Aerois - Episode 61: Hot Under the Collar

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Hot Under the Collar** is the 61st episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 23rd February 2020 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*Temperatures are rising in the Prime Facility...can the team find the Prime before they melt?*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* The two sponsors this week are D&D Beyond and Nord VPN.
* Rhiannon's birthday was this week.
* Merch: there is a sale on dice this week, especially the copper dice. Other items in store are also on sale to make room for new merch.
* Chaos Twins is on 8pm til late.
* Mark and Kim will be on the Yogscast channel next week for a "cool thing".
* Keep sending fan art, music and cosplays to highrollersdnd@gmail.com.

### **Recap**

"*Over the last several weeks, the party have been looking to help Sentry, our guardian paladin, as she faces her last few months of life and the magic that keeps her sentient begins to fade. Called by a mysterious power, ever since you [Sentry] began your journey, you have been seeking the Prime: a guardian being that is connected to the lifespan and may hold the key to keeping Sentry alive.*
"*You first travelled to the ruins of Kamina city, known as the City of Glass, the site of a terrible magic weapon used in the war between Aerois and Kalus Starbane. Here, you found that hundreds of guardians had been called by a figure called Herald, a guardian whose duty it was to await the Prime's successor, and led all of these guardians to it in the City of Glass. Herald, in a desperate bid to keep herself alive, had begun feeding off the magical energy of these guardians, turning them into feral monstrosities under her control. This process has caused her to become corrupted by the being known as Hadar, the Crimson Star. However, the party, along with some unlikely allies, managed to defeat Herald; and with the help of Lucius and Sentry, restored her memories and the last vestiges of good that had been locked away in her companion Echo. Herald was committed to ending her own life in guilt of what she had done, but Sentry convinced her otherwise and to help her instead.*
"*With Herald leading the way, the party have arrived at the edge of the Hawk's Dawn Archipelago, a series of volcanic islands near the continent of Voksar. Deep below the waves, at the base of an ancient volcano, the party have found an entrance into a magical research base for the long-lost Exalted Domain of Solwynn, the place where the guardians were created and where the Prime still remains. Heading inside, the party have found the crumbling, hot, lava-filled facility has no power, and that the foundry that they must pass through is locked by magical wards...*"
### **Part 1**

*The gang are getting hot under the collar in the depths of a volcano!*

It was established that the facility is powered by a great steam engine, controlled by channelling lava that is then cooled by sea water with the steam then funnelled into the generator - several of the pipes are broken, but Lucius used a cold spell that allowed them to open a door to an office, also giving them a clue as to how to open the main doors once they figure a few other things out. There are two orbs used to open the large metallic doors in the main room - these need some sort of key. It is also incredibly hot: the areas of the facility that they are entering have lava pockets that have seeped in as the facility has taken damage - the party is sweating heavily in the oppressive heat, and armour is uncomfortably hot to wear. Herald is with the party, and may be able to answer questions about the facility, although it has been a long time since she was last here.

The party make plans to go outside and unblock the blocked pipe that introduces sea water for cooling the lava; Lucius and Nova stay in the generator room while Quill, Aila, Sentry and Herald go to unblock the pipe. Nova investigates the machinery to discover that the central metal sphere surrounded by magical glass has a lava crucible inside, and when it is cooled it generates steam that is funnelled up into a pipe that goes to a turbine to generate power. There is no way to cool this room down - Lucius says it reminds him of Starbane in here: oppressively hot. In the office (seemingly an engineer's office or workshop), they find a desk with destroyed schematics, a small framed portrait of an elegant Queen dressed in a white gown with armour plates bearing emblems of Solwynn - she carries a rod and wears a crown and has a young girl wearing a green dress sitting by her side - it is a portrait of Queen Astoria and her daughter, Petal (Nova wants to give this to Sentry). Also against the wall is a glass display case containing medals for skill in archery, as well as a beautiful composite longbow and twenty exceptionally well-made arrows (+2 arrows) in a quiver that bears the mark of Solwynn.

The team of Quill, Aila, Sentry and Herald make their way back up to the entrance and find a lever to help with opening the door from the inside, water pours in as the door opens, soaking Quill and Herald as Aila and Sentry swim out to the pipes: one is partly crushed and broken, the other is engulfed in algae, coral and slime. Aila realises that if she breaks off the mangled end, the broken pipe can be "fixed" and that clearing the growths off the other pipe will clear it. Sentry tries to sever the broken pipe cleanly, but fails, so Aila smashes the broken end off with her hammer, and the water flows into the pipe again. Sentry reaches in and pulls all sorts of growths and goo out of the other pipe before a yellow tentacle reaches out and tries to grab her: the yellow slime she is removing is making her arm tingle - Aila hits it with her hammer, and Sentry hits it with her dagger, once the ochre jelly is defeated and removed from the pipe, it also begins to take in water. They messenger ring to be let back in and make their way back down to the others.

