Aerois - Episode 132: Echoes of the Universe

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Echoes of the Universe** is the 132nd episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 28th November 2021 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*The party have prepared for the return of the headhunter in Black Stallion forest...*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* Sponsors this week are D&D Beyond, Nord VPN and Steamforged Games who have a Kickstarter coming out on 30th November 2021 for Adventures & Academia: First Class.
* Merch: Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are on at the moment. Grab a Xmas jumper and Siaska dice set! DO NOT CLICK THE BROKEN AIRSHIP MAST link.
* Mark thanked everyone who donated to the fundraiser for the new High Rollers studio. There are videos up on YouTube of some of the best segments (including the Battle Royale and Gartic Phone segments). The crew have already started ordering equipment and they will be getting the keys on 1 December 2021.

### **Recap**

*"Travelling to the plane of Lunaria, also known as the Feywild, the party have set out to save the life of their friend, Thalia, an astral ship captain who helped them return home after they were sent across the planes. Afflicted by a terrible curse, Thalia believes her only hope is the one who placed the curse in the first place, a sorceress by the name of Mesmera, who has taken over Thalia's home city of Heartspire. However, to reach the Feywild from Aerois, the party enlisted the help of another companion, Rosemeadow, a strange Centaur who grew up as an outsider on Aerois. With a magical artifact given to Quill, The Wayfinders Guide, the party were able to traverse beyond the barriers that prevent planar travel. After arriving, they discovered that there may be more to Rosemeadow's story and have set out to find the truth and rescue a group of Centaur from an ill fate. This journey has led them to Black Stallion Woods where a pair of deadly spirit hunters, conjured by Xarkira, a powerful mage and enemy of the party, long ago still haunt and prevent anyone from entering or leaving. The spirits appeared before them and a battle ensued: with a clever use of Nova's portal abilities delaying one spirit, the party turned their attacks to the other, Quill's foresight narrowly saving Nova from a possible death. With one spirit destroyed, the other is still poised to strike, however, and the battle continues."*
### **Part 1**

*The party have prepared for the return of the headhunter in Black Stallion forest...*

The party is on a very heavily forested road tracking through Black Stallion Woods, an ancient alien woodland; they have been fighting against dark, black-clad spirit riders. They have dispatched the rider with the bow after sending the rider with the sword through a portal and landing him 500 feet away. They know that the weapons have supernatural abilities: the bow can strike people directly in the heart and the sword is capable of cutting off heads, plus the mounts are capable of travelling through the ethereal plane.

The sword wielding spirit has moved into the ethereal plane to approach them and all of them have actions readied for when he reappears on the material plane. Lucius is unable to see the horseman when he reappears, Quill *banishes* the rider’s steed (dropping *aura of vitality* for the readied spell) and the rider attacks Quill hitting him and disrupting his *beacon of hope*. Aila hits the rider with her thrown hammer and lightning, Nova (whose held *eldritch blast* has now made the *arcane gate* disappear) casts at the rider but only manages to hit with the second of three *eldritch blasts*. Thalia aims with her crossbow but before she can shoot, she gasps in pain clutching her wrist and dropping the weapon. Sentry is not able to act as the horseman is not in range.

Lucius hits the rider with an acid *chromatic orb* and *dichromancy* then the rider holds aloft his sword that begins to emit an ear-piercing ringing sound (like someone has struck a tuning fork) – Quill, Nova and Lucius are *frightened* by the rider. Quill tries to push the rider back with *gust,* but the rider resists it by slamming his sword into the ground and hanging on against the strong wind. Quill then flies away, taking a hit on his retreat, losing both *banish* and *beacon of hope* effects, but manages to negate the fear effect. With Quill in the air, the rider now attacks Nova doing physical and necrotic damage – Nova recognises that the blade is supernaturally sharp, almost severing her energy as if it is trying to divide her life force. Tiangong tells Nova that there is something odd about the weapon but does not have time to elucidate. When the rider remounts, Nova hits with Tiangong and *green flame blade* – the mount is immune to flame. In retaliation, the rider attacks Nova twice but misses both times: Tiangong tells Nova that they “feel the echo of an Eterna” in the horseman’s blade. Aila is too far away to make an attack, so readies herself should the opportunity present itself; Nova puts *hexblade curse* on the rider, then casts *synaptic static on the rider –* the rider is not affected, but the horse is muddled (both take damage). Nova shakes off the fear effect.

