Aerois - Episode 156: The Living Dead

Katie Morrison as Aila

Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**The Living Dead** is the 156th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on the highrollersdnd Twitch channel, and hosted on the Yogscast Twitch channel, on 14 August 2022 from 5PM to 8PM BST.

*There is no YouTube Tagline this week*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* The crew is playing from home today because of the heat (one of the hottest weeks ever in the UK – there is concern about the PC), also because Kim has Covid. It is likely that this week and probably next week will be played digitally from home.
* The episode will probably be shorter today because of the heat.
* Today’s sponsor is Penny Dragon Games who have a new TTRPG coming to KickStarter this Tuesday, called WayStar!
* Merch: there is a new baseball t-shirt based on the Hellfire Club from Stranger Things, printed with High Rollers Club. Thank you to Nina for the design.

### **Recap**

*"Having stormed Nightbloom Hold, and through a tough series of battles and obstacles, the heroes have managed to defeat all but one of the Knight Commanders of the Blackened Rose; once a holy order of good, their bodies and their wills have been forced into servitude for some other purpose directed by the titan, Kellara. Now, before our champions guarding the breach point into Kellara’s demi-plane is Sir Godric Graves, the Death Knight and final champion."*
### **Part 1**

*The Stormchasers find Gideon performing a strange ritual in Nightbloom Hold's keep. Can they defeat the undefeated?!*

The party is in the main temple of the fortress monastery that the Knights have been occupying. The long room is lined on the sides by alcoves with statues and hundreds of lit candles that produce a pallid yellow glow throughout the chamber. There are two columns that hold up the arched supports that lead to the upper sections, and there is a large altar at the far end of the room that is surrounded by a large number of broken lanterns and the shattered glass from the stained-glass window that once took pride of place in the back wall.

Quill’s detached spirit makes its way back to his body, lies down to align itself and he wills his spirit to re-join with his physical form. He wakes to find himself lying on the ground of the cathedral: he rises and sends a blast of holy light (channel divinity) to destroy three of the seven skeletons that are facing them. Lucius echoes Quill, returning to his body then casts *Armor of Agathys*, preparing to be hit by the skeletons nearby. The skeletons slash at Sentry and Lucius, the one hitting Lucius taking damage in return, which destroys it, Aila takes a small scratch and Nova manages to deflect a blow aimed at her. Nova moves to Godric, taking a sword wound as she leaves; she slashes at Godric, hitting him twice. Aila attacks the nearby skeletons, rendering them both into piles of bones and broken armour, she then moves to Godric and crackles with lightning, zapping him. Sentry destroys the seventh, and last, skeleton, then moves to Godric and slams into his side with Starbreaker.

Sir Godric raises his hand and clutches it into a fist – tiny black flames appear in the bodies of the three defeated wights, raising them from the dead: Godric instructs them to deal with Quill, Lucius, and Max, and to leave the warriors to him, hitting Aila and Sentry with his scythe and healing from the damage he had inflicted. One of the newly raised wights swipes at, but misses, Quill, and then Max slashes the same wight twice with his greatsword. Quill attempt to use *Shocking Grasp* against the wight next to him but misses. Wights then attack and hit Quill and Lucius with Lucius being hit by *Chilling Grip* (reducing his maximum hit points) and a sword strike. Lucius moves away and casts *Cone of Cold,* hitting two of the wights, and destroys one with his dichromancy.

With all of the skeletons dead, and only Godric and two wights remaining, Nova brings Tiangong to Godric’s side and makes six significant blows against him. Aila then comes in with a massive blow that causes Godric to stagger backwards, a blast of lightning causes him to crumple to one knee, clutching his chest, and they hear the wail of a woman, somehow from both nearby and far away. As the scream echoes through the temple, Godric immediately becomes a translucent spectral figure, rushing through Tiangong, Sentry and Lucius, destroying Tiangong and causing damage to the other two (Sentry cannot concentrate and drops *Aura of Vitality*). Looking somewhat restored, a green and ghostly-glowing Godric, declares that he cannot fall and must fight on for his lady.

