Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Previously on Alicia Rising. In the aftermath of the keep, you know, being destroyed, you have all noticed that there are a number of, like, wanted posters that have been going up around the city that look possibly like yourselves. Have any of you ever considered signing up to those garden keepers? People are saying that they're the ones that save the city.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: You know anything that's close to any of the faces? Bad news in my book, I'm afraid.
[00:00:30] Speaker C: I'm looking for a particular woman. I know her by the pseudonym of Blackthorn. She's unequal to me, shall we say?
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Yes, I'll have a look for you, Algernon.
[00:00:43] Speaker D: As I'm whipping around, I'm going to say. I'm going to hold out my rapier and say, why are you following me?
[00:00:48] Speaker A: The figure that's been stalking you stops and they hand you a scroll. They take a step back.
They vanish into thin air.
[00:01:00] Speaker D: Excellent. Right? And I open up the scroll to see what it says.
Welcome to Elysia, the jewel of the north. On our gilded streets, fortune and fame can be found by anyone.
I'm Julia, and I'm playing magpie, an ace of our lurk.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Nate, and I'm playing cavern, a dragon scent slide.
[00:01:33] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Meg. I'm playing Frieda, a wolfkin cutter.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Hi, I'm JC, and I'll be playing Alganon, an ace of our spider.
[00:01:43] Speaker E: Hello, I'm Erol. I am playing Atta, a goblin whisper.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: My name is DM Dan. I will be the games master on this adventure.
[00:01:53] Speaker D: So come on in. 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 Elysia.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: Welcome back to the second half of this explorers of elsewhere's Elysia rising campaign. Hello. Hi. Hello.
It's, uh. Yeah, it was definitely a ten minute break. No longer, no less.
Looks can be deceiving. How. How are you? You're good? Did you have a good break?
[00:02:35] Speaker D: Long, longest ten minutes of my life.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, some of us have birthdays in the ten minute break. It was very good.
Yes, we have returned and we find.
We return to Magpie in a kind of dusty, dilapidated corridor in a kind of wrecked out building in the ivory, holding a scroll, like a wrapped up scroll, sealed with a wax seal depicting a crest of a mask bisected down the middle. One half light, one half dark.
And the mysterious figure having just quite literally vanishing into thin air in front of you, whoo and, yeah, as you.
As thoughts of, like, who this mysterious figure was that you managed to kind of uno. Reverse the jump on.
What do you. What are you doing?
[00:04:02] Speaker D: I think. Do I know where the rest of the crew is? Like, is it likely some of them would be at Cadwallader Manor? And because I'm trying to decide whether magpie would just open the scroll there and then or take it back to the crew to open together, she might open it just herself, because she actually might. Doesn't know for sure that this is for the crew or just her. So I think she'll just open it.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: Okay.
You kind of get that feeling where you just kind of naturally look over your shoulder just in case someone is peak, like, peering over, but realizing you are alone as you break the seal and unfurl the parchment.
Dear Miss A. Revelle, you are cordially invited for dinner.
Regards, the lodge reticence.
Where were you the night Algarve died?
[00:05:17] Speaker D: Mm hmm.
Any clues as to where dinner is and when?
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Like, looking at the scroll, you see there is no time, no address, no further details, but the p's. The addendum at the bottom just almost seems to sort of, like, vibrate out of the scroll at you. As you look at it.
Where were you? And you notice there's a heavy inflection on the writing of you.
[00:05:53] Speaker D: Okay. When Algarve died, what do I know about the lodge reticence?
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Roll me.
Roll me. Roll me. A study.
It'll be a consequence less study.
[00:06:15] Speaker D: Okay, that's good, because I'm disadvantaged in study.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:06:19] Speaker D: Okay.
Roll it.
It's a three. Not great.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: Um.
You are not sure who or what the lodge reticent is?
[00:06:34] Speaker D: Have I even heard of it? Is that a term that I've ever heard whispered or mentioned?
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Surprisingly not, no. Okay. Though, looking at the. Like, the name itself, it kind of. You kind of get the.
You don't feel too bad that you don't know who the lodge reticent.
[00:06:57] Speaker D: I mean, I know I've never seen the mask with the light and the dark before. And, yeah, the name is also a bit of a mystery. So I think to myself, someone in the crew probably knows something. So, yeah, I'm gonna go back to the manor.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Okay, cool. So who do we find at the manor?
[00:07:23] Speaker C: I think algae is there.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: Okay. And whereabouts. Whereabouts in the manor do we find the master of the house?
[00:07:34] Speaker C: So you see up on the balcony outside the master bedroom, he's held up his tripod and his big old camera, taking sort of snapshots, portraits of the cityscape with its new big roots encircling the ruins of the keep.
And he's hoping to develop these photographs into some kind of prediction about what might happen to the city.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Okay, in which case, Magpie, use by Algernon up on the balcony issue, kind of entering through.
I mean, given that kabul of the manor is a bit decrepit, do like, do you lot use effectively the front door, or is there like a secret entrance? So it's not abundantly obvious that people are coming and going into this large mansion, like, manor house.
[00:08:37] Speaker D: Could there be a tradesman's entrance around the side or the back that's more.
[00:08:41] Speaker E: Discreet, like a servant's entrance?
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Okay, yeah. In which case, yeah, Magpie, you make your way in just as Algernon's finished kind of taking the photographs. And as you stand on the balcony with him and you look out like you're.
You're able to see, like, almost immediately due west of your location.
Just the. The wreck, the ruins of the ruby keep in the grips of.
From the. The ambient kind of amethyst light that's raining down those white kind of charcoal like vines that are wrapping through the keep. The only thing kind of keeping it standing, you. You wonder.
They are tinted purple in reflection, but it just stands as like quite a foreboding, ominous sight to see on this, on the city skyline.
[00:09:45] Speaker D: It was quite night, wasn't it?
[00:09:48] Speaker C: Yes. Events in the city are beginning to heat up, Algae says, as he sort of removes the lens cap from his camera to take an exposure, puts it back and withdraws this pane of glass and puts it back down in his bag with the other ones ready to develop.
[00:10:08] Speaker D: Do you know this symbol? And I show. I've got the scroll folded back up and I pass it to them.
[00:10:18] Speaker C: I take a look at it. Do I know anything about it?
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Please roll me a study. A consequence less study.
[00:10:26] Speaker C: My favorite kind.
[00:10:28] Speaker D: The most relaxing kind.
[00:10:32] Speaker C: Sex.
[00:10:33] Speaker E: Hey.
[00:10:34] Speaker D: Of course algae knows.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: As you take the scroll, it unravels slightly in your hand. And as you pull it together, as you piece the two halves of the wax seal back into one, you notice that you're connecting the two halves of this bisected mask.
To look at it, it almost looks like a masquerade or a theater mask, but quite eloquent, kind of curving, like pointed eyes, but like a relatively featureless mouth.
And the wax seal is done in such a way that the darkened half is raised and, you know, surrounded by the lighter half is indented.
And you immediately recognize it as the symbol of the lodge reticent, which is that the lodge reticent is a story, is a term that you've heard banded about as you've been kind of spying on people and following them and kind of eavesdropping in on their activities during your downtimes.
But this is either someone's hoax or ruse, or this is the first kind of evidence that you've had, physical evidence that this cabal of supposed kind of higher ups, nobles, the wealthy, who've kind of banded together in this. Yeah, kind of private, invite only group.
You've wondered if there was some secret occult nobility circle within the city, the sort that could make things happen and then have the evidence kind of tampered, or the evidence disappeared through wealth, power, or seemingly magic.
But, yeah, you.
You know exactly what it is that you're looking at.
[00:13:00] Speaker C: The lodge reticent. Magpie, have you heard of them?
[00:13:03] Speaker D: No. Who are they?
[00:13:05] Speaker C: Well, I have heard Melia Whisper, of course, after the crisis that happened with House Antalya, several of the noble houses found a slightly more secretive way to go about their business.
I've yet to discover much evidence about them, but I have seen this symbol.
[00:13:31] Speaker D: Well, it seems I'm invited to dinner with them.
[00:13:38] Speaker C: Well, it would be rude not to at least RSVP.
[00:13:42] Speaker D: Well, if you can figure out how, I'm all ears.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Does Algernon. Are you kind of unfurling the scroll to see its contents? Slash. Magpie, are you allowing Algernon to unfurl?
[00:13:58] Speaker D: I. I don't. I don't stop him if he does.
[00:14:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I sort of look for a little nod of consent before I do it.
[00:14:05] Speaker D: I sort of. Yeah, I kind of give it.
