Aerois - Episode 162: Genasi Gang

Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Genasi Gang** is the 162nd episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 16th October 2022 from 5PM to 8PM BST.

*The team try out their new identities in prep for the checkpoints of Vortinssar!*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players. Katie is away at a wedding in Scotland this week.
* The HR Crew enjoyed Rhiannon’s wedding last week, and apparently “owned” both the dance floor and the photo booth.
* Merch: the High Rollers Club t-shirt is still available on the Fresh Merch store (www.freshmerch.fm).
* MCM London ComicCon is on in a couple of weeks. Both Mark and Trott will be there, may have meet and greet sessions, there will be merch and possibly some posters that can be signed. It is possible that both will be involved in a D&D Q&A-style panel, maybe with Kit Buss and some of the Oxventure guys (who will also be at the Con). Information will be posted as it comes to hand.
* Reminder to use your Prime Sub and support High Rollers on Patreon if you can. If not, the best way you can support HR is to spread the word about High Rollers to others to bring in new viewers.

### **Recap**

*"Our party, the Champions of Aerois, crew of the Stormchaser, have just returned from their epic journey to defeat the titan of death, Kellara, and allow her spirit to re-join with the goddess, Siaska’s. As the threat of Hadar, the Red Star that consumes gods and planes, still looms over them, and the ongoing conflict with the planar emperor, Kalus Valkyrian, continues, the Champions have little time to rest. They return to the sky city of Horizon and find that it has been joined by the city-sized, astral battleship, The Astoria, and that their alliance is hard at work to prepare for the dangers to come. In a meeting with Horizon’s leader, the phoenix-sorceress, Dannica, the party learn of the state of Aerois: one final titan, Atelicus, still remains before Siaska can be re-born, but Atelicus stays hidden.*
*Kalus Valkyrian’s forces remain in the uneasy, unspoken peace treaty following his meeting with the party but there are still various dangers across the world, chiefly, Nova learns that her home city, Vortinssar, has fallen under the influence of the Valkyrian Empire and made progress in their plans to transport the city back to the elemental plane of Genas. The spies they sent to keep an eye on Vortinssar suspect that they have ten days to stop the scheme. With teleportation magic into the city blocked, and not wanting to attack it with military force, the Champions will need to infiltrate the city in secret."*
### **Part 1**

*The Stormchasers prepare for their infiltration of Vortinssar by meeting up with a master of disguises!*

Quill has used the Eye of the Storm to see the likely outcome of the Genasi attempts to teleport the city, and saw that it ended in disaster with the city being destroyed. He knows that this is not the only possible outcome, but is the most likely to occur. The airspace over Vortinssar is heavily patrolled by gunships and battleships, and there is no way to teleport in, so the party has decided to try to enter through the main gates in disguise. Reyn has arranged for a specialist in disguises to meet them later. They know that Vortinssar is generally closed to people wishing to enter the city, although they are allowing any Genasi who wish to return to Genas to enter – they have their own messenger system and are allowing the Valkyrian Empire to assist them with whatever else they need.

Nova visits her family in Gusthaven to tell them what is happening in Vortinssar and that she is heading there soon. She reveals that Tornado is involved in the rebellion against the current administration. Her mother is cooking for some of the recent refugees to Gusthaven, and her father is making posters. They are ashen-faced on learning that Tornado is still in the city and that it is under the control of the enemy of Aerois – it is the first time that Nova has seen her mother scared. Wade is happy to hear that they want to try to resolve the situation peacefully rather than fight against their own people.

Breeze gives Nova her house key and Nova promises to make sure that it and the café are safe.

When Nova tells them about Quill’s vision of the destruction of the city, they huddle together, terrified of the very idea of losing everything that they have ever known. Nova offers to bring some small items back with her, at which point they give her a long list of “important” items including her mother's wok, her dad’s sketchbook, and her sister’s projects. Nova promises to get Tornado out safely, and her mother promises to “beat him senseless” for all the worry he has put her through. The V’gers have managed to build up a small community in exile of Genasi in Gusthaven – these have been convinced not to go home, and that what Shansara and Harmony are trying to convince them of is false.

