Aerois - Episode 161: Chaos in Horizon

Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Chaos in Horizon** is the 161st episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 25th September 2022 from 5PM to 8PM BST.

*The Stormchasers return to Horizon for a catch up on the war movement and some much needed rest.*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players. Katie is away today as she has been working at EGX this weekend.
* There has been a lot of FreshMerch at EGX and you could have bought some cool HR merch there. Merch is also available on FreshMerch.fm where you can also get the completely original High Rollers Club shirt and other great merch.
* Today’s stream started late because of a number of problems: they were trapped, couldn’t get into the studio, had no internet...
* Mark and Trott will be at MCM ComicCon London at the end of October (some of the others may join them). There will be a FreshMerch stand, some signings and maybe some panels.
* Trott has a new little hand vacuum.
* Mark is sorry for the weird energy of this episode.
* Mark thanked everyone who bought tickets to his D&D in a Castle table. They all had a lot of fun and got a sneak peek at the next campaign setting and may get a cheeky insertion into the world.

### **Recap**

*"The Champions have successfully defeated the titan, Kellara, they have recovered the Guardian scouts, including the Guardian, Protector, whom they thought was dead from the jungles of Jakkesh, and they have learned that their air ship’s cook, Howard, is on the verge of a mental breakdown. But overall, a new day dawns for the Champions of Aerois as they return to the sky city of Horizon to catch up on where things may stand with regards to their ongoing missions and new potential avenues, and a new chapter may very well begin."*
### **Part 1**

*The Stormchasers, returning to Horizon, update it's leaders on their mission against Kellara and try to remember how to roleplay!*

The Champions are on The Stormchaser making their way back to Horizon after felling the titan, Kellara; they are about three days out from the sky city. Quill decides that he wishes to acquire or make a Chest of Preserving for Howard. Because they are taking a number of injured Guardians back, there is not much room for Sentry to spar but she does what training she can with the room available. Lucius is happy just to be on the ship and catching up with his crew rather than having to be a Champion of Aerois. Nova trains with Tiangong and the new Eclipse Twinblades: Tiangong is the master of fighting who guides the movements of the blades, and Nova needs to learn from them how to fight in the new style – the two blades are perfectly balanced, and Nova knows that the magic within them will only work if the blades are both wielded together. As she practices her swordsmanship with the blades, she sees trails of radiant starlight left behind as she sweeps with one blade, and trails of black mist like night trailing from the other: she begins to understand more about their magic and unlock their magical powers – she knows that they are able to create crescents of light and darkness and understands what they do. While the blades are not as large as they were when Kellara wielded them, they are still long curved blades of perfect, matching silvery-gold metal.

After a few days, they draw closer to Horizon and see the familiar outline below the floating city of The Astoria. The sky city has moved to sit above the gigantic ship and ropes and bridges have been dropped from the city to the main deck of the ship to allow travel between them, they also notice air ships ferrying people back and forth as well. Quill can see small areas of The Astoria are lit up by magical light, there are people moving around on the deck and there is work being done on it, and he can see aetheric trails of mist from the engines. The Stormchaser docks and the Horizon city guard checks that they are the genuine article.

Quill ensures that Horizon has dispatched ships to Jakkesh to pick up the remaining Guardians. As the Champions had requested, most of the Guardians that had been in Horizon are now housed on The Astoria, and the wounded Guardians are taken down to the infirmaries on The Astoria where Druidic healers work on healing injuries to their plant-based systems, while smiths and armourers work on the metal and stone repairs required. Quill also sees skeletal workers going about The Astoria, indicating that Azaria Perel is probably on board.

They are confirmed to be themselves before being let in to see Dannica in the Citadel of the Reborn. Dannica is resting in her private living area where she is lounging on one of her sofas, reading a book. Moving the city has taken up a lot of her energy, so she is recuperating, but is interested in hearing everything that has happened with them and tells them that she has sent ships to rescue the remaining Guardians in Jakkesh. Dannica assumes that the Champions will want to know what has been happening in Horizon, but Nova asks what book she is reading instead. Dannica tells her that it is a trashy romance novel by R. Plumbus, the sister of A. Plumbus. Despite it being early afternoon, Dannica pours herself a glass of wine, in which Lucius joins her.

Looking around them, they see that Dannica’s private rooms are plush and decorated mostly in red and orange with large red draping curtains and multiple sofas – they consider the room lavish but not opulent.

