. You want me to come down? Yes, let's take a short break. Okay. Who are you talking to, by the way? Oh.

Force of the Starbane. Dannar is like, oh, shit, there's another one coming. And then Aay Ada kind of like appears fuck who's this guy uh it's okay

it's okay this is Maximilian this is Dana um they're starbane people they are they are but

are you okay with this it's well it's I'm gonna have to okay you're not okay with it but you're willing to be okay I'm willing to be okay with this yes as long as Sentry's okay with this you're willing to be okay. I'm willing to be okay with this, yes. As long as Sentry's okay with this.

They're willing to help us with our goal. Okay. And we're willing to help them with... We share a goal. He's a big guy. I like his sword. Okay. Don't...

No threats. We're, for the time being, allies. She's a bit of a feisty one, isn't she? Yes. Yeah, she's a delight. a feisty one isn't she yes yeah she's a delight let's have a little rest sure before we head up and then

figure out how to get to this temple and fight Hadar Touched Herald oh boy does it smell of corpse in this room it weirdly doesn't there's some yeah maybe the nature of the room? It weirdly doesn't.

Yeah. Maybe the nature of the room, but the smell isn't there. How many bodies are there? It's like eight, nine. Is that like a side room? But they're preserved almost, right? Right.

Do they look like eight or nine low-level scrubs? They look like a mixture of technicians or like scientists and then guards basically. Okay. Like well armed, well armoured guards. Are there any like Starbane iPads or anything around? Nothing. He already said that they were either broken or

he's reclaimed them. So Maximilian's got any, he's not going to leave the intel around. It's kind of just juicy. Like I lost all my shit on the ship. I've got to rebuild my collection. I wonder if it was the Herald that tried to come back and reclaim Echo that caused this.

Maybe it was, well, I don't know. But couldn't get through its own protection. Maybe. Could be. Unfortunately it's difficult to tell. I do think that there were more than one creature in here when I examined the bodies. They've been torn apart mainly and whatever

magic is in this room has preserved their bodies quite well. The plot thickens. I guess looking at the bodies they're scratchy, they're teary, they're rippy, right? Yeah. They're real dead boys. They're real dead. Big thing. But like crunchy dead no it

looks like lots of small things like lots of man-sized things have gone feral that's trying to be great okay it's you you yeah it's not hard to figure out okay cool cool all right so you take a short rest you can take a short rest if you want yes please why not um i think maximilian would go over to nova while you're resting oh resting I'm trying to rest here buddy I'm resting here let me just press the button I don't think I get anything for short rest I actually have no hit dice

you can spend hit dice I'm already at max you can spend your sorcery points if you want to get spell slots back but you can do that anytimeets burn all of mine nope like feats or anything nope you can spend your sorcery points if you want to get spell slots back but you can do that anytime I'm all good I think you use

cantrips main ladies I get magic swords I was min maxing that last combat and tombies um does Ayla have any hit dice left

hex stuff she's got one let's spend it why not why not sorry Katie my uh my Hadar

6 plus 4 is 10. His drive to conquer. I think they're brothers. They're not brothers. They are not brothers. And also that's weird. That was weird. Starbane is Hadar's brudar.

Brudar. Hadar brother. Don't do that that was it it was one of those moments where I started doing that and I was like this is fucking weird this is fucking weird I've committed to this now it's too late also brothers I know right what the fuck

where did that come from do you want to describe that actually you don't hit the rock by now I'm sorry Maximilian walks away no

shit it's because I'm an only child right cool so after your short rest seriously you're not no

no come on it wasn't I was literally just going to be like oh so you're Nova Vigia it wasn't going to

be anything it was just going to wind me up even more. Fuck's sake. It's my secret symbol I can do. After your short rest, make your way upstairs. Listen. Ramah is like, who are these people?

