Aerois - Episode 111: Tassadar Preparations

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Tassadar Preparations** is the 111th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 9th May 2021 from 5PM to 8PM BST.

*A moment to come together and prepare for the infiltration mission that could change the fate of the Valkyrian war...it's time to board the Tassadar and rescue Valla.*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* There was no show last week because people were sick and one was moving house.
* The sponsor this week is D&D Beyond.
* Katie advised that there is new merch: t-shirts, notebooks and a Starbane pin (limited edition - only 100 in number). There will be new pins every month (there may be two new pins next month).
* Tales of Xadia has finished, and is available on the HR YouTube channel.
* Pitch Please, Tom's podcast, is back and there is a new episode.

### **Recap**

*"The Stormchasers, gifted with the means of planar travel from the Titan Hesper's last actions, travelled back into astral space to save their friend Quill, who was held captive by the sorceress Xarkira, commander in the Valkyrian Empire aboard her vessel The Serpent's Coil. Having successfully snuck in and located Quill, the party then quickly sought to dispatch the guards of the cells, and thanks to a very successful Dominate Monster spell from Lucius avoided drawing more attention from the mind flayer servants of Xarkira. Using this new ally, Lucius retrieved Quill's gear without arousing suspicion, whilst Nova and Aila released two other prisoners - a mutilated deva called Rana'iel, and a strange highly intelligent and magical kobold called Vessek.*
*Just as the party's actions finally called attention, the two remaining Xarkira simulacrum arrived with a force of elite guards, Nova transported them all back to Aerois - specifically to the Halls of Infinite Resplendence. Here, Quill learned the fate of of his god H'esper, and met Sayanna, another Titan, who shared in their grief. The halfling goddess healed Rana'iel and transported the party back to their airship where their next destination must be decided..."*
### **Part 1**

*The team contact allies and gather friends for the assault on the Tassadar!*

The party has taken a long rest in Gusthaven and travelled by teleportation circle to Horizon. There is a long discussion about what the party wants to do: Quill mentions the Beastwalkers, Nova wants to talk to her family, and Sentry wants to discuss options. Quill thinks that they don't need to worry about trying to convince anyone else to fight against Starbane except maybe the Grand Strategist. Lucius points out that either Xarkira knows nothing (if they killed the mind flayer interrogator) or knows everything if the mind flayer lived - it is possible, he says, that Xarkira may no longer be aligned with Starbane: Aila thinks it is safer to assume that Xarkira knows everything. Quill wants them to consider that Gisella is Valkyrian-aligned now and also contains the City of Glass where the remnants of the guardian race is assembling at Sentry's orders; Quill hopes that because of its prior reputation as a terrifying place, that people will not go there, and that will give them time to rescue what remains of the guardians. Lucius reminds them that Horizon can move (at the same speed as an airship) and suggests that it move closer to Gisella and meet the guardians half way, or even go to Gisella and pick up the remaining guardians - Nova says that this could be seen as an act of war: while the Vicereine was told that the guardians had been sent to the City of Glass, it is uncertain if anyone else in Gisella is aware. Lucius thinks that they would all agree that Gisella is probably not the safest place for the guardians at the moment, and Nova thinks it wise to talk to Dannica about the diplomatic angles that they might pursue. While most guardians would likely be against Starbane, it is possible that some have changed their minds, or that those stationed in Gisella may still be loyal to that continent rather than to Aerois as a whole, and may choose to fight against them. Sentry thinks that rescuing Valla may be the most important task at the moment, and Aila agrees, citing her concerns that Xarkira may attempt to abduct Valla and use her as a bargaining chip; Quill says that after all the effort they went to to get the information in the first place, they would be losing a lot if they chose not to act on the information immediately.

The party knows that the teleportation circle to the Tassadar is different to most in that it **can** be used to travel across planes and into the Astral Sea: Valkyrian has developed runes to be able to do this (allowing cross-planar travel). They will be able to take as many people as will be able to enter the portal within six seconds - probably no more than ten at most. They talk about taking Rana'iel, Moonstar, and meeting up with the Wings of Ishtar; they discard the idea of taking Vessek (because it is still not clear whether he is actually a seer or a madman), and Faelissa (because there will be no space for her to change into her dragon form). Lucius illustrates the parallel that they are going onto a ship to take Valla and the fact that they met on an airship where the Court of Shadows tried to kidnap Valla. Nova reminds them that she wants, if possible, to save Tassadar - Tiangong tells Nova that Tassadar is probably hooked up to power part of the ship, but that there would be other power systems (elemental and infernal engines, for example) since Kalus had warships before his deal with the Eterna, and that there would be redundant systems used as back-ups for power. Tiangong also says that Tassadar is a very powerful and logical being, and likely runs a large portion of the ship's systems; they will be able to communicate with Tassadar if Tiangong is nearby (in the same room), and that there is also a chance that Tassadar has been corrupted or that their relationship with Valkyrian is very different to Nova's version of Tiangong - the party may be able to sway Tassadar with the information shown to Quill by the Eye.