Lucius advises Dannica of their success with Kellara and Jakkesh as well as their losses in the mission. Dannica tells them of their current stalemate with Valkyrian’s forces but ongoing war with the forces of Giselle. Lucius lets slip that Nova has been in contact with Valkyrian and that they may need his help with Atelicus and his beasts, Nova quietly informs Lucius that they had not planned to discuss this with Dannica, however. Dannica overhears this comment and asks directly why they would not and think that they should not have told her – they are allies and she does not understand why they would not trust her. They get the impression that Dannica is more annoyed that they felt that they couldn’t tell her about Kalus rather than the idea that they might end up allying with him.

Quill reassures Dannica that they trust her, but that they have been deceived before and go on to tell her about being “Brookstoned”(see Trivia). Dannica is disappointed, understanding why they may not wish to tell the Dragons about this development, but believing that they had a greater level of trust between them. She reassures them that information given to her will not be shared unless there is an absolute need, otherwise Dannica will keep such things confidential between them. Nova takes the blame on herself, explaining her previous experience with discussions that she had with Starbane that she kept from the party as well as the reasons behind doing so. Dannica understands but tells Nova that they need to work out who they can and cannot trust – a complicated endeavour.

Dannica is a pragmatist: her main concern is saving her city and Aerois, and she does not care if they need to ally with Starbane to do it, and she agrees that the other leaders need not be told. Nova reveals to Dannica what Starbane had said about Atelicus and Vortinssar and Dannica says that they should get a report from Norfir on the Vortinssar situation in the next day or two. What they already know is that the Genasi believe that the portal being built to transport the city back to Genas is a certainty to work (rather than the disaster that Kalus believes it will be), that the city is locked down, all non-Genasi have been expelled from the city, and only those Genasi wishing to return home are being allowed back in. Norfir is known to be working with a youth rebellion (mainly comprised of those Genasi with mixed elemental heritage) that is resisting the government and its plans – the Valkyrians are guests of the city and the Genasi are still very much in charge. The party reveals that they know who is in charge of the youth group: Nova’s brother, Tornado, “the Moron” whose real name is Cloud.

Dannica tells them that Atelicus’ beasts are now moving away from just the northern continent and have located the Starfall Archipelago, and while the Dragons have managed to keep them distracted so far, their mutation ability is allowing them to become resistant to attacks from large creatures as well as the various Dragon breath weapons, and this has taken a little over a week to occur. The beasts appear to learn from whatever they fight, and even though the air beast was slain at one point, it seems to have reformed and returned, more powerful than before. They are investigating this phenomenon – they do not believe that it was a normal regeneration, that it was brought back to life, but they have asked Azaria Perel, the Beastfolk, and the Wild Elves of Aelseraph to investigate. The Wild Elves have a theory that they want to discuss with the party, that the beasts all need to be slain at the same time, else they will be reborn.

The other problem is that Valla is having trouble locating Atelicus’ demi-plane, it appears that the beasts are providing some form of camouflage for it because Atelicus’ essence is somehow divided between the three beasts. If they can somehow take him out first, that would, however, solve the beast problem. Dannica recommends waiting to hear from Norfir before deciding which problem to tackle first but tells them that they should speak to Reyn about their infiltration method because of the Vortinssar lockdown.

In a bombshell revelation, Dannica tells the party that her artificers think that they would be able to attach Horizon to The Astoria and allow them to travel as a combined vessel; this would allow Dannica to channel her power into the ship to give it more power and speed and would also allow the city of Horizon to leave Aerois so that it could join in the battle against Hadar but this just theoretical for now. Azaria thinks that it may also be possible to build a similar environmental system for Horizon as they have for The Astoria, giving them two separate vessels capable of travel in space. Sky Prince Aridan has offered Gusthaven, and King Teren Rooksilver has offered Goldthrone as safe harbours for refugees and those wishing not to take part in the war against Hadar.

The main advantage of taking Horizon with The Astoria would be its ability to provide extra food and other supplies, it may be less of a military support but more of a mobile supply station. The issue of a Commander for The Astoria and Admiral of the Fleet is discussed again – they consider Reyn (Dannica thinks that they may be better placed as a ranking officer rather than a commander), and Maximillion Taldros. Dannica thinks that for him to be accepted by the people of Aerois, he would have to renounce his loyalty to the Valkyrian Empire or that they would have to become allies with Kalus. Nova agrees that Max would only be appropriate as an Admiral if they ally with Kalus.