You give him the gist. He's like, okay. Let's go stop a crazy guardian. Yeah. And you listen and it doesn't sound like there are any feral guardians out there for the time being um dana goes up to your where you made the crossbar and gets a finger and you see like an intense flame kind of encapsulates it and she just threw you're like nice blue torch finger. Now you see where the lock was broken. Because there was two of them!

And it opens up, and then, yeah, you creep your way out. Maximilian actually leads you, and he seems to have no trouble seeing at night time, even though he looks humanoid mainly. The two of them lead you through the city streets to a part of the ruined city where parts of it do begin to border on the glass city. But what you see is a large open plaza with kind of broken bits of iron fencing, various columns and buildings surrounding it. But at the end, there is a kind of risen up stone platform that leads to a temple of Siaska. And you can see there's not just a temple of

siaska but century you would recognize you'd be the only one to recognize this that there is a large uh like glass stained window at the front of the temple which has miraculously survived somehow probably enhanced by magic but it depicts queen astoria of solving reaching up with a wand and siaska is touching the tip of the wand very sistine chapel-esque but she's kind of reaching the wand up her long kind of flowing hair falling down um this being the queen regent of the solving region the exalted i can't stop like in my like just stop walking for a second and just look at it. Hmm. And just... What? Take it in. What's that, Sentry?

It's the Queen of Solving. It's her. Oh, so you're... You were employed by her? Yeah. Ah. You were a servant of the crown. I was.

Hmm. I think he, like, looks up. Nods. Takes a moment. Doesn't say anything. Let's you kind of have a moment. What is the, um, what is her wand? It's just, like, her symbol, because she was a mage.

She was a wizard. She was, like, you know, that was her, like, rather than a sword, it was, like, her symbol of authority was this rod. Right. Anti-feral wand. Yeah. It's nothing. I mean, it is something,

but it's, like, century, I don't think, like, you wouldn't know the specific details of it. No. It's just her legendary... It's just what she had. What she had, like, it's a powerful magic rod,

but you don't know what it's called and stuff like that. But Queen Astoria carried this powerful rod into battle and stuff. One day. It will be mine. That's definitely a thing which you could look for if you wanted. It will be mine. That's definitely a thing which you could look for

if you wanted. It will be mine. Yeah. He leads you there and he points out, he's like, the buildings here create something of a

more defensible position. They can't reach around the back of the temple. There's a large ravine back there, which means they have to come from this direction or this direction.

Obviously, the Herald can fly, but any ground-based creatures would need to come from this direction or this direction. Obviously the Herald can fly but any ground based creatures would need to come from these directions. I can block off one of the directions with the magic circle. You could certainly try. I mean they're undead right? The Guardians and the spirits? Yes. So that's one side covered. How wide can this circle be

the main concourse is very wide wide enough concourse is about 10 feet by 10 feet right you can probably block off like an alleyway with it I can do it as a 20 foot tall cylinder could I just do it as a cylinder on its side

even then 20 feet isn't that big again you can block off like a side street with this thing at best it's something it's something and yeah you in theory i don't see any reason you couldn't put the magic circle on a wall so that the so could i cover a 20 foot distance with a sure yeah you paint a magic circle on a wall so on So on this map here that you can see before you. Sure. No. So these areas, imagine that this big stone is like a part of a building. These are like side streets.

Okay. And then you have the main concourse down there. Right. So basically the enemies can come from these four side streets or that concourse. Okay. And I can block off about two thirds of one of those four. four side streets or that concourse. Okay, and I can block off about two-thirds of one of those four. Like half of it. Don't worry too much about the map distance.

You can block off any one of those side streets. Okay. Which one would you like to block off? I guess... We're going to be here, right? We're going to be in the middle fighting this thing. So I guess there's still a chance of stuff coming from behind us, right? Or...

This side, no. Not from here. This side. That's the main concourse. The main concourse. So I'm going to put a spiritual weapon. So which one do you want to block off? That one.