Tiangong advises that the Tassadar is a key ship and will be heavily guarded by elite soldiers and constructs (mitigating the threat of mind control that was used on the Serpent's Coil); they advise that sections of the ship will be accessible to different security levels, and that there will be some areas where invisibility will not be able to be used successfully. Their recommendation is that this is discussed with the Wings of Ishtar, and Nova is reminded that they retrieved the schematics of the Tassadar in Astral Space, and this is projected by Tiangong for them to see.

L1 and L2 are magitek elevators, and the ship appears to be split into four main decks: the lower deck, the mid deck, the top deck and the bridge deck. They believe that Valla would be somewhere near Kalus, most likely around the Commander's Quarters. Tiangong thinks that Tassadar would most likely be located in the Shipheart (the central core of the crystalline warships that Kalus uses); they think it likely that there will be a high security presence in the mid deck security area and multiple workers in the engineer station. The Wings of Ishtar had promised to secure keystones and uniforms to make the party's passage around the Tassadar easier, but no one knows what level the keystones will be or what they will allow access to. Nova recommends that Sentry brings Helios - that he may be interested in saving Tassadar, and she agrees: once Quill has contacted the Wings of Ishtar, they will make their way to the Tassadar and begin their infiltration.

Quill sends the following message to the leader of the Wings of Ishtar, Zellion: "It's time! The assault on the Tassadar begins tomorrow at 0800 hours. How prepared are you and how many forces can you bring? Quill." Zellion responds "Clear skies. We are ready. We should coordinate. Will have someone contact you with way to plan shortly. Objectives to discuss. We are ready. Zellion." Quill is nervous at what their objectives will be - they are happy to assist with Valla's rescue, but wish to strike a blow to the Empire.

Sentry gets Quill to send a message to Herald: "Hope all is well. Move guardians away from City of Glass. Gisella compromised. Stay safe. Will be with you soon. Sentry. Clear Skies." Herald responds with "Clear skies. Difficult to move guardians. Air over Gisella busy (blockaded), many airships. Difficult to move large numbers unseen. Have hidden in City of Glass. Local forces assisting."

Nova goes to speak to her family in Horizon: they are both being protected by guards and under house arrest: even Nova as a genasi is attracting some odd looks, and it is apparent that since Vortinssar has taken the side of the Empire, all genasi are generally suspect. While Aurora is making the best of their situation, Breeze and Wade are not enjoying being held prisoner. Nova explains that she had to rush away to fight against Starbane's forces that were attacking Gusthaven, and that they managed to stop the attack before there were too many fatalities. Wade wants to leave, to go home to their work and friends, and asks if Nova can speak to Dannica on their behalf: Nova is worried about their safety given her activity against Starbane, Aurora agrees with Nova citing the danger they will be in. Breeze eventually agrees that going home is not an option, but she does not want to stay in Horizon - she recognises that they were tricked into voting for Starbane, but thinks that reuniting with Genas is good and that they should not be pulled into a war with the Empire. Nova recognises that there are not many truly safe places for them to go on Aerois, Wade is totally overwhelmed and sits, saying nothing; Breeze thinks long and hard before announcing that they will go to Gusthaven where they will have the protection of the Skyprince. Nova says it would be an idea if they contact Tornado/Cloud (who may be in Cloudgarden) and the Professor to go with them. She tells them that she is about to embark on another mission that, while incredibly dangerous, could also be extremely useful for their cause: her mother finds it hard to accept this, wanting others to step up and face the danger, but Wade is relieved that Nova is taking care of the situation. Nova speaks to Reyn who organises an armed guard to take them to the teleportation circle where they are sent to Gusthaven - Nova travels with them and organises for them to stay with Aridan under his protection.