Before Nova leaves, her mother gives her many packages of food, some for her, and some for the others in the party with their favourite foods – Lucius gets a soufflé, Sentry gets a large thermos of tea (and a big ham hock), Quill gets mealworm muesli, and Aila gets two large ham hocks. Nova requests some spicy Fire Genasi food specifically for Max – some noodles with deep fried chillies in oil. Max has never had noodles before but after one mouthful, he is delighted with the flavour, saying that it is one of the most delicious things that he has ever eaten – it reminds him of Gideon, his home. He looks happy, and when Lucius tells him a joke, he almost laughs… but doesn’t.

They begin planning for their infiltration of Vortinssar, knowing that they will have to pass a checkpoint. They know that there are not many magic users in Vortinssar, so the check will be mostly physical – asking them who they are, a bit about where they are coming from, why they are travelling together, and a physical search of their person. They know that Genasi are scattered all over Aerois with pockets here and there – some have gone out of Vortinssar to take Genasi crafts, skills, or business to places where they will be unique, and others have sought work with their individual skills.

They consider their cover stories and think that saying that they come from Immixan might be best – it is close to the truth (because that is where they originally met), and Immixan is in Gisella, which is currently under Valkyrian control, so it would make sense that they come from there. Aila leaves her hammer with Azaria so that she can power it up(see Trivia) and Lucius considers a new outfit. Because they cannot take the recognisable Stormchaser to Vortinssar, Reyn and Arval have arranged for an unmarked transport air ship, The Grey Hustler, to take them to Vortinssar and drop them outside the city.

On the day they leave, Reyn brings an individual to meet with them who is going to travel with them, Kay Avalin. Kay, apparently a Human, is androgynous in appearance – they have long hair on one side with a buzz cut on the other, soft facial features and feminine lips with hard eyes and a chiselled jaw, and no facial hair, piercings, or tattoos. They are wearing a tailor’s outift, a short leather vest with a measuring tape wrapped around their wrist, tight riding trousers that are undefined in the crotch region, tall boots, and a jacket (like a mantle) flowing down behind them. Apart from their haircut, there is nothing that makes them stand out, and they could easily blend into a crowd.

Kay dislikes the term “disguises” and tells them that each of them will be creating a mask and persona, so that they can live out the identities that are created for each of them. Kay has magical abilities and will assist them with costumes, and creating a new identity or reshaping their existing one as this is what they do for a living. Quill feels a little confident in the party's abilities to create and adopt these identities given that they have played B&B(see Trivia) before.

Reyn has told Kay that each of them must look like Genasi or Valkyrians for some secret mission – Kay does not have pre-made armour but is willing to make some if they can describe it, although they think that making them all look like Genasi will be slightly easier. Kay thinks that keeping Nova as a mixed Air and Water Genasi will be easiest, but will be looking to change her hair, clothing, and persona. Lucius suggests that they make some sketches to keep as a memento.

Before Kay can consider anything else, Lucius opens his robe, dips into a secret pocket in the lining and pulls out a tiny cylinder – inside is a tiny scroll on which is written each of Lucius’ measurements down to the millimetre. They take the scroll gratefully and mention that they will have to take the others’ measurements later. Kay makes their way onto the ship to settle in but, curiously, does not bring any luggage with them.

The journey to Vortinssar will take them three days and they spend these working with Kay, preparing themselves. Kay has taken over the larger quarters, and they walk in on them conjuring a magic chest (like Quill can) in the form of a large, gilded wardrobe or “costumer’s cabinet of delights” with extendable mirrors, scissors, and fabric rolls. Kay offers to change their own appearance if it would make the party more comfortable, before morphing into a beautiful Half-Elven woman with long hair and long, brightly-coloured fingernails – she tugs on her jacket, and it becomes a sexy version of the same outfit. She tells them that they may call her Taylor and asks if it is more suitable. Lucius says that he finds it distracting. Immediately, they change again, both body and clothing, into an older High Elf man, regal-looking, grey-haired with a fine moustache, a stronger jawline and fine Elven ears, wearing a more regal suit. He tells them that they can call him Lord Cavill(see Trivia). Given that the party has no preference, they change back into the Kay that they first met. Quill asks if this is Kay’s true form, but Kay says that they do not know each other well enough for them to see that – they would have to be family or much more intimate for them to see Kay’s “birth form”. Kay tells them that they are a Changeling and tells the party that each of the personas that they have seen is one of their “masks” and reflections of who they are.