The rider uses *head hunt* against Lucius doing slashing and necrotic damage. Sentry uses *misty step* and manages to get in range of the rider, attacking it with Starbreaker: it swirls with energy as it punches through the chest of the rider leaving behind a spectral green spirit inhabiting its armour and clutching its sword. There is an unnatural howling as three spectral hounds begin to emerge surrounding Sentry, Aila and Lucius before attacking immediately but all three attacks miss. Sentry hits again, telling the rider that it has outstayed its welcome on this plane and doing heavy damage. The nightmare becomes spectral, and the rider disappears as Lucius casts *armour of Agathys*, disengages and hides behind and enlarged Sentry; Sentry and Aila take damage from the hounds. Quill flies into range, casting *mass cure wounds,* then he, Big Cat and Aila attack the hounds surrounding them. Nova runs over to Thalia to check on her – Thalia is clutching her forearm, grimacing in pain and unable to hold the crossbow: Nova notices that the briar tattoo is now showing beyond the elbow. Nova holds Thalia’s face in her hands and tries to calm her which seems to work as the pain subsides, but it is at that point that the nightmare fades back into existence near Nova and Thalia with the rider aiming his blow at Thalia. Nova jumps in front of Thalia taking the blow that was meant for her – Sentry, seeing this, immediately dashes towards them taking a *tracking bite* from one of the hounds and the rider’s head whips around towards her, sensing a marked prey.

The rider consumes the mark and attacks Sentry, hitting her. Lucius casts *Tasha’s caustic brew* at the two hounds in reach – the tracking hound is destroyed by the initial beam, and the other is killed by *dichromancy.* The rider uses a legendary action to attack Nova but the rider misses, Quill casts *guiding bolt* at the rider and hits. The rider uses his last legendary action to try to hit Nova again but misses; it then attacks both Sentry and Nova, who casts *armour of hexes*, but Nova is still hit. Aila shoots at the rider with her bow hitting twice and almost destroying the rider. It uses *head hunt* against Nova once more, hitting her – Nova casts *compelled duel* given that the rider has been trying to attack Thalia and hits him with Tiangong, slicing the rider across the neck: the creature begins to fade and diminish as the armour and blade are sucked inside the creature before the wisp of spirit that is left shoots into the woods and it and the nightmare disappear. As Nova completes her swing, a spark of green flows from the tip of Tiangong back into her, pulsing over her and she is healed.

They regroup to find Rosemeadow hugging and protecting Kyrie, crouched on the ground, Thalia is wincing and rubbing her forearm and she calls Quill to help an injured Nova. The group seems relieved that the spirits are gone until Tiangong tells them that that will not be the last they see of the spirits – their energy has dissipated but they are beyond normal spirits and the weapons that they carried were echoes of Eterna. Tiangong is not sure how long it will be before they return but is certain they will given the nature of their departure – the purpose for which they were created by Xarkira has not been achieved, so they will come back until they achieve it. Quill asks Tiangong if they can sense any nearby Eterna, but they tell Quill that the Eterna life force has departed leaving behind an echo that can sever life, something like an Eterna wraith.

Sentry heals Nova and Lucius, and they reassure Rosemeadow and Kyrie that everything is fine now.

