Aerois - Episode 26: The Purge

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**The Purge** is the 26th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 3rd March 2019 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*The infiltration of Brightflame Abbey continues and huge revelations are uncovered as the Purge approaches...*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* Sponsors are D&D Beyond and Displate.
* High Rollers are going to TwitchCon Europe and will be doing a live show on the main stage on Sat 13th April.
* High Rollers will no longer be at PAX East, but would like to do more US conventions when they can.

### **Recap**

"*As dark clouds gather over Kalie's Rest, our adventurers have been tasked with infiltrating the Brightflame Abbey and finding proof of the Ashbringer cult's activity and influence, as well as rescuing the faith leaders for the goddesses Siaska and Kellara. Before departing for the Abbey, Valla, the teenage girl the party have been accompanying and encouraging, approached them, upset she's being left out of their adventures and feeling abandoned. Valla's skills in subterfuge convinced some of the party that she should help them in the infiltration mission, and eagerly she accompanied them. Climbing over the Abbey's walls at night the party have snuck through the grounds and found that the cultists have made themselves ready with arms and armour, and keeping patrols. Attempting to sneak in and disable scouts watching from the grounds of the bell tower, the party failed to remain undetected, and the bell was rung, alerting the Abbey to their presence. Dispatching the scouts, and using the bells themselves to kill a number of the guards, the party jumped across to the roof of the church, and climbed down into the Abbey's main building itself, where they once again became embroiled into battle. Valla was made invisible by Nova, and then sent off to find two keys, needed to unlock the secret passage beneath the altar. But we begin in combat.*"

### **Part 1**

*In the belly of the beast the team are against some pretty powerful priests!*

The episode begins mid-combat: the party is on a second-floor balcony in one of the Abbey buildings. They are facing multiple cultists, among them, melee fighters, two warlocks and a priest. Combat continues, and eventually one of the casters casts a *Fireball* which deals considerable damage: Sentry, Lucius and Quill lose consciousness. The fireball blows Quill backwards and into the wall: his ribs are broken. Aila uses the healing salve on Sentry to restore her to consciousness, Sentry immediately casts *Cure Wounds* on Lucius to bring him around again, and Nova feeds a healing potion to Quill to revive him. There is further fighting and beams of fire hit Nova, Aila and Sentry: Sentry goes down again. Quill takes a healing potion, then casts *Cure Wounds* on Sentry to bring her back. Aila finishes off the last enemy with a hammer blow and lightning damage.

The heavily-injured party begins to loot the bodies - they find gold and weapons. Quill does some minor healing on Lucius. Meanwhile, Valla (whom Nova turned invisible) is somewhere in the Abbey looking for keys, and the party doesn't know where she is or how to contact her. They investigate a white marble altar to Palador: it is engraved with images of the sun, Palador, and two stylized gateways, within which they find two hidden keyholes as Nightfrost had described. On checking the remaining bodies, they only find a set of keys on the priest, but they look like plain household keys. Nova advises locking the two doors that lead into this room; while she knows that there will be other keys, it may take the cultists time to get them. The party needs to open the altar - the kidnapped religious leaders are being held below it, and there is only one way in, so they need to make sure that their escape into the tunnels isn't noticed. Sentry and Aila try to barricade the doors with pews while the party continues to discuss options. The main doors burst open to reveal three figures: a knight in plate/splint mail, wielding a greatsword, and two militants. These new enemies raise the alarm, shouting, "We've found them! In the church!" which is bound to summon more enemies.

### **Part 2**

*After a devastating fight the party have been discovered again... I think it's time to run!*

Lucius climbs onto the altar and tries to break the stained glass window with a stool, but fails; Quill tries to shoot it out with his pistol, but misses. Nova has seen two more armoured figures coming towards the side door, cutting off any retreat in that direction. The knight invokes the power of ash and flame, and his greatsword ignites: his first blow knocks Nova unconscious, resulting in the *Invisibility* spell on Valla dropping. Sentry moves to protect Nova. Aila takes a running leap off the altar, throws her hammer which smashes the window, and escapes to the outside - she sees more guards coming towards her in the courtyard. Lucius tries to jump out the window after her, hits the wall and slides back down on the inside of the abbey. One of the militants hits Sentry and she is knocked unconscious; she passes her injury check but fails her first death saving throw. Aila pulls Lucius through the window, and he notices four guards, 100 feet away, running towards him and Aila. Quill surrenders, and is knocked unconscious (but stable) by the militants; Nova is stabilized by one of the guards, and Sentry fails her second death saving throw.

Aila and Lucius are given an ultimatum: surrender and perhaps be allowed to live. Aila surrenders; Nightfrost is terrified of being captured, Lucius surrenders and is beaten unconscious. Aila is bound and taken prisoner. The guard fails to stabilise Sentry and she fails her third death saving throw, having a vision as she dies: a golden guardian saying, "I'm so sorry, Sentry. We needed you to find the Prime. We can't help." Sentry goes inert.

