Aerois - Episode 15: The Ironwick Mystery

Katie Morrison as Aila

Kim Richards as Nova V'ger

Rhiannon Frost as Sentry

 Tom Hazell as Qillek Ad Khollar

**The Ironwick Mystery** is the 15th episode of the Aerois Campaign. It was broadcast live on both the Yogscast Twitch channel and highrollersdnd channel on 11th November 2018 from 5PM to 8PM GMT.

*The party progress down the Golden Road and arrive at Ironwick, where a series of mysteries are afoot...*

## **Summary**

### **Announcements**

* Mark welcomes everyone and introduces the players.
* All the players are back this week.
* The sponsor this week is D&D Beyond.
* Merch: new merch Tote Bags, 2019 calendar, plastic dice sets, t-shirts, hoodies, MCM posters (Saturday signing was cancelled, so these will be signed and put up on the store). Use the code HIGHROLLERS for a 10% discount on everything (this also supports High Rollers).
* There was a bonus stream on Friday in Spectaculars (a superhero RPG by Ronnie Thomson who made Dusk City Outlaws) with Trott, Tom, Rhi and Lydia (squidgaming).
* People are encouraged to join the community on Discord and Reddit.
* A new fan art video was put up on YouTube on Satuday.
* Please send all fan art to highrollersdnd@gmail.com
* Podcasts go out on Monday and Thursday (Aerois) and Friday (A Rogue's Gambit). Please consider giving it a good review or thumbs up.
* (made after break) Tuesday is Katie’s birthday.

### **Recap**

"*The party were exploring an elven ruin called Rosehall, where they encountered several elven spirits that sapped away their life force. Whilst exploring the house, they uncovered a few treasures, but didn't get far before they met Sellick Zostro, an ex paladin of Siaska, who had now become undead and was trying to protect the place, fearing that mortals would get themselves killed embroiling themselves in the ghostly affairs of the ruin itself. He warned you about Veselvena who is an elven princess who was exiled long ago for experimenting with planar magic. You attempted to rest, more spirits arrived, and the party had a very, very dangerous encounter with these spirits, with Lucius almost dying and Quill not being far off either. The party decided it was time to leave and that the prizes within the ruin itself were not worth the cost of death. However, as they attempted to leave, the ghost of Princess Veselvena herself appeared, mistook Lucius for her missing prince, and Nova and Aila convinced her that they were there to learn and study. The party, fearing what might happen if left in Veselvena's hands, decided to escape; you broke Lucius and the others out by climbing and escaping through the window, and you took a long rest just off the road, far from the ruin itself, but awoke to an unearthly howling rage emanating from the ruins themselves. You fear that if you had been close enough, the scream could have taken your very soul. But that is not where you are. Instead, you find yourselves at a very cold, very uncomfortable camp at the side of the road.*"
### **Part 1**

*The team lick their wounds and head down the Golden Road!*

The party is making a cold camp without proper camping equipment at the side of the road. They are stiff, sore, chilled to the bone – it is winter, dark, raining, and windy. They have made plans to follow the north road (or Golden Road) to Goldthrone, the largest settlement on the continent of Suvonna, which is over seven days away by foot. The road follows around the edge of the Ironweald Forest which is known to contain odd creatures and plants infused with iron; beyond the forest they can see the Auric Peaks – grey-brown mountains streaked with rivers of golden soil that stretch up the western side of the continent.

It is early morning; Lucius, Quill and Valla are starting to suffer a little with the rough conditions. Arval tells them what to expect ahead – the town of Ironwick is about a day and a half’s travel away on the edge of Rosewater Lake, then Kalie’s Rest which is about two days out of Ironwick – it is a large settlement (the largest they will see until they get to Goldthrone). Ironwick was established a few decades ago, thinking that it would become a profitable town, but the iron in the land ran dry fairly quickly so it now relies on the lake for its survival.

Arval tells them of some points of interest along the way to Goldthrone: an old observatory that used to be a temple to Siaska called The Starmirror (at the head of the Silverthorn River that runs into Rosewater Lake), there is also a temple to Palador called Shrine of the Sunpool up near Goldthrone – both are at the base of the Auric Mountains. There are stories that there is a seeress at The Starmirror who can tell you answers to things you need to know.

Valla starts to sneeze and looks miserable, so Sentry wraps her up in her own cloak. Quill pulls a scroll out of the scroll case at his side – it contains a clue regarding a place called “The City of Glass” he does not recall an historical place called by that name, but knows that after the Sundering, there was a lot of errant magic and divine power around and there have been tales of cities being turned to glass, towers appearing out of nowhere or being shaped from the land. He thinks it may also be possible that the place may be metaphorical based on how the clue is written – it could be a city that made glass, where glass was a prominent feature, or even a place that was really shiny. He asks Arval if he knows a place called The City of Glass: Arval has not heard of anywhere on Suvonna with that name, and the oldest place he knows is called Starstone which has been there since the Founding – Arval went there as a boy. It lies north of Goldthrone but is just an old city full of old buildings and he does not think that it has anything to do with glass.

They travel throughout the day, it is drizzling, overcast, dark, gloomy and windy – Lucius asks Sentry to provide a canopy with her shield above her head as a canopy for Valla and Lucius. She does so for about 20 minutes before having to lower her arm – Lucius considers purchasing a hat. They stop for a quick, cold lunch of trail rations by the forest’s edge: the air is heavy with the smell of the wet earth, leaves, foliage, and the ferrous smell of the dense mineral deposits. They hear the scuttling and scurrying of small creatures and the distant baying of wolves, but nothing disturbs them further. It is early evening before they reach the edge of Rosewater Lake (which is a huge lake extending for miles – it would take a week to circumnavigate on foot). In the distance, they can see small sailing boats on the lake in the distance that head to shore as the light starts to fail; as the night begins to fall, and things get darker there is a strange green glow that seems to emanate from the bottom of the lake that reflects gently on the surface.

It strikes them as strange that they have not seen any travellers on the road for the whole day. Lucius wonders what is causing the glow from the centre of the lake – Nova says that it could be a creature, a ghost, or a magical aritfact (but it would have to be very powerful to make a light that large) – Arval is well-travelled but does not know anything about it. They decide to ask in Ironwick when they get there, and they can just see the small town in the distance, Arval thinks they will make it by midday the following day.

They make camp for the evening in the rain with the usual night noises from the forest and the soft noise of water lapping against the shore from the lake. In the early hours of the morning with Sentry on watch, she sees in the dim light from the Cradle a lone figure approaching on an enormous, armoured warhorse carrying a lantern. The figure is dressed all in black plate mail with a hood over their head – the lantern they carry is casting a dull, greenish glow. Sentry wakes Aila and they both hide as the figure approaches their camp, dismounts, and looks around. The figure is a male with a strong jawline and a short beard – his armour is engraved all over with thorns and rose patterns. Aila steps out and he begins to draw his sword until she satisfies him that she is with the party; it is only when he sees Sentry and recognises her as a Guardian that his suspicion is assuaged. The knight has been travelling the roads looking out for anything that may have been responsible for caravans going missing between Rosehall and Ironwick – he has come from Ironwick that evening and is heading for Rosehall. They tell him that they are heading for Ironwick – he examines them then clutches an amulet around his neck in the shape of a lantern with a single star in the centre and whispers, “Spirit guide, tell me if these people are what they seem to be.” Upon realising that they are neither monsters nor creatures in disguise, he decides to leave them to it and press on: he tells them that he is a servant of Kellara, the goddess of death, and it is his responsibility to lead travellers to safety.

He tells them that there have been strange happenings of late: the strange glow from the lake and reports of missing children. He asks if they have had much trouble with their young friend (indicating Valla), telling them that a number of young girls Valla’s age with dark hair have been going missing. The knight says that his Order has always held Guardians in esteem – his name is Ebon and he is a Knight of the Blackened Rose and a servant of Kellara, goddess of death. People have been reluctant to send any wagons south from Ironwick or Kalie’s Rest because too many have gone missing, so this explains why they have not seen any travellers on the road, and the reason that Ebon has been dispatched to investigate.

Aila asks Ebon how many children have gone missing – he tells them about six girls that have gone missing from all around Suvonna in the last few weeks, and that there are two people from Goldthrone currently in Ironwick, a Beastwalker and a man who were looking for the man’s daughter when Ebon left. They tell him about the spirit at the ruins which interests Ebon – his order cannot abide those who have resisted death and not passed beyond the Cradle, so he says that he will investigate further and inform his brethren – they warn him to take care because she is so dangerous. He tells them before leaving that there are very few of his order and they are sent out when required: his predecessor recently passed on from old age, so Ebon has replaced him.

They wake in the morning and Valla tells them that she dreamed of a man in black armour on a horse with glowing eyes: he had a light and was walking the roads. She says that sometimes she has dreams that relate to things that happen. They travel for most of the morning and come up on Ironwick – there is no wall, just a cluster of buildings with the main street being created by a row of buildings along the lake side. There are not a lot of farms around, and the primary buildings seem to be lumber yards.

In the town centre is some sort of commotion involving a group of Dwarves and Humans having a loud argument with a man who appears to be in his late 40s. The man has salt-and-pepper hair, big bags under his eyes which are red (like he’s been crying) and sunken features – he is wearing robes of someone with arcane skill. Beside him is a woman, 7-feet tall with long muscular legs, thick armour-plated boots, and tight leather trousers with a hole cut out for her fluffy tail – she has an athletic top with a little bit of leather armour, long white hair and two enormous rabbit ears coming out the top of her head. Sanna, a Beastwalker, is trying to protect the man, Galen, from the crowd who is suspicious of her, thinking that she is a thief: Galen stands up for her assuring the crowd that she has been with him the whole time and that they just want to find his daughter.

The crowd looks suspiciously at the party as they enter the town centre, but Galen briefly sees Valla and thinks that it is his daughter, Estelle. Sanna sadly tells him that Valla is not his daughter, then advises the party not to stick around and looks at the crowd before they resume their argument. Everyone but Sentry knows that Sanna is a Beastwalker, a race that was born into the world after the Sundering (like the Aarakocra) by one of the gods, Atelicus the Earthwarden. The Wild Elves have a kinship with the Beastwalkers, sharing space with them in the woods and occasionally fighting with them. With the Wild Elves seeing Atelicus as a god that they favour and the Beastwalkers being “children of Atelicus”, there is a mutual respect and understanding. While a lot of people treat Beastwalkers are very simple, they are a lot more cunning than people give them credit for.

A sandy-haired and bearded Dwarf with three teenage girls behind him (a Human, a Tiefling and a Dwarf) accuses Sanna of taking things from his store for the last few days because she was seen by the girls. The girls cannot verify that it was Sanna, although they tell Bodwin, the Dwarf, that it was “one of her kind” that they saw. More and more people from the town are starting to pay attention to the newcomers, and a drunk Human man in a blacksmith’s apron sees Aila and accuses her and the party of being in on it. Quill convinces them that they just got to town and are nothing to do with any of the problems they have been having.

Sanna reiterates that they are not responsible for anything criminal and turns it on the crowd because she knows that Galen’s daughter, Estelle, has been here but no one in town will tell them anything. The townsfolk become defensive and Bodwin tries to pin everything on Sanna again. Quill asks him if he has any proof, he points at the Tielfing girl, with bright red skin, black curly hair and curved horns above her head and dressed in peasant garb, saying that she, Zanna, saw a rabbit folk breaking into his store and ran off before they could catch the culprit. Nova convinces the Field Warden to break up the crowd. She is an elderly-looking Dwarf woman with grey hair, spectacles and piercing blue eyes. Nova asks if she got the note that had been sent by bird from the Dryad’s cottage – the Field Warden received the note but says that there had been no fugitives in the town. She is interested that they have not had any trouble on the road from Rosehall. She introduces herself as Missy Steeleye saying that Galen claims that his daughter has been taken and that Sanna, who has a reputation as a bounty hunter, says that she was brought to Ironwick, but Missy says that none of her people have seen nothing. They are welcome to stay but will be watched. Aila mentions the “beautiful green glow” from the lake that makes Missy stiffen a little and she claims that it is caused by algae – Lucius, Sentry and Arval realise that she is worried about the green glow but is trying to hide it. She tells them that travelling out on the lake at night is forbidden as it is too dangerous, and that they can stay at The Coral Face???Vase?? (the traveller’s lodge) on the lakeside. The Acorn and Bale is the general store and can sell them some supplies – it is owned by Bodwin the Dwarf.

### **Part 2**

*Something strange is happening in the town of Ironwick! Never a dull day for this group...*

Missy makes her way back into Ironwick leaving the party with Sanna and Galen – he askes them if they have seen any other girls that look like Valla on their travels. Sanna Longears introduces herself as a bounty hunter from Goldthrone and Galen Sans, her client, who is trying to find his daughter Estelle who has gone missing from Kalie’s Rest where she lives with her mother. Basic investigation showed that Estelle had been abducted by men and women dressed in black with some magical abilities – Sanna tracked them to Ironwick, but the trail has since gone cold. Sanna tells them that 5 or 6 girls like Valla have gone missing and she asks to discuss their experiences with them back at the traveller’s lodge. Nova wants to dry their clothes off (which Sanna mistakenly thinks means that she wants to get naked), and Lucius says that they should go an buy new clothes – Sanna recommends that Aila does not go alone given the anti-Wild Elf sentiment in town. Lucius, Nova and Arval go to the Acorn and Bale to buy clothes and camping equipment while the rest go back to the lodgings with Sanna and Galen.

The Acorn and Bale serves as the General Store and Inn – it does not offer rooms but has a bar and a terrace bar overlooking the lake as well as the adjoining general store – it is dressed as a hunting lodge. There are two people in the Acorn and Bale when they enter – Bodwin the Dwarf (who has short sandy hair and a short beard for a Dwarf) and a happy-looking teenage Human girl comes to help them. When Lucius tells her that he wants to buy clothing and bedrolls, she calls Xanni and Ven (a Dwarf girl and a Tielfing girl) from the back to assist. The Human girl shows Lucius to the clothing section, which is full of rustic, warm, utilitarian gear – cowboy hats, fur jackets, waxed cloaks, furred leather boots, and woollen trousers.

Nova enquires as to what was stolen from the shop recently and is told that it was a mixture od items: food, rare gemstones, and healing potions. Lucius buys a fine set of fur clothes for 15 gold for himself while Nova purchases bedrolls, tents, and a set of travelling clothes for Valla, Nova, Aila, Quill and Sentry. They head back to the villa.

Inside the villa is a table with a map spread out on it with scribbles on it and pins in it; there is a suit of leather armour and travelling cloaks hung up, as well as some scrolls and parchments in the corner. Galen looks tired but thanks them for coming and helping them. Notes on the map indicate that the girl was physically tracked to Ironwick and that the locals were non-responsive and hiding something. Sentry suggests that Valla leave the room so that they can discuss the missing children but Valla knows that what happened to Yusef and Corin was because of her and she wants to be around when they discuss it: she knows that she will not be able to escape the reality of the situation.

Sanna tells them the background to Estelle’s kidnapping: Galen came back to Kalie’s Rest from his work in Goldthrone to find his wife hysterical; none of the servants had heard anything, Estelle was simply missing. When Sanna investigated, she noticed the use of magic (some components had been left around the place that had allowed the kidnappers to appear through walls then become invisible). They made their way outside the building then went into a shadowy alleyway and vanished – a guard noticed some shady characters leaving the city on foot, they had a girl with them who was awake but not with it. The guard asked her where they were going and if she was with them, and while she said that she was ok and that the others were taking her to see her family, there was something that struck the guard as not quite right about the situation. Sanna since tracked them to a small copse of trees just behind the Acorn and Bale about 3-4 days ago but the trail has gone cold – there is no indication that they have left Ironwick, however, and she does not know where they have gone. Sanna is aware that there are other cases of similar-looking girls going missing over the last few weeks – at first people thought they were Wild Elf, Goblin, or monster (Manticores or Wyverns) attacks, but once they realised the similarities between the missing girls, they realised that there was something else going on. They compare notes between Valla’s kidnapping and Estelle’s: both are very similar, but there was no Goliath apparently involved in Estelle’s disappearance and no killings. Nova tells them about Lady Veil and the contact that Valla’s kidnappers were meant to meet in Ironwick.

Sanna tells Nova that the townsfolk are hiding something about the lake and is not sure if they are working with the kidnappers or just trying to protect the town’s interests. Sanna says that the townsfolk hate her because of the recent thefts that she has had nothing to do with – she does not understand why anyone of her people would be involved, because even though they live close by, there are plenty of supplies in the Iron Burrow. From what was stolen, there is a suggestion that the thieves were stockpiling before heading somewhere else, but it does not make sense that they would be going back to Goldthrone because Kalie’s Rest is in the other direction to Ironwick, so they must have come to Ironwick for a reason.

Quill suggests asking the Field Warden about the lake, but Sanna says that she is the cagiest about it and will not tell her anything about it. Nova starts to ponder to herself the visions that she has been having and starts to wonder if the green glow from the lake is related somehow – it may be possible that there is a starship in the lake that is causing the glow: she decides not to share this thought with anyone else at the moment.

It is now late afternoon, and the sun is beginning to dip beneath the mountains. Aila steps outside and looks at the lake – she thinks that she can see a faint glow from the lake in the daytime that may have been missed because of the reflection of the sun off the water and the general light making the greenish glow harder to see during the day.

Quill wonders whether the kidnappers were heading towards the lake, but Sanna says that she could only track them to the town in general – she says that most locals spend nighttime indoors, but that she has noticed the three girls from the tavern/general store sneaking around at night but she figured they were up to teenage stuff. Sanna tried to bring it up with Missy, but she was not interested as long as they were not getting into trouble. Nova says that she used to sneak out when she was 17 and would go to the library – Sanna says that she used to sneak out when she was 17 to make out with other girls. Nova tells the party that she thinks that she knows what the glow is from, but that she wants to see the glow again to confirm it – she thinks it is from a Remnant ship under the lake. Sentry does not want to near the ship because it will be very dangerous: there is a concern that the glow has just started to appear because something must have caused the ship to power up for the first time in 500+ years. Sanna wonders if the Remnant are using the ship as a base and if that is where they are taking the girls: the party wonders if this is connected to why they want Valla, but she says that she is just a sorcerer and is no one special.

Quill suggests that they question the Field Warden, but Nova is concerned that this will tip her off which will be very dangerous if she has been paid off by Lady Vale. Nova suggests that they try to find a boat and go on a leisure trip on the lake, but they will not rent boats to people for travel on the lake at night. Sentry is concerned that what is under the lake is a battleship, not a small shuttle like Nova found that housed Tiangong: battleships may have troops and stalkers or worse on board, and the lake is very, very deep. Sanna thinks that there must be a way to get to this ship from somewhere in the town and that someone must know something. The three girls working in the Acorn and Bale, says Sanna, are orphans: they have their own place and work in the shop, but have the appearance of three simple country girls.

Quill, Aila, and Valla go to the Acorn and Bale while Nova, Lucius, Sentry and Sanna head to the lake to secure a boat. Down by the lake is a small wharf with single sailed-boats – sitting on the wharf, carving a piece of wood with a pipe in her mouth and a knitted jumper is a muscular old woman. She greets them and tells them that they will not be able to rent a boat at night because of the risk posed by the shadow eels and the standing orders from the Field Warden that people not go onto the lake at night. They plead with her suggesting that Nova and Lucius want a romantic trip out with their chaperones – she will rent them a boat, but they will have to pay up front and their deaths will not be on her hands – it will cost them 100 gold (five times what it would cost during the day) – they elect to come back in the morning.

In the Acorn and Bale, Bodwin is sleeping in his chair with a cup of tea on the table in front of him, the girls are there to assist them and they recognise Quill as being with the others that had come in earlier. Aila says that they would like to buy rations and are interested in the weapons that they have so the Human girl takes her over to that section of the shop. Valla keeps the Tiefling girl distracted with conversation while Quill casts *detect magic* as a ritual. He notices a slight glow from Valla (because of her sorcerer’s power), The Howling Gale, the cup of tea that the Dwarf has been drinking, amulets that both girls are wearing underneath their outfits (crossed blades with a star in the middle) and in the stock room out the back, on the floor is a magical sigil.

## **YouTube Timestamps**

7:38 - Episode starts
14:22 - Gameplay starts
46:35 Aila is a delight
49:25 - Ebon, Knight of the Blackened Rose; servant of Kellara
1:05:40 - I'd imagine like a rooster/Aarakocra just going out and shouting in the streets instead
1:25:10 - mR.SaNs UnDeRtAle?
1:30:28 - Break starts
1:41:15 - Break ends
1:49:23 - sip intensifies
2:00:24 - Quill with a beak warmer!
2:23:46 - Nova makes a brilliant deduction
2:46:20 - congratulations you just reinvented the internet
2:55:26 Episode ends/outro/donos

## **Featured Characters**

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

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

#### **New NPCs**

* Bodwin
* Ebon (Knight of the Blackened Rose)
* Galen Sans
* Missy Steeleye
* Sanna Longears
* Trisha (Human girl working at the Acorn and Bale)
* Ven (Tiefling girl working at the Acorn and Bale)
* Xanni (Dwarven girl working at the Acorn and Bale)

#### **Returning NPCs**

* Arval Dagos
* Valla

#### **Mentioned NPCs**

* Kalus Valkyrian
* Lady Veil

## **Trivia**

* Mark says that there would be crows in Aerois; chinchillas might exist. Most woodland animals exist. There are sloths, but not in Suvonna (likely Xiphenna and Voksar). He will not tell them if there are hedgehogs.
* Xiphenna would have noodles in their cuisine but not Suvonna – Suvonna is the most western medieval of all the continents: it has wheat, grain, and earth vegetables like potatoes (…even though potatoes originated in Peru). Suvonna has very little fruit (apples would be most common). The skycities have climate control so must grow what they can on the land they have at the altitudes they travel: Gusthaven has a big chunk of land that rose with the city that has a freshwater lake on it, and because of this, they can grow grapes.
* Arval tells them that the Silverthorn River runs into Rosewater Lake and that at the head of the river to the west is The Starmirror. On the map of Aerois (found on Mark’s Patreon page for supporters), this river is unnamed and the “Silverthrorn” (sic) River runs from Goldthrone to the sea, well north of Rosewater Lake and the unnamed river.
* Questions that they would consider asking the seeress at The Starmirror: Where is local fashion? (Lucius), Where is Solwynn? (Aila), Why does Quill have no wing anymore? (Aila).
* Arval’s advice to Lucius on how to deal with the rain: “Good hat, good coat, good boots”.
* Aila’s first time saying “I’m a delight” was in this episode. It was said multiple times with Aila indicating that she would say it until people believed it.
* Those wishing to see a better version of the map of Aerois and its continents can do so as a patron on Mark’s Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/sherlockhulmes).
* The morning before they get to Ironwick, Arval makes them a breakfast roll of cornbread filled with cheese and chopped up chorizo.
* Mark describes Sanna Longears as looking “very much like Viera from Final Fantasy”. Sanna’s feet are elongated – she walks on her tiptoes but is very springy and graceful.
* Mark loves animal races and shifters from Eberron and the Beastwalkers are an extension of that.
* The characters got enough XP to level up at the end of the episode.