[00:14:12] Speaker C: Yes, I unfurl it and have a read.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: Sure. So, yeah, you see the letter.
Dear me, Revelle.
And at this moment, does Algernon.
Did Algernon know that before me? Revel?
[00:14:38] Speaker C: Yeah. Alganon's known from the moment he met Magpite, who she was, but has been very polite in sort of maintaining the rusev. Okay.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Mosaic. Revelle, you are cordially invited to dinner. Regards for lodge reticence. P's where were you the night Algarve died?
And as you look at it, you can't help but ignore. Like you. You can't help but notice the overbearing kind of insinuations of the words that are written.
That whoever this. Whoever the lodge are, they know not only of your, but seemingly they know of your activities last night. Well, during the keep the keep riots, but also magpies identity.
[00:15:37] Speaker C: Can I roll a tune roll to see if I can decipher any kind of anything arcane about this scroll.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Okay?
Yes, absolutely. It's gonna be a controlled standard with potential consequences.
[00:16:10] Speaker C: Failed.
[00:16:12] Speaker D: Oh, no.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: As you peer at the scroll and you start kind of like turning it over, you feel like press on by seizing a risky opportunity. Withdraw and try a different approach.
You don't sense anything. As you peer at it, you wonder if.
If you are able to kind of scrutinize the detail a lot more closely, perhaps, you know, delve a bit deeper, if you will. You might find the answers you need. But at this kind of surface glance.
Yeah, nothing really comes to light.
[00:17:05] Speaker C: Okay, so I put the scroll away.
I feel like this is for your eyes only. Maybe I should stop looking at it before something unexpected happens.
[00:17:20] Speaker D: Hmm?
Maybe.
[00:17:22] Speaker C: Who gave it to you?
[00:17:26] Speaker D: Some shady figure who stalked me while I was training round the ivory just now. He seemed to have the ability to teleport.
He was there one moment and gone the next.
[00:17:44] Speaker C: So you're telling me that you have a mysterious, anonymous rival who matches your skill set, if not, improves upon it.
And when you think about them, you feel an irrational pleasure that you haven't felt since adolescence?
[00:18:00] Speaker D: Where did you get the last bit from? Is that of interest?
[00:18:05] Speaker C: Oh, never mind.
[00:18:10] Speaker D: Is there something you want to talk about, Algie?
[00:18:16] Speaker C: Yes. Do you remember mysterious woman who put. Who performed a similar disappearing act when we were retrieving the Orbusto?
[00:18:26] Speaker D: Yes, I do.
[00:18:27] Speaker C: This will.
[00:18:29] Speaker D: The black thorn.
[00:18:30] Speaker C: The black thorn, exactly. Yes.
I feel like it's slightly closer to.
[00:18:37] Speaker D: Could she be connected to the lodge? Reticent.
[00:18:43] Speaker C: I am assuming that she's connected to everything. And she's been appearing recently in my bath. I mean, in my foresight visions.
[00:18:53] Speaker D: Magpie manages to keep a straight face.
Just raises her eyebrows.
Well, it seems we both have mysterious figures to track down.
[00:19:10] Speaker C: Quite a thrill, no?
[00:19:12] Speaker D: Certainly.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:19:17] Speaker C: Okay, at least one of us has a date.
[00:19:23] Speaker D: Well, the question is, do I go alone or do I bring company?
I mean, there's no algae.
Who knows? Maybe we'll.
Maybe we'll bump into the lady you're so interested in.
[00:19:47] Speaker C: Well, I'm sold.
[00:19:50] Speaker D: Well, if we can figure out where the lodge reticent thinks I was the night Algarve died, then maybe we'll be on to something.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: So with that plan in mind, as you both kind of enter, step back into Cabolona Manor and closing the balcony doors behind you.
We will kind of speed run the next few days over the space of this kind of week that you've been lying low, so I'm going to open up another round downtime activities for you all.
So let's start.
We'll start with high stress. Again. Algernon, what do you do for your second round of downtime?
[00:20:45] Speaker C: Hmm. While she's on my mind, I think I might finish that clock to find Blackthorn.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
[00:20:53] Speaker C: See if Vertrand has turned up any leads.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: Sure.
Um, you, uh.
So, in in which case, if you roll me a consort or sway, it's probably a consort. I would. I would. Ranger?
[00:21:22] Speaker C: Yep.
That's a six.
[00:21:25] Speaker A: That's a six.
[00:21:26] Speaker C: That'll do.
[00:21:27] Speaker A: You absolutely smash the clock. There we go. So, the blackboard clock is complete.
You. So you you heads to, like, the designated time and meet spot with Vertrans, the the same place that you met up with him a few days prior, and on your, like, on your way to.
To Abbott skate.
You can see that I'm guessing the. The four, like the five of you, have been keeping a relatively low profile, given that there's this wanted.
The wanted posters for you are out.
But you can see that as the days march on, like, sentiment towards the various factions seems to be kind of polarizing amongst the people, you can see that the streets aren't as.
Aren't as busy as they normally might be. People seem to be kind of erring away from them for fear of some violent outbursts or, like, street brawls.
And you notice there's an almost complete lack of city guard until you make it to Spire park and Abbotsgate.
But at that point, they seem to be prowling street corners much like standard kind of. More. They're prowling street corners like cobbles would.
Just kind of, like, fundamentally guarding their territory as much as it is. But as you're walking through, you can almost see the battle lines being drawn among the different factions.
The only faction that seems. The only group of people that seems oblivious or impervious to these kind of boundary lines are the.
The marching troops of children of Ayah marching through the city, proclaiming the words of Aya to anyone who would or wouldn't listen, just kind of seemingly very aggressively expanding the faith outwards.
Just. They're almost like they're deliberately making their presence more well known.
Yeah. Bertrand gives you a nod as you approach, and he seems a lot more shifty this time.
I. Sorry, algae, I really can't stay, but I have got you the.
I've got even information you needed. Blackthorn. Yes.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: Delightful. Vertum. Mind if I have a quick look he.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: He what? He nods. But. Well, here's his thing. It's not anything physical that I can, I can give you. Um, I I may have listened in to a few conversations I shouldn't have been privy to, but I I'm pretty sure it's who you're after.
A woman, long black hair, moves in discrete circles, and I heard it referred to as the black thorn.
Well, we. I picked her. I picked it up from a discussion among some of the other. The other EIC.
There are slightly conflicting reports. One of them says that she's some sort of.
Some sort of kind of narcotics dealer.
She. That she is banding around this sort of arcane formula and selling it on the streets. I mean, that's never back, that's never good news.
But there are, there are other reports that, you know, she had the. She had the ear of Algarve, and perhaps now that he's not got any ears left, and he grimaces as he realizes what he's just said.
She's potentially a free agent, but with all of the security of the station she had.
And there's one other thing.
You mentioned that she was a lorivar.
[00:26:07] Speaker C: As far as I'm aware by.
[00:26:11] Speaker A: By both accounts, I. Apparently she's not. She's actually an ace of are.
[00:26:18] Speaker C: Interesting. I might explain her penchant for dark sunglasses.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: He nods. And I. As I say, I. I'm giving you this information, but I need to go. I'm worried that those who gifted me this knowledge might know that I've been gifted with it.
[00:26:45] Speaker C: Okay, well, thank you, old boy. Jolly boating weather as always. Keep yourself safe, you.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: He stops as you say that, and he looks at you and like the jovial kind of clownish nature that, you know, vertrant to have had is just utterly absent. And he just stay safe. Algae, he says, and he scurries off, quite literally scurries off into the crowds back towards Trito hall.
Cool. And what with arms, with that knowledge, what is your second, um, second down time?
[00:27:30] Speaker C: I think I might do some training.
[00:27:33] Speaker D: Not reducing some stress.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: Four is fine.
[00:27:42] Speaker D: Okay, fair enough.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Okay. Marvelous. Um, what, uh, what training is it you're doing?
[00:27:49] Speaker C: Um, I think I'm gonna train on resolve by trying to attune some more to the foresight and try and develop those photographs I was taking.
[00:28:01] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:28:02] Speaker C: And sort of get a better insight into exactly how it works.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: Marvelous. Marvelous. In which case, as you kind of shut yourself off and work on that, like close yourself off in the, in the red room, you gain one xp in resolve, which completes your track, levels me up. Okay, wonderful. And what is your new pip going in?
[00:28:30] Speaker C: I'm sticking it in a tune.
Algae runs well on a little bit of stress and is sort of leaning more into dependence on foresight and arcane stuff in a way which might tip him over.
