High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #85 | Green Grass, Clean Air (Part 2)

Episode Date: September 17, 2020

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Pickaxe. Need a great reason to get up in the morning? Well, what about two? Right now, get a small organic fair trade coffee and a tasty bacon and egg or breakfast sandwich for only $5 at A&W's in Ontario. heading over with the majority of the crew leaving a few of the wolf pack uh penny um and uh leaving a few of the wolf pack, Penny and Lansian behind. You guys make your way back down towards the docks, towards the barrels, and find the tucked away little tavern with a signpost outside of a dancing devil

across on a beam between two pits. The devil's dance. Heading inside, it is just as busy as it normally is. This overcrowded, kind of narrow pub kind of vibe to it. And behind the bar is the giant, big, scarred tortle with all sorts of swords, knives, arrows, and axe sticking out of his shell with a big scarred face and as he

turns around and begins to see you, he treats you initially as if he's just a patron. He's like, what can I get you? Oh, it's you! He looks towards Century and Aayla.

Sure do remember you. he kind of looks towards Sentry and Aayla sure do remember you hello hi no fight in my arena it's fine I won't fight

I won't fight ah Raya Kamara good to see you. You ready for your fights? And he just sort of nods. He's like, all right, get downstairs and I'll get your friend some drinks. What are we drinking?

I can't remember what I had last time. Ale it is. Thank you. It's like pulling out cups and just pouring out drinks for everyone. Yeah, he basically just slides the drinks over, just like, bit of a busy night tonight. Not sure you'll find much space, but your friends are going to be fighting downstairs in about an hour.

Have they fought here a lot? Oh, yeah, yeah. Oriah and Kamara, they've become crowd favorites. A lot of people come to see them. Yeah, they come down most nights.

They've been earning some good coin. Nice. Making a name for themselves. Who's won the most nights? Oh, Oriah, definitely. Oriah's been holding her own. Tumble and Two Coins,

they've been doing pretty well, too. They've kind of got a nice bit of a rivalry going. doing pretty well too. Kind of got like a nice bit of a rivalry going. But she's used to fighting they call her Oriah the Pirate Queen as a sort of title.

Very good at balancing so hard to knock her down. Nobody's managed to yet. Keeps a steady footing. That is a better name than Aayla the Appaler and whatever we call Sentry. Oh no, Sentry

has become infamous now. Her little tactic of getting real big. It's not one that people are going to forget any time soon. But still, enjoy your drinks. Just no fighting in my

arena. Yep, we won't get fighting. Good. Alright, now get out of here. I kind of just goes back and starts serving drinks to other people. Okay.

Would the Dale Geld shop still be open at this time? Is this a night time port? Yeah, this is the kind of place where most places don't shut until the wee hours of the morning and they don't open until quite late as well.

So yeah, you can certainly go and try. Yeah, I'm just thinking while this is going on like i don't want to rp it out but like can i because it is just literally a shopping trip can i nip out and and return to that guy and buy the air elemental thing um sure sure i mean it's not really a role playing it out but when you step inside um the dale guild company is this kind of branch of merchants guild stores um very well decorated this one has a lot of elaborate um purple um silk embroiderments like a curtain across the windows it's all very been beautifully sewn and made and inside everything is kept pristinely clean um and you can see the whole the shop is moat is pretty much empty at this hour

but stepping inside as you enter there is like a little musical jingle um that plays not quite like a bell but almost like a bird song and stepping out from behind the counter you see this ember elf this obsidian skinned elf uh with absolutely no hair but amethyst stones instead of eyebrows and around their eyes, dressed in these very fabulous purple and gold silks. Just runs a hand over his smooth head.

Ah, yes, I remember you. Yes, you are the Agonassi. You had some friends with some very interesting things. I've not seen you in some time. Oh, yeah. We got caught up with a little bit of business, a little bit of travel.

You know how it is. Do you have anything of interest to sell, perhaps? Actually, I do. I have, oh, gosh. But, I mean, first of all, I was just wondering, do you still have that air elemental... You know, we talked about this project I was working on, and I needed essence...

Yeah, I need an essence of an air elemental. I have a scroll of conjure elemental. Most scrolls I can develop myself, as long as they do not go beyond a certain level of arcane power. I can describe them myself. Conjure elemental is a spell that I know I can create for. You decide what kind of elemental you summon. Okay.

You make that choice when you choose a spell. But yes, yes, I still have those in store. I have a few other little trinkets and things. Tell me, does your friend still have that scroll of the sequester spell? It's been on my mind. I think he does.

Oh, wow. Please do let them know that my offer still stands. What was your offer again? Just remind me. 7,000 gold. 7,000 gold. 7,000 gold, yeah. Okay, I'll pass that along to them. Oh, while I'm here, actually,

I don't suppose you have any, nothing too special, but just like any trinkets from Vortensar or anything? You know, like a brooch or you know, just... Vortensar, Vortensar, Gnassi City, Trinkets, we're not really a Trinkets store or company, my dear.

We mainly deal in weapons, armour, magical relics, spell scrolls, potions, that sort of thing. Let me see, let me see. Oh, I did, one thing I do have, I do have in stock, quite recently, actually, it was not here the last time you were here, I do have a carpet of flying that was woven in Vortensar, not really a trinket, much more considerably powerful than such a hearse, and then that, very, very expensive, difficult to make,

was made by several of the mages and elementalists within Vortensar. Oh. I was just looking for something like a bit of jewellery or, you know, a brooch or something like that. Sorry. I'm not a jeweller, my dear. I'm not a jeweller.