The rest of the party is taken prisoner, but Valla has escaped and is somewhere in the grounds. The altar is unlocked and the party is taken to a holding cell underneath; they see a Half-Elf and a Human in one cell and a Wild Elf in another, with red markings in the shape of a sun on her forehead. The party is left for a few hours and regains consciousness. The Human woman, who is Restkeeper Jasna, the High Priestess of Kellara, thanks the party for trying to rescue them. The elderly man is Starmourner Elannis. Abbotess Aurelia had 'invited' Elannis and Jasna (threatening their flocks) to mourn the passing of Abbot Grayson, the previous head of Brighflame Abbey. As soon as they arrived, both were knocked unconscious and imprisoned where they now are. It appears that Aurelia, supposedly a follower of Palador, is insane and has lost all reason: she has claimed that other religious leaders are foreign heretics corrupting Suvonna with their faith, and that there will be a cleansing.

Aila informs the party of the terrible news that Sentry has died, but Lucius, Quill and Nova find it hard to believe. Lucius talks to Nightfrost, but as he's been taken from Lucius, there's little he can do, as he can't change form. Aila reveals that Valla escaped and is somewhere in the grounds of the abbey. Four or five hours have passed since they were brought to the cell. Aila talks to the Wild Elf, who reveals that she had come to the Abbey to learn more about Palador before being incarcerated. Aila has heard about this Elf who can control fire: the Wild Elf has heard of Aila's original clan (Dalach Nicht) but says that the stories say they are all gone.

While they are talking, paladins come to escort the party and the other three prisoners to a very large, underground cavern with stone stairs leading down to a 30x40-foot platform at the end of which is a 20-foot tall and 10-foot wide stone arch inscribed with runes. In front of the arch is a stone dais with plates of runes. Quill hears soft footsteps behind them and sees the shape of two daggers glinting in the light from the braziers lit on the walls: it is Valla. She disappears.

Nova recognizes this gate as she has seen ancient drawings of these in Vortinssar: this is one of the Archways, once used by Elves and Genasi to try to subvert Siaska's ban on planar magic to travel to other worlds. From these archways came "monsters and demons and all sorts of bad news." Nova does not know how the archway works because all knowledge was banned and burned, but she knows more than most: that most of the archways are connected to the home worlds of demons, devils, monsters, Githyanki, and undead, while others connected to the home worlds of the Tieflings and Aasimar. Nova is mildly panicked.

The Abbotess stands in front of the portal and advises that they will all be cleansed by the Champion of Palador, but decides that Nightfrost must be destroyed immediately. She places Nightfrost in front of the portal; Lucius tries to encourage him to escape, but he can't, so starts to pulse and change shape with an unearthly howl. Aurelia panics and hits the gemstone at the centre of the dais, the portal erupts and Nightfrost is broken in half, evaporating. Beyond the archway, the party sees a volcanic landscape of fire and ash with legions of demons and devils lined up in battle formation. Emerging from the portal comes a man with pure bronze skin, tall, with curved horns, a crown of fire and fiery wings extending behind him. Aurelia kneels before him, and a deep voice is heard from beyond the portal advising that his 'puppet' has been successful. Aurelia realises that this is not Palador, but a demon, and before she can act, chains erupt from the ground to wrap around her and the other cultists. While the portal isn't large enough to admit the demon's true form, it will allow passage for the legions to pass through. The Abbotess realises her mistake almost immediately and is dragged, screaming, with all of the cultists, through the portal by extended devil hands.

Quill sees Valla get to the dais and hide: she looks to the party for instruction. Nova is able to read the runes on the dais with Eyes of the Runekeeper - it is a number pad written in Celestial. Valla gestures to the party as if to ask whether she should use the keys to the portal.

The bronze figure is Charradys, the Ashbringer. He is an arch fiend, and this is not his true form (he is 30-foot tall, has a halo of fire, wings, and chains wrapped around his bronze-skinned arms). Nova tries to make a deal with Charradys, asking if he can resurrect a Guardian. He says he may be able to but wants to know what she can offer in return. He offers to let the party live and to protect them from his legions for one year if they will each give him a piece of their soul and complete a task for him: they must escort his daughter to the seven Sky Cities where she will learn of sin, death, wrath and destruction. Should she be harmed or die, Charradys would take their souls in exchange. To resurrect the Guardian, however, would cost extra: a soul. Lucius offers his soul in exchange, but makes a request - he wants to see Sentry alive before surrendering his soul. The fiend declines this request. Valla is still standing at the dais, looking confident, so Lucius tries to persuade the fiend again, which is again declined. Charradys refers to a rival that he would like brought to his knees, and Nova confirms that he is talking about Kalus Starbane.

