Aerois - Episode 109: Bird in a Cage

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Bird in a Cage** is the 109th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 18th April 2021 from 5PM to 8PM BST.

*Quill has been kidnapped by Xarkira...what lengths will the party go to to rescue him? This is not one to be missed.*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* There is a new RhiCap out which is available on the YouTube channel. It took Rhiannon 3 hours to film and covered 11 episodes.
* Today's sponsors are D&D Beyond and Nord VPN.

### **Recap**

*The Stormchasers rushed to the sky city of Gusthaven after hearing of an attack during their meeting with the representatives of Aerois. On arriving they found Xarkira, a deadly and cunning sorceress and commander of the Valkyrian empire, had unleashed a number of powerful dragon-like constructs, as well as strange hybrid humanoids, onto the city.* *The Stormchasers and their allies split up with the party heading to the airship docks to rescue their crew and captain Thalia Whisperwind and her astral ship the Twinstar Longbow. The battle seemed to be going far better than expected, with the dragons and hybrids proving no match for the party. However, in a flash of magic a far more powerful opponent appeared: Xarkira herself, along with a large spider-like construct.*
*Setting the spider on Quill, Xarkira then attacked the party with powerful spells, and kept the melee fighters disabled. As the battle raged on, Azaria Perel, a powerful mage and enchantress of Gusthaven appeared to take sides with Xarkira. However, she quickly revealed this only to be a ploy to buy time whilst she studied Xarkira's defences and revealed that this Xarkira was only a copy - a simulacrum. With combined effort of the party, the simulacrum was defeated. However, in the chaos of this battle Quill was knocked from the sky by the spider construct, a created creature called a Retriever, and before the party could rescue him the Retriever grabbed Quill and transported him away to some unknown location. Without time to chase, having to rush to the aid of Gusthaven and their allies, the party must now figure out where Quill has been taken, whilst Quill finds himself trapped in the real Xarkira's clutches...*
### **Part 1**

*Quill has been planeshifted and imprisoned far away from the team... how will he escape? How will the Stormchasers find him?!*

After their own battle at the docks, the Stormchaser and Twinstar Longbow managed to get airborne and provide air support to the city, but it still took some time to ensure the safety of Moonstar, the Sky Prince and all their other allies.

Quill is in an anti-magic chamber, and has had a brief conversation with Xarkira herself - after she finishes speaking to him, she turns away and he can read her lips as she says to her minions, "...take his possessions, use the dimensional shackles to prevent escape, and take him to one of the regular cells for now. I must prepare new spells and rituals to fully examine him and begin the process. Make sure one of the Illithids gets as much intel out of him before I begin - his mind may break under the stress of the experiments". She gestures and two heavily-armed full-plate-wearing guards enter Quill's cell. Quill knows that none of his magic items or spells will be functional in this room, although he is not sure about the Spear of Oracles. The guards enter and tell him to remove all of his gear, although he can keep his clothes (they do not find his Leomund's Tiny Chest, and they do not take his mechanical wing). They attach a collar to Quill's neck with chains that lead from the collar down to manacles on each wrist: the anti-magic ward in the room is deactivated as the collar and manacles are switched on and start to glow. They escort Quill to a cell with a force field for a door and leave him while two duergar enter and start to do some maintenance in the far corner away from Quill's cell. Quill notices that all creatures that he passes on the way to his cell, black-armour clad soldiers, Minotaurs, Mind Flayers, and all other beings wear Xarkira's emblem, not the Valkyrian Empire emblem: all seem to be in a state of mind control. He notices a number of duergar which appear to be the labour force and engineers - they do not appear to be particularly pleased with the state of things on the ship, and he also sees a number of very powerful looking Naga with serpentine bodies and heads with human arms, and dressed in fine regalia - these seem to be giving orders to everyone else.