No, that's okay. Thanks for... You're welcome. The scroll. Oh, yes, the scroll. The elemental scroll, please. One of those, please. Thank you. It would be 300 gold. That's fine.

I'm sure it's... He nods. He turns around and he kind of lifts his hand and you see a large book. Well, not like a book, but portfolio, unclasps, unlocks, sigils dismantle from it. It folds open and the pages kind of ruffle through the air and it slides out of a pocket, like a thin canvas pocket.

This piece of parchment flows out, rolls itself up. A little ribbon comes up, ties around it. A seal is pressed on it. It floats back down into his hands. He places it on the counter and then gestures for you to make your payment. Okay. Yeah, I guess I'll dish out

300 gold. Thanks, guys. Don't worry. It's fine. Financier. It's fine. It's all good. It's all good. We've got 300 platinum. You've got plenty of platinum. No, you cannot have the 300 platinum. How much is platinum?

How much gold is platinum? It's 10 gold to 1 platinum. So 30 platinum. Okay, I will get rid of 30 platinum then. Oh, marvelous platinum. How exquisite. Yes. Thank you. How exquisite. Yes. Thank you.

Anything else that I can interest you in? Potions? Necklace of fireballs? Headbands to make you more intelligent? That sounds amazing. But I'm probably... Pearls of power? Need to bring the other team back because I think they'll shout at me if I buy any more.

But yeah. Thanks! certainly. But, yeah. Thanks. Really nice to see you. Any magical ingredients, reagents, or equipment? Oh, definitely. The Dale Gell Company is at your service. There's definitely, yeah. That bird boy, he needs, yeah. I need to, yeah, he needs some stuff.

Diamond dust or something? Diamond something? Diamond dust is something that I can supply. I may not be a jeweler, but diamond dust is a component in spellcraft. How much is that? Diamond something? Diamond dust is something that I can supply. I may not be a jeweler, but diamond dust is a component in spellcraft. How much is that? I can provide diamond dust. Depends on how much you need.

I only have a certain limited amount of supply. Well, you return and tell me how much you need and I will sell you as much as I can. Okay. Thank you. It's been really nice seeing you again, by the way. I've missed you. Yes, you too, Agnesa. Bye.

Bye. If we see his face as Nova leaves, he makes a kind of like a face, like a who? Like, nice seeing you again. Who the hell are you kind of face? But he just goes back to his work.

But yeah, sure. And then you make your way back to the team. the rest of you you have been enjoying anything of watching oraya basically win a lot of these um very seasoned fighter being well ranger rogue um who's able to like not for you not people off their feet but also keep her own footing she's very very good at the devil's dance um kamara proves that she is actually very surprisingly good in combat as well um doesn't fight uh with um any armor she wears no armor the only weapon that she has is like a weighted chain um and she often will just jump off cling to the walls wrap a chain around somebody and yank them off the pole into the water below and then hop back up onto the pole

using her wolf-like claws to kind of dig in and things like that. And yeah, the whole atmosphere is very lively and electric. The crowd loves seeing the fighters kind of test each other and wrestle. You notice that there are a pair of two Goliath brothers that go at it um and they just wrestle they don't fight they don't use weapons they basically balance along the pole grab each other's hands and it becomes a pure test of strength of over who can throw the other one into the water um and it becomes surprisingly tense despite no real movement um every sort of like inch uh quill you would probably pick up on the idea that they're absolutely playing into it and they'll purposely like start leaning one way

and then they'll kind of tense their muscles and hold them in place and then they'll go the other way and then the crowd gets really riled up and then they'll kind of like hold it there for a second and then there's a lot of like kind of showmanship going on pick up on that she'd be like oh my goodness he's going to do it he's going over no he didn't i can't believe it absolutely okay yeah

but yeah the evening definitely goes definitely goes to definitely goes to... It's a lot of fun. I said about that evening. I didn't have anything to say. This evening went.

It went. It depends how when do you want it to go. You guys could escalate and be like, let's get wasted! I mean, at least I'll just enjoy watching Uriah and Kamara fight but

you big big big bird beak like I don't even like bore it you don't drink like a bird yeah yeah yeah Nova hi Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nova. Hi. Hi. I don't suppose they had any chests that give or take 5,000 gold, did they? Oh, I didn't ask. But the chat, the Ember Elf, he was very curious about your sequester scroll. 7,000 gold offered for it.

Like, yeah. Really into that scroll. Really, like, yeah. 8,000? I don't know. What? Huh? Numbers.

I don't know. What? I've had a drink. I think someone's put something in my drink. I think I ordered a milk and it's definitely fizzy. Nobody's put anything in your drink. You just fizzy a milk and it's definitely fizzy. No one is fannying in your drink. You just like it. Has the milk gone off a bit?

I don't know. Has it fermented? And I'm... what? No point in you or anyone saying milk. What? It's tall milk. It's fizzy. What? Tall milk is fizzy. He's going to give you gold for the scroll.

He wants gold scroll. He also has diamond dust, which you need for the, you know, when we keep falling over and doing the bad thing. Definitely pick that up before we leave. Let's say five, so that's, what is that, 1500 gold's worth? That's a lot, actually.

It depends. How much do you want to cure for restoration of that level? It's a lot, actually. It depends. How much do you want to cure for restoration of that level? It's useful. Yeah. Don't forget, if you want to cast... Don't forget, Tom, it might be worth you looking at stuff like Raise Dead and Revivify, because they also need...