[00:28:53] Speaker A: Ok, marvelous. Right, so next up, Cameron, where do we find you in the second half of the week?
[00:29:04] Speaker B: I think after going to the il Naishi and almost getting healed, but not completely getting healed, I've still got one more chunk left.
Catherine's gonna go to Jocasta.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: And see if she can work something a little bit rougher to heal him up a bit.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: Okay, very good. So in which case you head down into the pit your.
Like I. Does it feel weird to go without Frida?
[00:29:39] Speaker B: It feels slightly weird, but also like he's cautious about the fact that he hasn't seen Frieda for a while.
You're partly looking, maybe kind of hoping that he's gonna see her down there.
[00:29:53] Speaker A: As well, in which case you. So you head down over into Rook Ridge, you head down into sort of like the upper sewers, where you find that kind of large.
Effectively, it must have been what was once like a storm drain hall kind of thing. A bit. A big space, big rising columns and the sounds of concussive thuds just echoing off the walls as the people there, the attendees, are just beating seven shades of crap out of one another.
And then stood over in that. Stood in the middle of it, leaning against one of the columns, is Jocasta. And the dark skinned wolf kin is talking to the wolf kin with whom you had relations.
And as the two of them look over to you and see you coming, like the. The other Wolfgang lady just kind of like seemingly excuses herself, and as she walks past you, she like, gives you a wink and then like, shoulders you and like, she's big enough that it knocks you off quite a bit. And then you just hear us all, like, chuckle to herself as she just like stomped back, back off into one of the lack of fighting rings.
And Jocasta looks to you and I didn't think. You didn't think you'd want to be back so soon.
[00:31:33] Speaker B: Well, you did such a good job last time, I was hoping you could work your magic again.
And sort of points to the rather raggedy rags around his waist.
[00:31:47] Speaker A: Jakass nods and like, she kind of thrusts her head towards a nearby stall, and as you, as you kind of sit down and she, like, she tells you to basically strip from the waist up, you see that sort of like unfurling the. Have you got bandages on there at the moment?
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I've got bandages there on the moment.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: Okay, so as she takes the bandages off and she kind of pulls them away, there's a point where she, like, gets close enough to smell it, and then she.
Is that a perfume?
[00:32:26] Speaker B: Well, yes.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: And she looks at you like you've just grown a third eye. And then, I mean, takes the rest of the bandages, just drops them down, and then she kind of gets you to lean over. And as she's kind of thumbing around, trying to find where the pain spots are, seeing for this. Double checking now if anything's broken now that the swelling seems to have kind of gone down.
I believe we said she was a tier one off a Gary.
So she.
She takes a look at it and goes, oh, you'll be fine. And then she gives you a little jab in the ribs, and as you. It's clear you're not fine, but on a roll of a one that is still one segment of clock. Yay. So her telling you that it is fine, when in fact it is not, is enough to either it gets better, or you simply get used to whatever damage is in there. You're not entirely sure.
Yes, you are. Yeah, you're. You're feeling a bit better, and as you're kind of redressing jocasta, but she says it as you're like, if you. Have you got your heads not through your t shirt hole, so you just be like.
And she says, have you. Have you seen. Have you seen Frieda?
[00:34:00] Speaker B: I. I mean, to be fair, I had a bit of an ulterior motive and hope I would see her down here as well.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: Have you.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: Have you not seen her recently?
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Jocasta, like, she purses her lips together and shakes her head and no, I haven't seen us nearly a week.
Nearly a week.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: Now, the, um.
The last situation we were in was a.
Was quite a heavy one. I thought she would be down here sort of, you know, put it lightly, getting the shit kicked out of her to sort of relieve the. What we went through.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Jocasta, like, nods and, like, she looks at you and, like, you can see the cogs kind of turning in her head as she starts to piece together, like, timelines and what you've just said.
And then, like, there's a look of recognition and acknowledgement on her face as she puts two and two together.
Well, wherever from Frieda is, I feel sorry for the son of a bitch who's got her attention.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: You can be both.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: And Jocasta, like, smirks and, like, pats you on the side, on the ribs.
And you've made a good impression down here. So if you ever need any more help, just let us know.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: That means a lot. Thank you.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Cool. What's your second?
[00:35:50] Speaker B: I'm gonna do some training.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: Oh, what are you training?
[00:35:55] Speaker B: I'm gonna train my resolve. I'm gonna see if I can get another Pippin sway.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: Spoilers cavern was hiding in the red room the whole time.
Okay, how does your, how does your resolve look? Are you tete a tetting with the denizens of the pit?
[00:36:15] Speaker B: Well, I like to think that to repay getting some sort of healing from the on Ashi, that I may be working, like, a little bit as, like, a host in one of their places. Okay, so someone sitting there talking, schmoozing with people, getting them, plying them with drinks.
[00:36:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:39] Speaker B: So, yeah, sort of building that up through that.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: Okay, so, yeah, in which case, you spend the next short while working in the gambling den that the onishi have set you up in. I'm guessing just kind of overall improving relations, talking to, coercing people to parts with their ill gotten gains.
[00:36:59] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
[00:37:00] Speaker A: Marvelous. Okay, so that is one point of XP, which means you've also filled up your resolve bar.
[00:37:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: What's your new point? Going in.
[00:37:10] Speaker B: That's going in sway.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: Ooh. Up to free sway. Okay, very, very good.
Marvelous. Marvelous. Next up is we'll do Atta. Hello, atta.
[00:37:25] Speaker E: Hi.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: Hi.
[00:37:27] Speaker E: Hi.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: What's your first or your third downtime? What's your next downtime?
[00:37:33] Speaker E: My next downtime is I'd like to craft something, if I may. I'd like to try and use the strange methods to craft something to.
I haven't decided what is most useful, whether it's useful to make something out of the.
[00:37:51] Speaker D: The helmet.
[00:37:52] Speaker E: Black. Yeah, the black guard mask or something to give cavern a bit more of a protection since his ribs have just got healed.
[00:38:07] Speaker D: Still tender. Tender.
[00:38:14] Speaker E: But, yeah, I think. Okay, GM ask, what does the creation and what does it do? What do they, what do the black masks, they see so.
So stuff, right.
[00:38:25] Speaker A: Yeah. If you're. If you're tinkering with the black guard mask that Frieda was wearing during that score.
So, yeah, these kind of ruby eye lenses, when you. There's that. I'm assuming there's a point where you just, like, put the. The helmet on and it's, like, rattling around on your head because it's so much bigger than you are kind of thing, but, like, as you look through the lenses, everything is just. It's a bit difficult to see through them. Everything is red.
But it's when you, as you kind of turn, look out of a nearby window, you're able to see the skyline is just awash with these, like, moving lights. They're like will o wisps, just motes of light just thrashing around one another.
And as you look up and look around, it dawns on you that, yeah, you're seeing soul light.
You can see. You can make out the. You the outlines of physical things, but, like, what you're seeing are the other coalesced souls of the damned, of the dead that are just encapsulating Alicia, like, pouring at the veil.
[00:39:49] Speaker E: Okay.
[00:39:52] Speaker A: And it makes you one like, yeah, they see the reason why, like, black art of wars have this kind of unerring ability to notice things that perhaps they might, they shouldn't, and perhaps it's because they can literally see people's souls.
[00:40:10] Speaker E: So.
So they would. This doesn't necessarily see through solid stuff. It's just a bit of a, like a. You can kind of.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:24] Speaker E: Tell.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: I mean, if we.
If we're gonna really mash up our genres, we're talking like, predator helmet, heat vision type. So everything's just like one color, but it's like a heat map. But that heat map is just like glowing light of a soul.
Like, as you hold your hand out, like, your hands are glowing slightly, but it's like when you look down at your torso, you notice that your core glows a lot brighter than your limbs, presumably all like. Well, you. Obviously you can't see your head, but, yeah, you'll think. You think to it and yeah, they can just see people, but if they're. If they're still obscured, then they can't. Yeah, can't be seen.
[00:41:17] Speaker E: Okay, so it would be. It would be useful for trying to sort of notice more people around.
Sorry, I don't understand why you'd want to see someone soul.
[00:41:29] Speaker A: Let me. Let me read. Let me expand upon it. Then you look down at your torso. You see your. Your core is glowing brighter than your limbs. You see there's all of the. The souls on the, like on the outside of the veil. And. And then you turn and look at your wizard orb, and it is glowing brightly along with all of the other magic items that you have gathered.
And so perhaps it makes you wonder in this moment, like, what is magic compared to a soul?
You know, that arcane magic is self regulating. It comes from the people casting it. Unlike divine magic, which comes from the gods.
