Aerois - Episode 131: Hunters of Hearts and Heads

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Hunters of Hearts and Heads** is the 131st episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 21st November 2021 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*Into the woods we go...will we survive the horrors within, who knows?*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* The sponsor today is D&D Beyond.
* High Rollers did a 13-hour fund raising stream yesterday to try to upgrade some of the basic gear that they needed for the new studio space. While they were hoping to raise some money towards their goal of £17,000, a very generous community instead donated £37,755.30 (almost US$50,000) before the stream ended (this sum also had all donation fees removed). So much was donated over the course of the stream that PayPal blocked the account as having suspicious activity – Kim (as treasurer) will sort this out with PayPal during the week. The crew advised that it is still hard for them to comprehend the amount they received and thanked the community for their support. VoDs of parts of the stream (Battle Royale, Gartic Phone) will be put up on the High Rollers YouTube channel, otherwise the VoD is still available to watch on the High Rollers Twitch stream (Minecraft with a mini–Rocket League game in the middle of it, nail art and dice making, battle royale, Phasmophobia, Gartic Phone, and a Q&A for Campaign 3). Mark said that due to the funds raised, the studio will be way better than they thought they could make it.
* Patreon is still up and there is a continuous offer that if you are a supporter of the Patreon as of 31 December 2021, your name will go into a hand-crafted leather-bound book as a patron or contributor to the fund-raising stream. There will be photos on the Patreon very soon (10 days) of the studio as they move in and start preparing it for occupation.
* Rhiannon was away last week but has watched the VoD so that she knows what is happening today.

### **Recap**

*"Our adventurers continue their travels through the swamp of Yon Fen in the Feywild. After fending off an attack by several swamp creatures in the foggy darkness, and an uncomfortable but safe night’s sleep, the party desperately slogged on for the final leg of their journey. However, a moment of respite came to them as they spied a warm-looking inn, walking across the swamp on dozens of large feet, trudging through the forest, offered the promise of comfortable travel for these last few miles. Chasing after the inn as it (literally) walked away from them, there was some manic spellcasting and chasing and had everybody get inside safely… right?"*
### **Part 1**

*The team have a very unhappy Centaur to console! Anyone got any cake!?*

The party is currently inside The Fifty Feet Inn: it looks like an old country-style inn with worn and patched seats, slightly dusty smell, and while everything is clean it is a little worn and tired. There are floral-design curtains over the windows, a scent of freshly cooked stew and bread wafting through the air and rows of glasses stacked behind the bar. In one section of the inn sit seven people, but off to the side, facing the corner and sitting alone is a Centaur with her face buried in her hands and her hair a tangled mess of blonde curls. The Centaur, Rosemeadow, is making odd noises of crying and hiccupping, while Sentry stands beside her, stroking her hair and trying to console her.

Nova stomps over to the bar and demands all the cake they have, immediately. The lady behind the bar, who appears to be a middle-aged Human with messy brown hair tied into a bun and wearing a traditional tavern lady’s outfit and apron, tells Nova that she will find whatever she has with sugar and heads into the kitchen. Rosemeadow is visibly upset and wailing about the fact that it is her fault that they are in the swamp – she thinks that she is a massive burden to the party: Sentry attempts to console her as she whimpers and buries her face in Sentry’s chest. Sentry offers to go and get her a blanket, but Rosemeadow holds her fast and appears anxious that she is about to leave.

Lucius is sitting in the nearby booth, watching Rosemeadow and wanting to drink but not quite being able to; Nova is nervously tapping her fingers on the bar, waiting fretfully for the barkeep to return with her cakes, and considering teleporting into the kitchen to help recover them faster. Quill pulls out his *Leomund’s Tiny Chest*, enlarges it, tells Nova to take whatever money she needs from it, and bids farewell to Lucius, Aila and Sentry – he then offers Rosemeadow a hug. Rosemeadow turns her tear-streaked and snotty face from where it is pressed against Sentry’s chestplate to look at Quill then reaches out, grabs Quill in a puff of feathers and embraces him in one arm with Sentry in the other and her face buried in between them. Big Cat has ignored everything that is going on and is now curled up, asleep, in front of the fire; Kyrie and Thalia have removed themselves as much as possible with Kyrie pretending to inspect the floral curtains with one taloned hand and Thalia standing awkwardly and making faces as she looks around pretending not to see anything.