Yeah. Oh, God. He also has a flying carpet. Zoom. Zoom. How much is a flying carpet. Zoom. Zoom. How much is the flying carpet? Should we get one? Sounds useful.

It was money. Yeah. Nova, I have a relatively serious question to ask. Ooh. I'm the quartermaster. Why do you have all the money? I don't know. You keep giving it to me.

You just, apart from the stuff that... No, you pretty much keep just taking it. No, but what? Like, because nobody else seems to write it down. You're our quartermaster, so why don't you make notes about the inventory that you have? Like, but you don't, so I have to write it down because otherwise you forget.

I make notes about all the other stuff. Just take stock. Off camera. it down because otherwise you forget i make notes about all the other stuff off camera um okay how much money did you spend at the shop uh some money how much is some is that a lot because i know that if you're turning into lucius and you're starting to lose the value of money because we have a lot of money now then just just you know just so you know, before you react to my answer, it was so that I could finish off your wing so that you could fly again. So don't shout at me. 300 gold.

Oh. Oh, okay. I was expecting you to come back covered in jewelry or, well, to fly in on a magic carpet, to be honest. I was close. I was very close. Flying carpet. He had me there it was all the elements that i enjoy in a carpet it's a carpet and it flies and it was from vortensar um so yeah but hang on one of the elements you love about carpets is that it is a carpet

yeah what's not to like about a carpet especially a carpet that flies oh it's got all my favorite traits yeah it is what it is yeah and it flies what's not to love about it oh sure point okay um okay anyway Should we watch the fight? While you guys are having this conversation and watching the fight, you do pick up on some errant conversation from the people around you as well. You overhear

you overhear one old sailor, like a crusty old maybe looks like maybe a wild elf actually, kind of wild elf sailor. You just hear them kind of chatting with their friend. You pick up the conversation halfway

through just like, I was getting too dangerous to sail past the coast of Meerskirne. I started shipping off a lot of the people heading to other places. The storms are just too violent, too bad. You can't even get too close to the edge.

It's one of those bolts hits you. You're at Ghana. It's not natural, they say. It's beyond just... Even the druids can't control it. It's gone beyond their power now. All they can do is get their people to somewhere else. Trying to convince the other places, the sky cities, to assist them,

but so far nobody's come to help. Let's kind of pick up on that conversation. The person that they're speaking to is just like, I had no idea it was that bad. You say we can't even get near the coasts. A lot of them are preventing their saying turn back. They've got patrol boats all around the outskirts

sending people away. They don't want them being hit by the storms. They seem to fade away as they get away from Voxar, but they're growing in strength. You guys hear that? Yeah.

Mieska's getting worse, much worse. I need to stop everyone from going anywhere near the place. You also... I'm getting less and less fond of the, you know, Aayla lightning rod idea

just just as an FYI because that sounds like shit and we better get to it as soon as possible before you say no I think she's already saying no whilst you guys are having this conversation there are other things that you pick up from the

tavern as well you also hear I'm going to summarize these ones. You hear more people talking about the airships going missing. Seems that it started about a week ago. Whole airships just vanish. No trace, no sign of the crew. Just never arrive at their destinations. They leave, never arrive.

Nobody ever sees them ever again. Completely vanished. The other one, the other one the other rumor that you hear is people talking about the dragonborn you actually hear this from a dwarven warrior

looking type yeah yeah they said oh I seen them dragonborn legions just pulling out of wherever they are and heading back to their bases, their ships, them dragon ships of theirs, all over Rois. They're pulling out of contracts, canceling them early and taking all their forces. It's like they're preparing for something.

It's like they're preparing for war, stockpiling weapons and reagents, buying up whatever they can, wherever they can. Seen a few of their dragons flying around too. Patrolling the skies. Ain't normal. Don't normally send the dragons out flying. What makes you think they're going that way, Sarge? I don't know, boy.

Maybe it's remnants stirring up. Either way, we ain't gonna leave people in... We ain't gonna leave people. We'll still be there. Dwarven legions ain't going nowhere. And they kind of all raise glasses and stuff like that. Okay. Uh.

Ah. Interesting. Yeah. We should make the most of tonight, I suppose. It looks like it's not going to be long until our little list starts adding up. Yeah. Okay.

Okay. Yeah, we need to figure out what they're preparing for and find out in a way that doesn't... Well, I can't exactly ask them. They're just going to get suspicious of us even more that we're trying to figure out their plans. But

that's something to consider. We need to figure out what they're thinking, what they know as well. Exactly. It must be bad if the Dragonborn themselves are pulling back. Yeah. As for missing skyships, that's something else. We need to figure out

where they're going or who's taking them. Whatever's happening to them. Hopefully not more Hadar-style teleports. Mark, are the rumours, like, are they saying like, are they just saying, like, all over Aramis? Or, like, a specific location the the the uh savon and dwarf that was talking it sounds like that he's talking more about like and you know

this about the dragonborn when you spoke to them they kind of referred to this but you as players might not remember it the way that the dragonborn kind of make money and keep their society going is they basically act like mercenary companies they go out they act as bodyguards they protect borders that don't have enough soldiers it sounds like that from all over arois they are pulling them away and going to their own home bases you've seen one in korsari you've been to one drug war base they have several across arois they've got three of them in total. Pulling them there. In terms of the airships going missing, no location just was general

sort of like, yep, they've just been going missing all over. You hear a bunch of different people talking about this because it's increased trade for the sailing ships. So boats have been getting a lot more work because the airships, nobody wants to fly airships at the minute. So it means that the sailing boats have been getting more and more work. the airships nobody wants to fly airships at the minute so it means that the the stadium boats have been getting more and more work so you get like mixed reports of some people

kind of like saying like oh it's because you know ethereum's running low and then other people are like no no it's sky pirates sky pirates are on the rise no no no it's those storms from voxar that's what's preventing them from flying like it's all these different things that you keep hearing um one crazy guy old crazy neil in the corner is like i'm telling you it's all these different things that you keep hearing um one crazy guy old crazy neil in the corner is like i'm telling you it's they're being sucked up into space and vanishing that's what i say they're being taken beyond the cradle by starbane he's back or a red and now the crazy guy in the corner is echoing what I just said. And the crazy guy in the corner is always right.

