High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #91 | Trial of Aeons (Part 2)

Episode Date: November 12, 2020

The Trial of Aeons begins, the greatest test for the Champion of H'esper and his friends! Today we're joined by Ravs playing Johan! Go show him some love here: https://www.twitch.tv/ravs_ 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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Bacardi. Do what moves you. Live passionately. Drink responsibly. Copyright 2024. Bacardi, its trade dress and the bat device are trademarks of Bacardi and Company Limited. Rum 40% alcohol by volume. You guys have entered into the main chamber of the Temple of Hesper. The golden disc on the floor is now gone,

replaced by a powerful wind current that extends up into the ceiling. Seemingly, you have unlocked the Winds of Ascension. The Spirit of the Sphinx, Zuhemi, will just nod towards the group of you. The winds have been opened to you, priest. What lays beyond are the trials of the Tempest. I can offer you no more assistance. My duty here is now completed. I wish you only the best of luck and done I hope that you find some rest

once we've filled this place I will if I can offer you one last thing to remember it is this the past are the seeds we cultivate in the present to harvest in the future

and with that the spirit begins to just fade and vanish from the world okay and you guys are left the trial the trial in the winds of ascension

is everyone ready? I can't fly The trial. The trial. In the winds of ascension. Is everyone ready? Onwards. Everyone prepared? I can't fly. I don't think you'll need to. Just remember, like that stone thing that I was sat in, it helped me fly.

Even without the wings. If we just stand in, we all go up. You first, Quill. Yeah. Okay. Follow me. Okay. And Quill, as you step onto the golden disc, you are

lifted up into the air. The wind current carries you upwards seemingly without issue as it brings you to a circular platform a corridor leads off you can see that further up the kind of cylindrical tunnel above continues on and seems to reach into another chamber high above but the wind doesn't take you high enough to reach it you know there isn't a strong enough current you could probably fly up there on your own but the cut doesn't take you high enough to reach it. You know, there isn't a strong enough current. You could probably fly up there on your own, but this current leads you to this level.

Okay, with that in mind, you may wish to... I don't want to sequence skip. Scroll down. You may wish to zoom out. This is a 100% speed run. I'm not any percent in this. Okay. Those of you who watch Will, yeah, he just

steps into the wind and is just lifted up to a platform. Any other... Does anyone hesitate or are you just going to follow? I'm going to assume you will follow. I'll go straight away. Yeah. The kind of wind rushes around you, ruffling your clothes as it lifts

you up sentry ascends a bit slower than everybody else but the wind seems to almost gain extra force as you step into it need a bit more you can hear the entire temple groaning built for very heavy guardian

primes. I'll use my storm guide as well to help just like fucking like she makes a whale. Thank you. As you reach this second floor, as you're all kind of lifted in the air, the golden disc shuts beneath you and you come

to stand with a short corridor in front of you. Okay. Let's move forward, see what we see. I don't know if this is a fight. I don't know if we need to send the strongest first.

I think we should do a first quill. There is a door at the end of the corridor. A pair of large stone double doors engraved with runes. These runes don't say anything, so they aren't necessarily language. They are arcane in nature.

Hey, well, I could spend ten minutes detecting magic, just to be sure, you know, these runes, the doors do radiate with powerful, powerful transmutation magic. Very powerful. But there's elements of all of the schools of magic at work here. The transmutation is the most influential, but there is elements of all of the schools of magic at work here. Hmm. Transmutation. That's like...

The door's a mimic. Oh god. Maybe. Uh... Okay. Out of interest, can you... Can you... Can you counter-spell a trap? I've never known this.

Like, if the trap casts a spell, like if it's like a magic crystal that casts fireball, yes, I would say you probably could. If the spell projects flame, even if it's magical flame, if it's not casting a known spell, you can't counterspell it. Okay, cool. Fair enough.

It was a glyph of warding which is like a certain type of spell that can place like a magical trap. You could dispel it but you couldn't counterspell it. You'd have to counterspell it when it was summoned and placed but you could dispel the glyph and disable it that way. Okay. Fair enough.

Okay. yeah. Pretty much every school, but mostly transmutation. So take from that what you will. It could be the door will do something to us when we touch it or open it. I don't know what you want to do moving forward, though. Aayla just looks at you like, I can open the door if you want,

but if it's magic stuff, obviously I can't really do that much. I feel like you should trust in Hesper. Is that the kind of thing? I don't know. I don't really know with gods. Not everyone can make it this far, Quill. I mean, it's a trial for a reason.

A trial of arcana. Okay, I'll try the door. Can I cast a bless on everybody really quick? You can. Just to be safe. So on everyone? Yeah, a level 3 bless. Everyone, yeah. So on everyone or... Yeah, level three bless everyone but me.

Okay, how long does it last? It lasts up to a minute. Okay, great. So everyone has the effect of bless. As Quill, you push open the doors. The door was open. They lead into a boss room into a large circular

chamber there's a number of things that you note as you step inside Quill the first of which is that there is a series of eight pillars each containing a dull magic crystal very faintly glowing with power the pillars themselves are covered in arcane

runes as well on the north and south end of the circular chamber are two inactive portals large circular stone portals set into the north and south wall far opposite side of the chamber from where you entered, there is a large stone throne, almost, but more of a chair, hovering above which, in a cross-legged position, is a high elf. They have a short brown beard, but rather feminine features, long curly brown hair, wearing very elegant robes of a very unusual cut. They kind of drape and fold all over their body and hang down loose from where they hover over the ground. And they have three motes of light,

kind of bluish light that hover over their head like stars. Their eyes, like Lucius's, they're high off ice, so there's no pupils. It's just pure blue in color as they look. And they just look in your direction and are smiling. You also notice that there are stone statues and broken bookcases all around the edges of the room as well. But they look broken from time rather than physically broken by destruction.

They look like they've just fallen into disrepair. As I walk forward with detect magic still active, can I see what's on the runes of the pillars next to us? Or even any of the pillars? All of them radiate with magic. Each one is for a school of magic.

So they go around abjuration, conjuration, transmutation, necromancy. Each school of magic is represented on the pillar. As you enter, the figure looks in your direction. Welcome. Congratulations

on accessing the Winds of Ascension. You are here for the Trials of the Tempest. It's not a question. We... Yes. Yes, then. You have nothing to fear.