Quill sends a message to the beastwalkers that they will come and talk to them in a couple of days, and they inform Dannica of their plans to raid the Tassadar. She thinks this a very noble endeavour, but says that if they have the opportunity to destroy the Tassadar, they should absolutely do so because it will rob his fleet of an incredibly powerful weapon. In a year's time, Kalus' forces will invade, she says, and removing the Tassadar from the equation is an opportunity that they cannot allow to pass up. Furthermore, she says, destroying the Tassadar could give people hope and make it feel like Aerois could win - it could sway people like Telven Rooksilver, Grand Strategist Elledovian, and others to their side. Dannica says that when they return, Horizon will be prepared - she is aware that Gisella is massing their fleets (they have always had a strong navy of airships), and are creating a blockade along their border; Sentry tells her about the guardians in Gisella and Dannica says that she thinks that a diplomatic request will be ignored because the Princess is self-serving. Dannica is keen to save as many guardians as possible as they will be a powerful ally to have on their side, and says that she will begin to prepare to help save the guardians. She says that once the Tassadar mission and the guardian salvage occur, there will be other need for their skills - they will need to train with smaller strike forces, train other mages and be involved in some diplomatic missions. Dannica thinks that she is best suited to coordinate these things, or 'to be the hand that wields the blade'.

Nova wonders if they should send a message to Valla to give her a heads-up about the plan to rescue her, but the rest of the party thinks that may not be the best idea; there is a concern that the message could be intercepted or that perhaps she has been brainwashed by Kalus. Quill is concerned that Starbane's people would be able to detect a scrying spell, and chooses not to message Valla either. They all take a long rest, and Quill begins to dream:

> *Quill finds himself standing in a beautiful white and gold palace, and laid out in front of him is a table with a rough map of the Tassadar, carved representations of the Stormchaser crew, several angelic figures and all sorts of Valkyrian troops including four individuals that stand out from the rest: a regal-looking man with long red hair and red robes (a dragon), a hooded, shrouded and masked figure wearing all black, a woman with long beautiful silver hair covered in magitek, and twelve foot tall muscular pit fiend. Coalescing into a form around Quill is Zellion, a beautiful dark-skinned man with silver dreadlocks that spill down his back, and huge wings radiating golden light and warmth. Zellion tells Quill that they have recovered a prototype magitek device that approximates the Dream spell but allows it to cross planes. He asks Quill if they managed to get schematics for the Tassadar as they only have an approximation based on other warship designs - Quill assures them that they have the schematics; he says that they managed to acquire uniforms and keystones but they are from lower ranks only and would only have access to the lower decks and mid decks, but not to any important areas (such as engineering which is restricted to higher level engineers, although they may be able to gain access to the elemental engines). Zellion also tells Quill that the keystones are tied to certain individuals, and that disguises would get them through as long as they are not held up to great scrutiny - the pit fiends and celestials that work for Kalus will likely have truesight or have magic detection, and they will see through magical disguises. Even close mundane examination may find them out, especially if a high-ranking officer sees the need to stop and question them, he says. Quill is concerned about disguising himself and Sentry - as an aarakocra and a guardian, they will stand out as Aerosian on Kalus' ship without some sort of magical disguise or invisibility - Zellion tells him that invisibility will only work in certain parts of the Tassadar and that the two lifts as well as the most important areas (areas of strategic or tactical importance) are all equipped with anti-invisibility sensors. Zellion finishes by saying that they want to help the Stormchasers rescue Valla, but he believes that rescuing Tassadar may be a very difficult task, and they would prefer to disable or destroy the Tassadar once they have rescued Valla and are off the ship - the Wings of Ishtar have acquired some magitek that will be able to detonate the elemental engines (set on a timer based on how much time the party think they will need for their rescue mission). As a last resort, Zellion says that his people are prepared to draw attention away from sections of the ship by locking down where the elemental engines are secured, and fighting at choke points which might give the party about ten minutes to escape the Tassadar. Zellion tells Quill that he does not think that the sensors that can detect invisibility have the ability to detect travel through the ethereal plane.*
>
>

