Aerois - Episode 191: Clear Skies

Katie Morrison as Aila

Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Clear Skies** is the 191st and final episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 2nd July 2023 from 5PM to 8PM BST.

*All good things must come to an end as the Stormchasers continue the battle against Hadar, the God of Entropy and face some of the toughest decisions in their entire adventure.*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* This will be the final episode of Aerois.
* A fan art tribute will play during the break: Trott has put together fan art in chronological order for the entire campaign, and it almost tells the story of the campaign. Thanks to MattC for putting together a music video with input from a large number of the fans (which will be played at the end of the stream as a send-off).
* Mark gives the players a gift: artwork of each of their characters by Fael-Draws, PumpkanArt, and peggells that was commissioned by Crispi, Fael\_Draws also sent a poster depicting the PCs and major NPCs from the campaign that will be framed and hung in the new studio. There was a recent fan art video that featured a number of new art works that people should go and check out.
* It is likely that today's stream will be longer than normal due to both the story needing to be wrapped up and also because the crew will need to read out a lot of donos at the end.
* Yesterday was Aerois' 5th birthday. In those 5 years, 'Markisms' have evolved, and Rhi has changed her hair 638 times (according to Tom, including changing it half way through an episode in some cases...), They began this journey in the Yogs studio, were then forced online, then got the studio - these were made possible by all the supporters from Patreon, YouTube, Twitch subscriptions, donations, merch purchases, and so on. The only thing that has not changed is the typo in the intro (Aeoris). All support allows HR to improve the stream in immeasurable ways (including getting a new studio because the building is being shut down).
* HR will be documenting the move to the new studio and showing a lot more behind the scenes things for the new campaign, Altheya, including building up the characters and the building of the world.
* Kim decided to celebrate the 5th birthday of Aerois with a birthday cake that she has brought to the studio for the crew to sob into after they finish.

### **Recap**

*"Beneath a red star, in a realm of hidden horror and mind warping reality, our champions face one final enemy: Hadar. One of the first Devine beings, corrupted after consuming the godly essences of his kin, now an agent of entropy and death, that believes that mortal kind will become a threat to the very fabric of existence and violently break the universe. The Champions have journeyed into the far realm to face him. The goddesses, Siaska and Valla, have conjured a protective shield, warding the champions and the astral emperor, Kalus Valkyrian, from the dangerous energy of this terrible place. Together they prevent Hadar from using his control of the plane to tear the minds of the heroes apart but, even together, these two cannot stand forever. The heroes have rained down powerful blows against the entropic god, but seemingly none have caused actual harm to Hadar. However, their repeated strikes and blows have caused slivers of strange silvery light to bleed from the Red Star and the powerful magics have caused ghostly figures to emerge from his body. However, it seems that until now, Hadar has been toying with them.

Here and now the Champions must find a way to overcome Hadar, or it will be the end of everything they know."*
### **Part 1**

*In the FINAL episode of High Rollers: Aerois the Stormchasers continue their battle against the God of Entropy, Hadar!*

The Champions stand in a void that is not completely bereft of shape or colour – rocky platforms exist with teeth and bones protruding from them at odd angles. The platforms are broken and fragmented, hovering around a large central platform. Above them, the sky is red, black, and grey, streaked as if with mist, and a single red pinprick of light hovers above it all. Hadar, a huge, monstrous, Humanoid figure, with long, over-stretched limbs made of sinuous fibres and muscle, stands before them. Hadar’s head is devoid of eyes or a nose, being only an enormous mouth that stretches up, within which is just empty blackness. Hadar’s chest hosts a second mouth, a fanged maw, with another dark void lurking behind the teeth. The Champions have so far felt the pressure of Hadar’s attacks and magic surrounding them with despair, but they have also seen the silvery light that has been emitted from Hadar when he has been injured. Aila and Sentry, who have touched this light, have immediately felt the pressure lessen upon doing so.

Two ghostly figures cower before Hadar – one, a Humanoid with antlers protruding from the sides of its head, and dressed in a hunter’s raiment, the other, an older, Gnomish woman with strange, child-like proportions in her eyes and face. Both figures appear to have somehow been pulled free from Hadar’s body.

Hadar calls to the Champions, “You do not understand! You race towards a violent, destructive end. Look at yourselves – a year ago, you could not comprehend the powers you now wield. If you continue down this path, you will shatter everything! I must end this now!” He stretches his hands forth and pushes them apart from each other, causing pieces of the already fragmented realm to break away, leaving the Champions with no apparent way out and only crumbling remnants of floating land. The red, black, and grey sky begins to crackle with energy as Hadar starts to draw in his power in preparation for battle with the party. They realise that up until now, Hadar has been toying with them, but now means to destroy them.

Aila lands beside the spirit near Lucius and attempts to encourage the frightened ex-goddess to rejoin with Siaska, but the ghostly creature is terrified and shies away from her. Aila moves to stand protectively in front of Siaska and Valla, who are sheltered under the magical dome. Hadar channels his power, raises a hand and points towards the Champions on the central platform, and, seeming to touch a point in space above them, casts a powerful spell, *Ravenous Void*. Appearing 80 feet above them is a singularity – Lucius attempts to *Counterspell* but Hadar reacts and *Consumes Magic* with his wide-open mouth. As Hadar consumes the spell, he appears to become empowered. The singularity becomes a 20-foot sphere of darkness – a black hole – that begins to suck rocks and floating debris into it, destroying things as they become close enough. Hadar turns to Quill and slashes him with his claws, affecting him with *Doom* once more and afflicting him with massive necrotic damage.