I will not begin the trial until you request it. You and your companions, Kelek Adkalar, are welcome here. Are you able to offer any guidance before we begin the trial? I will. I'd recommend that you and all of your companions must enter the chamber.

It will need to be sealed during the trial. Does this elf seem familiar to me at all? There's an element of familiarity, Johan. Like, you can't fully remember, but there is something about them. Kind of in the same way that when you first met Quill, you know, you'd seen the vision of the one eyed hawk there's a similar sense here of prophecy

of fate at work but you don't remember them in that sense welcome all of you and congratulations on reaching this far I know that it has been a difficult journey for many of you. You have done well to aid Kelek in arriving here.

My name is Arcanist Phaedrus Selador. I was once a student of Hesper's, and I am now one of the guardians of the temple. They smile. Smiles, there's definitely like, as this, as Phaedrus casts their eye over everybody, they kind of linger a moment on Lucius,

kind of almost smiling in recognition and then they move on. Do I notice that Lucius knows that? I don't think Lucius would pick up on it. It's just a quill thing. It's more like only those who are very perceptive would pick up on it. It's very subtle.

Were you a Chosen of Hesper? A champion? A champion, in a sense, yes. I was an oracle here. i had the power of foresight and i study a very rare form of magic but well my fate is tied to the trial what stands before you is called the trial of aeons to be a test of the knowledge you have gained so far, of your bravery, your ability to work with your companions. I will explain more if you ask of me, but note that I can only give you so much guidance.

Likewise, once the trial begins, I cannot stop it. And if any of you, you should all be aware that this trial will place you in mortal peril. This is not some test of resolve. You will be in great danger during this trial. For we must make sure that those who can access the inner

sanctum are both prepared and adequate to take on its challenges. But there is no rush. You are safe here. I will answer what questions I can and when you are ready I will begin the trial of Aeons.

Your fate is tied to this place and this trial. What happened? Ah. Lucius Elinasto. Curious. My fate.

I mentioned that I was an oracle. That I have the power of foresight. It is during this gift that I have that I have the power of foresight. It is during this gift that I have that I witnessed a very sad ending for myself. In doing so, in seeing my own death and my own

failure towards Hesper, I created an alternative timeline. A dark timeline for myself. I did not wish to put the world in danger for who I will become. So I used a very old, very rare and powerful spell to split myself. You see, I am neither living nor dead. I am an echo of the present. And in this trial, you will encounter my other echoes. The nature of the trial

is that you must force my future self to surrender to you. Only when all three of my echoes have acknowledged you, will you pass the trial of Aeons. I wish I didn't ask. Jeez. will you pass the trial of Aeons? I wish I didn't ask.

Jeez. Whoa, boy. Oh, yeah, we're just fighting, like, seven timelines at the same time, sure. Phaedrus lifts their hands and they gesture to the two portals to the north and south. When the trial begins, one portal shall lead to the past,

another to the future. You will be able to traverse through the three realms using these portals. But if anything were to happen to them to drain them of their power, you will be stuck there. Oh! No pressure. How is the portals? you will be stuck there oh

no pressure what powers the portals sorry what was that question what powers the portals the chamber itself but also my own magic he gestures they sorry gesture to the three lights above their head

each one will begin to fade as the power of the trial wanes. If you have not completed the trial before the third mote of light above my head winks out of existence, the trial will fail. If any of you are within the past

or the future, you will be trapped there and I will have no way of recovering you. Is there a return portal on the other side you will find a portal to the present in both if you are in the past you must travel through the portal to the future and if you are in the future you must travel

through the portal to the past to return here um wait how do you how has anyone passed this trial? It has never been attempted. This trial was...

This trial was activated when the Tempest Dragon retreated here after the Valkyrian forces invaded. It is only in the most dire of circumstances that the Inner Sanctum is sealed to protect the most dire of circumstances that the inner sanctum is sealed to protect the raw power of the tempest dragon and the artifact that is joined to it. When the wards were active, my purpose came once again into being. Now I am the guardian of this trial. Once you have finished the trial of Aeons,

you must face the trial of power. Another guardian overrules that. But completing this trial will aid you in that. You will have the blessing of ages, which will help protect you. Okay. How did... okay how did was this the blessing of Hesper that this trial

exists? how is this here? Hesper is a god of magic and knowledge but such things do not just exist by their own, Magic is cultivated. It is grown.

It is practiced and learned and passed on through the generations. It is only through many ages and eons of studying the raw magic that Siaska gifted us that we have explored the wonders of it. This trial, it is my creation, but it is also not. It is difficult to understand. This is the creation of the past, the present, and the future. Even your very presence here is shaping the trial, even now. is shaping the trial even now. Well,

as far as the portals are concerned, it would make the most sense for us all to start in the past, retreat into the future, and return here so that we're not lost. We stay together then? Yeah. Well, I'm more worried about the time element

well this is down to you Quill just say the word and we'll follow I offer you only one of these echoes if anything happens to the portals here you are all in the past or future you will have no way to return.

Lucius, you're doing a thinky. Are we able to meet ourselves and have them aid us in the other aspects of this trial. How far flung is this future or past? I cannot answer that question. You'll see. I will say that you will not meet yourselves. You will be able to see one another.

You will not be able to interact or hear, touch, cast spells upon each other once you are in different realms, in different time planes. However, the bonds of friendship, of love, of kinship extend through the ages. You will be able to see each other, but you will not be able to interact. Oh, this is tough. oh this is tough oh wait so if we go into the past one and there's people still

in the present one we can see them still you will see them as a ghostly apparition someone that you can see but not interact with okay I will clarify once more fail the mission slowly do nothing about it I will clarify once more. Fail the mission slowly. Do nothing about it.

I will clarify the Trial of Aeons once more. Up two portals. One to the past. They point to the southern portal. Yep, southern portal.

