Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Previously on Alicia Rising. You only seem to ever be seemingly be a few steps ahead of the news, reaching fresh ears.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: I've never felt very comfortable being under this bubble for the last two years. But now we know that it's, you know, possibly not going to be there much longer.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: You begin homing in on home as you pass through the familiar arch that joins the two buildings on the corners of this street. A hanging sign over a door in faded gold filigree writing. Underneath the words the specter, the veil is failing.
[00:00:43] Speaker C: The thing that keeps us alive is breaking down. And the person that kept us working together is dead.
What in the hell do we do now?
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Welcome to Alicia, the jewel of the north. On our gilded streets, fortune and fame can be found by anyone.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Julia and I'm playing Magpie, an ace of our lurk.
[00:01:18] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Nate and I'm playing cavern, a dragon scent slide.
[00:01:24] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Meg.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: I'm playing Frida, a wolfkin cutter.
[00:01:29] Speaker E: Hi, I'm JC and I'll be playing Algonon, an ace of r spider.
[00:01:34] Speaker F: Hello, I'm Errol. I am playing Atta, a goblin whisper.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: And my name is DM Dan. I will be the games master on this adventure.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Now, come on in and marvel at our wonders. Make sure you see the beautiful views we have to offer. And don't mind the ghosts. They're friendly, really. Grab yourselves a seat and make yourselves welcome in the city of Alicia.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: So let's quickly fly through this downtime process.
So you have been paid the crew. Because notes of your exploits are public knowledge.
You earn three reputation.
You were effectively you struck out against the target of the score is higher tier than you. I would say it was. I'm going to say tier two. So you earn five rep for doing that job.
[00:02:40] Speaker E: Increasing your standard include the extra one that we get because of our.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Correct. Yes. So it would be two normally. But then your leverage ability from being smugglers takes up to three days. Cool. You've just been paid your coin, so it's four coin. Unfortunately, that does mean that it won't be enough for one for each of you. But it's up to you how you wish to divvy that out.
You gained some heat.
So it was a standard encounter, standard exposure. But there was a high profile target in the form of Tavarian. So you have gained three heat.
Then off the back of that three heat.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: The silent roll.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: Entanglements. Oh, my gosh.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: Okay.
An entanglement will occur, which is. Something back and forth just happened.
Cool.
Next up, we have downtime.
So let's start with Atta.
Have you got any stress?
[00:04:02] Speaker F: I've got possibly the most amount of stress.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: Yes, you have four stress. Okay.
[00:04:09] Speaker F: Indulge.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Okay.
What are your two downtime activities?
[00:04:19] Speaker F: Do I have to choose both now and then? So I can't see like I'm going to try and reduce stress now and then. If it doesn't go well, then I can do one.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Do them one by one.
[00:04:31] Speaker F: Okay. Because if I reduce my stress by more than two, I will try and do some workshop stuff, essentially anyway.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:04:42] Speaker F: I've so conveniently forgot.
Do you roll on the vice?
[00:04:47] Speaker A: So you're indulging your weird vice here.
[00:04:50] Speaker F: Yeah, you do.
[00:04:52] Speaker E: To find your lowest attribute, which is one.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: So what are you doing in your to indulge? What does your we advice look like right now?
[00:05:05] Speaker F: I'm not sure how we disperse, but I imagine maybe unless anyone else thinks differently, we kind of all, quietly or not quietly, go our sort of separate ways at a certain point.
And as we have lodgings or a place to sleep here, I think this is where Atta does most of her sleeping.
I kind of like to think that there's like because we mostly reside in the underground elements of the manor and specter bar area. But I maybe like to think that Ata's maybe rigged up a.
You know, when you use mirrors to look like a periscope, essentially she's kind of got some kind of bubble viewing periscope patch where if she's feeling particularly like we have a lot of heat, she can look out at bubble.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:06:06] Speaker F: Okay. So I click prowess. Let's see what happened.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: Well, five.
You reduce your stress by five and you have four. So you are overindulging.
[00:06:25] Speaker C: At least you're not stressed.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Overindulgence.
So when you overindulge, you make a bad call because of your vice in acquiring it or whilst under its influence.
To bring the effect of this bad decision to gain, select one from the following. You attract trouble and there's an additional entanglement. You brag about your exploits. Well, your exploits are greater and you gain two heat.
Your character vanishes for a few weeks.
Given, given our timings, let's say you'll disappear for like 24 hours, disappear for a day, play a different character until this one returns from their bender or tat, your current purveyor cuts you off. Find a new source for your vice.
[00:07:27] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: Periscope gets broken or something.
[00:07:31] Speaker F: Yeah, I guess I've got like two things that immediately come to mind.
I think I took a devil's bargain. That was a bit weird in one of the last sessions.
I don't know what the nature of that is, but maybe something additional happens with whatever that is. But I guess that's up to you, Dan. Sure.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: If you would like an extra entanglement, I am more than happy to throw an extra entanglement.
[00:07:58] Speaker F: We've got to have something.
My other pitch would be that I don't know how this would work mechanically, but maybe if the veil is failing, then Atta's, like, access to vice would be weakening, and that maybe she just can't actually attune as well, or like something happens to her connection or whatever with the attuning.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Well, sure call.
