Aerois - Episode 176: Kaiju Fight!

Katie Morrison as Aila

Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Kaiju Fight!** is the 176th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 26th February 2023 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*Atelicus' true form storms towards the Halls of Infinite Resplendence but the team have a powerful plan in place!*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomed everyone and introduced the players. Katie was away this week.
* Tuesday was Rhiannon’s birthday.
* The second episode of the Warhammer mini campaign is available on YouTube and Patreon. It will be available on Twitch as a VoD for 60 days before it disappears forever from there.

### **Recap**

*"Last time, the Champions were engaged in a fierce battle against one of the three great beasts of Atelicus, Stonemaw, the Tyrant of the Land. The party continued their battle against Stonemaw using its adaptive physiology and evolution to try and get around its resistances. It was a tense and climactic battle but eventually the party were successful and Stonemaw was defeated. As the body began to decay and vanish back into the earth, a few moments later, the party were contacted by a very panicked Valla who told them that something had happened and that they needed to meet them at the Halls of Infinite Resplendence as quickly as possible.*

*The party travelled through, leaving their companions to deal with the aftermath, including the loss of two named NPCs. The party travelled back to the Halls where Valla revealed to them that **something** had happened…"*
### **Part 1**

*Atelicus' true form storms towards the Halls of Infinite Resplendence but the team have a powerful plan in place!*

Valla meets the party in the Halls of Infinite Resplendence and waves a hand to make one of the walls transparent – through it, the party sees the open, endless ocean. In the distance, many miles away, *something* in the ocean churns the water. Eventually, a colossal creature, maybe 500-600 feet in height, emerges from the water. Quill, with his keen sight, can make out a thick, armoured carapace with giant spikes, huge muscles, and a terrifying, contorted, bestial face that appears to be a mixture of beast, demon, and dragon with giant horns. Atelicus’ voice booms out as he reveals his plans to consume Siaska and Sayanna and gain their strength so that he may fight against Hadar.

Valla has used her magic to rejuvenate the party after their hard-fought battle against Stonemaw and both she and Maximillion stare across the open ocean at the oncoming behemoth. Valla moves her hands and the image on the wall appears to come closer – they can now all clearly see the top half of the creature as it slowly emerges from the water. Valla tells them that she now thinks that the titanic beasts were sent to Aelseraph as a distraction and that the reason that she was unable to locate Atelicus’ demiplane is that it was not there, where she was searching, but closer to the Starfall Archipelago, under the ocean.

Nova believes that Atelicus is a chimera of sorts – there are elements of Stonemaw’s armour plating, carapace, spikes and spines, there are other elements that are more reptilian, the horns on its head look almost like a bull’s, elements of a tortoise-like creature, but all are of powerful predators and beasts. Nova guesses that Atelicus will show the same sort of adaptation as all three of the giant beasts that were terrorising Aelseraph.

Valla explains to them that while they fought the other titans in their own domains where they were bound and limited, they were on much more of an even footing when fighting. Because Atelicus has always been strongly attached to the land of Aerois, he will be more powerful than any of the titans they have fought up to now – she is at a loss as to what to do. Lucius asks if there would be any way to banish Atelicus but Valla tells him that, like the other titans, Atelicus is bound to have protection against such a thing and that they would need the strength of Siaska to accomplish it. Quill asks if they might move Siaska to safety but Valla tells them that she is bound to the Halls and cannot be moved. Quill wonders if they might move the halls instead, but Valla again responds in the negative, saying that the Halls are not a physical place but more like the soul of Siaska’s connection to Aerois.