Dannica confirms that Arval Dagos is the ideal candidate for Quartermaster and supply officer, that Azaria Perel is their best option as their magical expert, Reyn Talevir is a wonderful logistical expert and will make a good sub-commander, Guardians fill the roles of their Weapons and Engineering divisions, and the gemstone dwarves are looking after all the maintenance and engineering on the ship. The Gemstone Dwarves have taught Azaria a lot about the functioning of The Astoria and the magic and technology of Solwynn (that was always far more advanced than anyone had given them credit for); they are now bound to and totally reliant on The Astoria and with Valena gone, there is nothing binding them to Aerois.

Lucius thinks that he has a brilliant idea: Tornado should be the Commander of The Astoria. Nova, unimpressed, repeatedly says no to this prospect. Norfir has already told them that there is a movement that is against the existing government and that it is led by a charismatic and strong (if somewhat dim) young Genasi who has been able to rally a lot of people to the cause.

Lucius enquires of Dannica if she would be able to command The Astoria – she is happy to, but only if Horizon and The Astoria are merged. There is some suggestion that Dannica could clone herself and leave her clone in charge of The Astoria, but she is a bit worried about how the phoenix inside her would cope with a frost-based spell. They consider a Guardian commander, possibly Rook, but it is likely that after fighting with Overlord Voracitor that his soul will still need rest before it is ready to be reborn into another matrix. There is some concern that Oriya might take The Astoria and use it to blow up her brother, Hope Rosemeadow is briefly mentioned, and Thalia who would probably use the ship to blow up Graz’zt.

They ask about Skaldi, but Dannica has not seen her. They leave Dannica and consider going to visit Arval and Petal in their suites, but Arval is often not there, being away on the business of supplying The Astoria, Petal, however, has filled their suites with house plants. Nova goes to “hold hands and be awkward” with Thalia and finds that the engineers of Horizon have been using the Twinstar as a blueprint to make smaller, single pilot versions that are astral fighters.

### **Part 2**

*Quill tries to make a magic preservation box for Howard and the others have a spa day. Quill regrets not going with the others.*

The Champions take a skiff down to visit The Astoria and follow packs of skeletons that are carrying things around the ship. Eventually they follow a pack of skeletons to one of the workshops where they meet up with Azaria Perel, she has a large crystal, upon which she is inscribing runes and seeing what it does when she activates it. She touches the crystal that she has just inscribed, it starts levitating, then vibrating violently, so she touches it again and it sinks slowly back down to the bench top while she makes notes. The crystal that she has been experimenting on is of the type used in the large-scale environmental shielding for The Astoria – Azaria is trying to test how viable it would be to move it to a new vehicle.

Quill asks if she has had a message from Dannica regarding the merging of Horizon and The Astoria but Azaria has been busy with her studies and will not consider her messages until that evening - She is fascinated by the secrets and mysteries that have been uncovered in her exploration of the ship. Quill notices that Azaria seems a little... distant, and looks a little gaunt, and she tells him that she has been so busy that she has stopped sleeping and eating and has been using spells to provide her with nourishment.

Lucius tells her about the plan to keep Horizon and The Astoria separate but make it possible for both to be space-faring vessels, rather than to have them attached. Azaria flicks her fingers and a skull with a glowing flame in its mouth and eyes appears (named Hastings): she tells it to take note that they are keeping the city and the ship separate and applying the planar transportation system to Horizon. She says that they will need to conjure more labour before the skull laughs maniacally. Quill asks where they are getting the labour from, to which Azaria very matter-of-factly replies, “Graveyards, mostly”. It appears that the skeletons are coming from the lowlands, but Azaria does not know from where, since she is paying people to acquire them for her. When she enquires of Hastings how many skeletons they have acquired to assist with the labour at present, the answer is approximately 600, and they do mainly simple tasks of carrying, building, and inscribing simple runes when required.

They remind Azaria of the 10,000 gold deposit they had left with her in case they needed any magical items made and she reminds them that she is also waiting for the powerful magical essences that she requires for the engines that will fully power the Stormchaser. She agrees that some of what she has learned from The Astoria can be applied to the Stormchaser, in particular to finish enhancing the main cannon, but she cannot apply the engine technology, simply because she does not know what Valena did even though it appears to be a similar concept. Horizon’s engines are different in that they are replenished by Dannica’s seemingly endless source of magic, the thought of which is enthralling to Azaria.