Sentry calls forth Starbreaker and hits Godric’s spectral form with a *Divine Smite* – the green spectral form seems protected from physical harm, but the burning radiant light sears the ghostly energy around him, she then follows up with a second blow and stands watch over Lucius. Godric orders a wight to attack Lucius (which hits despite Sentry’s protection) then moves away, taking a swipe from The Captain’s Command as Lucius swings at him. Godric lifts his scythe and his free hand: a spectral version of the scythe appears in his free hand, and he sweeps them on either side of him, taking down Lucius and Sentry (who is just able to stand back up thanks to *Undying Sentinel*) and heavily injuring Quill (who drops *Beacon of Hope*) and Max.

Maximillion Taldros steps up to one of the wights and strikes it twice while Quill flies over to Lucius, ready to heal his wounds once Godric’s spectral residue fades, and he also summons Elder Quill. The wight that had been ordered to attack Lucius does so again, slashing at his prone and unconscious body. The other wight moves away from Max, who hits it on the way past, and hits Sentry with *Life Drain,* which knocks her unconscious – it attacks her again while she lies unconscious. Lucius manages to stay alive before Quill’s held heal is cast, bringing him around again.

Nova attempts to force Godric to fight her with *Compelled Duel* but he overcomes the urge saying, “In another life, I would have accepted your honourable challenge. Alas, My Lady will not allow it,” and he looks towards Lucius and Sentry’s prone bodies with his scythe held high. With her plan having failed, Nova attacks Godric with Tiangong, hitting him twice. She screams at him, “If you have any remains oh honour, you’ll fight me, not people who are down, fight ME!” She sees a look of intense sadness on Godric’s face – he takes no joy in what he is doing but must obey the orders of his God.

Aila pulls out her hammer and flies over to grab her body, before flying away again, narrowly avoiding being hit by Godric and one wight, but being *life drained* by the other wight. Sentry resists the lure of death and Godric’s spectral aura fades from her. Godric looks towards Lucius, Quill and Sentry – he speaks a word and creates an area of silence around them before hitting Lucius and Quill with his scythe. Lucius falls unconscious again, Quill’s *Death Ward* goes off and he manages to just survive. Max moves to plant himself between Lucius and Quill – he casts *Warding Bond* on Quill and designates him as Max’s *Royal Guard*.

Quill moves out of the silence and heals Lucius and casts *Sacred Flame* on Godric which burns his spectral form. The wights swing at Lucius and Quill but Max protects Quill, and Lucius manages to dodge away from his attacker. Lucius moves out of the silence and destroys the wight nearest to him with *Frostbite.* Nova ignites Tiangong with *Green Flame Blade* and hits Godric, burning him with the fire – the flame also passes over the adjacent wight and destroys it. Aila looks briefly for a healing potion in Sentry’s kit, but there are none, so she flies Sentry’s body to Quill before begging him to help her and then attacking Godric.

Aila uses the mace to hit Godric twice and zaps him with lightning – he is barely standing at this point. Sentry lies prone on the floor – the rest see her matrix flashing and sparking before it begins to dim rapidly as she is on the verge of death, but before its light can extinguish, Quill reaches out and sends Elder Quill over to Sentry. Elder Quill lightly places his wing on her matrix and floods it with enough energy that, for a second, it resembles the Eye of the Storm, but it quickly dims and retains a tiny mote of light.

Godric looks at Quill and Sentry saying, “Never before have I seen one resist death as much as you have. Perhaps there is a hope that you can stop My Lady and bring her peace. With this last ounce of strength, I can only enforce her will.” He manifests the spectral scythe once more and swings it and his own scythe at Nova, Aila, Max, and Lucius. Lucius is dropped again, Max is downed, Aila’s *Death Ward* goes off and she stays alive, and Nova manages to survive.

Quill heals Sentry and then hits Godric with another *Sacred Flame* – an incredibly bright flame engulfs Godric’s head, then spreads down to his body and arms until he becomes a radiant flame. There is a horrible scream from Godric, but soon after they hear him saying in relief, “Freedom at last! At last, I am released! My Lady, I am sorry for all that you have suffered.” A charred, broken body is all that remains of Sir Godric Graves.

Nova pours a healing potion into Lucius’ mouth to bring him around once more, and Aila stabilises Max while he is unconscious. Quill runs over to Max and casts *Cure Wounds* on Max, lingering with his light touch on Max’s bare chest. Now that the battle is over, there is silence, broken only by the soft noise of the hundreds of burning candles around them.