So, yeah. There we are, sucked up by a giant space squid beyond the cradle. Okay. There's some madness there. They're putting magic in their eyes and then sending them back to Erois to spy on us. That's what they're doing. Gotta watch out for them.

If they got green eyes, they're a spy. An alien spy. Hoo-wee! Okay. Taker just is like, Shut up, Neil. Just throws something at him. Crazy Neil. Neil's, shut up, Neil. Just like throws something at him. Oh, crazy Neil.

Neil's got a point though. Could legit be something to do with Starbuck. I wish you were a crewman. You're better seer than me. Are we the crazy ones? Maybe this is all just a hallucination. Those are all things that you overhear throughout the evening anyway. Cool.

Okay. Are we hearing any just usual gossip? Yeah, you know, you hear the usual about sort of the ruler of the port hasn't been heard from for a few days. Apparently he's attending some big fancy meeting and is preparing for it. You hear just general sort of chatter. You know, oh, I haven't had any deliveries

of my Solarenze wine lately. And stuff like that. Somehow everything we hear is related to us in some form. I'm starting to think the world revolves around that. Kind of a big deal.

Kind of a big deal. I just want to hear about the lady down the road. Oh yeah, there's that stuff as well, but I'm not going to mention that stuff because A I have to think of it and B it's not important

so no I'm not mentioning it okay and also our quest log will get huge if we write down yeah I'm already up to

like 13 points so please no more yep if you get past 15 I'm afraid you have to delete some quests before you can yeah yeah

we'll get rid of yeah we'll get rid of the Tacit Dives, fine. You can just go pick it up again later, right? You can just go back to the quest giver and re-pick up the quest. Actually, Valley of Storms is a very low level quest. The reward is going to be garbage, so we're just going to delete that one. Previous zone story. Anyway, what do you guys want to do man johan johan he's gonna be so pissed yeah yeah or dead either way yeah you could be like johan we back

we'd be back with you soon we could do another tom hazel cast sending to 15 NPCs that Mark has to try and remember. Yeah, let's do that. Can I work more on flock together? Because I feel like this is the last bit, right? Actually, no, we have to kill the elemental, don't we? Yeah, you have to summon the elemental, kill it, and then you have to make the last

one check? If it's only one arcana check left? Enchantment research, whatever it was. Just gluing the elemental glitter to the wing. Harold! Yeah, Harold.

You need to pick your child up from daycare, Sentry. Pick your child up from daycare. My child! My golden child. Are you asking a riot about Harold? Or do you want to just go back to the blacksmith? Because Raya did say that she would check in on her and stuff, yeah. Yeah. She looks at...

Oh, Sentry, I'm so sorry. I forgot to mention to you. Harold's fine. She was repaired by that blacksmith. Arm and leg are absolutely fine. But after you didn't come back for longer than you thought, she made the decision that she said that she wanted to get a start on what you discussed, that there was no time to waste,

that there were guardians who were running out of time and that they needed to know that you would be back for them. So she's made her way. She found passage. I gave her a little money, but she said that she didn't need that much and that she was going to start having people go to Horizon, like you had discussed, that she would bring them to Horizon for you, which I believe is where your meeting is. This meeting is being arranged, right?

for you, which I believe is where your meeting is. This meeting is being arranged, right? She said she would meet you there with many, many guardians to help. Okay. Yeah. That's where it is. I have to remember this place.

It is. She looks at you. I didn't feel I had the place to stop her, Sentry, but she seemed adamant that she was eager to get a head start on this task. It seemed very important to her.

Okay. I wish there was a way to contact her. But... Quillik could contact her. Quillik could contact her like he contacts me perhaps yeah what else dude I'm sorry welcome to having sending in a game where

you fucking love all the NPCs it just God Mark stop making loveable NPCs what's wrong with you it's a diverse world God, Mark, stop making lovable NPCs. What's wrong with you? It's a diverse world. Yeah, it just reminds me of, this is going to show my age, but back when mobile phones started becoming a thing and there was that one kid in your friendship group

who had one with actual credit and you're like, can I just borrow your phone so I can call my parents? I just need to text blah, blah, blah. Right, yeah. I haven't got any credit on my phone. Can I borrow yours? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't got any credit on my phone. Can I borrow yours? Yeah. Yeah.

I think that's what I should do. Credit. Yeah, start charging. Yeah. Sure. Nova can start charging for potions and everything else. Century can charge for Lay on Hands. Yeah.

Do we want to start? Yeah. Do we want to buy any potions, by the like or anything i feel like do you want to go to the store and pick up on sort of the like the diamond dust and stuff like that and the diamonds do you want to do all that well do you want to do that or do you want to do when uh when trotty is back in case he won't he'll be like you do what you want! That's what Trotson is like. Yeah, he literally never spends anything on himself, so.