### **Part 2**

*In the shifting, moving Black Stallion forest the team encounter some unexpected allies and discover more of the universe than they ever expected!*

Having temporarily vanquished the spirits that guard the woods, the party looks to the path leading into the overgrown woods – Lucius suggests taking advice from his Nanny Norfir and looking for tracks from hunters and scavengers because it is possible that the Centaurs may not stay in one place – Aila disagrees, saying that they should follow the path. Nova suggests using *detect magic* to see if there is anything visible that is providing magical cover: Quill casts it while they are on the move down the road and Aila keeps on the lookout for tracks. She notices that the riders did not leave any tracks and the only tracks she can see are their own – when she looks back down the path where Sentry’s *plant growth* is dissipating, however, she cannot see any tracks whatsoever, even their own have vanished and she does not even recognise the path – the road seems different and she thinks the entire wood is shifting, Quill recognises that Aila is correct. Once Quill’s *detect magic* is cast, he sees that there is subtle but powerful illusory magic throughout the woods as well as transmutation magic – some of the trees are illusions, but he watches as others shift slowly but bodily around him, and he realises that the entire wood is shifting: there is some complex pattern to the movement of the trees, but Quill cannot determine what it is beyond recognising that it is designed to make the woods incredibly difficult to navigate through.

Aila suggests that they could call out to the trees or other spirits that may be around, Rosemeadow is always happy to talk to trees, and does so, but this does nothing. Quill casts *true seeing* to see past all the illusions and sees the forest for what it truly is, but he also sees his friends in a different light. Lucius appears resplendent in blue and orange but with other colours making up his very being – a faint prismatic energy that is growing stronger within him. Under *truesight*, Sentry’s matrix flows like a river with spectral figures flowing from the matrix into her extremities, her mind and her eyes. Looming over Nova stands a blue, spectral figure holding the hand in which she holds Tiangong – the figure looks down at Quill as if it can see him. Quill looks to Aila and sees lightning energy coursing through the scars on her body and writing beneath her skin even though her power is not active. When he looks to Thalia, Quill sees faint black tendrils reaching from the curse tattoo on her arm all the way across to her chest and into her body – there is the outline of a black, 6-fingered hand hovering above and wrapped around her throat. Rosemeadow has a faint outline of a unicorn horn projecting from the centre of her forehead and a suppressed magic around her body that appears to be both present and not present at the same time as if it is somehow being shrouded.

It is when he looks back at the forest, noticing that many of the trees are illusions, that he sees multiple great threads of webbing stretched across and throughout the forest - it becomes clear to him that when the trees move, the strands of web attached to the trees are moving them. Only when he looks up into the canopy does he notice dozens of glass-like, almost invisible spiders, with gleaming eyes and razor-sharp legs – most are the size of a small dog, but one is gigantic with its legs on the ground and its body occupying a large area of the canopy. They look curiously at him, realising that Quill can see them. A number of them begin weaving a web of very delicate silk that spells out a single word – FOLLOW.

Quill nervously reassures the spiders that they are nice people and gets a telepathic response asking how long he will have the vision. Quill tells the mysterious voice that he has an hour before it will fade: he is told to follow the web, and that the speaker will find them to guide them once he can no longer see them. Once Quill starts leading them, the rest also see the webs – they see signs created from the web, first “FOLLOW”, then “SANCTUARY”. They move through the woods for an hour, and once the *truesight* fades, a large spider with a body of pale white and blue, appears seemingly from nowhere and speaks to them in common, telling them not to fear and that “My Lady” has granted them passage. The spider’s name is Walks on Morning Dew and the Lady referred to is Lady Dawnweaver. Walks on Morning Dew says that Quill and Aila are known to them – Aila recalls the meeting and reminds them that this is where she got “the coin”.

Walks on Morning Dew tells Quill that Sanctuary is not far from where they are, but that they will not be able to find it without *truesight* – Quill is told that the spiders must “shape the woods” and have woven magic around the forest to prevent the spirits from finding it. He is also told that they have a few hours before the spirits will return to Lunaria. Lucius is terrified, gripping onto Quill and trying to hide behind him. Walks on Morning Dew offers to carry any of the party that are too weak to walk – Nova really wants to ride the spider, but Thalia really doesn’t.

