High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #88 | On Wings of Storm (Part 1)

Episode Date: October 19, 2020

The Stormchaser charts a course for Myrskyr and the Valley of Storms while Nova finishes Project Flock Together! 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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Use the link in the podcast description to try out D&D Beyond for free. Last time on Erois. Having returned to Erois, the party head off in search of a nearby Tiangong Shard for Nova. They track the Shard to an island of frogmen who attempt to sacrifice the party to a frogmoth, but defeating the frogmen and the frogmoth is only the prelude to a greater danger. The island begins to break and fall apart, and it is revealed to be the back of a giant dragon turtle. Enraged, the dragon begins to thrash and dives underwater, and with a blast of steam breath, knocks out Quill,

and Aayla, Lucius, Quill, and Sentry are left stranded in the water, waiting for their airship, the Storm Chaser, to rescue them. Nova uses Tiangong to dimension door to the airship, and then creates an arcane gate for her friends to escape through. But sadly, Lucius is bitten by the dragon turtle, and suffers a terrible critical injury, a pierced lung. Sentry manages to get Lucius onto the ship, and their medic Grey Lano is called,

but things look desperate. As the party escapes the dragon turtle, they struggle to save Lucius' life. After a failed divine intervention, Quill produces a sequester scroll that they'd been saving, and uses it to place Lucius in suspended animation until Nova can ritual cast a spell to save him. And that is pretty much where we ended last week's episode,

with all of you taking a long rest. And during that long rest, there are dreams. Oh. Quilek. Oh. Oh. You feel wind, smell the burnt air of lightning, and thunder rumbles through your chest.

Everything is a dark grey fog. You feel no ground beneath your feet, but you can sense broken earth, destroyed villages around you, sundered mountains, and many, many dead. A light begins to appear in the grey haze. A desperate, faint, blue and white light. A form like that of a dragon that flickers briefly to become a man, and then vanishes.

A spear takes its place. Its head is twisted in a spiral and three blue gemstones flickering with stormlight sit beneath its tip. Its haft is wrapped in loose cloth marked with runes that dances as if caught in a breeze but then you feel something else in the gray fog slithering things with red eyes their bodies covered in spikes and blades they hiss and shriek reaching for the spear a woman with iron wings flashes in the dark like a shadow created by a burst of lightning her face is cold and void of emotion but she smiles a thin red smile over snake-like fangs the spear pulses with power and suddenly all is white. The grey fog, the creatures, the woman, all blown away. Leaving behind only a man with angelic wings.

His hair has gone grey. One of his eyes is now blind with cataracts, but the other still sparkles sky blue. He smiles softly as he turns towards you. It's time, Quill. You must mend what I broke. Save the one I could not. And the dream ends. Aayla.

In your dream, you stand on the storm chaser's deck though it is empty you look out towards a wall of gray clouds and vicious storms the lightning cracks and thunder booms but it seems far away it seems almost to be listening to you what do you do? what do you say? oh who's there? the lightning and the thunder rolls once more but no answer

comes but then you see flashes The lightning and the thunder rolls once more, but no answer comes. But then you see flashes. You see a flash, a world of green fields and rugged rocks. A house on the edge of the coast, made of wood and shields painted in tartan colors hung above the door. The trees nearby are huge and mighty the cliffs dangerously tall and imposing elves red and blonde haired with tattoos like your own spa by the house whilst children run through the woods laughing a bear cub playfully chasing after them

there's a pause and then another flash the world is now dying the cliffs break away crumbling into a boiling ocean that has turned ink black like the void a terrible red light fills the air creatures of malign flesh and purpose shriek as they fight in the air the house is burning the shield of the tartan colors lies in the ground a broken hammer beside it above Valkyrian ships fight the monsters as the ground begins to crack and shift around you, collapsing in on itself. There is another flash. You stand on the storm chaser once more, but it is not empty. Behind you stand your allies and friends, the ship's crew, and dozens of wild elves you have never met. Some wear your colors.

Some wear Valkyrian armor. But you know that they are not your foes. Another peal of thunder echoes from the thick wall of grey fog that stands before you. The storm calls. And the dream ends. Gah! The rest of you sleep soundly, although uh still the previous day's events haunting your minds but you complete a long rest you wake aboard the storm chaser uh what would you like to do

man lucius sleeps soundly. I think that through the exhaustion and the medicine being prescribed to him, Lucius does not dream. It is a relatively easy sleep. You wake up feeling a little sore in the chest, but, yeah, otherwise fine, pleat. I think Sentry would go and check on, like, Lucius and Quill to make sure they're both okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think whenry would go and check on Lucius and Quill,

just make sure they're both okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think when you come in, whether Lucius is awake, I leave to trot, but Grey Lano is kind of tidying up the medic bay. You can see that his chest seems to be fine. There is still this terrible scar, kind of, you know, the flesh has literally been ripped and torn apart around his chest no amount

of magical healing will reduce the scar but it's still there uh likewise for quill's face which still has this terrible scarring all down the side of it but yeah they both appear to be fine yeah i feel like if you go and check on qu like, I'm not even in the room like you find me stood in the room watching Lucius so when you go and check on him I'm already there just to make sure it was close, Century, it was really close that time

too close I mean, saved by a scroll that we almost got rid of. We almost threw it away. And what would that have meant? No captain, no Lucius. What would the storm chaser have been then? Hello?

Hello? How are you feeling? Are you both okay? Is he in my room? Are you feeling? are you both okay? is he in my room? are you okay? um yes I think so

are you okay Quill? oh this it stings yeah it stings but uh I'll get used to it I got used to it a lot worse it's uh your. I mean, is there scarring? Is there any pain?

Is there anything we can do? Do you want us to get you anything? Yeah. I'll be okay. You know, we've been through a lot of scrapes, haven't we? Nothing we can't walk off. Hopefully. Yeah.

So anyway, what's next? What's the plan? Oh, I mean, do you want me to get everyone else getting over an aler in here? Uriah, maybe? Lucius looks under his mattress.

