Aerois - Episode 140: A World in Chaos

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**A World in Chaos** is the 140th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 6th March 2022 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*Break time's over! It's back to figuring out what to do next...and it turns out, a lot of Aerois is in trouble...*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* There are no sponsors this week.
* A brand new update on the studio will go live after the episode: it shows some of the new tech being installed and is 20 minutes long! Big thanks to Laurie for his help with the electronics that were installed. The studio is declared to be "almost ready" – there are a couple of things out of stock, and they still needed to do some testing. Things have been connected and are starting to come through to the chad PC. The camera lenses are a huge improvement already over anything they recorded in the games room at Yogs.
* Viewers are encouraged to join the High Rollers DND Patreon.
* There will not be an episode of High Rollers: Aerois next week because two players (Rhiannon "No Nuts" Gower and Chris "Little Nut" Trott) will be on tour with their band, Mr Sam and the Dednutz (with shows in Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and London).
* Merch: there are still a few Quill plushies available in the UK store.

### **Recap**

*"As the battle for Horizon, Xarkira’s kidnapping attempt, and Kalus Valkyrian’s surprising aid and dramatic exit, the heroes of Aerois discussed some of the revelations and events of the battle before taking some much-needed time to reconnect with friends and loved ones. After hearing Nova wanted to introduce Thalia to her parents, Lucius decided to invite the entire party, the crew of the Stormchaser, and many of their closest allies along for a dinner in Gusthaven. Settling in, the moment was full of heartfelt emotions, as well as a particular misunderstanding of a certain gesture, as the party enjoyed this moment of respite.*

*After returning to Horizon however, Quill spoke with the mage, Azaria Perel, about some information Valla provided on Xarkira’s simulacrum using a spell scroll of a power higher than the ninth sphere of magic. After investigating with the Azaria, Quill use the Legend Lore spell to learn more about it and saw a brief vision of the real Xarkira traveling to multiple worlds and finding lost ancient knowledge at the behest of Hadar. Traveling to Worlds Hadar had previously consumed or ravaged, Xarkira has seemingly increased her power immeasurably under Hadar’s influence. With their next steps to be decided, as Valla researches the Titans’ demispheres, several weeks are going to pass."*
### **Part 1**

*Quill spends three weeks using his Storm-Eye to gleam some information about Project Vanguard!*

Nova suggests that the group get in touch with Starbane and advise him about what they have just learned about Xarkira and Hadar in the hopes that he can track her using his agents throughout the galaxy. Lucius further suggests that they do not tell him that they are trying to kill titans but suggests that they might want to find and make use of his titan killer. Aila is all for telling Starbane things that will be advantageous to them all to show that they are all trying to trying to meet the same ends without destroying Aerois. Valla had mentioned that in all the research that he had done, Starbane had seen the Stormchaser crew as an anomaly that introduces uncertainty into the whole equation – they may be a force that can provide an alternative force to using the World Engine, and they need to encourage him to believe that.

Within the next three weeks, Quill wonders if it is time for another summit and decides to use the Eye of the Storm to discover some things: Nova decides to send a message to The Tassadar via the Twinstar Longbow in the hopes that the crew will pass it on to Kalus – she tells him what they have learned through the use of the *Legend Lore* spell: about Xarkira and Hadar touring the galaxy, how Xarkira has learned magic beyond the 9th circle and through her interactions with Hadar and these ancient sites, she is becoming more and more powerful – she implies that Xarkira will come for Valla and asks if there is any way that he can use his resources to track her down and help them. Thalia says that she will try to hack The Tassadar’s communications system so that it thinks that the Twinstar is a Valkyrian ship and will accept the message, but that there is no guarantee – even with the schematics of the Tassadar, it will be very difficult: she sends the message a few times, failing to get it through the first few times, but after a couple of days’ work she manages to get it through. They get the response, *“Unknown vessel, message received – the Emperor has been apprised”.* Lucius is nowhere to be seen, having been so embarrassed by his unseemly actions at the dinner. Sentry has been assisting the labourers, masons and woodworkers to rebuild Horizon and working out ways with Reyn to shore it up and make it stronger against Xarkira. Sentry is joined in her rebuilding efforts by Maximillion Taldros who passes his efforts off as a need to exercise and re-train, but it is clearly borne from a need to do something other than following Valla around – initially there are some tense encounters with the citizens not trusting him as a Valkyrian soldier, but with Sentry to vouch for him and over time, they realise that he is just a good-hearted man trying to help out.