> *Quill tells Zellion that they have rescued Rana'iel, whom he had thought killed in a prison break - Quill tells him that she was rescued from Xarkira and that she wishes to return to the Wings of Ishtar. Zellion seems pleased and says that her intelligence will be valuable to the Wings of Ishtar, too. Zellion thinks that once they have teleported onto the Tassadar, the party will need to take care of some guards in the room with the teleportation circle: he tells Quill to send word to them immediately they have moved off the teleportation circle and they will teleport in at once. Zellion points to the four figures among Kalus' troops, saying that they are the elite officers aboard the Tassadar, and that all are very powerful, so avoiding them is recommended. Zellion believes that the dragon (the man in red) will be on the bridge, the archmage (the woman with silver hair) will likely be in engineering and hard to bypass, the pit fiend is likely to be found wherever there are soldiers and will be the first to show if they are alerted to intruders, the final one is a spy of sorts and assassin who is incredibly good at blending in, is able to change his form (even truesight cannot penetrate it) and can read thoughts - there is a concern that the latter may replace one of the party. Zellion believes that they will be successful because Kalus should have no inkling that they have this access - Quill reveals that not only was he kidnapped by Xarkira, but also that a mind flayer had read his thoughts and taken the information about the access codes from his brain. Zellion looks crestfallen at this news, and says that their only hope is that Xarkira keeps this information from Kalus, but he does not know why she would - when Quill tells him that this happened a day or two ago, Zellion says this is too long ago and says that they may be heading straight into a trap. Quill tries to convince Zellion of the need to continue with the plan, but begins to feel the dream fade around him, hearing "our last chance..." as he completes his long rest.*
>
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### **Part 2**

*Quill contacted the Wings of Ishtar to assault the Tassadar and things might not go as planned... still, the plan must continue!*

They all awake the next day in Horizon - Quill tells the party of his dream contact with Zellion and that Quill had revealed to him that Xarkira may know about the teleportation circle, which Zellion did not seem pleased about: the party agrees that the Wings of Ishtar needed to know this information. Quill tells them about the plans that the Wings of Ishtar have to destroy the Tassadar with a time-delayed bomb, that they believe that rescuing Tassadar the eterna will be well nigh impossible, and that there are four elite officers on board the ship (telling them the details that he knows) who can see through invisibility (plus the fact that there are areas of the ship that will break invisibility). He further reveals that they will be provided with low-ranking soldier/officer uniforms, but that they will need some sort of magical disguise to hide Quill and Sentry's obviously non-humanoid anatomy. They consider using a chain of code words to confirm their identities to each other given the nature of the spy/assassin and the risk that they can disguise themselves as one of the party (or Valla). Quill's Eye has recharged and is usable again. They discuss using the messenger rings to communicate: Quill cannot use his because he is attuned to too many other magic items, but the rest should be able to use them.

The plan is that once they arrive, they will need to step off the teleportation circle and clear the room of any guards before contacting the Wings of Ishtar (Aila poses the question of what to do if this is a trap and there are people waiting for them - do they immediately return to Aerois?). Once in possession of the uniforms, they can make their way through the lower decks to the crew quarters... and the planning ends there. Quill will be able to take up to three people into the ethereal plane to try to avoid some detection and keep Sentry stealthy. The mood is very different to when they left to rescue Quill - there is a definite concern and nervous tension about this mission. Rana has been equipped by Horizon, and is now wearing a breastplate and carrying a two-handed sword, which Moonstar is carrying her usual tech and gadgets. Sentry proposes using the phrase "if worse comes to worst" as their identification phrase.

They teleport from a circle in Horizon: Quill and Moonstar are in the centre with the rest of the party surrounding them: they ready actions in the event that there are guards nearby when they arrive in the teleport room on the Tassadar. They feel a painful sensation as Quill activates the runes and they quickly arrive in a large black crystal chamber - there is metal plated along the floor and the ceiling and there are large crystal tubes containing glowing purple energy running into the floor. They are standing on a runic teleportation circle, and there are three beings in the room with them, one, a darker-skinned elf with greying hair and wearing a Valkyrian uniform, at a console nearby, and two humanoid (orcs or hobgoblins) guards at the door about 30 feet away.

Lucius (using his held action) lightning lures the officer away from the console and tries to restrain him, but fails. Nova attacks the officer with Tiangong and Green Flame Blade, and does moderate damage as he tells the others to sound the alarm. Lucius casts a twinned Chromatic Orb on the guards at the door: they both get hit with acid for moderate damage. Quill reminds everyone to clear the circle and casts Calm Emotions on the guards at the door, making them indifferent to the party. Rana tries to grapple the drow but he manages to writhe and get himself free - he calls to the guards at the door to raise the alarm because they are being attacked. Aila tries to grapple the drow and succeeds - she manages to put her hand over his mouth to stop him speaking, then drags him away from the teleportation circle. Moonstar assists Aila and starts to bind the drow; the two guards at the door tell them that they need to stop because they will get in trouble for manhandling the lieutenant in that manner. They then ask what the party is doing there because they should not be there - Aila tells them it is part of a training exercise (failing on her deception check because they do not bring outsiders in for training). The lieutenant tries to break free but fails; Sentry casts Enlarge and moves over to block the door to prevent the guards from escaping.

