Aerois - Chapter Two: Every Rose Has Its Thorns

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

 Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Every Rose Has Its Thorns** is the second chapter of the Aerois campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel between 5th August and 7th October 2018, and consists of eight episodes.

*In Chapter Two the party find themselves in Rosehall, a small village north of the Bitterwood. But, as they say, every rose has its thorns!*

## Summary

The party heads towards Rosehall spotting the ruined underground Dwarven city of Dwalinden on the way, destroyed during a cataclysmic event called The Sundering which caused the break-up of the continents and ended up with Aerois having a number of drifting sky cities. Sentry recognises Dwalinden as a town that used to trade with her home city of Solwynn (pron. SOLL-vin) and they learn that Sentry was alive during The Sundering (which happened 500 years prior) but has been dormant herself since that time. Sentry learns that Solwynn has since been destroyed and is now submerged somewhere in the Hawk’s Dawn Archipelago. The party learns that Sentry went into her powered down mode when she was about thirteen years old and has less than two years of activation left before she either powers down for good or goes feral; the party plans to go to the Hawk’s Dawn Archipelago before either of these occur in order to try to save her. Arval tells them about the treasure that they may find inside Dwalinden but suggests that they continue on to Rosehall, which they do – Aila is not particularly welcomed, being a Wild Elf, a race that is commonly known to raid towns in the Lowlands.

They stay at The Brazen Harte, the inn run by Rosalina, and find a Temple of Palador (the Sun god) where they enquire about healing Arval’s broken leg, discovering that it will cost them 300 gold. They make enquiries with the local Field Warden, Merrick Tallfellow, about mercenary work to raise the needed funds and find themselves being watched by members of the powerful, but sinister, local Brookstone family. In the morning, they decide not to take either of the mercenary jobs on offer, but instead return to Dwalinden in search of treasure.

When abseiling down into the chasm where Dwalinden now lies, Quill falls from the rope and almost dies, while the rope itself loosens and ends up at the bottom of the chasm with the rest of them. At the now abandoned blacksmith’s they locate a magical hammer before they are attacked by, and defeat, a forge Guardian. Sentry connects to its matrix, the power source and housing for a Guardian’s soul, to see its last memory. Lucius discovers that through some unknown ability of his magic, he is also able to connect to a Guardian’s matrix. That evening, Sentry has a vision of a golden, winged Guardian that tells her to “Find The Prime”.

In the morning, Nova levitates to the surface with their rope, and they climb out to safety with their loot haul. On the way back to Rosehall they camp for the night, during which Lucius hears the noise of some demonic beasts that he is sure will attack them. He destroys two of them, but one escapes, and he proudly describes his exploits before the others tell him that he has actually murdered cows. The party sell their treasure and pay to have Arval’s leg healed, but their sudden wealth attracts a lot of attention and requests for help. They give money to Rosalina to establish a charity fund to help out the locals of Rosehall. Lucius and Quill get to know Valla better, discover that her magical power has a mystical origin, and encourage her to practice its use.

Brett Brookstone, the head of the local mining operation, introduces himself to the group and invites them to a family dinner which they accept and enjoy, despite their misgivings. When they head back to the inn after dinner, however, they are greeted by the sight of the bloodied, dead bodies of Corin and Yusef and discover that Valla has been kidnapped by a Goliath. The party gives chase and catches up with the kidnappers, killing the Goliath, but not before Quill loses an eye and several others are severely injured (including Lucius breaking his leg). They chase after the Goliath’s two accomplices who have taken the opportunity to try to abscond with Valla, only to find out that they are Brett Brookstone’s son and daughter. Brookstone’s son is killed, the daughter captured, and Valla freed; they discover that Valla is extremely valuable and that more people will be coming for her, though they do not know why.

When they return to Rosehall, they hand their captive over to the Field Warden, but not long afterwards, a small mob led by Brett Brookstone comes to free his daughter. There is a fight and Brookstone is knocked unconscious before he and his daughter are incarcerated by the Field Warden. Lucius’ leg is healed at the Temple, and they head towards the next town, Ironwick.

## Major NPCs

List of major NPCs encountered in this chapter.