Quill decides to use the Eye of the Storm to ask the where on Aerois is Project Vanguard – the spell does not work, however. When he instead asks, “Where is Project Vanguard,” he gets an answer:

> *The Storm Eye clouds, and where it was previously grey clouds, like a storm cloud, those clouds turn purple and blue and become like Astral Sea. Your vision pulls out - you do not know where - for whatever reason, the Eye doesn't show you going from Aerois to this place, you are just in the Astral Sea. You can see what Quill would think of as an airship dock but it's just built in Astral Space like a floating shipyard. This one is a bit smaller, and rigged up to it you see this gargantuan enormous construct and it is being adapted, updated and improved, it's continuing to be worked on - it looks bigger than when you last saw it when you used the Eye. It looks like it is being not repurposed, but is being upgraded. You also notice that next to the shipyard there is a constructed (like built) Archway gate, a circular portal in Astral Space, and it is big enough for Project Vanguard to go through.*
>
>

Aila wonders where on Aerois the other end of the Archway leads to. Nova is curious as to what the upgrades are to the construct – Quill thinks it was being adapted to be able to travel through Astral Space.

Quill then asks the Eye where the astral gate next to Project Vanguard goes to.

> *Quill sees flashes of all different planes across the Astral Sea where there are similar gates constructed - it seems to be a network of gates used to transport Valkyrian ships, vehicles and troops through. Quill sees one on Elysium (that he had seen before), he sees a couple built out in Astral Space next to their relative planes, he sees ones built in the sky above a big fiery rock planet, all different places. The ones he sees are all constructed - he does not see any in the process of being built. It is apparent that the gates work very much like a teleport circle and can go to any of the other gates: some are bigger than others, while the one on Elysium is big and could allow the passage of hundreds of troops, it is not big compared to some of the ones in space (including the one next to Project Vanguard) that would allow the passage of Kalus' Magitek ships to pass through.*
>
>

Nova suggests that it would be helpful to know the runic sequence of the gate. Quill asks the Eye what the runic sequence of the gate next to Project Vanguard is.

> *Quill sees somebody on the shipyard, on the ring, next to Project Vanguard. He sees a bunch of Magitek engineers programming the sequence in, and Quill assumes this to be the past. They are clearly designing the system and he sees the runic sequence before the vision ends.*
>
>

Quill writes down the runic sequence he has just seen for the planar ring next to Project Vanguard.
The next week, regaining only two charges, Quill continues his questions with the Eye by asking if there is an Arcane Gate big enough for Project Vanguard:

> *The vision clouds, and similar to what has happened when he has asked about the future before, the vision becomes hazy and weak. Now that H'esper has left the world and rejoined Siaska, as Siaska is still weakened, the visions of the future are harder to predict, and it is almost as if this is a more uncertain future. Quill sees the hazy image of a floating Sky City, barren houses, barren streets, and he can see that at the bottom of it, one of the ring gates has been constructed, but it looks too small. Quill begins to see various Valkyrian mages at work around the city activating various devices and he watches as the ring embedded into the bottom of the floating Sky City - lines begin to form around its individual sections of its components, the lines begin to glow brightly with magic and the ring begins to expand. The mages begin running desperately around, checking things and looking uncertain as if they are not sure that this is going to work. Quill can see that vast amounts of resources have been spent to build it and he watches as the ring begins to separate and floating, as if by arcane power, it begins to expand further and further until it is big enough - suddenly, a rope of arcane energy rejoins and connects the separated sections like chain links forming a much larger planar gate. It glows with the same sequence of runes and Quill sees the giant feet of Project Vanguard descending down towards the ocean before the vision ends.*
>
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Quill notes that the feet had not appeared to have changed from his previous vision, possibly indicating that this is not too far in the future. Nova asks whether Quill has seen the floating city before (given that Quill never told Nova about his vision about this sky city, Kassatoris, because they were arguing at the time), but Quill does not recall it. When he is on his own, Lucius approaches Quill and asks him to use the Eye to discover whether anybody has been talking about “that moment” because he is ashamed and worried about his reputation, especially with the Sky Prince. Quill knows that Nova, Sentry, Howard and Oriya definitely have been, while every time Aila passes Lucius, she makes the gesture. Thalia simply raises an eyebrow and makes subtle comments about hands and fingers at him until he yelps, runs away and slams the door to the captain’s quarters on the Stormchaser – the curtains have been drawn for the last few weeks. Quill says that he will ask the Eye if anyone has lost respect for Lucius as a result of the party. He does not use a charge of the Eye but asks if anyone is still talking about the incident at the party – having no idea what he looks like when he has a vision, his performance is not particularly convincing, and he tells Lucius that Nova and Sentry are praising the meal that he organised, what a wonderful time everyone had, and that Aridan and Oriya praised him as a host. As he is doing this, Aila walks past in the background, calls Lucius, makes the gesture and walks off, laughing. Lucius tells Quill that it is ok and walks off, disappointed, knowing that Quill has lied to him.