On the altar, restrained and broken, is the bleeding body of the Celestial that Godric was holding when they came in. They have black, feathered wings, a full iron mask around their head, their hands and feet are bound in covers that are welded together. There is the faintest hint of breathing coming from their body. Nova moves up to the altar and asks the Celestial if they are ok – there is a slight twitch from the body, but they do not say anything. Nova asks if the helm that they wear prevents them from speaking, which results in another twitch of the body that could be a yes or a no. Nova suggests releasing them from their chains, and while Aila is cautious, the rest of the party agrees to the plan. When Nova moves up to break the restraints, she sees the Celestial’s skin has been burned and scarred from heat, almost like the metal restraints were heated and then attached and sealed while red hot and on the Celestial’s body.

Being uncertain of how to get the Celestial out of the restraints and not sure of whose side the Celestial is on, Lucius quietly suggests that they could always use the Binding Sphere if necessary. They look around the room for anything that will help but can only see that the room once contained pews and lecterns: all that remains now is the candles, the broken lanterns and broken stained glass on the ground, and the single, unlit lantern at the back of the altar. Aila moves up and uses her enormous strength to break the helmet at its seal – she struggles, her muscles bulge, sweat drips down her arms and face, the veins pop out in the scarification from the lightning, but eventually there is a screech as the metal starts to give way and is eventually torn apart. Eventually there is a snap and they realise that it can be pulled away from the Celestial’s head – the Celestial rolls around, trying to remove it as best they can with bound hands. Nova lifts the helm from the back revealing a rough, short haircut at the back but longish at the front, the hair sticking to the sweaty face. The hair is thin and worn, the face incredibly gaunt and pale; the eyes that once probably glowed gold are now a sickly, glimmering yellow ember. The Celestial’s lips are cracked and dry from heat and thirst, and their nose is bloodied and broken as if the helmet was not designed to fit it. The Celestial implores them, “Hurry, please kill me. Send me back to Celestia. Do not let me linger here, do not let them use me. She is mad, she has gone mad with grief.” The Celestial does not know how long they have been in the keep (months? perhaps years?) only that they were summoned by the Champions they once knew then captured. Kellara ordered them to surrender to them, and then they used the Celestial’s power to open the gates and conjure the gateways to send forth Kellara’s knights.

Quill tells the Celestial that the knights have been dealt with and the tree destroyed – the Celestial begs for death but asks if they have destroyed all of the trees and stopped Kellara. The Celestial warns them that if Kellara has not been defeated, it is only a matter of time before another tree grows and re-births her Champions. The Celestial warns them that they have time, but not long, and if the Stormchasers are defeated, Kellara and her Champions will use their power again, but if they are killed and banished to the Celestial realms, they will be free and Kellara will be slowed. Lucius worries that Kellara may have done something to prevent the Celestial’s return on death to Celestia and Nova mentions this possibility to the Celestial.

The Celestial tells them that there is no trick, that Kellara acts out of grief, anger, and desperation. The Kinghts, they say, are fulfilling the oath that they made to her so long ago when they once lived. Nova asks the Celestial its name – Tevan’iel – before apologising for their suffering. She then offers Tevan’iel a quick coup de grâce. Tevan’iel’s body turns to glittering golden light before it fades away and disappears, leaving the mask, and the hand and foot bindings. Sentry bows her head and says a quiet prayer to Siaska.

Nova tells them quickly about what happened at the tree and apologises to Sentry for not saving Hotshot. Quill looks out the window and sees that it is considerably brighter outside, as if dawn has come – beams of red and yellow dappled sunlight come through the broken boughs of the great tree. Quill suggests that they rest up before going after Kellara but Lucius worries that they may not have enough time before the Champions are reborn. He calls the Stormchaser through the Messenger Ring and asks Oriya to send Valla down to them. After a few minutes, Valla steps through an erratic purple triangle of crackling energy; she asks after Max and is concerned that they are all looking very injured.