And then they point to the northern portal, one to the future. To pass the trial of aeons, you must defeat or force my future self to surrender to you. I will warn you now, words will not sway my

future self. No pretty words or encouraging speeches. You will need to force them from a position of strength. The power to maintain this trial will not last forever. You have until the last of my three motes is gone from existence to complete this trial. If the portals, anything were to happen to them, if they are disabled, drained of their power here in the present, you will have

no way to travel between them. I think we might have to split up. Words will not sway the future, but what if we try

appeal to the past you may try but I as I said no words will appease the future self I believe you will understand when you will see me in that realm this is your dark timeline that you

created refusing to accept your death yes in that realm. And this is your dark timeline that you created, refusing to accept your death. Yes. My greatest shame. But through knowledge, knowing what was to become of me, I split myself

into my three selves. And I have sealed us here, within the trial. My future self can harm no others, and that is enough. I will warn you, my future self is not to be underestimated. Quill,

what were you saying earlier about your past self being different? You were saying something when you were communing with Hesper about your past self shaping your future. I wonder if that's relevant here. Possibly. If these are three separated, split people, then

whatever the past turns into, it may not turn into what is in the future. I feel like they're three different timelines entirely. Yes. Though they could have an influence. As she mentioned,

some things transcend that. Okay. How much time do we have? Approximately. Phaedra strokes their short brown beard. It is difficult to answer that question. The power will wane wean they gesture to the three boats above their head

okay so we can't underestimate what's in the future and I am worried about the time that it will take to do everything individually if we were to go together. So it's a question of do we go in all on one at a time and get everything done

one by one as quick as we can? Or do we split up and hopefully coordinate our efforts and do everything in just the right amount of time? What if someone stays here as well to help power the portals? If the past... time. What if someone stays here as well to help power the portals? Less people

fighting the future. If the past you were to follow, would the present and future cease to be? You will not be able to harm me in the past. The trial is not designed in that way. You'll be able to interact

but should you try and harm me in the past it will not be that is not the solution to the trial. There is a lesson to be learnt in this trial. It is not simply a test of strength. I say that you must defeat me in the future, but do not

mistake this. This is not a test of strength, of power. That is to come later. This is a test of ages, of knowledge, of wisdom. I can tell you no more. Will, shall we go together, or shall we attack it all at once, and see each other as little ghostly figures?

I feel... We'd only see each other as ghostly figures if we're not in the same future or past together. Uh... Uh... We could send one or two of us to speak to the past to try and convince them to not become what they become in the future. We could send people to the future to try and tackle the future, Echo, but hopefully the past team will help change that. We can have someone stay in the present to power the portals and protect them and keep them open and buy more time.

Or we could all go together to either time. We need to ensure that the portals in the present don't fall, regardless. We can't let that happen. So people need to stay in the present, no matter what. Otherwise people will get trapped on the other side.

So I think splitting up is guaranteed. Okay. Play to our strengths, I guess. Phaedrus nods towards Century. Play to our strengths. Fighty... Fighty Strongs to the future. Talky Walkies

to the past. Neutral Wootrals to the middle. I... Pretty much. Who falls as a Neutral Wootral? I don't know. Whoa, Equil! I don't know.

How about we stand by where we think would be most useful? Sure. Lucius walks around in a circle. I think that makes you a neutral witch roll I think you might be right indicate to me when you are ready and I will begin the trial I must warn you once again

this will be a mortal danger if you die I have no power to take you back. If you wish to leave... Do not split the party. If you wish to leave, I am not here to judge. You must be prepared to accept whatever happens. There is no shame in leaving this place now, Quill.

There is no shame in leaving this place now, Quill. How does one power these portals? Is it magic? The portals will be powered. I will power the portals. But should anything happen to them... What do you mean, like, if anything should happen to them? Phaedrus just looks in your direction blankly i feel someone attacks you if someone attacks this room it's a question of what phaedrus will become what is this echo we're dealing with i think it's a question yeah there's three echoes of which you are one.

I am. But you said as well that we have to... Sorry, you said that we have to force all three echoes to surrender. So what do we have to do to make you surrender? The future self you will need to force. The future self you must force to surrender. I... My past self. If you help them, they will help you. You will need

their help. And as for me, I've already made my decision. You have my support. I did it! Let's go. I alone was enough's go okay so are we thinking me and Lucius in the present, Aayla, Sentry in the future

Nova and Johan in the past I think so I think so you should join the past or the future Quill if this is already done. I could take your place in the present

if you wish to go to the past. More of a neutral-neutral. Okay. You're smarty-warty, though. Okay. Walkie-walkie. Okay. Is everyone ready I'm not sure but

yeah ready if you are out of character is everyone confident this is the right choice yes yep basically Mark said to Tom Hazel that you can walk away from this and any repercussions are yours,

Tom. Yours. I'm also at the point of Tom, I believe, agreed to control Ayla during this fight. So, again, my hands are clean. Remember the last time I controlled Ayla I killed a man

oh no well when you begin do you guys want to position yourselves so you can get to the portal in one movement because I'm going to roll initiative as soon as the trial begins sounds like a plan yep

oh god we made a mistake. Yep. I feel like we only need one person in the present. That's, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I can go to the past. Lucius, do you want to? I don't really want Lucius on his own.

Yeah. I'll stay with Lucius. Start thinking. We got Lucius. Okay, we got this. I mean yeah you guys can always join us yeah yeah you can always join us in in future of the past so yeah timey wimey yeah if you find out the present is just this guy just sits on a chair starts smoking a pipe and is like sure okay place is easy. I'm out of here. Are you ready to begin, Keelak?

We're ready to begin. And so be it. Phaedrus lifts up their hands. You see power, blue energy begins to storm through into the pillars themselves. The crystals flare to life.

The doors of the chamber slam shut and seal with magical energy as the two portals. One, the future portal glows green and becomes a swirling. You can't see through it. It becomes a swirling mass of energy. The southern portal becomes swirling mass of blue energy, and everything storms into life. We're going to roll initiative. Oh, here we go. Here we go.

Here we go. Here we go. Oh, my God. Oh, such high initiatives all around. Wow. I rolled a two. I rolled a two, guys. So that's a big old five for me.

I got an E. Oh, I need to load up Ayla as well so I can roll her initiative. Nova, total? I've got her up. Five. Five, Sentry, total? Four.

Link's in chat if you need it. Four. Yeah. And then what for Ayla? She got a 20. Nice. Nice. Okay. You see...