Quill casts Aura of Vitality to test spell casting in his new environment and heals, but after a minute, a guard comes back and hits a button that does force damage to Quill. He is told not to cast more spells or he will be zapped again. Once the guard leaves, the duergar mutter something to themselves about not liking the Xarkiran forces very much. Quill has a telepathic conversation with a fellow prisoner whom it appears has been imprisoned for some time, Rana'iel, She reveals Xarkira has been attempting to find a way beyond her celestial resistance against mind control - she is trying to learn a way to control her kind. She also reveals that they are aboard the Xarkira's personal flagship, The Serpent's Coil. Rana says that the duergar are spiteful, hateful creatures, that they will not show Quill much sympathy, they are loyal to Kalus because he has respect for those in his empire, but that they detest Xarkira because they do not like the way she treats those deemed as lesser beings: as pawns. Rana says there is another prisoner somewhere but they will not respond to her messages, and she senses that they have a chaotic mind. Rana isn't sure how long it has been since they last came to experiment on her, but knows that she has had several meals since they last came to her. Rana reveals that she knows what the shackles that Quill bears are since she once served in Kalus' army: they are dimensional shackles and prevent an individual from teleporting or shifting into another realm. It means that they greatly fear Quill since such a device is not common in the Empire, and that Xarkira must have planned for Quill's arrival, fearing what he could do. Quill says he has something that Xarkira greatly desires, and Rana says that once she has it, Quill will likely be killed as Xarkira does not like leaving loose threads: he thinks it worth the risk of trying to contact his friends because she cannot risk killing him before she has what she wants. Quill knows from reading her lips that Xarkira needs 10 hours to prepare her spells before she will come to him herself.

On Aerois, a couple of hours pass as they mop up after the battle. Gusthaven is safe, all of their allies are fine; among the Stormchaser crew, there have been two wolf pack deaths, and Kamarra is injured but alive. Azaria identifies the face plate and ring dropped by the Xarkira simulacrum: it is a Ring of Evasion and a Helm of Teleportation with one charge remaining. Aila is so frustrated and mad at Quill vanishing and not being able to help magically, that she is trying to help in other ways (lifting heavy stone and items). Sentry flies around on her peryton looking for any signs of Xarkira or Quill elsewhere in Gusthaven. Nova attempts to scry Quill, but it fails, meaning that Quill is not on this plane of existence (not on Aerois), he is protected from it, or he is dead.

Lucius questions what they know of Xarkira and where she would be when not attacking Aerois; Nova considers the intel that they got from the smuggler in Astral Space about outposts, the Tassadar, other ships, etc. and wonders if there might be any information contained therein about Xarkira. It takes time, but Nova finds references that she has tried to keep the information about her personal ships off Valkyrian's records - her flagship is called The Serpent's Coil, it is her main base of operations, it is where she conducts most of her experiments, and there is also information that sometimes Valkyrian prisoners go missing but nobody knows where they go (it is believed that if they are not taken to a prison world that Xarkira probably has a hold of them and is using them for nefarious purposes). Given that it is an astral ship, it can be anywhere in the Astral Sea. They query whether to try to contact the Wings of Ishtar, or to talk to Mal, whether Azaria Perel might be able to help them, or whether Thalia might be able to help them with the Twinstar.

Thalia says that the presence of the Cradle will not allow passage of the Twinstar into Astral Space. She has heard rumours about The Serpent's Coil, but they are just that. They consider teleporting to the Tassadar, but realise that Quill was the only one who knew the actual teleportation circle code sequence. Thalia's communication devices will not go beyond the Cradle, so contacting the Wings of Ishtar will not be possible using her technology. They consider using a Dream spell, but it relies on the recipient being asleep, so will potentially take a long time - time they do not have. They consider Shadowsong Pinnacle, and realise that the brain may have been used as a communication device given that there was no magitek in the room. Nova suggests that they try to contact H'esper, either using a spell that may melt her brain or by asking a H'esper cleric to contact him for them to explain Quill's predicament.