Lucius tells Valla that they are hard pressed and must go to Kellara, but she is highly concerned at this plan – Kellara is one of the eldest titans, and as strong as Atelicus. Valla tells Lucius that Kellara would destroy them as they are now, and that fighting her in their current state would be throwing away all that they had worked for. Nova recalls Godric saying something about needing to revive the Rot Heart, and thinks that when they interrupted him, they may have stopped the ability for the Rot Heart to be revived. Valla says that there are still patches of darkness hours away by foot, and it is possible that these are the sites of other Rot Hearts and will take significant time for the Champions to be reborn and to travel all the way to the keep: in any case, it will take her several hours to breach Kellara’s demi-plane.

Valla says that she has never heard of any of the titans using a Celestial to create portals and gates, saying that it sounds like torture. Kellara, she says, has either truly gone beyond who she was or there is another influence on her. Given this behaviour, Valla thinks it is unlikely that Kellara can be reasoned with, and even worries that Hadar or another influence has got to Kellara.

Valla insists on them taking a rest, while Nova wants to find armour and a sword for Max. Max says that with a barracks here, he should be able to get what he needs from there. (Quill loses 1 level of exhaustion).

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:00:00 - Intro
0:08:58 - Part 1

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Maximillion Taldros
* Sir Godric Graves
* Valla
* Oriya

## **Featured Locations**

* Jakkesh
	+ Nightbloom Hold

## **Trivia**

* FYI this episode is just one part because it's too damn hot in the UK right now. Sorry!
* podcast tagline on apple was originally “*The Stormchasers find **Gideon** performing a strange ritual in Nightbloom Hold's keep. Can they defeat the undefeated?!” Tweet had “The Party confront Sir Godrick(sic) in Kellara's temple! Determined to carry out his Lady's will the Death Knight advances!”*
* Mark retconned the width of the temple to make it far wider than it was in the previous episode.
* The art for Max’s token was provided by Fael\_Draws.
* Quill does a religion check that indicates that the soul pull ability of Godric’s was some sort of wall effect.
* Trott comes up with a new ship name for Quill/Max: Quax.
* Nova’s first attacks on Godric consist of 7 attack rolls, only one of which misses. She does a total of 113 damage with the six strikes.
* After Aila does 111 damage in one hit with a brutal critical hit, Mark says that he may reconsider his crit rules, but that he would keep them the same for this campaign.
* When Godric’s spectral form rushes through them, Sentry and Lucius take damage and are unable to regain hit points until the end of their next turn.
* Both Kim and Katie rolled a nat 20 for their first attacks on Godric. Rhi *almost* did, but the die rolled to a 14. Mark said that if Rhi had rolled a 20, he may have had to close the stream.
* Godric summons a spectral scythe and sweeps this and his normal scythe in two 30’ cones to either side of him. This is not a magic spell, but a special attack doing slashing and necrotic damage. It requires a Dex saving throw to resist for half damage. Godric heals from the necrotic damage he deals.
* This episode had an extreme amount of tension: everyone was very low on hit points, the wight attacking Lucius’ unconscious body caused 2 automatic death saving throws (Mark forgot that the wights had 2 attacks until later, or Lucius would have been killed), Sentry gets knocked out and attacked causing 2 automatic death saving throws,
* Trott amuses himself by drawing faces in the area of silence and then tries to delete his doodles. He also deletes his token and Mark has to put him back on the map.
* At the end of the Godric fight, Aila and Quill were on 1 hit point, Lucius was on 5, Nova was on 43, and Sentry was on 14.
* Trott had some fun with making art on the digital maps... it's possible that he missed them!

## **Quotes**

* Mark: Quill, your turn.
* Tom: Oh shit! So I need to heal both Sentry and Lucius… and myself, and Max… and Aila, and… Nova, you’re probably fine, right?
* Kim: Yeah, I’m fine. For now.
* Tom: And I have at max a level 4 spell slot to do it with. I can’t… I can’t do this. It’s not doable! It’s impossible!

* Mark: Half of a lot is still some!

* Tom: I’m going to scream. Is screaming a bonus action?
* Mark: Scream is a free action, but only once per turn.

* Tom (as Quill): I’m going to run over to Max and Aila and just like, “You’re doing it wrong”, slap the hands away. I’m going to put a hand on his chest and cure wounds. And for some reason it’s really, like, strokey, this cure wounds.
* Rhi: (laughs) Keep that fire burning.

* Tom (as Quill): I’ll put a hand on Lucius’ shoulder and say, “Gotta catch ‘em all”.
* Kim: I hate you. I hate you so much.