This one? Okay. So that's blocked off. Dan is like, I can block off one with a wall of fire. That should keep out most of the base guardians. Glass people, maybe not. Yes, the spirits will be more difficult. But perhaps they won't come.

Anyone else got any walls? I can concentrate a moonbeam. Remember that you will likely need to focus on the herald. Yeah. I could conjure a fire elemental, I think. Yes, that would be most useful. Perhaps away from this specific area. Down the street, perhaps.

Elementals have a habit of breaking free of control. Yeah, I don't really know how much I can control. Just let it take attention up here somewhere, maybe. Yes. Or perhaps wait for the... Once we know where they're coming from, let one loose down a side street and hopefully it will be drawn away by the guardians.

That is a clever tactic. Okay. I'll take out the red crystal that I got from somewhere. Yep. I remember where you got it from don't worry. So shall I summon it now or when we know? No, I would wait until they

are upon us. Yes. Just in case we lose control. Yeah. Do you want it? Talking to Maximilian? Why, you would trust me with this. Well, we are fighting on the same side and I'm kind of, I'm stood in front of him and I kind of try and give him like a really

slow wink. My people have an affinity with fire. It will help. If you trust me. Team, you know me. Ah, you said he wasn't going to ask. Until the next time we meet.

I will use it now, I assure you. Here. Takes it, I assure you. Here. Takes it, mark it off your sheet. Puts it into a component on his belt. Very well. If you have a plan to draw her attention, if she knows you have the echo,

I imagine that will draw it. Yeah. I will take my position, and he gestures to a side street. Dana, come with. You will take on another one. We will do our best to buy you as much time as possible. Okay. I suggest you deal with it quickly.

As quick as we can. So he is going to mark off a corridor here. Danva is going to mark off a corridor here. Okay, so the entire east side is blocked by Dan. And then basically, I'm going to wait until it actually happens, but Danra is also going to create a wall of fire on this side. Nice. Okay, so pretty much every entrance blocked.

Yeah. It'll basically extend. Big old boy. Apart from the area behind us where we came in. Yeah. That's fine. Yeah. Okay. So, what do you do? this big old boy apart from the area behind us where we came in yeah that's fine yeah okay

so what do you do do you want to take any more prep Ada is like cool if we're ready do you want to position yourself

okay uh Rammer as well will actually back up um Dana because he's like listen you're fighting some sort of crazy

guardian angel woman I'm going to go with that strange-looking dwarf woman and help her. Because I don't think I'm going to be much use. Okay. Fair enough. If that's all right. Sir. I might go distance-y.

Pew, pew, pew. That's my plan. I will be within spell shot of you, Sentry. Okay. What if we all hide so Sentry is the central figure and then we can maybe jump it? It could be the surprise element, yes. In that case, should we all go up into the actual...

What is this building up here? It's the temple. Okay. It's ruined. It's partially collapsed, but... I suppose we could all hang out. You're just hiding behind the fountain. Okay.

A bit high ground. I have the high ground now! I would, yeah, generally those two side streets are going to be swarming with enemies. I would not position yourself near those side streets where they are defending. Sure. Does the temple look pretty empty?

It's empty, but it's dilapidated and it's all open. Once you're in, there's not really room to fight inside. It's like a shrine more than an actual big temple. Can I go maybe by the entrance? Just like up here? Yeah. You can put yourself wherever you want. Yeah.

Okay, so... You guys tell Aayla where to go. You guys decide where you want to go. Should we push this back a little bit? Yeah. Aayla, I believe you should... Huh? Back up sentry when you can. Okay. As soon as... As soon as I see it, I smash. bit. Yeah. Aayla, I believe you should Huh? Back up Sentry when you can.

Okay. As soon as As soon as I see it, I smash. Yes. Yes. Great. Stay within distance of us.

Okay. Sure. Okay. Sentry. Yep. I think this is you now. Okay. What do you do, Sentry?

