Aerois - Episode 138: Enemy of my Enemy

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Enemy of my Enemy** (named **Return of the Father** on Youtube) is the 138th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 6th February 2022 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*Daddy's home...*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* The sponsor this week is D&D Beyond.
* Merch: There are still Quill Plushies in the EU store (they are sold out on the US store). Some of the apparel will go on sale at midday on Friday 11th February (GMT).
* Yesterday was Chris Trott’s birthday.

### **Recap**

*"After defeating the Prince of Pleasure, Graz’zt, the party pleaded with the Archfey Mesmera, speaking harsh truths but offering empathic comforts as well, and with the spectres of Justice and Death hovering around the dying Thalia. Through their words and actions, the party convinced Mesmera to allow Thalia to live, ending the curse; while there remains much resentment and pain for Mesmera, Rosemeadow, now calling herself Hope, chooses to stay behind and help her while the party returns to Aerois. However, on activating the Wayfinders Guide to return to Horizon, the party struggle to return and it takes all of the artifact’s power to break through some sort of barrier: initially, a little puzzled, the party return to their apartment in Horizon seemingly unharmed, though Quill quickly hears the sound of battle outside, and gathering at the window, the heroes see that Valkyrian troops are currently assaulting Horizon. Arval and Petal burst into the room fearing intruders and quickly speak with the party before Quill receives Sending spells from both Commander Reyn of the Horizon Guard and Valla Valkyrian, the latter being pursued by Xarkira, the former trying to fight off a number of powerful foes in the city including construct dragons. Racing to their aid, the party quickly vanquish some Naga and constructs, but are ambushed by a huge dragon that smashes through the citadel walls to attack them. As Nova is grabbed by the creature and pulled away, Quill uses the Eye of the Storm to check on Valla and sees her unconscious, surrounded by spider-like constructs before the door bursts open and a figure in tall black armoured boots enters."*
### **Part 1**

*Quill has a terrible vision in the Horizon Council Chambers... Their greatest foes have arrived!*

The party was running down one of the outer corridors of the citadel when a mechadragon broke open a section of the wall – it has grabbed Nova and flown away (with her echo also holding onto the dragon); the rest of them stand inside on the edge of the broken corridor, now open to the elements and looking onto the city streets below. Aila, Sentry, and Lucius are all flying thanks to Lucius casting *Fly* previously. Quill has scried on Valla and seen her and Max in imminent danger in the war room (the council room where they had the meeting with all the delegates from Aerois): he tells the party that they need to move and get to the council room as soon as possible, and starts to move away from the battle with the dragon in the direction of the council room.

Sentry casts *Plant Growth* on some bales of hay in the streets below, trying to trap the dragon and stop it from flying away. The dragon, however, uses its strength to pull itself free; Sentry then follows Quill down the corridor on hearing that Starbane may be in the council room. Aila throws her hammer at the dragon, hitting it and smashing and denting some of the armour on its side before the hammer flies back to her hand – the dragon is a metallic construct with the head, torso, wings, and tail all being one piece, but the two arms and legs are all separated from the body by pulsing magic material (it has no muscles and joints). Aila then follows Quill down the corridor. Lucius casts *Lucius’ Luscious Light* in an attempt to blind the dragon to their movement, then joins Aila and Quill down the corridor. Nova attempts to cast *Thunder Step* to get away from the mechadragon, but nothing happens because teleport spells are being blocked; instead, she changes place with her echo using their symbiotic translocation, seeing the ground 80 feet below her. The dragon’s *Sapping Presence* drains her energy since she is near to it.

The mechadragon crushes the echo which is now in its claws; the echo vanishes. It then claws at Nova, hitting her, and flies further away from the party. Quill attempts to *Banish* the dragon, but fails, so returns to the party in the corridor. Sentry flies out towards the dragon and casts *Sunbeam* on it – it blinds the construct but the radiant damage doesn't affect it. Aila moves back to the dragon and throws her hammer, breaking some of its clawed fingers on one of its legs.  Lucius throws an acid *Chromatic Orb* at the dragon, causing pitting and corroding to the dragon’s chest and wing which buckles slightly; he then flies down the corridor towards the council room. Nova uses the Amethyst Lodestone to give herself *Flight*, and as she flies off, she throws a Magitek grenade into the dragon’s mouth. The dragon is largely destroyed in the subsequent explosion, and Nova flies back towards the group. With the dragon blinded, it cannot use any of its legendary actions, but its radiant breath is recharged – it opens its mouth, and a beam of light shoots out towards the party, hitting them and the walls around them, shattering the stone. When the smoke and debris clears, they see that Quill is down, but they also notice that the dragon is barely holding together, with its limbs breaking apart and energy constantly fluctuating. Quill fails a death saving throw before Sentry moves to him and heals him with *Lay on Hands*.