Aila tells Thalia that she was not responsible, being the only one visible and required to get herself to the inn – Thalia raises her hands in the air and mimes to Aila that she is not getting involved. Aila moves to the window and sees that they are moving quite rapidly, and the swamp is not slowing it down at all – despite the fact that they see the environment moving as if the inn is bobbing and walking, inside the inn is stable as if it was situated on the ground. The bar lady comes back with a plate of rock cakes, some fruit and whatever else she has been able to find asking for 4 gold – Nova, in a panic, grabs a handful of coins and dumps 24 gold on the counter, and the bar lady takes it gratefully (she hears the strangled protestations of a squished Quill nearby). While she has stopped crying, Rosemeadow is now pleading with Nova not to leave her again because it was so scary. She lets go of Sentry and forces a rock cake into her mouth as Nova keeps reassuring her that she is fine and Sentry continues to shove cake towards Rosemeadow’s face.

Sue, the barmaid, asks Lucius if that is all his friends, whether they need food or a place to sleep and how long they might be staying with her. Lucius, who has had a little to drink and is now a little more open with information, tells her that they will stay with the inn until it starts deviating from the path it is on because they are on a mission for their Centaur friend. He tells Sue all about Rosemeadow, how she was transported to Aerois at a very early age and that they are hoping to reunite her with her family; Sue tells him that she has not seen a Centaur in the swamp for a very long time because they do not seem to like it. Lucius then tells Sue about Aerois, how they have teleported to Lunaria from that plane and that they on the cusp of invasion from Starbane’s forces before a very irritated Aila stops him from revealing anything else that he may not have thought to tell her of their secret plans. Sue has never heard of Aerois, Siaska, the Cradle or Starbane but has not had a formal education – she tells them that patrons will often come in and tell her things, but nothing phases her anymore. Lucius goes on to tell Sue about Thalia and her curse and the reason they are really in Lunaria.

Thalia, meanwhile, is shooting death stares at Lucius, and Sue recognises the name but cannot place it. Quill is still tucked under Rosemeadow’s arm and being hugged aggressively like a cuddly toy while she puts rock cakes in her mouth with her other hand. Lucius asks if Sue knows anything about the area, and she tells him that she will give people information about places – directions, warnings and other things for free. When there is information about people that others want, she asks for something of value.

Sue asks where they are trying to get to, but Lucius cannot remember the name of the place, thinking it is the “Forest of Evil”, which Sue has never heard of. Aila tells Sue that they are going to the northern side of the swamp to the Gazing Hills; Sue tells them that that area is quite safe compared to Yon Fen and that the Old King’s Road runs across it, but that no one runs the magitrains anymore, explaining what trains are to Lucius (Nova is fascinated by the idea of magitrains). Lucius mentions a cursed forest nearby, which Sue recognises as Black Stallion Woods, their destination, although there are also the Petrified Woods and Dark Crystal Wode nearby – Aila confirms that they are indeed going to the Black Stallion Woods. When this is confirmed, Sue asks if any of them have a request for a last meal or drink – it is clear that she believes that entering these woods is certain death. Lucius, oblivious, requests a 3-tier cheesecake, Aila says that they will be fine and that her only regret occasionally is meeting Lucius. Sue asks them to let her know if they do manage to come out of the woods alive because she would like to be able to tell a story of someone who has survived a trip into the Black Stallion Woods: she does, however, recommend that they say their last goodbyes, do something they really enjoy and have a good last meal. Nova is desperately trying to keep the suggestion of impending doom from Rosemeadow by suggesting that the is the best, smartest and bravest of them all, and while she is not the smartest, she knows that they are talking about something horrible: when challenged as a liar, Nova lets out a sigh, drops her head, goes purple and her usually drifty, wavy hair starts to droop and sag – she apologises again for leaving Rosemeadow behind. Rosemeadow wants to know what is happening – she knows that they are keeping something from her, they have been talking while she is asleep and acting so strangely around her. Nova is close to tears which threatens to set Rosemeadow off again, Aila is aggressively trying to talk battle tactics, Sentry and Lucius are both talking over the top of everyone else and tensions are high… so Quill casts *calm emotions.*