Maybe we'll get ready, put some clothes on, and then have a meeting in the captain's quarters or something like that. I don't know. Map room. Okay, okay.

If you're good to go up there, yes, yes, we can do that. Greylano is still in the room. The medic, the sort of athletic half-orc woman turns around and she kind of nods in Lucius' direction like, yes, the captain's fine to leave for a while.

Do try and look after yourself, Lucius. Don't push yourself too much in the next 24 hours. After that I think that most of the healing should be done. The spell has taken care of any of the extreme dangers but I do just want to keep an eye on you so

try to be take it easy for the next day. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Is my door unlocked nowadays out of interest? Well, this is the medic's chamber. You've been in the medic's quarters. They took you

here and basically... Oh, wait. Sorry, I thought I was in my beddy. No, we had you brought here so I could keep an eye on you. But I'm happy for you to sleep in your own chambers tonight. Just wanted to keep an eye on you for the first night

to make sure there was nothing we didn't fix with the magic. Thank you. Thank you for your efforts. All of you. It's no easy sacrifice losing such a potent scroll like that. It was worth the cost you would have done the same for all of us I know you would have

you don't need to thank us you thought quickly and I appreciate that there was no hesitation Grey Lano just kind of puts your clothes on the bed or like whatever you weren't wearing and then she'll head out and just say

like perhaps we should give the captain a bit of privacy to change okay as she says that like yeah the door's gonna open Nova's at the door Nova's gonna stick her head around and then it's seeing everybody awake jump on the bed like goes to grab you to stop you but misses like she literally tries

to grab you before you jump on the bed like no but the chest yeah just like you know I'm like Lord of the Rings when frodo wakes up and all the hobbits are there that and they jump up on the bed and then she's gonna she's gonna bounce on quill as well and like hug quill and be like oh oh your face your face is it okay are you okay are you okay are you okay are you okay are you okay century are you okay is everybody okay everyone's okay everyone's it was gonna like be the Aragorn in that scene and just like

stand at the door standing at the door yeah nodding and smiling yeah love it I'm here but I'm not gonna

not doing the hugs yeah yeah I haven't I'm pipping it up in this place I haven't had a bath um

I probably smell but thank you I don't care I don't care I'm very much awake now. I'm so happy. I'm so happy you're okay. Miss Nova, I appreciate that you are excited to see the captain.

Let us give the man a moment of privacy to get changed, perhaps wash himself in the basin, and then we can resume with the celebrations, yes? Come, all of you. And she's starting to try to motion everybody out of the door like come on um okay okay okay i'm just plucking around quill now i'm just like i'm like i'm asking cool if he's when are you okay are you does that hurt yep yep yep a little it's getting better getting better when you are all outside when gray line kind of gets everyone outside she will turn

and say captain there's a wash basin for you to clean yourself if you want, and your clothes are all here. Just take a moment to get ready. She shuts the door and then gestures to everyone else like, I wanted to speak with you all privately away from the captain. I am concerned of his mental state. This was a very traumatic thing for Luciusus to go through i understand that you have all faced death and danger before lucius that would have been very traumatic and we know that

he is uh from a an environment that is not particularly hard i want you all to keep a very close eye on him. Just make sure that he is in... that he does not dwell on what happened. He is back. He has opportunity in life ahead of him. But I am concerned. I'll keep an eye on him. I'll keep an extra eye on him in case.

Please do. It may be that my concerns are unfounded, but I'll keep an eye on him I'll keep an extra eye on him in case please do it may be that my concerns are unfounded but it was a very difficult thing that he went through this is no sword blow that is healed by magic he was suffocating multiple times

we don't know what effect this suspended animation had on him was he still in pain was he aware of anything just watch him closely and then she will nod

and then she makes her way off and leaves for you guys to meet up with Lucius afterwards okay so And then she makes her way off and leaves for you guys to meet up with Lucius afterwards. Okay, so next steps. Next steps. We have Tian Gong Shard. I think after everything that's just happened,

you and I, we have to have a conversation about this wing. We need to get this wing fixed. I cannot deal with this anymore. I know we've been putting it off because we have so many other things and i kind of left everything here when we went off into space but we need to fix your wing this needs to be done today no questions we're fixing it today it's done okay yes i mean do you have what you need have you have you put the effort into the rest of the things? Is everything there? I don't know if I still know how to fly. I really think we need to keep moving towards the Valley of Storms. I have a really bad feeling.

We can find it on the ship. It's fine. We can find it on the ship. It's fine. Look, I calculated. I did the maths. I did the statistics. I calculated.

I did a kind of scenario in my head. I ran the tacticians. And it's fine. If we all prepare and then I summon it, we can literally... How can I say this delicately? Subdue it without it being able to do anything. So we'll be fine. And that's all I need, is I need air, elemental dust, and then I can compose the whole wing.

And Quill, you are amazing. You're adaptable, you're intelligent, you'reill, you are amazing. You're adaptable. You're intelligent. You're smart. You're quick. I know you have doubts, but I don't doubt you. And I know that you worry about not being able to fly, but I saw you with the fly spell, and I think you'll be fine.

And I can adjust things. I can make adjustments to make it easier and better and faster. I can do whatever you need. Okay. Okay. Yes. I mean, that sounds wonderful. I just don't want to let you down, Nova. You've put so much time into this, and if I can't... You will never, ever let me down. Okay. Okay.

Then let's get the air stuff and put it on the wing? Is that what you said? I kind of tuned out with all the tech stuff, I'll be honest. I mean, I could show you all the technical diagrams, but yes, Quill. Let's put the air

stuff on the wing and you will fly well just throwing it out there that we are about to do something else that uh the crew have been quite probably traumatized from seeing their captain almost die quill is severely scarred is now the best time and you know that i like to beat the crap out of stuff like number one activity to do but shall we just calm for just like a day keep going take it on board, maybe take it off board to not traumatize the crew anymore. I just wonder that they're a bit, probably. I think this crew might benefit from some occupational therapy. They're all welcome to subdue it too.