Valla gives them two hours until Atelicus will be upon them. They will not be able to contact Siaska because she is lending power to Sayanna, who has gone out to try to find out some information on what is happening with Atelicus. They decide to contact Kalus – he has offered his help with Atelicus but Quill worries about him entering the hallowed space of the Halls. There is the sudden sound of a plucked lute string, and two figures appear out of thin air near Siaska’s sarcophagus – one is a very elderly Halfling woman, Sayanna (looking to be well over 100 years old with thinned, crisp white hair, and a frail frame). She stumbles and the second figure catches her arm and stops her falling; it is a being made of blue and white energy in the form of an old man holding a staff – they recognise it as Tassadar. The who have been travelling together, exploring Aerois. Tassadar describes Sayanna as “an interesting travelling companion”, while she describes Tassadar as “a little boring” and calls him “Tassie”.

Tassadar tells them that he has detected a cluster of “entropic energy” within Atelicus, a term used in the Valkyrian Empire to describe beings that have been influenced by Hadar. Tassadar does not know precisely where the cluster is within Atelicus, however. Lucius asks why, if Atelicus wishes to fight Hadar, he would have taken power from Hadar – Sayanna thinks that it may have been unintentional on Atelicus’ part with Hadar being cunning and manipulative, subtly turning others to its cause, like Xarkira. She thinks that Atelicus may be oblivious to Hadar’s subtle influence but worries that it may now have taken root. Sentry tells Tassadar of Herald and the way that Hadar slowly consumed her as she became more and more desperate to fulfil her purpose. Tassadar says that he has seen this in the Empire – strong emotions and strong desires can allow for planar instabilities that create small pockets where Hadar’s influence can seep from the Far Realm. “When obsession becomes a madness, it offers a brief window into the Far Realm from where Hadar can reach out and influence one’s mind, sometimes without the host realising or acknowledging it” he tells them.

Sayanna hopes that if they can somehow get rid of Hadar’s influence over Atelicus that they might still be able to reason with him. While Kellara and Zephyr had reasons that they did not wish to re-join with Siaska, Atelicus was always very loyal to his mother, and she thinks that Hadar’s influence explains why he has been so resistant to giving up his power to Siaska.

Lucius thinks that they may have no choice but to contact Kalus and Tassadar agrees, saying that his analysis of Atelicus shows that there is no magical weapon native to Aerois that is capable of harming Atelicus – he believes that Emperor Valkyrian’s Magitek may be the only type of weaponry capable of affecting the creature. He scans each of them and announces casually that none of them possesses the ability to harm it. Nova asks Tassadar if he knows the current location of Project Vanguard – he does – and whether they would be able to use it. He tells them that they would need authority from the Emperor. Tassadar wonders if they might use their own Magitek weapon, The Astoria, but they tell him that it is slow-moving and currently far away in Aelseraph. Tassadar does not understand why, if it was created from Solwynn magic, it is incapable of reaching them quickly and they explain that there is much that they still do not know about the systems. They ask if Tassadar might be able to help them and he gives them an affirmative.

He begins to communicate with his prime form, his eyes going dull, and his body going still. They worry for a moment that Kalus will learn of their plans but Sayanna reassures them that “Tassie” will not compromise them and that she believes that Valkyrian no longer wishes to attack Aerois. Nova reminds them that Starbane would not, and did not, attack Siaska, that she sacrificed herself on his blade. Quill worries about admitting Kalus to the one sacred place on Aerois that has been untouched by any of the evils outside – Nova reassures him that Kalus would know of the Halls and Valla concurs, saying that not only does she believe that he knows where the Halls are but that he could also travel there if he really wanted to. Everything he has done on Aerois has been for a purpose once he could get past the Cradle – there is a reason that he has not hunted the party down and killed them, and a reason that he has not come to the Halls to do something with Siaska’s body. She firmly believes that Kalus is an honourable man with an unbreakable code (perhaps unlike some of his followers and Xarkira).

Sayanna gives them an idea that they may not have to defeat Atelicus so much as drive the presence of Hadar out of him somehow. She tells them that while Atelicus is cunning, he is not clever, and is ruled by his emotions, especially his anger; if they can make him furious with rage, she thinks that this may sever the connection and free him of Hadar’s influence or that Hadar would have to take direct control, thereby exposing itself and allowing them to attack it directly, removing it from Atelicus.