Rosemeadow is affected, Lucius chooses to be affected, but Thalia is not affected – there is a sudden thud as Sue slams a hand down on the table: she tells Quill that she will not allow enchantment spells in the tavern. Quill apologises and asks Rosemeadow to let him go, which she does now that she is calmer. Quill tells her that they were hiding things from her to protect her, but that they are going to the scary woods for her benefit: Nova takes one end of her scarf and wipes Rosemeadow’s tears away, then Rosemeadow takes the other end of Nova’s scarf and wipes Nova’s tears away with it. They apologise to each other for making the other cry and make a pinky promise to look after each other. Lucius recommends that they eat their cheesecake and then discuss what is to come – Sue says that it will be a custom order and will cost them about 30 gold to make as a rush order, Aila wonders if they need cheesecake, but Lucius does not want to be proven a liar to Rosemeadow, and Kyrie meekly whispers that she would like some cheesecake. Sentry requests a warm plate be brought to them as well, and they are charged 31 gold for that and the cheesecake – Quill hands over the gold, which Sue scoops up, it looks like she puts it in her pocket, but she has no pockets, and when they look again, her hand is empty. Sue tells them that she will summon the pixies to make the cheesecake for them.

While they wait for the cheesecake, Nova begins to take a short rest, and they brief Rosemeadow on what they know so far. Rosemeadow says that she is happy to go and meet the family but wants to know why the party is helping her given that she is unimportant in the grand scheme of things: Sentry tells he that she is special to them and worth the risk that they are prepared to face. Rosemeadow is concerned that she will never be able to repay them, but they say that she has already helped them by being their guide to Lunaria. It is at this stage that the cheesecake and warm plate is brought from the kitchen and Lucius distributes it to the party. Sue tells them that a long time ago, Black Stallion Woods was a beautiful place, populated with creatures from all across Lunaria but about 100 years ago, the Empire came to Lunaria and started to round up talented and gifted individuals with rare magic. A group of rebels swept through the area and hid themselves in the woods: there was a fierce battle that took place, killing many Imperial soldiers (whose corpses were littered throughout the woods), but the commander of the Imperial forces was so enraged that she created two spirits that still haunt the woods, seeking the lost rebels. Many free knights of Lunaria have sought to destroy the spirits, fearing that they would attack people on the road or getting too close to the woods and only a tiny number of those have ever emerged from Black Stallion Woods alive. All those that lived were haunted, telling tales of the massacre of the rest of their groups: one young woman felt an unnatural fear the minute she began to fight and fled – when she glanced back to see her companions, she said it was if the wind had come alive and great black ribbons dashed through the trees. In the blink of an eye, with a flash of silver, she watched as one of the heads of her fellow knights was cut clean off his body – the head tumbled to the ground and vanished. Most people now avoid the place like the plague. Sue is aware that any answers to be found will be found deeper in the woods, perhaps the reason that the rebels entered them in the first place – some sort of protection or protective force. Sue first heard the story 60-70 years ago, having taken over the Inn 300 years ago from her aunt.

Sue heads back to the kitchen leaving the party to rest and eat; about 2 hours and 20 minutes later, she returns to tell them that the Inn is turning Westward and that they need to leave if they do not want to be taken off course – because it is not on the hour, they will need to jump from the moving inn, but the fall is only about ten feet, and the ground underneath is soft. It is about midday and in less than an hour, they should be able to travel out of what remains of the swamp – in the distance they see rolling green hills with mountains well behind them, and they notice as they travel that the ground begins to become firmer with more flowers and less stagnant and murky water until eventually, they stand once more on solid earth, leaving Yon Fen behind them. As they do a headcount to ensure that no one has been left behind, Quill spots Thalia wincing and gripping her forearm quickly before it passes, and she returns to normal – he quietly checks her arm to see how far the tattoo has spread beyond the mark that Nova made and notices that it is now almost to her elbow (having moved from her wrist). He gestures towards Nova, enquiring silently of Thalia if he should tell her, but Thalia shakes her head insistently as she shakes her wrist, and the pain obviously passes.