How do you subdue air, Nova? You know your hammer. Take your hammer and whack. And what's to stop that from just pissing off the side of the flying ship that we are currently occupying?

If we... I did the calculations. It's fine. I did the math. I ran the scenarios. I ran it all out. I kind of worked it all out. It's fine. If we all prepare to get a hit in, it has no chance. Oh, God, I feel really bad saying about that. It's fine. Okay. Okay.

I mean, I think either way, the course should be set for Valley of Storms, right? And maybe even figuring out how we can set up this thing that I saw in the vision, Ayla, if you know what I'm getting at. I think you already had that built. You want to... Yeah, I do. I know what you're getting at, but also I have a really bad feeling that things are worse now.

Have you had anything else from Hesper? Anything else that might... Because I had a little bit of a moment thinking about things and stuff. Just in dreams. No, not with anyone. Just, you know, visions of terrible things happening. Lots of my people around me, then not there,

then you guys being there, and the storm. I feel like the storm is calling me there, but I don't know what to expect when we get there. And I think that I'm worried, Quill, that we've left this too long. Then we have to solve it as soon as possible. There's nothing we could have done. We couldn't have got there sooner. There was too much stuff in the way.

And if I can get rid of any fears, the dragon that I saw, I believe it's the spear that Hesper told us about. I saw it in the vision while turning into the spear. So, I mean, it's not a dragon that's going to chase us and fight us the moment we, you know, get into the place. So there's that. I mean, yes, we saw...

The dragon is a spear. It's three gems, kind of got some runes, but a little bit wispy. Tiny problem in the fact that the spear is a dragon quill. Oh, I mean, Nova's sword is an all-knowing intellectual powerhouse thing now.

I mean, we carry around living weapons all the time. Correct. There you go. Thank you, Tiangong, but still, dragon. Dragon spear. Highly unlikely. Tiangong, but still dragon. Dragon. He's getting highly unlikely.

Hang on. Interesting. He said Tiangong said more than one word at a time. Correct. Watch this. Good morning, Tiangong.

How are you feeling today? Intelligence still difficult, but capable of more. Hello. Hello. Wow. Trot, by the way, feel free to just have Lucius be there. I'm assuming you got changed and came out of the door.

Sure. I just realized. Bottling up the rest of his attire on his way in. Yeah. Well. Pushing his shoe. So, what's the plan? Valley of Storms.

Valley of Storms. Right. So, how do we do that? We just fly in there and tie a rod and absorb the lightning? I mean, honestly, I can somewhat take the lightning. It doesn't hurt me as much as it would hurt you, but it still hurts. And I don't know, if the storms are getting worse, I just, you know, if I pass out and stuff, I might really need you guys. And I'm all for, you know, taking one for the team,

going down with this ship, quite literally, probably. But I have a concern around the fact that it's been a while. Me and Sentry will be there at all times to watch over you, to give you any healing you might need. Sentry was a spell pylon thing at one point as well, remember? And that got us an invisible ship. So if anyone can do it, you can. I wonder as well. Tiangong, you mentioned before that a huge

amount of magic energy could heal you, could make you whole again. Would you be able to help Aayla maybe dissipate some of the lightning and channel it into yourself? Difficult to determine. Depending on Storm's

nature might not be magical. In addition, would be more like creating clone than repairing self. Wait. Zhang Gong's saying more words now. Correct, Captain Lucius. Teng Kong's saying more words now. Correct. Captain Lucius.

Intelligence has increased 300%. 300? That's so many percents. It's an honour, Teng Kong. Thank you all for assisting Nova yeah I was going to say of course this is because of you you see this bit in Tiangong and I point at the gold streak

that's you that's you healing Tiangong Lucius only glances at it and looks away again so uh anyway let's focus on the task at hand Lucius only glances at it and looks away again so anyway let's focus on the task at hand yes what is the plan

what's the plan from the team are you just going to set sail for Mjölnir in the Valley of Storms how far away is it that's a great question Quill you estimate I'm assuming you guys make your way up to the maps and begin plotting routes and things like that you estimate your current location is you

are in the sea between giselle and voxar two continents the hawkstone archipelago is also nearby to reach mere skier um and the valley of storms will take around about three to four days. You're probably about two days kind of across sea and then you'll start getting close to the continent. Probably more like three days. If you wanted to head elsewhere, obviously that is going to be longer. But to get to Mierskir in the Valley of Storms, about

three days. Okay. How long a detour would it be if we stopped somewhere to buy you know say some materials to cast like cure injury again where would you like to go to pick those uh materials up uh well i guess where would have uh 500 gp worth of rare oils powder made from crushed diamonds and mushrooms and a drop of liquid ethereum i don't think nova knows the answer that question i think that you know a major settlement like a big city um or a major trading post would have that uh the nearest one you know there are two ones i would say you would probably know nearby it's porter savrano where you just came from

um and imixan which is a big city in the continent of Giselle, but that's going the other way, away from Mirskir. That's quite a detour. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, I guess I'll share that with the group and say, I don't know if we want to consider, I've already used up my ingredients to cast Heal Greater Injury. I don't know if this is something we want to consider

going into the Valley of the Storms. Being prepared in case Innova just kind of fades into awkward silence. I mean, the Valley of Storms is... It does like to injure. Yeah. It's always worth having the supplies

we need to help each other. Well, it's about two days to Porto Sovrano and then that you'd be kind of probably add an extra day if you wanted to divert to Porto Sovrano where you just came from I think Century just asked like how

urgent do you both gesturing to Quill and Ayla how urgent do you think travelling to the Valley of Storms is right now? It's something we've put off for a very long time. It's something we should have done immediately, I feel. It's worsened a lot. It's getting worse, much worse. Then again, a day? I don't know.