Kay also briefly mentions some of their previous clients and mentions having worked with an assassin at one point – Lucius asks about Norfir or Moonstar; Kay recalls the name Norfir and thinks that forty years ago she may have needed help with a disguise. Having never worked with an Aarakocra, Kay thinks that it may pose somewhat of a challenge, as will Sentry. Kay will be accompanying the party into the city to maintain their costumes, but will stay far away from any fighting or roughhousing.

Kay suggests that Lucius becomes a wealthy Air Genasi thespian who has travelled Aerois and now wishes to bring tales of the world beyond back to his home world. Lucius requests an androgynous form with delicate features – and also a specific request: he wants everything removed, including his wibbly bits and nipples. Quill is struggling to come up with his character concept, so Nova tells him more about Vortinssar: it is a cultural city embracing the arts, performances, opera, theatre, but it also enjoys sporting prowess, being known for Battle of the Elemental Mountain and Sky Jousting (which Kay thinks would be perfect for Aila and Sentry). Food is also important, says Nova, telling them about culinary competitions, of which her mother is a champion. The Atlas Academy is a prestigious and famous academic institution, and this offers some potential for Quill’s costume – Kay believes that because of his proportions and physical form, they will have to rely more on magical means of disguise. The *Seeming* spell will be used to enhance everyone else’s costumes but will be the primary way of disguising Quill: the thought is to make him an older Air or Water Genasi in a cloak with a hunched back and long, flowing hair. Kay is thinking of a face shaped around his bird features with a pronounced, hooked nose. It is further suggested that he is made to look sickly, haggard, dirty, and smelly so that people tend to avoid trying to touch him. It is important, however, not to make him too pungent so that people take notice of him and remember him. The *Seeming* spell will only last 8 hours and will have to be replenished, so in case Quill is discovered without it, they may wrap his features in bandages to make it even harder to see him and recognise him as non-Genasi. He eventually decides that he will model his character on Dean Simon from the Temple of H’esper in Kalie’s Rest, but be a scholar who looks at the similarities and differences between Aerosian gods and religious beliefs and the Genasi tenets of different elements.

Nova thinks that Sentry could be an Earth Genasi and a guard player in a Battle of the Elemental Mountain team (a “guard” on such a team guards the plate-bearers), perhaps one who has gone away from the city to train in the mountainous environment of Immixan. Kay says that the hair will pass for an Earth Genasi’s, as will her stone armour, but they will disguise the rest of her armour to have the texture of stone; the wood will have to be disguised to make Sentry look more humanoid. The real problem, says Kay, is Sentry’s face and her inability to show emotion – they consider the dual possibilities of using scarring disfigurement to show why there is little movement of the mouth and eyes and also the use of a face mask to hide the lower portion of her face. They will also have to mask the magic coming from the Prime Matrix. Aila can be a Fire Genasi athlete on the same team as Sentry and Kay’s illusion will help to make her hair more flaming, but it will be easier if it is shorter. They likewise recommend cutting Lucius's hair, reassuring both him and Aila that they can magically regrow it once the mission is over.

For the weapons, Kay suggests that they store them in Aila’s bag, the *Heward’s Handy Haversack,* because while Kay can disguise the magical properties of things, they can only do this to four things at most. Kay becomes alarmed when Nova summons her echo and tells Nova that this will draw attention, so she must not do it. Kay reminds them that they are pretending to be citizens – normal people – so doing anything to stand out will put them at great risk.