They travel for less than an hour and pass suddenly through a veil into a purple-grassed grove filled with silk tents; there is a partially ruined stone temple at the centre, and it is draped with fine silks. There are Centaurs with blonde and copper hair, pale white horse bodies and tanned humanoid forms – they stare in amazement at the newcomers, some burst into tears, others whisper among themselves, until a feminine voice tells them not to be afraid and asks the party to join her in her chamber.

The party heads into the temple as requested, saying farewell to Walks on Morning Dew: the temple is dimly lit, lined with beautiful silk tapestries on the walls and ceiling. In the centre of the room is a peculiar-looking woman – she has the body of a giant, pale white spider, chitinous and jagged as if covered in armour, a gold sun has been painted on the back of her abdomen and golden swirls, circles and bands have been painted on her legs. She has a humanoid (Drow) torso – her skin is dusky, dark grey in colour, her hair is blonde and almost glowing flowing long and free; she wears thin, gossamer silk robes that are draped carelessly over her body. On her forehead they notice eyes painted above her real eyes. This is a Drider – half Drow, half giant spider, called Dawnweaver, and as they enter the party can see her creating a tapestry very similar to those adorning the walls. The woman bows and extends a welcoming hand, telling them that no harm will come to them. Looking around, Quill sees images on the tapestries: on one is a group of figures crossing a mountaintop, on another an unfamiliar city made of tall spires with unfamiliar airships and constructs something like guardians and yet another shows a kingdom with a dragon flying over it – none show anything familiar… except the one in her hand that she is currently making – it shows the group of them with Rosemeadow in the middle. Quill thanks her for guiding them to safety.

He attempts to introduce the party to the Drider, but she already knows who they are, addressing them all by name: Nova V’ger and Tiangong, Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto, Sentry (also known as Sentinel Prime to her people), Aila of Alfheim, Qillek Ad Khollar (Seer, Oracle of H’esper), Her Highness Thalia Whisperwind of Heartspire, Kyrie of the Mountain People, and Rosemeadow. She looks tenderly in Rosemeadow’s direction and says that she has not seen Rosemeadow for a long time. Quill is astounded to hear that all the stories that they have heard about Rosemeadow are true. Dawnweaver tells Quill that Rosemeadow is not her birth name – she was never given one because there was no time, so she was given her family name of Rosemeadow and sent her far from Lunaria. She tells Rosemeadow that she was being pursued by a very powerful and dangerous woman and that Dawnweaver’s could not use her gifts to intervene directly – instead, she hid Rosemeadow’s power and lineage, then hid Rosemeadow herself, knowing that one day, she would return to Lunaria, “After all,” she says to Quill, “what is a wayfinder if not somebody who returns lost things?” She offers to answer the questions she believes the party may have.

Quill wants to know about the woods, her magic, the people who entered the forest and were given protection from the spirits… Dawnweaver does not know of the latter, saying that no one has entered her realm since she saved Rosemeadow, she has not afforded protection to any newcomers. Quill tells the others to ask something – his brain is overflowing with questions and ideas about everything going on here; Dawnweaver tells Quill fondly, “You are so much like him.” Lucius looks to Nova who says she has a selfish question – she asks at the same time that Dawnweaver says “You were going to ask me if I can help Thalia.” Dawnweaver shakes her head: her powers are great, but she can only give them information – Mesmera’s power as an Archfey of Lunaria is strong while she inhabits Heartspire and Dawnweaver is bound by the rules that she and her sisters have placed upon themselves. She tells them to be cautious, and that there is an old enemy’s hand behind all of this, and that old enemy must be defeated to break the curse. Nova says that it feels a bit too obvious and does not feel right that the answer is to kill Mesmera – she asks if there is a way to convince someone so angry and vengeful that there is another way. Dawnweaver says that she cannot guide Nova in this, but that it would be nice if not all things were solved with a sword. She asks Nova to consider a question: why do people not listen when reason is placed before them? What sources influence, control or drive them? What purposes, passions?