Nova moves off the circle and moves to the console: this is the control panel for the teleportation circle, but it also has a screen showing reports, allows someone to raise the alarm, and controls the door locks: Nova locks the door, and the guards tell her that she should not be touching the console and needs to leave. Lucius asks the guards if they are tired and would like to relax and have a seat - he succeeds on his persuasion check, and they move away from the door, relaxing against a wall away from the door. Quill asks the guards where Kalus keeps Valla, but they do not know who that is, because they do not go to the upper decks. Everyone moves off the teleportation circle, and the lieutenant tries to escape again but fails. Sentry gets closer to the two guards and prepares to deal with them when required. Quill sends a message to Zellion to tell him that the route to the Tassadar is clear and that they can appear at any time. Nova talks through the messenger ring and recommends that they knock all the guards out and teleport them to Horizon, she then asks Tiangong if they can communicate with Tassadar, but they say that they must be in the same room with them to be able to do so. Nova holds an action and prepares to try to knock out any enemy who comes near the console. Lucius prepares an action to knock one of the guards out. Quill reaches out to shocking grasp one of the guards, but misses, and the Calm Emotions spell ends.

Lucius strikes one of the guards with the pommel of his sword, the Captain's Command, hitting for minor damage; Sentry hits the other for minor damage - both take the blows but are not knocked out. Rana attacks both guards, missing the first, but hitting the one that Sentry had hit, almost knocking him out. Aila attacks the lieutenant, hitting twice and does moderate damage, he is about to shout out when Moonstar hits his face with a resin disc that prevents him from crying out. Moonstar then fires at one of the guards, but misses. One of the guards makes a break for the console, with both Lucius and Rana missing their attacks of opportunity. The guard on Sentry tries to hit her and fails while Nova hits the guard making a rush for her - the guard tries to knock Nova to the side but she is able to grapple him - he attacks and hits Nova. The drow officer attacks Aila, hitting her once, then runs for the door - Aila hits him, but he manages to get to the door. Sentry moves for the door to stop the officer without disengaging, taking a minor blow from the guard as she does so - she then tackles the drow officer and grapples him to the floor, holding him in place; she attacks him again and hits him with a glancing blow.

(Infiltration of the Tassadar to continue next week!)

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:04 - Episode Start
1:21 - Announcements
6:16 - DUN DUNs
7:16 - Recap starts
8:44 - Part 1
1:35:11 - Break time/Donations
1:46:00 - Part 2
2:55:36 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Tassadar drow officer (lieutenant)
* Tassadar guards

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Zellion
* Rana'iel
* Moonstar/Edea Elenasto
* Wade V'ger, Nova's father
* Breeze V'ger, Nova's mother
* Aurora V'ger, Nova's sister

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Vicereine Galilea
* Dannica Bloodfire
* Vessek
* Faelissa
* Cloud "Tornado" V'ger, Nova's brother
* Professor Jocelyn Whitsong

## **Featured Locations**

* Horizon
* The Tassadar

## **Trivia**

* Aila refers to the "meteor swarm incident" as Xarkira "throwing rocks at our ship".
* One of the other Skycities is mentioned this episode, "Cloudgarden".
* Twitch chat had a field day when it was suggested that the Tassadar should be destroyed, and suggested all sorts of other "evil" things that the party could do while on the ship, including: tilt all their paintings, lift up all the toilet seats, loosen the screws in the door handles, move all their furniture an inch to the left, change salt and pepper, unmake their beds, open all their cereal boxes by ripping the box, blow up their toilets at least so they can't go to the toilet, poke holes in their condoms, eat bread on their beds, switch all their sugar and salt or mix it together, flip their toilet paper rolls backwards, put toothpaste on the mirrors, convince Tassadar to set the heating a bit too high, put toothpaste in their Oreos, fray every sock so that halfway through the day their toes poke through, and empty the crumb tray from the toaster on their beds. The response in chat from the highrollersdnd account (Tom) was "You're all monsters".
* Tom refers to "patch notes updating the Tassadar" so it has constructs and pit fiends that are not able to be mind controlled. Mark clarifies saying "Kalus is a very different person to Xarkira. There's a reason that Xarkira wants to have things that can be mind controlled on her ship, and there's a reason that Kalus doesn't want to have things that can be mind controlled on his ship."
* Mark made his tie fighter foley noise: Rhiannon requested someone to make a video with Mark's noise over footage of tie fighters. This was duly done.