Finally, Kay comes to Nova. She says that she likes food and books – Kay suggests being a reviewer for a newspaper or a travelling writer who writes about different cuisines, someone of the middle classes, perhaps. Nova asks if she can be a male – which she can – whether she can have a beard (yes), and whether she can be male… down there – yes! Kay suggests 40-50 years old with a full but cropped beard, hair with short back and sides, and more musculature. Given that Nova wants “the full transformation”, Kay says that they will have to spend some more time together to get the mannerisms down. Chemical agents will make the transformation happen – this lasts 30 days but an antidote can reverse the change sooner if she wishes (although taking the same potion again for another 30 days can make the changes permanent). The potion will only change her gender, so the muscle and facial hair will all be done with magic and prosthetics.

Kay has also been paid to provide them with a number of magical items to use – they put their hand into their vest (that appears to be lined somehow with a bag of holding) and pull out a number of items: six vials of a type of perfume with a perfume spray bottle, three wrapped up cloaks with a slight magical aura, and a bolt of a shimmering magical cloth. The perfume bottles are *Bewitching Perfumes* – they give a very brief advantage when interacting with weak-minded individuals (but not on anyone with mental training or significant experience in the world). The cloaks are *Cloaks of Many Fashions* – they can replicate the look of another cloak (colour, design, hood style). They are good if one has to blend into a crowd or quickly change one’s outer appearance. The bolt of cloth is *Shiftweave* – it can hold up to 5 pre-determined outfits of a similar style and colour, but can change shape, form and nature until the wearer wishes to change it again. There is enough cloth for one suit for one individual. Finally, Kay can cast a number of spells that will assist the party.

### **Part 2**

*The team try out their new identities in prep for the checkpoints of Vortinssar!*

The party is en route to Vortinssar on a hired freighter, accompanied by Kay Avalin, a Changeling illusionist tailor who specialises in creating new personas and identities. Having chosen their personas, they then need to decide on names. Quill chooses the name Wisp (as suggested by Kay) and they use clay to cover the head of the Spear of Destiny which makes it look like a gnarled branch that Wisp is using as a walking stick; Kay disguises its magic with *Nystul’s Magic Aura*. Quill is also dressed, head to toe, to disguise as much of his real form as possible before the cloak is placed on his form and fit tightly to him. As his clothing is being made, Kay summons a small creature that appears to be a thread bobbin with arms and legs – it moves in on command and assists with sewing Quill’s clothing where necessary. Quill’s face is covered in bandages, and a fleshy material is used to cover his beak and mask it as a large nose; his magic eye is made to look cloudy (as if blinded) on passing inspection. With his wings tucked behind him and disguised as a hump, the illusion completes the look and with his long, crazy, wispy hair, Quill looks like an old, diseased Genasi man. To complete the outfit, Kay pulls out another perfume bottle and makes Quill smell like old man. Quill puts the Wayfinders Guide and the wyvern armour in the haversack to disguise their magic nature.

For Lucius, Kay uses the Shiftweave material to make an outfit, then they take out a lotion bottle and apply it to Lucius’ hair to turn it bright white for 30 days. Kay trims Lucius’ hair to shoulder length and then ties it up in a man bun; they will use illusion to make Lucius’ ears look more Human. To finish the transformation, Kay hands Lucius a potion and tells him to think about his desire not to have all his “wibbly bits” and drink it – Lucius does as he is told, and over the next hour he becomes as smooth as an action figure. He decides on the name Azuré. His arcane focus is made to look like part of him and masked by Kay’s magic, but he removes and stows his Stormcaller chain mail.

Sentry is given a mask to hide the lower part of her face, her armour is made to look more worn and weathered. Kay fits her with standard Earth Genasi clothes: three-quarter length shorts leaving her feet exposed with a pair of sandals. She is fitted with a brown padded woollen gambeson to go underneath her plate armour (that will cover only her upper body). The *Seeming* spell will be used to fill in the wooden parts, overlaying them with fake flesh (textured to look like rock) that has a greyish tone to match the stony parts of her body and armour. Illusion is used to mark the upper part of Sentry’s face with heavy scars that obscure one whole eye. She chooses the name Crag Boulderdash. She must unequip her flame lance and Helios so that they are not detected as magical.