So, okay, are people spells, question mark?
[00:42:34] Speaker D: Are people magic?
[00:42:36] Speaker E: Are people the greatest form of magic is people.
[00:42:45] Speaker A: The magic of life?
[00:42:50] Speaker E: It's chronomancy. No, sorry, specific reference.
Okay, I suppose then still. Well, it's fairly straightforward in that it would be probably to change the mask into something more usable. It would probably be a situation of like a pair of regular glasses being fitted so that they can have like, I guess like lenses that either flick down that are reasonably easy to sort of hide or sort of like a mechanism sort of that, that comes in from the side. I'm thinking very inspector gadget, but.
And then whoever, whoever can use them, I guess it's, I mean, it would be amongst ourselves to decide.
[00:43:45] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah. If you're fundamentally altering the form of the helmet because the helmet is obviously a very inconsistent. Conspicuous, conspicuous, inconspicuous. Guess it'd be conspicuous if it's noticeable and also like, you can't wear it because your head, it hurt your head as it rattles around. Yeah. You could turn them into glasses and then anyone could use it.
So fundamentally it's like a super powerful detect magic type finger. And on here.
So for the interests of Errol who's about to do the crafting and anyone who's listening, we've had a look at certain things in the downtime activities, some of the more long term processes that we can get involved with and we've decided that waiting is for schmucks and we want instant gratification.
[00:44:46] Speaker D: It's a 20 session art. You know, you've got to keep it moving.
[00:44:50] Speaker A: So with that in mind, Errol has.
[00:44:53] Speaker E: To actually make them.
[00:44:57] Speaker A: Yeah, this is, we're branching into like an art attack. No, we, we've decided to have these kind of more long term things decided by like single, usually dice rolls.
So I mean, you've kind of got all the resources you need because you've got the helmet. I'm still going to ask you the questions, though. So what type of creation is it and what does it do? Are we imagining that we're transferring these kind of magic gems into lenses in a pair of glasses so they're more easily worn? Less. More conspicuous.
[00:45:35] Speaker E: Less conspicuous. Are there a pair of glasses that are less conspicuous? I'd like them to be fairly elegant looking.
[00:45:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:45] Speaker E: Because Algernon and Cavern and Magpie are all incredibly elegant and they may end up using them in a social setting. So I don't want them to look like great big clunky goggles.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:57] Speaker E: Okay, so I'm thinking about your delightful dinner, maybe magpie.
[00:46:01] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:46:04] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:46:05] Speaker E: So I'd like, I'd like them to look reasonably, like, fashionable. Yeah, if that's appropriate.
[00:46:14] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:46:15] Speaker E: But, yeah, I think the main thing is I don't want the lenses to be obviously.
[00:46:22] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, if fundamentally you could just be like, oh, they're red sunglasses.
[00:46:27] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:46:28] Speaker E: Red tint, red tinted glasses with the hope that they'll help my lovely friends see, see anything special more readily should they need to.
[00:46:39] Speaker A: Okay, so in that case, we kind of already know then what the minimum quality level of the item is like. You want them to be fancy.
[00:46:51] Speaker D: Fancy.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: So what rare, strange or adverse aspect of this formula of design has kept it in obscurity out of common usage?
I mean, well, it says player answers, but we know that not many people have some, like, tinted glasses made from the lenses of a blackguard mask. So that makes it quite bespoke.
What drawbacks does this item have, if any?
Hmm.
[00:47:22] Speaker D: I mean, it's going to catch attention if anyone figures out what it is.
[00:47:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:27] Speaker E: Or if anybody asks to borrow them. And.
[00:47:29] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:47:30] Speaker E: That's incredibly fashionable.
[00:47:32] Speaker D: There'd be some awkward questions.
[00:47:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:36] Speaker D: Where did you get these?
[00:47:38] Speaker A: I'm going to say, effectively, I'm going to use, like, rare. Because the whole point of it is you're getting, you're recrafting lenses from the scariest thing things in Alicia. So cool. Okay, I will say, I assume it's a tinker that you're gonna be rolling, I reckon.
And I'm also gonna go ahead and say, so you've taken strange methods, which would be plus one level result to your role. And, you know, because you, you affected, like, rolling against the clock. I'm just going to go ahead and say, instead we'll just call that plus one dice.
Plus one dice. Yeah, yeah.
So you can, then we'll, yeah, we're going to chop up the crossing rules a bit. So strange methods can give you plus one dice because you have strange records, strange methods. When creating things with arcane features, you can get additional dice. You can get one dice per coin spent.
And you also have the workshop, so that's an extra dice, actually. You have the hideout workshop, actually. Let's look at it like you're pushing yourself.
So you're getting like, upgrades. So the workshop gives you like an extra, the coins give you extra. Strange method gives you an extra, and then you can get extra dice or better effect.
[00:49:24] Speaker E: Okay, so I've got three dice to spend. Can I get. Because I've got two in tinker. It'd be nice to have two extra dice to roll, and then it'd be nice to spend one to get a. Potentially it's. Is it limited or standard?
[00:49:41] Speaker A: It will start as standard, I would argue.
[00:49:43] Speaker E: Okay. I would love to push it to.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: Greater, actually, let me think. Because it came from a tier six.
Okay. I'm actually gonna be a hard ass.
The item you've got is a tier six item. It's the helm of a blackguard. So when you compare your starting at no effect.
So you need to push to get to limited. You need to push again to get to standard.
[00:50:20] Speaker E: Okay, tell me, tell me what I add on the UI and I will. And whether I add any stress.
[00:50:27] Speaker A: Well, so you've got two dice based. And then you've got two extra dice, like two extra upgrades from the workshop and your ability, you can spend a coin to get additional upgrades.
[00:50:41] Speaker E: Absolutely.
[00:50:42] Speaker A: So how many coin you spending?
[00:50:45] Speaker E: Just. I've only got one. I'll spend one.
[00:50:47] Speaker A: Okay, cool, cool. So if you. And what effect would you like to have, limited, standard or greater?
[00:50:59] Speaker E: If I only roll two dice, I'd like to try and roll an extra dice if I can and get standard effect. If I can't get a greater, then, yeah.
[00:51:09] Speaker A: Okay, so in that case, go. Controlled, standard one extra dice.
[00:51:14] Speaker E: Controlled. Standard one extra dice. And that takes out all the three booths.
[00:51:20] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:51:20] Speaker E: Thank you. Sorry. That was a lot of verbal mathematics.
[00:51:25] Speaker D: I needed to be talking about as well. That was tricky to put your head around.
[00:51:29] Speaker E: We got there. Okay, let's roll. Roll dem dice.
[00:51:33] Speaker D: Oh, look at that noise.
[00:51:36] Speaker A: Noise.
So you.
Yeah, you spend a couple of afternoons, like, tinkering away. I'm imagining a montage of like, atta with her tongue Hank stuck out the corner of her mouth.
[00:51:57] Speaker D: I think big welder's mask.
[00:51:59] Speaker E: And.
[00:52:02] Speaker A: Yes, like the difficulty of soaring through this black guards faceplate because that gold bit is surprisingly sturdy.
[00:52:11] Speaker E: I for sure if for Frida is around, I invite Frida to also help dismantle the mask to get some enjoyment from that.
[00:52:21] Speaker A: We, we. That will. Okay, so that will be like a quantum. Frida helps out like a Schrodinger's. Frida helps out because having to intervene.
[00:52:32] Speaker D: When she tries to smash it with a hammer.
[00:52:37] Speaker A: Okay, so you are. Now you have. I'll add it to the items. A pair of arcane like soul scene glasses.
Amazing.
What's your second downtime?
[00:52:56] Speaker E: Simple. Simple training. I can't.
I'll talk to you after. But I'm thinking about how to do some studying on various things. But maybe that'll be next downtown, but I'll do some prowess training for now.
[00:53:08] Speaker A: Okay. And what is it you're doing? If you're doing it at Cadwallader, you get two xp rather than one.
[00:53:16] Speaker E: Oh, gosh.
Well, I was thinking about.
But I have to say which one I'm putting it in because if I'm levelling up rec, I don't want to be reckon. Well, maybe there's bits of Codwaladar manor that are worth. Maybe I can.
[00:53:31] Speaker A: The all the effort you had to put into to getting that mask apart.
[00:53:37] Speaker D: I like to think there is a rec room in Cadwallader manor that we're allowed to just utterly trash.
[00:53:45] Speaker C: Frida's already gone to town on it. My childhood bedroom.
[00:53:49] Speaker D: Oh, yeah.
[00:53:51] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:53:52] Speaker E: I think. I think what I'm trying to do to level up rec is I'm trying to. I think, uh, previously Atta's like, rec stuff has been very home alone style.
[00:54:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:03] Speaker E: Rigged stuff. I think she's trying to go more in the direction of like, jinx, arcane little, like inconspicuous things, like happy little toys that maybe do an explode or something.
[00:54:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:54:18] Speaker E: I don't know.
[00:54:18] Speaker A: We. We smash cut to Algernon walking through the halls and, like, hearing explosions from overhead, like dust fraying down from the ceiling.
[00:54:28] Speaker C: So we're going according to plan.
[00:54:32] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:54:33] Speaker E: Sorry, it's one of the vases.
[00:54:35] Speaker A: Yeah. Atta coming down for a meal. Just face absolutely blackened with soot and smoke and just like masked out where the goggles were. Okay, amazing. So you fill up your prowess bar. So you're putting a point into to wreck.
[00:54:50] Speaker E: Yep.
[00:54:50] Speaker A: That's two. And then you have one xp again.
Oh, fab.
Marvelous. Okay, so that is Atadon and dusted Magpie.
[00:55:01] Speaker D: So I think my 1st, 1st order of business is a bit more prowess training.
I want to get my prowl up. So I think I've got two more pips to go in prowess training. So I'm just going to fill those in.
[00:55:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:55:18] Speaker D: And go back to. Go back to zero and pop one pip in prowl. So now I have three dice in prowl.
[00:55:24] Speaker A: Very good. What is your.
Is it like the same sort of circuits that you were doing when you bumped into the raven?
[00:55:33] Speaker D: I think.
Sure. Yeah. I think it's a bit of kind of practicing avoiding others around the house and things like that. Ducking into dark corners, following everyone to.
[00:55:50] Speaker A: Like, tuck a hanky in the back of their trousers.
[00:55:55] Speaker D: I'm just stalking everyone around the house.
I'm really. Yeah. My previous training was a bit general prowess, but this is very much the getting better at the sneaky sneak.
And I think I've, again, I've got it on my mind that I really, you know, I'm feeling a bit, a lot more resolved to do something about the whole Samuel situation. Just because I haven't checked in with him in a while now. He's been taken prisoner and it's all getting a bit dire. And I kind of just want to. A bit selfishly. I just want to see him. I just want to hear some reassuring words. He was always really good at making me feel like things would be okay. And we just haven't talked that much since the veil and everything. So, as I said, there's a selfish part of me that wants to find him for me, not just to help him out. So.
Yeah. So that. I think my second activity is, I'm not quite sure what this comes under. Possibly a long term project, but I want to start planning a jailbreak for Samuel and whoever else we can get out.
[00:56:59] Speaker A: Okay, we'll tell you what. Because we're in the same way as crafting, we're gonna kind of jet us and long term goals, long term projects. In that sense, it sounds like, I mean, if you like, effectively, you kind of need. You're almost doing a gathering information.
[00:57:19] Speaker D: Yeah, I need to know where he is and more about the location. Exactly.
[00:57:22] Speaker A: So you tell me what ability you're using to gather said information.
[00:57:27] Speaker D: That's a really good question.
Um, it kind of sounds like a survey, perhaps.
[00:57:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:38] Speaker D: Um, yeah.
[00:57:40] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:57:40] Speaker D: You only got one. One in that.
[00:57:43] Speaker A: So presumably donning, uh, the dirty rags that you were given last time you were in Rookridge. Um, yeah, if you want to make your way to Saints Hollow to, like, the. The air, the ghetto around bell tower prison.
[00:57:57] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:57:57] Speaker A: Romeo Savannah.
[00:57:59] Speaker D: Oh, my. Um, is this a risky standard?
[00:58:04] Speaker A: Um, I'm going to say yes, only in so much as it would be a controlled standard because you're doing it in your own time.
But, um, the area in and around bell tower, like the St. Hollow, has just become a lot more dangerous because of public sentiment and increased watch.
Yeah. So risky standard.
[00:58:34] Speaker D: So. So I don't think. I don't think I've used my infallible special armor.
[00:58:41] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:58:43] Speaker D: Would it count? What sort of mission or day would it count?
[00:58:48] Speaker A: Yeah, if you want to use it, you can.
[00:58:50] Speaker D: Is that okay if I, if I use that up? Okay, so I'll, I'll do. So I get to add plus one effect level. So effectively that would become greater effect and, and I would like to push myself. So two stress, is that, uh, yes.
So I'll take two stress, I'll push myself. So I get two dice and it will be for greater effect.
[00:59:11] Speaker A: Perfect.
[00:59:13] Speaker D: Okay.
Okay.
No, no, it's only a three.
[00:59:20] Speaker A: Okay, so you, you make your way to bell tower as you are kind of going through since Hollow Saint Hollow, trying to find vantage points with. To get your kind of more aerial views into the compound. See what is and what isn't happening.
You, you're. You're on your approach up to, like, up to the prison.
When you see coming from around, like, you're heading up to what is effectively like a t junction. And from the left, you see this mob very quickly gather.
And, like, as you stop to, like, slow yourself down, as you're kind of catching up with them, this mob effectively breaks into a run towards the prison. And in unison, they launch bottles with flaming rags poking out of the.
Poking out of them.
And these explosive cocktails arc into the prison complex, exploding into flames.
And almost, like, moments later, you see sort of like, the gates of the prison open and a number of watch come barreling out.
And you, like, you're immediately reminded of the scenes that you saw, um, at the keep, like, less than a week ago. Um, just these sort of, like, crazed, fire wielding, um, arsonists, if you will.
[01:01:09] Speaker D: Right?
[01:01:10] Speaker A: And, like, as you stand, like, it's so sudden and so, um, visceral that as you free, you freeze for a moment before you feel an arm wrapped around yours. And you're, like, pulled away from the spot that you're from frozen to.
And as you come to the blonde Loraval lady looks to you and songbird says, it ain't safe here, love. As she, like, walks you away from the prison at speed.
And, like, again, well, songbird instructs you not to go anywhere near the prison. It's too dangerous. Keep your head down. You'll get caught.
She chides you, almost chastises you.
And in the aftermath of the kindling attack on Bell tower, security is increased.
Okay, so that is the end of downtime. Oh, let's do some entanglements.
So, Magpie, are you. Where are you heading to? To meet up with everyone after, like, songbird releases you. Like, she keeps you kind of penned away for a little while while the street fight, like, the running battle, dies down. But where do you. Where do you go to after, um, where are you meeting them all?
[01:02:46] Speaker D: Do you think we might all be meeting at the spectre, perhaps?
Yeah, okay. Yeah.
[01:02:53] Speaker A: Okay. Um, in which case, as you head down into the speakeasy, everyone is. Everyone else is already there. Like in the booth that you normally occupy, um, minus freedom. You notice, but stood in front of the booth that you normally have is there are two faces, new faces that you recognize, accompanied by one face that you don't.
Sat next to Algernon, arms crossed, legs folded, is a dark, inky, black skinned Aquin sprite. And as you enter in, Magpie Roathe, your newest recruit, looks up to you with, like, raised eyebrows. And here we go again. Face.
Because stood at the end of the table, at the end of the booth table, being held by the wrist is a young mujani lady who's dressed quite kind of garishly and ostentatiously, and she currently looks a bit panicked. And as you peer at Fiends, your second new recruits to the gang, you wonder what on earth she's done to have earned the ire of the majority man from the yo nation family that's currently holding her wrist in a death grip.
And he looks livid.
And like, as you, as you approach, like fiends turns to look at you like, her eyes, her eyes blinking, and then she just starts, you know, she starts saying, oh, but it was just. It was just a laugh, you know, I didn't mean it. I mean, I wasn't expecting it to be that fragile when I blew it up.
Um, and yeah, you notice that, um, there is, like, the. Theishi man is slightly smoke stained and seems to have some sort of, like, red, like, reddened patches. Like something clearly has hit him in the face, presumably from an explosion. And as you look at your newest recruit, fiends, yeah, she, like, she looks to you with her one good eye, the other hidden behind an eye patch. She looks like imploringly at you, Magpie. And then to the rest of you, you can. You can tell him, can't you? It was just an accident.
[01:06:05] Speaker C: Okay, let's all calm down. We don't bring violence to your door. No need to bring it here.
Sure, we can settle this.
[01:06:13] Speaker A: The onishi looks to you and.
But that is exactly the problem she brought. She rained destruction on my door. I no longer have a door.