Let's see. 8. At the very start, as the trial begins, as this power begins to surge through the present a creature begins to slowly form in the air near one of the pillars

wait are you saying they appear to take on the form of a dragon like a little wormling dragon small baby dragon, but it's made of energy

and it seems to be kind of half phased into the world as if it's not quite part of this realm or part of this time and it begins fading in and it begins to move

towards the past portal and as it gets within 10 feet, the past portal vanishes. The power of it drains away. Oh! As you can see, this Wyrmling is draining the power of the portal into itself

as a feeding on it. It will turn towards Quill, and it kind of cocks its head in a strange way, and then it opens its mouth, and I need Quill and Nova to make dexterity saving throws, please, as this blast of force erupts from its mouth.

What do you want? This is how the portals go away. Tricks and riddles. You take half damage. So half of 16, you take 8 points of force damage as this blast of raw magic kind of crumbs out the creature. And it turns its head back

and it begins feeding off the energy of the portal once more. Aayla's turn. Aayla will turn around and say, ah, good luck with that, and run through the future portal. Perfect. That's so Aayla. See ya!

Aayla appears in an almost, well actually sorry that's the wrong one. Aayla appears you're gonna have to scroll up this Aayla but we can kind of just narrate it for now next one

yeah the middle one is the past the top one is the future Aayla appears and the portal

isn't active behind her the future the portal that goes to the future there is nothing there it's just like an empty space

the portal on the other side of the room the past portal, is still active. Actually, no, it's not, because a man is draining it. So, both portals are currently deactivated. Oh. Oh, so the dragon...

The power of the past portal, the past portal is not active. Anywhere. Okay. Yes, anywhere across all three realms. When Aayla emerges, which is the end of her 30 feet of movement, Aayla sees this same chamber that she just came from, but it's crumbling, decrepit. Several of the columns have fallen away.

It's covered in dust. And instead of Phaedrus, where Phaedrus was sat, like hovering over the throne before, of Phaedrus, where Phaedrus was sat, like, hovering over the throne before, sat in the throne, wearing those safe, long, strange, trailing robes, is a skeletal

figure. An elven skull with no skin or flesh, skeletal hands and bones, and just cranes its neck upwards slowly. Ah. Mother. So it has

finally come. You are here to defeat me, I see. And you see that around their body is just this powerful looking magic shield, like this aura. And the eight columns that are around the room,

one of them has been changed and warped and inside the crystal you can see this elaborately created uh almost like a like a wand almost that seems to crackle with power and that column is projecting this energy shield onto the lich. What does Aayla do for the rest of the time? Right. The gem indicates the pillar that the object is located in. So, as a heads up,

I didn't realize the portal was on the very edge of the room, so I feel like Aayla would have been right next to the portal. Sentry can be there as well if you guys want to move yourselves so you're right next to the portals and stuff like that you can do um so so you can see the power radiating from this gem right yes and the gem itself is protected by the same type of shield like the shield is around the gemstone in the pillar this is the southeastern uh pillar uh has a different colored kind of power crystal to it.

It's enshrouded in this magical shield, and the same shield is around Phaedrus, future Phaedrus. Yeah. I don't know, but to the audience's purposes, yes, it's a lich. A lich. Sure. I mean, yeah, she'd see the gem, she'd see the shield, and she'd be like,

gotta wake up earlier than that to catch me off guard. And we'll start making our way towards that gem. Insufferable fool. Ah, yeah. Move Aayla as you wish. I have no control of her. Oh, bums. Yeah, hang on. I'll give you control. Oh, bums. Yeah, hang on. I'll give you control. Oh, bums. I forgot that you'd be controlling it today, so...

Can be edited by Tom H. Huzzle. Tommy boy. You should be able to move it now. Nice. So... 5, 10, 15, 20. You want me to quit a little bit more physical. Yeah, there you go.

That's our movement. Yeah, so she begins making her way towards the column. And I may as well ready an action. If anything comes close, then whack him. Okay, sure. Back in the present, you see space beginning to shimmer uh again as another one of these dragon creatures begins to emerge one two three four five six goody oh goody goody gumdrops

uh second manna wormlingling emerges and it's gonna... 5, 10, 15, whoops, 20, 25. It moves to the same pass portal and it begins draining the magic. Quillenova dexterity saving throws again please as it projects this breath of force towards you. Sure for sure for sure. 16. Natural 20! sure, for sure. 16. Natural 20! Both succeed.

You take 6 force damage. That's already halved. Nice. Nice, nice, nice. Okay. I'm guessing that one's now draining the portal. Phaedrus of the future takes their go. Phaedrus of the future.

Ah. Strange. Ah, strange. You are the last one I expected to be sent here, but you will soon understand your mistake. And they lift a bony finger and they point it towards Ayla. And I would like Ayla to make a... Let's see. Can be very good against those. Can be very good against those. Just how mad is Kate going to be if Ayla dies? Probably very mad.

Yeah. I mean, I can explain it away look I took one turn with you okay one that's all it was constitution saving throw Ayla's very good at these so it should be fine yeah she's got plus eight yeah sixteen that's not good enough

sixteen you watch as necromantic energy washes over Aayla as Lich Phaedrus casts Blight not finger of death could have been worse, could have been finger of death could have been 36

39 necropic damage 39 necropic damage 39 39 so you watch as Aayla's flesh begins to wither as this lich just launches this blast of necromantic energy in their direction

okay cool I will thank you for your pleasure in watching you die slowly, elf. I would say elf, actually. Right. Lucius, in the present currently.

I don't like these little dragons draining the portal, so what I'm going to do is throw a Chromatic Orbit 1. It's going to split half way through because I'm twinning it and it's going to hit the other one as well. Okay, go for it. Against the mana one.

I'm going to do that at level 3, I believe. Okay. That's all that. I'm sure it's at level 3. Here we go. I'll do it Acid. So it's a level 3. Here we go. I'll do it. Acid. So it's a 19 for the first one.

Yep, you need to roll to hit twice, but it's the same damage roll. So it'll do 22 damage to both, but just roll to hit and see if you hit the second one. Yep. 16 for the second one. Just barely hits the second one so the acid strikes out his hands the orbs impact into the little mana draglinglings they kind of

as they fly back they can see they're heavily injured their wings kind of pitted even though they're kind of half phased through the universe it seems that when they sucked out the power of the portal they became more substantial and easier to hit. And you can see that their bodies are warped and injured by the acid.