Yeah, I think we're good. I was just trying to be nice. He might want a thing. I know, I know. No, he never wants anything. Yeah, what do you guys want to do? The rest of the fights go well? Oh, yeah, yeah,'s all i'm not gonna

role play that out that was a little bit of flavor thing um it's like i said yeah it's all it's all fine no problems okay no murderous satans in the night oh thank god tranquility so when we get are we going back to the airship then uh well you you can't sleep on the airship, really. I suppose you could, actually. There'd be no reason you can't. It's just not as comfortable as staying in a nice luxury inn, for example. But you could just go sleep on the ship if you want to. It doesn't cost you anything.

I think Ayla probably will, because we haven't been on the ship in ages, and she missed the ship, and she wants to stay on the ship. True. I think she'll probably... I think she'll make the ship and she wants to stay on the ship. True. I think she'll probably... Yeah. I think when you get back, Araya might

be like, I'm just going to go ahead of you a little bit. I need to do some things on the ship. And when you arrive back, she's coming out of the captain's quarters and is carrying a few things like she's been staying in there while Lucius has been away

just making sure everything is ready for everyone I'll just go down to my room and it was so strange why would rise things be in my room?

I'm sure it doesn't matter. Maybe she wanted to borrow something or something. Where's... Was it Vis? Was that the name of the dragon? Stupid dragon, yeah, Vis. Yeah, Vis. It's not on the ship. I guess, no.

It's not on the ship. We're doomed. Okay. So, It's not on the ship. I guess not. It's not on the ship. It's not on the ship. We're doomed. Okay, so... I guess with all the Dragonborn heading back... I don't know what. No, it's all right. It doesn't sound like an all right sentry. I'm worrying!

I'm worrying! I'm worrying! I'm worrying! But, okay, look, if this is gone, then they've headed back with the rest of the Dragonborn. So that's one weight off our back, I suppose, maybe. Maybe we're not their concern anymore. Maybe they've got bigger...

Are you talking about the pseudo... Are you talking about the little dragon quartermaster? Howard sort of like wants to know. Yes, well, no, what did you do, Howard? Please, no, don't tell me.

I haven't done anything, quartermaster, I promise. He flew away. I just, I couldn't stop him, I can't fly. He just, one day, he just took off, just flew away. No, there was a small

part of me that might have thought that one day you thought he looked delicious and then, you know, you're the cook. I wouldn't eat a dragonmaster quill, there was a small part of me that might have thought that one day you thought he looked delicious and then, you know, you're the cook. I wouldn't eat a dragon, Master Quill. I'm a halfling, not some... I don't know. I'm not going to eat a dragon. Okay, good.

But when did it fly off? How long ago? Oh, maybe like two, three, three days ago, I think. It kind of stuck around we found it trapped in a closet it kind of broke its way out yeah we found it in there and then it sort of lingered around and then when you didn't return I think after you know a couple of days ago it just decided it wasn't gonna wait anymore and it just flew off did it take anything don't think Don't think so, no. It was only little.

Don't think it could carry that much. Okay, no. Did it look really mad when it flew away? I mean, it's hard to tell, Miss Century, if a little tiny dragon is mad. But if I had to guess, I would say yes. It was kind of all snarly and hissy and kind of made a little angry face. That's not

irregular, to be fair. It's not, but if all the dragons are like, you know, getting ready to, you know... Are we the bad guys? They think we're the bad guys. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Oh, I'm sure that's not true.

Everyone knows you're not the bad guys you're all heroes wonderful heroes that's what you all are yeah that's just a point in perspective isn't it um oh don't make my head hurt miss nova i can't deal with it i've had too much ale

of course you have bathtub i've always had too much ale i'm a halfling Of course you have. Bathtub jail. I've always had too much ale. I'm a halfling. There's not much of me. Half of me is ale right now. He's laughing. He's having a good time.

I don't know what's going on. Alright, anyway. Goodbye. Goodnight. Drunkenly stumbles back downstairs. No. That's what he's singing. Do you think

we need to talk to the dragon people? Because I feel like... No. I feel like I feel like if we don't clarify why we were gone and what we actually did

which is very good for this world they'll be even more pissed off at us. Let's imagine this. Let's roleplay this. Let's roleplay this conversation. Hey dragonborn. Can I be the dragon? I'll be Nova. You be the dragon sentry. I'll be Quill. Hey, Dragonborn. Can I be the dragon? I'll be Nova. You be the dragon sentry. Okay. I'll be Quill.

Hey, this is Nova from that group of strangers that you kind of let go under kind of like sort of like a little bit of a house arrest type situation with a little spy on. Nova, real quick, this story is not very realistic. You're calling them, but I'm the caller.

I can't really get invested in this thing. Wow, okay. Get to it. Oh. Tag! Here's my quartermaster. Hey, what's the plan? You preparing for a war? Tell us all the information about this war

that you're preparing for, or this escape or whatever. You know, your best friends. Tell us all the information. What's going on? preparing for or this escape or whatever. You know, your best friends. Tell us all the information. What's going on? Where are you holed up? What's your secrets? Where are your legions? Our dragon heard you talking about Starbane

and now we think you're allegiances of Starbane and now you're all going to die. That's accurate. That's very accurate. See, and then we do the bit where we go like, hey, but actually no we were teleported out into space by hadar and we found starbane's planet and we were on starbane's planet and we have starbane's uniform and we have starbane's uh plans and ships and

recon details but we're not with starbane by the way we store starbane on the way back in and we got past starbain's fleet yeah yeah no they just let us through they just let us back in here but we're not with starbane hey give us a second we're just going to tell you you're all going to die bye bye hang up okay actually i like that stick with it i spent a lot of time around dragonborns yeah it was good thank you

I get what you're saying Nova but also last time we spoke to them they did a magic thing and made us all speak true words and stuff and not that I had anything else to say, but they could tell. Yeah, they didn't actually ask me anything

and I sort of just stood there silently looking at the ground. Yeah, that's probably a good thing at the time. Yeah, because I had the ILS and the ILS was kind of... I'm aware. Yeah. But now we have a lot of true things about a lot of good stuff that we've stopped from happening. Huh?