I guess I'll just hold the echo above my head to the loft. Harold, I have your echo. You're shouting out. Yeah. Come and claim him. If you want him, come and claim him.

Nice. You're dead. Insta-killed. The glass with the flies. On the forehead. And then I guess I'll cast moonbeam as well, like just in front of me so it just makes it makes like a beacon okay oh so you're using it as a beacon okay come find that

will definitely work uh herald i have your echo moonbeam yeah it's absolutely better than lightning yeah bigger too louder lightning's louder yeah lightning is a lot louder actually i imagine moonbeam sounds like i am the moon i am the moon everybody look at the moon. Everybody look at the moon. Oh. Serious. The beam of light from the spell echoes up into the sky, the dark night sky. Only the soft multicolored hue of the cradle casts any light in this area,

and the roaring flames of the wall of fire. As you call it out, I have your echo. Mournful wail. Echoes. Moments pass. Minutes turn into nearly an hour. And you begin to hear scraping, crawling sounds of anguished cries and screams dozens of feral guardians 40, 50 of them come pouring in from all different directions

hundreds some of them slam up against the magic circles sphere unable to comprehend why they can't get past it trying to scramble up the walls several of them pushed back by the wall of flames dozen more come towards the side maximilian turns to all of you as a rushing tide of these feral guardians comes towards him he kind of gets the sword ready, slams it once against his armor, and the blade erupts into a green flame. Oh, green flame bright! He turns to all of you,

raises the sword in like a salute. Praxis far! And then he charges towards the enemies and he begins launching into it. And you know what? Fuck it, I'm starving now. Come on, right? It's so easy.

You see Dana. More of these guardians rush towards the Durgar woman, the dwarf, and you just watch as her eyes burst into, like, roaring embers. She actually lifts off the ground as her feet and body is erupted in flame, and she just... as these bolts of flame come launching out of her, scoring into the fields rammer does his best and either get close to he's just trying to fight them off like stabbing them in the back as they're distracted gun explodes he's in the thick of it but for all of you there is something

far far more immediate here we go here we go here we here we go yeah oh that's a really cool video angelic mini with a Reaper that's well size guardian thing can you put these figures there's more than just turn yes century you are immediately drawn first of all you hear the beating of these wings, these kind of pulsing energy sounds. As you see this floating guardian, her body once lithe is now almost seems gaunt for a guardian's, skeletal almost.

These tattered robes hang off of her that she didn't have almost like a trailing ribbons of dark cloth. As she holds in her hands, a staff that's been augmented now with a serrated scythe blade. And she just floats. The red eye looks down. No, destroy it. Take. Destroy it.

Take that thing away. Why have you brought it here? You, the successor. You can't be here. You'll ruin everything. No!

Rook! She points down the street and sentry more than her you see three guardians on either side of another guardian a figure and it's one you know

shit an imposing, muscular guardian with a kind of metal crown studded onto his head. Oh, fuck. Wearing the tabard of Solvin, a broken royal shield in his hands, and a

sword that to all of you appears beautiful, a mithril perfect blade, golden hilt entwined leaves and vines, as a pommel a ruby carved like a rose you don't need to make a check to know what this is this sword is a name has a name and a twin it's called her majesty's rose only two of them were ever made, both by Queen Astoria herself of Solvin and given to her royal guards. This guardian you see before you is called Rook, and he was a mentor. He was a superior in Solvin.

He is a royal guard of Solvin. And lurching, stumbling, his robe tattered, his tabard tattered as he stumbles, just like the rest of these ferals. Kill them! Kill them all! And that's when we roll initiative. Oh, shit! This is so fucking cool.

What was yours? I just rolled it into your pile. I just like putt. Oh, shit. I'll count your pile I'm so scared Her Majesty's Rose That's cool I want a ruby pommel One day It'll be mine

I'll have the wand of Astoria, the sword of Astoria Yeah, I need them all. Hex blade warlock! That really wouldn't trigger you, would it? Sentry, just seeing that thing everywhere. Maybe get the hint that Mark's trying to give Sentry a cool thing. You know what, this suits Lucy.