Still alive, but barely as they are. Seven points of Dicromancy on one of them. Which one? The ones to the left. Left. Seven. Just barely hanging on. You can see the second strike

of Nightcromancy nearly knocks it out of the air. Just weakly kind of floating in the air. They're weak! Finish it off. Anything else, Lucius? Movements or bonus actions or anything? Bonus action. Barrier. Ring. Barrier ring?

Barrier ring. Basically, Keyleth can't block. Okay. I don't want to push these things away. They're weak. So I will use my

Wand of Magic Missile. The recharges. One, two, three. So that makes a third level spell, so that's... Are you splitting the missiles up though? You can divide the number of missiles between targets. So it's five missiles, I'll do two to the left one and three to the one on the right okay you might have to manually roll this sure so the one on the left is 2d4

plus 2 plus 2 so 8 damage to that one this is force damage yeah as the missiles strike into this one the little creature just sort of fades out This is force damage. Yeah. As the missiles strike into this one, the little creature just sort of fades out of existence. It just...

As if returning to another realm as it is defeated. Perfect. And then the three to the one on the right is six plus three, so nine damage. Nine damage to that one. The same thing happens, and the portal begins to flare. It flares back into life as the second one is...

And you see the whole... The passport reappears. Nice! I spin the wand in my hand and then blow at the tip, and then run through the passport. I'll shout good luck to him as he runs through. Nice. Qu Quill as you emerge

through the portal you arrive once again back into the same sanctum chamber, this round chamber everything looks nearly identical with a few exceptions there appear to be a series of desks in the middle where you can see half written books and papers the bookshelves are

stocked with all sorts of scrolls and tomes. You see there are two figures in this room. You see what must be... It takes you a moment. You see a young female elf with curly brown hair that looks just like Phaedrus, wearing the same sort of...

No, they're not wearing the same robes. Their robes are really baggy and ill-fitting, as if they're trying to hide their kind of body. And you can see that they're, especially around their shoulders and chest, shorter haircut, but that same brown curly, same bright blue eyes. And they appear to be working on some sort of paper

or research as they're looking through a book. Across the way, I haven't got the token on the map, but across the way, you see another got the token on the map, but across the way you see another, you see an elven woman wearing kind of very regal looking robes, examining books, and they bear a striking resemblance to a kind of older female Lucius.

They have like Lucius's, you know, blonde hair. They have the kind of same kind of features and things like that. And they have uh the kind of same kind of features and things like that and they have uh orange eyes uh in both both eyes ah okay um i guess when i see that i'll uh i'll run through uh phaed oh, it's so lovely to finally meet you. Phaedrus, yeah, past Phaedrus will kind of look up, look around, see you.

They kind of blink. Do I know you? What are you here for? Are you a student as well? No, but I've just been meaning to meet you for so long uh i've heard so much about you i really don't know why and you can see they get quite nervous and um just like oh i haven't had a chance to meet many of the other new students uh meanwhile johan uh i'm gonna look at what should I do

everything's been taken care of I guess we're doing a great job I'll ready a lightning bolt for the next worm that I see ready at third level whatever appears that looks like it's going to suck a portal bammo see already at third level. Just the first little whatever

appears that looks like it's going to suck a portal. Bammo. Bammo. Suck a portal. Nova. Nova Vigil. Suck on this. I guess yeah.

Kim is very nervous about this but Nova's just going to stick to what she decided to do, what Quill told her to do, and jump in through the past. So I'm in the past. You appear, you see Quill speaking to, yeah, a young female Phaedrus. Hi, are you Phaedrus?

Yes, how did you they can't see the portal they're like looking like where did you come from i don't recognize either of you you can see that there's like even like looking at quill there's almost a sense like phaedrus doesn't even know what you are

like they're looking at both of you like but at the same time they're not acting reacting to it in a weird way um okay is there something

I can um Arcanist and she kind of calls over Arcanist Elinasto? And you see the older Elven woman turn around. What is it now, Phaedrus? Who are you? You don't appear to be new students. Can I help

you with something? Are you pilgrims or some such? Are you under some sort of curse? Elinasto? Okay. She said Elinasto. Are you under some sort of curse? Ellen asked. Okay. She said Ellen asked. She said Ellen asked. Do we need to get Lucius?

Are you doing anything else, Nova? I'm going to move on. It's six seconds. I'm still tracking the initiative. Can I see the research notes that um phagos was working on yeah you can look over to them it's very complicated um looking at a glance of this this is highly advanced magic probably beyond anything you or quill or lucius uh have ever encountered really before um it's not magitek this is old magic this is powerful. You know, very, very powerful magic.

Seems to be something of, like, protection, like a protection-based element or ability. Some sort of shield or... So I heard about your research, and I'm a researcher too, and I would really love it if you could come and tell me about your research.

Oh, yes. I'm surprised that you've heard of it. It's really more of a hobby than anything. Well, the pillars, the crystals that you see here, they're not finished yet. They probably won't be finished for several hundred years. But I'm working on understanding their potential, what they could be used for. I think that maybe they could be used to create a very powerful protective aura. Maybe we could use that to defend ourselves

if the archways were ever opened again, if there were demons or devils that came through, we could maybe protect ourselves. And that's what you get in the six seconds. Sentry. Okie dokie. Sentry is going to go through the future portal. Six seconds. Sentry, you appear in the future

you see the same thing taylor did this kind of crumbling decrepit location you see lich phaedrus this skeletal figure look in your direction ah now this one would likely prove the problem

is it spony empty eyeless socket skull looks in your Now this one would likely prove a problem. Is it spony, empty, eyeless, socket skull looks in your direction? What else, Sentry, would you like to do? Okay, I'm going to look in the direction that Aayla is running. And I'm going to see the jewel she's heading towards. So I'm going to... It's different colored. You see it's very clearly different to the rest. And it has this magical barrier around it. and then a magical barrier around the lich um and yeah this weird wand like

device in the middle of the crystal cool so i'm going to go 5 10 15 20 25 30 up next to ayla and then i'm going to um cast find steed and summon elko 30 feet ahead of us sure up to the orange let me try and find an elk I've got a giant Elkistat up here I'm going to get the token use Elko to fight

that's awesome Elko's coming to help an elk nice that might take a little bit of time for them to appear there we go Elko's coming to help. An elk. Nice. Wham. That might take a little bit of time for them to appear. There we go. Bam.