About three weeks after the Battle of Horizon, Reyn and Dannica call a war council in order to update them on what is currently happening in Aerois: attending the council will be the Stormchasers, Sky Prince Aridan, recently rescued Ember Elf, Sumar Xemeks Elledovian (Grand Strategist of the Xiphen), Shepherd Parick (Representing the Council of Shepherds of Myrskr), and General Faelissa’tharas (Blue Dragon). They also mention that there are several representatives who wish to speak to them after the war council about a number of problems that have arisen recently that might be worth considering by the Champions of Aerois. The Stormchasers are asked if they wish to bring any specialists to the War Council: Quill suggests Starbane but Dannica suggests that it may not be the best time to bring him to a private war council despite their seeming good rapport with their great enemy at present. She suggests that Valla and Maximillion may be of some value, and Quill also suggests Azaria Perel. Nova is a little concerned, believing that Azaria serves her own interests, but Quill believes that she will be useful, being a master of the arcane and having told him that she does not like Xarkira – Sentry and Aila agree that she would be of benefit. There is some concern that Max will not be well received at the council, but Dannica and Reyn have come around because he helped to defend Horizon and has been helping to rebuild after the battle – Aridan has no problem with him, but they think that the Dragonborn may have issues with him – they decide to invite him regardless.

They assemble in the rebuilt War Chamber of Horizon – fresh wards have been applied and there is a constant guard patrol of the area. Some of the destroyed Iron Golems have been used as decoration in statues showing them being defeated by Horizon soldiers. There are some raised eyebrows from some of the guests as they all enter – Azaria glides in, with her black funeral dress and veil trailing behind her before she seats herself as if she is exactly where she is meant to be. Valla and Maximillion stay close to the Stormchasers – General Faelissa locks eyes with Max and she appears to be seething inside. Dannica raises her hand and welcomes them all before reminding them all that everyone present is united in wishing to stop Kalus Valkyrian, and protecting Horizon, Aerois and their alliance. Reyn announces that there has been a major development – a change in the movement of Valkyrian forces since the attack on Horizon three weeks prior: they are neither attacking nor retreating – they are not yielding any ground, but neither are they trying to gain new territory. They are not trying to spread propaganda to new cities, but are concentrating on areas where they already have a foothold, primarily Gisella and Vortinssar. It is believed that this change has come about because of internal conflicts between Kalus’ forces. Aerois does not have the numbers to assault them directly and have made no progress.

Faelissa angrily declares that now is the best time to strike at them if there is discord within the Valkyrian forces and that they may never have a better opportunity. Nova clarifies, believing that the Valkyrian forces are not weakened, but distracted: Faelissa still thinks that now is the best time to strike. Nova believes that Vortinssar should not be attacked at this time because it would further alienate the Genasi; Dannica agrees, suggesting that disabling the Valkyrian forces there would be more useful, especially the propaganda forces in the city. She calls in the specialist for Vortinssar, who has been melding into shadows behind a statue, but present all the while – it is Norfir - she is dressed in a worn, tight leather suit, covered in throwing knives and carrying a leather satchel (bag of holding). With her hair cut a little shorter than they remember, she looks weatherworn but is in good spirits. She grins and reports to the group: there are a number of good agents now in Vortinssar and they have made contact with a youth underground that have been providing guerrilla engagement, disrupting supply lines to a project that is being supported by Valkyrian forces and the Elemental Council. They are working on a type of gateway – they have completed making a small Archway, but are working on something else entirely: there is a system of teleportation devices spread around the city that will transport the whole of Vortinssar back to Genas. They are trying to replicate the Jassivir incident and return the city back to their homeworld: this is being made possible through Valkyrian Magitek and by planar researchers from a specialist Academy in Vortinssar.