Dawnweaver tells them about herself: she is one of three, calling themselves the Widows of Fate - Aila and Quill have met her sister, Duskwillow, the third is Nighwreath. The three of them are from another existence entirely – she raises her hand and makes the room pitch black except for the party, her, and the tapestries. As she flicks her hand, a tapestry folds out and becomes a real image like a window to another world – they see an underground city full of stalactites and Drow who do not look friendly and bear the religious symbol of a spider goddess; the civilisation is oppressive and militaristic. Dawnweaver tells them that they were all once adherents of a goddess called Lolth who existed elsewhere – the three sisters were oracles, possessing the gift of foresight and great magical power much like Quill, and one day they all saw that they would be killed or betrayed by their goddess out of spite, vengeance, and pettiness. They tried to rebel and were captured; a ritual was performed that transformed them into Driders, a punishment for the enemies of Lolth. Because of the change, however, their power of foresight grew, and they became aware of each other for the first time. They came from different worlds and different existences, but their minds connected in a way that they did not realise, and they became aware of what they now call the Web of Eternity: she clicks her fingers, and a spectral diamond web stretches out before them showing multiple connected points.

“Aerois and the planes, the worlds that you know are but one nexus,” and she taps a joint that connects to it, “such as this, but there are many. My sisters and I became aware of many of these places across the Web of Eternity, and we found that we had the power to traverse them, to travel between them, to walk the Web of Eternity between each point. Some worlds or existences such as this are secluded from the others – they are harder to reach,” and she finds one that has a single anchor point (almost like where a spider web would attach at the edge), and when she taps the single anchor point, they see Aerois – Gusthaven, Horizon, the lowlands, Gideon Prime, Elysium, and all the other planes. “Only one point of connection, separated from many others, but then you find others,” and she finds a nexus that is connected to multiple other points, part of the core web, and when she taps that, they see images of a grand medieval city full of Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. It passes a tavern called The Yawning Portal, and they see signs for Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, and many other places. “Then there are worlds like this one, connected in many different ways to many different places, almost as if there are hundreds of different copies of them. Once we found that we had this power, we knew that we had a great responsibility, and so we agreed amongst us that one of us would always watch over the Web of Eternity whilst the others rested. Currently, my sister Nighwreath watches over it, so Duskwillow and I have taken to seclusion to bide our time and rest our power so that when our time comes, we shall become the guardians of the Web, and as such, I have seen many things. I do what I can to help when people come to me in need as I’m sure Duskwillow did, although I am sure that Duskwillow is a little more impetuous than I am.”

Quill is astounded at the scope of the web and the infinite possibilities of infinite worlds and the idea that Dawnweaver can see it all, all the time. Dawnweaver corrects him – she cannot see everything all the time or she would go mad, but she is aware of it. Nighwreath is the current Guardian of the Web of Eternity, and she is empowered while she is the Guardian almost to the level of a god. When a sister does not serve this function, she is a little more limited in what she can see and do.

Quill asks a simple but complex question, “Are you truly here now?” Dawnweaver believes this to be an excellent question but even she does not know the answer to that – she does not know if there is another version of herself that lives in another version of the nexus and whether she is a fragment of herself, an echo, or a memory. What she does know is that she is present now, that there are people she can help, and that there are joys to be found – that is what she lives for. She says that the only reason that she shares this burden with them is because they have such a great part to play in the world. Lucius is confused by what they have been told: he is told that all he needs to know is that there are many worlds out there like his out there, but that this one is special. Lucius is confused, believing that she is speaking about Lunaria.

“This is part of a universe, a nexus: this Feywild is but one reflection of many hundreds of thousands of Feywilds,” she tells him. Quill tells him to imagine all the places he’s ever seen or been and then to multiply that ‘forever’. Dawnweaver qualifies this, telling him not to think of them as copies of this world – “there are many that are not like your world at all,” she says, clicking her fingers and selecting another nexus point on the web. This time they see a group of adventurers travelling across a snowy landscape – there is a green-skinned Half Orc, a blue-skinned Tiefling dressed very cutely and prettily, there is a Human wizard and a Halfling woman with him, and a Furbolg with pink hair. She taps another nexus point and this time they see a world where there is a train powered by lightning with a group of adventurers battling on top of it, fighting off robotic ninjas – one of them is somewhat like a guardian and it kicks one of the ninjas off the top of the roof, another is dressed like a private detective and is waving two wands around, blasting away like they had guns.