Quill takes a short rest and heals. He studies the manacles on his wrists, realising that he will not be able to move into any other plane or teleport while they are on him, they are sturdy metal and he will not be able to break them. He tries to Dispel Magic on the manacles, there is a flash in the room and the room responds by countering or suppressing his magic, and an alarm goes off. About 30 seconds later, a guard comes over and zaps Quill again for significant damage. He then increases the gravity in the room until Quill is held motionless on the floor in the room and walks away, leaving Quill prone and unable to move. He speaks to Rana again who advises that certain spells are programmed into the prison at a base level - powerful magic will get through - but the more Quill resists, the more he will be watched. Quill asks about the other prisoner, and Rana says that she can barely sense them, but that there is something strange about their mind, as if they are in many places at once, that they won't respond and that she doesn't know anything about them. She then reveals that she is blind: Xarkira removed her eyes and wings. Xarkira is intelligent, sadistic, cunning and cruel, she says, but there are weaknesses: she is arrogant, she underestimates those she sees as lesser beings. Quill is left for at least an hour under the effects of the increased gravity.

The party goes to see Starseer Erris at Starsorrow Cathedral to see if she can commune with H'esper for them; learning of Quill's disappearance, she agrees to contact H'esper to advise him and ask for his guidance. She prays to H'esper and tells him that Xarkira has taken his champion: the spell seems to end early, but instead the room begins to glow with bright light and they are surrounded by wind - the air thins as if they are taken up high, and then in a flash, they reappear in the chapel where an older H'esper cradles Erris who has fallen unconscious from being in his presence. H'esper has his six wings curled and folded and a great staff held in his hand - they are standing before a Titan of Aerois: Sentry drops to a knee and Lucius averts his gaze. H'esper has no time for the formalities and wants to know what has happened to his Champion, Nova gives him the information that he needs. H'esper says that Xarkira cannot possess the powers of the Eye of the Storm or the Spear of Oracles (which contains the spirit of Johandrius, the Tempest Dragon); he is concerned what she will do if she gains the powers of or ability to use these items. H'esper holds out a hand and asks the party to go with him, saying they have no time to spare - they all take his hand and are transported to great, mirrored crystalline halls like grand archways and cathedrals that impossibly continue ad infinitum. In the very centre, a single great column of light from the sky comes down and shines on a crystal sarcophagus: they are in the Halls of Infinite Resplendence, the seat of the titans' power on Aerois.

H'esper had not intended to bring the party here yet, but says that Quill is in far greater danger than they realise, as is the fate of Aerois. He is sorry that the other titans could not be there, but says that Atelicus is plagued by a madness and that his followers will request for the party's aid in dealing with him. He says that Kellara has become despondent about the fate of Aerois, believing that the world is doomed and that her final task is to herald the spirits of the deceased, praying that they will be kept safe from Hadar. Sayanna is doing her best to keep the spirits of Aerois high, and Zephyr, being chaotic, is preparing for the storm. H'esper says he has brought the party there because it is where he is strongest and he will need to use much or all of his power to what he proposes, but will need help from the party to do it - they will need to keep the conduit of his power contained and not let it spiral out of control. H'esper says that he had hoped to see Quill, but that this will have to do.

H'esper, humanoid and 9 feet tall, kneels in front of the crystal sarcophagus; he is old - way older than he has ever been depicted - he has grey hair and a grey beard, and his skin is wrinkled and weathered, making him look worn as if his powers have faded or been used rapidly. He taps his staff on the ground, and spectral copies of himself fly up; first tens, then hundreds, thousands, a hundred thousand then a million versions of the god begin to fly out in every direction possible as they go into the cosmos - as they do so, the power around him begins to go wildly out of control.