There's no point in us not being prepared to deal with the worst. I think Starbane, well, more to the point, Zarkira, is planning something, and giving her more time means worse situations in Merskir. Can you contact Johan?

I can try. Maybe ask him what the situation is, tell him that we're on our way? Yeah. Sure. You can cast Sending. He hasn't reached out to us, so let's see what Sending... Let's see if I can reach him. Yeah, I will cast

Ascending and say clear skies. We're on our way. What is the situation in Merskir? Is it safe? Okay. Is this the whole message? Yeah, that's pretty much the entire thing.

I know he's only got 25 word response. Well, you don't get a response. There's no response from Johan. You wait. Time passes. No response. Huh. Uh-oh.

Okay, so... SpaghettiOs. So, um... Here's my suggestion. We go now we don't wait a day we don't delay any longer a greater injury

it's important but something that could be solved later I think we need to go now I'll do whatever I can to help anything I appreciate it okay I'll do whatever I can to help. Anything. I appreciate it. Okay.

Yeah, so just plot a course and head straight there? Is that the plan here? Yeah. Well, find a decent point to enter into Mirsky, right? Like, instead of, you know... The thing is, Misk is a coastal continent. Like, you approaching really from anywhere is not really going to make a difference where you come in from.

The mountains are all on the other side of the Valley of the Storm, so you don't have to worry about passing over mountains or anything like that. You're coming in from the coast. You have three days, so assuming... Do you want to try and summon the air elemental on the ship

and fight the air elemental on the ship? Do you want to do anything in three days? Cast any spells? Otherwise, we're going to race through them. Otherwise, we're just going to be like, bam, bam, bam, three days go past. Yeah, I'd want to get this wing done. Sure, okay.

You can just basically... Even if it's... You don't necessarily have to do it on the airship. You will pass over small islands. There's not any people living on them they're little bits of rock um you could just like land nearby summon it on there and then fight it there or if you want you could summon it on the deck um it's up to you nova's up for doing it wherever but leaves it up to the rest of the crew to argue

over whether or not we summon it on the deck or like she's done the calculations she's confident it's fine and we can keep going if you've done the calculations I'll do whatever you need whatever what was I doing in your calculations I'll do that subduing it

okay everyone's gonna fight guiding bolt like literally yeah the top level guiding bolt the thing is is and this is what kim's referring to so nova this is me speaking as nova for a minute if you don't mind kim nova's plan is that she will summon the air elemental whilst everybody you guys ariah the crew is stood around it with readied actions of when the elemental appears I cast my most powerful spell I attack it recklessly

I divine smite it at the top level I can and because it's surprised you'll all have advantage on your attack rolls as will all the crew, as will Araya I'm not even going to run the combat because I've done the maths and if everybody does it even with even with bad rolls you have advantage this thing is going down like this thing doesn't last a single

turn it's dead like level six going level six chromatic orb divine smites from century all of the crew with longbows ariah lantian howard like everybody just like throwing spots just like with a frying pan you know throwing a pot at it yeah this thing will die so they're like nova for the sake of speed, will say Nova convinces everybody. And it just is. Yeah, it is destroyed. Before it even has a chance to react, this thing is destroyed. Is it a scroll you got, wasn't it, Nova? It was a scroll of 100.

It was a scroll, yeah. Yeah. So the scroll burns. This kind of swirling torrent of air is summoned. And just spells and hammers and swords like come in tear this thing apart and it just it's a clam it is reduced down to it's reduced down to like a pile of uh kind of glittering dust and a very small orb like a almost like a pearl um and nova scoops that all up and then trundles back down to a workshop

to finish the wing i'm assuming um go on trot go lucius in the the heat of everyone just kicking off and when it all settles and you got the orb lucius is gone okay okay he looked like he took part but then he's just not there in the circle of death okay it's not a circle of death we subdued it uh where for for the dm's point of knowledge uh and the audience's knowledge where does lucius go he despairs to his quarters okay just quite shuts quite shuts the door and we don't see him. He basically bails out on casting the spell and it's essentially an anxiety attack of some sort.

Okay. That he's dealing with. Hmm. So in the chaos, yeah. I think Quill would notice though. If you can want to give me a stealth check for Lucius, but Quill's passive perception is very very high

I guess he would try and hide I feel like I'd be even with my massive passive perception my gorging massive perception I think I'm too focused on the air elemental when I see the orb it's kind of like that's flight for me

so I'm kind of too focused on that. Yeah, and well, I was going to wait to see what Trot rolled because if Lucius rolled like a one, I'd still say, yeah, Quill is still going to notice. But with a 20 stealth and you would technically get a penalty because you are focused on a battle to your perception. Yeah, Lucius gets away without anyone noticing. Without anyone realizing.

Yeah, Nova, it will take you probably two days so the wing will be finished just before you reach Mere Scare it will be reached sort of the day before you actually arrive or like a few sort of like half a day before you arrive in Mere Scare and it's going to take up most of your time to work on

what about everyone else? could I real quick do a divination? Sure. Read it out. What's the subject? So I have to sacrifice something appropriate to my religion worth 25 GP, but it could be a page from a Hesper book. I don't know. Do you have a Hesper book or i don't know i don't know do you have a do you have a do you

have a hespa book page worth 25 gp in your inventory i have a sequester scroll which i should remove from my inventory um yes yep yep what did i tell you thomas hazel about spell components with a cost i said if you want to cast them from now on you have to have them he said no more Mr. Nice DM. How much would you say a feather from my wing would be? Nothing. It's worth zero. What about like

20 of them? Paint it gold for you. No. No, absolutely not. You've got like a gold holy symbol worth 25 GP to Hesper. 100%. You've got 25 GPp of rare incense sure go for it but what you got what would it be like if i wanted to gather material for this right this spell like if i want to buy it what would i buy i don't i think that's where i'm confused what does it say an

item or object worth 25 gold dedicated to your god yeah 25 gold feathers like 25 gold bird caught a little silver statuette or a holy symbol or a prayer book worth 25 gold something like that

you have to have a thing now if you've got something in your inventory that is worth some money that is connected to you in some way yes feathers from your body no things like if you had a spyglass spyglass is worth like a thousand gold that could be used how much is a feather fall token worth that's quite a lot that would do i would know i would say that that would work. It is worth... I think they're worth like 100 gold or something,