“They are all very different,” says Dawnweaver, “each world has its own heroes and its own villains – they are not copies of Aerois but their own worlds entirely.” Quill mentions that their piece of the web seems so far out and disconnected from the rest of it: he wonders why and is told that is just in the nature of the web and that it must be anchored somewhere, and some places must be distant to others. This is not a bad thing but is a mystery of magic and a mystery of the world.

Sentry asks if they all have a Hadar: “Not all do, some will,” says Dawnweaver, “but in some Hadar is not the being that you know it to be. The Hadar of your nexus is a far darker and dangerous thing. In other worlds, it is an old, forgotten name, a creature that is very weak in comparison to the one you know in Aerois. In this nexus, Hadar gained much power and now is a threat to you and much, much more.” Sentry is not sure whether to be comforted or frightened by the revelation of more Hadars. Quill comments that if Hadar exists in some form across a number of nexuses, then he must have been defeated in some of them – he wonders if they can be privy to that knowledge so that they can use it to fight him in their nexus. Dawnweaver tells them that in most worlds, Hadar never gained the power that he did in Aerois, and that they already have everything the need to defeat Hadar except perhaps they need a little more time and strength. She tells them that they are closer to the answer to defeating Hadar than they think.

Dawnweaver also tells them that it is not just the fate of their nexus that rests on their shoulders – she gestures to the Web once more, “You have already seen what will happen if Hadar consumes this World Engine… if Hadar consumes your nexus,” and she takes nexus point that is Aerois and the single strand that connects it to the infinite Web and plucks it, and when she does, the next anchor point breaks, and the next, and the next, and the next… it does not destroy all of them, but a large chunk of the nexuses break, leaving a number of them untouched, but 6 or 7 of them wink out of existence. “If an anchor point is destroyed, it has consequences.” The party becomes anxious at the enormity of the consequences if they fail. Nova asks if they can travel the Web, “It is possible,” Dawnweaver tells her, although “even my sisters and I cannot do it as freely as we like unless we are the Guardian of the Web of Eternity. It is possible, though: there is magic that will allow you to travel the Web, there are rituals, and may even be places in your nexus that will allow it.”

She waves her hand, and the Web is repaired, then shows and enhances the one line that connects Aerois’ nexus to the rest of the Web: it zooms in and the space around them becomes a galaxy map. They see a white hole spewing energy into the Astral Sea of Aerois and she points to it, telling them that this is where much of Aerois came from and saying that Aila has already “partially transcended the Web”. She draws a line from the white hole through the single line back through the Web to many worlds, taps one and it shows the image of a feasting hall: they see men and women wearing leather and metal, drinking, feasting, and laughing – at the head of the table is a big, strong, blond-bearded warrior with long blond hair, wearing a giant belt and sitting next to a big hammer. Aila excitedly points out Thor to the party. Dawnweaver explains, “Many of the divine beings that helped create Aerois, when it was done, they travelled to other worlds, other nexuses, where they became gods once more, or perhaps no longer gods – this is the way of things.”

Nova is confused, wondering whether it was just Siaska or other gods that created Aerois: Dawnweaver clarifies, “Siaska the Starmother created the world of Aerois, but many divine hands helped to create the Multiverse, and it was those divine beings that Hadar consumed to gain the power that it now has.” Nova asks if there are any divine beings left that they can contact to come back to help. Dawnweaver shakes her head sadly, “There is none, only Siaska. These divine beings, once they have stepped into other places in the nexus, they cannot return, their work is done. Many of them no longer have the same power, in fact Aila, having spoken to this Thor, knows this: Thor cannot return to Aerois – he invested his power, he gave the gift of his power to Siaska, and from Siaska was Zephyr. They may be able to provide you with gifts, such as the belt that Aila wears, but it is strenuous for the god.”