Norfir esitmates that the project will be completed within weeks to months, but they will not be able to use it until the Cradle is down because its presence still prevents planar transportation of that magnitude.

Norfir reassures them that the rebellious element within Vortinssar is strong and led by a young and popular sporting icon of mixed Genasi heritage – it is her brother, Cloud, better known by his Sky Jousting name of Tornado. “We’re doomed,” announces Nova.

Norfir reassures her that they’re not doomed – quite the reverse, he is proving to be a very able leader and exactly what the guerrillas need. He understands that his power lies in charisma and leadership – he has managed to unify the people under one banner and is a symbol to unite behind – he has proved to be a thorn in the side of the Council of Elders and is creating some disharmony within it.

Nova finds this hard to believe, given that she believes that her brother is a moron. Norfir agrees that while he may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, he is surrounding himself with clever people to make up for what he lacks and is listening to their advice. The people are finding his courage and outspoken nature inspiring, and a number of current council members are reluctant to engage with the current philosophies of Harmony and the rest, meaning that they have allies within their government.

Norfir tells them that while the youth rebellion is engaged on many different fronts, open debate and political discourse as well as more direct action, Harmony and the majority of the Council leaders are still largely in control of the city. An Eladrin singer known to them, Shansara, is the Empire’s mouthpiece in Vortinssar – she is influential, well-liked by the people and the Council, her music is used to celebrate the empire and is a powerful propaganda tool. People use her concerts as a meeting place for like-minded individuals and she highlights the benefits of belonging to the Empire. She appears non-threatening, caring, empathic and kind-hearted, and she is selling the Imperial dream.

Nova wants Norfir to tell people that Tornado’s name is really Cloud, a dweeby name, but she insists that it is safer for him to use a pseudonym given what he is involved in. She adds that she is not going to get involved in family drama because she has had more than enough of that in her life.

Nova is very concerned about the idea that Vortinssar will be sent back to Genas and worries that they may not have calculated everything properly. She worries about the people from Jassivir until Norfir advises that the speculation from the experts is that Jassivir will not return to Aerois, but that Vortinssar will simply replace it on Genas, destroying it in the process. It seems that they have an Archway ring that can be enlarged when required that will be at the heart of the city’s movement. Norfir says that while there is a small number of younger Genasi who do not want to return to Genas (primarily those who were born on Aerois), the vast majority of people have embraced the idea and are excited to return to Genas, reversing the mistake that was made in bringing them to Aerois in the first place, believing that they should always have been a part of the Empire. Norfir announces that she will be returning to Vortinssar in a few days and that she and the youth movement will assist them in any way they wish. Nova asks Norfir to pass along a message to her brother – that she misses him, loves him, and is proud of him. Lucius tells Norfir to “be careful of the gorillas” which she, managing to keep a straight face, assures him that she will, and leaves.

Quill explains their last interaction with Kalus and that they managed to show him Quill’s vision which may have caused him to take stock of his position with regards to Aerois and the World Engine. He also explains Xarkira’s treachery and new alliance with Hadar. Quill advises against trying to attack any of Starbane’s forces at this time. The Grand Strategist thanks them for his rescue but does not believe that Kalus would falter because of what he has been shown: he thinks it a very deliberate act, being one of two possibilities: either whatever he has seen has convinced him that his actions on Aerois are either not honourable or productive and not going to accomplish what he wants, or that he has decided to bolster his forces before one final push to break through Aerois’ defences. The Grand Strategist does not know the nature of what they have shown Kalus, nor does he know the man very well, but says that these are the two most likely paths from a strategic point of view.