Lucius uses his innate knowledge of magic to force the wild magic back under control and back into the column. Nova has planted the Rod of Alertness in the ground, and uses her symbiotic relationship with Tiangong to control the errant magic currents. Aila uses herself as an anchor to assist Nova and Lucius, holding them against the force of a titan. Sentry looks into the matrix and summons the guardian spirits to form a giant ring to keep H'esper's spirits in place, saying "Guardians, be my heart, my spirit, my strength: I need you now. Aerois needs you, we are strong together, 'til all are one!" The guardian spirits struggle to succeed in their task, so Lucius reaches out to touch the matrix and throws all of his available remaining power into assisting the spirits: the power is apparent to all, and they begin to see shifting, prismatic colours shining through his skin, his eyes start to flicker with multiple colours. Sentry grabs Lucius by the shoulder and as he touches the matrix, Sentry feels a surge of power and energy rush through into the guardian spirits who latch onto it and swell in size to become almost as tall as Root Prime. They form a circle around the column and the party and link arms - a great golden light erupts upwards... then copies of H'esper begin to return, slowly at first, then multiplying at an incredible rate until they have all returned.

There is light, and when it dims, an ancient, wizened-looking H'esper remains - he has been impossibly aged in just a few moments; he struggles to breathe, and in his hand is a book which he puts on the ground beside him. "I have found... The Serpent's Coil," he says, his breathing laboured. "Nova V'ger, this book, The Wayfinders Guide... my last... I have attuned one of its crystals to Astral Space beside the ship. I cannot get you inside, but it will get you to where the ship is, as well as a few other tricks and spells". He laughs, weakly. "My divine... energy is spent. Until Siaska returns, I am gone. Tell Quill... I am proud of him" and he fades into nothing, leaving just the book behind.

### **Part 2**

*Alongside the most powerful ally yet, the Stormchasers have found a way to get to Quill... but they don't have long to save him!*

The party stands alone in the brilliantly lit and majestic Halls: there is no apparent entrance or exit, just the column of light streaming down onto the crystal sarcophagus. Where H'esper had been is a book lying on the floor - Nova collapses, then crawls over to the book, takes it into her arms, cradles it gently and looks around in disbelief at what she has just witnessed. Nova realises that H'esper had been spending huge amounts of divine energy over a very short period of time, doing something they didn't know, but his last act of sending multiple copies of himself out into the cosmos took what remained of his energy - she also notices that the crystal sarcophagus is now glowing brighter than it did before with a soft, golden radiance.

From the amount of energy that was expended by H'esper, they all gain the benefit of a long rest. Nova is considering what will happen when they travel to the Astral Sea outside The Serpent's Coil. She notices that the book is not attuned to Aerois, so attunes it to Siaska's tomb in the Halls of Infinite Resplendence, activating a golden gemstone on the book's cover. Lucius has been stunned by the events he has witnessed and walks past Nova to the large sarcophagus, looking like a naturally-formed crystal: the intense light stops him from trying to look inside - he stands nearby and he is overwhelmed by all that has happened. Sentry puts a hand on Lucius' shoulder and thanks him for his assistance with the task; the light is blinding from the sarcophagus, and out of respect she places a hand on it - it is both warm and cold, there is a presence within that is warm, loving and caring but also a coldness like an empty expanse and the feeling of possibility. There is also a feeling of deep sorrow and grief, guilt, mourning and heartbreak - Sentry offers a quiet note of thanks, but nothing changes.

After an hour, the weight lifts off Quill, and he notices the plate-wearing guard is now watching him constantly from the wall opposite his cell. Quill questions the guard and asks if he's going to watch him for the next eight hours - the guard advises that the intelligence officer will be along soon to question him and will probably leave him a "jelly-brained fool" before Xarkira is ready for him in seven hours. Quill cannot see a way out of his predicament, so starts to pray to H'esper that there is some way that he can get a message to his friends and allies and that they find him.