I think I charged for them. That would work. I'd say that that's connected enough to sky and air that it would count. What about a scroll of identify, first level? Yes, he's the god of magic. I'd say, again, you could make make a you'd have to do like a little ritual to be like oh i bless this scroll in hesper's name this is now the scroll of hesper

but like i'm arguing with the gods like yeah it's to do with you because knowledge you know and spell no it's just you have to connect it to hesper in some way so performing like a small rite to kind of bond it to hesper is is enough. I'm actually going to get your inventory. I'm going to look at your inventory right now and just see if you've got some. Also, does the spell say it consumes the item? It does, yeah. Okay, it does.

Your quarterstaff, your prophet's quarterstaff, that would count. Yeah, but I like cartography tools. Yeah, no, sure. count um yeah but i like cartography tools yeah no sure um i mean the scroll of uh of uh whatever it was identify i've i've got like the components to cast that ritually anyway so i don't really need it um sure so yeah i'll do that and i want to ask uh does johan meet us in the valley of storms and what does the spell say is it like a yes no cryptic answer or is it a ask a single question concerning a specific goal event or activity to

occur within seven days and you offer a truthful reply the reply might be a short phrase a cryptic rhyme or an omen ah excellent okay so you perform a small ritual on the deck of the storm chaser uh painting on runes of hesper to the ends of these scrolls and kind of consecrating it in hesper's name and then you channel the energy of this divination spell and you watch as the scroll turns to spectral feathers and is pulled up and picked up by the wind scattering to the sky you hear Hesper's voice carried on winds whispering through your ears from very

very far away the spirit of the storm will meet you past the great wall okay cool that works for me that works for me sure just want to make sure he's not you know toast no um and if in the future it might be worth when you are a big city going and buying like you know some small statuettes or like symbols of hesper for such a spell in the future little action figures of Hesper. Sure. Anything you like.

As long as it's worth 25 gold. I told you guys. I was like, I'm going to crack down on this stuff. I'll buy some sheep jewelry from Hot Topic that's just feathered necklaces and stuff like that. That's fine. As long as it's worth 25 GP, I don't care.

As long as it's in your inventory as well. Cool, alright. Anything from anybody else? I think Aayla would probably... We'll do Aayla, then we'll do Sentry. I think Aayla would probably try... She would probably communicate just to Quill what her dream was. I don't think she'd communicate it to everyone because she feels like Quill kind of understands those kind of dreamy type things and she would let him know everything that she had

heard and the the visions of like the her village being destroyed and um uh people in valkyrian armor and other elves that are wearing my tartan behind me in the storm calling she'd probably explain all of that to quill and try and see what he thought that meant because in her head she's just a bit worried that it's a terrible omen but also confused if there's anything else she should be doing like should should i be should I be gathering people? Where do I find them? Do I need help for this? I can use my eye.

If you want me to use the Eye of the Storm, I don't know. Maybe when the magical-ish lightning is coursing through you, maybe it will unlock memories. Maybe that's what it's linked to. Maybe it will be something akin to Alfheim, I assume, is what it was. I think I need to gather allies. Maybe not for this, but just in general, I think I need to... The wild elves need to gather. They need to rise against him. They'll listen to you.

If you're from this clan of so much more power than theirs... Why would they listen to me? And that's what it sounds like. Why would they listen to me? And that's what it sounds like. Why would they listen to me? I'm just a random elf, the same as they are. There's nothing special about me. There's so much special about you.

Are you kidding? No, I have a power, but... You see the lightning? The hammer? You're indestructible. There are other elves who have those powers there are that we've seen them why would i be the one who they would care about i don't even like talking to people people suck they don't need someone to talk to. They need someone to lead them. If anyone can, it's you. No, that's someone like...

Sentry can lead the Guardians. That's something like... I'm not... I just hit things and hope for the best. That's what I do. The Wild Elves look for strength. I can't lead a big pack of people. Ugh.

People. Maybe not right now, but maybe one day. Maybe one day you'll have to. Ugh. That's more scary than, like, that's more scary than, like, being hit by a whole bunch of lightning. I think I prefer to just die that way. We won't let that happen.

Me and Century won't let that happen. Me and Sentry won't. Speaking of Sentry, Sentry, is there something you wanted to say? Sentry wants to go to speak to Grey Lano, try and get as much medical knowledge from

her as she can. Spend some time training and stuff? Yeah, and learning about like human like humanoid anatomy and all that stuff and like learning what things do okay she prepared for a young child but she's never had to do anything i guess kind of surgical and like too intense there's always been other people to do that for her ah i get you um is century already proficient in medicine as a skill um let's have a look i have a plus two in medicine but you're not proficient in it i don't think so no that's fine no so it

will take um so you sit down with gray lano and i was like yes of course century it'd be useful to have i know that quillock can heal with magic as can you, but sometimes we cannot heal everything through magic. Magic is good at restoring energy, sealing minor wounds, dealing with infections, but sometimes injuries are more complicated than that. I can begin to show you what I know, but I don't think we'll have time to complete your training before you reach your destination.

It will take us perhaps a week, perhaps slightly longer to fully train you in medicine. But I can definitely give you some things and I can begin to train you a little bit. Yes, I think that that is definitely something we can do. It will be hard. This is knowledge that I've gained over many, many years. But I think I can speed track you through a few things, teach you how to sew a wound or deal with a damaged organ for a little while.

Combined with your own natural healing magic, I think that you should be able to deal with most things. Watching you help Lucius, it was amazing. It was terrifying, but it was amazing. I wish only that I was able to do more. I feel that my own knowledge was lacking there. All I could do

was give him brief moments to breathe, but I think I've been studying a way to help with that more. If something like that happens again, I think that perhaps next time I'll be able to deal with it a little bit better. But yes. Well, let's begin your training.