Quill observes their surroundings: above them is Lunaria’s constantly shifting coloured sky, blue one minute, pink the next, but with a section of black and white in the far distance in one direction, and midnight blue in another – it is like a painting, blended together. Ahead of them is an incline of green rolling hills and forests beyond. Over the next hour, they travel through the hills, noticing that they are being watched by Goblins and Hobgoblins from caves in the hills, plus half a dozen bandit Harengon who consider them but decide that taking them on is too much of a risk. From the crest of the hills, they can see fields and farmland, shrub lands with thick grasses and a number of forests off in the distance. Using the directions they were given, they find the overgrown metal rail tracks running from east to west: this is the Old King’s Road, or the old magitrain tracks which will lead them directly to Black Stallion Woods (about 6-7 miles or 2 hours’ travel away). Nova is interested by the tracks and asks questions of Thalia about how the magitrains worked – she is interested in possibly taking the technology back to Aerois. They keep to the tracks as they travel the two hours to the Black Stallion Woods.

The Black Stallion Woods is a very old wood, so the trees are large and have grown close together, as they get to the edge of the wood, they see an overgrown dirt path that appears to run through it and out in the field on its outskirts are multiple bodies up to 100 years old: they are mostly bones and rusted Valkyrian armour either partially buried in the dirt or circled around with latter shoots of grass, although they also see Centaur and Satyr skeletons – it looks like this may have been from a small skirmish. Closer to the tree line, they see a fresher body, maybe 20 years old, of a Leonin knight hanging from the trees by a torn tabard – it is missing its head and is a clear warning to anyone wishing to enter the woods. The wood is deadly quiet, totally devoid of the usual sounds of animals and insects and there is a distinctly ominous feeling as the wind rustles through the leaves and sets some branches to creaking. Sentry’s *divine sense* reveals nothing within 60 feet of them.

Nova cannot piece together from the story that Sue told and the body that she is seeing what may have caused this injury, but she thinks that the Leonin may have been beheaded. Quill considers other aspects of the story that Sue told – the fear that overcame the other travellers and the protection that they had on them, but he and the others have no answers.

### **Part 2**

*The party make their way into the cursed Black Stallion Forest... keep your heads low or you'll lose it!*

The air is heavy and there is no sound except the wind rustling through the ancient trees of the Black Stallion Woods. An ominous presence fills the air as they travel deeper into the woods, although nothing disturbs them for the first hour of their travel. They do see more bodies as they travel, some strung up in the trees, others discarded on the ground – some still have weapons in hand, others have their rusted swords or shields that have been split in half lying beside them. Many of the bodies are headless with the skulls nowhere to be found, but others seem to have been pierced with a single arrow to the chest. Some of the bodies appear to have been there for centuries while others may only have been there for twenty years or so.

Kyrie rides on Rosemeadow’s back, Big Cat is prowling around to the northwest of the group and Nova sticks close to Thalia, though invisible via *shroud of shadows* – she scouts ahead and comes back – the rest stick together as a group as they travel. The forest is primarily made of thick trees that they travel around following the dirt path further into the forest: there are occasionally felled trees that lie beside the trail, but these are largely overgrown with strange purple plants that emerge from the ground. Sentry casts *divine sense* again but does not detect anything around her; Lucius sends out *dancing lights* to see if they will cast shadows from any creatures hiding in the forest, but these make things worse by casting unnatural and eerie shadows from the trees themselves so Lucius snuffs them out. Nova casts *mislead* and sends her double out a few hundred feet ahead of them to make noise and bait out whatever creature is waiting for them in the wood while Thalia holds her hand and looks after her – the party follows along at a safe distance behind while keeping it in view. Nova’s double does not manage to entice anything out, but they do notice that the woods are eerily silent – there is none of the normal sounds that one would expect from a forest of this size, no birdsong, no insect noise, not even the noise of small creatures ferreting around in the undergrowth.