The party is debating how they will get into the ship after they teleport - from smashing their way in to trying stealth and creating a space igloo against the side of the ship, they discuss many different options. Lucius says that they will have the element of surprise on their side, and that they should make the most of that. They join hands and touch the green gemstone, teleporting immediately, but it feels different to previous times - they are surrounded by lights and winds and are pulled up through the Cradle across the Astral Sea faster than they can imagine before they come to an immediate stop beside a long, black crystalline vessel covered in arcane turrets and lines of purple energy. They are near to a docking bay which has a Wall of Force for a door, and they are floating in space - Lucius casts fly on the party so that they can control their movement; they all immediately start taking cold damage from Astral Space. They fly towards the docking bay where Nova creates an Arcane Gate on the outside of the ship and links it to a portal on the inside of the ship - there is no one in the docking bay. They emerge from the portal behind some storage crates and hear people moving around on walkways above them, although there are no guards in this lower area: to the far side, they notice a pair of double doors that seem to lead further in, and to the south they see a single door.

Sentry casts Locate Creature to find Quill and a guardian spirit from within the matrix shows her a slim golden line that goes through the southern door. Nova casts invisibility on them all and they use their ability to fly to hover above the ground so that they do not make any noise. They communicate through the messenger ring, but Quill cannot answer since they have stripped him of his ring. The door to the south is a magitek door and it is shut - it does not react to Aila unlike the doors on Kalus' ship, it seems that the doors are tailored for her forces, not Valkyrian forces. Nova sees a magitek control panel and examines it - Nova realises that this is a Valkyrian ship that has been tailored for Xarkira's needs: similar to other systems, it can be opened with a keystone or by facial recognition. They debate how to get through without losing their invisibility.

Quill is still praying when another figure appears: with a large, bulbous, purple head and tentacled mouth, it makes strange undulating gestures as it communicates with the guard. It comes to Quill's cell and the guard drops the barrier to the cell: the guard steps in and tells Quill to move - instead, he casts Thunder Wave thinking that he might be able to make a break for it. Both the guard and mind flayer had readied actions, but the guard flies backwards and hits the wall taking moderate damage; the mind flayer hits Quill with psychic energy damage doing moderate damage to Quill and stunning him. The guard runs over and puts Quill in a choke hold, covering his mouth and preventing further spell-casting. The mind flayer is mildly amused that Quill still has so much fight in him, and Quill struggles in vain with the guard to escape - he is taken from his cell to a nearby circular chamber with a single chair at the centre. Quill is placed in the chair and strapped down in it. The mind flayer reaches out and touches Quill's head ordering Quill to tell him his secrets: Quill manages to resist the illithid up to a point, but a moment of weakness lets through some information about the leaders of Aerois and crumbling alliances, Valla and a rescue on the Tassadar using sequences... Quill regains control and resists until the last when his mind lets slip information about the Halls, Palador, guidance, plans, and then Kalus and the World Engine - the fact that Quill has seer vision - and that Kalus' plan fails leaving Hadar to win. The mind flayer stumbles back saying that he must tell Xarkira of this. Quill says that the mind flayer's master cannot win against Hadar - the mind flayer retorts "You think too small, little bird. Kalus is not my master, and Xarkira, she is cunning. If there is no hope for Kalus, then her allegiance must go elsewhere". He goes to leave.

Nova uses Mage Hand to pick the pocket of one of the duergar engineers on the walkways above them, and takes a keystone from his belt. There is a rune on it that she cannot read. They use the keystone to open the door and pass through into a circular corridor - Sentry follows the golden cord down corridors and through the ship until they get to a section of cells and a closed door which the golden cord goes through: there is a guard outside the door with his arms folded. They all hear a voice inside their heads: "I don't know who you are. How have you arrived here? You are not Xarkiran forces". Aila asks who the voice is. "My name is Rana'iel," it says, "I am a prisoner here. Do you know the one called Quill?" She says that she does not know exactly where he is, but he is nearby, either in his cell or in the interrogation chamber with an illithid. She explains that she and another are prisoners on the ship and that both have been experimented on by Xarkira: she offers aid if the party can release them. Lucius agrees to do what they can once they have rescued Quill. They realise that they need to distract the guard at the door.