There he is. He's huge. He's a giant elk. What the hell is that? I don't know if you can move it. If you can't, just let me know and I'll try and... I'll have a look. No, I can't move him. That's fine.

I can give it to you. Can be controlled by Sentry. You can now move Giant Elk. What was it? It was 15 feet by 15 feet. It's a large creature. It's huge. Elko is massive.

It's a big boy. Do you think that this beast will help you here? You're doomed to, destined to die in this place. I'm going to kill you, both of you, and your friends when they come to save you. Anything else, Century? I think that's good.

I've got my casting spell, got Elko. Yeah, I'm good. Thank you. At the end of your turn, Sentry, I'm going to take some legendary actions. Oh god, we're dealing with a legendary actions guy as well?

Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't actually revealed where the lich is on the map. It's still on the GM layer. There he is. He's chilling. He's chilling. Here he goes, here he goes. Don't touch my elk. Move up closer.

Oh, here he comes. Oh, here he comes. They will raise their hand and these ribbons of black necrotic energy surge forward. I need Aayla, Elko and Sentry to make constitution saving throws, please. Okie dokie.

So, con save. Seven for me. Oh god. Fifteen for me. Elko's cold is 14 I'm going to play this way, if it's under a 20 you fail, sorry 18 Eli had bless right

you all did yeah I'd say that a minute probably is going to end because you were talking with Phaedrus for a long time I also have the plus 3 from, I have a plus 3 from I have a plus 3 from Sentry as well right? I do, yes so does Elko

Nice I got 21 with Aayla then Nice 21? Anything over 18 passes Sentry would have passed Blight as well because of that Blight It's 21 necrotic damage halved if you succeeded.

21. Because it's like life-sucking energy passes through you. 21. So halved would be 10. Elko is on 21 exactly. Cool. Did Elko die?

Yeah, that's with the that's half that's half itself uh yeah the Lich Phaedrus is just like I do not even have a reason

to use my magic against you you cannot harm me you cannot kill me soon you will be trapped here uh and that brings us

to the top of a new round. Johan, roll a d4 for me, please. Okie dokie. Three. Three. Three

shimmering draconic shapes begin to appear in the present. One, two, three, four, five. So the column near the past portal begins to erupt into the shape of a dragon.

The one near the future column appears as both portals will begin to shut down. There we go. The one on the far side of the room also appears. The first one I would have saw

would have been lightning bolted. That's true. Yep, so go for that one. So that was the one near the pass portal. Okay. Third level lightning bolt. That is 26 damage, DC 17, dex save. Fails, 26

damage. Okay. That nearly obliterates the dragon on its own. You see the lightning pass through it as it's close enough to the portal that its resistances aren't in play yet. It seems that whenever these things are near a portal and they begin feeding,

they become more substantial, more real. The other ones that are further away seem almost transparent, as if they're not quite real yet. But this one, yeah, the lightning boss smashes it through its body. You see it kind of convulse, but still alive, just barely. Yep. All right. see it kind of convulse but still alive just barely yep all right it will fly close to the portal 15

and then it will project a blast of a cone of 15 foot of force energy johan you just have to give me a deck saving throw on save 12 12 just barely passes Dex save and throw on. Dex save. Twelve. Twelve.

Just barely passes for eighteen half to nine force damage as this cone of force kind of erupts around you as the portal is still shut off, however, as is the future one. Actually, the future one isn't just yet. Okay, we've got 10 minutes.

We'll try and go for another 10 minutes. Ayla. I mean, yeah, she's still thinking nice, cool. Big gem, powering him. I'm going to smash that, so she'll rage with a bonus action. Run up to this portal and give it a double whacking.

You don't need to roll. The hammer hits the shield around the gem, the magical barrier, and it just does nothing. It just almost reverberates with power as it kind of sends her back. Not even that Howling Tempest is a magical weapon? Nope. The barrier is immune to all damage,

and you see the same barrier around the Lich. How could this be? There's a good sign right here. How could they make it alone? Oops. Says Aayla. I see. Um, Mark, this- so I don't know if I misunderstood you earlier,

did you say that we can see each other in the past, present and future? And can we talk to each other? You can't talk to each other, no. And if you try and use your messenger rings, they don't work apart from the people in the same time space as you. So what you guys can see is you and Quill can see Aayla stood by one of these pillars and you see like her strike it and then sort of reverberate back. You can see Sentry and Elko.

You see them in pain as this necromantic energy hits them, but you don't know where from. You can see Johan being struck by something, and Lucius and them casting spells, but they're like ghosts. They're kind of only semi-transparent. You can't hear them. You can't interact with them.

Nothing. Okay. But I can see her strike the thing, and there's a barrier. Yes. You don't see the barrier. You just see Ayla's hammer, like, strike the pillar, and then she seems to bounce back.

Okay. Cool. Carry on. Anything else from Ayla's turn? No, that was action and bonus action and movement. So yeah. Okay. Uh, one of the Wyrmlings will go to the future portal.

And now both of those portals are shut down, um, as they are kind of sucking the power away from it. So neither portal is currently active. The last remaining Wyrmling, um, that one doesn't have any range to attack anybody. The last remaining Wyrmling will, having sensed Johan attack with a spell, will emerge, and Lucius

and Johan, can you make deck saving throws for me, please? That's an 8. 17. 8. 11. So, Lucius, you're going to take 5 force damage, Johan, you take 11 force damage as this little baby dragon blasts this cone of power

around you. It's kind of shrieking and calling at you. You see this one is semi-transparent as well. This one isn't partially real. But its energy certainly was as it blasts you. Lich Phaedrus.

This is a very complicated encounter for me so do bear with me yeah Lich Phaedrus will say look at me now you're just like you are wasting your time that spell took me centuries to perfect nothing you do can damage

it or me and then they will lift their finger and a tiny orange bead Nothing you do can damage it or me. And then they will lift their finger and a tiny orange bead will fly out. Here we go. Sentry Aayla Elko, Dext saving throws. Aayla does not get the benefit of Sentry's aura. No. Also, I forgot my aura of warding resistance last turn as well.