Nova is given a potion to change her gender for the next 30 days. Her physical form is otherwise unchanged (e.g., musculature) and she is given a prosthetic beard which illusion magic will make look airier and waterier to match her existing hair. Kay trims Nova’s hair to give her a short back and sides. Latex and make up are used to make her look older and to bring out her nose, cheeks and jaw, to make her look more traditionally more masculine. She is also given a body suit to wear that makes her appear more muscular in her male form and Kay makes the aetherium breastplate look a bit less obvious with magic. Tiangong takes the form of a pair of daggers, and Kay uses their magic to mask Tiangong's magic. Nova removes her helm of teleportation for stowing and will keep and disguise the amethyst lodestone if Aila does not need the last use of *Nystul’s Magic Aura*. Nova calls herself Spritz with a nom de plume of Julienne.

Kay is able to provide them with mundane weapons, so Sentry, who must forego her lance, instead takes another weapon. They spend the next three days working with Kay to build out the personas and learn how to live, talk, and move as them convincingly.

Norfir has left them cryptic instructions in her last communication if they wish to find her: “In the Fire District, there is a food market called Coalsmoke Street. It’s crowded and busy, look for the sign of a spicy rabbit and order the bantu mix, Sky Elf-style (Nova knows that this means not spicy). If things ever go bad, find somewhere to lay low in the city, blend in for a few days and look for anyone displaying a sky jouster’s favour.” This indicates that the person is a friend of the Seekers, but they are warned against this unless they are desperate because it will put normal citizens at risk.

The party gets their stories in order regarding how they met – Spritz was reviewing restaurants in Immixan when they met, Wisp had a library in Kalie’s Rest before it was burnt down and has been travelling ever since, Azuré is a wealthy thespian who has been in many plays, including "A Plumbus and Me", "A Plumbus and You", "A Plumbus and Us", "A Plumbus No More", and "The Divine Tarrasque". Crag struggles initially with giving a back story but eventually says that she is from a team from Battle of the Elemental Mountain called the Tectonic Titans and was training in the mountains of Immixan. She heard the call go out from the Valkyrian Empire to return to Vortinssar so that the Genasi could return home (this response is stilted, however, and Kay suggests that Sentry only answer questions if necessary). Lucius asks Kay if they can make themselves look like a Valkyrian guard and Nova provides them with the data slab with all the intel they have on the Valkyrian Empire; Kay does suggest that this will make things impractical, however, as they are meant to be travelling with the party. Kay is happy to study the Valkyrian Empire, however, in case they are needed, but they remind the party that they are not an agent or a spy and are just there to enable the party to go about their mission.

Three days pass. They are deposited several miles outside Vortinssar, making them walk the rest of the way. Kay appears as a middle-aged, well-built, and well-travelled Fire Genasi woman. She looks 40-50 years old, is wearing a tailor’s outfit, and has her fiery hair in a ponytail. She calls herself Kindle. She says that she will cast the *Seeming* spell when they are closer to the city but not under observation, to maximize its duration.