Quill tells them of his visions of Project Vanguard and the Empire’s intentions to bring it to Aerois: he describes the abandoned Sky City that he saw in his last vision. Sky Prince Aridan responds (and Lucius conspicuously pulls his hat down to cover his face), telling Quill that the Sky City he speaks of is Kassatoris, a tragedy amongst the Sky Cities. He tells them that once lifted, Gusthaven had to overcome the issues of food and population control but worked with its population to do so. Horizon had a darker history with the nobility going down a darker path. No one really knows what happened in Kassatoris except that everyone died – it is possible that they could not get food, that they turned on each other or were driven mad. Kassatoris meanders at random, not following a regular pattern on air currents around Aerois. Aridan was always told that the city was full of ghosts, spectres, wraiths and the haunted spirits of those who died there in madness and suffering – it is possible that Kalus has cleared the city of these or even that they never existed. It would potentially be a dark reflection of Horizon – a Sky City full of resources, tools and materials but without a living soul in it. Because of its random drift, high aspect and fast speed, Kassatoris would be hard to track, and it may not even be possible to track with magic. Aridan believes that it would be almost impossible to assault, even for the Dragons if the city is now full of Magitek cannons, unless they had access to the Dragons’ crystalline ships. Faelissa advises, however, that the great dragons are still asleep within the ships and that they cannot be moved – she concurs that a even a flight of Dragons would be hard pressed to attack such a city.

Quill advises that he has managed to procure the runic sequence that will take them to the astral gate next to Project Vanguard in the Astral Sea – Azaria is intrigued and suggests that if they could procure an Archway, they could build their own, and she would like to attempt it. They know where one is, the one under water that took them to Aegis V, but Sentry destroyed it when they left. Nova suggests that Norfir, the Seekers or her brother could potentially get blueprints or intel on how the Genasi made their gate: Azaria agrees that this would be expedient. Nova is concerned that the gates can work two ways and insists that it must be made somewhere secretly so that no one can send a force through their gate without their knowledge. Azaria agrees, saying that they would only be able to make a small gate in any event, only allowing passage of a small force of specialists. She further suggests that once the mission is completed, they could destroy the gate afterwards to stop the threat of anyone using the gate against them.

Dannica calls for a respite for the Council but asks the Stormchasers to stay behind to speak to some ambassadors.

### **Part 2**

*The team meet with leaders around Aerois to uncover many new threats!*

Having been updated on the status of Horizon and Vortinssar, the Stormchasers now meet with some of the representatives that have been sent to ask them for assistance. They meet first with Baron Sovrano from Porta Sovrano and Baroness Erin Coralsong of the Triton people from beneath the sea. They met Baroness Coralsong a long time ago before going to Aegis V, but they have never met Baron Sovrano – he is a free pirate who made the city of Porta Sovrano and is in control of the area around it. The Baron is a Half Elf who wears an incredibly flamboyant captain’s hat similar to Lucius’, a leopard-print coat, multiple sashes, a big cravat and tall boots. The Baroness is dressed less gaudily – she is a Triton (mermaid) who wears a mixture of silks, seashells and netting. The Baron has heard of the Stormchasers after they helped his “favourite win-making nuns”, and this has put them in his good books.

The Baron advises them that he and the Tritons have a shared problem – while they have been at odds previously and have had a strained relationship, they find themselves to be allies through circumstance and need assistance from the Stormchasers. About four days previously, the large volcano in the Hawk’s Dawn Archipelago, Vulcanos, became extremely active, spewing lava and ash for days. While it has shown some activity previously, it has never been like this before, and other volcanoes that they had thought dormant have also become active. The Baroness adds that there have also been vents, geysers of hot water and steam emerging into their currents, killing off wildlife and disrupting current flow and life in general around it. They have also both seen Gemstone Dwarves – Dwarven women made entirely of gemstones (diamond, ruby, emerald) – walking around as if they were real creatures, exploring and possibly dismantling Solwynn ruins both on the floor of the ocean and built into the cliffs: they appeared at the same time that the volcanoes and vents became active. Furthermore, there has been increasing seismic activity – earthquakes and tidal waves, and along with the ash clouds, these may mean that the Baron’s people of the Archipelago and the Baroness’ people of the abandoned cities of Solwynn may have to leave for somewhere safer. Neither of them knows what the geological and ecological changes will mean for the rest of Aerois.