Hadar then gestures once more and pushes all of the floating islands 40 feet from the central platform while his power continues to coalesce in the background. Nova is pulled towards the singularity and she takes force damage as her armour begins to disintegrate – she is trapped in the gravitational void above her. Nova switches places with the echo if Tiangong and blasts Hadar with Eldritch Blast, only hitting with two of the four beams but doing minimal damage. The *Maw of Doom* moves towards Nova an envelops her – she appears in darkness, feeling as if she is inside some sort of stomach. Lucius calls to the spirit next to him, “Do not fear Hadar, go to our goddess, Siaska… please!” The ghostly figure looks towards Hadar, who is reaching out towards it, as if to reclaim it – the spirit looks more resolved and places a hand over Lucius’ and forms over him as if in a spectral overlay. He looks towards Siaska as the protective dome disappears, anchored by Hadar’s black fog at his feet. Lucius lets go of The Captain’s Command, calls on Valla to create an *Arcane Gate* and is pulled towards it. Lucius emerges near Hadar and quickens a *Chromatic Orb*, casting it at Hadar as he starts to drift past and towards the black hole. The acidic orb crashes into Hadar and coats him with orange light – his concentration wavers for a moment as his muscle starts to burn (although it quickly regenerates), but he uses his supreme powers to maintain his spell. Lucius watches as The Captain’s Command, now unattended, drifts up towards the black hole and breaks apart, destroyed by the massive gravity of the spell. A drop of silver falls from the site of Lucius’ spell impact and another of the souls manages to pull itself free as Hadar has to concentrate on his spell. The Divine soul that breaks free is a nobly-dressed woman wearing a crown with long spilling hair. She carries a bow in her hand and arrows in a quiver at her back, and from her belt trails chains that fall backwards – she appears looking as if she is mid-battle.

Kalus slams his feet into the ground, resisting being pulled into the black hole – he uses *Second Wind* to break free from the dark tendrils of fog at his feet and to heal himself. He immediately attacks Hadar, slashing at him with his sword. The storm of the void-wrought cataclysm builds – a 40-foot wide stormfront builds at the back of the platform, looking for all the world like a giant mouth facing Valla and Siaska, and Hadar makes it clear that he will be aiming it for them.

Sentry is pulled 100 feet-upwards into the sphere above them as her armour begins to break and disintegrate, but the mote she carries protects her from much of the damage that she would otherwise have taken. She activates *Starbreaker* to break free of her restraint and uses the power of the mote to fly 80-feet towards the ground and Hadar, choosing to *Enlarge* in preparation for her attack on Hadar.

Quill attempts to fly away but it instead pulled up in towards the sphere and restrained 100-feet above the platform below. He casts *Sunbeam* at Hadar, lighting up the chaotic god. The mouth-like structure surges down the platform below Quill and towards Siaska and Valla – Aila and Kalus intercept the void-wrought cataclysm before it hits them. Aila is badly burned and Kalus’ armour is battered as the magical effect bashes into them – something like a protective anger flashes in Kalus’ eyes as he addresses Hadar as he slams his sword, Kalathir, into the ground, “Enough! I once drowned in a sea of despair like you. I thought that everything was pointless, that there was only one path to victory, that we were limited, but I see now that I was wrong. I have travelled, I have fought beside those who have broken through their limitations, who have overcome the impossible. They did not do it for greed or arrogance, because they felt that they were some hero in some eternal story – they did it because there were things they sought to protect, people that they loved. My days as Emperor are over. Today, I forge new oaths: today, I swear that for all of those who have fallen, their dreams, the hopes of all those who are yet to come, they shall become blades, forged together that I will use to carve a path towards a tomorrow – towards a future that needs no heroes”. They all see a small ember – a golden light that was hidden under the layers of his dark armour – glow through him like a golden aura of flame. His Oath of Love makes him stronger.

Aila cracks her neck, smiles, then runs towards Hadar, resisting the pull of the dark sphere above her. She strikes him hard with two hammer blows, freeing another Divine essence from him. She notices that as the souls and essences are being detached from Hadar, there is some semblance of rage and frantic movement from the chaotic Divine. Aila holds her hand out to the spectral figure with the bow and orders her to join them or warns that she will have to go back to Hadar – the figure looks at Aila smirks and nods at her and she slams her hand into Aila’s back, slowly coalescing around the Wild Elf. Aila still appears to be herself but now looks to have longer ghostly hair and spectral chains falling from her back. Siaska calls to Aila and Lucius, summoning them to her with their spectral essences. Aila turns to run and return the spirit to Siaska – Hadar, enraged, claws raking at her and trying to pull the spectral form back into him. Instead, Siaska reaches out and touches Aila – the spirit is pulled into Siaska and a sudden burst of light fills the space… as it touches the ravenous void above them, the darkness disappears. When the light washes over Hadar, everything ripples in horror and pain, and the mouths scream. It is barely perceptible, but Quill and Aila manage to see that inside the mouth in Hadar’s chest, the light seems to create a small fissure momentarily – they see a flash of silvery light inside a cage made of bone, teeth, and black sinew. Within seconds, what they saw is gone. Hadar recoils in rage asking why they cannot just accept what he offers them. He points to Valla, explaining that a short while ago, she was just a mortal girl, now she is more powerful than they can imagine, and tells them that they do not realise what they are unleashing upon the universe.

They watch as Hadar reaches down, grabs the Gnome spirit, pulls it up to his face and eats it. Many of his wounds appear to heal somewhat, but he does not appear as the composed entity that he was before. Hadar reaches out with his long arms and attacks both Quill and Sentry, smacking Quill out of the air and knocking him unconscious, Sentry is wounded but still alive. Hadar then lashes out with his *Tendrils of Doom* before conjuring two red orbs that start moving slowly towards Valla and Siaska.

### **Part 2**

*All good things must come to an end as the Stormchasers try to end the nightmare in the far realm before facing one of the most difficult choices of their entire adventure!*

Nova is in darkness: she is affected by the dark nature of the void as she feels it eating away at her and trying to break her apart. She closes her eyes and can almost hear her allies and Kalus’ booming voice. Tiangong whispers to her, “This place is beyond this realm. Just this once, we can carve a path” – Nova draws her blade and cuts through the fabric of reality as she casts *Dimension Door*. She sees the battle raging on the other side and steps through to appear above Hadar’s head. Nova *Action Surges* and summons the echo of Tiangong as they begin to fall – she wings wildly with her first attack, but slashes through Hadar’s flesh before Tiangong makes an unsuccessful attack. With each strike, Nova can see slivers of starlight through Hadar’s flesh that appear slowly to be fading out, but she also notices that as fast as Hadar is wounded, that those wounds heal. Nova falls to the ground taking minor damage as she does.

Lucius, currently in the void, is affected by cold and begins to suffocate – he knows that he must get out, so casts *Fly* on himself and moves quickly to Siaska to pass the spirit to her. As it passes into her there is a bright flash of light that causes Hadar to squirm – the Doom Maw is destroyed, as are the Doom Orbs as the golden light of Siaska washes over them like a wave. Lucius uses the *Mass Cure Wounds* spell that Quill had previously stored in Lucius’ Ring of Spell Storing, healing them all and bringing Quill back to consciousness.