Lucius wonders if Rana'iel can get the guard away from the door, and she agrees to try: she casts a spell which triggers and alarm and the guard responds by getting up and moving to a nearby cell, disparaging Rana and then punishing her. The keystone does not open the door, however. Nova tries to repeat the pick pocket with Mage Hand, and she has to peek around the corner to do so - Nova sees a celestial in the cell, her wings have been surgically removed from her back and a metal plate has been bolted across where her eyes were and seared into her flesh; she looks like she has been cut and experimented on. Nova tries to grab the guard's keystone using her Mage Hand, but he is more alert than the duergar, so she does not manage to get his keystone. As she is doing this, the door they wanted to open suddenly opens and a mind flayer stumbles out of the room looking shocked - it looks around frantically and goes to move past the party: they move out of the way as it stumbles away. The door is still open but starts to shut before Sentry moves in to hold it open. Inside the chamber is Quill, strapped to a chair - Sentry tells the party through the ring. Lucius and Aila fly in and rip his restraints off (although the dimensional shackles are still on). The guard is starting to turn towards the door, so Nova uses the mage hand to knock and distract him - he hears it but realises that something odd is happening.

Quill simply feels his restraints being removed and hears Aila whispering to him that he should not get teleported to Astral Space because it's really inconvenient. He shouts out "Nice trick, Illithid! I'm not going to answer your questions if you're going to use their voices!" and he tries to run towards the door. At this point, the guard realises that there is a problem...

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:01 - Episode Start
2:24 - Announcements
12:23 - DUN DUNs
13:22 - Recap starts
15:14 - Part 1
1:36:55 - Break time/Donations
1:44:46 - Part 2
2:46:18 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Rana'iel
* Illithid intelligence officer

#### **Returning NPCs**

* H'esper
* Starseer Erris

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Valla
* Johandrius
* Siaska
* Xarkira

## **Featured Locations**

* The Serpent's Coil, Xarkira's personal flagship
* The Halls of Infinite Resplendence
* Gusthaven
	+ Docks
	+ Starsorrow Cathedral

## **Trivia**

* There were technical issues at the start of this episode meaning that there were 3 introductions.
* Mark explained his cosmology: Aerois is a plane of existence, the Astral Sea (space) is its own plane of existence, but it is connected to all the other planes of existence (planets) that allows travel between them.
* There were concerns in Twitch chat that with H'esper gone, Quill would not have any access to spells until H'esper was alive again. Mark responded "Quill won't lose spells. H'esper power is Siaska's power remember".
* Mark got very emotional while describing H'esper's final moments. After the break, he says he doesn't know why he's such a mess because he isn't actually sad. He says it's unconscious method acting because he's in the moment and it's real, but that he isn't actually emotional because he doesn't care about it.
* Tom and Kim show off cool HR shirts that appear to be new, unreleased merch. Katie says not to ask her about a date because the surprise has been ruined.
* Mark did not know until not long before they went live that Nova was going to try to contact H'esper. He had planned what H'esper would do if he found out, but he wouldn't know until he was told.
* Tom said in the outro that getting captured was a good thing because he was not able to show anyone his vision - now the illithid has seen it. Mark's response, "It's definitely a good thing, Tom!" while shaking his head indicates that this is definitely NOT a good thing. Tom thinks this will start a civil war in the Valkyrian Empire: Mark says there is a lot of optimism that he's not on board with, saying that people are misreading what would happen. Xarkira's not going to turn against Kalus, but she might join with the guy who's going to win.
* There is a reason that the book cannot be attuned to the inside of The Serpent's Coil. We don't yet know why.
* Mark made a comment during the donos that Starbane is completely unaware of what is happening with the party.