Yes, don't we only just, all we have to back that up is our own words. I mean, do we have any concrete proof that we can show them? Like, do we have anything that we can say, look, we've brought this thing, like the Tassadar plans. Could we say, look, you can have these. Here you go. You can have them like do we have anything that we can say look we've brought this thing like the Tassadar plans could we say look you can have these here you go you can have them too here's a copy of them that's a good thing isn't it that we share that sort of thing with them I wonder if

we could convince them to stone the Tassadar with us I mean if they hate Starbane maybe you know but I think if we just say oh no we're really good you should trust us I mean, if they hate Snarbane, maybe. You know? But I think if we just say, oh, no, we're really good, you should trust us,

well, they won't, because we're just saying things. Bright side thinking, what if they've been contacted by that group and they are already storming the Tassadar? I mean, that group doesn't know that Erois exists, so I don't probably know. I know the Dragonborn exist, though. I doubt.

The Planetsar would know that Erois exists. Well, or at least not believe Starbane's propaganda about it. Imagine that. I'd like to know. Maybe. i'm just saying we got a lot of things that we've done that are you know hey good proof that we are doing doing the thing good and the the nuns saw that we did good things and we could always bring Thalia and she

could be like, hey, I'm from space, what they're saying is true. And then, I don't know, I'm spitballing. I'm thinking that we should maybe try and get them on our side. Maybe the whole we've been in space where Starbane rules and survived

is not really the approach. How did you survive? And a lot of that. Well, we found allies though. The Dragonborn are complicated. I just don't think that we should

give them any further reason to, you know, be mega pissed at us. Yes. Both of those things. Yes. Hopefully they're just super busy bringing their forces back together that they kind of forget us. And we're just a footnote piece of paper that just gets lost in the stack of all the paper that goes along with regaining all these troops together. Because they're totally going to arrest me.

Lucius, you're the captain. Why? Yes, but it's very polite to make sure that everyone else has finished speaking. The nuns said, the nunnies said that we'd been gone for ten days, yes? So how long until the meeting with the Sky Prince and all of the other leaders? How long until then? So they said five weeks so probably

three and a half. Okay, so that's some time maybe to go and get the Tiangong Shard. We could try and do that. And then Miska is getting much worse. Yeah, that's something i think that needs solving before it spreads out

too far if it does at all oh and don't forget that for the for the dragons if we did want to speak to them i mean we spoke to palador is a god of a rowis they must believe him i mean even palador said that no one knows about the Sonship, that he is just a feeling of rage and burning and energy. Could you tell him to tell them that we're all fine? Could you tell Hesper to turn up and be like, no, these guys are cool. Maybe.

That's how that works. We'll put a pin in that idea as well. Okay. Alright. Speaking of, you can remove the pin that was killing this. Oh, I didn't write that down oh good it's not even a side quest it was just like

a nothing it's like a codex entry just me as much as I really didn't like them and I think I'm going to be arrested by the dragonborn in prison for the rest of my life if they ever see me again I didn't really advocate the killing of tiny dragons no good okay no well in that case tiangong shard that's just a little bit north of us

slightly further north than that that's uh that's mesquite yeah no where are we yes is it not north south the tiangong sh. The Tiangong Shard's south. It's between Giselle, Voxer, and the Hawkstone Archipelago, which is south. The other one. I was looking the wrong direction. Yeah. So we can do those two. So we have a plan.

But we should... Quill, you should probably do some shopping first for dust and things and yep i'll pick should we also contact thalia because the very fancy magitek bike and the armor and things like that do we want to bring them to us? I kind of, yeah that's a good point, yeah I quite like the bike, what if this is just an idea, I could give it to Edea and then maybe

she can make lots of them I like that idea Edea should also definitely look at the Twin Star and figuring out what could be done with the technology on there too Could you message her and tell her to come to Horizon when we go

for the big trip or should we just pop along to Gusthaven, we could make a little day trippy of it, go to Gusthaven have a little spa, speak to Adea meet Thalia. We do need to check in on the El Anasto estate. We need to figure out if the, you know, the hidden underground thing...

Yes, yes, yes, we could do that. We'll have several weeks. We could always do that after getting to Tiangong Shard before the Valley of the Storms. Wait, I'm getting confused. What's the order of all this again? Tiangong Shard, Valley of Storms, and then some other stuff.

If we see Gusthaven, we'll go straight there. If we don't, then... Okay. We do. I don't... Maybe... Tiangong Shard, number one. No?

Yeah. I think that's the closest. Something needs to be done about the dragon, because something's off. I think dragon needs to come somewhere in there. I know that it's a bit of a weird one, but I just don't think it's good if they're all getting ready for war and they think that we're the bad guys too. We could write a lovely letter. guys too we could write there's a big letter right you know because then we can send it and then do other things whilst it's being posted

no no i'm just throwing out ideas i just you know I thought I'd just add to the conversation fair enough it just takes a little while for that to happen but Quill could just talk to I suppose

I just don't know that we really are priority number one for them right now they seemed so busy when we left them. All of their military, if they're to fight us. They know something, and we would like to know that too. I could. But they can definitely help with the Tassadar.