Meanwhile, Nova and Lucius notice that water has started to flow down the pipes into the metal sphere in the middle of the room; they hear the groaning and creaking of metal under stress, and eventually steam is produced, and a low metal hum indicates that some power is returning to the facility. Lucius and Nova are drenched in sweat, Herald indicates the damage that has occurred and says that the facility used to be more heat resistant, but the deterioration of the facility is making most of the rooms unbearably hot. Nova shows Sentry the portrait of Queen Astoria and Petal that she found in the office nearby (Sentry takes it with her), and tells Aila about the bow and arrows in the same room, which she takes.

They move to the adjacent room, which has the look of a main lobby: it has two huge metal double doors that are clearly blisteringly hot, there are two pedestals on either side with spherical indentations at their top which are connected to the doors by a series of metal and crystal leylines, and appears to be some sort of locking mechanism. The leylines now appear to be powered but the doors are still closed. There is another corridor on the other side of the room which they decide to explore, there is an orange glow coming from the corridor and an oppressive heat coming from within. Quill casts Water Walk as a ritual and Sentry takes the time to cast Protection from Fire Energy on Lucius.

They follow a series of narrow corridors down to a few chambers: workshops, research stations, and destroyed rooms. The room they end up in has lava pools evident in the broken floors, and is hotter than anywhere else they have been in the facility - Nova, Quill and Sentry gain a level of exhaustion. Around them, they can see bookshelves, tables with dried and burned remnant of parchment and paper, cracked leather books, jars and vials that have long since dried up. Quill hears the sound of something grinding on rocks coming from further into the facility, especially as he is speaking. Sentry asks Herald what she remembers of the facility, and she says it has been several centuries since she was last there - the layout is unfamiliar to her, and she does not know where the keystones would be located.

Aila stealths forward, not finding any tripwires or traps, but thinks she sees something in the lava; she notices all the bookshelves and desks and tables that are covered in materials and wonders if the keystones are hidden somewhere in one of them. Sentry and Lucius move somewhat noisily behind Aila, and Quill casts Arcane Eye which shows Quill what Aila has seen. They search bookcases, cabinets and desks: Lucius finds a sealed potion bottle with clear crystal blue liquid still inside - he holds it up and says "Look!", at which point two giant stone worms erupt from the lava - the lava worms burrow through part of the stone with their rings of stony teeth and emerge near the party - they have a combination of stony plates and lava-coloured eel skin, and the lava sloughs off them doing no damage. Aila shoots one with her new bow doing minor damage. Lucius casts a chromatic orb of cold damage and hits for significant damage, but unfortunately this creates a steam cloud that damages Sentry and Herald and making the area impossible to see in. Sentry hits the same lava worm for moderate damage, but takes fire damage each time she hits it.

The first worm attacks Lucius, and the second turns on Aila - Lucius is hit for moderate damage, but the other misses Aila. Nova casts blight on the nearest worm, doing significant damage, Aila attacks with her hammer, taking fire damage and doing significant damage - both worms are now heavily injured. Lucius throws a twinned chromatic orb at the creatures, killing them both and raising a huge steam cloud that hits the whole party and doing damage to all. The lifeless bodies of the lava worms fall to the party's feet.

### **Part 2**

*The team continue their exploration of the hidden Guardian facility!*

Quill cannot hear any more noise of things grinding over stone and believes that it was the lava worms causing it. Nova investigates a desk that has a number of weapon components on it and appears to be a half-finished project but cannot make out much information about it. Quill identifies Lucius' potion as a potion of vitality. Quill and Nova take another level of exhaustion, going to level 2. Sentry finds a small metal box that is engraved with the sigil of Solwynn, inside are two metal spheres each bearing the symbol of Solwynn, Aila finds a scroll in a metal engraved scroll case that was hidden behind books on a bookcase - it is cool to the touch - the enchantment on the outside protects the contents from water and extreme heat. Quill heals Lucius and examines the scroll - he recognises it as the Sequester spell which would normally take 5,000g of powdered diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire that is sprinkled on a willing target creature or object - the object then turns invisible, is hidden from all scrying and divination magic, and time stands still for it until a determined trigger releases the spell. This level of magic is incredibly rare on Aerois. Quill has a theory that the guardians' ability to shut down may have derived from this sort of magic, allowing them to survive.