Okay, so the necrotic energy you took wasn't a spell. That wasn't a spell, okay. That was a legendary action. It was magic, but it wasn't a specific spell. This, however, is a spell. This is fireball, so it will apply. Alright, so death save. Oh, hang on.

Do a little bit of reading. Hang on. Go on, Kim. All people are doing saves. I was just asking about the, was it Danger Sense? Does Ayla get advantage on her saved for this one? I don't know how Danger Sense works. Yeah, I'm pretty sure she does. It says advantage on deck saves when you're not blinded, deaf, and or incapacitated. Then yes, you do.

I've already done that. The DC is 20 on this by the way oh let's see if bless helps she got 15 anything from sentry's wards? no too far away no I'm just looking at my

shield master thing is it an effect that allows half damage on a success? It is, yes. Yes, it is. Cool beans, cool beans. It's 15 plus four for me, 19. Fail. What about bless?

What about bless? I didn't cast it on myself. Oh, you did not? Oh, shit. No. And then Elko save. Elko's probably not going to survive this i'll imagine five eight yeah no way 33 points of fire damage yeah elko's gone she takes half um oh no she didn't cool she didn't

33 points of fire damage. Cool. The explosion ear pops around. 33 halved, is that 15, 16? 33 would be 16, yes. 16 halved. Awesome. Okay, that's mine gun and Elko is gone, though. Elko, no! Elko is... Just kind of warps, is thrown back by the force of the explosion

as this lich just passively watches everything happen. Lucius, we're going to try and get to the bottom of the combat and then we're going to go from there. Lucius. Lucius says to Johan, I'm wondering if we should wait until they start draining the portal to hit them. It makes it easier somewhat

as I'm firing a chromatic orb to the one that drained a portal to hit them. It makes it easier somewhat. As I'm firing a chromatic orb to the one that drained a portal for the future. And are they going to come every round? Should we just wait until they need to come back? Are they going to keep appearing every six seconds

or so? You may be right. Yes. I fire a chromatic orb at the one that's deactivated the future. Is there one that's deactivated the past one as well? Yes, there is. That one's heavily injured. That's the one Johan almost killed with a

lightning bolt. That's right. So what I'm going to do... So, yeah, I'm going to fire a chromatic orb at the top one. I'm going fire the chromatic orb at the top one I'm gonna twin it and hit the semi-transparent one and hope to hit it as well

yep sure give it a roll yes sir here we go first one is a 24 with 21 acid. I'm also going to use my prismatic gauntlet to add some extra D6 to that one. Okay, which one is this really?

This is the future portal. Future one. And then the semi-transparent. Yes, I get you. Yeah. Semi-transparent one coming up. Ding dong. That's a 19 and 19 acid.

So 24. So 24 to the damage to the one on the future portal. And then the one that is in the middle is going to take half damage because they are only semi-transparent. So that would be... Oh, that's how that works. Nine points of damage to that one as the chromatic orb slams into it.

But then you want to dichromancy someone? Yes, I'm going to dichromancy the one at the top, Future Portal. So that would be seven base. Okay. I'll ensure it's

dead by adding in a charge of my prismatic gauntlet. So I'm going to roll a d6 real quick. That's five extra. So, yeah. With that, the one in the future portal is annihilated by the spell, and the portal

flares back to life as you do so. As the chromatic, the dichromancy magic finishes it off from its weakened state. Perfect. Anything else, Lucius? That's it. Okay. Keeluk, add Kalah.

Oh, so I'm still talking to young Phaedrus. We are practisers of magics, arcanists of sorts. We're here to assist you in your research. We actually trained with someone

quite close to your arcanist here. Alright. I mean, it's really not that important. It's just sort of a hobby, really. It's just something I'm studying. I mean, I suppose if you want to help, but what sort of thing do you want to help with? I mean, it's really not that important. It's just sort of a hobby, really. It's just something I'm studying. But, I mean, I suppose if you want to help, but what sort of thing do you want to help with? I mean, it's quite a large project, really. It varies.

Well, please tell us the nature of your research and we'll offer any advice as we can. We'll take you under our wing. As I mentioned, she seems really confused when you say that, as if not fully understanding what you are, but sort of blinks it away. Well, you see the pillars here, they contain quite powerful crystals, magic from Siaska, old magic. I'm sort of studying them to see how we could use them in the future.

I really feel that we could draw on their power to achieve quite spectacular magic really, perhaps involving wards or shields, things that could protect people from harm, but also maybe greater uses, elements of greater magic perhaps, but my main focus is on protective magic

Kind of turn around and see Aayla whacking on one of them What about that pillar over there what about that one all of them really have the same effect really all of them could be used to the same nature but like I said this research won't be finished for centuries

anything else Quill on your turn that's pretty much it I'm just talking to this kid I mean yeah like okay your hand okay I'll I'm gonna

head down to here seeing Ayla whacking on this crystal or like here whatever and I'm gonna lightning bolt on a straight line through this drake and up to that gem I'm gonna try hit that and if lightning bolt and a straight line through this drake and up to that gem.

I'm going to try and hit that. If I can, I'd like to twin spell my lightning bolt and have it hit this one. You can't twin spell lightning bolt. Lightning bolt can hit multiple creatures. You can only twin spells that can target one creature. That's fine. That one would have taken half damage anyway then.

Okay, then yeah, I'll just do that lightning bolt. I'll do it at... That lightning bolt, even half damage is going to kill that remaining dragon wormling, so that is annihilated by the spell. I'm not going to waste time rolling a saving throw for it.

It betrays the problem. It brings it to life. When the lightning bolt hits the pillar, the energy is just absorbed. It just strikes the pillar and is sucked into the runes and the pillar itself. The whole room seems to

shudder, and present Phaedrus, the one that you first met, I would advise against doing that too recklessly. The pillars are work. Message received. Oh. Okay.