Walking towards the city, the party sees what Quill had seen in his vision: to one side are great mountains that sweep down to a wide open plained landscape. To the other side are rivers and a large open sea. Being on the coast, the city benefits greatly from trade and has grown and expanded. On the outskirts are temporary wooden and stone buildings that sit outside the original walls of the city, and they can see that the discolouration of the earth where Vortinssar was first transported to Aerois still lingers today. The outer city is now empty, having been abandoned and boarded up as the people have moved into the city proper. Vortinssar is massive, rivalling Goldthrone, Gusthaven, and Horizon in size, and there is a magical nature to it. Sections of the city hover above it, flying streets that connect together over the city. There are canals that also act like watery streets, carrying river boats for trade and transport. Most impressively, there are four enormous statues: gargantuan titans that surround the city and cradle it in a dome-like shape. Built into the mountains is a lounging Earth Genasi, reaching up with one hand. Opposite them is an Air Genasi leaning over the city with clouds and shapes forming a half dome as it reaches down to the Earth Genasi. To the sides of the other two, like compass points, is a Fire Genasi with its palms open and raised to the sky, lava flowing from their hands, down their arms and into the Fire District where there are forges and industrial warehouses that use it for power. Opposite them on the side of the docks and the rivers is a Water Genasi standing with cupped hands – water flows from them down into the city to fill the channels. Both the Water and Fire Genasi statues have plumes – the Fire statue has steam vents that power elevators that lead up to the flying parts of the city while the Water statue has waterspouts that elevate platforms, lifts, and boats. There are flying carriages, Genasi using their elemental powers to patrol around the city, and they sense the magical nature of the city due to the raw connection to the elemental powers.

As they approach the back of the Fire Genasi statue, they see magnificent archways created by the lava spilling out of their hands, which they will pass underneath on their way to a large main gate. Kay casts *Seeming* as they approach closer to the city, and they eventually join a queue of people attempting to enter the city. They see that the guards are questioning and inspecting those who enter, some with wagons, others on foot. Behind them is a family of Fire Genasi, a husband, wife, and their two children with a little cart and donkey, and in front are three older Genasi, an Earth Genasi, an Earth/Fire Genasi, and a Water Genasi; they are all men, and have mining equipment and backpacks.

Quill can see that most of the guards at the gate are Genasi city guards but that there are also two Valkyrian guards with them. Most of the interrogations seem to be conversational and friendly, and the inspections appear to be limited to bag searches and general searches of items on carts rather than pat downs; it does seem to be thorough, however, and they are keeping records of everyone coming into the city. They are not asking for or checking any documents.

Nova has mixed feelings about being back at the city: she is excited to be back, but also recalls that when she left there was an element of disgrace and anger. She recalls being excited at being able to forge her own path with the adventures ahead of her, but she also now realises how naïve she was at that time. Almost as if mirroring her feelings, she hears the family behind them marvelling at the sight of the city because they have always lived outside Vortinssar, moving away early to set up a business elsewhere. They are excited to see the home world but the wife is concerned about Aerosian terrorists in the city – the husband tells her that all will be well because Shansara and Harmony will protect them.

Sentry assesses the city from a more military perspective. She sees that there are four main gates – one for each statue – but no others. The Genasi have access to flying carriages powered by the elements and could get in and out at will. There is an air ship dock that currently has two Valkyrian troop transports, and modified battle ships are patrolling around the city. There are also Vortinssar Genasi air ships that are stationed and ready to move if required. On the walls are Genasi city guards with inexpensive equipment, they look disciplined but not elite. Sentry occasionally sees Valkyrian troops with magitek armour, rifles, and equipment and they seem to occupy a higher status than most troops but seem to be teaching the Genasi troops. She suspects that there are senior and elite troops elsewhere in the city, probably fewer in number, but guarding more vulnerable places.

Lucius is just soaking in the spectacular nature of the city and articulates how amazing he finds it. One of the older Genasi in front of them, with a large crystalline tooth, joins in conversation with him, followed by the others in his group. They talk about being taken to their home plane when the city is teleported and chat about their life experiences.

Eventually, the queue reaches its end, and they get to the main gate.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

00:00 - Intro
05:21 - Dun Duns
06:20 - Part 1
1:33:36 - Part 2

## **Featured Characters**

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

* Aila (played by Mark)
* Nova V'ger
* Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto
* Qillek Ad Khollar
* Sentry

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Reyn Talevir
* Breeze V'ger
* Wade V'ger
* Aurora V'ger
* Maximillion Taldros

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Shansara
* Harmony
* Tornado V'ger
* Norfir
* Moonstar
* Dean Simon
* H'esper

## **Featured Locations**

* Horizon
* The Grey Hustler (air ship)