Lucius gets concerned and casts *Armour of Agathys* on himself, creating a spiky neck protection from it, and as he does so, they hear a noise from two directions almost simultaneously. In a flash, two mounted spirits appear from nowhere emerging from the ethereal plane: their steeds have manes of green flame and the riders, wearing black armour and hooded cloaks, appear to be skeletal with green flaming eyes. One of the riders wields an elegant longsword, the other uses an elegant longbow.

The spirit wielding the sword swings at Quill and Aila but misses both on its way past, then the archer locks eyes on Nova, who although she is invisible is visible through its *true sight,* shoots at Nova and Lucius, hitting only Lucius and destroying his *armour of Agathys.* Aila attacks the archer hitting with both hammer and lightning, before the spirit uses its *frightful presence,* leaning down and looking into Aila’s eyes and telling her to be afraid – she is terrified. The sword rider gallops along the road and makes a *head hunt* attack against Sentry and although it misses, she feels an unnatural chill along the blade as it scrapes across her armour around her neck.

Nova prepares to cast an *arcane gate* in front of her for when the sword rider charges her, planning to gate it 500 feet away from them and tells the party not to get in front of her no matter what happens. The archer’s horse attacks Aila, hitting her with its green flaming hooves doing physical and fire damage. Big Cat pounces on the archer and bites it but fails to knock it of its horse, it shoots at Nova (legendary action) doing physical and necrotic damage when its arrow hits. Its mount disengages and it moves as far away from people as possible, shooting at Sentry and Lucius missing Lucius but hitting Sentry. Sentry casts *enlarge* then activates Starbreaker in a swirl of green energy before taking a defensive stance. The archer targets Lucius but misses, Lucius backs up so that there is a tree between him and the archer and Nova between him and the swordsman then casts *mirror image* and prepares to dodge any incoming attack.

The archer prepares to fire at Nova and the sword rider prepares to charge Nova, attacking with *head hunt* – Sentry blocks the arrow as it heads for Nova and the charging swordsman prepares to swing at her head with its sword before it suddenly finds itself riding through an arcane gate and emerging 500 feet to the south of them. Quill casts *beacon of hope* and the archer fires at Quill, hitting him. Thalia shoots her magitek pistols at the archer but just misses with the first shot, and the second fails to fire because of the strange effect from Lunaria that interferes with magitek; she then escorts Rosemeadow and Kyrie off the road and back into the trees where they can get some cover and stay safe.

As they look behind them, they feel an ominous wind blow the leaves up and see, 500 feet away, a black rider with a flaming green skull charging for them on his steed as fast as it can. Aila shoots with her bow at the archer but misses with both attacks and is still frightened. Nova casts *synaptic static* against the archer who takes psychic damage – with the creature just having a skull, they hear the echo of a scream reverberate through the air and rustle through the trees, she then moves into the trees to get better cover. The archer’s ghostly steed dashes towards Nova, and Big Cat moves up behind it, stalking and ready to pounce. The archer fires its bow twice at Nova hitting once. Sentry casts *plant growth* behind them on the southern approach in order to slow the approaching blade-wielding horseman and then moves to get cover. The bowman rides 50 feet closer to Nova then uses *heartbreaker* against her: Quill uses *portent* against the attack, having had a vision of the archer leaning back on its horse and loosing an arrow that pierces Nova’s heart, killing her – Quill lets out a cry for her to drop immediately and she avoids the attack successfully. The sword-wielding rider continues to make its way furiously towards them.