She tells them about her success at building smaller versions of the Twinstar Longbow using smaller elemental creatures or astral essences to power them, but these ships will not be able to traverse the astral sea without being carried there by The Astoria – they would not be able to enter the River Styx or the Infinite Staircase. They are best used as point defence if The Astoria is attacked to fight ship-to-ship. So far, Azaria has managed to replicate 4-5 of them but the aim is to create 12 of them (two squadrons). While they may not be as fast and agile as some of the ships that Thalia has seen, they will be sturdier and reinforced with some of the same environmental shielding to deflect magical energies. Thalia is in the process of selecting and training pilots, some of them Guardians, others are people from Horizon, air ship pilots, and Orcs with sailing backgrounds.

Sentry asks Azaria to keep any Solwynn relics that she finds and put them in a safe place for her since she wants to make something with them, but Azaria tells her to speak to the Maidens who have already secured any relics that they have found.

While the rest of the team decides to head off for some R&R and go to a bath house for massages, manicures, and pedicures, Quill decides to make the Chest of Preserving for Howard. Once he realises that he does not actually know how to make it, he decides to hire someone to make it for him – he buys a lovely dark, wood-stained chest with beautiful fittings for 25 gold and is then dismayed when he realises that it is going to take him two weeks to make. He puts out an advertisement:

*One transmutation wizard. 1 week job. All materials provided. 50 gold.*

An old man with a large brown beard, wearing a wizard’s hat and robes answers the ad – the man says it will be a simple matter, to leave the materials and money to him and he will do it. Quill is so distraught that he just gives the man everything and asks him to bring it back when it is done. On being asked his name, the man responds with Zar Zar Zinks(see Trivia). Meanwhile, at the bath, Sentry sits in the hot water pool and her vines absorb water, increase in size and sprout flowers. She describes it as a whole-body hot plate.

Early the next morning, they are summoned by Reyn and Dannica because a report has finally come in from Norfir. When they enter the War Room, a map of Vortinssar has been laid out on the table and seeing it laid out in a council of war chamber makes Nova feel sick. Dannica tells them that Norfir has sent them a short communication to advise them that Shansara and Harmony are on the cusp of activating the teleportation system that they have in Vortinssar. It is estimated that it may be activated within the next 10 to 14 days. Norfir has requested their presence in Vortinssar since both she and Dannica are agreed that a direct assault is not recommended – it would only make the Genasi people believe what they have been told by Shansara and Harmony and drive them further away from the forces of Aerois. There is belief that Shansara and some of the other Fey beings may be manipulating the populace and also that Harmony is not acting as they once normally would have – they are acting aggressively towards their own people, several members of the Council have been replaced or “gone missing”, and many influential people have been taken and kept against their will. One of the latter, Professor Jocelyn Whitsong, was able to escape with the help of locals and provide Horizon with this information.

The major difficulty that the Champions will have is getting into the city: all access points are being watched carefully, teleportation is currently impossible. Non-Genasi are now incredibly rare in the city, so the party will have to go in disguise or make their way in stealthily. Dannica indicates the map before them showing the layout of Vortinssar – it is a large coastal city made up of five districts: four quarters with a central circular district in the middle. One of the districts faces a harbour that sits on a wide river mouth while the opposite district backs onto mountains and the other two are surrounded by flat plains.

The city is well-defended, and any non-stealth entrance is going to be through a main city gate, the harbour, or by air ship to one of the docks. Unlike Horizon, Vortinssar does not appear to have a large number of mages who can detect illusions or shapeshifters, but Norfir says that most people are simply visually examined and verbally interrogated. If the party chooses a stealthier option for entrance to the city, there is the possibility of being smuggled aboard a ship bringing goods into the harbour, they could air drop from height into the sea and then swim into the sewer system and emerge into the city from there (although they would need magical protection given the danger of the ocean drop).

It is estimated that there is one legion of Valkyrian troops in the city that is completely loyal to Shansara – they wear tabards that combine the Valkyrian insignia and a stylised flame symbol and wings that is meant to represent Shansara. There has also been a significant increase in the number of volunteer guards and military personnel that now act as a militia or home guard, and they regularly patrol the streets. Nova wonders if it would be wiser to try to pass the party off as Valkyrian soldiers, and Dannica says that this is what Norfir has been doing but also says that they could use magical disguises, even if just to get inside the city.