They return to the main lobby, Quill casts Water Walk and Sentry casts Warding Bond on Quill. Herald and Sentry place the keystones on the pedestals as the rest stand back: blue energy trickles into the leylines and filters up into the doors - lightning crackles up the doors and they open slowly due to the low power. Heat emanates from the new room which looks to be an old foundry or processing facility - there are holes in the floor, ceiling and walls with collapsed platforms creating stone litter on the ground and lava is prominent where the floor has broken away. At the far end of the room is another set of double doors which Herald indicates leads to the Prime's chamber; she indicates that this room was used to take the power of the Prime and filter it into guardians to replenish their life energy, it was also where manual repairs were done to damaged guardians. There are beds and magitek devices in one corner of the room that appear to have been used for the latter purpose.

The party is cautious of more lava worms, but cannot hear or see any sign of them. The room is unbearably hot, and they are reluctant to spend too long here. Aila starts to skirt the edge of the room, being careful of the crumbling stone - any major vibration or earthquake could cause this place to collapse. The rest of the party takes different paths across and around the room. Aila sees the double doors at the end of the room - they are half-fused shut due to the heat and will need to be forced open - there was once a wheel that could have been turned to open the doors, but it has melted into a drooping, unusable shape. It is at this point that a new worm emerges behind the party, but this one is bigger than the ones they fought previously: its whole body is covered in a stone carapace, great spines of glistening obsidian stone jut from its body, and its great gaping maw is like a squid's beak with sharp obsidian fangs.

Aila shoots with her bow and hits twice for mild damage, Sentry blesses Nova, Quill and Herald and prepares to attack if it hits any of the party. The creature moves quickly behind Herald and spews lava breath hitting Herald, Sentry, Nova and Lucius for significant damage - Sentry is downed (fortunately the painting was saved, but the back of her breast plate starts to melt and break away giving her -5 to AC), Nova triggers Tomb of Levistus and Lucius uses a reaction to absorb elements and reduce his damage. Quill casts Beacon of Hope and Herald casts Mass Healing Word, getting Sentry back up - Herald then collapses, weakened. Lucius casts Cone of Cold on the worm, but it hunkers down and uses its stone plating to resist most of the damage.

Aila throws her hammer doing massive damage, and Sentry casts Moonbeam doing minimal damage. The worm moves immediately towards Aila and Quill, but misses on the bite and fails to constrict Quill (he uses a portent to ensure this). Nova casts Hex Curse and Blight doing moderate damage, Quill disengages and casts Mass Healing Word. Herald casts Guiding Bolt and hits for moderate damage and puts herself between the worm and Quill. Lucius casts Chromatic Orb, changing the cold damage to acid and doing moderate damage - it begins to melt the creature's armour. Aila hits the creature with her hammer and takes fire damage from the heat of its body. Sentry moves into melee range and hits once: the creature is almost dead. The creature misses with a bite on Quill, and constricts Sentry who goes down again and is now unconscious, restrained in the worm's grasp - it drags Sentry down into the lava (the painting STILL survives because it falls to the floor!). Sentry automatically takes a death saving throw.

Nova dives into the lava after Sentry and the creature, taking moderate fire damage, she blasts the worm and kills it: the worm lets go of Sentry, and they both float to the surface - Nova gets out of the lava. Herald dives in to save Sentry and throws her out of the lava, Aila drags Herald out of the lava and feeds a healing potion to Sentry.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

02:54 - Episode Start
04:00 - Intro
14:19 - Recap
16:38 - Part 1
1:33:00 - Break time/Donations
1:38:46 - Part 2
2:51:37 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

#### **The Stormchasers (Player Characters)**

* Aila
* Nova V'ger
* Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto
* Qillek Ad Khollar
* Sentry

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Queen Astoria
* Petal
* The Prime

## **Featured Locations**

* Hawk's Dawn Archipelago
	+ Volcanos

## **Trivia**

* Quill casts Water Walk to allow them to cross the lava, but did not take into account that they can still take damage from the heat as per the spell description.
* As part of the mid-show break, Mark thanked everyone who watches and supports the show - he is proud of how far High Rollers has come all due to the support that people have given. Donations and subscriptions are appreciated but not required, and the best way to support High Rollers is by telling people about it.
* Quill recognises the scroll case as similar to the one he had "when [he] found Sentry". (He will find out what his scroll is in episode 117).