I think Aayla could deal with it though, right? Sentry, initiative. Nine. Aayla, which I've not rolled yet. 17. Like I was Quill. Rook. 13.

Cool. Yeah. Nova. 18. Chess piece. Lucius. 16. Where's Bishop?

Hey, maybe that's the other royal guard. Oh, shit. Oh! Are these just pawns? No, these aren't named. These are just pawns. No, these aren't named. These are just random guardians. They all look different as well. They're kind of like a mix of scouts and laborers and everything else, but he

I mean, you can tell this guy is different. Just the way he's built, the way he moves, everything about him. It looks like Sentry. It almost looks like a version of Sentry in a way. We both. The first one to go is the Herald. Oh, my God. Oh my god. Oh shit.

What did you roll? 21 for her initiative. My initiatives are always bad. Yeah, this is one of my bad ones too. Slow has been real good on this. Herald comes flying in. Has she seen us? Probably.

Okay, I was just wondering if we did that. You guys did say you wanted to hide. Make stealth checks. Yeah, she's seen me. Yeah, probably seen me. Eight. I got like two, four. She's seen Ayla. 19. She hasn't seen Lucius.

Oh, I know, Sid. Don't worry. I just want to get a little bit in. Like, we've got to wrap up in 10 minutes. Oh, yeah. We're going to take a picture of this so we can carry it on, so we can kick off a nice time. So I think that we're going to kick things off.

The Herald looks around, sees Sentry. You have brought your own pawns Yes Yes I will make them Fight for me Nova Make a wisdom saving throw GG

Yeah Mind control Or dominate mind Probably dominate mind Is it a spell? Yes Sounds spelly to me You can't spell You can sounds spell-y to me.

You can't spell. You can counter-spell. Yeah, and I have counter-spell. Do you? Do you want to try counter-spelling? Fuck it, YOLO. Let's do it. Okay, you will need to roll a d20 and add your charisma modifier as it is above third level. Okay, charisma modifier. It's fourth level. It's above fourth level. Okay, Charisma Modifier. It's fourth level.

It's above fourth level. Oh, damn. Okay. I'm casting at fourth level. Yeah, okay. You roll the d20, add your Charisma mod. Mod, not saving throw? Nope.

Modifier. It's not saving throw. This is to see if you can counter spell it. Ten. So, ten total. Okay. Nope, it doesn't counter spell it. So, now make a wisdom saving throw.

You try it. Eight count on spell it. So now make a wisdom saving throw. You try it. 18. 18. That is going to be enough, I think, just. You feel this imposing will try and drive you to act under her commands. And you almost feel your hand reaching up, almost beginning to conjure the magic. And then you just remember that explosion and Sentry's face as she was thrown out,

and that gives you the strength to, like, no, and you resist. I used the power of PTSD, everybody. It was the power of friendship. Yeah. Friends. Nova. That's a good block.

Yeah. It's your game. Oh, still me. Shit. friends that's a good boss yeah okay oh so me um and your way at the top by the temple speak from a fine hi mmm can't Nova yeah at the start of your turn can you make a wisdom saving throw yeah Has she got some kind of aura? Maybe. 18. So again, just while she forcibly tries to

get you to do as she commands, you feel this presence just around her. It's hard to focus. You start seeing Sentry as a feral guardian. You're not sure if you should attack her, but you're like, no, I know that's my friend.

It's almost like it's causing madness around you, and you're not sure who you can attack, like an aura effect around her. Pretty cool. You okay? Okay. Is this 120 feet away? I mean, probably not.

What, the dudes at the end? 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 5, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120. It's out of range. There are five spaces. Mother truckers. In which case... Nudge five forward. I'm going to...

25. Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I just heard what you said. If I go forward... You've got to go down a step. Yes, you can move. Yeah.

I can move, guys. Do you know what? No, screw it. I think just as a reaction, because she's tried to boot me, I'm going to boot her back with Eldritch Blast. Okay, sure. Which is two beams, two beams. That was caught.

Sure. 15 plus 8. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. That'll hit. 8 plus 8 is 16. The 16 will not hit. Okay. Her wings pull her to the side.

She dodges. One d10. Two points of damage. So you just graze, not even really hitting her, but causing her to kind of expend some energy as she moves out of the way. Yep. You done? Would you like to move? Can I move?

I'm just going to start going, I think, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Fell down the stairs. Okay, so you begin moving that way, yeah? Nice. All right, you hear the sounds of fighting coming from Maximilian's direction um but it is now eight years ago 10 15 20 25 30 she does not start in the aura

um the Aayla like points up in the air and is like flying she can only do that once that's the only problem yeah she can only throw it once. She's like, back up sentry.

Can she just delay a turn or something? Yeah. Hold an action. She can hold an action, but she should move first. Yeah. So she's going to move next to sentry, and then she will ready an action that if it comes within range, if any hostile creature comes in range, she's going to attack it.

Cool. After Aayla, we go to Lucius. Varian, Eloin, and Anastar. I assume I do a wisdom saving throw. Yeah, you will. Wisdom saving throw, please. Seven. Seven?

Okay. You must make an attack action against one Creature within ranged Or if it's not within melee ranged, ranged attack So this will be one of your cantrips And it will be a random creature in ranged So what's your acid splash range? 30 feet I think

What's firebolt's range? 60 feet So that's going to be in ranged So 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Let's see who you attack Wait, Nova's going to be in range, Paul's going to be in range. So one, two, three, four, five. Let's see who you attack. Wait, Lucius is... Wait, what? I've failed his saving throw. Oh, what, for like that one turn?

Make a firebolt attack... Oh, no, acid splash against sentry, please, which will also hit Aayla, technically. That's all right. Although I am spell resistant. Ten. Magic resist. Yeah, that would do the half damage. Ten. Magic resist. Yeah, that would do the half damage.

Okay. So ten to hit, misses, and then acid splash, I think you can hit Aayla as well. It's two targets. Oh, it's deck saving throw. Oh, deck saving throw. Sorry, he needs to do that. Deck saving throw for sentry.

Aayla passes. Excuse me. It's against a 15. Not 20. So you kind of feel yourself forced to make this attack Oh. Excuse me. It's against a 15. Not 20. Oh! So you kind of feel yourself forced to, like, make this attack against your allies, thinking that they're Feral Guardians or confusing them in a thing,

but they both manage to resist. Okay. And that's me, right? It's forced. Immediately take the attack. Action. Yep. You've still got movement and bonus actions.

I'm going to push myself away. And you kind of realize that you're yeah like this area around her is this swirling confusing mess does it feel better here once you are more than 30 feet away from her okay so I would yeah potentially move as much as you can seems like a real pain in the ass yeah for melee can you rush the three normal dudes basically 60 feet

okay I made this map way too big that's cool yeah that's good I like having a big map yeah

that's their whole turn as they rush forward so they're all feral guardians those look like not the ones you fought before these ones actually look a little bit more put together, like they've been maintained. And you can see that they have these arm blades,

basically like a sword that come out of their forearms. Cool, cool, cool. One day. That will be mine. You hear sounds coming from Dana, but again, I'm not going to worry too much about that in the combat. And then we go to Quillock and Kalar. We're going to get one round of combat in and then we'll probably wrap it up.

I would like to cast Hold Person on her. Question before I do that. Her wings, are they actually flapping and keeping her aloft? They don't flap. They kind of move in like a weird glitchy manner. Almost like fighter jet wings.