[00:08:40] Speaker F: Do we want mystery or something more certainty? Kind of into the mystery of it all? Let's go with the mystery for now.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Okay, we'll go with the mystery. So some of your connection with bubble starts to get severed, which leaves you quite shaken because you were able to destress just by kind of like sitting on a street with a clear view of the sky above and just kind of stare and watch it correspond over your head. But it's not doing it anymore. It's not giving you the same oomph.
So there might be other. You have to look for other ways to get your kicks.
Okay, what's your second downtime? Workshop.
[00:09:32] Speaker F: Yeah, workshop.
I think off the back of the stress, maybe Atta's going to kind of investigate ways of building, like, amplification and. Or like, devices that can help with attuning bubble, or just more devices. Yeah. That are sort of figuring out bubble. Weak spots, maybe, or something like that. But I'll have a proper think.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: Sure. Okay, we'll come back to that.
Let's go. Catherine, what are you doing in your downtime?
[00:10:15] Speaker D: Well, in my first downtime, I'm going to do some training.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: What you're training?
[00:10:24] Speaker D: I am going to. Well, Catherine is on a sort of. I'm guessing this is sort of like a little bit in between.
Sort of like sort of like a day or so, or maybe, would you say like a day or so? Sort of like a couple of hours.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: From what we've just gone through?
There is no day and night cycle in Alicia, but everyone's still kind of got an internal clock. But this would be like the speech was kind of afternoon, and you've come back. It's like late afternoon, early evening. Your downtime will realistically take you to tomorrow morning. Right.
[00:11:07] Speaker D: In that case, cavern is going to go to Magpie and sort of catch magpie probably still like a little bit wistfully thinking about what happened, sort of like the day before.
And he's just going to sort of justle in. He's going to go, I've got a proposition for you.
[00:11:35] Speaker C: Oh, Cavern, if this is you offering to show me the delights of the divine again, I've told you.
Did.
[00:11:41] Speaker D: Not this time. Not this time.
[00:11:44] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:11:46] Speaker D: I trying to find a good way to put this. I felt a little bit useless last time.
I would like to learn a little bit more of your skills, if you get what I mean.
[00:12:03] Speaker C: What kind of thing?
[00:12:06] Speaker D: You know, the prowling, the sneaking, the sneakiness.
As you can see, I kind of stand out and I would like to learn maybe how to hide a little bit more in the shadows.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: I never thought I'd see the day, but certainly I'd be delighted.
[00:12:28] Speaker D: And I can offer you something in return.
Not like that. Not this time. Not this time.
I know you go to a lot of parties.
[00:12:42] Speaker C: Unfortunately, I do. I have to.
[00:12:46] Speaker D: Maybe I can help you in some way. Maybe get better information out of the people you consult with.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Here's my escorting carb.
[00:12:59] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:13:01] Speaker C: Interesting.
[00:13:02] Speaker F: What?
[00:13:03] Speaker C: So, teaching me how to schmooze and the like.
I guess it would be nice to actually know how to make it look like I'm interested in what all those rich bozos are talking about.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Sure. Exactly.
[00:13:21] Speaker D: Do you think I'm particularly interested?
[00:13:24] Speaker C: Well, if you're not, you do a very good job of pretending.
[00:13:28] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: So, as an aside, as you are smugglers, back at Cadwalla, the manor, you have a training room that will specifically allow you a training room for prowess, which is what lurk and. Sorry. Prowl and finesse and whatnot will kind of fall under.
So if Magpie is happy to take Catherine under her wing for a little bit of training, you'll get two XP instead of one per downtime.
[00:14:04] Speaker C: That's pretty exciting.
[00:14:05] Speaker D: That's cool. I will take that. So that's two XP in prowess.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: Two XP in prowess. Yes. North Faber. I like that.
What's your second activity?
[00:14:19] Speaker D: I was thinking this because I know, so when it comes to heat, we want a little bit of heat, but we don't want too much.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: Well, ideally, zero stress is best. Sorry. Zero heat is best. Heat.
[00:14:38] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: Stress is the one that you're not really ever going to get to. Zero.
[00:14:43] Speaker D: Yeah. Okay. So in that case, I think Cavern is going to use some of his sway to reduce some heat off us.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Okay. Who are you swaying?
[00:14:59] Speaker D: I think he's going to be swaying the ladies he was with at the event, just trying to sort of persuade them that he was in their company and also maybe sort of persuade them in a way that they also saw other people, like the rest of us sort of around the area to sort of reduce the heat from us being in that vicinity.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Okay. In which case, yeah, if it's a sway, please roll me a sway. Check.
[00:15:42] Speaker D: And what would it be? Would any modifiers or anything?
[00:15:50] Speaker A: So effectively it's like a standard risky, but we're not really counting the numbers.
[00:15:54] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: Sorry. We're not counting the results, we just counting numbers.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Fair enough.
[00:16:01] Speaker D: Then I will.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: Four reduces the heat by two. So as you kind of say to.
[00:16:09] Speaker C: Him, no, good job.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: I was with the others.
[00:16:13] Speaker D: Just ask these.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: So that reduces the cruise heat by two down to one. Marvelous. Okay, so that's your two.
Frida, what's doing?
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Oh, what is Frida doing? Frida was also going to reduce some heat.