The construct dragon lets out a metallic whine and force-like bands of energy appear around Nova – she tries to use her strength to resist the bands but fails, but she is grabbed by Aila before she can plummet to the ground. Aila carries Nova to the corridor, dropping her off before dashing further into the corridor. Lucius continues to speed towards the council chamber. Nova tries to hit the creature with *Eldritch Blast,* missing with the first three beams; the final beam hits, destroying the dragon which falls onto the building below while its arms and legs fall away from the body and either drop on the building or scatter into the streets. Nova is no longer restrained. Quill groups them all up (except Lucius, who is far ahead of them) and casts *Beacon of Hope* before moving off down the hallway after Lucius. They all race after Lucius, but Quill hears the distinct sound of something metal moving outside again as if it was powering up, and it is coming from where they had just come - it sounds like the dragon may be returning. Quill casts *Mass Cure Wounds* as they sprint and fly down the corridor, Nova summons her echo, and Sentry casts *Lay on Hands* on her. Quill casts another *Mass Cure Wounds* and Sentry activates Starbreaker before Lucius finally makes it to the open double doors of the council chamber, the rest close behind.

In front of Lucius is a large chamber with large staircases at the back that lead to balconies on either side that overlook the room; ahead is the large round table where they held the great meeting some time before. Around the room, there are three non-functional constructs that have been sliced apart by some sort of knife or sword. In front of the table stand two 9-foot-tall metal constructs, Iron Golem warriors, completely clad in armour with huge swords. There are also two mechanical spider-like creatures like the one that kidnapped Quill, Retrievers, and they are pacing and manoeuvring around a figure that clutches an unconscious Valla to his chest and stands over the unconscious body of Maximillian. The figure carries a large Magitek blade in one hand and he wears thick black Magitek armour that glows with purple energy as he fends off the four constructs that surround him. To the far side of the room is an energy portal that appears to lead into some sort of mechanical construction facility (Valkyrian? Run by Xarkira?), and it is apparent that more of the mechanical constructs are beginning to come alive and are threatening to come through the portal. At the back of the room, against some stained-glass windows, in a domed bubble covered with debris and dust, Lucius sees the last simulacrum of Xarkira. One of her arms has been completely severed with only a snowy ice lump showing, while her remaining hand is held aloft as she concentrates on a spell.

One of the Retrievers tries to rush in and get its pincers on Valla, but Emperor Kalus Valkyrian, for it is he, holds Valla protectively to him and plunges the Magitek blade into its face, twists the blade and kicks it away – he stands over the unconscious body of Max and holds the four constructs around him at bay, but he has not yet seen Lucius. Lucius is immediately confused and does not know what to make of the scene before him – Starbane is fighting what should be his allies, and he is not sure whether Starbane is protecting Max or has killed him. Lucius casts a twinned acid *Chromatic Orb* at Xarkira and the nearest Retriever. The one that flies towards Xarkira hits the dome with no effect (the simulacrum grins), but the orb that hits the retriever melts and carves through its metallic body revealing Magitek crystals and cogs, and the the creature spins and hisses at him. Kalus turns, sees Lucius and remarks coolly, “Ah, Stormchasers – I was wondering when you would arrive.”

The rest of the party arrives as they see Lucius cast his spell. One of the Iron Golems appears to register some sort of command, turns its head and starts to move slowly towards the main doors, readying its blade and standing where it stops. Xarkira observes the new arrivals and says nothing but casts *Mirror Image* on herself. The last Iron Golem attempts to grab Valla from Kalus, but Kalus thrusts his sword in between them and rips the arm away from Valla. Valkyrian then slices the Golem three times with his Magitek blade, leaving hot, streaking, blurred lines across it. Each time the blade hits, it appears to be charging up some sort of energy or power; when he finishes, he yells out, “Plasma sweep!” and cuts his sword though the air – an arc of green energy spews forth from it, barely missing the Golem.

Nova realises that Kalus is not wielding his version of Tiangong and Tiangong tells Nova that it cannot detect its partner. Nova moves up to the Retriever next to Kalus and attacks it, hitting it three times with the echo missing. Kalus looks at her, not knowing whether she is going to attack him or not. Nova asks him how to destroy the portal, and he tells her that the simulacrum has conjured it but has protected itself with a *Wall of Force* – he is unable to get to her and also protect Valla and Max. Aila moves in to fight the unoccupied Retriever (passing Kalus as she does so, and he does not attack her) – she hits it twice with the hammer and lightning, looking at Kalus and letting the lightning spark along her arms, he responds merely with a raised eyebrow. The Retriever hits Aila with a foreleg and shoots a paralysing beam at her from its mouth; she resists the effect, and the creature cocks its head as it registers that. From the portal, another machine appears, this one being a long, slender, tiger-like creature, an apex predator – it attacks Aila and Kalus, hitting Aila with a claw and missing Kalus.

Quill prepares to assist Sentry with her next attack and readies a *Guiding Bolt* for whichever target she next chooses to attack, be it Xarkira's creatures or Kalus. Sentry, who has just run past dead Horizon guards and almost re-experienced the fall of Solwynn, sees Starbane holding Valla and fighting a construct. She stares him down and tells him to release Valla because he is not welcome on Aerois, but ultimately opts to attack the Golem that he is fighting (which Quill first hits with a *Guiding Bolt*). Kalus stares at Sentry, unintimidated, and declines to release Valla; he is concerned that Xarkira will take her and says that he will not let her go until she is safe. Starbreaker pierces the Golem next to Kalus, then Sentry hits the Golem behind her on her second attack, denting its chest plate. It srikes back with its sword, hitting Sentry on the shoulder.

The Retriever on Nova misses with both foreleg attacks, but hits her with its paralysing beam, paralysing her for a minute. Lucius flies halfway into the room towards the Xarkira simulacrum and casts *Wish* to cast *Disintegrate* on the *Wall of Force* surrounding Xarkira – Lucius’ body begins to shimmer with a prismatic glow, similar to what Quill has seen with *Truesight*; this coalesces in his eyes which shimmer all different colours, then from the gauntlet, a beam of brilliant white light fires across the room and hits the *Wall of Force* which collapses, leaving Xarkira’s simulacrum and her mirror images exposed. “Well,” she says to Lucius, “somebody’s certainly gotten more powerful in recent times” and smiles at him. Kalus notices his actions and commends him, saying, “Excellent work, Lucius. Defeat her and she should break concentration on the gate. Once she’s dead, the gate will fall…” Lucius, in no mood to tolerate this, but still staring at Xarkira, cuts him off with a curt, “Shut up!” which surprises him.

One of the Iron Golems hits Sentry and attacks but misses a paralysed Nova when her echo blocks the blade. Sensing that she is now somewhat vulnerable, the Xarkira simulacrum projects a beam of light (*Psychic Lance*) from her forehead towards Lucius which he manages to *Counterspell* by blocking it with his gauntlet, and Lucius remains staring at Xarkira having not blinked yet. She calls Lucius an irritation, casting a successful *Power Word: Stun* on him. The second Iron Golem breathes out a noxious mist on Aila, Kalus, Max, and Nova – Aila resists most of the damage, Nova and Max are hit but Kalus is unharmed. Kalus tells them that if they are to protect Valla, they must work together, even if they hate him – he tells them to take down the simulacrum and leave the Golems to him. He kicks the Golem next to him, which is pushed back 20 feet, then attacks the Retriever attacking Nova, hitting twice and trying to draw its attention away from her. Nova orders her echo to move away from the Retriever, which misses it as it moves away; she then swaps places with the echo across the room. The simulacrum appears confused, saying that it should not be possible with her generators in place.

Aila brute forces her way between the Retriever and tiger-creature in front of her so that she is now standing on the broken council table behind them, pulling the longbow out as she moves. She shoots at the mirror images, destroying two of them, leaving one more image and the simulacrum, then shoots a bolt of lightning into the Retriever next to her. It retaliates with two hits from its forelegs and a beam of force which also hits her. The large steel predator turns around and makes a sonic vibration at Sentry and Kalus, stunning and damaging Sentry but not affecting Kalus. Quill casts *Mass Cure Wounds* (at 9th level) which breaks Lucius out of his stun, and heals the party, Max and Valla – Max and Valla’s wounds heal up but they do not regain consciousness. Sentry looks over to Starbane, struggling against the stun, calling him a murderer and telling him that he does not have the power to command them there. He denies that he is trying to command them but tells her that he is simply trying to save his daughter – he says that he will deal with Xarkira if Sentry can protect Valla, but he will not leave her until the Retrievers are destroyed. Sentry tries to break out of the stun but fails, being still overwhelmed by thoughts of Solwynn and the piercing noise of the vibration.

One of the Retrievers, having seen Quill heal everyone, moves away from Kalus and goes after Quill. Kalus hits the Retriever, almost destroying it, as it moves away, but the Retriever then hits Quill twice with its forelegs and paralyses him with its beam. Lucius stares at Xarkira, saying “Time to die” then casts *Acid Splash*, trying to make it look like a much more powerful spell – Xarkira buys the deception and *Counterspells* it before realising what a mistake she has made. Lucius casts a quickened *Cone of Cold* while he flies towards her, ensuring that he will not miss – Xarkira is engulfed in a blizzard snowstorm of ice, she loses concentration and her portal closes. She still lives but is angry at being deceived and bested; “How?” she asks. Lucius looks at her, smirks and taps his forehead.

The Iron Golem near Sentry hits her twice with its sword while she is stunned, wounding her badly. Xarkira laughs, saying to Lucius, “Well, it seems you’re a bit of a master of colour. Why don’t you take a look at one of my creations?” projecting a cone of colour (*Prismatic Spray*) in Lucius’ direction – he is hit by an indigo ray, falls to the ground, restrained, and sees his hand begin to turn to stone. The other, injured Iron Golem moves over to Kalus and tries to grab Valla from him, but he successfully pulls her away from it.

### **Part 2**

*The battle continues in Horizon against their enemy... and their enemy's enemy!*

Sentry is in a bad way, Quill and Nova are paralysed – Aila is the only one up of the people fighting the constructs, so Kalus pushes through them and moves to stand back-to-back with Sentry. He raises his sword in the air and four spectral force blades appear to strike the Iron Golems twice each: one is cut in half by the blades while the other still stands, though heavily injured. He looks at Sentry, saying, “Pull yourself together, Sentinel Prime! I need you to protect Valla”, and offers to pass Valla to her while protecting Sentry from the constructs. Nova commands her echo to move next to Quill and to attack the Retriever, and while it misses its attack, it does draw the Retriever’s attention to itself. Aila leaves the two constructs near her and makes a rush at Xarkira – both constructs miss her as she leaves. Aila hits and destroys the last mirror image (witnessed by a smug Xarkira simulacrum) then hits the actual simulacrum with a mighty blow. Lucius’s *Cone of Cold* had frozen parts of Xarkira’s body and covered it in frost; Aila’s hammer connects where the neck and body join and are partially frozen, and the lightning courses through it and causes the simulacrum to explode in ice and snow.

The Retriever on Nova strikes her twice with its forelegs and hits her with its force beam; Nova looks very wounded. With the simulacrum dead, most of the constructs have glitched and now show no sign of tactical abilities but just aggressively attack random targets. The predator bites Kalus who activates his *Refraction Field*, a thin forcefield-like armour that absorbs some of the blow and reduces the damage taken by half. The predator then hits him once with a claw attack, missing with its second.

Quill manages to break out of the paralysis from the Retriever. Sentry casts *Staggering Smite* on Starbreaker, then manages to break out of her stun. The Retriever on Quill attacks the echo, destroying it, then Quill, who shields the blow, and finally shoots its force beam at Quill who manages to dodge most of it, having only a few feathers singed instead. Lucius, in the act of petrifying, lobs a *Vitriolic Sphere* between the two Retrievers: they both manage to dodge most of the damage. The one next to Quill looks almost destroyed with a buckled leg and melted armour plating, but the one near Nova seems to be in decent condition, so he tosses his Dichromancy at it as well before petrifying a little more. The Iron Golem breathes poison on Kalus and Sentry which they both mostly avoid – Kalus, seeing Sentry moving once more, asks if she will take Valla. Sentry tells him decisively that she will take Valla for her, not for him; he pushes Valla into Sentry’s arms, cracks his neck to either side, teleports close to one of the back corners and points his sword (which starts to charge with energy) in a line at the predator, the Golem and the two Retrievers, telling Quill and Nova to move if they wish to live. Nova manifests her echo towards the back of the room but is unable to say anything or even to move. Aila moves next to Lucius and prepares herself to hit anything that comes near them if it tries to attack.

Nova’s Retriever keeps attacking her, hitting her twice and knocking her unconscious. The predator attacks Sentry, missing with a bite and claw but hitting with the second claw attack as she tries to protect Valla with her shield. Quill moves away from the Retriever, taking a massive hit from its foreleg as he does, and flies to the side of the room: he has decided to move Nova away from Kalus’ incoming beam by casting *Healing Word* on her and then pulling her towards him with *Lightning Lure. As he does this,* Nova’s *Tomb of Levistus* activates, forming like an ice statue of Tiangong, cradling and protecting her, and takes the lightning damage from Quill’s spell. Sentry hits the predator with two resounding blows, heavily injuring it, and almost tearing its armour off it; she then *Misty Steps* (which works again now that Xarkira is down) to the back of the room with Valla. The Retriever that Quill had just left moves to Nova and Quill and hits the block of ice surrounding Nova, destroying it and injuring the already heavily-injured Nova; it then hits Quill with its foreleg and paralyses Quill with its paralysing beam. Lucius throws a *Tasha’s Caustic Brew* at the two Retrievers, destroying the heavily damaged one, which collapses as its structure melts; the second Retriever’s carapace is badly pitted and scored but it remains standing even when it takes an extra splash with Dichromancy. Lucius tries to break the petrification effect on him but is not strong enough and he continues to turn to stone, with his whole right side now stiff and useless. The Iron Golem advances on Kalus and hits him once.

Kalus’s Magitek sword is now fully charged – he unleashes his *Charged Magitek Cannon* attack, blinding all of the constructs and almost destroying them: the Retriever is almost broken in half, the steel predator and Iron Golem are badly damaged. He then moves up to the Golem, hits it twice and charges his sword on every hit, finishing with the plasma cutter attack on the steel predator. All three of the constructs are now heavily damaged and lumbering with several broken limbs amongst them. Nova, coming out of the broken *Tomb of Levistus*, swings at the Retriever, hitting and smiting it once; Aila moves to the same Retriever, crushing it with two massive hammer blows then moving towards the steel predator which claws her. Quill remains paralysed. Sentry moves closer to the door and then blasts the Iron Golem with *Sunbeam* – it blinds the Golem and melts a hole through its armour plating, nearly destroying it. Lucius throws an acid *Chromatic Orb* at the predator but misses – he moves his hands onto his knees so that his arms become good handles for when he needs to be carried around and straightens his back, then manages to resist the petrification for another turn. Kalus finishes off the remaining Iron Golem, carving it in half with his greatsword, then turns and moves towards the predator – Nova beats him to it, however, savaging the metallic creature with an action surge that allows her to hit it with multiple sword attacks, causing it to power down and collapse. Unfortunately for Lucius, Quill remains paralysed, but Lucius manages to resist the petrification for a second time. Sentry tries to get to him to save him, but cannot reach him before he becomes completely petrified.

Kalus looks around, keeping his sword in is hand, but not moving: he tells the party that he does not know what they used against Max and Valla but that it is some sort of venom that has kept them unconscious even with healing – he asks if any of them have a way of neutralising it, otherwise it may just be a matter of time before it wears off, and Quill’s paralysis finally fades. Aila is looking at Kalus and quietly seething and unsure what to do; Nova wants to ask him a million questions about Tiangong but realises that this is not the time or place. They look anxiously towards Lucius and Kalus assures them that he will not stop them if they wish to attend to him, that he just wants to make sure that Valla is well. Quill tells Nova to get Kalus away from Max – Kalus assures them that had he wished ill to Max, he could have done so before now and was trying to protect him, but he takes a step back. Aila asks if Xarkira is now his enemy and Kalus informs her that “It does seem that way. The real Xarkira has vanished, even my own intelligence is unable to locate where: I suspect she had a hand in that. Tassadar has been speaking to me of your own suspicions and when she became unusually protective of Valla, claiming that she would make it her top priority to rescue her from Aerois, I began to suspect that something was very clearly amiss.” Aila tells him that Valla never needed rescuing from them and that she had been safe with them. Kalus tells her that he knows this, “Do you think that I have not known where Valla has been this entire time?” he asks. “If she wished to go with you, that was her choice, she was never a prisoner. Perhaps she was under the mistaken idea that I would have prevented her from leaving *the Tassadar*, but if you’ve seen her powers, you know that that isn’t even within my realms of capability anymore. She is capable of taking herself wherever she wishes to be at any time. I had no intention of coming here and taking Valla by force or from you, in fact, I was relieved to know that she was with you. I know that you would protect her with your lives. Why would you think otherwise?”

Aila points out the many conflicts that have happened, the planets that have been destroyed – Kalus agrees, pointing out that his own, Aila’s and many more have been destroyed by Hadar’s actions. He knows that they are not friends but does not consider them enemies – Nova is outraged, saying that the last time he saw her, he threatened to kill her if he saw her again. He agrees that this may have been somewhat dramatic and begs her forgiveness. Aila points out that he has threatened Aerois, but Kalus disagrees, saying that he gave the people a clear choice: leave and be provided with a new world, new homes, and new lives of freedom. He declares that if Aerois did not have the World Engine, that he would have no reason to be there and would not threaten it – he needs the World Engine, and if he must take it by force, then so be it. Aila tells him in no uncertain terms that his plans for Hadar with the World Engine *will not work*, that it will not defeat Hadar.

Quill casts *Greater Restoration* on Lucius to remove the petrification effect and asks Kalus why he is still on Aerois when he could have just teleported away. He says that he could teleport away now that the Xarkira simulacrum is down and that (he suspects) his forces have destroyed one of the Hollow Dragons that housed the generator powering the anti-teleportation field, but he wants to ensure that Valla is all right. Quill casts *Greater Restoration* on Valla to cancel out the poison (since Sentry had used all of her *Lay on Hands* pool healing Quill and Nova), noting that the poison effect from quite an advanced neurotoxin was both making her sleep and also preventing any restoration of health to her to stop her becoming conscious. Valla’s eyes begin to flicker as she starts to wake slowly and Kalus thanks Quill before turning to leave so that he can attend to other things. Nova calls for him to wait before asking where the rest of Tiangong is, and he tells her that Tiangong is “currently serving aboard *the Tassadar*; as Tassadar has become enamoured with Aerois and distracted from its duties, Tiangong has taken up the slack and is helping to coordinate things across the empire. Now that Xarkira’s forces have turned against us, that will be something that I will need to devote more resources to.”

Aila asks if he has considered the idea that they are correct and that the World Engine idea of his won’t work: he asks how they know that, telling them that everything that he has studied indicates that it should. He tells them that there are no easy answers and no certain ways to defeat Hadar, but that this is the only one he can think of, one that his researchers and he believe will work. Sentry tells him that he will destroy everything, that they know this, but Kalus doubts that they can know it. Sentry accuses him of being very good at destroying things which Kalus acknowledges, telling Sentry that as a warrior, she is also very good at destroying things to protect those that she loves, just as he does. Sentry denies that they are alike, telling him that she does not destroy whole worlds or civilisations to get what she wants, but Kalus tells her that it is merely a matter of scope. He tells her that were he in her position, he would attempt to protect Aerois from someone like him.

Nova is outraged, “Siaska knew that it wouldn’t work, that’s why she tried to stop you destroying Alfheim, and then you destroyed Alfheim anyway and it didn’t work, so why do you think this is going to work?” He suggests that she ask Siaska that question when she awakens but says that Siaska did not know that the World Engine would not work, but simply was not willing to make the sacrifice. He tells them that the World Engine they carry is the same one that was in Alfheim, that Siaska stole it and hid it before Kalus could use it against Hadar. Kalus reiterates that he does not see them as his enemies; if they choose to oppose him, he will fight them if he must, but he very much hopes that they will understand what he is doing and join him. Quill tells Kalus about his vision using the Eye of the Storm showing that a Hadar that consumes the World Engine will eventually consume the multiverse. Kalus counters by describing H’esper’s power as being a shadow of Siaska’s power, and his visions as fallible, with margins for error. Aila asks why Xarkira would join with Hadar once she had seen the same vision showing that Kalus would not win. “Xarkira is power-mad and power-hungry,” Kalus tells them, “she serves what she thinks is strongest. Maybe she has bought this idea of Quill’s, this vision that you have seen, but I do not. I do not believe that Quill has the power to see without doubt, 100%, the destined future of all of us. I refuse to believe that any of our destinies are defined in such a way. I believe that this is the only way. I am not going to be convinced by a vision from a god that I know serves a woman who disagreed with my opinions, a god that is not even a true god, but a mere shadow, a fragment of her power. I do not believe that such a being could see without doubt an absolute future, but I do know that I have fought Hadar on every front. I have dedicated centuries to defeating this evil and nothing has worked. The World Engine is our only chance – it will either destroy Hadar or Hadar will destroy everything anyway. There is no other way. If you can find a way to stop Hadar, I welcome it.”

Nova says that it needs Divinity or a spark of Divinity, but Kalus counters with the fact that Hadar consumed Divinity as Nova knows, which is how it became as powerful as it is. Kalus believes that because the World Engine is from beyond Siaska and the Divines, and is greater than they think containing infinite energy, it will have the power to destroy Hadar. Nova calls him naïve, pointing out that energy will only feed Hadar and destroy everything, but Kalus says that she fails to see that if they do not stop Hadar that will be the destiny of the world anyway: he will take a chance on the World Engine in case it will work. Nova says that Valla might be able to do something but Kalus says that he will not risk his daughter’s life and would rather gamble with the World Engine than with her life, and he will not allow them to put his daughter or her life at risk. Nova says that he should ask Valla himself – they will not put her at risk and will not force her to do anything, but she knows the stakes. He is willing to listen if they have alternatives but does not see any to his existing plan.

It is at this point that Aila pulls out and holds up her Duskwillow coin that she had received months ago and uses its power to show Kalus that there is more than one possible way to defeat Hadar including Quill’s vision, the Web of Eternity and other such things that they have seen.

> *The coin vanishes in a flash of light, and they see that that light becomes threads like a spider’s web, which explodes, filling the chamber. The walls of the chamber turn dark and black, and they begin to fill with stars as they see the Web of Eternity as Dawnweaver showed it to them. It begins to form into images, and they see Kalus stunned for a moment as his eyes, like Quill’s, are filled with galaxies and stars as information rushes into his mind. As Kalus is seeing his own visions, as a side-effect of the coin, the five of them (not Valla) see that behind Kalus, the web creates a tapestry, a moving tapestry, that begins to show an image. They see, on Aerois, Kalus and Siaska: they are in a field of beautiful white golden flowers, facing off against each other, talking. They hear Kalus say, “Siaska, give me the Engine. I will not risk what you propose. I will not risk you; you do not even know if it will work. You will condemn yourself not just to death but to an eternity of endless nothing, you could become as dangerous as Hadar, I will not risk that!”*
>
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> *Siaska says, “Kalus, I would rather risk my life than condemn another world as we did Alfheim. I will not let you take this. For everything that we have been through, please!” Kalus looks at her, desperate, “I will not fight you; I will not hurt you, but I will not let you throw your life away. Without you there is nothing, there is no life, there is no… I would rather see eternity turn to blackness than lose you.” Siaska replies, “I know, that’s why I can’t let you have this.” She flicks her hand and Kalus’ sword flies out of his hand and impales Siaska herself, and as she turns into prismatic light, she explodes outwards. Kalus is thrown, teleported away from Aerois’ planet and the Cradle is formed.*
>
>

As the vision ends, Kalus comes to, holding his head – he looks at them with tears streaming from his eyes. “No, I won’t lose either of them!” he shouts, then teleports away.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

00:00 - Intro
05:31 - Part 1
1:51:24 - Break time/Donations
1:54:39 - Part 2
3:02:45 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Xarkira (simulacrum)
* Kalus Valkyrian
* Valla Valkyrian
* Maximillion Taldros

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Xarkira Prime
* Duskwillow

## **Featured Locations**

* Horizon
	+ Council Room/Council Chamber/War Room

## **Trivia**

* Mark opened the episode by trying to roll into his chair holding a sword “Dark Souls” style. He missed. This moment was clipped by Idunyken on Twitch and the clip was named “Hardcore Markour”.
* Tom showed off his Master Sword from Zelda while Mark showed one of his swords for LARP.
* **Continuity error**: Mark describes Valla and Max in Quill’s vision as being unconscious. When the vision was described last episode, neither was unconscious – Max was being held in the air by Xarkira and suffering in pain as though being electrocuted, and 4 or 5 retrievers were advancing on Valla who was surrounded by dead guards that looked like they had been protecting her. Mark (this week) described Quill as only seeing 2 or 3 of the retrievers in the vision.
* Nova asks to cast *Thunder Step* to get away from the mechadragon, but is reminded that teleportation does not work, however while she wastes her action, she is allowed to keep her spell slot. What a generous DM!
* The mechadragon’s *Sapping Presence* uses the Hollow Dragon stats from Fizban’s (Wis save DC ?) – on fail, speed is halved and you have disadvantage on attack rolls as your energy is drained by the creature. The mechadragon's token is also that of the Hollow Dragon from Fizban's.
* The mechadragon is immune to radiant damage and has blindsight to 60 feet.
* Trott’s D&D Beyond refused to roll because he had his Roll20 extension enabled; he fixed this soon after with advice from Mark.
* Nova’s Magitek grenades are equivalent to spell scrolls to use. It is an action to use one and each one does 8d6 damage (with a Dex save DC15 for half damage).
* Mark nearly put the Xarkira/Starbane/Construct fight into the Nights of Eveningstar campaign by mistake. Katie was happy for them to do so, but Mark thought that it “would be bad”. Tom thought it would be a massive left turn for the campaign for them suddenly to be in Horizon “fighting these guys!”.
* Kalus Valkyrian has
	+ +18 to hit (Aila currently has +15 to hit by comparison)
	+ An AC of >25
	+ 3 attacks per round
	+ Legendary resistances
	+ Legendary attacks
	+ special attack: *Sweeping Plasma Cutter* (an arc of crescent green energy flows out from the blade doing 5d12 damage)
	+ special attack: *Spectral Blades* (4 spectral force blades appear from his sword and attack nearby targets for ? damage)
	+ special attack: *Charged Magitek Cannon* (12d8 damage, blinds the target, CON DC25? Save for half damage)
	+ special ability: *Refraction Field* (able to be activated at will to halve damage taken)
* Kalus uses his move Sweeping Plasma Cutter and yells out “Plasma Sweep!” as he uses it in true anime fashion. Mark is a big fan of anime, so added this because “I will live out my anime dreams through my NPCs if I have to”. He also said that "I admit, the full move is called SWEEPING PLASMA CUTTER but I didn't commit to saying the full thing for fear of Tom laughing at me".
* Katie said that she will never forget Lucius telling Kalus to shut up. Tom said that he wants to get that tattooed on his body.
* Mark announced in Episode 139 that he was taken aback when Lucius told Kalus to shut up because it was out of the blue. Kalus was paying Lucius a compliment ("talking to Lucius when he's all fucking rainbowy?" said Trott), "trying to get an authority figure connect with Chris Trott? How dare I" responded Mark. Trott suggested that Kalus should try it out of the battlefield (where Tom indicated that Lucius might go coy), but on the battlefield, he's more likely to tell Kalus to get the fuck away from him. Mark thinks that mid-combat conversations and compliments are the best (Trott thinks the same of the sassy comeback); Mark wants rousing speeches and confessed loves, very much in an anime style.
* The Xarkira simulacrum has an ability called “Mistress of Magic” that allows her to cast two spells in one turn. She can do this three times per day.
* Mark describes the large table in the council/war room as “broken council table, the war table that is now broken in pieces around you” – Trott’s comment, “How symbolic”, is met with initial confusion from Mark then, “You picked up on it!” from Mark – which he has confirmed was, in fact, anything but intentional.
* The sonic vibration attack from the steel predator/tiger creature (on a failed CON save – DC >12 (actual number unknown)) does 5d10 thunder damage, makes the target drop its weapon and stuns the target. Its claws do 2d8 + 7 points of damage.
* Xarkira stunned Lucius because he was “fucking up her plans hardcore, and she wasn’t having that… he’d messed with her day” according to Mark.
* Lucius tricking Xarkira into counterspelling his cantrip could have been rolled as a deception or performance check.
* Lucius’ elemental adept bypasses Xarkira’s cold resistance.
* Mark confirmed that this is the first (and ultimately last) time that we have seen this simulacrum of Xarkira.
* Mark advised Trott that the Xarkira simulacrum is pissed at him because he has disrupted many of her plans. She couldn't influence the big fight because she was dealing with Lucius. She has AOE stuff that could have messed up the team.
* Trott did not expect Kalus to be fighting against Xarkira, but Katie did because Mark described the Valkyrian ships fighting each other last week.
* In part 2 when Nova commands her echo to attack the Retriever next to Quill, Mark points out that in RAW rules she would not be able to do so because it requires an attack action to attack and she cannot take an action while paralysed. He allows it on this occasion, however, using the Rule of Cool.
* After hitting and destroying the last Xarkira mirror image, Katie rolls a natural 20 to hit the actual Xarkira simulacrum.
* Tom realised that he had not been rolling concentration checks for his Beacon of Hope, so just assumed that he had lost it at some stage.
* There was a long and painful build-up to the point where Kalus shot a beam from his sword: Trott posited that it would be funny if when the sword was used, a “little bang flag” came out of the end instead of a destructive ray.
* Kim discussed with Mark what happens when a *Tomb of Levistus* is broken by attacks rather than just being incapacitated when the ice melts away at the end of her next turn. Mark’s ruling was to have Nova *not* be incapacitated when the ice was broken and said that they would check the ruling later.
* Mark reminded Kim that she had not put *Hexblade Curse* on the Retriever she was fighting, resulting in all sorts of accusations about “backseating” from the DM. Kim later said in Discord that she was saving *Hexblade Curse* “in case Starboo went funky”.
* Quill was going to move to stop Lucius’ petrification until Kim reminded Tom that he is paralysed. “I’m going to remember this one, Nova!” he called to her, but she said that this made up for all the times that Tom has done this sort of thing in the past. Tom then wanted to award Kim inspiration, which Mark declined, before Tom asked him to stop backseating.
* Aila used the Duskwillow Coin that she had received in the canon game that was played at Pax West in 2019 (ep 44.5 A Plane in the Astral). The coin essentially gave Aila a wish.
* Mark said that trying to convince somebody who has spent centuries believing something, you’re not going to just be able to persuasion check them. Kalus believed this, but you have literally shown him this. Whether he believes it or whether he believes it is certain, you have at least shown him, it’s more than just words now. Either Kalus will now double down on what he believes or might now be open to listening to them.
* Lucius had the wish ring prepared in case they needed it to persuade Kalus, but did not need it as Aila used her coin.
* The tapestry in the Aerois intro is wrong, but that is based on what is believed on Aerois (or Aeoris), and no one will believe that Siaska did that to herself.
* Mark wanted the crew to see Kalus in action to realise that he is a scary man (even without using his legendary actions)!
* Mark had wondered what would happen if Sentry had been the first one to the room and seen Kalus standing over Max’s body and holding Valla: he predicted that Sentry would have attacked him immediately. Rhiannon agrees; it was very tough deciding what Sentry would do. Tom would have used Guiding Bolt on Kalus on his first turn if Sentry had charged towards him.
* Mark’s WIP title in his notes for this episode was “The Father Returns”, whereas Kim had considered calling this episode “Daddy’s Home”. Mark was a bit weirded out by this alternative title.
* Mark had not been prepared for the party to see the scene with Siaska and Kalus until Siaska was back. Nina has known about that for a very long time.
* Trott says that Kalus is a smart man and it is up to him now. Mark says that smart people don’t always make the right decisions and can be very emotional in their decision-making: when you love and care for something, some people are willing to go to very evil lengths to protect it. Trott said that it is also the case that only Kalus has seen the vision, so might choose to manipulate the information to his subordinates.
* Kim said that she will now take off her anti-scrying amulet to replace it with another attunement item such as the helm of teleportation since the amulet is useless.
* Aila’s tartan pattern is the Morrison tartan.
* A dono question was whether we now need an historically accurate DUN DUN now, to which Trott’s response was, “Nope, does the Bible get updated?”
* Mark highlights that no-one can ever say that Quill/Tom doesn't heal again, as he healed massive amounts this episode. Katie notes that Aila went down from her full 221 to around 130 and back up twice! Tom is looking forward to the stats for this episode produced by 39SaltyCookies (AKA CptnClusterDuck) on Reddit; he wants to see how much he healed.
* Trott gives a shout-out to the wiki team, echoed by everyone.

## **References**

1. ↑ Link to Discord message from Mark
2. ↑ Link to Discord message from Mark
3. ↑ Link to Discord message from Kim