Quill confirms that Aerois is tied by a single strand of webbing to the main Web and asks what happens if they do not succeed and Hadar wins – can they sever that tie to the Web? Dawnweaver looks at him, “Why do you think I am here? If all else fails, it will be my duty to cut off this nexus from the rest to prevent Hadar from descending the Web of Eternity, Nighwreath will ensure that he cannot harm others. Neither I nor my sisters wish to see this happen, however. Your nexus has so much potential, so much beauty, we do not wish to see its life cut short.” Sentry promises that they will do everything in their power to ensure that Hadar never gets that far. Nova embraces the cold comfort that if the worst happens and they fail, that there will still be worlds to be saved because Hadar will be cut off: Dawnweaver advises her, however, that there is a small chance that even if cut off from the rest of the Web, Hadar may become powerful enough to overpower Dawnweaver and her sisters.

Quill’s head is spinning with the information, Thalia has taken most of it in, but Lucius, Rosemeadow and Kyrie stare vacantly at each other, clearly not having understood any of the information presented. They consider if they need a faster spaceship in order to be able to traverse the Web and Dawnweaver tries to explain the layout of the Web to them: each plane or world in a Multiverse, Heaven, Hell, the Material Worlds, the Feywild and the Shadowfell, they form a nexus – a nexus is the point on the web that is connected to others by the strands. The Webway, the lines that connect each nexus, are how you traverse the Web itself. She confirms Lucius’ thought that all the planets they have visited are part of one nexus that they will call the Aerosian nexus: the thought of the size of the whole Multiverse is almost too much for Lucius to comprehend. Dawnweaver offers them accommodation and rest, telling them that the riders will reform within a few hours, but they will not be able to be defeated until Rosemeadow is restored to how she is meant to be. Once she is restored, if they can destroy the riders once more, they will be permanently killed, but Xarkira will know the instant that Rosemeadow is restored and already likely knows that the party is in the woods. Dawnweaver tells Aila that Xarkira is a very dangerous woman and that she fears Xarkira far more than she fears Kalus and almost as much as she fears Hadar, they are so similar.

Dawnweaver holds her hand out to Rosemeadow who takes it: Rosemeadow was never given a name as a baby and will have to choose a name herself, but Dawnweaver offers to help her understand something about herself and why she was brought to the woods. She touches Rosemeadow’s forehead and there is a sudden flash of light – Rosemeadow blinks and tears stream down her expressionless face as memories flood into her, she blinks a couple of times and tries but fails to speak. Dawnweaver says that she must now remove something that was placed on Rosemeadow long ago, “I hid your magic from you, I hid your potential so that you would perhaps find an easier life on Aerois, but it is time for you to become who you truly are…” Dawnweaver clicks her fingers and all the tapestries wrap around Rosemeadow. A pale, golden white light fills the space beneath the tapestries before they burst into leaves, flowers, and butterflies – Rosemeadow looks substantially the same, a white haired horse body and a blonde, curly haired human portion, but her hooves now have more hair surrounding them, there are subtle silvery patterns visible on her horse hide, and between the golden curls above her forehead projects an ornate, beautiful unicorn horn. Rosemeadow’s hands are glowing, and the same silver markings on her horse hide also run up and down her arms and shoulders.

Rosemeadow feels strange and says that she can now feel the grass, earth, and trees. Dawnweaver says she will help Rosemeadow understand what she can do but says that she may be able to slow the effect on Thalia. It appears that Thalia has a few days to a week before the curse is fatal, but Dawnweaver says that if they can destroy the riders now that Rosemeadow has been restored, she can teleport them back to the lakeside where they met with the Centaurs when they first got to Lunaria. Rosemeadow trots over to Thalia, takes her arm and places her hand over it: magic flows out of her and Thalia appears relieved because her pain is gone. Rosemeadow squeaks, “I don’t know what I did – I think I helped!” She recognises that she now has powers that involve beasts, plants, and healing, including a spell that will “make animals really smart.”

