Aerois - Episode 128: Where Centaurs Roam

Katie Morrison as Aila

 Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**Where Centaurs Roam** is the 128th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd Twitch channel on 31st October 2021 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*The party continue their tussle with the Manticore, then find a roaming Centaur family who know things about Rosemeadow...*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* As a Halloween episode, each of the players dressed up: Mark dressed as Commander Xarkira (of the Valkyrian Empire), Tom dressed as Lahabrea (from Final Fantasy XIV), Kim dressed as Princess Azula of the Fire Kingdom (from Avatar: The Last Airbender), Katie dressed as Aila, Rhiannon dressed as Kamarra (Head of the Wolf Pack), and Trott dressed as Macho Man (Randy Savage’s professional wrestling persona).
* This episode was pre-recorded because Rhiannon was going to be away on Sunday when they would normally record.
* The sponsor today is D&D Beyond.
* Merch: Thalia and DM pins are new on the store (sold out on US store already). More merch coming soon. Creator codes will be disappearing on the first.
* Kim has just launched a horror one-shot adventure that she has written called Mists & Shadows. It is based on Malaysian folklore and is available on Kim’s Patreon for free (https://www.patreon.com/nanosounds).
* Please consider supporting High Rollers on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/HighRollers). It will assist with upgrading equipment, and other important matters (like perhaps assisting in getting a dedicated studio space… more information to come on this).

### **Recap**

*"Seeking to save the life of their friend Thalia from a Feywild curse placed upon them by a sorceress she once wronged, the party have found the means to transport themselves to the plane of Lunaria (AKA the Feywild) and traverse the Twilight Nebula’s strange effect on transportation magics. The key to this planar travel – the Centaur Rosemeadow, whom the party met when their adventures first only just begun, a kindly soul who had no memory of her past or how she came to Aerois. With Rosemeadow, Thalia, the Harpy Kyrie, and their companion Big Cat, the party and friends found themselves in a strange blue and lilac wood that stretched out for miles and miles. Seeking somewhere to get their bearings, they came upon a group of knights and folk at arms battling a much larger and more dangerous manticore. Leaping to their aid, the party quickly realised how deadly a foe this could be before Sentry turned the creature and caused it to flee, buying them precious minutes to talk and prepare. Now, the manticore is about to return and the party have elected to stand and fight alongside the Knights of the Splendid Panoply, led by the Avian Knight Lady Penelope el Pavo Real*."
### **Part 1**

*Deep in the forests of the Feywild the team prepare for the return of the great Manticore!*

Around the clearing as they rally and regather their troops, the party is joined by Lady Penelope and her Knights of the Splendid Panoply as well as Radovan and his Fey folk at arms (satyrs, goblins, pixies) all of whom are armed with archery equipment: Rosemeadow, Thalia and her crew stand safely to the back of the glade. Radovan’s archers have taken positions behind trees and are attempting to hide as the sound of the beating of thick leathery wings and a curiously disturbing humanoid roar comes from above: the manticore has returned.

Understanding that there is a group of armoured knights, all with long spears, it is staying at a distance this time, hovering at about 60 feet from the ground. It declares that it “will not be frightened by some metal woman,” and that it is “time to feed”. The manticore flicks its tail, using its *One Thousand Needles* ability (see trivia), hitting Sentry with two, Quill with five, Nova with four and Lucius with five spines. While some of the knights managed to ward off the hail of spines, others have taken the brunt and are critically injured but willing to fight to the end: the manticore’s tail is empty of spines, however.

Nova attempts to *slow* the manticore but fails, Aila runs up a tree then uses her hammer to fly at the manticore before hitting it soundly in the face twice – it howls in agony in response. Quill casts *mass cure wounds* healing himself, Lucius, Nova, Sentry and two of the knights. Sentry casts *sunbeam* at the creature but it is resistant to the damage, then uses a potion of healing to assist one of the heavily injured knights. The manticore uses a legendary action, *bestial vigour* (see trivia below) to regrow its tail spines. Lucius casts *slow* on the manticore which succeeds; he then hides behind a nearby tree.

The manticore shoots tail spines at Sentry and Lucius with its *tail flick*, hitting Sentry but missing Lucius. Radovan hits the creature with his crossbow and calls on his archers to fire a volley which hits the creature; Lady Penelope casts *haste* on herself and flies up to attack the manticore but it avoids her blows. The manticore bites Aila, leaving her bleeding; it shrugs off the slow spell on it and speeds up. Nova attempts to cast *blight* on the creature, but it resists, and she manages to shake off the fear effect that the creature’s roar has had on her. The manticore uses its *tail flick* once more, this time against Nova and Quill, Nova is hit but Quill manages to *shield* against the spine that is incoming towards him.

Aila backs away towards the ground while she swings at the manticore as she heads towards Quill: she hits it twice, gets hit by a claw attack as she moves away and takes bleeding damage. After Aila’s attacks, the manticore is heard to utter, “Not worth it, not hungry. Find food elsewhere” and it tries to flee – it moves 20 feet towards the canopy, taking it to 70 feet off the ground. Sentry casts *plant growth* on the canopy, slowing the manticore’s escape with difficult terrain; she calls Starbreaker, giving her the *unstoppable* effect, freeing her to move faster towards the creature. Lucius sends out an acid *chromatic orb* which he needs to use *seeking* on to hit: the orb creates a large wound on the beast’s hind quarters exposing ribs and the pelvic bone on one side – the maddened creature looks like it would happily chew its own leg off to stop further damage by the acid.

Radovan takes a shot and misses, but his archers release another volley that hits the manticore, pin cushioning it with arrows. Quill heals Aila, removing the bleed effect on her. The manticore flicks its tail and attempts to hit Sentry, Nova and Lucius with its tail spines – it misses Lucius, hits Nova once and Sentry twice, and then attempts to move away. Lady Penelope makes an attack on the fleeing manticore, skewering it with her lance – the beast falls to the ground taking Lady Penelope’s lance with it. The knights let out a cheer for Lady Penelope and the travelling adventurers who assisted them. Lucius is self-effacing, telling them that the party ‘did nothing but aid those in need’ which is well-received by the avian knights believing him to be a true nobleman spirit.

Lady Penelope flies down and Lucius introduces himself – she thanks him for the aid that the party has rendered her and her knights in slaying the beast. She asks if there is anything that she or her party can do to aid them, and Lucius tries to pass her over to Nova who is freaking out over the spines that are stuck in her and screaming as Aila pulls them out: Sentry casually removes her own spines as she walks back over to the group. The knights are tending to their wounded, removing spines, and bandaging injuries.

Lady Penelope introduces herself, Radovan (her Sergeant) and the Fey Folk at arms – she looks around for Dago, her Satyr musician, but the drummer is nowhere to be seen: Quill tells her that he ran off and indicates the direction so that some of the healthier knights can go after him to bring him back. Quill introduces himself as a guide and seer for the group then introduces Nova (who is still a little woozy after having the spines taken out of her). Nova tells Lady Penelope that they are looking for Heartspire – Penelope tells her that she was going to offer to escort them to wherever they needed to go but that she cannot take them there. Radovan is confused, understanding that they must have a guide to have come from off world – Lucius explains that their guide was unaware until recently of her Fey background and he points to Rosemeadow. Rosemeadow, for her part, is delighted to see a ‘little bunny man in a cute hat’ and she gallops over to pick him up and hug him: Lady Penelope recognises Rosemeadow as a Centaur of the Roaming Meadows. Heartspire, she says, has a great wall of briars erected around it and no one enters or leaves – it is not that the other Archfey forbid travel to Heartspire, but it is impossible to fly into and within Heartspire and the briar wall keeps everyone else in or out.

Penelope is happy to introduce the party to a camp of Centaurs that are nearby – this should be a place that they can rest and recuperate as well as somewhere they may be able to get more information; she is happy to accompany them beyond the Centaur camp if she and her knights can be of any assistance. She tells them that the Centaurs are camped within a day of their current position, but that Heartspire is many days away, she also warns them not to travel through the woods but to keep to the roads because the woods can make beasts particularly strong (just as they saw with the manticore) – she will be able to put them on a road that leads directly to Heartspire. Lucius thinks that if they can befriend the Centaurs via Rosemeadow that they may be able to ride them to Heartspire, but Penelope tells him that the Roaming Meadows are very amicable people and will befriend any person they come across.

Thalia slides up to Nova and asks her quietly if Lady Penelope has indicated whom she serves, but Thalia is not familiar with her name, so she asks Lady Penelope herself. Penelope tells Thalia that they are free knights, and that unfortunately Valkyrian has requested that the House Lords and the Kingdoms prepare for war – many of the House Knights are and have been boarding his ships to fly off to Astral Space, leaving the control of ferocious beasts to the free knight companies. She indicates the manticore, the body of which is now hanging just off the ground in the vines and branches of a nearby tree, and says that trophies must be taken, so the knights start to butcher the manticore’s corpse for paws, claws, teeth, eyes, and any other part they can use for a trophy. Radovan, who has finally been released by Rosemeadow, runs away.

Quill asks about how many House Lords and Ladies remain in Lunaria – Penelope tells him that there are many, but that Houses spring up all the time, and she warns him against getting involved in Lunarian politics.

Thalia asks the group what they wish to do – she is aware of the time constraints but thinks it also important that Rosemeadow has a chance to reunite with her people. Quill thinks that meeting the Centaurs is a good idea, as does Aila who points out an overwhelmed Nova sitting behind them and poking at her leg holes (where the spines were removed): this earns her a reproof from Thalia who offers to pour some alcohol on the wounds, Lucius offers to cauterise them with fire and a disbelieving Quill who simply heals her wounds. Thalia reassures them that they do have some time – the tattoo is barely up her forearm, and there is time to spend on Rosemeadow: Nova grabs Thalia’s arm and marks its current position so that she can monitor its spread. Thalia echoes Penelope’s warning about not getting involved in the politics of the Feywild houses because nothing will eat away at their available time as dealing with fickle creatures such as those – if they can, she says, they should try to deal only with free folk.

### **Part 2**

*We find our way out of the giant forest in the Feywild and meet a family of roaming Centaurs who are veeeery similar to Rosemeadow!*

Once they have finished butchering the manticore corpse and have located Dago, the Satyr musician, the knights are ready to escort the party to the Centaur camp, knowing that it is a few hours to get to the edge of the wood. After a few hours, the trees begin to thin out and they begin to see the grass change hue from lilac to green on the horizon. Far in the distance, they see a massive mountain chain and they realise that from the distance they are, the mountains must be unnaturally tall – one of the peaks reaches through the clouds and into the atmosphere, potentially reaching all the way into Astral Space. After another hour’s journey, they hit a well-travelled dirt road leading east to west and following this they come into view of a lake. The lake is crystal clear and pristine – there are rocks that float above it with perpetual waterfalls that flow into the lake, eventually becoming several meandering rivers that flow away from it.

On the edge of the lake, they see bright, colourful Bedouin tents, marquees, and wagons, Centaur children (foals) being chased by their parents, as well as artisans and cooks preparing meals at long tables: all have long flowing brown chestnut hair, and their bodies are those of dappled horses. Lucius looks to Rosemeadow to see what she thinks of what is laid out before her – her gaze is initially drawn to the beauty of the lake, and she marvels at how perfect it is. When she sees the Centaurs, however, Quill notices for the first time that she is very nervous as she wrings her hands and shuffles her hooves in the grass. Quill asks Rosemeadow if she is ok – she laughs nervously and says that she is, that the Centaurs all look very busy and that she does not want to trouble them, but he gets the impression that she would very much like to meet them so offers to go in first and break the ice – she agrees. Lady Penelope says that they will be asking to spend the night with the Centaurs, so they will be welcome to join them, too.

Aila suggests that she stays at the back and does not say anything because, even though she is a delight, some people fail to see that. Kyrie sticks her head out and timidly suggests that Quill be their first point of contact because he is very nice, and the party agrees that Quill and Sentry are probably their best ambassadors: Thalia thinks it best if she stays at the back, too, in case anyone recognises her, and asks Nova to stay with her while holding her hand. They have some further discussion while Lucius looks at them with his hands clasped near his cheek and smiles at the romantic couple, enjoying their interaction and handholding, while Thalia looks at him and narrows her eyes.

Quill and Sentry, meanwhile, have started to wander towards the Centaur camp and Quill is trying to recall how to introduce yourself to people who do not already know you. Sentry says that putting arms above your head and waving hello (and she demonstrates) is usually the best course: a few of the centaur foals look up and wave back at her. She and Quill wave again and the foals begin to move towards them at a full gallop. All but one manages to stop just before getting to them, but a younger one stumbles and must catch itself, while another has a goofy-looking face with a gap in his teeth and curly brown hair that spills around his shoulders. He is amazed at the metal woman, the likes of which he has never seen before and wants to touch her arm, and a young girl wants to know where she is from. The young girl points out the knights (who bow to them) to the boy, Edwin and says that they should tell Ulstace, the Commodore and leader of the family; Edwin takes Sentry’s hand and starts tugging her to take her back to their camp while the little girl bounces around and gets excited at the ‘bird man’, ruffling his feathers, and at the blond-haired Lucius. They are intrigued and intimidated by Aila and immediately interested in Big Cat, who raises his hackles and hisses at them.

The children start leading them to the water’s edge where a group of adults are now starting to congregate. They notice seven or eight large Bedouin tents, and several marquees with several large, long tables but no chairs (it is apparent that the centaurs fold their legs underneath them to sit and eat); they also notice several crafting benches that are set very high at which the Centaurs must stand. There is one very large male Centaur in the centre of the family of twenty or so– he wears a leather apron with hand-decorated designs down his front and a belt that is full of leatherworker’s tools – he is rubbing his hands, has his greying brown hair tied back into an extremely long ponytail that is braided and hanging loose by his side, his tail has also been braided with leather wraps and decoration woven in amongst the braids. He bids them welcome to the Fairmeadow family and asks them to sit, eat and rest. Lucius is surprised at how hospitable the Centaurs are immediately – the Centaur tells Lucius that they are lucky to come across the Meadow Roamers who are friendly folk. He introduces himself as Ulstace Fairmeadow, leader of the Fairmeadow family and apologises for not having chairs but offers them cushions instead.

Ulstace’s eyes move between the party members until they alight on Rosemeadow – he gets excited because he did not know that they travelled with another Meadow Roamer and calls upon his sister Centaur to join them – Rosemeadow panics, not knowing what to do or what to make of the situation. Sentry takes her hand and calms her down: Rosemeadow says hello but that she does not know the Centaur family, nor does she know who she is. Ulstace is very sorry for causing her distress, reassuring her that she is a Meadow Roamer like they are and gently calls her to join them. He turns to Sentry asking if she called the Centaur in their party ‘Rosemeadow’ – when it is confirmed that this is her name, he pauses as if the name is familiar before going back to his exuberant self and offering them food, drink, and a place to sit. He wants to know more about Sentry, her companions, and their travels – Lucius quietly cautions them to be careful about the information that they decide to share with the Centaurs, looking pointedly at Thalia. She agrees with Lucius and advises them that they need to be very careful that if they are offered anything in the Feywild, they must make sure that whoever offers it must say that it is offered freely, because there is powerful magic involved in these bargains in the Feywild. Thalia asks Ulstace if his offering is given freely, without expectation or cost – he looks at her, as if considering something then says that she must be used to dealing with Fey Nobles and the Archfey because his family does not deal in those types of shenanigans. He also offers the services of his craftsmen to assist with armour and weapon repair for the knights if it is needed and offers to make them items for gold or gems if they wish.

They bring out a simple repast of bread, butter, fruit, vegetables, and nuts and place cushions at the tables for them to sit on – Quill gives them 10 gold to bring out some heartier foodstuffs. Ulstace tells Lucius of an heirloom that he possesses – an artifact that has been passed down for centuries in his family – it is a hammer, and it allows him to craft items very quickly: what would take another weeks to make, he can make in a matter of hours, but only when the moon is at the right height. He describes some of the items he could make – boots that would allow someone to walk as quietly as a pixie (500 gold), bags that can carry more things that one could imagine, and other items of wood or leather.

They decide to spend the night at the Centaur camp and Thalia mentions quietly to Nova that they should ask the Centaurs about Heartspire – she is glad that their first encounters in the Feywild have been the knights and Centaurs rather than the Noble Houses – these good folk is what she missed most of the Feywild. They speak of the stars – the Twilight Nebula casts a slight haze at night, somewhat like the Cradle, blotting out some stars but making others shine brighter (although they do not name their constellations here because before Valkyrian arrived, the stars were thought to be spirits that had ascended or gods). Big Cat drags a cushion over to Thalia and flops down on it before falling asleep.

Lucius starts telling generic stories about Aerois, the Cradle and some of their history without giving away anything about their mission: he uses magic to illustrate and punctuate his stories, embellishing them to suit his needs as a great storyteller (although the others notice that the story is all over the place in terms of its timeline). Ulstace appears not to be listening too closely but is clearly listening for more than what Lucius is giving them, the children, and Rosemeadow, on the other hand, are enthralled, especially when Lucius and Aila tell them about when Quill and Sentry died (which Rosemeadow did not know).

Quill asks if the Centaurs have had anything to do with Lady Penelope or her free knights before and while they saw the knights pass a few hours before, and have heard of such companies, they have not had anything to do with them before. Ulstace is aware that something is going on with the Noble Houses, some war somewhere for which the Emperor has requested troops, but the Meadow Roamers are not soldiers and have no love for the Empire. Lucius tells them that the Empire is trying to take over Aerois and Ulstace informs him that while the Empire could have invaded Lunaria, the combination of the effects of the Twilight Nebula and the agreement of the Fey Lords resulted in an Accord that has allowed the Centaurs to be left alone and Lunaria to be a peaceful and quiet world. Ulstace does not know what brought the Fey Lords together to agree to the Accords, because it was very unusual for them.

Ulstace asks why they came to Lunaria and wonders if it was to help their friend, Rosemeadow: Nova tells him that Rosemeadow has no recollection at all about the Feywild – she calls Rosemeadow over from where she is playing a game with the foals. Rosemeadow tells them that she was found in a meadow of roses in the woods (hence her name) by the Mayor of Kalie’s Rest: when she grew up, she learned to make alchemical things, sell hair tonics and crystals, and she has decided that her birth stone is amethyst. As she is talking, Ulstace watches her intently.

Lucius asks how Ulstace knows that she is a Meadow Roamer – he tells Lucius that while there are a lot of Centaurs on Lunaria, if one is not a Meadow Roamer, “you look a bit scarier”, the other thing is Rosemeadow’s sunny disposition. The Centaurs of his family and the branch families to which they are connected were created by a tree spirit that had a great love of life, nature, people, and living things, and that is instilled in all of them – it makes them likeable and amenable. He says that Rosemeadow is definitely one of them and that he will be able to tell them more once she goes to sleep (because it is a sad story and best told without her there). Lucius suggests to Rosemeadow, who has gone back to playing with the children, that she must be very tired and should try to get some sleep: she agrees and is led off by Ellowyn, another Centaur, to one of the tents to retire for the evening, and Kyrie goes with her. The injured knights and the rest of the Centaurs also retire, leaving Lady Penelope, Radovan, and Dago to join Thalia, Ulstace and the party.

As they sit around a roaring fire with Lunaria’s twin moons shining overhead and reflected off the lake, the night grows darker, and the stars twinkle through the purple haze of the Twilight Nebula. Ulstace pours them some drinks and tells them an old story that he learned as a boy that possibly explains who Rosemeadow is and why she does not remember anything. He tells them that the Meadow Roamers have no love for the Empire and asks them if they know their Commander, Xarkira – while she has done many great things for the Empire, providing many magical advances and new technology that has improved the lives of people on various worlds, she has shown her darker side to the Feywild, and it is possible that the Emperor has not seen it.

Xarkira, he says, came to Lunaria a century or two ago, seeking out creatures with unusual or innate powerful magical abilities, something outside what was expected of Fey creatures. Whenever she would find such creatures, she would talk to them, then they would go missing and never come back. There is a branch family of theirs called the Rosemeadows that welcomed a new child into the family – a special child whose mother was a Unicorn that could take Centaur form – and was therefore blessed with very rare and powerful druidic magic that was apparent even when the child was a babe. When they heard about Xarkira searching for these rare beings, they feared for their child until the day that Xarkira came to them – initially she was all smiles and offers, but when she was refused, Xarkira attacked. Xarkira killed many members of the family and the child’s mother, Alanteya, gave her life to allow the Rosemeadows as much time to flee as possible: in their desperation, they fled to an old, dark wood – a place that most Fey folk will not go. Inside the wood, they sought out a powerful sorceress, a Spider Witch called Dawnweaver, and made a deal: Dawnweaver would hide the girl saying something like, ‘I will take this girl to a world that Xarkira cannot reach until something, or someone brings her home’.

Dawnweaver knew that this would enrage Xarkira and that in the Feywild, that this rage could become a threat, so she forbade any of the Rosemeadows from leaving her glade, Dawn’s Hollow. She knew that Xarkira would hunt them wherever they went if they left, so they have been trapped there ever since. No one is able to enter the forest, called the Black Stallion Woods, and anyone who tries is killed by the roaming immortal spirits of two riders.

Quill feels guilty for bringing Rosemeadow to Lunaria when she has had such a blissfully ignorant life on Aerois – he worries how hearing this tale will affect her. Ulstace contradicts Quill saying that while her mother may have given her life, Rosemeadow still has family on Lunaria: he is curious that she does not have any traits that he would expect, however. Given her unicorn blood and her age, she should demonstrate considerable power… which she has not done as far as the party can tell, so Ulstace allows that he may be wrong about her origin, and she may be just another girl who stumbled into a portal or was sent off by a cruel spirit. Lucius is wary in case the latter is the case – he is concerned about the risk of building up her expectations of herself and family, only to travel through a dangerous place to perhaps find out that none of it is true. Ulstace says that is up to them – this is a story that has been passed down, no more than that: the only people who would know more are the Rosemeadow family or Dawnweaver herself.

He thinks that the party is the most likely group to defeat the spirits making the prophecy more likely to refer to Rosemeadow. Sentry wants to reunite a family that has been torn apart by Xarkira and the Empire, saying it is worth any risk: she is tired of hearing about them turning whatever they touch to misery. Aila says that she will do whatever she can to upset Xarkira because she is a giant bitch, so she is happy to go and defeat some spirits. Ulstace says that if they do nothing else, that freeing a trapped family would be a good deed regardless.

He tells them that in Lunaria, stories, prophecies and coincidences are powerful things, “Destiny is a thread, and it weaves through far more than we realise. It connects even the simplest of folks to the greatest of stories – from a humble farmer who goes on to destroy an evil lord to the young prince who is abandoned and returns home to claim his birthright. All of these things, coincidence is always part of them – they just happen to meet the right people at the right time, they happen to be in the right place – or even the wrong place – at the right time”. Ulstace has a good feeling about them being in Lunaria and having brought Rosemeadow. Lucius thinks that it has to be Rosemeadow’s decision, and they will discuss it with her in the morning.

Lucius is interested in purchasing some goods like some “sneaky boots” – he brings out some trinkets like a staff that, when blown into, makes bird sounds, and a cloak that, when commanded, looks like it is billowing in the wind (Lucius *desperately* wants this, even asking Nova and Quill if he can have one). Lucius suggests purchasing a Periapt of Wound Closure for Nova, and Sentry considers purchasing Horseshoes of Speed.

Nova asks Ulstace if he has heard of Heartspire and his expression goes dark: he says that they have not had news out of Heartspire for centuries, but being travelling folk, they do hear a lot of stories and rumours. A few hundred years ago (maybe 500-600 years ago), the Archfey who ruled Heartspire vanished and a new one took her place (though he does not know whom). Heartspire is in the middle of a great wood – it is a large city state with some outlying grounds; shortly after the Archfey changed, a wall of briars sprung up around the city state – nobody could get out, and anyone attempting to fly in immediately crashed once they passed the wall and never came out again. The Archfey have agreed to leave Heartspire as it is – it is not part of the Council, nor is it involved in Lunaria’s affairs in any way. Over the hundreds of years, it is known that the sky has become darker over Heartspire. People say that they can see things on top of the briar wall, looking out – sometimes they see faces, such as a pretty Elven woman’s face flying on wings, a living shadow with eyes like fire or even a great serpent: people think that the place is cursed. Nova asks if Ulstace has heard of Mesmera – he has, knowing that there was a sorceress called Mesmera once who used to be friends of Alicorns and had potent magic. People from off world and the Feywild would go to her with their wishes and desires – she was known to be a good sorceress and was called The Sorceress in White. She vanished mysteriously about the same time that the new Archfey took over in Heartspire – he thinks that the new Archfey has killed her, trapper her or has her imprisoned somewhere. Thalia’s grip on Nova’s hand tightens at this tale, but they believe that Ulstace is genuine in his belief.

Nova asks if he knows anything of the Whisperwind family – he thinks and considers some of the stories that were old when they were told to his grandmother: he thinks there was a family in Heartspire called Whisperwind and may have been the ruling family, but he has not heard anything about them since. Noble families, especially Nobles and Archfey, have rivals who can make them disappear, they can fall foul of curses or travellers. Quite a few, he says, have fallen in with demons and devils (who have a particular interest in Lunaria because it is rich in magic, and they feed off it). Ulstace says that he can point them in the direction of Heartspire but that they will have to get in through the briar wall and he does not know what they should expect if they can enter. Only the Archfey in charge of Heartspire could have erected the briar wall, and he imagines that they have done so for good reason – he does not know if the wall is magical or just thick and thorned, suggesting that one may be able to cut a way in. Lady Penelope is aware of a prior attempt to get through the briar wall – a noble knight was able to cut a path through the wall with a flaming sword, but the wall grew back quickly, closing up behind him and he was never seen again.

They head to bed with Thalia enjoying the sight of the Lunarian night sky above her.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

0:00 - Intro
20:38 - Part 1
 1:23:11 - Break time
 1:35:17 - Part 2
 2:41:54 - Outro/Donations

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Edwin (Centaur foal)
* Ulstace Fairmeadow (Commodore and Leader of the Centaur clan)
* Ellowyn (Centaur)

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Thalia
* Big Cat
* Kyrie
* Rosemeadow
* Lady Penelope
* Radovan
* Dago

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Mesmera
* Xarkira
* Alanteya (Rosemeadow’s Unicorn mother)
* Dawnweaver (Spider Witch of the old, dark forest on Lunaria)

## **Featured Locations**

* Lunaria
	+ Woods
	+ Fairmeadow Centaur camp

## **Trivia**

* Kim and Katie’s primary costumes did not come in time, so they wore secondary costumes for the stream.
* Mark mentioned his other costume for Halloween, which was Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village.
* A fan art video was played on the Twitch stream (repeat of the video played on 8th August 2021) but would be replaced by something else on YouTube (video can be found here).
* “Xarkira” (Mark) introduced the DunDuns animation as “a small video to prepare you for the upcoming Valkyrian invasion” saying that afterwards, her rule would fully begin.
* Lady Penelope is described this week as a lady knight having peacock feathers instead of hair, wearing all purple and green, she has a hooked nose, very avian in appearance but more humanoid-looking than Quill.
* Dago is described this week as an anthropomorphic rabbit person like Peter Rabbit wearing a suit of armour with a short bow.
* One of the Manticore’s abilities, “One Thousand Needles”, sprays a 60-foot cone of spines at enemies. This requires a Dex saving throw (DC 17). Each creature that fails its saving throw is hit by 1d4+1 tail spines. Each spine does 2d8 damage. These spines are not like the normal spines (because they are not aimed) and do not embed into a creature’s body, they just do straight damage.
* Another of the manticore’s abilities, *Bestial Vigour*, can be used once per fight: it allows the manticore to regrow all of its tail spines. At the same time, it lets out a bestial roar requiring anyone within 60 feet to make a Wis saving throw (DC 19) or take 8d6 psychic damage and be frightened of the manticore for 1 minute. The saving throw can be repeated at the end of a creature’s turn. This ability also gives the manticore (an unknown number of) temporary hit points.
* A legendary action of the manticore is *tail flick* which allows it to make one tail spike attack against two different creatures within range. These spines impale the victim and, when embedded, cause a player to lose 10 ft of movement and a -2 to all attacks, saving throws and ability checks. The effect is cumulative with each spike.
* One of the manticore’s standard attacks is a tail spine attack: it can target three creatures in range, launching 1d3 tail spike attacks against each target. The spines do 2d8 damage each and impale the target.
* The manticore’s bite leaves a bleed condition on its target: whenever anyone affected takes an action or moves, they take 1d8 of damage (cannot be reduced, but can be removed by healing the same amount as was taken in damage by the bite).
* Mark confirmed pronouns this episode: Mark (DM) - He/Him. Kim (Nova) - She/Her. Katie (Aila) She/Her. Rhiannon (Sentry) She/Her. Trott (Lucius) - He/Him. Tom (Quill) He/Him.
* Best quote of the night: “I’m a murderer, but it’s a new age for Quill. I’m going to heal!” Tom Hazell.
* Mark gives up on trying to do a Spanish accent for Lady Penelope and decides just to give her a French accent.
* After the break, Mark introduces Rhi as “Kamarra – officer of the *Stormbreaker*”. Kim called him out on the error, but he did not notice.
* Mark jokingly suggested that if, as a result of his Halloween outfit, they see a massive increase in Twitch subs to High Rollers, he may have to wear his ‘chestplate’ every week and suggested a hot tub stream, which seemed to horrify some of the players and most of chat.
* Lucius is clearly a Thova shipper.
* The Centaurs speak with a Scottish accent.
* The Centaur group is a very big family unit, even if not related by blood: all the children call multiple Centaurs ‘mum’ and ‘dad’, some call multiple others ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, ‘brother’ and ‘sister’. All the adults are mothers and fathers to all the children, they all integrate and work together.
* The Billowing Cloak is 50 gold. Lucius **must** have one, so Quill gives him the money.
* Centaurs have multiple partners: Ulstace refers to his third wife being a seamstress.
* Alicorns are flying unicorns.