## **Trivia**

* This is the first episode since Rhiannon’s wedding, and she is introduced as Mrs Rhiannon Frost.
* Kim suggested that of the 400 photos taken in the photo booth at Rhi’s wedding, 200 were of the HR crew.
* Kim says that, unlike Nova’s mum (who was based on her own mother), her mother might think violence against someone who worried her but would never say it. She would absolutely make food for everyone, though!
* Quill’s meal worm muesli is a mix of rolled oats, seeds, and a mix of meal worms that are dead and alive, with the dead ones glazed with honey – “a little bit of crunch with a little bit of soft”!
* Aila’s joke for Max: Why did the owl fall out of the tree? Someone shot it with an arrow. This is afterwards replaced with Trott/Lucius's joke.
* Trott starts to tell a joke with, “There were three guys…” – Kim stops him, saying that it takes 10 minutes but that she wants to hear what the audience reaction is because theirs was not good (Kim says that it’s really not funny). Mark says that he wants the “joke” to become a myth or legend and that one day when the campaign ends, they may tell it on a panel or Q&A session.
* Mark says that because Katie is not with them this week, if she would rather *not* leave her hammer with Azaria for a power up, they will retcon it next week.
* Quill mentions them playing B&B before: this is Bakers and Blacksmiths, the game that they played with Rosemeadow in the 2021 Christmas special, Oneshot: D&D in D&D.
* Mark, soon after naming the air ship, cannot remember its name – he thinks it might be the Grey Shuffler? He then thinks it is a better name and considers calling it that instead.
* When Mark describes Kay’s “cabinet of delights”, Tom thinks they are going to feel like Woody in Toy Story 2 where he is spruced up by the collector.
* When Kay transforms into Lord Cavill, Lucius immediately asks if he looks like his father - he does not.
* Nova asks Quill if he has contacted his mother recently: Quill brushes her off with a quick, “Yep”.
* It is culturally insensitive in Vortinssar to touch hair without consent being given.
* When Kay tells them that they can be disguised as any gender or species, Nova asks about being a Grung. Kay says no.
* What we know about Battle for the Elemental Mountain:
	+ There are team members who have large ceramic plates strapped to their backs. They have to try to traverse multiple different elements and mountains.
	+ There is a guard who blocks attacks and protects the plate bearer from attempts by the other team to throw things at the plate bearer that will smash the plate. Guards tend to be larger and more muscular than the plate-bearers.
	+ Nova’s sister, Aurora, is part of a Battle of the Elemental Mountain team.
* Sentry was modelled on the Queen of Solwynn.
* Bewitching perfumes work on creatures with a CR of 1 or lower. Use of the item gives advantage on charisma checks against them. Spraying the perfume uses the whole vial. The effect lasts for 4 hours.
* According to Kim, the Genasi generally do not follow Aerosian gods. While they are not atheists, because they know that the gods exist, and they know their principles, they do not necessarily follow them. Genasi tend to follow their own principles, guidance, and the guidance of the Council. There would be some who find that an Aerosian god and their teachings are meaningful to them, so may choose to follow that god, and they would not be cast out for doing so: it would, however, make someone stand out.
* The spells that Kay can cast include things like *Enhance Ability, Enlarge/Reduce, Fabricate, Creation, Magic Aura, Major Image,* and *Seeming.*
* Tom originally uploaded the podcast episodes under the name "Genassi Gang". His justification for this was "i'm a genass man" Kim may have had words with him about his spelling:
* When Quill is trying to choose a name for his old man, Rhi mentions Benjamin Button: there is a suggestion that this is one of the three men in Trott’s joke.
* Genasi surnames would probably exist according to Mark but are not often referred to. They would take the form “verb + noun like Merriweather or something”.
* Quill’s prosthetic wing is not magical even though he needs to attune to it (there is a magical element to it, but it is not magical, but even if it did register as magical, it could be explained away as being a prosthetic arm). Mark wants to change the attunement requirement, because he does not think it fair that Quill needs to use an attunement slot to get his arm back.
* Other ideas for names for Kim’s character are Sous Vide, Spray (via chat), Moist (from Tom), and Squirt (via chat). Trott had another option that was rude but never spoken.