Their next concern is leaving the sanctum because once they leave, Dawnweaver tells them that the riders will find Rosemeadow very quickly. Before they leave, Rosemeadow goes to speak to the Centaurs in the grove – Dawnweaver has frozen time for them, and they are the same Centaurs who fled when her mother was killed all those years ago. Dawnweaver has given Rosemeadow knowledge of each of the Centaurs – their names, birthdays, and experiences.

Nova asks Rosemeadow what her name is, but Rosemeadow does not know – she says that if anyone is to choose a name for her, she wants it to be one of them. Lucius bursts out with, “You look stunning, I love the horn!” and then promptly faints.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

00:00 - Episode Start
14:52 - Intro
1:24:32 - Break time/Donations
1:34:49 - Part 2
2:48:30 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Walks on Morning Dew (Spider guide)
* Dawnweaver

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Rosemeadow
* Thalia
* Kyrie
* Big Cat

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Kalus Valkyrian
* Xarkira
* Hadar
* Siaska
* Nanny Norfir
* Lolth
* Thor
* Mesmera
* Nightwreath (Drider)
* Duskwillow (Drider)

## **Featured Locations**

* Lunaria
	+ Black Stallion Woods

## **Trivia**

* Mark opened the episode with "Hello everyone. Did you know, shortly, George Jetson's parents..." and then burst into laughter. Apparently Tom had told him that George Jetson would have been born in approximately 9 months from now according to the timeline in that show.
* See ep 131 for description of the Revenant Rider’s *head hunt* attack.
* *Tracking bite* – deals d6+1 points of damage, the target is also marked until the end of the hound’s next turn. Whilst marked, another hound or a rider can consume the mark to make their next attack with advantage.
* Mark said that last week he was mentally exhausted and not playing the riders as cleverly as he could have been: they could have been appearing from the ethereal plane, attacking then going back into the ethereal plane and moving around. Mark said that they will have learned about portals now, so that trick will probably not work when they meet the riders again.
* The PTZ camera (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) turned up while they were filming part 1 of the episode. Kim revealed it to the group at the break, and all were excited, but there was a particularly thrilled Chris Trott (see phots below).
* The Patreon has been doing very well recently, and Tom has started putting videos up about studio updates.
* Walks on Morning Dew says that Quill and Aila are known to the spiders – this is a reference to the  one shot played at PAX West in 2019 that was declared canon (see episode 44.5).
* DON’T MENTION THE COIN. THAT’S A WHACKING.
* Mark did an impression of Walks on Morning Dew fluttering its pedipalps:
* Walks on Morning Dew is large enough that a medium creature can ride on its abdomen.
* Dawnweaver tells Aila that the entire Multiverse knows that Xarkira is a bitch.
* Some of the names suggested by the party for Rosemeadow (in jest): Rose, Meadow, Rosemeadow, Paul, Skeletor, Rod.
* Kim is a big fan of Greek mythology and identified that the Driders were based on the Fates.
* Mark always had plans to bring Duskwillow back into the story somehow.
* Mark confirmed that the planet for campaign 3 (Altheya) is one of the points on the web.
* The MRPU (Mar Role Play Universe) was coined by Mark and immediately made into Mr. Pu by Tom. Mark couldn’t be mad because he did it to himself.
* The Web of Eternity hinted at the idea that all games of D&D are linked in one big universe. Mark’s idea is that when Dawnweaver plucked the thread of Hadar and a number of them broke away, these represent all the home campaigns set in Aerois that would be destroyed if the players fail. If the High Rollers fail, everyone else playing in Aerois would have to stop (lol).
* Dono question from DarkRayDisciple: “So if you fail to stop Hadar do you skip straight to campaign 9 because 3 to 8 no longer happen?” The suggestion is that if Hadar wins, all the YouTube vods (for Lightfall and Aerois) would be replaced with 3 hours of pulsating black and red tendrils.
* Tom asked in the outro donos if one of the tapestries was the DunDuns video. Mark said yes, but Aerois was spelled correctly on that one. This is a reference to the fact that Aerois is spelled “AEORIS” in the DunDuns video (see picture).