Aila asks if anyone has been sent to speak to the Gemstone Dwarves – the Baron says that he has sent a few of his men (most of whom are ex-pirates), but they have all been attacked, banished, sent away, or fled for their lives. While they have not been immediately hostile, they will not permit anyone to interfere with what they are doing – they have ignored people who have just watched them, but the minute there has been an attempt to stop them digging into the Solwynn ruins or the mountains, they give a warning then turn aggressive. In brief conversations, they have simply said that they are on an important mission for the Forge Mistress, and they have shown immense interest in anything from Solwynn, even to the point that they have handed over huge numbers of rubies, sapphires and diamonds to traders to buy old Solwynn relics including weapons, armour, unknown machine parts, crystals, all sorts of items. Aila wonders if they should go and beat the information out of them, and the Baron thinks this is a capital idea – the Baroness thinks they should talk to the Dwarves because she thinks they may actually talk to the Stormchasers because of their familiarity with the gods of Aerois. Aila proposes a compromise: Quill talks to them, and if they don’t talk, she hits them – the Baron thinks this a wonderful approach. Nova instead proposes that Sentry should talk to them and wonders if they are trying to rebuild a Prime or more constructs, Sentry wonders if the volcanoes are being used as forges again. Valla says that while she has not been able to locate her demiplane yet, she knows that Valena was once the Steward of the old Solwynn domain, and that she was going to start her search in the Hawk’s Dawn Archipelago. She thinks it likely that Valena will be found somewhere deep in the earth – underwater or within the mountains near the volcanoes; she thinks the crystalline Dwarven women must have something to do with Valena, and that maybe they can lead them to Valena – she has the feeling that Valena wants to speak to her and the Stormchasers. The Baron and Baroness remind them that if they do not do something soon, that a large number of people (above and below the water) will lose their homes and die because even the Druids have said that the volcanoes are too powerful for them to control – he formally asks the Stormchasers for their assistance and tell them to contact the Baron if they are willing and able to lend their aid. Azaria says that she has been working on a system for the Stormchaser to allow it to traverse the Astral Sea – it is a magical barrier pressurisation system that would allow the creation of a breathable, liveable, workable environment on the open decks of the Stormchaser: the perfect test of this system would be under the waters of the seas on Aerois.

Reyn says that their next ambassador is Skaldi Ravenscar of Myrskir, Priestess of Kellara – she has been very nervous about coming up to Horizon, but has come up with Skorb, who is currently in the stables. Skaldi enters, dressed in the vestments of a priestess of Kellara but looks worn and tired. She greets them warmly but it is clear that she is on the verge of tears – she has heard that they helped Zephyr overcome her madness and tells them she needs their help with another problem. Over the last few months, Kellara has stopped answering prayers and stopped giving power to her priests and priestesses who have slowly been losing their power for months. An order of knights, the Order of the Blackened Rose, once the most loyal of Kellara’s followers, have been going missing from all across Aerois over the last few months – they have been known to walk away and go somewhere unknown. Recently, she says, the knights have begun to return, but they have returned changed somehow – they are pale and grey-faced, wielding necromantic powers that they did not have before – they are attacking places, slaughtering any living beings they can find. When they have been killed themselves, they turn to dust and reappear somewhere else to continue their killing. Survivors have reported that they have seen the knights weeping openly, crying and mourning even as they kill – they whisper comforts, telling their targets that the “grieving lady is saving them from a worse fate” before leaving black roses on the dead, and people have started to call them “grief knights”.

Skaldi no longer hears Kellara’s voice and does not know what to do, but she knows that the knights must be connected to Kellara. She knows that the knights once had a base of operations, Nightbloom Hold, on the continent of Jakkesh, where they once trained and underwent their initiation rites. While she is not sure if the knights would still be at Nightbloom Hold, she thinks that there may be some clues as to what has happened to them or to Kellara there. Skaldi begs them for their help. Quill thanks Skaldi for the help that she gave them months ago, escorting them across Myrskyr.