[01:06:33] Speaker E: Well, perhaps you needed a better door. How about it was a good test to know that your door was not safe to keep you from people that would harm you. How about next time I get some time away from business, I make you a much sturdier door and I test it against all of the explosives that I could possibly get my hands on.
[01:07:04] Speaker C: Quite you're lucky it was one of us and not any of these new arsonists that have been roaming the streets.
[01:07:14] Speaker B: I can vouch for Atta's handiwork as well. Very, very soundproof.
[01:07:21] Speaker A: The.
Like the Udaishi scowls that you want. So, for interest of clarity, this is gang trouble.
One of your gangs or cohorts cause trouble due to their flaws.
So you choose. You can work towards and choose. You either lose face, so you forfeit rep equal to your tier plus one. So two rep, you can make an example of one of your gang members. So this will be fiends, but obviously she might be a bit put out or you can face reprisals from the wrong person.
[01:08:01] Speaker D: Party doing quite well on rep, aren't we?
[01:08:07] Speaker A: The other. Other alternative. So you're. You're quite high up on the rep. You're only one away from kind of increasing your.
Your renown, your hold through the. Through the area.
You know, I'm going to offer another alternative if you want, instead of paying replacement. So it'd be two rep, you can pay two coin to be on Aishi, and that will cover damages and they'll pay for the repairs and damages incurred by the disruption.
Yeah, fiends looks very, very bashful.
But you like out. Algernon, did you do the interviews for these new recruits?
[01:09:05] Speaker C: I said yes.
[01:09:07] Speaker A: So, you know that Fiends is quite prone to enjoying explosions a bit too much.
You like. You know that, like, her passion is blowing things up.
And perhaps part of the reason why you employed her is because of her, frankly, expert knowledge and application of explosives.
It would seem that she just got a bit carried away this time.
[01:09:42] Speaker C: That's when I was. I was hard pressed to find someone else with that skill set who wasn't already in another faction.
[01:09:49] Speaker A: Yes. Yes, it was very. Is. Yeah. Quite surprising to. To find, like a free agent, you and perhaps you. You bonded over the fact that she is.
She part. The majority of her interview process was actually her telling you about all of her favorite novels.
But you noticed that a lot of the stuff she was saying, which was quite clearly, you know, embedded in truth, there were these, like, delicious false narratives just naturally woven through, just like she's concocted this fabricated life that she leads that's clearly false, but is ingrained in enough truth that it passes by. And someone as skilled at deception as you picked up on it, but you noticed, oh, she's. She's good at this, but, yeah. So when she says, oh, I won't do it again, I promise.
[01:11:02] Speaker C: There you go. You have the girl's word.
Perhaps we should compensate you for the damages, the illness.
[01:11:10] Speaker A: She looks to you and like, look, looks to you all and he seems happy enough with coin. If you're happy to part with two coin to him.
[01:11:23] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[01:11:24] Speaker A: Okay.
In which case, yeah, as you like, as you all nod, Roth looks to you all the. So the Aquin sprite and he. And he hops off the stall that he sat on and he rifles through some bags and he produces two kind of bags of coin and he like, plonks them, like, plonks them up on the table in front of the illness.
And you watch as the. She kind of pulls out one of the gold coins and then very closely scrutinizes and inspects it.
And I suppose this will do, he says, and as Ioneishi hooks the two coin pouches on his belt, he looks to you all, and as we are friends, I'd be more than happy to let this matter lie. There is no need to inform me, Lady Knoll, of any friction that might have arisen between us.
[01:12:32] Speaker C: Quite. And if you need any other doors in Celestia knocking down, you should come to us. You know, our. Our skills.
[01:12:41] Speaker A: Very good.
He. He nods, um, and the jingle of the coins, um, kind of serenading him as he leaves, turns and leaves.
As soon as he's out of earshot, roath the sprite looks up to you and, well, he was as friendly as a bag of hornets, wasn't he?
[01:13:13] Speaker E: Atta makes a note in her notebook. Make bag of hornets.
[01:13:22] Speaker A: Roath kind of looks to you all. And now, I don't mean to overstep my mark, but if you keep on going like that, you're not going to have very much gold left to hand out to anyone with a gribble.
[01:13:38] Speaker C: As long as we can cover our costs and you're happy with yours.
[01:13:44] Speaker A: You.
[01:13:45] Speaker E: Can always make more gold, not make more people kind of.
[01:13:55] Speaker A: Ruth looks up to you like looks to you with a raised eyebrow and.
Right.
All I'm saying is it's been a week and, well, I'm not sure about fiends, but certainly for me, whilst I'm here for a good time, I'm also here to make a living.
Are there any scores that you've been considering? Anything you've. Is there anything you've been wanting to do for the past week that perhaps you should just get on and start doing?
[01:14:31] Speaker C: Well, I did hear a whisper from my old boy in the EIC.
Seems one of the most coveted, one of the more coveted items in Alesia nowadays is the ghost of our departed friend Algav.
[01:14:46] Speaker A: Interesting.
[01:14:48] Speaker C: He told me that it's been entombed in the molten remains of his palace. Quite a poetic end for it. But there are more than enough people willing to free it.
[01:15:04] Speaker A: Roth roof nods.
Well, funnily enough, I was just going over for. Going over to spire park for a little swim in the canals. If you want, I can trip. Yes, absolutely. So if you want, I can keep an era, see if there's anything that comes up.
[01:15:25] Speaker C: Yes, you do that, Rose.
[01:15:30] Speaker A: The sprite nods.
And, like, all this time, he's just been wearing this body, like, skin tight, eel skin diving suit that leaves very little to the imagination of what's going on beneath it, but he nods to you and just, like, throws a coat on over the. Over the diving suit and, yeah, he makes his way, makes his way out, and as he. As he goes, fiends has clearly already just, like, kind of forgotten about every. About the altercation that she was just in.
And, like, she's just sat next to, uh, she sat next to you cavern, and she's just sort of like, you're all drinking, what, like mushroom brew and stuff, and she's drinking it through a straw, and she looks like, pleased as punch, and she looks up to you and, oh, I forgot to. I forgot to ask, um, what happened when you spoke to that. That lady that you, uh, that you rescued from the keep before it all burnt down.
[01:16:52] Speaker B: Having sort of looks at anyone, everyone and says, like, has anyone actually spoken to her yet?
[01:16:59] Speaker D: Well, yeah. Where is she?
[01:17:02] Speaker A: Through gratuitous use of flashback. Did anyone speak to her?
[01:17:07] Speaker D: Yeah, we definitely spoke to her. Yeah, they're competent.
[01:17:15] Speaker E: So I'd love to. I'd love to see your soul through the soul glasses, though, eh?
[01:17:19] Speaker C: I like to think that we were.
[01:17:20] Speaker B: All so stressed out that we just completely forgot.
[01:17:23] Speaker D: No.
[01:17:25] Speaker A: So perhaps it was earlier today.
Yeah. Okay, who. Who was in attendance? Who went to Saint Hollow to.
So, in the immediate aftermath of the keep score, you. Well, your mind's flashed back to Songbird. The look on Songbird's face when she realized that this high profile target was, in fact, the lady in purple.
And you will record, you will remember the look of sort of like, recognition and shock and confusion on Songbird's face.
But in the chaos that followed, songbird kind of spirited the lady in purple away with the other marionettes to keep her kind of hidden away with the marionettes who attended the chats, interrogation, whatever. However you wanted to frame it, she was there.
[01:18:37] Speaker E: If it's not too, like, conspicuous for us all to be traveling in a group, then?
Yeah, I would like to.
[01:18:45] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, yeah, if whoever wanted to be there could be, with little, little consequence, you could travel different ways, different roots. Yeah. Were you all in attendance?
[01:18:58] Speaker E: Yeah.
[01:18:59] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:19:00] Speaker A: Okay. Um, in which case, yeah, your man, your minds return to that same room that you first met songbird, in a kind of cellar, basement type room. But the large round table is gone and in its place are just a number of seats, like stalls. And as you entered into the. Into the room now devoid of the smoke from the Onishi incense burners, Songbird greeted you on the way in with a look of frustration on her face.
I cannot get any sense out of this woman.
See if you can do any better, she says. She, like, walks through you in a huff.
Um, and you like, as songbird leaves, you heard. You hear a titter of laughter coming from this woman who's now. She's got the. The top hat is now resting on another side stall next to her and she sits with her hands clasped on her lap and she tilts her head and smiles at you.
Evening, she says.
[01:20:32] Speaker C: Comfortable, are we?
[01:20:34] Speaker A: Well, this place is a little cramped, but I've certainly seen worse places, she says, and she takes off her purple, her amethyst glasses and kind of cleans them on, on her coat.
[01:20:50] Speaker C: I pull up a chair and sit immediately in front of her.
[01:20:55] Speaker A: My apologies. I haven't thanked you for your valiant displays the other day in the keep. That's terrible, terrible matter of state of affairs, wouldn't you agree?
I would have certainly perished if it were not for you.
[01:21:13] Speaker C: You're welcome. I'm humble enough to say that.
[01:21:18] Speaker A: She smiles.
Do you think I'm going to be here long?
[01:21:24] Speaker C: We've been calling you the purple lady, but I don't feel it's quite a. To compare you to a butterfly. So I was wondering if you would suggest another name for yourself. Doesn't have to be legitimate. I'm sure we can come up with a more unsavory one.
[01:21:42] Speaker A: She still smiling? Somewhat unnervingly. She straightens her legs and, like, stretches a little bit and then starts tapping her bottom lip with a curled finger.
Why don't.
My apologies. It's just I've got so many names, sometimes it's difficult to choose one that I like the sound of in any given moment.
How about.
Yes, let's go with tarot.
[01:22:22] Speaker E: Like the root, or like the tarot cards.
[01:22:27] Speaker A: Like tarot.
And she. The finger that she's been tapping her bottom lip with her fingers extend, and she, with a flick of the wrist, in sparkling kind of purple lights over her head.
Her name is spelt out, good lord. T a double ro.
And she smiles to you and there's suddenly like a.
There's a flicker of mischief in her eyes as she looks at you after this very public display of magic.
[01:23:07] Speaker C: So you are fond of magic tricks?
[01:23:11] Speaker A: I'm fond of anything that I. I find exciting.
[01:23:14] Speaker C: Well, um. What's this behind your ear?
Oh, it's, uh, one of these coins that you were so graciously distributing to orphans on Memorial Day. Perhaps you could enlighten us about the nature of this currency.
[01:23:32] Speaker A: She. She looks to it and.
Oh, that.
It's. It's not worth it very much at all where that comes from. They tend to deal in platinum and other rarer minerals. The gold is actually in quite an abundant supply. It's a place much like this.
One of choices.
Amidst the turmoil, any.
[01:24:02] Speaker B: Any chances you can be a little bit straightforward. We've.
We've had a pretty rough time of it, and we feel like you being a little less cryptid would be very handy towards us.
[01:24:18] Speaker D: Might also mean you get out of here a bit sooner.
[01:24:21] Speaker C: Although I do enjoy a cryptic clue that's been established.
[01:24:28] Speaker A: Tarot.
In the matter of sort moments.
She pouts at you cavern and Magpie, but then she smiles at Algernon, and then she turns back to you cavern.
But if I were to just give you all of the answers, there would be no joy in watching you try to find them.
[01:25:08] Speaker D: So you do have all the answers. Well, how did you. How did you get so well informed?
[01:25:15] Speaker A: Well, I wouldn't say I have all of the answers, dear. No, no, no, I'm good, but I'm not that good.
Now, I have tidbits from information, things that have piqued my curiosity.
And I find some of the most exciting things are to let people know these little morsels of information.
And then just watching what happens, seeing what they do, those bits of information.
[01:25:50] Speaker C: Little morsels like this one. And I pull out a creased piece of paper that we took from the hand of Tavareen. It says the veil is failing.
[01:26:00] Speaker A: Hmm.
I was wondering if you would find that.
But yes, small little bits of information, like the impending demise of your all protecting veil.
And let me tell you, watching everyone scrabble has been fascinating.
[01:26:24] Speaker D: Our veil, not yours too.
[01:26:30] Speaker A: She looks slightly surprised and taken aback when you make that inference.
And then she and like covers her mouth as if she's just made a slight mistake.
[01:26:50] Speaker C: Listen, I've been a spy in the foreign field for half my life. I know we are rarely neutral observers.
Perhaps you could chuck a few tasty morsels our way, hmm?
[01:27:05] Speaker A: Tarot thinks about it, and she. She kind of closes her eyes, lowers her head slightly, lifts her hands up as if to acquiesce. If you're happy to ask me questions, I could well be happy to answer them in a manner that will keep me entertained.
[01:27:29] Speaker B: I like to think that Catherine's actually getting quite angry about this. Now that he's actually getting. He's just, like, entertained. There are people dying, and this is entertainment to you?
[01:27:43] Speaker A: Oh, but Cavern, dear, there are people dying everywhere.
[01:27:48] Speaker B: But if you have the information to stop this, then surely you are no better than a murderer yourself.
[01:27:56] Speaker A: She looks at you with this, like, air of infuriating sympathy.
It would be uncouth of me to tip the hand so violently.
No, no, no.
It is much more permissible for me to provide interested parties with appropriate information and then let whatever scenario play out in whatever manner it may do. And let me tell you, of all the people I've told in this city about the impending demise of the Vale, there have been a multitude of different reactions to it.
Everyone moving about, trying to enact their own plans, whatever they think is best. And that there, I think, is the real importance of this choice is that.
[01:28:50] Speaker B: Who have you told?
[01:28:53] Speaker A: She.
I'm terrible with names.
There was that lovely blonde lady who just left in a bit of a half.
There was a delightful.
A delightful sprite who had quite a lot of jewelry. It was quite. Quite as. Quite fascinating.
There's.
There was a. There was a goblin lady. She was quite uptight. She didn't seem to take the information very well at all.
Oh, there was a loravar, a bored Laura far.
I think his name was Algarve. Yes, those are the people I've told.
[01:29:41] Speaker B: And Tavares.
[01:29:43] Speaker A: Oh, of course, Tavareen.
We have to make sure that the people are informed.
[01:29:52] Speaker D: Shane, you told her two minutes before her death.
[01:29:56] Speaker E: Sorry. Atta right. A lot of people you're telling seem to die.
[01:30:06] Speaker A: Well.
But this is what I mean, isn't it fascinating? Armed with the knowledge that he had, one of the first things Algarve did was root out tavarian.
Now, sometimes, as my. As an observer, I ask myself, why would he do that?
Why would he choose to hide that information from the world?
Terrible stuff.
[01:30:43] Speaker E: So who's your money on then, lady? Since you have an abundance of coin, who's your bets being placed on it?
[01:30:54] Speaker A: Would be so unbecoming for me to choose favorites.
[01:30:58] Speaker E: But what do you hope to gain? Surely there must be.
[01:31:04] Speaker A: Well, what do I hope to gain?
A fascinating display of actions and reactions, effects and consequences, all muddled together in some sort of desperate race. A clash of ideals.
The greatest form of entertainment there is, she says. I like her eye. Glances back to cavern for a moment.
[01:31:33] Speaker B: He's sort of snarling and he's not saying much. He's keeping himself together.
[01:31:39] Speaker E: If you're such a voyeur, you can get things like that in celestry.
[01:31:45] Speaker A: With what I've seen there, the marvels of celestry pale in comparison.
If there are any final questions, I would welcome them. It's. I'm feeling quite sleepy all of a sudden.
[01:32:04] Speaker D: Where are you from?
[01:32:10] Speaker A: She looks dead into your eyes and in this moment you feel terrifyingly small.
Me?
You know, here and there.
[01:32:28] Speaker D: Come on, we're not going to get anything more out of her today.
[01:32:32] Speaker C: I have one final question that might entertain us both.
[01:32:36] Speaker A: By all means, Mister cabwallado.
[01:32:40] Speaker C: Elysia has been veiled now for two years now. I have my suspicions. But I'd like to know if we are truly alone, floating in this sea of souls, or perhaps the rest of elsewhere is out there somewhere, waiting for our return.
[01:32:56] Speaker A: That, Mister Cadwallader, is a question I am not willing to answer.
Instead, I will offer a question in response.
Everyone is panicking about this veil, focused on its imminent demise, and perhaps attention should be focused on where it even came from.
And she slowly begins to smile and as she leans back and the the lamplight reflects off her glasses, obscuring her eyes.
[01:33:47] Speaker E: Not to spoil your special storytelling ending tarot, but indulge another interested, arcane person.
Why do you think all the spirits are trying to get in here? What do you think is in here that they might want if that is indeed the reason that they are clawing at the veil?
[01:34:19] Speaker A: She thinks about it.
If you were trapped on the outside looking in, wouldn't you want to be inside as well?
[01:34:38] Speaker E: Only if there was nice treats inside.
[01:34:43] Speaker A: Well, if that concludes matters, then I'm feeling far too tuckered out from all of this excitement.