Norfir and the Seekers (the band of young insurgents) do not know what happens to people who are caught trying to enter the city illegally or taken into custody in general. They have tried to rescue several people in custody and think they have a good chance of rescuing one of the council who has been incarcerated but they are generally held in the Earth Quarter which is heavily fortified and has many of their prisons. The Genasi have control over their elements and the Earth Genasi have been working with the surrounding stone to form additional defences on their buildings.

Quill wonders if they can communicate with Norfir and get her to cause a distraction when they wish to enter the city but Dannica says that it will be tricky because *Sending* spells no longer function into the city so they must rely on physical communication and trusted agents – communication is sporadic and unreliable.

Dannica recommends one of three approaches: enter via a main entrance in physical disguise along with farmers and other citizens who make the daily commute, get smuggled in on a ship via the harbour, or swim via the sewer and canal system into the city. Dannica notes that there is large scale training of militia happening because of the belief that Aerois will try to stop the Genasi from trying to leave so they anticipate a large battle to come. Shansara is celebrated as an icon and someone who will help to take them home, and likewise the Valkyrian soldiers are welcomed, it is not a military occupation and life continues as normal except for a small number of dissenters who just disappear.

Nova asks Quill to check with the Eye of the Storm to see what will happen if Vortinssar activates the teleportation system. He asks the eye and...

*On the horizon, Quill sees an enormous city, but one that he has never seen the likes of before: it is beautiful in a way, set onto the coast with a backdrop of mountains. Walls surround it, not dissimilar to other cities that he has seen, but what makes this city unique is four enormous statues. One, a woman being lifted up on clouds, almost curling over a quarter of the city, reaching down with a looming hand: around her there are flying platforms, levitating, hovering in place with buildings, homes, and streets on them, surrounding her with all sorts of different lifts of air and cloud reaching up to her. Opposite her, almost lounging and reclined on their side, is a much larger Earth Genasi man reaching up with one hand, and built along his arm, palm, and body, are more buildings and houses, all built into this giant statue that reaches towards the woman. On either side of those, are two other statues, facing each other. One, a Fire Genasi woman, lifts her hands up and from her palms pour rivers of molten lava that pour down her palms into pools around her from which Quill sees forges, buildings, and barracks built into them as well with great geysers of steaming vents with platforms that almost seems to lift people up to different parts of the city which are elevated or hovering. Finally, opposite the Fire Genasi, he sees a man reaching down with cupped hands as water pours from them into dozens of canals that run throughout the city, transporting people on little wooden boats, almost on their own currents without the need for any sort of poles or navigation.*

*The city is magical and technological combined, much like what he has seen in the Valkyrian Empire but still connected to the world of Aerois. Quill watches the four statues as they begin to illuminate with runes that spiral up their bodies. They begin to pulse as symbols engraved into them begin to glow, then the statues begin to shift and move and reach out their hands until they are all facing each other. The lava pools stop as they reach out towards each other forming a ring of hands around the city. As power pulses through each of them, the whole city seems like it is about to flash as it begins to fade from existence, and then something snaps and breaks...*

*The statues begin to crack and break apart but the city, still half-translucent and half-phasing through... Quill hears a cacophony of screams and cries as parts of the city break from reality, half-transported, half not. Some of the city simply vanishes, some of it cracks, snaps, and breaks until the statues collapse in on themselves and he sees a great dust cloud fill and engulf the city.*

Quill tells Nova about his vision and confirms with her that the project will fail, resulting in the destruction of the city.

Dannica thinks that the teleportation devices that they have built bust be integrated into the statues and that the runes are devised to feed the power from someone like Dannica who can channel it into the statues, possibly Harmony who is a child of the four elements. Dannica thinks that if Harmony is the conduit, that she must have supernatural power similar to the phoenix inside her. She suggests taking this new information to Norfir and the Seekers: given that the statues are representative of the best of the Genasi people, they are held in reverence, and it is possible that no one has considered that they have been used in this way. Quill wonders if destroying one of the machines in the statues would stop the project, but Nova is in two minds about whether diplomacy might still work – old Nova would have tried it, but now she is not so sure. Quill thinks that it is still worth a try, the people think they are doing the right thing and just want to go home, but he thinks that if they can get another message across to them, instilling some doubt in the potential success of the project, they might change their minds. Nova just wants to delay them long enough that the people can be given the full facts about the Valkyrian Empire – she is not against Genasi wishing to go back to Genas but wants to make sure that they are informed and that they get there safely by other means. She also does not want the Jassevir Elves to be forgotten and wants to bring their situation to light.