Quill asks Skaldi if she thinks that Kellara is no longer guiding souls through the Astral Sea, and while no prayers are being answered, Skaldi still feels as if Kellara is still taking souls when funeral rites are performed. She does say that none of Kellara’s priests are able to return the dead to life anymore. The Order of the Blackened Rose numbers maybe 50 or fewer, and while they do not torture anyone, they possess a grim swiftness in trying to kill as many as they can, as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Skaldi feels that this is Kellara trying to collect or guide the souls as if she feels the need to do so quickly, and as Nova hugs her she senses that all the hope has drained from Skaldi as if she is in mourning. Aila senses that something is off about Skaldi, believing that the warrior who fought alongside them in the Night Eye would have more fight in her while Sentry and Lucius notice that all the colours about her have been drained as if something is pulling the light, hope and life from her (almost like what is happening to Kellara is happening on a micro level to Skaldi).

Valla thinks that she knows how to break into Kellara’s demiplane if she can find it, but she has not been able to locate it as yet: she thinks that she may be able to use one of the Grief Knights to point her in the right direction or find some clues at the Knights’ hold as to where to go. Skaldi knows that Nightbloom Hold is somewhere in the jungles of Jakkesh – the Knights were famed for their wreaths of natural black roses that only grow in Jakkesh. Because of the thick canopy and the chaotic, wild winds, Skaldi does not think that they would be able to get close with an airship – they would need to land a distance away and explore. They know that Jakkesh is neutral and not Valkyrian held territory.

Reyn asks Skaldi where the knights have appeared and if she can give him a list of places – he thinks that if they reform when they are destroyed, they probably would do so in places strong in Kellara’s power, such as graveyards or temples. Reyn thinks that they would be able to help to locate some potential places that the Knights would either reform or appear. Reyn suggests that Skaldi gets some rest and advises that there is a temple to Kellara in Horizon – Skaldi seems sad, hopeless, depressed and that most things are futile.

Their last guests arrive and Reyn calls in Warrenguard Sanna Longears and the Wild Elf Morgaen Frostblessed. Morgaen wanders in and sits down immediately, putting her feet up on the table while Sanna tells them her bad news: there are some Beastfolk families that have sided with Atelicus and are spreading his message that the weak must be culled in order for Aerois to survive. Atelicus believes that the time is drawing close and has unleashed three beasts on Aelseraph – a beast of the land, a beast of the air, and a beast of the sea. They are gargantuan beasts, imbued with elemental powers and in control of lesser beasts, causing significant destruction. When the Stormchasers fail to react with much more than a raised eyebrow, Sanna is surprised. She says that Morgaen wanted to take the Wild Elves to hunt the beasts down but thought that they might be slightly outclassed. People have seen and can avoid the beasts, but Sanna says that if they are left unchecked, they will go to different continents, more populated than Aelseraph (which mainly houses nomadic tribes of Wild Elves and Beastfolk) and they will cause real problems.

The three beasts do not work together but command lesser beasts that seem to follow them naturally. The beast of the land, the most powerful of the three, is a gargantuan creature with elemental earth and rock infused into it – it has a similar form to a rare reptile found in the deep jungles of Jakkesh and Aelseraph, a T-rex, but this one has a spiked tail and a giant horn. The beast of the air is a giant Roc, although it is infused with elemental air and lightning, and other Rocs fly with it. The beast of the sea is a giant multi-headed sea serpent infused with the power of water, kind of like a hydra and sea beasts follow in its wake.

Morgaen offers the assistance of the Wild Elves saying that this is the sort of challenge they live for. Looking at Aila, Morgaen says that since she mentioned visiting Aeseraph a while ago, a ritual has been prepared for her; they also have a base camp set up in Aelseraph and can guide the Stormchasers from there. Lucius asks them to contact Quill via the *Sending* spell if the creatures start to endanger more than empty land, but Sanna thinks that these are just Atellicus’ “opening act” – his message to the world that if people cannot beat these creatures, they do not deserve to live, and if left too long, he will just make stronger and stronger creatures.

Sanna and Morgaen take their leave – Nova waves, smiling at them as they depart, but the moment they have gone, she picks up a cushion and starts screaming into it. Dannica waits until Nova’s moment has passed before reminding them that they have allies – the Dragons, she says, may be able to help with the beasts or may at least give them an advantage, if not slow them down.