If you do think of anything else, you know where to find me.
[01:35:02] Speaker C: Quite.
I suspect you may enjoy a cryptic crossword or two. I'll get songbird to deliver you some back issues.
[01:35:11] Speaker A: She. She smiles and kind of nods in thanks.
And as you slowly get up to leave, thoughts racing through your mind cavern presumably visibly shaking with anger and frustration.
She like, leans back on her stool and once again, crosses her legs and just adopts ace. There's just an aura of I'm happy to wait, and back in the future, back in the present.
So what did you make of her? Fiend says excitedly, looking at you specifically cavern.
[01:36:06] Speaker B: Caverns. Going to smack his lips and just kind of go like, she's a bitch. She's a bitch.
[01:36:20] Speaker A: Yeah. What we, what are, what are your respective kind of thoughts, feelings and sentiments about tarot?
How did she make Magpie feel?
[01:36:31] Speaker D: You might want to come to me last.
[01:36:35] Speaker A: I mean, atta, you, you know, there was certainly something about this woman that was just a bit, not off, per se, but like, different.
[01:36:50] Speaker E: Mm hmm.
[01:36:51] Speaker A: What do you mean?
[01:36:52] Speaker E: I mean, I'd love, I'd love to ask Safirian at some point about that name, but to the group, I guess atta pipes up and says, well, at least we know a motivator for her. If she likes a show, she'll go where there's action.
That's something we can use.
[01:37:15] Speaker A: Greatest show on Alicia right here.
What does Algernon, how's Algernon feeling about after that interview?
[01:37:28] Speaker C: He was sort of expecting to be infuriated by, by her. So he'd sort of girded himself from feeling too annoyed and frustrated. Like he got that out of his system when we rescued her.
And then it sort of confirmed his suspicion that she is something that he doesn't understand. And that just, that just intrigues him because he, he does his best to understand every single thing in Alicia.
[01:38:07] Speaker A: So one thing that you would certainly have acknowledged and recognized Magpie, you would be able to kind of collaborate this from that feeling you got when she looked at you, is that to look at her, she is a loraval woman, but she is not a loraval woman.
She is something else.
[01:38:39] Speaker C: I think algae sort of recognized.
He's been in similar situations as a spy, where he's been in a foreign place, not wanting to up information, and he sort of recognized in her that she's from somewhere else, and he doesn't know the country, doesn't know the coins. He's sort of putting that, putting that supernatural aspect together.
[01:39:10] Speaker E: I don't, I don't want to steal talkie time from anyone, but if Atta was leaving, could I have left the conversation with her last? And then kind of pulled up the glasses and looked and just done a cool, like move, but also tried to see what she looks like through the glasses, just like a little top gun moment out the door, I guess.
[01:39:34] Speaker A: So we will flash back, and as you kind of flick open the glasses, put them on. As you glance at her.
The room is bathed in light to the point where you have to squint.
[01:39:59] Speaker E: Figured, yeah.
[01:40:03] Speaker A: Something not arguably of this world.
[01:40:07] Speaker D: Well, yeah. So I think that was. That was what I was getting at. I wanted to hear what other people thought first to make sure I wasn't going utterly left field. But I think magpies train of thinking. This woman, she describes herself as an observer. She finds the sort of struggles of mortals possibly entertaining. She's in it for that sort of entertainment of watching the people scrabble about.
That's fun for her somehow. She sort of doesn't seem personally concerned about the veil. So I doubt she is confined to Alicia. So kind of. She's sort of putting me, Julia in mind of some kind of fae being or even something magical, divine perhaps. Like perhaps she is a God or the agent of a God or something really quite powerful that doesn't have to be personally involved in this stuff, but has some kind of interest in what's going on more as an observer or someone who's reporting back or influencing it. You know. So that's kind of where magpies head is at. But she doesn't know what she is at all.
But kind of.
Yeah. Def. We're definitely dealing with something a lot more powerful than we thought.
[01:41:34] Speaker E: She's definitely not divine.
[01:41:36] Speaker D: No.
[01:41:38] Speaker E: Right. I think Atta would have gone and tried to look at some church of ire people afterwards. Maybe cavern as well just to see what divine ness looks like.
[01:41:47] Speaker D: Well yeah, but there's a difference between someone who worships or sort of channels divinity and a divine creature per se. Like she may not be a God. I'm not saying she is. But I'm just. I'm thinking of lots of possibilities. A powerful being of some type.
[01:42:03] Speaker E: Right.
[01:42:04] Speaker D: That can presumably travel about and. Yeah. So did Nate, did. Did Cavern have any more thoughts than what a bitch?
Because she is.
[01:42:18] Speaker B: But yeah, you know, I like to think Cavern is not as he's.
He's street savvy but he's not as intelligent as the rest of the group. And so while the rest of the group are probably seeing something more, something. Something else, Katherine is seeing someone who is primarily taking joy in the fact that the whole scene, city is falling apart. And he's very angry about that.
[01:42:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
It's like when Magpie speaks of like these kind of powerful beings. It correlates I guess with that acknowledgement that you have. That you. You collectively are almost like individually insignificant.
Like lesser than the fact that fact that she regards your plight, your very mortal plights, as something of curiosity and entertainment.
She excites things by dropping in the information and then seeing how the rats.
[01:43:34] Speaker D: Run, stirring things up, looking at the.
[01:43:38] Speaker B: Reactions, I think he's probably seen a lot of that while working with the children of Aya. Like very higher up, almost to the point of the priestess as well, being people almost lower than them. Maybe it sort of triggers off something in his head about that, as you.
[01:43:57] Speaker A: As you think to that sort of like that coercion, that manipulation. And like all of you cast a mind to, you know, the conflicts that is now currently engulfing Alicia as all the factions have risen up against one another, and now that Algarve is out the picture and you realize that each one of them in turn, like you, like you figured out that she's, she confessed to telling odor mers, a stuffy goblin you suspect that would be high priestess lucraji esau.
She's told sungbird, she's told Algarve she has taken the city of Alicia and shaken it to see what would rise to the top.
So that all in mind and, yeah, with the I wrote question kind of floating around your minds of what's the next score?
I think we will leave it there.
[01:45:17] Speaker D: Oh, boy.
[01:45:20] Speaker A: So a lot of stuff to chew on and ponder and muse upon.
Yeah.
Congratulations, everyone.
[01:45:37] Speaker D: Much to think about.
[01:45:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
Is he gonna, what's he gonna do? What's he gonna do?
[01:45:49] Speaker D: Where's he gonna be if we're all.
[01:46:02] Speaker E: Slowly getting closer to the camera, like, tell us, Dan.
[01:46:08] Speaker A: Elsewhere.
[01:46:10] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:46:11] Speaker A: In Alicia, there is freneticism from the group of priests of Gurgoldin who are desperately trying to fend off the sudden influx of crowds that are coming to their small little shrine in waterside.
And the garden keepers look frantically to one another as people try to barge in, demanding answers to questions that the garden keepers didn't know were being asked.
One of the priests and a keeper looks to the the Loravar stood next to him and I don't. What's going on? I don't know.
And the two priests watch as the crowd suddenly begins parting to reveal a number of clerics wearing white armor and light yellow shawls. And the children of aya are led by a small goblin woman with distinctive white face paint, clutching a staff emitting light from its windows of a tower like edifice on top of it.
And high priestess Lucraji looks at the garden keepers.
A moment of your time, if I may, she says, and without waiting for an answer walks into the shrine of Kagoldin.
In the past two years, acts of a divine nature have not been recorded on that magnitude, not by us or the islands or yourselves.
And miraculously, you seem to have saved the city of Elysia from an all consuming flame.
So I have one very simple question for you.
How did you reach your God?
Congratulations, everyone, on completing episode eight, a bumper episode.
[01:48:56] Speaker D: It really was.
[01:48:59] Speaker A: So, yes, there is a lot to chew on, to muse upon, to think over. And when we return, the crew will be free agents in a lawless town, a lawless city, or running amok.
So, yes, I'm excited to see what you all want to kind of do for your first, your first kind of school. And, yeah, you'll be emerging into a lesia changed.
So, yeah, congratulations. You made it through.
If you enjoyed that, make sure to hit the like button and comment down below on comment down below on what you think the crew's first solo job is gonna be. And to find out if you're correct, make sure to check the hit the subscribe button and the bell icon for notifications of new uploads so when the new episode comes out, you don't miss it because you for miss it would be very sad. We don't want that. So thank you all for watching, watching. Think of playing.
We'll see you next time.
Bye.