Hadar targets them with a magical attack that erupts from him in a straight line, specifically targeting Siaska and Valla – the *Gravity Fissure* hits all but Nova and Sentry with Kalus teleporting in to protect Quill from the damage that he would inevitably take. The line of black energy tries to pull them into it but fails – as it passes Siaska and Valla, it continues on into the void, pulling the loose rocks and platforms back into some sort of walkway behind them.

Now that he has taken his Oath of Love, Kalus moves to protect Valla and Siaska – in protection of the two, he swings his sword and creates two crescent blades out of energy (*Radiant Strikes*) before sending them forward to hit Hadar. With the first hit, another Divine essence (the fifth so far) emerges from within Hadar. The second hit clips Hadar, doing only minor damage. Kalus orders Quill to move to safety while Kalus covers him in case of another attack.

Sentry lands, superhero style on the ground, and casts *Cure Wounds* on Quill while she is in her Elder form. She then smashes Starbreaker into Hadar twice, with the teeth in the chest mouth almost catching its tip as it tries to stop the weapon from penetrating his foul being. Hadar reminds them that he cannot die and threatens to bring a peaceful death to the universe – all they are doing is meaningless, he tells them.

Quill unfolds his wings and summons the ancient magic of healing light, casting *Mass Heal* – as he does, Hadar opens both mouths and attempts to drink in the spell with *Consume Magic* – Quill uses *Portent* to try to make Hadar fail in its attempt… They begin to see the magic start to pull towards Hadar’s mouths as he claws at the magic in the air and all of them do what they can to distract the mad god – they succeed and all the Champions are healed. When Hadar’s attempt to imbibe the heling energy fails, he goes still - Quill grabs the nearby essence that floats nearby and feel himself filled with light, strength and speed as the burdens, weight, and oppressive despair are banished from him. He moves to hide behind Sentry.

With the party having collected three Divine essences and two spirits, they watch as Hadar lets his arms fall. He sighs. “I tried. It seems I am left with no choice. If you will not do me the honour of submitting to the inevitable, THEN I WILL TAKE IT FOR MYSELF!” Hadar’s form turns to red light and begins to flow up into the void above. What had been a tiny red light above them now balloons into an enormous red sun hovering 100-feet in the air above them. They watch as the ground, the stone, and the very realm begins to be ripped apart. “I WILL DESTROY THIS PRISON, AND AS I DO, I WILL FEAST ON SIASKA AND VALLA AND BREAK FREE OF MY BONDS! ENOUGH OF THIS! YOU WOULD DESTROY EVERYTHING! YOU WOULD BREAK REALITY… WELL, I WILL BREAK YOU. I WILL SAVE THIS UNIVERSE**. I AM THE ONE THAT WILL FREE US ALL!!**”

They suddenly feel a great pressure, gravity, almost radiating out in waves, forcing them down as they finally feel the true and crushing weight of Hadar’s full power. They see black tentacles writhing from the corona of the red sun above them and the whole thing is covered in gaping maws, mouths, and teeth. Siaska and Valla are both desperately trying to maintain the structure that allows them to exist in this place – the golden dome of light begins to crack slightly as Kalus pulls them both behind him and tries to shield them from Hadar’s evil. Lucius, Nova, and Aila are temporarily blinded, but as Quill and Sentry peer at the giant red sun, and amongst the writhing tentacles and despite the oppressive power, they see a crack in the sun, beyond which is darkness with a light at its centre. At the heart of the red star is a cage made of bone, teeth, and black sinew that holds souls – incomplete and partially digested, but spirits of Divines that still feed Hadar with the power that he wields. They sense a growing power from Hadar and know that they have only moments until the realm is shattered, and they know that Valla and Siaska’s magic will not protect them.

As the Champions consider what to do, Hadar tries to convince them to yield, “You see now that my way is the only way. You must be annihilated – I must protect this universe from the damage that your kind. If you go beyond your limits, you will destroy everything. It is far better that everything ends in a peaceful, graceful blackness!” For the first time since they have entered this dark place, they hear the voice of a young woman, as Valla responds to Hadar: “You have no idea what our limits are, no idea who we could be! You talk like a tyrant, as though you’re the hero of this story, but you’re not. Heroes don’t give up – they don’t resign themselves to death and darkness. Heroes find a way to break through anything, that’s who they are – that’s what it means to be a champion! You’re just a mad old fool who cares about limits and destiny, and we don’t give a shit about any of that crap! We’re the champions of Aerois, you won’t stop us!”

Quill and Sentry prepare to save the universe – Sentry casts *Sunbeam* while Quill casts *Chain Lightning –* the Sunbeam bursts from the Prime Matrix, surging with the strength of Root and the other Guardians. The black tentacles attempt to stop the beam of light until Quill’s chain lightning surges along the beam, blasting away the tentacles. Mouths begin to appear to try to divert the power of the combined spell, and looking for all the world as if they will succeed. Aila steps up to Quill and, feeling all her rage, hurls the hammer through the middle of the sunbeam – it knocks away some of the tentacles, but is itself held back from the centre of Hadar. Lucius conjures an acidic *Chromatic Orb* and chromatic controls it to an orb of radiance, even combined with all of the other spells, this is not enough to get through to Hadar. Nova, desperate, draws Farseeker and looks up at the red sun – she wants to teleport, but it is too far away. Kalus, sensing what she wants to do, calls Nova over and offers the blade of his sword as a springboard, saying, “I can get you close!” Nova steps onto the blade, Kalus heaving her with all of his strength, “FOR GIDEON!” As he throws her against the magical forces pummelling down on them, Nova hears his arm bone break, but she is thrown just in range that she can deal with the tentacles holding the spells back. Nova makes three desperate attacks with Farseeker, cutting through a tentacle on the first, missing on the second, and then finally, throwing the blade towards one of the last tentacles holding back her friends’ surging magic. The black, misty tentacle shatters, allowing the magic to continue past her and to pass into the crack in Hadar’s outer layer. Nova teleports back to safety among her friends but sees the comet of lightning and light enter the fissure.

The lightning strikes and breaks pieces of bone, and the radiant energy burns away the black sinew- there is a sudden flash of light, and with a sudden sucking in of air, silvery light erupts from the fissure as the prison shatters and hundreds, thousands, of the Divine essences surge forward like a storm down the pathway created – they surge through the party members. As each of the Champions feel the essences pass through them, they feel a connection with something, but they are drained rapidly of all strength and energy (all charges from magical items are lost, as are all spell slots, and everyone gains five levels of exhaustion). It is almost as if the storm of divine light and essence passed through them, it drained them and their items of all magic charges.

They watch, in their exhausted, weakened state, as the red sun begins to collapse in on itself, and the weak, angry voice of Hadar is heard to protest, “No, you do not know what you’ve done!” Without Hadar’s power to maintain it, the demi plane begins to collapse and they can see rips and tears that show the place beyond Terminus Keep – a place that only Lucius has glimpsed – within it are terrible things that are currently asleep. Valla tells them that they need to leave, and behind them, at the end of the bridge of stone, seemingly at the edge of the realm, Valla begins to construct a portal as she and Siaska run towards it. The rest of them see one red hand, then a second, appear on the platform as an incredibly weakened, but not destroyed, Hadar, begins to pull himself up onto the platform in front of them. Its ragged form is missing parts of its chest and face, and it begins crawling towards them, uttering something about how they will not escape and that it must feed.

Siaska pauses and encourages Valla to keep going – Siaska is maintaining the protective dome that keeps them all safe from Hadar’s demi plane – she then urges the Champions to run, trying to usher them to the escape. Everyone but Lucius turns and starts to make their way towards Valla’s portal – Lucius faces off against Hadar who is pulling itself towards him and picking up speed. He drinks the potion that he picked up on the Entropis warfront and all of a sudden, his eyes become prismatic in colour as his *Prismatic Mastery* activates – he manages, for the moment, to hold back the weakened form of Hadar as the rest of his companions keep running. When Nova realises that Lucius is not with them, she stops and helps Lucius to slow Hadar. They know that no amount of damage will kill Hadar, given that he is a god, but they can slow him by causing him pain. Aila picks Lucius up and begins to carry him towards the portal while Nova follows– Lucius is still casting in a blind rage and shouting at Hadar, “I will not give into the fear that you provided!” Kalus waits with Siaska and ushers them forward as Lucius’ power wanes and his ability to cast magic is lost again.

Hadar reaches out towards Lucius but Kalus chops at the grasping fingers with his blade. Kalus’ armour is broken, and he also looks exhausted, but he maintains his defence of the Champions, Valla and Siaska, as he presses them to leave. Nova creates a pact weapon and attempts to assist him.

The ground breaks away from under them and they must make their way through tendrils of necrotic energy that threaten to pull them down – they assist each other and manage to keep moving, but Hadar gets closer to them. Hadar makes a wild swipe at them, his claws instead carving through the stone with his necrotic power. Valla has now opened the portal, and to get to it, the Champions must make their way onto a platform that is much higher than the one they are on – Quill flies, Nova uses her echo, and switches places with it, the rest manage to jump over successfully – Quill slows Hadar with *Channel Divinity* using his book. Hadar is slowed and the Wayfinders Guide glows brighter than it ever has before, the power unfamiliar. Hadar appears shocked, and holds his arm out, desperate to have the divine power returned to him while Quill’s light holds him back.

They all pull up onto the final platform and head for the portal, but a wave of darkness crosses in front of it – Hadar, blinded by Quill’s magic, is attempting to cast some sort of barrier to stop them from escaping. Aila slams her hammer into the barrier, shattering a medium-sized hole in it that will allow them to crawl through, one-by-one, but in doing so, is further exhausted as the necrotic barrier flows over her. Kalus, at the back of the pack, is fending off Hadar as it attempts to pull itself up onto the final platform towards them, with Quill’s use of magic beginning to exhaust him further.

Using the Matrix, Sentry creates vines and brambles of golden light and these entwine themselves around the form of Hadar as it tries to stretch out to grasp them – Sentry is likewise further exhausted. Kalus calls on Valla to move through the portal so that she can

Using the Matrix, Sentry creates vines and brambles of golden light and these entwine themselves around the form of Hadar as it tries to stretch out to grasp them – Sentry is likewise further exhausted. Kalus calls on Valla to move through the portal so that she can maintain it from the other side, Aila desperately holding open the hole that she had created in Hadar’s barrier. Kalus and Aila tell the rest of them to leave quickly, and Kalus tells them that he will keep Hadar at bay if it manages to break free of Sentry’s spell. Lucius asks Kalus why he always has to be the hero, but he declares that he intends to live and is only buying them all time to escape. Lucius steps up next to Kalus and begins to blast Hadar with cantrips – Kalus turns and nods to Lucius, “Warriors to the end”, he says as Lucius puts on Moonstar’s mask. Back to back, they fight against what remains of Hadar.

“By the way,” Lucius tells Kalus, “I’m sorry that I told you to shut up”.

“I deserved it,” Kalus responds to him.

“I know,” is Lucius’ rejoinder.

Sentry pushes Quill towards the portal but he does not want to leave – an exhausted Aila yells at him to get out immediately. He leaves and Sentry follows him. They notice that the swirling vortex of Divine spirits that had previously had nowhere to go other than into the void are now coalescing and surging towards the gap that leads out to normal space, looking for an escape from Hadar’s realm. On the other side, they see Valla desperately holding the portal open and as they emerge back on Entropis, they also see that the whole planet is filled with a crackling red storm. From the temple, they cannot see too far beyond on the ground, because a great grey and red mist or dust cloud has been kicked up – the whole planet is shaking. They see great fissures and cracks as Entropis begins to break apart from the destructive power of Hadar’s end.

Kalus, seeing what state Aila is in, calls on Lucius to hold Hadar and moves up to replace Aila in holding open the hole in the barrier – an exhausted Aila escapes, and she sees Kalus enveloped by black tendrils that begin to erode his armour and she sees him wince as he takes the strain with his broken arm.  Lucius, attempting to hold Hadar back on his own, now that Sentry and Kalus are gone, is swiped at by Hadar but Nova uses *Shadow Martyr*, and Tiangong jumps in front of the sharp claws, only to be immediately destroyed. Lucius points out that his strength comes from his friends and that Hadar lacks this. Hadar tells Lucius that only power matters and is hit with a cantrip to the face as he starts a diatribe about Lucius’ limits. Lucius backs up and both he and Nova move through the portal together, leaving only Kalus and Siaska behind.

For a heartbeat, they fear that Kalus and Siaska have made a foolish, rash decision, but at the last moment, they appear – Siaska with her nebulous hair and flowing white dress, and Kalus leaning on the goddess and embracing her – they call to Valla to seal the portal, and she does. “Enjoy your cell, asshole!” she calls to Hadar as the portal is closed. Entropis is not safe, however, it is breaking up all around them, and they are all thoroughly exhausted. There is no sign of their allies or the Tassadar. The earth begins to break around them, red light spilling up from its core – Hadar’s last gasp. The exhausted adventurers console each other that at the least, they have stopped Hadar from destroying everything they love – they have won.

Siaska, however, tells them not to fret. She turns and points through the dust cloud – Quill sees a tiny glint of light, almost as if reflected off a shard of glass, a jagged piece of black crystal… Sails take form, and the mighty Stormchaser sweeps in, its hull ripped apart, the lower sections destroyed, and the rest of it battered and broken. It has suffered badly in the fight, but aboard are their crew and allies, and they have managed to keep the valiant ship sailing. Maximillion has been forging metal plates, and Hope is using druidic magic to create vines, both of which have been used to hold the fragmenting ship together. The engines are non-functional, but Dannica is scorching flame into the elemental engines to keep them firing, and Tassadar and Azaria are working hard at maintaining the elemental barriers. Oriya calls to them from the helm, “Sorry we’re late, Captain! Had a few problems getting off an exploding planet!” The Stormchaser pulls in and the crew – Kamarra, the Wolf Pack, and Howard – pull them onto the ship which then flies out into Astral Space.

They watch from the deck of the Stormchaser as Entropis breaks apart in red light and is pulled into itself, leaving behind a black void surrounded by many stars. There are no signs of the Hadar spawn – they are either dead or gone – but they are surrounded by a broken fleet. It has been a victory, but many lives have been lost.

It takes many hours for the exhaustion to leave them and for the Champions to regain their strength, but when they do, they each feel something – a power that they did not realise was there. While the crew continue to repair the Stormchaser, Siaska approaches them and tells them that there is something that they need to discuss. She believes that if she and Kalus had attempted this by themselves years ago, that they would have failed and that Siaska would have either been consumed or have become Hadar. She tells the Champions that the freed Divine souls that had passed through them did not just rob them of energy, but also left something in its place – each of them is now in possession of a Divine spark. They all have a difficult choice before them – they can nurture the Divine spark and learn to use it, becoming a Divine in the process, a new generation of gods and goddesses to rule over the universe with Valla and Siaska. Their other option is to free the spark and remain mortal to live and die as they choose.

In the days that it takes them to return to Aerois, the Champions take some time to consider he enormity of what they have done – they have claimed victory over Hadar, the vast majority of their allies survived, the Valkyrian fleet (although diminished) was victorious, the Astoria collects the Stormchaser (which only just made it back to the floating city), and the Astoria takes them all slowly back to Aerois.

The secret of the Divine spark is known only to those who were present in Hadar’s realm until one night, when Lucius has a celebration with the Wolf Pack, drunkenly stands on a table and tells them that he has a secret that they must not disclose to anyone. When they find out, the Wolf Pack is overjoyed, chanting for “God Lucius” and “God Captain”. Many of them even offer to worship him although he does get the impression that most of them do not really believe him or understand what he has told them. Kamarra comes up to Lucius in a more sober moment and tells him that no matter what he decides, they will always need a captain; Lucius is confused, however, believing that with their duties being fulfilled, they would no longer wish to serve. Kamarra tells him, “Captain, you still don’t really understand, do you – this is our life. This has been a great adventure, sure,” and looking out at the darkness of the Astral Sea, says, “but we used to think that the sky on Aerois was our limit – now look, we’ve got a bigger horizon than we ever could have asked for. So many adventures still to find. Still need a ship, still need a Captain”. She nods, pats him on the shoulder, and leaves.

Nova finds an injured Thalia, propped up and arguing with Greylauno - Thalia insists that she is fine and can walk now, but can still only shuffle and limp, swearing when it is clearly painful for her to do so. Thalia, typically a cool customer who does not let her emotions show, immediately breaks into tears when she sees Nova alive. She rushes over and throws her arms around a startled Nova. Nova asks why she’s crying (Nova has never seen her cry), but Thalia tells her to shut up, that she’s not crying, it’s just that there is dust on the ship. Nova makes a flippant comment about Thalia not having to take a year to mourn her but Thalia kisses Nova and holds her for a long time, crying happy sobs, clearly not having expected Nova to survive. They sink to their knees, holding onto each other and holding hands.

As they slowly make their way home, they consider their choice in solitary moments. Sentry walks along the top deck of the Astoria, taking in what Solwynn used to be. She sees Guardian soldiers and soldiers of the Valkyrian Empire working together to repair and run the ship, tending to the injured, and performing their duties. Sentry goes among the injured Guardians, helping those she can, and takes some souls back into the Prime Matrix. When she takes a soul into the Matrix now, there is a different feeling – she sees the potential to do more than just bring back Guardian souls if she were to become Divine, including giving Guardians the ability to create life themselves, being able to reproduce.

They realise that there are still elements within the universe that prey on chaos and greed, and that even without Hadar, there will always be threats. Kalus summons them all as they approach Gideon Prime, telling them that while they still have a while to go, he must return. He tells them that he intends to step down as Emperor of the Valkyrian Empire, something he had always wished to do when the threat of Hadar was ended. He wishes to install a democracy but fears that there are elements of his empire that would abuse such a system. He had considered Valla to take over from him but now sees that her Divine calling is a greater task. He says that he will find some people that he trusts who can be installed in power and can deliver on the promise and oath that he made – essentially to create a world without heroes. He does not think that this will be goodbye, but he thanks them for waking him from a slumber that he did not realise that he had entered and says that he will spend his days righting the wrongs that he had caused. He thanks them also for giving him a chance to see it done right, and to surpass the limits that he had placed upon himself. He wishes them success and the best of luck with the decision that they must make.

Aila advises Kalus that he could do far worse than to choose Max as one of the trusted people and to promote him. While Kalus recognises Max as a true knight, however, he does not think that Max would relish a position as Emperor but agrees that he could be someone to help to usher in a new future for the empire. Kalus believes that Aerois’ path has been forever changed, given that it is now no longer separated from the rest of the universe – he tells them that the Empire is not their enemy, and that the Empire would welcome them, not as a vassal, but as an ally. He offers them all a firm handshake, but Lucius insists on a hug, which Kalus begrudgingly allows. He remains stoic and taciturn, but they notice a hint of a smile on his face. Kalus, the Tassadar, and the Valkyrian fleet leave them as the Astoria continues its long journey back to Aerois.

At Siaska’s request, the Astoria puts down in the Hawk’s Dawn Archipelago, and she tells them that the ship can become a new home now that there is no need for the Halls of Infinite Resplendence. The Champions, still undecided on their fate, meet in the Captain’s Quarters aboard the Stormchaser – Nova has her arms full of manuscripts and lists of pros and cons, statistics, and probabilities. Nova begins by telling the rest that they had the advantage of seeing the Titans at their best and their worst and got to see the destructive power that they had on the world; she also believes that they would not be prone to giving into despair like the Titans because they have each other. Aila says that they are different to the Titans – all of the Titans were Siaska’s children, whereas they are just a random group of weirdos who were dragged to the ends of the earth and defeated Hadar temporarily. Aila is happy to accept the power of godhood because she has nothing to do any more and is happy to be on standby in case Hadar escapes once more. Nova believes that all of them would be inspirational Divines, having qualities becoming of gods.

Quill disagrees with Aila when she says that she has nothing to do and reminds them of what they were able to achieve without the power of the Divines, and Nova reminds them that her goal all along was to reunite the shards of Tiangong – something she was, in fact, able to do without the power of the Divines.

They each finally come to a decision, speaking their reasons for the choice they have made.

Quill tells them that having lived his life, flying through the storm, getting hit by lightning, finding Sentry, and going on their adventures, it has taken away a normal life. He has died twice. Quill does not want the power. He does not want to replace H’esper as the God of Knowledge, living eternally, and being something for people to fall back on if things get too bad. He reminds them that they want a world without heroes, and thinks that extends to gods, too. “If that’s the world that we want, then gods are no longer needed”. Quill chooses not to take the power.

Sentry declares that she has a lot to do, and much responsibility. She had a life that was taken away from her but that was replaced by the life that she led with the party, and that was good enough that she feels that someone else could take the mantle of Prime. The beauty of the Prime is that it is a temporary position, and Sentry does not want to watch the people she loves leave her in death. Sentry declares that she does not want the Divine power, either.

Lucius reveals that he has told the Wolf Pack about his Divine spark, and that when they were chanting for God Lucius, it felt pretty good. He has tranced on the idea and has decided that he should not be a god – he believes that they should be in a world where there is no need to fall back on prayers to fix issues. They have all had their issues, and none of them were solved completely by a god or a titan – they fixed their own problems. Lucius also says that it would be awkward if he was to propose to Prince Aridan then become a god and watch him wither – the party is excited by the former prospect. This is the life that Lucius wants to lead, and it is this sort of thing that gives life purpose – the idea of infinity, and the temptation to become eternally nothing scares him. Lucius does not wish to be left with his own thoughts for eternity or have people look to him for guidance. He declares that he has things that he still wishes to do on Aerois, and that he will let go of the Divine spark.

Nova wants to remain curious about the universe and the beyond – she wants to learn and explore, craving the mystery of the unknown. She worries that people turn to gods to get answers, but she does not have answers, only questions. She still wants to help Tiangong to find the remaining Eterna, and to help the Genasi on Aerois to return home to Genas the safe way, but she can achieve all of this with the friends and networks they have made, and she does not need a Divine spark. Nova declines the gift of the Divine spark.

Aila, who had considered taking the gift, declares that she is not going to be a god on her own. She is fine with assisting the rest of them achieving their tasks and will also help the Wild Elves that she has found. Aila also declines the gift of the Divine.

Siaska meets with all of them and takes them to where the Halls of Infinite Resplendence once were, asking them whether they have made a decision. Quill declares that they have, even if it is not one that Siaska will necessarily agree with. Siaska tells them that she is not there to judge them and that the circumstances are not ones that she caused – she just wants them to be happy. Lucius informs Siaska that they have chosen to remain mortal. Siaska nods and smiles, holding her hands out to each of them in turn – when they hold her hands, she pulls from them that silvery flame that they saw in their battle against Hadar. When the spark leaves them, they each feel momentarily as if a breath or something has been taken from them, but the feeling soon passes, and they soon feel normal again. Siaska gathers the sparks and places them within her own chest, telling them that she is going to return them and send them beyond to new universes where they can become new gods for those who need them.

Siaska also tells them that with their decision, this leaves Valla and Siaska as the last Divines in this universe – she tells the party that if there is not to be a new generation of gods, then she feels that there should be none at all, and that she and Valla will have to leave. Aerois and the universe will be in their hands, not to be watched over by gods, but by future generations, to be protected by magic, science, knowledge, and technology. Hadar is sealed away forever, and without any more Divines to feed on, he will never be able to leave – this universe is safe. She reminds them to heed Hadar’s warnings: with gods or without, mortal kind accelerates towards a great destiny, but there will always be those who hunger or crave more, whether mortal or divine, and such beings are threats to all they hold dear. She implores them to be this realm’s guardians and to pass that custodianship onto a new generation when their own time comes. Siaska tells them how proud she is of them, for all they are and all that have done, and with that, she leaves them.

A short while later, Lucius returns to Gusthaven and embraces Aridan. He has a ring commissioned out of aetherium and proposes to Aridan, telling him that it comes with a caveat – Lucius wants all of the aetherium production closed down so as not to draw upon the planet itself. Aridan is happy to, especially given that they are now open to trading with the rest of the universe – aetherium was only used to keep the sky cities alive when Aerois was isolated, but now there are many more options. Lucius asks if that is a yes – it is – Aridan has never felt as close to anyone as he has to Lucius, and he accepts the ring.

Later, at the wedding (for which Quill has had his feathers freshly trimmed), Lucius makes a speech, addressing the Champions of Aerois individually. To Aila, Lucius says the following,

“It took a while, but I slowly saw beneath that fierce shell of yours that there’s a big heart that lays underneath. I learned a lot from your determination, your bravery, and I connected to the loss of your past (sorry for bringing that up at the wedding, sorry). You helped me fight through the pain, both the physical and the mental. I always knew that if we had Aila on our side, we could overcome anything”.

He addresses Sentry next:

“Sentry, our first mission, near Rosehall, you remember? Into the chasm of the ancient ruins of Dwalinden (I had some scribes look it up) – it was when I first knew I could connect to the Guardian’s matrix by seeing memories from that feral forge Guardian. Trapped down there, it was when I formed a unique bond with you, in particular. Your selflessness to protect everyone is truly the light that shone for us in the darkest of places. I am honoured to have stood by your side to save Aerois, Sentinel Prime. Til all are one”, and he awkwardly drops the microphone to return the Stormchaser salute that Sentry gives to her captain.

Nova goes bright purple as Lucius asks everyone to say hello to her and begins to address his remarks specifically to her.

“When we were teleported to the shores of Myrskyr, yes we’ve been around (he waits for applause and laughter that comes only from a drunk Quill) – at this point, Sentry was fallen and Valla was stolen. You had lost all hope, your books of knowledge thrown into the sand. What was it that I told you? ‘Let’s write some better ones’. You went above and beyond that assignment. To think of what we’ve achieved together, who we’ve saved – who you have saved – you have saved me, Nova, multiple times, and I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for you. Thank you”. Nova runs onto stage without a word and body checks Lucius in a fierce hug – there are many confused looks from High Elves but many whoops and cheers from their friends.

Lucius turns to a slightly inebriated Quill next, addressing him as “Bridie” – Quill attempts to stand, hits the table, and falls back into his chair.

“Birdie, Qillek ad Khollar, ex-Champion of H’esper – asked to be a god, said NO (we all said no, by the way, we could have been gods, just so you know”. There are some confused-looking faces in the crowd. “When you first fell, trying to find a way to revive Sentry, I didn’t realise how much of a gut-wrenching moment that would be for me personally. Returning with the Eye of H’esper, you gave us a sign and a light to guide us through that difficult path and the wisdom to overcome so many challenges in our way. I’m honoured to call you Birdie, my best friend. I hope to enjoy your company all the way through to Elder Quill and beyond”. Quill professes his love for Lucius who reciprocates – almost as much as he loves Aridan, his new husband – Aridan calls out that he is watching Quill…

Lucius continues, “I love you all, Champions of Aerois”. The whole room raises their glasses to the toast of “Clear skies!”

The celebrations go on into the evening and the days beyond.

Nova’s family returns to Vortinssar and her mother’s café re-opens. Nova commandeers the café for an intimate dinner with her friends, her mother happily cooking in the kitchen for all of them. Nova awkwardly tries to stand, catches her leg on the table and falls back into her chair before rising again, and without looking at anyone, she begins to speak, “Physics is the study of the movement of bodies in space and it can unlock the mysteries of the universe, but it cannot answer the essential question of ‘what is our purpose here?’, and after our time together, I tabulated the data, and as a conclusion of this great experiment, I hypothesise that the purpose of life is to love. Love is what you have shown me, every single one of you, through thick and thin. I have always been blessed by family but now my family is so much bigger – I love you, and I thank you”. She sits down, embarrassed. Sentry gives her a big hug and Lucius applauds while the others profess their own love.

Shortly after they land, Sentry goes to Horizon and visits a little shop on Horizon that has many flowers and automatons. She opens the door, ringing the bell, and says simply, “I’m home. I’m home!” A young woman, hands muddied with soil and oil smudged on her face, sees Sentry, weeps, and runs into her arms. The door closes on the two of them.

Aila makes plans to re-build the Stormchaser and makes a list of tasks that the others intend to do with which she can assist. Quill asks Aila to help him talk to his mum and Lucius reminds him about the Book of H’esper that was left at the ghost mansion near Rosehall.

**Epilogue**

Months pass, and they go about their own personal business – marriages, completing personal errands, quests, seeing family, restoring home, until one day, a Divine voice calls to them, telling them that it is time. They are called to a small hill that overlooks a lake with a ruined manor beside it, a small, homely town – a village with a brightly-painted tavern, and a single watch tower that looks over the fields of Suvonna. Waiting for them on the hill are two goddesses, one of space and starlight, dressed in white with dark skin that is illuminated by the starlight in her hair. Beside her stands a younger woman, with the same galaxy-like hair flowing about her, her skin dark, but lighter – a mixture of her mother and her father’s, dressed in purple and black – a goddess of time. They wait for the Champions to arrive – words are spoken, there is a soft touch as Siaska touches each of them, on the cheek, on the shoulder, or with a clasp of hands - there is a silent goodbye in her eyes.

Valla is not silent – tears fall, each of them glistening with power. “I don’t want to say goodbye, I don’t want this to end, but I know that it must. All stories must end. Our time here is done. When you found me, when you saved me, I could not have expected that we would be here where we are today but thank you. Thank you for rescuing me, for saving me, for encouraging me and supporting me when I needed you. I know that we leave this world and all the others in the best hands”. She takes her mother’s hand as one more figure joins them in a flash of light – the figure is armoured and broad of shoulder, His armour is plain and simple, and he carries a sword in his hand. Kalus nods once but says no words – he draws the blade, plants it in the hill and lets go, a symbol that his days as a warrior are done. He takes his daughter’s hand, Valla takes her mother’s, then the three of them look up and vanish in a flash of starlight.

Time rapidly passes.

We see Nova, her friends and allies return Vortinssar to Genas.

Gusthaven develops, grows, and changes as Prince Aridan and Crown Prince Lucius grow old together.

Petal runs her store and gets visits from her Guardian. Sentry appears not to age with each visit, although Petal does. One day, however, Sentry appears not as Sentinel Prime, but in her original Guardian form – a new Guardian Prime stands behind her, the legacy passed on. Sentry spends her few remaining years with Petal at her side.

Aila travels across Aerois, meeting with new clans of Wild Elves and cities, settlements, towns, and villages begin to build as the Wild Elves form a new home: Alfheim, a city for their kind, build in Aelseraph.

Finally, Quill – his years are shorter than everyone’s. The rest all attend his passing – his short life nowhere near the length of Elves, Guardians, and Genasi. Quill leaves behind a legacy of his own. The last we see is a young Aarakocra wearing heirlooms of his family – a cloak, a compass, a satchel. He looks out on a valley that was once ravaged by storms and sees a great city as ships blazing with light come and go up into Astral Space to a world beyond as Aerois hundreds of years in the future, prospers.