Nova suggests that they go first to Vulcanos since that has the greatest immediate potential for civilian casualties: at the same time, they could get some allies to scout for the Knights and get the Dragons to delay Atelicus’ monsters – Reyn agrees that this is a good plan and reminds them that they need to consider what they wish to do about Vortinssar. In terms of scouting units, Reyn suggests they could use either Rethra and the Wild Elves or the elite Guardian units – they could scout for the Knights or look for Nightbloom Hold on Jakkesh: they decide to send the Guardian Scouts to Jakkesh to look for Nightbloom Hold. Quill enquires about what forces they could use to distract the beasts – Reyn tells him that they have airships, Gryphon cavalry, Dragons (some of whom could breathe under water), and the Tritons may be able to assist with the sea beast if they are freed of the problems with Vulcanos. Dannica and the Stormchasers, Reyn says, are the most powerful individuals on Aerois – armies could probably defeat the beasts (with incredible losses), but they are going to likely need the Stormchasers to get involved.

Quill says that they should probably go to the Hawk’s Dawn Archipelago first – they need to prevent the casualties that are almost assured, plus they want to recover the arcane gate to Aegis V that Sentry destroyed so that Azaria can research it and they need to test the Stormchaser’s underwater capabilities. Azaria believes that the tests would be far less risky if she could examine the Prime Matrix, and while Sentry is prepared to allow Azaria to do some investigations, the rest of the Stormchaser crew is nervous about letting her examine Sentry too closely.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

00:00 - Intro
07:54 - Part 1
1:35:12 - Break time/Donations
1:46:08 - Part 2
2:41:10 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Baron Sovrano of Porta Sovrano
* New NPC 2

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Thalia Whisperwind
* Reyn Talevir
* Dannica Bloodfire
* Valla
* Maximillion Taldros
* Azaria Perel
* Sky Prince Aridan
* Grand Strategist Sumar Xemeks Elledovian
* Shepherd Parick of Myrskyr
* General Faelissa’tharas
* Norfir
* Baroness Erin Coralsong
* Skaldi Ravenscar
* Sanna Longears
* Morgaen Frostblessed

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Kalus Valkyrian
* Xarkira
* Hadar
* Cloud ("Tornado") V'ger
* Harmony (Council leader of Vortinssar)
* Skorb
* Valena
* Kellara
* Shansara

## **Featured Locations**

* Horizon
	+ The War Chamber under the Citadel of the Reborn

## **Trivia**

* This episode was briefly named "Tornado is a Moron" in the Wiki at Kim's request for all her support of the Wiki team.
* Mark clarified from the last episode that Xarkira was not absorbing the life and energy out of planets, but that Hadar was taking her to worlds that had already been attacked and ravaged or consumed. She was going and finding lost mage vaults, finding knowledge, examining rune stones, and all of that was being whispered to her by Hadar. Hadar was leading her to discover more power, and at the end of the vision, they saw her undergo some sort of transformation. There was a “magical tomb raider” sort of thing going on, he said.
* Lucius asked what the runic sequence for the planar gate looked like specifically: it is a ring of runes that goes around the whole gate and slowly etches in before activating.
* Nova was of the belief that Azaria almost joined Xarkira but Mark disagreed saying that she had told Quill that she does not like Xarkira because she thinks that Xarkira is cheating.
* Baroness Erin Coralsong first appeared in Episode 46: Yama Lo'Tai Troubles.
* Kim was very annoyed about the situation in Vortinssar. Tom advised her that this was the consequence of giving Mark a “4-page backstory to [her] character”. “Ten! Ten pages!” she responded. “This is pages four to five!”
* The Stormchasers met a Knight of the Blackened Rose, Ebon, on their way to Ironwick in episode 15.
* Kim wanted to name the three beasts “Atelicus’ Apocalypse Riders” while Mark said he would come up with cool names for them – “Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra”. A donation from Fael suggested “the Chonky Monsters”, and Mark turned that into “Atelicus and the Chonky Crew”.
* Mark asked for the Studio update to be posted to him because he does not have access to the HR Patreon. “Giving money to himself would be stupid,” he said. He’s right. Trott just laughed and advised that there were many other ways that he could access the video. In the end, Kim shared it with him.
* A sense of stress was expressed about the multiple high level problems that the Stormchasers were expected to deal with all at once. Mark reassured them with a friendly: