Aerois - Episode 171: Tomb of Land and Stone

Katie Morrison as Aila

Kim Richards as Howard Swiftwhistle
 and Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Tomb of Land and Stone** is the 171st episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 15th January 2023 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*The gang delve deeper into the Hornsilver Vault but some of Howard's ancestors think the Stormchasers are nothing more than thieves... which isn't entirely wrong!*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomed everyone and introduced the players.
* It was Tom’s 31st birthday yesterday. Rhiannon is now the only HR member who is under 30 years old.
* Please support High Rollers on their Patreon (there is a new update by Kim, and will be a few others coming up, plus you get early access to part 2 of the podcast). Other ways to support HR is to buy merch, subscribe on Twitch, or just watch the show!
* It is High Rollers' 7th birthday on Saturday.

### **Recap**

*"Our adventurers mourned the passing of Nova V’ger who gave her life in sacrifice for the city of Vortinssar along with Harmony and Shansara in a desperate attempt to save the city from the magical elemental power that perhaps all three of them had been responsible for. In these sad, tragic moments, the party retreated to the Stormchaser, left Vortinssar, and began to think of ways they might be able to bring Nova back. In a meeting, they discussed ideas and Lucius remembered a story about a rare and powerful diamond that could fuel a spell Quill would be able to cast to bring Nova back. As he mentioned the name of this diamond, the Star of Siaska, a knock came at his quarters’ door only to be revealed as Howard. Howard, their ship’s cook, who revealed that they had a personal connection to the Star of Siaska, and perhaps may even know of its final location and be the key to unlocking the vault from which it was hidden within.

Taking Howard with them, the party travelled to the mountains north of Goldthrone, on the continent of Suvonna, where they encountered the first of many challenges to locate the vault by seeking out a carved stone face of Valena in the mountains and entering through a secret tunnel and chamber to access the vault’s inner workings. Passing by various puzzles, they eventually made their way into the more secure chambers."*

### **Part 1**

*With Howard’s aid the team delve deeper into the mysterious vault said to behold the legendary Star of Siaska!*

The door of the vault opens to reveal a long chamber with four side chambers attached to it. The room is constructed of stone walls that have been inlaid with silver and sapphires to make them look like the night sky. Along the walls of the main chamber are shelves, on which are stacked gold and silver coins, gemstones, and weapons and armour. The side chambers are divided from the main corridor by walls of narrow electrum bars and hinged gates (that once allowed access) have been sealed shut by magic some time ago. Inside the caged-off side chambers are neat rows of wooden chests, piles of silver and gold coins, display shelves lined with gemstones and masterwork weaponry. There are also four large stone plinths, one in each side chamber. That have a diamond on display. At the far end of the chamber is another stone door engraved with a mural depicting a Dwarf woman and a Halfling man holding a large diamond between them. There are two unlit braziers towards the end of the chamber and around the door are large flagpoles with draping tapestries with the Hornsilver family colours and crest.

Howard recalls another riddle that has been handed down by his family:

Beyond the door is a Hall of Glittering Gold,

The walls inlaid with silver and stars, the work of Masters, young and old.

Piles of coin, gem, and steel, scattered throughout this wealthy field.

But ‘twas here a sin of grievous ill destroyed all,

As emerald eyes and onyx hearts turned on kin and brought Hornsilver’s fall.

The dead still watch with greedy malice, their fury brought with careless avarice.

Beyond this hall lies just one more where the family’s treasure rests for all.

When the mark of an heir fills each star, the legacy awaits a final scar.

Quill tries to see if there are any mechanical traps in view – raised pressure plates, thin trip wires, magical runes or arrow holes but he cannot see anything from outside the room other than the fact that the barred doors to the side rooms have been magically welded shut as if someone did not want people to get into them. He decides to take some time to cast the ritual of *Detect Magic* while Sentry uses her *Divine Sense* to perceive faint outlines of a large number of undead beings moving up and down and checking the bars on each vault. The beings have the faint outlines of life, and she sees the blood represented as rivers of amber flowing through their bodies, their faint features, and they largely appear to be Dwarves and Halflings. While the room has a connection to the spirits, they do not appear to be fully present in the room yet.

Lucius sends his *Dancing Lights* towards the braziers to light up the rest of the room only to see that there is at least forty thousand gold, adamantine Dwarven scale mail, and large rubies worth a thousand gold each.

Lucius realises that the braziers are similar to the ones they faced in the entrance corridor and Quill uses his *Detect Magic* to confirm this. Quill can see magic on the door connecting to the dais in the previous room and cannot see any magical sigils in the vault room. Quill wants to cast *True Seeing* but realises that he does not have any of the ointment required, Howard comes to the fore and reveals that he has an item that will let him procure the items required. He also offers them some apple crumble that he happens to have about his person which all of them accept – they soon feel very full and are not able to move as well as they could before(see Trivia). Howard gives Quill the items that he needs and he casts *True Seeing* – he is now able to see that the vault is full of ghosts, both Dwarven and Halfling, Halflings on one half of the room, Dwarves on the other. The ghosts are examining the contents of each vault, checking it, going through the motions of putting things down and picking things back up while guards stand outside, warily checking around them as if they are up to something suspicious. The packs of ghosts do not appear to be aware of each other, however.

Howard pulls out a saucepan as a weapon and they step into the room, moving up to the middle of the room. Quill notices that as they move into the room, the spirits are becoming more aware of their presence. Lucius peers into the vaults as they pass and notices that the diamonds on the plinths are not actually diamonds but exquisitely cut glass to replicate diamond – they are hollow inside. In the back of the first chamber on the right is a cushion, on which rests an exquisite pair of bracers, carved with images of feathers, hunters, and a hunting party of Halflings with decorative peacocks, hawks, and other birds. As they get to the middle, they notice the temperature drop immediately to an icy cold and all lighting (including magical lighting) dims to create a gloomy, oppressive atmosphere. They hear a gruff, drawling voice, “A Halfling dares enter our hall. Greedy hill-landers have sent one of their kin to take our riches. We warned you!” followed by another voice on the other side of the hall responding with, “Foolish Dwarves, they’ve been brought by outsiders! Just thieves using our own blood against us!”

The Dwarf responds, “I’ll not let a Halfling take from our family ever again! Death to the hill-lander! Death to the thieves!” The doors behind them shut.

All of the spirits become visible and a number of them move through the bars closing off the vaults to confront the party, seeming to be especially interested in Howard.

Lucius throws a vitriolic sphere at the back of the massed minions, evaporating all of the ghosts in front of them bar one and also all the treasure in the back part of the chamber – all except the adamantine armour which remains unscathed. Quill sees the same ghosts re-form around a chest inside one of the vaults. The ghosts do not seem to be too worried about the destruction of the treasure. A number of them attack Howard, who simply falls into a quivering pile on the floor and manages to avoid being harmed (for now) – the rest of the party crowds around him to protect him. The ghosts, now unable to get to Howard, decide to attack Lucius, the thief who has destroyed their treasure – Lucius has still not equipped his armour and is struck by the ghosts. Aila attacks and destroys three nearby ghosts that then reform immediately in another vault. Quill reveals to the party that the ghosts are re-forming, hunched protectively around the chest inside one of the vaults as he moves to the front of the group, then grabs his book and lets out a burst of radiant light, destroying all nearby undead. The ghosts begin to re-form again near the same chest as Quill heals Howard.

Howard reaches into his backpack, pulls out a blanket, and hides under it in the middle of the floor. Sentry steps over his quivering pile and calls out in Dwarvish that they are not in the vault to steal their treasure but to help a fallen friend and that the party does not want to fight with them. She realises that the bound spirits have a sole purpose of protecting the treasure from any trespassers (who they will see as thieves) and will not listen to reason. Sentry decides instead to cast *Ice Storm* on one of the treasure chests where the ghosts are re-forming – the spirits are destroyed and the chest is also damaged.

Lucius twins an icy *Chromatic Orb* and hits two of the chests, damaging both. Two chests are open and Quill sees a mix of gold, silver and platinum coins, carved figurines from precious stones, gems, and beautiful pieces of fabric.

Aila moves to the bars that have been sealed shut and starts to use her incredible strength to try to pull them apart. Because of Lucius’ earlier acid attack, the bars bend, and she is able to open up an access into the vault. Quill moves to the centre of the vaults and casts *Destroy Undead* once more, blowing the ghosts away but again sees them start to re-form immediately around another chest.

Sentry casts *Aura of Life*, activates Starbreaker, and stands over Howard to protect him.

### **Part 2**

*Ancestors of Land and Stone threaten to block the path to the Star of Siaska!*

Lucius throws a *Chromatic Orb* at the bars of the first vaulted room on the left as they entered the chamber and more ghosts reform in the various vaults – now all four vaults are full of ghosts. Aila barges through the ghosts in one of the vaults towards the open chest at the back of the vault, taking necrotic damage as she passes through the ghosts. She rummages around in the chest for anything specifically magical, but it all looks particularly beautiful – deciding to try to attract the attention of the ghosts, she picks up the chest and goes to walk back through the ghosts. As she picks up the treasure, she suddenly feels it as an oppressive weight and the spirits immediately focus on Aila as the thief of their treasure – they go to attack but miss her and she drops the chest.

Quill casts *Holy* Aura. A pack of five ghosts attacks Howard but he is protected by Quill’s spell. He moves out of harm’s way and takes a swing at a nearby ghost but misses, so falls to the floor and hides under his blanket again. Sentry takes a swing at the nearby undead and Starbreaker takes out two ghosts, injuring a third, she then moves to Lucius and destroys another three – this makes her feel weighted down by avarice. More ghosts attack Howard but do only a glancing blow against him. Lucius moves towards another room and another chest, but his crumble belly has made him slow, so in lieu of reaching and picking up the chest, he shoots a ghost with *Firebolt.*

Aila picks up the chest next to her again and leaves the vault – she throws the chest to the ground in an attempt to break it. The angry spirits again focus on her while she is holding the chest but ignore her when she drops it, so she picks the chest up again. Quill moves into the middle of a group of ghosts and casts *Word of Radiance,* destroying three and feeling a sudden weight of avarice. More spectres re-form. Howard hits one of the nearby wounded ghosts with a saucepan and destroys it then moves into the nearby vault.  Sentry goes into an empty vault and smashes the chest with Starbreaker, and the treasure spills out across the room – the ghosts outside immediately turn towards her, angered, before hurrying back to their vault to attack her – they miss.

Lucius picks up the chest in his vault and brings it out of the room before signalling to Howard to go into the vault to do what he needs to with the diamond. The ghosts dash past Howard to go for Lucius, who holds their treasure. Three ghosts attack Howard but miss. Aila decides that she has had enough and wants to keep the ghosts rooted in one place by smashing the chest she has – she puts the chest on the floor and lands a massive blow on it with her hammer, scattering the contents across the floor and enraging the possessive spirits. She zaps them with lightning and destroys one.

Howard manages to evade the ghosts chasing after him once more. Quill flies across the room and squeezes through the bars into another of the empty vaults. He pulls his *Secret Chest* out of the ethereal plane, opens the chest in front of him, and unceremoniously dumps its contents into the *Secret Chest.* He will later realise that he has just looted 10,000 gold.

Howard moves into the first vault, cuts his hand and puts his bloody palm onto the diamond mounted on the plinth – the blood, although it has no way of entering the gem, suddenly drips inside the tiny hollow in its centre and fills it. In response, there is a rumbling of stone underneath it. The whole diamond slowly turns red to match the crimson blood at its centre. The injury to his hand is enough to make him shake off the effects of his *Crumble Belly*.

Sentry, having destroyed her chest, stands and defends herself from the angry ghosts’ revenge attacks while Lucius surrounds himself with *Armor of Agathys* then moves away from the ghosts who hit him and take damage themselves. He calls on Howard to go to Sentry next to activate the diamond in her area. Howard runs across the hallway and squeezes through the bars – the vault is so packed with spirits that he must pass through the ghosts to get to the diamond on the plinth, which he does. Sentry, realising the danger to Howard, *Misty Steps* out of the room and runs to the vault opposite, taking the angry ghosts with her. Lucius, still carrying his chest, casts *Fly* on himself and heads to Sentry – the ghosts around him hit him but are destroyed by his icy armour. Unfortunately, they immediately begin to re-form inside the vault that already contains Sentry and other ghosts, so they begin to form inside Sentry and Lucius – Sentry loses her concentration and *Aura of Life* drops - they are suddenly all more vulnerable to the necrotic effects of the ghosts.

Aila makes a stand and takes some hits from the angry ghosts around her. Quill makes his *Secret Chest* tiny again and moves away from the ghosts near him (*Shielding* their attacks) so that he can “secure” the coins and gems at Aila’s feet. The horde of ghosts in the vault attack Lucius and Sentry – both are hit, and Sentry gets a retaliatory strike at one of them, which is destroyed. Howard cuts his hand again and bleeds into the diamond which slowly turns red – he runs as fast as he can towards the room next door. Sentry casts *Aura of Life* once more and moves to the centre of the hallway outside the vault. Quill is attacked by the ghosts surrounding him, but his *Shield* causes them to miss, and he still feels bloated from the crumble he ate earlier. Lucius and Sentry are attacked by their ghosts, but they manage to keep them occupied and away from Howard. The party keeps the spirits at bay while Howard completes the blood ritual with all four of the diamonds – when he completes the ritual with the fourth, the door at the far end of the hall opens into another chamber.

Howard quickly screams out the conclusion of his family history… “But do not dream of blood-stained gold or haunted halls. The folly of our ancestors was their own mistake, for as their families fought, the young lovers, their children, and those who loved them, left behind their fortune along with the jealousy and greed and realised they had all the riches they ever needed in the arms of each other, the love of their children, and the loyalty of those who trusted them. They moved away from Hornsilver lands and began a new, simple life, enjoying the comforts of the world and the hard work of their own hands. The smiles of those you love is worth more than any gift of the earth, or star in the sky.”

The doors lead into a final chamber – a simple, circular room. The walls are divided into upper and lower sections by a black divider of stone, and various stone doors are set into each of the curved wall halves (twelve in total). At the centre is a large statue of Siaska herself, carved from a fusion of white marble and black onyx, and mixed with crystalline material to make it seem as if she is the maid of the night sky itself. In her hands, raised above her head about ten feet in the air, is a massive, beautifully cut diamond that casts a gentle light around the chamber.

While the party keeps the spirits busy, Howard runs to Aila who throws him down the corridor and through the door and into the new chamber. He moves quickly to the base of the statue and pulls a stepladder out of his bag – before he touches the diamond, he says, “Oh my ancestors, Wilbur and Hilda Hornsilver, I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, I don’t come here with greed. I just need to borrow this to bring a dear friend back. You’d maybe find it appropriate – she loves the stars, and Siaska, this star could bring her back. Please, forgive me.” Howard watches as the statue’s hands that were clenched protectively around the diamond seem to relax and part, allowing Howard to take it.

Howard reaches out and reverently takes the diamond and whispers his thanks – all of the ghosts in the main chamber suddenly turn towards the inner vault, realising what has happened. “The star,” they whisper, “the sta…” and they all vanish suddenly as if they were a flame on a candle, suddenly extinguished. They finish looting the vault, taking the remaining 16,600 gold, a set of Adamantine Scale armour, magical bracers (Bracers of Archery), and a magical longsword (+2) with blue sapphires set into the hilt and the pommel. The latter looks like a Dwarven made weapon with Halfling detailing and engravings. Lastly, they find a Staff of Frost.

The Stormchasers (in general) are not so sure about taking all of the wealth from Howard, but he tells them that he would rather the wealth go to the saving of Aerois than see it cause more misery and death as it has done for centuries. He says that his name is now Swiftwhistle, so they may as well take the last of the Hornsilver wealth and do good with it.

They make their way back to the Stormchaser. When they emerge from the eye cave it is night, and the Cradle is still bright and visible with the stars twinkling beyond it. The lanterns along its bow are lit and the crew eagerly await their return: Oriya offers to take the crew below if they wish to conduct the ritual in peace and Lucius agrees that she should do so because he is worried about what may happen. He does ask Howard to stay on deck given all that he has done to make this happen. While Oriya flies the ship to a high peak, Lucius gathers some of Nova’s favourite belongings including some books that he lays out for her to see when she first opens her eyes again. Oriya then takes the crew down to the hold, leaving Howard and the party alone on deck – from where the ship is anchored, they have a view of the Suvonnan mountains all around them in the dim light and chilly night air.

Quill speaks to the party, asking them to think of some memories of Nova to help fuel the *True Resurrection* spell. He reminds them that he was once where Nova is and tells them that the temptation to stay is strong, maybe even stronger for Nova now that she has saved Vortinssar. There is a chance that she might refuse and that they will never see her again – he wants them to be prepared for that eventuality. Quill begins the hour-long ritual, channelling H’esper’s (now Siaska’s) energy into calling down the stars and strands of the Cradle. The rest of them see the summoned energy coalesce around the large diamond and start to pulse as if the diamond was a heart. The aura and light begin to form a vague humanoid shape.

Quill’s memory is of Nova chasing him around the Stormchaser and measuring him for his prosthetic wing. He recalls his first flight with the wing, soaring over the Stormchaser, looking down and seeing the glee in her eyes because she had given the gift of flight back to Quill. Nova went to a huge effort, he says, to give him the thing that he did not even realise that he wanted again.

Sentry holds the hands of those nearby and looks to the stars, seeing a shooting star. It reminds her of fighting the Stone Giants on the Vivex and Nova teleporting in like a bullet to fight them head on; she confronts her problems with no hesitation and always gives her all.

Lucius recalls Nova’s willingness to make a sacrifice and especially recalls her suffering an incredible injury to her own arm when they made their desperate escape from Aegis V.

Finally, Aila speaks generally about how Nova went from being an annoying little girl to being an essential person in Aila’s life. She is the first person that Aila has ever felt that she has actively wanted to be around forever, and she desperately wants to protect her.

Quill has trouble looking at the figure in the middle of the circle because it has become so incredibly bright. Quill closes his eyes, now able to feel the magic flowing through him, an intense magic that he has never wielded up until now. The spell is forming a new body, a new life, and a new essence of Nova based on the memories, thoughts, and feelings of his friends. His mind follows the energy back up towards the stars, past the Cradle and into Astral Space – suddenly, like crossing some invisible yet tangible boundary, he finds himself in a place of infinite light.

Quill looks around, searching for Nova but she is not there. He blinks and suddenly sees a constellation that is shaped in her outline, floating through the stars. For a moment, to Quill’s eyes, it looks similar to Tiangong’s echo manifestation – translucent and filled with stars and nebulae. He speaks hesitantly into the light, not certain that Nova is there but she answers him.

Quill asks Nova to return with him where she will find herself aboard the Stormchaser and ready to re-join the fight for their future. He tells her that she is a hero and that she will be remembered if she decides to stay – Quill, of all of them, understands. Nova asks what happened in Vortinssar, still feeling guilt and that she caused the danger to the city - Quill tells her that the city was saved, largely thanks to her actions. Nova remembers the equal sacrifice that was paid by Harmony, Shansara, and Tiangong, and denies being a hero. She tells Quill that she is just a tired Genasi who is at peace where she is.

Quill feels the power starting to wane in his spell, the contribution from his friends is beginning to fail, and he knows that he does not have much time left to speak with Nova before he must return.

“There is so much more that needs to be done, and so many more people we can help together, all of us,” he tells her.

“I suppose,” replies Nova, “we may have saved Vortinssar, but with Hadar on the horizon, what’s one city against oblivion?”

Nova hears Quill’s voice beginning to grow distant, weaker, as he tells her that they would not be able to fight without her, and Quill feels almost as if Nova is being pulled away from him. More urgently, Quill tells Nova that whatever her decision, it is the right one for her, but he asks her to consider returning for Aerois, the Stormchasers, for Horizon and everything.

“Show me your wing, Quill,” Nova whispers softly. He extends his mechanical wing towards her. A faint smile appears on the ghostly Nova’s face as she admonishes him, “you really haven’t been maintaining it, have you?” A shocked Quill almost squawks, “I’ve been doing my best! This is why we need you!” He holds out a hand to her, “So…?”

To Nova, Quill looks like he is being pulled away from her. Quill is aware that his power to maintain the spell is almost gone and he strains to maintain it for as long as he can – it is now or never. “I’m so sorry that it went this way, Nova, and if this is goodbye, you were one of the best things that’s ever happened to me and I’m sure that everyone else would say the same – the memories, the feelings they all had for you. You’ve changed so many lives and I just want to say thank you… and goodbye.”

A moment passes that feels like an eternity to Quill but eventually Nova reaches out and grips Quill’s wing – she begins to feel herself being pulled forward. From where they are (Quill seeing a world of light, and Nova seeing a starry sky), they see Aerois and the shimmering aura of the Cradle, the mountains, clouds, and seas. They see Astral Space all around them. There is a moment when they look in one direction and both feel an ominous sense far away – something is out there, a cold, hungering something, but it quickly fades.

As they begin making their way back down towards the planet, Nova feels the world rushing around her but there is something… odd, something strange… then suddenly Quill is back in his body. The rest of them see a fresh-bodied Nova, draped in a cloak that Lucius has laid on her – her eyes open and she takes a breath of cold, but refreshing, air. She looks around at her friends who are gathered around her, protectively, “Hi,” she says, simply.

“Nova!” cries Sentry, throwing her arms in the air in celebration. “Yes!” and she pulls Nova into a great hug. Lucius falls to his knees relieved but overwhelmed, and an exhausted Quill, still grasping Nova’s outstretched hand, can only repeat, “It worked! It worked!”

Quill looks at Nova, “You almost made me think that you were going to stay there!”

“I almost did,” she tells him simply. Quill collapses, “but you didn’t…”

Aila grabs Nova’s free hand and angrily tells Nova that if she ever does that again, Aila will kill her.

Nova is greatly relieved to see her friends but there is a queer absence – there is no voice, no presence, they are not with her as they once were. Nova tries to summon Tiangong – she holds out her hand, expecting the blade to appear but nothing comes. She tries to manifest her echo – *something* appears, but it is a shadowy figure, a true echo. There is no Tiangong, just the space where Tiangong would have been – they are still there, but are just a memory, Nova’s memories made manifest. She waits with her hand out, waiting for the blade to appear, waiting for the familiar voice in her mind, and the familiar touch, but there is nothing.

For a scant moment, however, when Nova attempted to summon the blade and manifest the echo, she thought that she heard another voice, but it was ephemeral and gone before she could sense anything from it. Nova is devastated when she realises that she can no longer feel their hum or their heartbeat – Tiangong is truly gone.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:00:00 - Intro
0:00:00 - Dun Duns
0:00:00 - Part 1
0:00:00 - Part 2

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Howard
* Oriya

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* H'esper
* Siaska
* Hadar

## **Featured Locations**

* The Auric Peaks
	+ Hornsilver Vault
* The Stormchaser

## **Trivia**

* Trott was running the stream today and he struggled with sorting out a bit of an echo from Mark. Mark’s mic was being funnelled through some speakers in the studio and it was very distracting to Tom.
* Mark describes Sentry’s power as a paladin as coming “from the Matrix itself, a very powerful spiritual (in a sense, but only to other Guardians) kinda vibe.”
* Mark enforced his rule in this episode that a spell with a specifically named component could not be cast unless the player had the components on their character sheet. Quill wanted to cast *True Seeing* but did not have the components so had to use a special item of Howard’s to get them.
* Mark made the claim that Gnomes and Halflings are “the same thing”. He hates Gnomes and does not think they should be in the game because they lack unique lore. This was somewhat unpopular with chat:
* Howard has an ability called *Backpack of Useful Stuff.* It has three uses per day that allows him to produce an item worth up to 45gp.
* Eating Howard’s apple crumble gives players 1d10+9 temporary hit points but produces a condition called “crumble belly” which slows any movement by 10ft per round.
* The first attack on Howard by the ghosts would have been a natural 20 except that Sentry decided to protect him, giving them disadvantage. The second roll was a 14.
* Tom, the rules lawyer, reminded Mark that the necrotic damage did not just remove temp hit points, but also took away from the permanent maximum. Thanks, Tom.
* Lucius’ *Vitriolic Sphere* destroys 2,800 gold of the treasure. There were multiple comments in Twitch chat at the time about the fact that acid does not melt gold, a suggestion that it was either a fantasy acid or aqua regia, and that in the worst-case scenario, they could simply take the melted gold as a lump and re-smelt it. A later suggestion was that the gold is not, in fact melted, but ruined or dissolved.
* When there are 5 spirits attacking Aila, their attack and damage bonuses are doubled.
* Mark forgot to use the ability for most of the fight (even having to be reminded by Tom), but when the ghosts are destroyed within 5 feet, they explode into a mist that affects the triggering creature with a weight of avarice (*Burden of Greed*). Each creature that dies gives 1 stack. For each stack a player has, they have -1 to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. When a player has a stack of 5 or more, *other things* happen at the start of their turn (make a wisdom saving throw.
* Mark stopped the combat with the ghosts early because it was clear that the party was going to do it easily. He worked out roughly how long it would take Howard to complete his task and had people take appropriate damage, and Sentry made one concentration check for *Aura of Life.* Quill was given an equivalent amount of gold. They then resumed as if Howard had touched all 4 of the gems.
* In the story about the Howard’s ancestors, the Halfling man was called Wilbur and the Dwarven woman was called Hilda. They were the origin of the Hornsilver family.
* This is one of the rare occasions on which the Stormchasers actually looted the items and coins that Mark put in their way.
* They manage to loot from the vault: 36,600 gold, adamantine scale armour, Bracers of Archery, +2 Longsword, and a Staff of Frost. Trott commented that Sentry should have the latter item… because she is played by Rhi Frost. Puntastic!
* Mark had all of the party contribute to Nova’s resurrection by thinking of a memory of Nova, a message that they would give to her, or any other contribution. The player would then roll a d20 with no bonuses – this combined total determined how long Quill would have to speak to Nova’s soul before he had to return.
* Mark and Nova had prepared for Nova’s resurrection and had talked about what would happen. “There was a sacrifice to be paid,” said Kim. “If everything comes back completely normal, then what’s the consequence? What’s the point of having death in the first place?” added Mark. Kim considered this over Christmas – she didn’t want Nova’s sacrifice to be one without some significance. Tom added that this late in the campaign, death must have some weight. Mark pointed out that while they brought Nova back, Tiangong is a separate entity and that they were also destroyed. Nova comes back without any of her equipment.
* Kim sent Mark a video of her deleting all of her inventory from Nova. https://discord.com/channels/190275359932022784/190694050326773761/1064290168980377630
* Kim had Palador’s key to the Hall of Infinite Resplendence.
* Mark gave some advice in the outro about not being sad if your D&D character dies.

## **Quotes**

* Tom (as Quill): I know the people before us succumbed to greed... electrum bars, though.

* Quill (to Nova): “You almost made me think that you were going to stay there!”
* Nova: “I almost did."
* Quill: “But you didn’t…”