Tassadar comes back from his commune with himself and advises that he will be happy to assist with The Astoria but must first get approval from the Emperor to do so. Before they contact Kalus, Nova hesitantly lets Tassadar know that Tiangong is dead. “Your statement is incorrect,” Tassadar tells her, “but your intention… meaning is acceptable. Tiangong cannot *die*. They are a being of energy, they are gone, yes, but they are not dead. To be dead means that they had to be alive in the sense that you understand them to be. I understand that the form of Tiangong that you carried with you has been destroyed.”

Nova, ashamed, tells Tassadar that she failed the Triumvirate, and apologises to him. Tassadar, however, looks confused, telling Nova that she had no task, and nothing was expected of her by the Triumvirate. Nova tells him that she took it upon herself to re-form Tiangong. Tassadar tells her, matter-of-factly, that she had no power to command Tiangong, and that everything that happened was because it was what Tiangong chose to do – the only influence that Nova would have had was their connection and the empathy that Tiangong had for her position. Tassadar also reminds Nova that part of Tiangong still exists – they may not be Nova’s Tiangong, but it is still Tiangong. Tassadar also reminds Nova that the Eterna are beings made of energy, and although energy can dissipate, it cannot be fully destroyed. He tells Nova that she has done nothing wrong and has nothing to apologise for. Tassadar then immediately turns back to the rest of the group and begins to discuss Atelicus again.

Quill, meanwhile, contacts Reyn on The Astoria: he lets Reyn know that someone will be arriving on The Astoria and will be demanding more information about the entire working of the ship. After a few minutes, Quill gets a response from Reyn: *“Clear skies. Belay that, Quill. We have The Astoria running. Ship is operational. Heard you had to leave. What’s happening? What do you need?”*

Quill sends a message back, *“Clear skies. Atelicus is here – he’s **very big**. Starfall Archipelago. Prepare for battle. See you soon. Xoxoxoxo”.* Reyn responds, telling Quill that they will be on their way as soon as possible and as quickly as possible, and should be with the party in about 3-4 hours. Quill suggests that they may wish to delay Atelicus until The Astoria arrives and tells Tassadar that his assistance with the ship will not be required. Lucius asks Tassadar to scan each of them for Hadar energy, just in case one of them is secretly harbouring entropic energy like Atelicus, and while there has been a close contact with Lucius, Sentry and Nova from their fight in Horizon, there is no lingering presence of the entropic energy within any of them. Lucius had been worried that Nova might have been open to some persuasion from Hadar and while she acknowledges that it is a possibility, Max believes that she is too smart for this to happen, saying that while Hadar is insidious, a smart being will always know that Hadar is there and must choose to allow the manipulation (unlike Atelicus, who is probably not smart enough to realise that Hadar is driving his actions).

Quill and Lucius ask Max how he feels about his Emperor. Max tells them that he is still sworn to Kalus, that he is loyal to him, loves him, cares for him and is still believes in his cause. Lucius asks whether this will still be the case if Atelicus is another of Kalus’ ruses in his attempt to weaken and take over Aerois, and if he asks Max to destroy the party. Max informs Lucius that the Emperor is not an underhanded man and will not try to trick people out of what he offers them – he will take what he wants or he will give it. He agrees that Xarkira may have been given too much trust and power. Max does tell Lucius that if he is asked to choose between his Emperor and Aerois, he will choose his Emperor – he does value the friendship that they have all developed and he cares for them but he feels that he owes his Emperor everything. Max has been a Knight of Gideon for many years and Kalus not only saved him from his past but also gave Max his strength, belief and confidence – Max admires him greatly, and that will never change. Even though he believes that they would defeat him, Max would draw blades against the party if ordered to. He does admit that if asked to choose between Valla and the Emperor, he does not know which he would choose although he hopes that the moment will never come. He hopes that the Emperor, Siaska and they will all see that there is a common enemy that they should be fighting.

Valla asks Sayanna to stay in the Halls, opens a portal and creates a platform for them to stand on over the open ocean, Lucius bows towards Siaska’s sarcophagus and passes through to the outside world with the rest (including Valla, Max, and Tassadar) following him. Valla closes the portal, and they stand on the wide, open ocean with the distant churning of water where Atelicus is emerging. Tassadar reaches out, a light emerging from his thumb and four fingers projecting towards the foreheads of the party as he opens communications to Kalus. All of a sudden, they seem to be standing in a circle, surrounded by darkness, with Tassadar standing at their centre – he fades as he establishes a connection for them. There is a low, humming tone as they wait in the void and Sentry’s hand hovers over Starbreaker subconsciously. The tone shifts and a purple-black image begins to solidify into a life-sized image of Kalus Valkyrian, Emperor of the Valkyrian Empire. He turns to look at them, realising that something terrible must have happened.

Nova tells Kalus that he was right about Atelicus, and about his plan to consume Siaska and the others (including Valla - Kalus had been aware of all but the latter). Kalus asks how he can help and Nova asks if he can make Project Vanguard available to them. He agrees, also saying that he will be there himself as soon as he can get access to his teleportation system. He also asks that once Atelicus is defeated, and before Siaska awakens, that the five of them and him meet face-to-face on Aerois to discuss the future and Hadar, promising that his armies will not attack. He tells Nova that he discovered answers about “a great many things” and that this is one of the things that he wishes to discuss with them. Lucius informs Kalus that Atelicus is Hadar-touched (which comes as a surprise to him). Kalus says that he will allow Tassadar to assist them against Atelicus and grants Nova administrator access to Project Vanguard. His parting instruction is for Valla to stay with Siaska and Maximillion to stay with them both as the image vanishes. The darkness disappears and they surround Tassadar whilst standing on a platform over the open ocean once more, Tassadar stand still, holding a staff and staring forwards. Nova is told that she will be able to access information on the operation of Project Vanguard once she is inside the machine – Project Vanguard’s arrival is imminent as, about a quarter of a mile away, they sky fills with a sky city that suddenly transports in. The old, seemingly deserted sky city appears in a crackle and snap of sound – parts of the sky city begin to break away and fold out, long chains of magitek equipment stretched between them, as the edges of the city begin to separate and open out, providing a wide circle beneath it and creating a giant Archway gate. They watch in awe as something begins to emerge from the bottom of the gate: two enormous legs followed by an elongated torso, arms and head. The giant construct, 300 feet tall, falls into the water below it, submerging up to its waist and causing massive waves to roll out from where it entered the water. The sky city drifts down to the side, eventually splash landing in the water.

The form of Tassadar and the staff that he carries begin to fade, “Current power levels of projection are failing,” he says. “Project Vanguard has been delivered to Administrator V’ger. Sky city Kassatoris has crash landed near to Halls of Resplendence.” His voice begins to slow as it is apparent that his power is failing, “I will temporarily be out of contact for the…” The projection fades away. They can see the top half of Project Vanguard protruding from the water about a quarter of a mile away from them and Kassatoris (now an island) about half a mile further distant again.

Nova turns to Max and tells him that Kalus has requested that he protect Valla and Siaska in the Halls. Valla prefers not to hide in the Halls, however, preferring to stay on the platform in the event that the Champions fail and a back-up in required to buy time for the Astoria to arrive. Max says that he will remain by Valla’s side. Lucius casts *Fly* on the party, and they head to the giant mech.

They note that it has been massively upscaled to when they last saw it at Shadowsong Pinnacle and that it is brimming with Magitek – there is a giant generator on its back, there are massive pylons, and blue and purple energy flowing between its armour plates, powering the enormous construct. Some parts look like they can shift and move, and it appears to be a mixture of mechanical, clockwork, and magical hardware combined together. There is an access point (a person-shaped door) on the back of its neck that appears to be opened by a crystalline touchpad. They land on the mech’s shoulders and Nova scans her hand on the touchpad – they symbols turn green and the door opens to a short passageway that soon splits off to the left and right with a ladder going up and two ladders going down. A voice greets them as they enter, “Welcome Administrator V’ger. Authorised Vanguard One. Please designate Vanguards Two to Five.” Nova sees that this construct is called “Vanguard Alpha”.