* “Do you know the way to Coalsmoke Street” and “Baby Grung” are apparently both famous Genasi songs according to Nova (and Kim who created almost all lore for Vortinssar). Tom wanted to make sure that this was not considered canon, to which Mark agreed (saying that even if chat liked it, chat liked shit like Smeek). Tom said that it was not allowed to go up on the wiki (OH REALLY, TOM??? ~Crispi). Kim desperately wanted this to be a thing, and it was made so:
* There was so much faffing around this episode that Mark said he would add a counter to how many episodes he thought this arc would be.
* Mechanics for the Vortinssar insurgency:
	+ There are 7 days before they know that they will activate the teleport.
	+ Every day will have a clock with 4 segments: morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Activities will take a segment and failing a check may cost them a segment. When 4 segments are accounted for, a whole day has passed. At least one of the segments must be spent in a long rest but other activities can be spent as they prefer – as a group, or as individuals (e.g., tailing an individual may cost 1-2 segments). The cost of an activity will be known beforehand.
	+ Time cannot be gained. It must always be spent.
	+ A segment can be “spent” to gain a ‘flashback point’. This is a special resource that allows someone to say what they did on a previous day (e.g., “I purchased a grappling hook yesterday that would allow us to get onto this roof”, or “I already made contact with xyz and they are going to let us in here”, but there are limitations to how powerful the effect can be). The more powerful they want an effect to be, the higher chance that it will break, or there will be additional consequences or complications. Flashback points can be held as a group or an individual. Each person can only hold one flashback point at a time. There is a group pool and an individual pool.
	+ Each player will have an ‘incognito score’ to represent their clandestine nature in their disguises. This score is determined by Kay’s skills and a roll to see how good their performance is. The score can be treated like a passive deception check for the whole group – when they speak to guards, if their incognito score is good enough, the guards won’t question them. As this score gets lower and they interact with people, the people will be more suspicious. If this score gets to 4 or lower, they are exposed, and they can never use those personas again. If they are exposed, the guards and hostile NPCs will know who they are and come after them. There are ways to increase and decrease an incognito score, and it is easier for it to decrease than increase. Every day, Kay can give their score a little boost by refreshing their disguises or building new ones. Losing points on the incognito score can be done by failing a group deception or stealth check. They will know what the score is when they start, but they will not know what it is when it changes or how much it changes by. They can spend time to put the feelers out and see how they are perceived (this will tell them their current score).
	+ There is an alert track for the city: green, yellow, orange, and red. The city is currently at green alert or at peace.
	+ Most of the guards are CR ½ or CR 1 on the outer walls, there will be CR 3 or CR 4 guards within the city.
* All the Vortinssar lore, the statues, how the city and districts are laid out, Harmony and their place in society, the history, the culture, were all written by Kim Richards. Mark added small bits but to keep it interesting for Kim, he has made changes that have been influenced by Shansara and "a Harmony that no one ever knew". Regarding the statues, Kim was inspired by Chinese mythology and Buddhism (especially the sleeping Buddha). She put magitek in the statues so that they were part of the city and functional meaning that lava and water aided the people in getting around the city.
* Tom made the ***outrageous*** suggestion during the outro/donos that the wiki should record that the party gave 20,000 gold to Azaria Perel as a down payment. Mark knows that the wiki team would not do such a thing.

## **Quotes**

* Tom: Tiangong hasn’t ever assumed the form of cutlery. Would Tiangong be insulted by that?
* Kim: Probably.

* Tom: If I talk to everyone for, like, ten minutes, I’m the bad guy, but we spend ages talking about Kindle or Kindler…? Ugh!
* Mark: It’s been, like, a minute.
* Tom: It’s a long minute!
* Kim: You’re making it longer.
* Mark (to Tom): Your attention span is infinitesimal for other people and extranomical for yourself.
* Kim: Oooh, you just got wrecked, son.

## **References**

1. ↑ Official Discord, 20 October 2022 at 12:09