[00:16:34] Speaker A: Okay, but I was also going to do that.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
Do you have a good idea for it, JC? Because I was going to wing.
[00:16:44] Speaker E: It involves us both as well.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: Oh perfect. Ok, I'll let you take the lead on that one then. But Frida does have a question for Algonon.
Hi Algonon. I don't suppose you've got a room in this big old house of yours full of shit that you don't want anymore?
[00:17:07] Speaker E: I mean, it's a bit of a wreck. Hardly what I'd call a happy household. I'm sure you're free to rummage around and as you're speaking to him, you find him like in one of the old bathrooms which he's converted into a dark room.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: It's going to be less rummaging, more beating the crap out of everything. I see. Is that all right if I take that like top the really creepy one with the little baby's crib and the little rocking horse that I swear always rocks by itself even though there's no wind coming through that room whatsoever. And all the creepy clowns up on the walls. That one?
[00:17:46] Speaker E: Yes. I have very little emotional attachment to my childhood. Go for it.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: Perfect.
[00:17:54] Speaker E: If you happen to find any of my father's possessions, then you should double down.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Oh wonderful. All right then I'm off the wreck shit. And yeah, I'm going to go and train and put a little mark in wreck.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Prowess.
If you mark two XP in prowess because you've got the training.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: Oh, is it? I thought it was like you can mark one XP on an attribute.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: The attributes are inside prowess, resolve.
[00:18:29] Speaker E: When you fill up that meter for prowess, then you get to add.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Then you get a pip. Yes, I remember. Thank you. But yes, I'm going to pop one on there. And then, yeah, essentially for the next 4 hours, you just hear banging and crashing and just bizarrely, like, squeaky toy and then glass breaking and. Yeah, just general sounds of chaos. So that'll be the first thing I do.
The second thing that I'm going to do is, oh, my gosh. I don't know.
I haven't got much stress, and I think Frieda probably works best when there's a little bit of stress.
Is there anything that we need as a group? Can I acquire an asset? Is there anything that you think we could do?
[00:19:29] Speaker A: You don't know what we need yet.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: Yeah, we're still not new.
[00:19:35] Speaker F: If you find at the crafting table she's making something bananas, maybe, I don't know, any kind of focusing materials, I'm going to say. Or like, anything that's kind of weird arcane shit.
I don't know if that's something that you can do and help with the crafting.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. Can I assist ATA and help them acquire an asset?
[00:20:07] Speaker A: So it's temporary use?
Acquire assets, temporary use. If you want something sort of like permanent, it would be long term project and or crafting.
[00:20:18] Speaker F: Like, maybe the thing that I'm making requires fuel of some description.
[00:20:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I tell you what, because I spent my coin getting all the little trainee guards pissed before the event, can I go make some money for myself?
[00:20:34] Speaker A: Oddly, there doesn't seem to be like a make money beyond getting a job.
I'm going to say no, because then you kind of need to be on. I mean, you've got four gold amongst you all. Sorry, four coin amongst you all.
[00:20:55] Speaker E: Also, the coin that we earn is literally, like, that's a big deal. It doesn't count for your petty cash that you have as your private wealth. That's just stuff you have.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
If you're looking to help Atha, it sounds like a long term project.
When you work on a long term project, describe what your character does to advance a clock, then roll one of your actions. A long term project can cover a wide variety of activities, like doing research into an arcane ritual, investigating a mystery, establishing someone's trust, courting a new friend, or contact, changing a character's vice, and so on. So you could argue if ATA is giving you, like, a shopping list of things that she might need, then perhaps you could start trying to find a supplier for that thing.
That'd be a long term project.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: See, I've kind of got an idea for a long term project of my own percolating, but I don't think I'm quite ready to share it yet.
And I can't do training twice, can I?
[00:22:05] Speaker A: You can only do it once?
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
Oh, okay.
I don't really know what I want to do.
[00:22:14] Speaker E: You can train a given XP track only once per downtime. So you could train XP track one of your other.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:20] Speaker E: You could train one of the other.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: Two so you could double up and do training in prowess and in Qatar.
[00:22:29] Speaker B: Yeah, train up your class. All right, let's train up my class. So that would be abilities, wouldn't it?
[00:22:35] Speaker A: Yeah. So just this one here. Cool. Okay, so you have one beat in Qatar.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Algonom, what are you doing in your downtime?
[00:22:46] Speaker E: Okay, so I would like to reduce heat.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: How are you doing it.
[00:22:54] Speaker E: Frida? Forgive the question, but can you write?
It's not an unreasonable question.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: A little bit.
What do you mean, can I write?
[00:23:09] Speaker E: I assume you can.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Then I can write. Of course I can write.
I grew up in a workhouse, not under a bloody rock.
[00:23:24] Speaker A: Oof.
[00:23:25] Speaker E: Well, my apologies. I would like you to put that writing skill to good use. And do you remember those guards with whom you spent the evening yesterday having libations?
[00:23:40] Speaker B: Oh, yes, I remember.
[00:23:42] Speaker E: I was wondering if you could pen a letter impersonating one of them. Perhaps you could color it with some particular language.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Oh, I do like colorful language.
[00:23:54] Speaker E: And I would like you to address it to their staff sergeant, informing him that a private Henson was drinking on the job. You saw him drinking from a hip flask during the ceremony.