**~ FIN ~**

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:00:00 - Intro
0:07:39 - Dun Duns
0:08:37 - Part 1
1:24:14 - Part 2

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Hadar
* Siaska
* Valla
* Kalus Valkyrian
* Maximillion Taldros
* Hope Rosemeadow
* Dannica Bloodfire
* Tassadar
* Azaria Yorien Perel
* Oriya Marius
* Kamarra
* Howard Swiftwhistle
* Thalia Whisperwind
* Graylauno

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Root Prime
* ZZZ
* Mireeka Ad Khollar
* Breeze V'ger

## **Featured Locations**

* Far realm
* Entropis
* The Tassadar
* The Stormchaser
	+ Captains quarters
* The Astoria
* Aerois
	+ Hawksdawn Archipellago
	+ Gusthaven - Palace of Prince Aridan
	+ Vortinssar - Café of Breeze V'Ger
	+ Horizon - Solwynn's Legacy (Petal Astoria's shop)
	+ Suvonna
	+ Valley of Storms

## **Trivia**

* Hadar’s physical attacks afflict a recipient with the stacking *Doom* condition. Each stack of *Doom* does an additional 1d6 of necrotic damage.
	+ Legendary action – Pulse Wave – targets 3 players who make a Con saving throw (DC ?? <31) – success means half damage. Failure pulls the target 15 feet towards the caster. All those affected (even those who save) movement is reduced by 10 feet until the end of their next turn.
	+ Tendrils of Doom – Bonus Action – All players make a Chr or Con (DC 22) saving throw if within the reach of his domain – success gains 1 Doom token, failure gain 2 doom tokens and take doom damage + 2 additional necrotic damage.
	+ *Doom Maw* Hadar casts this at the players – those who fail a saving throw (?What? what DC?) are sucked into a demiplane of darkness. At the start of their turn, any player in the demiplane of darkness collects two doom tokens and takes xx necrotic damage.
	+ Hadar’s spell line attack (*Gravity Fissure*) – Legendary Action: Con saving throw DC 22, ??d?? force damage.
	+ Hadar’s AC is 22. His Con is +18.
* When first casting his opening Chromatic Orb at Hadar, Trott rolled a nat 1. He used Seeking Spell to re-roll and rolled a nat 20.
* Valla’s *Arcane Gate* is called *Door of Stars*.
* Kalus has an ability, *Second Wind*, that breaks the restrained condition and restores 1d10 + 30 hit points. He has 2 attacks at +18 to hit that does slashing and radiant damage. He has multiple stances – Guardian, Wrath, and ??
	+ *Radiant Strikes* – can be ranged attack, does 4d10 damage. The recipient of the damage must make a Con save (DC 21) or be dazed until the end of Kalus’ next turn.
	+ Kalus takes an Oath of Love, getting the Oaths Renewed abilities. It also gives him an Aura of Passion which gives players within 30 feet of him +4 to hit and damage.
	+ Once per turn, Kalus can give a player Resistance – On a successful saving throw, the player will take half damage and Kalus takes equal damage. If it is an AOE attack, Kalus will automatically fail his save but grant resistance to the other person.
* When Aila decides to risk an attack of opportunity from Hadar, Mark says that it would be epic if Hadar’s attack was a crit. He then rolls a nat 20 and shouts excitedly, “IT IS!! IT IS!!!”
* Tom mentioned that the Wolf Pack had never been in it for the money - he had checked the Quartermaster logs and that Quill had not paid the Wolf Pack for a year. Mark indicated that the Wolf Pack had just taken the money.
* Quill realises after he gives up the power of a god that he could have used the power to find Zim Zam.
* Tom had this to say on Quill’s death:
* The players were not expecting the choice to become a god: all were tempted to take it, but once Quill declined it, they all decided they didn’t want it. Kim felt that Nova would not want it after realising that she could do what she needed to without the power. Tom said that for the longest time, Quill would have taken the power, but after the recent fights and Sentry’s recent oath, he was not going to accept the power.
* Mark said that he had described the vision of the young Aarakocra some time ago (Episode 147) and at the time, it was thought to be Quill. Had Quill taken godhood, it might have been his potential future. Instead, it was deemed by Tom to be Billek ad Khollar.
* The futuristic city scape was something that Mark had in his head for a very long time and was always intended to be the last image of Aerois.
* The sequence with them escaping from Hadar’s realm with the Divine essences flowing through them had been planned from session 0: Mark had wanted this to happen at the very end with the players escaping the Far Realm, being flooded with divine power, and being offered the choice at the end. If they had gone in different directions, this would not have happened.
* There was reference to the tapestry in the Aerois intro and Tom mentioned Aeoris (the spelling error that lived inside it for the whole campaign). Trott suggested that this was down to Nina, but Mark suggested that it might have been misspelled in the script that Trott passed her because she would have just copied and pasted it. We will never know.
* One of the dono questions was, “What was in that ghost house in Rosehall?” – Mark’s answer: it was a minor magic item that would have been a loot thing for you guys to get. It was apparently connected to the Feywild (which is why they saw the alien landscapes), but it wasn’t the Feywild, it’s Graz’zt in disguise, trying to convince Vesselvena and bring her through but then she died and could not do it as a spirit. The party could have met Graz’zt earlier on and been asked to do him a favour for a reward or formed a pact with him. This was Graz’zt’s whole schtick – pretending to be someone else and tricking people.
* Mark did not necessarily expect them to embrace godhood, but he didn’t know which way they would go. Of all of them, he thought that Quill was the most likely to do so because of the lead-up where Quill was H’esper’s disciple and the question of whether he would take on the mantle.
* Dono question, “What about Max x Quill?” – Kim: What about it? Trott: Quill died. Katie: Max would have crushed him. Tom: Nah. Mark: I don’t think that Max would have wanted to be romantically involved with anyone. I saw Max as more of an Ace character, he was not romantically interested. Friendship, being close with people, yes.
* Mark suggested that if Zim Zam is to pop up in Altheya, he knows exactly which part of Altheya he will be in.
* Dono question, “If Nova had collected all 12 shards of Tiangong, what would that have done mechanically?” Mark: “Dunno! I hadn’t thought about it. ‘It’s unlikely that she’ll get them all, I’ll worry about it when it happens’. I would have done something cool, it probably would have been a weapon on the level of Starbreaker, like a mega epic +3 weapon.”
* There were two items that Mark felt that he should not have given to the party – one was Starbreaker, and the other was Aila’s belt of strength (because +7 strength breaks the game). It’s also one reason that he didn’t improve the hammer too much, because she already had a +16 attack bonus. The items that boost the core stats break the game, as do weapons with a +3 enhancement. Mark felt that Lucius’ gauntlet should have been simpler because he did not feel that Trott used it as much as he could have.
* Mark feels that he has learned a lot from Lightfall and Aerois and feels that he is learning a lot as he goes, finding the right balance for things in the game.
* We will never know what Rook said to Max. Ever.

## **Quotes**

* Sentry (to Petal): I'm home.

* Quote 2