Let's begin over here, and she takes you over to the thing. And yeah, over the next couple of days, Century, you're going to be preoccupied with Grey Lano. But what we'll do is it will take you a week to become proficient in the skill. So what's your current proficiency bonus as Sentry? Let's have a look. It should be at the top of your sheet. What would that be?

It's just called proficiency bonus, I think. It's normally a round initiative. There's like a little box for it. Oh, plus four, there it is. Plus four. Okay, so in a couple of days, we'll say that you get to add half of your proficiency, so plus two to medicine checks. And then when you complete the training,

you'll get the full proficiency in the skill. Awesome. So, yeah, just do a manual extra plus two for now, but then when you complete it, take that plus two off and mark it as proficient. And we'll figure a way to do that on the character sheet. But, yeah, you've got an extra plus two to medicine. and yeah that's that's how we'll run it basically is you representing you practicing and learning with gray lano um this new skill uh to try and become almost like

a field medic like you're kind of learning like really basic i just need to slap this together and then we'll magically heal it later like i just need to stop the internal bleeding or whatever and blah blah blah blah um but that's gonna take like three days like to do the internal bleeding or whatever and blah blah blah blah um yeah but that's gonna take like three days like to do so that's you pretty much preoccupied um and then yeah i think that that basically put sentry and nova out of the equation for now lucius trot what how does lucius does lucius recover from the attack like does he come out a little bit later on? What was Lucius up to over the next few days? He seems

to be going about his duties as normal. Okay. It just seems like nothing's changed. Yeah, sure. He looks a little more tired than normal. As if he's got disturbed sleep over the next few days.

Disturbed trancesances I guess sure I think that over the next few days you know you interact with the queue faith sticks to you very closely after your traumatic experience and she's just chatting

telling you about things that you missed whilst you're in astral space kind of talking to you about the things they got up to kind of just tries to keep your mind off things by kind of just focusing on everyday stuff you know like when somebody's just they're just talking at you to make you feel a bit more comfortable you know

they're not expecting you to listen or engage they're just kind of filling the air around you as a distraction she kind of focuses on that mainly that that that seems to help a lot with lucius yeah for sure uh the one person who does notice something a bit more in fact i didn't actually roll for howard and lancean either uh yeah there's only one person who seems to really pick up that something's up and i think it's kamara kamara uh notices a few things didn't didn't notice you um fleeing the battle against the air elemental but definitely picks up on something being a bit wrong uh and at some point uh will grab you when you're not alone but sort of like when there's not really anybody else around

and just kind of give you a hard look and be like, how are you holding up, Captain, since the escape from the island? Oh, uh, fine, thank you. Anything to report? No, everything's proceeding as normal. The crew actually seem to be in very good spirits, I think. I think escaping from that thing, but also more importantly seeing Quilek and Nova save you has done a lot for their morale.

They've grown quite attached to you, I must say, against my own better judgment. I try and encourage them not to get too attached to individual captains. We tend to work for many different ones, but they like you a lot. Well, that's great to hear. I'm glad morale is high it is it is can't imagine something

like that was particularly easy she just looks at you he seems to shuffle on the spot a lot avoiding our contact yeah it wasn't no um but we dealt with it. Everyone was strong and we overcame it. So that's where we are now. I'm glad to hear it. You know, I'm not one for telling many stories, but the Wolfpack has been with me for a long time. I was one of our youngest. We got into a fight with a group of sky pirates.

It was a vicious one. It was an old trading airship. They didn't have much in the way of weapons or armor. They were just merchants, really, and these pirates knew it. They came with crossbows and weapons, and they boarded us. We fought them off, but it was a really tough fight. The younger ones, they hadn't seen anything like that before. There was a lot of blood, a lot of death.

One of them, a young beast walker called Finn, he didn't really recover from it. He couldn't hold a blade anymore. It would make his paw tremble ear twitch sometimes we can't forget things that happened to us but he made the mistake of not telling anyone he ran away left at the next port we didn't see him leave we didn't see him go because We didn't see him go. Because if he had, I would have talked to him.

I would have helped him. Don't... Just because you're the captain doesn't mean you have to keep everything locked up inside. They care about you. Not just the crew, but your own friends. If you need help,

just ask. She gives you a nod and then is happy to turn away and leave. In a very motherly sort of, I've given my, I've said my piece and I will now leave unless you want to talk. He seems to just nod. Lucius, kind of as graceful as he can.

I think as Kamara walks away it's almost like he's been holding his breath that entire time and just has a bit of excessive breathing for a bit. And then he just kind of stiffens up and then walks in the opposite direction. Sure. Cool.

Anything from anyone else or we are going to jump ahead a few days to the wing being completed. I think that Ayla is just going to maybe spend the next few days just sort of maybe going up the mast and just looking out over where they're going. the weather around her and just connect a little bit to to the wind and and just spend some time being on her own and and sort of thinking about that sort of getting herself mentally in that area where she can sort of sense things it's up to you whether you want to dismiss them but uh look out the guardian is always up there that's his position but if you want to he'll just leave if you say i'll take over for a bit

he'll just scuttle down and leave you on your own make a survival check for me, just make a roll a d20 and then survival check I'm interested I'm just going to fall off the ship 18 the weather's changing

you can tell it's far off, it's far away, but there's... And it's not that you know it because of things that you can see or smell or hear. It's a feeling deep in your chest. The storm's bad. You can tell, even this far out. The wind is growing stronger, very slightly, but it's changing. It's getting more intense.