Reyn thinks that if the Genasi knew that the Cradle would soon be coming down and that if Valkyrian and Hadar could be stopped, then they could be sent home in ships, rather than this being their last chance to leave Aerois. Reyn also suggests that before they paint the Valkyrian Empire as the villain to the Genasi people, that they attempt to understand it themselves, for what is the difference otherwise between the Genasi working with the Valkyrians and the Aerosians working with Kalus to defeat Atelicus? Reyn says that “facts” are not always the same for everyone and that while some may see the Empire as a terrible thing, others may see it as wonderful – the truth is not black and white.

They agree that the first thing on which they need to concentrate is stopping the Genasi people from destroying themselves with this ill-fated teleportation project. If they can buy time, it is possible that they may be able to get access to Harmony, but they have only been seen in a few public appearances alongside Shansara where security is tight. Nova thinks that Harmony may be being isolated from the people and from anyone who disagrees with Shansara, and Reyn agrees that it is possible.

Reyn asks how they think they might prefer to try to get into Vortinssar: if they choose to go through the front door, they say that Quill and Sentry will need magical disguises while the others could go in physical disguises. Lucius is concerned that any illusory magical disguises will not pass muster but Reyn tells them that their ability to talk their way out of problems could then be used, alternatively they could be transmuted or polymorphed and a specialist trained in disguise might need to go in with them. Norfir has also given instruction on how to find her and the Seekers. Reyn leaves to find a specialist to go with them and to organise transport for them to the main gates of Vortinssar.

As they are about to leave the palace, Quill realises that he has forgotten the name of the man who was paid to make his Chest of Preservation. He thinks it was Zam Zim Zambalor?

## **YouTube Timestamps**

00:00 - Intro
04:16 - Dun Duns
05:14 - Part 1
1:15:28 - Part 2

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Hastings (flame-eyed skull)
* Zar Zar Zinks(see Trivia)

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Azaria Yorien Perel
* Dannica Bloodfire
* Reyn Talevir

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Arval Dagos
* Atelicus
* Brett Brookstone
* Cloud "Tornado" V'ger
* Graz'zt
* Harmony
* Hope Rosemeadow
* Howard Swiftwhistle
* Kalus Valkyrian
* Maximillion Taldros
* Nanny Norfir
* Overlord Voracitor
* Rook
* Shansara
* Skaldi Ravenscar
* Sky Prince Aridan
* Teren Rooksilver
* Thalia Whisperwind
* Tiangong
* Valena
* Valla
* Vessek

## **Featured Locations**

* The Stormchaser
* Horizon (Citadel of the Reborn)
	+ Dannica's private chambers
	+ The War Room

## **Trivia**

* Kim complained that she had had the ability to cast *Dimension Door* taken away from her, and that it had been stripped from her like all her other teleportation abilities. Mark asked if she had read the description on her new weapons, she might find that she has been given a new teleport ability to replace the old one.
* Mark tells Tom that if they get back to a reasonably sized place where they can get the materials, it will cost him 100g to acquire a Chest of Preserving. Tom decides that with his heightened magical powers, he can probably make one. This comes back to bite him in the arse. Hard.
* Tom describes how Quill would train to increase his perception: he essentially gets someone to write out eye charts for him and then stares at the smallest letters for hours. Trott later suggests that as his perception improves, that Quill can read it from behind a wall. He also eats whatever small number of carrots Howard has on board ship.
* This episode was full of madness: multiple Markisms, Mark burping loudly and deliberately, Trott sneezing loudly after calling Mark out for his earlier burp, and Kim telling the story of how she fell asleep on the toilet before the show... This resulted in the canon idea that the Wolf Pack sometimes fart themselves awake.
* Trott made the suggestion that when he takes his hat off, none of the crew recognises him.
* Mark changed Nova’s fighting style at her level up to two-weapon fighting rather than duelling (because it was messing up some of the numbers on her sheet). He was going to give two-weapon fighting as a feat but decided that it made more sense to change her fighting style. The Twinblades grant the Dual Wielder feat for free. Kim imagines a montage where she begins training with the Twinblades and is not very good with them, so starts out being clumsy and cutting into parts of the ship and slicing a few ropes before she finally begins to improve: Mark adds that Nova keeps trying to attack with one blade and Tiangong takes over to show Nova how to use the second. Tom chimes in to say that he has the same problem when walking: he forgets that he has a second leg.
* Mark has another attempt at putting the size of The Astoria into perspective for Tom: Horizon is about as wide as The Astoria, but the ship is longer than the sky city. Horizon has several districts and houses 10-20,000 people. Mark generally considers it to be the equivalent of a Dreadnought Super Star Destroyer from Star Wars.
* A. Plumbus makes a comeback! Plumbus was a nom de plume used by H’esper which Quill discovered in episode 89: Domain of the Arcane. As Plumbus’ sister, R. Plumbus would presumably be Sayanna, the titan of love.
* Nova’s whispers to Lucius about Starbane in Dannica’s suite was representative of Nova’s high int but low wis.
* There is an Urban Dictionary entry for Brookstoned:

* At one point, Nova insists that Lucius refer to Tornado by his full title, “The Moron, Tornado”.
* When Kim heard about the combined Horizon and The Astoria, she was reminded of the detachable saucer section of the Enterprise D from Star Trek (she wasn’t the only one). Mark was aiming more for a Macross 7 vibe where the civilian and battle ships are separate.
* Tom says that Quill sidles over at one point and reads a page of Dannica’s trashy romance novel. Mark says that it’s “steamy but trash”, and Tom counters with “The little Flumph that really shouldn’t have!” Mark insists that there are no Flumphs.
* Thalia training the new Astral Fighter pilots is described as “very Top Gun”, and Thalia was described as the Wedge Antilles of the squadron.
* There was a brief flirtation with BSG references before Mark said that they needed an Adama for The Astoria – someone who could roll a “hard 6”. Mark and Tom did not roll a hard 6. Rhiannon did.
* With regards to the smaller ships that are based on the Twinstar, Mark said that big ships can fight big ships but cannot hit little ships because they air and fire too slowly, and the deck crew will have weapons to take pot shots at the smaller ships as well.
* Azaria is a necromancer who is trying to become a lich. She is starting to look more lich-like.
* When it is clear that Quill has no idea how to make the chest (even the mundane version), he decides to buy one but does not have any idea what they would normally cost. Trott asks him how much a carton of milk would be, but Quill, the magical god king has no idea – he is no middle class Aarakocran – he thinks maybe 6 gold. What the hell is your milk, Quill??? The first milking of a two-headed cow under a blood moon? How rare is it that it would cost 6 gold??
* Tom was hoping that making a magical fridge involved divination magic so that it would only take him one week to make instead of two (because he is a divination wizard). He became bolshy about the idea that making a common magic item would take him, a practical god, two whole weeks. Mark suggested that he take it up with WOTC and was invited by Kim to join her at her bonfire outside Jeremy Crawford’s house. Quill, god of magic, then struggled to identify which school of magic would be involved moving swiftly through abjuration, necromancy, charm/enchantment, conjuration before finally stumbling on transmutation. Quill puts out an ad but then wonders if Vessek could do it... then wonders where they left Vessek...
* The man who agreed to make the fridge is Zar Zar Zinks. Trott requested that the person doing the Wiki keep changing the name of Zar Zar Zinks. I’ve just decided to refer to the stranger/conman as "ZZZ" in case Tom decides to try to cheat and get the actual name from the Wiki. That’s cheating, Tom, and we shall not encourage that behaviour, you need to start taking your own notes (~Crispi). *[Don't worry Tom, I've got your back, they're almost all showing a full name for you now buddy. Just don't bother checking back later, it definitely won't be different. (~ReeKorl)]* Some alternatives that have been suggested, however, are: Zip Zab Zomalom, Zig Zag Zibadoor, Zam Zom Zambalor, and Zip Zap Zoodlepoo.
* Kim was delighted to finally throw Chris Trott off his RP game using a line from the watch party for Rings of Power that she, Trott, and Mark had been involved in in the prior week. “It could be hours, it could be days” – a very certain amount of time. Tom then suggests that they are “a storage fridge away from completion”.

## **Quotes**

* Re: Azaria’s skeleton labour force Kim: Are they ethically sourced???

* **I thought this was *High* Rollers, not...** (Link)
**Mark**: I am no stranger to-
**Tom**: Love!