Lucius, tears rolling down his cheeks, nods to Valla, who presses on a series of runes and then the crystal in the middle of the console, saying "I'm sorry, I don't know what this will do." On pressing the gemstone, Charradys lets out a cry of "Noooo!" and is sucked into the portal... Which then changes to depict a dark corridor lit with purple lights. Beyond it is a field of stars and planets and a black crystal throne at the far end. Sitting on the throne in a suit of armour, the likes of which they have never seen before, is a human with long, black hair. He looks up, looks perturbed, then stands as his cape begins unfolding down his back: he strides forward through the portal and the party feels a wave of power. The man, Kalus Starbane, looks down at Valla, and names her as his daughter: he had thought her lost when Siaska died, but she had been in stasis on another ship (he had brought her with him). Valla is shocked that he is there, recognising him as the great enemy of the Church of Siaska: Starbane, however, says that he is grateful that she is there and that she should not believe everything that the Church of Siaska has told her about him. He recognises the archway that has brought him here and wonders aloud who they all are and why they are there. Quill finally manages to stand, feeling the presence of H'esper, which tells him to be wary. Kalus, seeming genuinely concerned, asks Valla if the party are the ones who brought Valla here.

Valla shakes her head and swiftly replies, "No! No! No, they saved me! They saved my life when people tried to take me! They saved me when Corin and Yusef died," as she starts to break down and cry.

Kalus reaches out to calm her, "No! No, they saved you. This is good. There is so much I need to tell you - you are my daughter, you were born from magic. A special ritual that Siaska taught me so that I could create my own children in the way that she had. You are special, Valla, you are beyond immortal, you are like me. You are destined for greatness. Come with me- there is so much I can show you, teach you and now you have opened the way, I can find a way to finally finish what I started. Please."

Valla looks around, "Are you going to hurt them?"

"Not if I don't have to," Kalus replies. "Not if they will not stop me in what I intend to do. Will you come with me?" He offers her a hand and Valla looks around at the party.

Quill tells Starbane, "We swore to be her guardians, we saved her from others: The Remnant."

"I know this name," responds Starbane seriously. "What is your name? You are one of H'esper's children, I assume?"

"Yes, I'm Qillek Ad Khollar."

"Qillek Ad Khollar. I need not tell you who I am."

Quill nods with a knowing look, "Well we heard you were coming back."

"Sooner than expected, it seems, thanks to my daughter," and Kalus smiles at Valla.

"Siaska taught you a ritual?" asks Quill.

Kalus smiles. "There is so much you don't know about your gods and goddesses." He looks forlorn. "Siaska and I, we were meant to protect the world together - save it from a doom that none can understand but us. I loved her, she loved me. She taught me this ritual so that I could have a child. I think she expected it to change me, to make me a better man that she saw, but she should have known that protecting everything is the only thing that needs to be done. You have saved Valla's life: I take her word at this, and yours, and for that I owe you much, so I will not endanger you further. And I will see you freed from this place if that is what Valla wishes, but you cannot remain here. There is something I need to do, and if you stay, I fear that you will try to interfere with my plans."

Nova raises and hand and asks if Kalus can bring back Sentry, who fell protecting Valla. He says that he can, if that is what Valla wants.

Valla implores him, "Please. If you are my father, please, save them, save Sentry and I will do anything. I'll come with you, whatever you want."

Lucius is horrified, "Valla, no!"

Valla is insistent, however, "No, Lucius, everything the Church said... if you stand against him, he'll kill you!"

Kalus appears reluctant, saying, "I don't want to do that, but there is a task here I must complete and I wish my daughter to be by my side when I do it." He looks to Valla, "If that is what you wish, then so be it." Kalus raises his gauntleted fist. "I will give you the power to save her, but I cannot do it myself: you will have seven days. This is the best I can offer," he says. He raises his hand, looks at the party and tells them, "Speak now if you have anything else that you wish of me because if the next time we meet, we are enemies, I will show you no mercy."

Nova asks in a quavering voice, "What is it you intend to do?" Kalus smirks, "What I have to." Kalus closes his fist and their bodies are suddenly pulled in some direction... suddenly they and their equipment appear on a beach... somewhere. There is sand beneath their hands and the sound of waves behind them. Nearby are rocky mountains and green trees, and it does not look like Suvonna - Quill recognises it as the far eastern coast of Voksar (and not far from the Valley of Storms), a continent far from where they just were: they have been teleported across the world. Next to them is Sentry's body, and beside it is a metal cylindrical case, inside which is a tiny spark of the most brilliant light they have ever seen. Nova knows that this is a fragment of a star encased in metal and is extremely powerful, powerful enough to bring someone back from the dead - if they can find someone to do it in the next seven days. They take stock of the situation: they are on a beach, tired, exhausted, drained, with no Valla or Arval, and in a completely different land with a dead Guardian's body, and they have seven days to try to bring her back from the dead.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