Okay. Then I'll just, you know, walk back here and be like, I don't think we should attack the pillars. Maybe I've been a bit reckless. I'll say to Lucius. So I don't know how to achieve this, but is there a way that kind of being conversational and engaging with Phaedrus about the research

and the runes and the spells, is there a way that I could perhaps add to the notes that they have in a way that basically basically if this was mathematical i fuck up the equation so that in a way that they don't actually notice but it would hold up their research for centuries and not be not allow them to complete the research. Okay, so there's two things to this. Yes, you could try and do that. Phaedrus, looking at their notes,

is a very accomplished mage. Their magical knowledge exceeds Nova's. You would be afraid... If you try this, there is a risk that Phaedrus will notice and just correct it. The other question, the other element to it is phaedrus won't whatever they're working on now whatever is done to the pillars happens way later um it might not even be phaedrus who builds these portals uh or builds the the pillars exactly to their specification so there's a risk that maybe that won't work but i think that why i would say to nova is whilst you're thinking about this and in conversation it may be more likely that you could maybe build in some sort of bypass to phaedrus's spell that you could implicate some

sort of phrase or rune that would disable the spell temporarily and allow you to bypass the protective nature to it i will give you that okay so what could i do to accomplish that like put a face back door in well if you talk to phaedrus phaedrus oh well yes you you could do something like that if you were afraid of somebody using this magic for ill gain. Yes, I would need to... There's a certain book, a book of the primordial runes. It must be somewhere in here. That would give me something to work on. But Arcanist Elinasto doesn't...

I'm not permitted to alter the pillars. I wouldn't be permitted to make any studies of them. We'd either have to do it without her noticing or get her permission to alter them and then finally to activate some sort of patch phrase you would need to energize the rune um and obviously they're not built yet as you would this would need to be done whenever the rune symbols were inscribed um or perhaps after they were built into it, you could add to one. But that would require spellcasting energy and if not done correctly, could cause a surge of wild magic.

But it is possible. I could help you identify the rune. I think that's a fascinating... That's something you're interested in. That's a fascinating theory and I would absolutely love to explore this and look into it further. Why don't we go find that rune, shall we? How can I help? Where is it?

I'll tell you that. You can make an investigation arcana or perception check, Nova Vija. Is it that one? Ayla's still just whacking away. Is it that one? I'm going with arcana. This is finding a book on primordial

runes. Shit you not, yeah. I shit you not, Mark. Natural 20? Natural 20! I was plus 6, so 26. You look around, and in a few seconds, you're like, you know, Nova's

knowledge of libraries and things, you're like, it must be here, and you find this book on primordial runes. That's step one. You've achieved that. Phaedrus will say, will say like excellent with this um i'll need promises i need to examine the pillar and arcanist elinasto i'm not permitted to um but that's the end of your turn over uh century as our final turn before we finish today's episode what would you like to do um so can i see can i see the guys in the past at all you can see the guys in the past at all? You can see the guys in the past, you can see this translucent faded version of them, yes.

Okay. Okay. Can I channel my divinity and try turn the faithless on the... How does it work? Read out turn the faithless for me. You present your holy symbol. Each fae or fiend of in 30 feet of you that can hear you make a whiz saving throw. This is an undead.

God damn. This is very clearly a skeletal mage. Okay. Then that fails. Well, I'm not going to make you know. You don't use it. I'm not going to make you use it. You can tell this thing is not a

fair effect looking at it you're like skeleton man that's a skeleton man okay I'm going to move up so that it's an undead I'm not that's I'm not going to do that okay I'm just gonna say I think we need to just buy them time

I think we need to keep him busy for as long as we can. I don't know if I can touch your body. Yeah. Two of us playing Aayla at the same time. Yeah, pretty much. We may as well just go back until we can touch it. Century, anything else?

What do you want to do? Get the fuck out of the lodge? I'm gonna say and protect Aayla. Can I try and cast a spell on this thing? Would that work? Try a moonbeam? You summon a moonbeam around the pillar and it has zero effect. The spell, the shield, protects it entirely. You cast it on the lid or the... On the pillar. On the... That doesn't matter either way. I think you said on the pillar. On the pillar, yeah.

That's why I assumed that's what you meant. At the end of your turn, the lich, Phaedrus, will reach out a skeletal hand towards you, Sentry. That's the skeletal hand. That is a... Oh, God, that's

29 to hit yeah that'll do it that'll do it and then this is going to be 48 because this is a very high level caster for 10, 14 points of necrotic

damage, if you have any resistance you can halve that to 7 but you cannot regain hit points until the start of your next turn as this skeletal ghostly hand grips onto you and begins sucking the life out of you is that a spelly spell

that was a spell yes so you can half the damage that was a spell so it's 7 points of damage and that my friends is where we're going to end today's episode of Hyrule Zeroes very tense, very epic battle

this is so tough oh my god this is a kind of normal I think we've started to work the puzzle out of like okay we need to kind of do this and this and this and then this is going to affect that I think you started to work the puzzle out of like, okay,

we need to kind of do this and this and this, and then this is going to affect that, and we need to go here to do this and do that to do this, and da-da-da-da-da-da. I think you've started to figure it out. Glad that you started World Magic Surge. I'm so glad that your original plan of like, let's all go in the same portal together at once didn't happen. Yeah. Yeah. Holy crap. Oh, God. your original plan of like let's all go in the same portal together at once didn't happen yeah yeah yeah holy crap oh god i was like i don't think we should do that i was like that's a very

smart plan i think it's also like now that we've seen the future portal and we're like well there's nothing we can do i think it now makes a lot a lot easier that aileron sentry can pretty much just head back and then we can allon sentry can pretty much just head back and then we can all face the final portal pretty much together as long as that portal stays open as long as it stays open yeah it's the star new term past nicely crafted i like it also it's hard like i'm not gonna lie like yeah yeah i can see why you've been really excited about this mark if this is the one you were kind of hinting at, I can see why. I'm loving it.

I'm loving it! Temple of Time. Also in the three turns I've been controlling Ayla, she's taken 82 damage. And I think that might be the most damage Ayla has ever taken. Congratulations. I cannot control her. Yep. Century, how are you?

I'm not too bad. I'm not too bad I'm nearly half nearly nearly half yeah thank you once again Ravs for joining us we'll be back next week to finish off this mad

madness you're going to be here for a while by the way dude you're in for a few sessions this is a 10 episode dungeon I'm going to be here for a while by the way dude you're in for a few sessions three years ten episode dungeon I'm going to take so long on my turns that I'm here for episode 100 okay

yeah perfect well we will see you all next week for next Sunday that's it take care bye bye bye bye bye bye bye