[00:24:10] Speaker B: You snake, right? Yes.
Okay.
Well, I was going to put on my best cursive for you, but if it's impersonating those louts, I better write with my left hand.
[00:24:31] Speaker E: Well, I thought you could add authenticity to the penmanship and to the perspective.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: Of course, dear sergeant. And I just purposefully spell sergeant. Most of the letters on this note completely wrong, and it's totally on purpose and not because Frida can't spell.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: Is this a consort?
[00:25:07] Speaker E: This is sway because it's blackmailing.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: Okay, that's fine. Okay. In which case, arguably, there is no need to roll to reduce, as there's only one heat left. So we'll just polish off the last of the heat as this letter turns up at the private Hansen's sort of like watchtower outpost. And over the space of the night, he receives a incredible bollocking from his commanding officer, from his sergeant for drinking on the job, especially given what's happened on the day.
Yes.
As such, a lot of attention is. There is no attention kind of being aimed at you lot.
[00:26:01] Speaker E: Essentially, I want to cast doubt on his version of events. So if he says, like, oh, a mysterious sanguivar gave me that hip flask, they're not going to believe him.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Sure.
Cool. Yeah, he does try to argue his case, but it falls on deaf ears.
Amazing. Okay, what's your second?
[00:26:26] Speaker E: I would also like to train prowess.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:26:29] Speaker E: Because out of game, I'm quite scared of that zero attribute rating in game. It's because I want to try and get away with some more sleight of hand stuff in the future.
I'm going to be annoying you all by practicing some card tricks. Some sleight of hand card tricks.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Okay. So as you do your sort of card training, your dexterous manipulation with your training upgrades, that gives you two XP as well. Okay, last but not least, Magpie. Hello.
[00:27:04] Speaker C: Hello.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: What's your first downtime?
[00:27:07] Speaker C: Oh, boy.
It sounds as if cavern is teaching me how to pretend to be fascinated with other people, which feels like.
What's it gone? And called itself resolve. Is it a resolve training? I'm doing.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:27:28] Speaker C: Get a couple of pips in resolve, then. Lovely.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: So just one for that, because it's like the training upgrade for resolve.
[00:27:36] Speaker B: What do you mean, man?
[00:27:39] Speaker C: Okay, I get one pip in resolve.
[00:27:42] Speaker A: One pip in resolve. And what is your second?
[00:27:46] Speaker C: I'm not going to be indulging vice, but I think my vice does inform it a bit. So basically, Magpie is really quite concerned about the fact that Tavareen is dead and just how much she was holding together around the city for the kind of needy and vulnerable. So I think. I don't know if it's like a long term project or something, but I think Magpie would want to spend a bit of time going around and just kind of, kind of assessing the damage that this has done for the kinds of people that Tavarian was helping. But I don't know what that would be with a view, too. I guess it's kind of how the heck do we keep a lid on things now that this has happened?
[00:28:32] Speaker A: I think given your skills, this does sound like a long term project. I think what I'll argue is let's make it a six clock.
[00:28:47] Speaker C: Okay?
[00:28:49] Speaker A: And we will call it Magpie's investigations. Okay, so this will be you moving from social circle to social circle, getting to know people, finding out what finding out people's thoughts and feelings around the city. So around the noble groups, kind of with your family, between the gangs, like, listening in on conversations and so on and so forth.
So, yeah, we'll make that six.
You. So how are you going about it to begin with?
[00:29:28] Speaker C: To begin with? I think I'm going to argue for prowess to begin with, because I think she's just going to be moving around. Sorry, prowl? Yes, because she's going to be moving as unobtrusively as possible around the city, kind of listening.
Yeah.
I also think probably she's going to go directly to some of the organizations that Tavarian would have been championing or advocating for, whether those are kind of. I don't know what we've got around Alicia, like the orphanages or the soup kitchens or whatever it is.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: You want.
[00:30:14] Speaker C: To go and talk to them as well.
[00:30:16] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:17] Speaker C: For condolences and maybe a little donation.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: Well, tell you what, give me, in this first stage, chuck me a prowl.
[00:30:25] Speaker C: Oh, okay.
[00:30:27] Speaker B: Prowl.
[00:30:28] Speaker A: Just as you move around unseen, just to try and hear unfiltered opinions, what.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: Are the conditions of this prowl?
[00:30:36] Speaker A: It is moot. We're just looking at the numbers, primarily.
[00:30:42] Speaker C: Oh, really? Okay.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: So a critical fills five segments of the clock.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:30:58] Speaker D: Been busy.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: Magpie's investigation is almost completed.
[00:31:02] Speaker C: Distraught. And I am motivated.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Okay, so, yeah, that clock is nearly finished. So, effectively, you've just wandered around and you've heard all sorts of weird and wonderful things, and you know what? Off the back of a critical, I would argue one of your ins to start getting a wide variety of information has actually been to tail musto a period of time.
[00:31:38] Speaker F: Cool.
[00:31:38] Speaker A: Given that the cobbles are like a city spanning gang and they are made up of fundamentally common folk.
[00:31:47] Speaker D: Sweaty goblin.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: It's easy. It's easy to find them. But, yeah, you've effectively been able to get a smorgasbord of kind of opinions and thoughts and feelings about what is happening in the town. You've also started hearing from.