The air feels more pressurized. The closer and closer you get to Mirskir, you can feel the power coming from that place, for sure. I think she'll probably do this a few times during each day and then also uh so she'll probably dismiss lancean for those periods when she's up there then uh just to be alone and really focus and then she'll probably keep quill updated just with how it's going as we move closer just as someone else to sort of I guess

vent to and just lean on and just make him aware of the situation because he knows the value of storms there's a connection the two of you are being pulled to this place him more directly than you but there is definitely something there pulling the two of you are being pulled to this place him more directly than you but there

is definitely something there pulling the both of you towards it however after a few days nova emerges from her workshop covered in oil and smudge stains and magical dust uh carrying a apparatus a mixture of metal frame leather in place of feathers and wings magitek built into it go on sure yeah go for it yeah I didn't realize you had a description in place yeah I had an idea in mind so yeah it's made out of leather and the metal that's part of it has been tempered so it's incredibly thin and lightweight the whole idea that she's had in mind and trying to create it is part of it has been tempered so it's incredibly thin and lightweight. The whole idea that she's had in mind in trying to create it is basically create a wing that looks as close to Quill's natural colors as possible.

And she's tried to disguise, she's tried to make the wing, like the feathery part, look as natural as possible. It has a harness that fits over the side of his missing wing that attaches to the front and so he can control it from the front. And there's all kinds of like counterweights and counterbalances like, I'm sure you've seen How to Train Your Dragon, so that he can control it from the front to create like counterbalances so that it is as natural as possible. There is like a kind of, the closer it is to the shoulder, there is kind of more mechanical parts to it that she hasn't quite been able to cover. But at a glance, it should look as natural as she's been able to make it. And it does shimmer with a slight light as well.

I kind of, I found like a vague image that I've put in the Roll20. So a bit more natural than this. And obviously in Quill's wing colors, so the browns and the whites. But yeah, I think that's what she, her intention was the whole time she wanted to make it look as close to Quill

as she physically could. And as easy for him to operate as she can. That's kind of what I have in mind. Nice. Very cogsy, very feathery. Very cool. Yeah, and things like the leather could be dyed to match the colours,

so when you had the leather working done, it's all been sort of dyed to kind of give this effect that matches Quill's own wing pattern and things like that. Yeah. And yeah, you, Quill, Nova's going to have to fit you into it the first time. Do we see that?

Is this happening up on deck? I mean, I feel like the moment I see Nova walking out, there's a part of me that's like, if I'm behind a mast or something, I almost am tempted to sink away into that. So if she doesn't see me or that I can sneak away and almost delay it as long as I can. But the moment she locks eyes with me,

I just slowly walk up. Ayla's just up on the mast going, hey, Quill, hey, Quill. Nova's there with a wing! Hey Quill! Hey! Thank you! Quill! Can you hear me? You see the crew is starting to

like, as Ayla's calling out, the crew is kind of like, Hey, what's going on? What's Miss Nova carrying? Howard's just like, Ooh, what's that? There's a crowd gathering, for sure. I'm really slowly walking up. Nova, is it... Hey, Quill.

Complete? I think I'm almost done. Are you okay to do this here? I don't know. How do you want to do this? I don't know, Nova. We can fit it it I can tell everyone to piss off

everyone fuck off everyone starts clearing the deck I think the only people left up there would be Orion in the nicest way thanks

Orion will call out that might also count for you I think the only people left up there would be Orion. In the nicest way. Thanks. Orion will call out. That might also count for you, Miss Ayla. Perhaps you should also fuck off. No problem. I'm staying up here. I'm looking ahead. Just don't mind me. Okay.

What do you need to do? Where do you need me? Okay. What do you need to do? Where do you need me? Okay, so all I need is if you could just push your cloak back, I can attach it here. So this strap does this, this strap does this, this is a counterbalance, and this is, and she gives like a kind of rushed explanation. And then she'll kind of rush it, but then she'll be like, she'll catch herself. And then, look, I know this is a big thing. And I kind of realized I sort of maybe bulldozed you a little bit about this. And I'm really sorry about that. I think it's just, it just, look, you trusted me when the whole thing with the ILS happened. And I don't know how to repay you.

And this was the only way I could think of you know using the big old smarts and I studied thermodynamics a lot and look you're not gonna let me down whatever happens you don't have to use this you can just keep it if you don't like it you know just keep it it's fine if you want me to take it away and burn it I'll take it away and burn it um but you know and and if you use it and there's anything that you need like adjustments or you know something that's fine i can do whatever you need quill whatever you need i can do it okay this is you i if i won't be offended okay Okay. Okay. Okay. So cloak, right? Yeah.

The instruction that came from that. Yeah. So if I, like, am slowly moving back, like, my hand is shaking, like, even, like, my jaw is kind of, like, almost quivering in a way. Like, just my entire body is just shaking and like slow movements and heavy breathing quite a heavy piece of apparatus like or i mean is it i think it's aila might come down and just while nova's trying to do things just just hold it up for you but also probably just put a hand on quill's other shoulder

and just gently encourage him i think that it would look heavy right kim but actually when ayla touches it you realize it's incredibly light like the magic of this air elemental has rendered it near weightless it is it's as light as a bird's wing you know it feels even though it's made of metal and leather it feels like it will barely you know uh taken down nova will have will have tried to make it as natural as quill's existing wing so it's the same size the same shape but yeah as light as possible for him so it's comfortable and as light as possible one question i had for tom as quill is pulling up the cloak do we see like the the scarred remnants of where his arm was where the lightning

basically would have burnt all of that side of his body uh yeah i mean if if the space needs to be i mean i guess with this wing being on i guess the cloak would have to be removed i suppose fully like pulled up you know, up so that the whole shoulder joint is visible, yeah. I guess it needs to go somewhere around here. The first of many scars, I guess. Yeah, you see it all

kind of burn. But yeah, Nova, go on. No reaction from Nova. Nova's just still got her smile on her face, just, you know, yeah, okay. Accounted for this. So if I strap this here and strap this here. Straps kind of feel all over your body and it's comfortable. Like you barely notice the weight.