They kind of like... Yeah, I'll do a hold person anyway. I was wondering if that would then make her tumble to the ground. No, I've seen this before, actually. She rolled a five. Oh, really? Well, she has advantage, luckily. So that's one of her rolls. Shit.

Okay. She has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects. Not this one, though. I've seen it. So that one was a five. That one's a five. And now I roll the advantage, which was a 13. And what's I'm saving against? Wisdom?

Yes. That's a 20. Son of a bitch. Oh, my God. Plus seven on that. Yeah. Well, there's my portrait gone. You try to grab her in this hold,

and just whatever magic about her, her matrix just rebuffs the spell. It just almost dissipates it in front of you. Burned my portent, damn it. And a level three spell. Yeah, level three for a whole person? Yeah, I think so. Might be. This is the one I really wanted. Sentry. Yeah. Level three for a whole person? Yeah, I think so. Might be.

This is the one I really wanted. Sentry. Hello. What would you like to do? Do I need to make a saving throw? I believe you will, yes. She's currently, we'll say that she's 30. No, she's actually, no, because Lucius and Nova are up higher, which is why I affected

them. She's about 40 feet up in the air. Okay. So currently you and Ayla don't. Okay, okay. She'll probably get feet up in the air. Okay. So currently you and Ayla don't. Okay, okay. She'll probably go lower. Yeah, cool. Cool. I will then I will cast a moonbeam

on her because my other one's gone so I'll do another one and focus that on her. So that'll be a con 13 save. Okay. She has magic resistance so I have advantage for a 22. Yeah. You did it. Did it take half damage or? If it fails it takes 2d10 ready damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a

success yeah so it's 1d10. Yeah that's a good idea. We'll roll 2d10 and then just half. Okay. That would have been 15, so... 15 is half to seven. Seven. So this radiant energy kind of barrels down on top of her from above, and you're maintaining the concentration, but she doesn't seem too bothered. It almost kind of makes her more sinister as she's bathed in this radiant moonlight, and she just kind of looms over you all. Cue, cue, cue.

Would you like to move anywhere? I probably should, shouldn't I? I guess I'll move... I'll probably move back here a bit more. Let's go 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Maybe like there. I'll take that with me. Yeah, he just follows you.

Cool. So I'll go there. Yeah, he just follows you. Cool. So I'll go there. Can you move Rook at the end there? Move him. In fact, actually, you watch as he brings Her Majesty's Rose up, and his form seems to get very fast.

So he can dash as a bonus action. So can you move him 30 feet for me? Okay. And then another 30 feet as his move. And another 30 feet, yeah. As his move. And then... He needs to get into melee to do either of those things.

Oh, cool. So he will use just his action to dash and now basically get next to Sentry. So he rushes in front of Sentry. Can he action dash, bonus action dash? Yeah, because he Expeditious Retreated. Bastard, I do that one. He would just go forward like this.

He'd go like 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. Right in front of Sentry. And he basically like... And you just get the clash of blades as the Majesties rose and the battle acts like... And you look at him and you see this... The face of somebody you knew. This isn't just like a faceless guardian.

This is... You remember him going about his duties protecting the queen. It was admiration almost. You protected the princess. He protected the queen. But that recognition is almost gone. And as he gets close to you, this kind of distraught face, the power from his eyes is almost gone,

but he moves with rapidity and vitality. And as it kind of gets in close, as your blades are locked, you just hear, like, repeating under his breath, find the bride, find the bride, find the bride, find the bride, find the bride, find the bride. It's just endless. Just repeating constantly. Oh, shit. It needs a reboot.

And that's where we're going to end today. Damn. Oh, boy. Yeah. So next week, we will be starting in this epic combat. Oh, man. This is hard. Happy birthday to us

a lot more spooky than I thought it was going to be that's awesome we'll be back next week Kate will be back ready for this fun combat what a way to come back

deep deep in big combat thanks for watching don't forget to check out World Anvil and D&D Beyond the awesome sponsors for today's episode

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