Hang on. How many charges have I got on the eye? None? Oh, God, I don't know how many days it's been either. When was the last time you used it? Against the Frostwatcher? Didn't you? Oh.

Did you use it the Frostwatcher? Yeah, I think Gratz was the last. No, Gratz was the last time you used it, I think. Yeah. Oh, no, it was the Frostwatcher because you contacted it to say, how can we speak to Paladol or how can we get past Paladol? Oh, yeah. That was the frost watcher because you contacted it to say how can we speak to palador or how can we get past palador oh yeah so it's been a day

no that was no that was that was that was that was it that was right so in that case it was which means that yeah it would be coming up on recharge for the eye.

Okay, well, there you go. That's one way of solving the dragon problem, is I just ask the right question, and we figure out what they know, and then we'll know it. That's how the eye works. Well, should we say that it just recharges now, and then you can do that? Okay, if you want to.

Yeah, sure. You can roll the charges for the eye. How much has it recharged? Oh, three. Yeah, sure. You can roll the charges for the eye. How much has it recharged? Oh, three. Oh, baby. Oh. Toy. In that case, I'll use one. And the question will be...

Oh, God, there's so much we need to know about them. Are they angry at us? Are they going to attack us? Are they going to jail us? Are they going to jail us? Are they going to blow us out of the sky? These are all questions that are running through my head right now in very increasingly loud successions. I could just ask, why are they bringing all their military?

Starbane. They're going to fight Starbane. I'll tell you that one for free. I just want to know specifically if they're going to kill us. Yeah, but they have a reason. No, I want to know what they're doing. They're preparing for Starbane. They said when we saw them. Yeah, but why are they preparing so suddenly

for him? Because of the leader's meeting. We told them Starbane was coming and they knew that Starbane was here. Yeah, but why the recent panic? Yeah. Something has happened in the last like three days.

I think that's a good question. Alright, what's the question, Tom? What are the Dragonborn military preparing for? Okay. You ask the question. You see thick cloud and fog cover your vision and a crack a burst of lightning and in a flash answers come to you what are the dragonborn preparing for

best way to convey the answer you would see your vision shifts and you race across eros you cover oceans and desert in the blink of an eye and you find yourself within the war room of the vivex the draconic battleship where you in fact first met many of them. The large dragon general and many of the dragons in human form stand around a war table upon which is a map of Eros. And you overhear them speaking. This marks the fifth airship that has been lost in the last few days, combined with the Artifices' reports of the Cradle's energies and the visions from the Star Worm. It is inevitable that Calus's forces have already, along with what we know from the outsiders that we spoke with, it is inevitable that Starbane's forces are here on Aroes and are engineering something.

They are planning something to a grand scale. We still don't know why they are targeting these airships, but it is connected. With the news from the Valley of the Storms and the disappearance of the individuals we were watching, especially the Air Ganassi Nova Vigia, we need to take precautions, General. We need to start recalling our troops and preparing. We should expect an attack from Starbane within the next perhaps decade. We need to start preparing now.

The other leaders and nations of Verois will become fearful if we begin this. We must be cautious. We are to meet with their leaders in the coming weeks.

We must be prepared to convince them of these threats and these dangers. Continue your investigation into the missing airships. Have the Magitek Artifices continue watching the cradle. I will continue to commune with the Great Star Worm. But I concede to your point. Let us recall the legions.

Give the answer that we have decided to analyze our contracts. That we have the recent attack on the Vivex has caused us to to realign our internal security. But yes, let us prepare.

We know that Kallus is smart. Kallus is dangerous. His magic will. If he has a way to enter Aroes beyond the cradle, I have no doubts that a man of his intellect and his will is already, his plans are already in motion. And keep an eye out for those outsiders. Vis has reported that they went missing. We have no idea where or whom they are speaking

with. And then the vision pulls back and away. Okay, so some good news. It's precautionary for an impending attack. More good news, it's mainly

tied around the airships going missing, which is something that we intended to investigate anyway. Oh, I'll add that one to the list then. You should have added that. You should have definitely added that one. We made our list before we found out about missing airships.

Okay, but anyway, the airships going missing, they, the airships going missing, they think it's almost certainly Starbane related. And it kind of makes sense. Also, more good news, they commune with

the Star Worm or, you know, that thing that we saw on the way in the Shifting Streets. That thing likes us. Hey, that's our friend. That's our buddy. Exactly. that thing that we saw on the way in the shifting streets hey that's our friend that's our buddy so that's a way in

if they communed with it did it tell them about us you got the sense that this was a vision from the past this was a past vision yeah I mean if they're actively communing with it then they must have some kind of update, but not at the time. But that's a hell of an ally to have on our side to convince them.

Oh, well, speaking of convincing them, they still don't really feel very good about us disappearing out of nowhere. Well, why would they? Yeah. But it's all precautionary. An impending attack in what they believe is in the next decade. We should probably

let them know the discontent. We gotta talk to them. Tell them to talk to the Star Worm and say that we, you know, helped it. We defeated the big scary eyeball for it that'll do it i think yeah they also still intend on going to the meeting in horizon to convince the other leaders i think it's best we go there in person and join them

with this in this meeting. We're on the same side. That's a good idea. True, but I think we should talk to them before it because that meeting is 10 out of 10, a death trap. Speaking of, are we even invited? Yes, well, kind of. You technically are invited by the Sky Prince. The Sky Prince offered him to he would basically

act as your uh person who like brings you along yeah like sponsor yeah he would basically be like nope they're here with me you're his guests basically for this meeting um I think we should tell the dragons what happened because

if they're wondering why we disappeared and we tell them and then they talk to the you know the the worm good things yeah we'll do that I just think also we we should go with them to this meeting as well oh yeah they probably want to

hear more from him in person as well after I let them know I will try and let them know. Century, also? Yeah, so before we left into astral space, I asked Herald to send the Guardians to Horizon so I could help them. And Herald's already gone to tell the Guardians to come to Horizon.