Hearing, via kind of musto, what the different kind of factions are doing throughout the city, to the point where whilst you're crouching on the roof, over the window of his office with your cloak up. So you've kind of blending in, listening in.
He's just.
Over the space of the night, there is a stream of him, like, loudly repeating all of the news he's been getting while in a sort of, like, I can't believe that this is happening over here.
You mean to say that so and so is doing this?
There's a part where you feel like oh, you could just sit down and just dangle your legs. You just wait nonchalantly because you're just getting all of this information corn in hand. Yeah.
But I will also throw in that the one bit of extra kind of spice that you pick up is that after he finishes giving you a comprehensive breakdown of the new political sociopolitical structures around the city, he pauses and then kind of grumbles to himself before saying, oh, the songbird's not going to like this, is she?
And songbird is not a name that you've heard of before.
[00:33:51] Speaker C: Right?
[00:33:54] Speaker A: Do you hear some sort of, like, affirmative murmurs coming from his office before he says, and you're sure it's those fire nuts of the pyromaniacs?
There's more affirmative murmurs.
She's not going to like that one bit.
[00:34:16] Speaker B: He says, wow.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: Yes.
It seems like there are some new players on the board.
[00:34:24] Speaker C: Right.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Okay, I think that's me done. Okay, thank you. In which case you find yourself in a position as you're kind of looking up at the bubble through this kind of like, periscope, and that kind of like, warm, comforting feeling that you normally have just doesn't.
It's not scratching the same itch anymore.
It feels like something's missing. Is it because.
Is it because you know that you now have knowledge that bubble is dying?
Because I guess that's effectively what that note said, right? The veil is failing. Bubble is dying.
And try as hard as you might, you just can't seem to kind of lock in with it.
And as you sort of pull yourself away, whereabouts is this periscope set up?
[00:35:48] Speaker F: I sort of imagine that it's like a, maybe it's been constructed through, like, wherever a chimney would, because you wouldn't want to be out on the roof, just in case that's conspicuous. So some way of sort of some.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: Small window, like caboli manor.
[00:36:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: Okay, cool.
[00:36:18] Speaker F: It's in the hideout.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: Yeah, sure.
In which case, as you, as you kind of, like, I'm, I'm guessing you maybe, like, climb down a ladder from the little kind of balcony that it was on.
You pass like a long, like a tall window, like a big kind of tall manor house window at the end of a corridor. And you glance up again, kind of instinctively to that kind of roiling purple miasma overhead.
And your eyes kind of like in the periphery of your vision, you can see the towers of what was the main residence for house antelier.
And very few people go there. A, because the church of ire has effectively kind of cordoned it off and condemned it. But also because only the front half of the building lies within the veil, the back half juts out into veils, into void space.
But as you're looking at where the veil meets, like, the roofs and the towers of this large, grand.
It's not mansion. I mean, it dwarfs cadwaller. It's almost like a castle, if you will, like a miniature castle. But as you're looking at where the. The veil intersects with the ceiling for the briefest of moments, you see a face at the window staring directly at you.
And as you peer a bit close, as you squint slightly because you're surprised to see anyone in there, you realize that the face isn't behind the window, it's in front of it.
[00:38:43] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: And you blink for a few moments as you try to gauge whether.
Is that a spirit inside the field, like inside bubble?
And it looks at you for a moment before separating.
[00:39:08] Speaker F: This is after my overindulgence on bubble, though. Right.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: So this is potentially, effectively, a result of your overindulgence.
[00:39:20] Speaker F: Okay. Right, understood.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: And perhaps you feel a bit. Well, how do you feel? For two years, this shield has successfully kept ghosts out, ghosts that are inside.
Once upon a time, when the shield was erected, it forced all of the spirits out. But that's effectively because presumably it was just like being pushed away by an ever expanding wall. But once bubble was erect, it was established. Spirits just can't get in. And you've seen, like, the spirits kind of crawling over the surface of the orb, trying to get in.
[00:40:00] Speaker F: Yeah.
I think when Atta was reading the note, which is like, bubble is failing, I think Atta's immediate conclusion, without any other information, is that bubble, in its entirety, goes away, including all the cool, interesting new things that have happened, it just disappears.
There wasn't necessarily as much of the worry was that it would go away and it would be gone, not that it would go away and spirits would descend upon us immediately.
So much.
And I think this moment has given more of a.
I think the question that kind of runs through Atta's mind at this sort of objectively late moment in the perpetual night is, would it be so bad if Bubble.
[00:41:09] Speaker B: Didn'T keep things out?
[00:41:11] Speaker F: Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.
[00:41:15] Speaker A: As one part of your mind says that.
That wonders that another part of your mind reminds you that.
You've heard stories that some people of a much more extreme criminal inclination have fundamentally performed executions by hurling people through the veil to let the spirits get them.
Whilst there are rumors that some people even voluntarily step beyond the veil, outside of the protection from the spirits.
You've heard rumors of people going out, you haven't really heard any rumors of people coming back.
It's a very similar story to the stories you've heard of the descent in Bell Tower prison, of the prisoners that are sent into the sewers to hunt for rats, for food and not all of them making it back out.
[00:42:33] Speaker F: Yeah, I think the more rational part of Atta's mind sort of thinks of the crew and they maybe don't want to be disintegrated and absorbed.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Well, yeah. As you ponder on this and you kind of lose yourselves in your thoughts for a bit longer than you might normally in the morning, quote unquote. There is no daily night cycle in Alicia. But after somewhat rest, I'm guessing a restless sleep for the vast majority of you, given all of the information that you've taken on.
[00:43:27] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:43:28] Speaker A: Where do you all respectively wake up, starting with Frida?
[00:43:34] Speaker B: Oh, in the room that she was still in, wrecking.
Just peacefully curled up, sort of head on, hands in amongst the wreckage she's pulled. Like there's a half torn teddy bear that she's just sort of tucked up under her head for a pillow and. Yeah, just surrounded by the wreckage of the old playroom where she was doing some wrecking.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: Fair enough. Okay, so you wake up in cadball of the manor cavern. Where are you waking up?
[00:44:17] Speaker D: I think Cavern's also going to wake up in the manor as well. Considering that we do have our own quarters there. I don't think he particularly has anywhere to call.
Just. Well, there's many a bedroom that he probably finds himself in, but this morning he's going to find himself in the bed that Algernon has offered him to sleep in the manor. And he's probably going to actually wake up a little bit earlier than usual and find Frieda sort of curled up in the room, considering that she was sucking a thumb, just hammering on all night.
Just kind of walk in and go like, did we have fun?
[00:45:00] Speaker A: Did we?
[00:45:02] Speaker C: No.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: And sort of as she sits up, there's a cloud of feathers from all the pillows that have.
She's torn apart. Just move over.
All right? Yeah, definitely. I think I worked a couple of things out last night.
How about you? Good night.
[00:45:25] Speaker D: Restless. But I guess that's how it's going to be for a while.
[00:45:31] Speaker B: I drew that.
What's for breakfast anyway?
Sort of gets up, brushes off her hands.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: Algonon, where do we find you? Master bedroom.
[00:45:49] Speaker E: Yes, there's the master bedroom that once belonged to Algonon's parents. All of the portraits have been taken down. You can see the dusty spaces they left behind.
The four poster bed is empty. And if you go into the ensuite bathroom, you will see it flooded with red light from a spirit charm. Red light bulb.
An Algonon passed out on the floor.
The bathtub filled with photochemicals as he's attempting to.
Or he has fallen asleep while attempting to perfect his photographic development method.
[00:46:37] Speaker A: Sure. Okay.
[00:46:38] Speaker E: And he opens his eyes and in the red light you cannot see the irises of his eyes because they are red as well.
[00:46:49] Speaker A: Okay, very interesting.
Where's Atta waking up?
[00:46:55] Speaker F: I feel like atta took one of the kind of maybe like there were helpers.
Wealthy family, the codwellers. Codwellers. Yeah, that's right, isn't it?
But yeah, just like a pile of blankets is gently moving up and down before they poke their head out of one of the ends of the blankets and they sort of crawl their way out.
[00:47:24] Speaker A: Sure.
And presumably with a big morning stretch after such a comfy blankie. Sleep, Magpie. I feel like there's going to be a change of scenery. Where did you wake up?
[00:47:39] Speaker C: I think Magpie made a bit of a show of stumbling back into her family home at about 02:00 a.m.
And going to bed in her own bedroom at her mother's house back in Spire park. Yes, that's right.
Yeah. So I think that's where she would wake up.
[00:48:04] Speaker A: Sure.
And you have memories of ignoring your mother's kind of chastisations as you came in?
Where have you been, young lady?
[00:48:23] Speaker C: She's pasture, remember?
[00:48:25] Speaker A: Sorry. Where have you been, young lady? As sort of like the waiting staff kind of look on with some. With looks of concern and disapproval.
[00:48:41] Speaker C: Yeah, I think most of them are used to this socialite wild child front that Magpie puts on, but yes, whoever did happen to still be up.
Yeah. I don't know if mother would even be that genuinely concerned. I mean, she might do a bit of the. What time do you call this? But in a sense, Magpie is following her path as the path of the socialite. So it might be a bit of a. I know you need to party, but do you have to do it.
[00:49:21] Speaker A: To such extent so loudly?
[00:49:22] Speaker C: Do you have to do it so loudly? Exactly.
[00:49:24] Speaker A: Okay, amazing.
Well, as you all wake up from your respective beds or floors or blankets, you kind of pick yourselves up and are you rendezvousing back at the Spectre?
[00:49:44] Speaker F: Who took the piece of paper? I'm assuming it was Algernon, but we didn't.
[00:49:49] Speaker E: Yeah, I probably took it.
Oh, we left it.
[00:49:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Are you meeting back at the Spectre? At the.
Sure. Sure.
In which case, as you make your way back to Duskland. So, for those of you in Kawala de Manor, it's fun when it's just kind of crossing over the bridge that connects the south side of the ivory to Dustin. It's very, very close, handily so, yeah. Magpie, you're the last to arrive because you've got the furthest to come.
And when you do arrive, you hear, like, as you're walking through the streets from Spire park, specifically as you kind of head across the canal bridge into Duskland.
So the bridge that kind of leads between Duskland and the edge of Rook Ridge.
More so in Rook Ridge to your right, you notice, but there are a lot of city watch on the street, and they seem to be, like, harassing people. There's a lot of shouting and screaming, like, angry voices.
And there's a part of you that kind of rolls your eyes and thinks, oh, city watch. Doing the city watch things.
But you notice that there's seemingly, like, a lot more of it. And the city watch almost seems to be moving in packs.
And as you kind of wonder what on earth's going on, but you don't want to linger too long, you finally kind of get to the street that has the arch that leads to the specter, and you find the other four who have arrived there before you. And I'm assuming the four of you stood more towards the back of the gathered crowd, because the other four of you can see Stella and Eric stood outside the front of the speakeasy, being confronted by a pack of approximately four city watch. Oh, the four of you that have been there for a while, I'm guessing you haven't been there long. You're trying to figure out what's happening, but you hear one of the guards shout back to Stella, I don't make the rules. We just enforce them.
Mr. Cask is to come with us.
[00:52:28] Speaker B: Oh, dear.
[00:52:30] Speaker A: You hear, no Stella going now. He isn't sticking her chest out. Very free to style just to kind of try and body these city watch out the way the city watch kind of take a few. One of them takes a few steps back out of a sense of preservation, and if you defy us, you're defying the mandate of the marshal himself. Do you want a trip to bell tower? And the crowds around you are just kind of murmuring. You can hear from them that they don't really seem to know what's happening, but, yeah. What do you all do?
[00:53:08] Speaker C: I look at Alganon.
[00:53:10] Speaker E: Does the crowd look sort of agitated?
[00:53:16] Speaker A: Partially. There's a bit of that, sort of like, rubber necking. What's happening? Oh, there's a bit of drama over there. Let's see if we can get some gossip.
But they're agitated in so much that no one really likes a city watch because they are unabashed like brutes.
[00:53:38] Speaker E: Can I notice anyone in the crowd who might be one of the cobbles or a criminal who would be willing to maybe defend themselves against the guard, arguably the people?
[00:53:49] Speaker A: I think the people around you are primarily like the people, as opposed to any kind of organized kind of gangers.
Like, looking around, you don't see any kind of organized criminal elements.
Beyond the city watch, it seems to be yourselves, the crowd and the guard.
[00:54:16] Speaker E: The guard. These are people that work for our garve.
[00:54:20] Speaker A: Yeah, they are the city watch.
So, yeah, presumably this is the. Well, it would be the Duskland district watch.
[00:54:33] Speaker C: Not the elite, not the black guards, but the local watch.
[00:54:41] Speaker A: As you're kind of pondering this and you're kind of scoping out the crowd, you hear Eric say, look, I'm not averse with coming with you, but you need to tell me why. What have I done?
And you hear one of the girls responds, you don't need to know that. You just need to know you're coming with us.
And you hear ripples of consternation through.
[00:55:06] Speaker B: The crowd at this, Frieda steps forward, spits out the piece of bacon that she's been chewing. Just says in a loud, boobing voice, like, buggery. He is. He's staying right here. He's got drinks to serve.
[00:55:23] Speaker A: The sergeant turns to look at you, and he turns around and then kind of takes a moment to take in you in your entirety.
And then he sort of drops into a slightly more stable, like a lower position.
This doesn't involve you, ma'am. Please step back, he says. And he puts a hand out, and you see his hand kind of going to the cuddle on his belt.
[00:55:53] Speaker B: Oh, no, it does concern me, sir, because this man here has got a job to do, and I think it's in your best interest to let him do his job. Isn't that right?
And then she looks up at the crowd sort of sternly, and she says, in fact, I think there's quite a few people here that agree with me that this man's got a job to do in this year establishment. Because we're all quite used to him doing his job. We quite like being served drinks by this year, Eric, don't we.
[00:56:36] Speaker A: Alger, how do you feel as you watch the crowd sway in time with Frieda's speech?
Like everyone seems to be getting on and there's a couple.
Why do you want to take him away?
[00:56:53] Speaker B: As I do this, I put like a possessive hand on Eric's shoulder and just sort of just very slightly push him behind me a little.
[00:57:08] Speaker A: Well, yeah. What does Algonor make of all this?
[00:57:11] Speaker E: Are these city guard armed with firearms?
[00:57:15] Speaker A: They are not, no, because of the inherent dangerous.
Yeah, only the black guard. The black guard tend to have them.
Black guard and people that aren't supposed to have them have them.
I mean, one of the watch might have a crossbow.
[00:57:36] Speaker C: I was wondering, would alginon have any sort of legal knowledge, civil rights, civic rights knowledge weaseled away somewhere that he whip out to kind of argue with these guards on the sort of the nature of the arrest or the detainment? Like they do actually have to say, or they have to have a warrant or something.
There has to be just cause or like is there any knowledge that he could unearth to make an argument and sort of back Frieda up?
[00:58:11] Speaker B: And if not, Frieda's got her civic justice right here.
[00:58:15] Speaker A: Right, exactly.
[00:58:16] Speaker E: Stuck on tattoos, which doesn't quite make.
[00:58:21] Speaker A: Well, I'll jump in and say that. Algon, you would know that especially from a more civilized time, that there would have been a due process.
[00:58:31] Speaker E: We're in martial law, aren't we?
[00:58:33] Speaker A: Martial law. It's all out of the way.