It's weird. It's almost... It's been a long time since you felt the weight of a wing on that side. Feels... It's alien, but at the same time, almost like you've always had that feeling there, the kind of phantom limb that's always been in that space, even in your mind, that kind of knowledge of that something used to be there,

it's now suddenly filled and something is there. And as you kind of flex and move, the careful design of the mechanics, but also the Magitek built into it, it kind of seems to attune and blend in with your nervous system. Quill, I would like you to add Magitek Wing to

your inventory and mark it as attuned. Magitek Wing. Wonderful. Okay. Attuned. Oh, good. I do have space for it. That's good. You have to un-attune something. Because this is a prosthetic. So there is a couple of things with this. One, only you and Nova

can remove this item. Like, nobody can forcibly take this wing off you. Now, obviously, a critical injury could damage it, but nobody can, like, rip it off of you or anything like that. That's part of the magic that's built into it. But as you stretch it, and as it connects with that nervous system, and you form

this magical bond with this wing, it is like having an arm and a hand again. It is exactly... It has replaced the wing perfectly. Yes. It's full limb control as well. If Nova's designed it to mirror your other wing, which means it has the hand,

it has like a mechanical hand built into it as well. This is a prosthetic limb. It's a fully functioning arm and wing back. And your fly speed is restored. Can I feel any magical energy going through it? Can I cast spells with it, is what I'm asking. It is as if it were your own hand and limb. Oh, my God.

Off for two years. He can fly! Yeah, like, I'm... I guess I'm moving around very awkwardly. Like, at one point, it kind of shoots out a little bit too far, and it's like oh oh okay okay uh bring it back slowly kind of like if it like controlling a machine right uh in a way i mean it's kind of like in your head it's almost like um you have to get used to the

idea of like you realize that your subconscious is kind of sending messages to this hand without you thinking like you're kind of like now move up now move down but actually you don't need to do that like when you stop that's what i mean it kind of like the fingers stretch as if somebody was just like you were like oh i'm going to stretch my arm a little bit that as the wind catches the leather feathers it almost like you reflexively are like oh you kind of stretch it out to catch the wind as it connects in with all of the feathers. And you feel that lift. Okay. In that case, like, I guess we're on the top deck of the ship, right? Like, I want to walk to the front, like, towards the masthead.

And I'm kind of, like, looking out, like, my real wing is catching the wind. And then I bring out the other one to let that catch the wind. And then I just sort of stand there for like way too long and then like everything starts to shake and it's like Nova I don't know how yeah he does you do Quill you do hey Yeah, he does. Over. You... You do.

Quill, you do. Hey, um, can I just show you one more thing? Just between you and us. And I lift up, so the strap, where the strap overlaps across his chest, kind of probably near his heart. I lift it up, and there's an emblem stamped into the leather. And it's the, it's an outline of the storm chaser i say i didn't really know i thought for ages i didn't really know i wanted something that

represented all of us but stamping five people's emblems kind of takes up a lot of the leather so i thought the storm chaser right kind of represents all of us and the family we've made together here. You and I, you could have, you trusted me. You didn't have to, but you trusted me. And yeah, you gave me a second chance. You've got this. I know you do. I think I like slowly slowly bring the wings down

and turn around and there's just tears in his eyes. Thank you, Nova. This is more than I could have ever asked for. And I'll hug her with the new wing as well. And then as I go back, as I release from the hug, I'll hug her with the new wing as well. And then as I release from the hug,

I'll then fall on the front of the ship. There's a moment, Quill, where the heart races. You feel air rushing around. You can't almost suppress that panic of, I'm falling, I'm falling, I'm falling. And then there's also memory attached to it you remember those first flying lessons with your brothers and your sisters at the academy messenger guild you remember you remember you fell off the messenger tower in merce gear

in the same way you're confident You were so confident and bold. You let yourself fall backwards to show off in front of everybody else. And then you span and caught the wind and sailed towards the valley. And again, now, with one breath, you spin, the wind

fills, and you feel it connect with the wings, and you are gliding, and you feel it connect with the wings and you are gliding and you are flying oh man I'm like yeah I guess for when it catches in like I launch back along the side of the ship

and like go over the top underneath try and spin and I guess guess at one point, do I see the Valley of Storm in the distance? So as all of this is happening, it's taken some time to get all this ready. Yes, you do.

And in fact, everybody does. Now, when I see a peel of thunder can i i i'm almost wondering if i can resist some kind of check right like sure like if i'm seeing the thunder in the distance the same thing yeah let me uh so make a make a wisdom saving throw which is your basic kind of against being frightened saving throw. Okay. 16. Yeah. So everybody, including yourself, Quill,

in the distance, you can barely see the continent of Voxar anymore. In its place, like an enormous impossible wall is a dark gray fog that fills the space it blocks out all sight of land mountain civilization lightning almost dark purple in color flashes in the fog and a peel of thunder ripples through the air quill you feel yourself kind of lurch and panic but you manage to kind of keep hold of your senses away from becoming frightened or letting go of your flight you can make your way back down onto the deck of the storm chaser if you want to as everyone else is kind of staring out towards it everyone else you

also notice that on the sea below great waves churn and royal around the coast of miaskir as several dozen orc ships make haste away from the land each ship is packed with citizens of miaskir carrying belongings whatever they could carry. Dozens of them, perhaps hundreds, all fleeing this land that is now completely enshrouded in this thick grey storm. And that's where we'll take a break, and we will come back in a few minutes. What an incredible moment.

Holy crap. I can fly! What an incredible moment. Holy crap. Oh, I can fly! Very fucking cool moment. Yes. Two whole years. Two whole dang years of not flying. You got it, baby. You got it.

Not just flying, but like a whole new arm. Whole new arm for you. Yeah, I didn't expect that at all. Yeah, of course. Nova worked hard she said it was an exact copy of your others of your other other limb so yeah it's the hand too oh man so cool so dang cool thank you kim we're gonna take thank you five we're gonna take five minutes to grab a drink to play some ads and to read out some messages and then we will be back as you enter the storm.

Oh, God. Oh, God. There's a lot going on. Yep. Thank you.