Lucius casts *slow* on the archer, hitting both the skeletal figure and its steed. Quill casts *aura of vitality* and *heal* on Aila which also breaks the fear affecting her then moves closer to the trees to gain cover. Thalia attacks with the energy crossbow but just misses the rider then hides back in the trees, the swordsman continues his ride towards them, now 300 feet away. Aila dashes towards the archer, Nova runs behind the portal and casts *eldritch blast* but only manages to hit once. The archer’s horse moves slowly away from Aila, Big Cat attempts to pounce on the archer but misses with his claw, the archer tries to shoot him but just misses, and the rider shakes off the effects of the *slow* spell (although its mount is still affected). Sentry *misty steps* towards the archer so that she can hit him with her lance, punishing it with *divine smite*, caving its chest in before she hits it again, smashing its skull and causing its skeletal remains to turn to dust. As it disintegrates, a wind begins to pick up and becomes a wailing howl: the robes and the armour flare as if there is something still living in it and the bow is picked up by invisible hands as a green spectral figure appears where the skeleton once was – it opens its mouth and releases a distorted, echoed scream. In response, three baying spectral hounds pour in from the sides of the forest.

Lucius moves to get better sight on the new enemies and one of the horned, spectral hounds stares at him with its glowing red eyes: he casts a twinned acidic *chromatic orb* at the archer and one of the hounds – he destroys the hound but misses the archer. The archer uses its *heartbreaker* ability against Lucius hitting him and doing piercing and necrotic damage but being inches from his heart – the scar tissue from his previous injury managed to deflect the arrow enough to save him. Quill flies into the middle of the group of enemies and casts *turn undead*, destroying the remaining wolves and the archer’s ghostly steed in an explosion of feathers of light; the spectral archer is successfully turned, and Sentry is healed. Thalia shoots the spectral creature with her crossbow in the chest, and it turns its rage-filled face on Quill. Nova sees the sword-wielding skeleton near the edge of the plant growth then disappear and warns the rest of the party that it is incoming.

Aila throws her hammer at the spectre doing physical and lightning damage to it, Nova casts *eldritch blast* against the spectre and hits thrice, causing part of its spectral form to dissipate. Big Cat tries to bite the spectre but misses, and the spectre, ignoring Big Cat, moves towards Quill wanting to fire its bow at him twice - Quill hears a rasping whisper, “Heroes… H’esper…”. Big Cat takes the opportunity to take a bite at the spectre as it moves past. Quill uses *portent* on the first arrow and manages to *shield* it to make it miss him but the second hits for piercing and necrotic damage. Sentry moves up to the spectre, missing with her first attack, but just hits on her second, the green lance piercing its body and causing what remains of it to explode into light, vanishing completely; she then casts *staggering smite,* preparing for the reappearance of the swordsman. Lucius prepares himself to cast a twinned *chromatic orb* the minute he sees the swordsman reappear, and Quill prepares to banish its horse once he can see it. Nova moves towards Kyrie and Rosemeadow, preparing to cast a spell at the rider if it comes into range when it appears.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

00:00 - Episode Start
09:59 - Intro
1:24:14 - Break time/Donations
1:31:39 - Part 2
2:52:00 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Mounted skeletal/spectral archer
* Mounted skeletal swordsman
* Spectral hounds

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Rosemeadow
* Thalia
* Kyrie
* Big Cat
* Sue (Barkeep for the Fifty Feet Inn)

## **Featured Locations**

* Lunaria
	+ Yon Fen
	+ Fifty Feet Inn
	+ Gazing Hills
	+ Black Stallion Woods

## **Trivia**

* Rhiannon caught up on last week’s shenanigans by watching the VoD of the last episode. Mark said that he never does that.
* The spectral riders were not fooled by Nova’s illusion because they have *true sight.*
* *Frightful presence* – legendary action – all creatures within 30 feet must make a wisdom saving throw or be frightened (DC 15).
* *Head hunt* – legendary action – the rider moves up to its speed, or its mount’s without provoking opportunity attacks and makes one sword attack with advantage against a creature. (damage= d10+5 vorpal sword slashing damage + 2d10 vorpal sword necrotic damage + 6d8 slashing damage).
* *Heart breaker* – legendary action, uses three slots – the rider moves up to 50 feet and fires its bow at an enemy. On a critical hit, the target’s heart is pierced, and it dies.
* Sentry’s first major attack with Starbreaker on the archer does 52 damage (including damage from *enlarge* and *divine smite)*. Her second attack does 57 damage.
* Mark indicated that the archer did not have a lot of love for Quill because he used specific powers against it: the spectre ‘did not have a lot of love for dead gods, nor does Xarkira’.