[00:58:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:58:37] Speaker A: Catherine. Atta, what are you doing? Whilst so Frida's stepped in and just kind of inserted herself up in this.
[00:58:46] Speaker D: Sergeant'S grill, I think Cavern's actually going to sort of approach the sergeant sort of. If Frida's like this right in front of his face, I think Cavern's just going to sort of go up to the side and if the crowd's sort of going like.
I think Cavern's just going to kind of go like. You don't really want the people off your side now, do you? I mean, if you just tell him what, what he's being arrested for, why he's coming with you, I'm, I'm sure that will calm down these fine folk.
Surely it's just for questioning. Surely there's nothing untowards this gentleman has done.
[00:59:31] Speaker A: Okay, you say that Ata Atta's not.
[00:59:35] Speaker F: A great talker, but she is kind of hiding behind a few legs at the moment. And kind of peeks out and kind of hawks towards the guards. Like, isn't there more important crimes to be investigating around?
[00:59:57] Speaker A: Okay, so as you approach and say that. So Magpie.
[01:00:05] Speaker C: I think Magpie's tack was whispering to Alginon something like, don't they have to have a good reason? Because maybe she's a little bit green about the martial law thing. She only started being a quite recently.
[01:00:20] Speaker A: In which case, like, Eric looks to Frida, who's got her hand on his shoulder.
And he looks to Cavern and Atta as they approach.
And there's a conflicted look on his face. There's one part of his face says pride, like in a fatherly kind of way, like he's proud that you're stepping up.
But there's also a look of worry that you're now in the firing line.
But as you see him, sort of like struggling with some sort of inner conflict as to what to say to you, you notice that the crowd now seem to have hit some sort of tipping point off the back of your actions. And one of them overhears you, Magpie, whispering, isn't there supposed to be some sort of order to all of this?
And the crowd starts to get rowdier and rowdier. And you notice one of the guards nudge elbow her sergeant, not her head, towards the baying crowd. The masses were starting to get a bit more vocal and a bit more angry.
The sergeant looks back to Eric and says, we'll leave it for now, but make sure you don't go anywhere. We'll be seeing you soon.
And Frieda, you notice that there's a very intense stare at Eric coming off this sergeant like it was a very, very targeted. We'll see you later.
The sergeant then looks to the three of you that have stepped forward to challenge them.
And he scowls as your reputation drops with the guard.
[01:02:23] Speaker B: I give him a little wink and.
[01:02:24] Speaker C: A smile that'll help.
[01:02:31] Speaker A: The patrol of four, like the squad of four out the way, make way. And they sort of like, wedge themselves through the crowd that are just sort of like doing their absolute best not to make getting through them particularly easy. But these four watch, push their way through and disappear off.
And Eric turns to you all turns to you as the crowds, like the crowd, starts coming forward.
What time are you open?
But as the crowd starts to dissipate, Eric looks to you all and thank you.
I don't know what's gone into them, but thank you, all of you.
And he stops and looks at you. Algonon and kind of walks towards you and quietly whispers to you, it was probably for the best that you kept your head down, son. I didn't like the looks they were giving us.
Hopefully that's that.
We will be open momentarily, he declares to the crowds. And there's a couple of cheers that go through.
And as Eric and Stella disappear in to finish wrapping up, are you going to wait outside for a moment until the doors open?
[01:03:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Frida's going to sort of stand by and just watch the retreating backs of the guard.
[01:04:01] Speaker A: Sure you notice them looking over their shoulders as they go, like tail distinctly between their legs, but as they go you notice a courier boy, kind of like running down the street and he arrives at the front door of the specter and starts looking, stands on tips toes to see if it's open or closed on the sign and then noticing it's closed, starts.
Excuse me, I'm here with a letter for Mr. Cadwallader.
[01:04:39] Speaker E: Yes, boy, that's me.
[01:04:42] Speaker A: Here you go. And he hands you a letter.
[01:04:45] Speaker E: Okay, I open it.
[01:04:47] Speaker A: Sure. The parchment inside is decidedly sweat stained and smudging and there's a folded letter inside the envelope with a note kind of tucked over it. The note reads, your first job, musto.
And as you reach in to pull out the letter, we'll call it there.
First job.
[01:05:22] Speaker C: Exciting.
[01:05:23] Speaker A: Congratulations, everyone, on completing episode two. Did it. Did it. Daisy, double Daisy, double Daisy.
[01:05:40] Speaker C: The cat's called Daisy.
[01:05:42] Speaker A: Amazing.
That's it. That's it everyone. You've made it into the big leagues.
[01:05:47] Speaker C: Wait.
[01:05:51] Speaker A: The guards do not appreciate your actions.
[01:05:56] Speaker F: Force, warn, dislike us more than the guards.
[01:05:59] Speaker C: Is that okay? Yeah.
[01:06:02] Speaker A: Yes. Well, we will see what may or may not come of that in the next episode.
But if you enjoyed this and want to see more, well, if you enjoyed it, make sure to hit the like button and comment down below on what you reckon the first job is going to be.
And if you want to see more of this, make sure to hit the subscribe button and the bell icon for notifications of when we release new content because this will be coming out very frequently, weekly you might even say, and we wouldn't want you to miss out. So thank you for watching and or listening. Thank you for playing.
We'll see you next time.
[01:06:43] Speaker B: Bye bye.