Nova heads to the cockpit, Lucius to the left arm (Vanguard Pilot 3), Aila to the right arm (Vanguard Pilot 2), Quill to the right leg (Vanguard Pilot 4) and Sentry to the left leg (Vanguard Pilot 5). In each cockpit is a swept back throne-like chair with jagged crystalline orbs resting in the arms of the chair that can be gripped. In front is a large crystalline screen with runic sigils and arcane apparatus and magical technology surrounding the chair. When they sit down, the screens flicker to life, all displaying as if the pilot was sitting in the cockpit in the mech’s head. They can also see a display of all other cockpits and are able to communicate with each other. Nova enables the manuals for the mech on all pilot screens so that they know how to use the construct.

Quill chooses Gideon’s Shield as his signature move, Lucius takes Propulsion Fist, Aila takes Radiant Sabre, Sentry takes Emotion Surge Drive, and Nova takes Magicite Missiles.

They realise that the whole system is activated by their will that is sent through the grasped crystalline orbs. The pilot must imagine themselves doing whatever motion they wish the construct to do, driving their will and energy into it. The system is also built around their psyche and emotions.

Vanguard Alpha begins to move, starting to wade through the water with gigantic strides, taking them closer and closer to the shape in the distance. It eventually starts to become clear to them that this colossal being, covered in spikes and a tough carapace, is also now walking rather than swimming. Atelicus speaks to them, “So, you’ve taken one of our enemy’s toys to try and defeat me, have you? Traitors to your world! Traitors to the goddess that gave you life! I’ll consume you. I’ll consume Kalus’ little toy and then I’ll destroy him with its power!"

### **Part 2**

*Stormchasers! Form of... GIANT ROBOT! It's time for a kaiju fight against a 500ft tall Atellicus!!*

Part 2 Full Description

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:00:00 - Intro
0:03:46 - Dun Duns
0:04:44 - Part 1
1:24:46 - Part 2

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Atelicus
* New NPC 2

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Valla
* Maximillion Taldros
* Sayanna
* Tassadar
* Reyn Talevir

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Kalus Valkyrian
* Xarkira
* Herald
* Kellara
* Zephyr
* Siaska
* Hadar

## **Featured Locations**

* Stafall Archipelago
	+ Hall of Infinite Resplendence
	+ Open ocean

## **Trivia**

* Atelicus’ height was retconned from the end of last episode when Mark had said that he was 2-300 feet tall. He changed it to double that.
* Valla’s “special rejuvenation” (aka long rest) only gives the party back their spells, hit points, and abilities – it does not recharge items that require a period of time to do so.
* They believe that the entrance to the Halls of Infinite Resplendence is somewhere near the Starfall Archipelago.
* Trott says that he imagines Tassadar in a Hawaiian getup. Mark says that he could imagine Tassadar as Merlin from Sword in the Stone with the Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses (even if it’s not reality).
* Mark does say that there is a Merlin-esque appearance to Tassadar with a long beard, bald head, wizard robes, and starburst energy for eyes. Everything about Tassadar is made of the blue energy.
* Kim always saw Tassadar as being very Vulcan-like, not showing emotion, just dealing with logic and facts.
* Mark confirmed that Diamond 1 (D1) counts as a creature and therefore the Sending spell would work on it.
* When Tassadar scans the party for entropic energy (the mark of Hadar), the players are able to roll to resist the scan – only Sentry attempts to resist "for the fun of it" (rolling a dirty 20).

## **Quotes**

* Tom: (re: Max) I wish he loved me like he loved his emperor. Mark: (laughs) Does Quill say that out loud? There’s only one ship in Max’s life, and that’s Max x Kalus. Trott: Malus
* Quote 2