05:15 - Episode Start
06:20 - Intro
07:50 - Part 1
11:26 - Love these spell names
13:53 - Quill uses his reaction to squawk
16:52 - Quill decides not to heal
18:37 - Quill is also a Bard
30:44 - Mark is proud of his players for their speedy combat
32:59 - Tom wants his Hammer
37:32 - Oh. Oh dear
39:45 - Fireball rolls max damage (3d8)
42:04 - Tom rolls for his injury
40:16 - Tom realises the consequences of not healing
52:24 - Mark explains that the party has basically skipped all the trash and gone to the boss room... and the fact that the trash will come running...
1:00:42 - The best kind of spiritual weapon
1:03:08 - Aila jumps off the balcony
1:09:34 - Battle ends
1:19:09 - Initiative
1:20:09 - Break time/Donations
1:28:02 - Part 2
1:38:37 - Wacking time
1:45:22 - Morality check
1:48:28 - Poor Nightfrost
1:49:30 - Sentry's 3rd death saving throw
1:58:04 - Aila tells the group
2:03:53 - Well that’s one good thing at least
2:07:47 - Nightfrost is having a TERRIBLE day
2:09:09 - Oh it just gets worse
2:16:14 - What could he be?
2:17:25 - BAD DEAL
2:21:55 - Oh it got worse. It got much worse
2:23:24 - Big reveal
2:30:50 - Mark gets to burn a bunch of his notes
2:36:26 - Outro/Donations

*feel free to add extra timestamps of significant events!*

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Kalus Starbane
* Friar/Father Cormag, Dragonborn
* Restkeeper Jasna, High Priestess of Kellara
* Starmourner Elannis
* Charradys, arch fiend

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Valla
* Nightfrost
* Abbotess Aurelia

## **Featured Locations**

* Kalie's Rest
	+ Brightflame Abbey
* East coast of Voksar

## **Trivia**

* The fiend's name is spelt out, Charradys (pronounced: /ˈkærɪdɪs/ *KÆ-ri-dis*)
* Donation question was asked: If Lucius lost an eye, would it affect his dichromancy? Answer: yes, Mark has a table for that eventuality, and it would matter which eye was lost.
* Kalus Starbane didn't recognise Tiangong because there weren't enough shards to make them powerful enough to be recognised.
* If Nightfrost had survived, Starbane would have taken him.
* The encounters seemed quite brutal, especially piled on top of one another, but Mark explained that the party had gone for the end boss and essentially dragged all the trash mobs with them, so they were in effect fighting multiple encounters at once.
* Mark didn't expect Valla's background to be revealed so early in the general story, and Nina had known about her backstory for ages before this big reveal. He had not expected any of this to happen, and it relied on Valla surviving, managing to find them, stealthing successfully and not getting caught, and so on. Tom suggests that they owe Starbane but Mark says that they actually owe Valla.
* Valla was meant to slowly reveal her powers and nearly died on her solo mission: from that she begins to realise that there is a deeper well of power that she does not understand. She has been levelled up and given extra abilities. She would slowly have realised that she was not being protected by the church, but that the church was protecting everyone else from her,
* Valla had just managed to get away and was hiding in the cloister when the invisibility dropped on her.
* Mark reminds them that Starbane is now **on Aerois**, that he was being kept out by the Cradle, but is now here.
* Rhi went from inconsolable and in tears when Sentry died to laughing out loud because they would have to lug her dead body around for the next week. Mark recommended that players aspire to that sort of reaction.
* The party gains XP and levels up to Level 5 at the end of the episode. Mark does not like having characters in the same party on different levels, so Sentry will also level up, telling Rhi that "the experience of death itself will enlighten [her]".
* Mark notes that Valla now has her own character sheet and that he will discuss that on his "Behind the Screen" stream.
* Mark told Rhi that the party has seven days to have her raised: if they fail, Sentry is permanently dead. He recommends that she creates a character that she would be happy to play permanently, so she rolls up Oriya (who will go on to appear as a recurring NPC in later episodes). Mark also says that Sentry does not *have to come back* and can choose not to. Tom asks if she would want to come back to a world where they think that Kalus might actually be a good guy.
* Dono question is what colour Nova's face goes when she blushes, purple? Marks suggests that it would darken - a dark blue/purple? Kim suggests indigo/royal blue.
* Prior to the episode, on Twitter, Tom asks Mark to drop that phat beat, who does, then Tom does… something that he apologises for. Bad Tom.
* Mark had plans in place just in case they accepted Charradys' deal - his daughter would have run around doing all sorts of evil things and they would have had to protect her.
* CptnClusterDuck (39SaltyCookies on the High Rollers Discord) posted the stats and analysis for this chapter on Reddit.