In hindsight, I believe that now might not be a very good idea if this could potentially be a Starbane death trap, as we suspect. I feel like we need to redirect Herald. Potentially. I mean, it depends on the attack if even if it is a death trap we're still not certain of this remember um although it would make sense for him to but depending on the attack maybe having armies of guardians could be a good thing. But obviously something we need to let them know about rather than just

housing them on the horizon and then saying here's a sword, fight right now. Yeah, this is what I'm thinking. But you're their leader, like,

an unquestioned leader as well. If you give orders, they'll follow it. True. I don't know if it's a good idea or not. I'm having doubts. I was confident at the time and now that confidence is slowly waning away. I want to believe that it's the right thing to do.

Is it the right place to go? I'd say sleep on it. Who knows? We've just come back. We've been through one heck of a journey and we've learned so much information about what's happened in Aroah since we've left. I'd say, honestly, Sentry, sleep on it.

And tomorrow, go with what your gut instinct says. We've still got time we can action whatever you need us to action thank you yeah I think some rest would be good I agree sure anything from anyone else

I think so I think before we leave we'll pick up some stuff from the shop yes i think all of that definitely i don't want to be turned to stone again and not not be able to come back um but yes i think that well we're all back now and we should get ready um and perhaps we can sell uh the storm chaser out we'll get everything ready in the morning and then we'll meet up with thalia and then perhaps we'll go after uh this shard of tiangong and then from there after we've recovered that then we'll decide what to do next how about that yes okay yes Okay. Yes. Plan. That sounds good. All right.

Well, everyone, have a lovely night. I'm going to get in. I forgot that I left all my jammies, my pea jammies here on the ship. So I'm going to go put my pea jammies on. I'm going to have a lovely cup of tea. And then I'm going to enjoy a nice night in my own bed. Yes. Good.

That's a good plan. yeah in that case i'm gonna go and get a snack before bed century do you want a warm plate yes please okay on it i love the way that when you say that it makes it sound like century's gonna eat to the warm plate like that's before bed oh lovely warm plate um yeah if you go downstairs howard drunken howard is making like a late night snack for himself he's making like a fry up in the in the galley he's he's like making a fry up he sees a he's like oh hello miss ailer i'm just making myself a little nighttime snack. Would you like some? Yes,

definitely. Thank you, Howard. Lovely egg sandwich. Yeah, that's great. Extra warm plate for Sentry. I'll put one in the oven for her. I'll ask them. Hang on. I'll messenger ring everyone and be like, anyone else want anything from the kitchen? Nova, do you want a sandwich?

Cup of tea, please. Hot cocoa. Hot cocoa. Gwilt? Gwilt? No, I'm good. I need to go through all the stocks, stonks, real quick. Figure out what has the shit in it.

Nice. I will get the various things and take them to the various people yeah Howard helps in his drunken state but yeah and you guys enjoy your first long rest and night sleep here on Eros

because well hold on one secondy there for me Tom Hazel because Nova Vedia as you drift to sleep your vision begins to change and the dream

takes on the form of an impressive cathedral standing inside it you've seen a cathedral like this once before on Elysium. The purple banners of the Valkyrian Empire hang from the balconies and before you is an enormous gate, a large circular gate.

Outside you can see a world that seems oddly familiar but you've never seen it before every which way you look out of this cathedral in one direction you can see fiery slopes with gouts of flame and slow drifting lava in another you can see

giant floating chunks of grassy rock and hillside one section appears to be a great lake can see giant floating chunks of grassy rock and hillside. One section appears to be a great lake that stretches on for miles and miles. And the other one is a rocky desert with great mesas.

And then you hear a voice come from behind you. Welcome back home, Nova Vija. I trust that your trip

was enlightening. And that's where we're going to end today's episode. Oh boy. Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Mark. Thanks. Oh, he's been waiting. Thanks.

He's been waiting. Do you know what? I really thought that was what you were going to do. I was like, I bet you. Of course. I bet you. Of course.

He's going to cliffhanger this sucker. Yeah. Good to be back. Lots to do. And this was one of those episodes which was a right let's think about all the shit we gotta do and then make a vague plan but we have a vague plan we have at least a plan for the immediate future you've been gone for a very long time yeah you need to catch up with a few npcs i'm sure that next week tom will have 50 million sendings that he wants to do um no i think it's uh i got a couple like one or

two okay nothing wild oh actually we'll have a think maybe four yeah we'll have a think between now next week um of anything you want you guys to do stuff you want to buy things that you want to kind of sort out conversations you want to have have a think about that and and next week of anything you want you guys to do, stuff you want to buy, things that you want to sort out, conversations you want to have, have a think about that. And then next week we'll kick that off. And then go search for this. Oh yeah, because it's D&D Live next week. Yeah, I forgot. So two weeks time. Have a think about what you want to do.

Lovely cliffhanger for two weeks for you, Kim. And yeah, thanks very much. We'll see you on Thursday. Bye. Bye. Thank you, guys. Bye.

Thank you.