Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Boom. Hello world. Hi. Welcome back to Explorers of Elsewhere's Tales from Elsewhere. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. I'm DM Dan. I'm joined by Theo, Georgia Living and Dan. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.
And we're gonna play some dagger heart for your little eye holes.
Because we're kind like that. We're. We're really generous with our dagger hearts. We are playing through a mystery mansion. Murder Mystery Mansion Murder written by. I'm. I think I might have been really bad. I'm forgotten to attribute this to the author, but yeah, this is an adventure written by the illustrious Alagomar on Reddit. So if you happen to be watching this Alagomar, you're a champ. You're a star.
The. The. The investigation is afoot. You, the four of you have been let loose in this mansion. You have discovered that you only have five meager hours before the mansion and the magic that sustains it disappears. Unceremoniously jettisoning you onto the hill that this wizard's tower one stands on.
And along with the mansion, we'll go all of the evidence to find out who did a murder.
We. The first half was exciting enough that we have been blessed by Daisy. So she's joining us. Just gonna swing her around to get a few more views. Yes, you've started your investigations. You've heard a scream. Okay, bye. Daisy. You've heard a scream from somewhere in the mansion and you've tracked it down. The basement where you found the chef. Desperately trying to get away from what appears to be a zombie like creature of some sort.
Who would like to watch the intro video and get back into it?
Let's go.
All across the unknown world, rediscovery pushes ever onwards to find the lands and people lost.
All thanks thanks to our brave explorers.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Dan and I'm playing Vanya, the Wolfkin warrior.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: Hey, I'm Livy. I'm going to be playing Ray Reid, the Spirit Ranger.
[00:02:39] Speaker D: Hi, my name's Theo and I'm playing Kel A Sang of our Guardian.
[00:02:43] Speaker E: I'm Georgia and I will be playing Alfric Stormhall, a dragon scent bard.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: And My name is D.M. dan. I'll be the GM in these adventures. The further we go, the more we learn of these magical tales from elsewhere.
Boom.
And so. Battle music.
We find the four of you in a basement. This shambling undead like creature has just lurched out of what appears like a. What appears to be a An iron bar holding cell of some sort in one corner of this basement.
It's already taken A swipe at you cow, with some unusually long talon like claws.
And as the. The other three of you kind of drop down through the trapdoor into this basement.
Yeah. On the other side of the. In the other corner of the room, you can see the chef currently cowering and kind of scrunched up in the corner, seemingly having just discovered this fiend, this creature.
But as it takes a swing at you, cow stumbles a few steps and then writes itself as it like whips this long snake like tongue at you all.
Who's going first?
[00:04:14] Speaker D: I mean it's attacking me, so I should probably go first.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Sure, sure, sure, sure. Okay. Go cow, go.
[00:04:20] Speaker D: Thematically I am.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:23] Speaker D: Okay, so first of all, did it actually try to hit me?
[00:04:29] Speaker A: It did. I mean I can roll for you if you like.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:33] Speaker D: Only because I have a. A thing that I haven't had to try. Haven't had to try yet. So if he wants to try and hit me, he is more than welcome.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Sure thing. It's going to roll a D20 plus one for a grand total of nine.
[00:04:48] Speaker D: So my evasion is nine beats it.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Okay, so it does hit you.
[00:04:56] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: And it hits you for some of. You know what?
You know what?
Have we ever discussed how much of a meanie DM Dan is?
[00:05:14] Speaker C: We would never call you a meanie, would you?
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Never, never call me a meanie.
[00:05:20] Speaker D: Cuz what you're doing.
[00:05:21] Speaker A: What DM Dan's gonna do is spend one of these fear that he's got and.
And he's going to spend fear. Let me just double check.
I swear I can use it to do a bit more damage. Unless they've taken that away from me. They take them that way, it looks like they've taken it away from me. Never mind. I'm gonna have my fear back, right? I'm gonna go back up to three. It's gonna do normal attack against you Cal for 2D6 plus five. Boom. 14 damage.
[00:06:08] Speaker D: Okay. So I know how this works. So that would count as.
So my minor damage is 8 and my severe damage is 20.
So I can.
Look at what I understand I can do. I think if I take us. If I could take an armor slot I can reduce.
That's how it works, right?
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Yeah. So spend an armor slot. What's the number on your armor score? What's your armor score?
[00:06:38] Speaker D: 7.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: So you can reduce that damage by 7 with an armor slot.
[00:06:43] Speaker D: Cool.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: To bring it down to seven, which I'm assuming is now within your minor.
[00:06:50] Speaker D: Yes. And then I can mark one gp. Okay.
[00:06:53] Speaker B: And you could even spend another armor slot to reduce it to zero and take no damage.
[00:06:59] Speaker D: That's true. However, I wanted to see what this does. So, as part of the Vengeance subclass, when you are hit by an enemy in melee range, immediately roll a number of D6 equal to the amount of hit points you marked for each result of five plus deal a hit point back to the enemy.
So I can. I basically get to roll a D6 and if it's higher than.
Yeah, if it's higher than five, they take a hit point? I think.
So I'm gonna try that. So I get to roll 1D6.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:07:42] Speaker D: And if it's higher than 5, I think you take.
Yeah, yeah. Roll a number of D6 equal to the amount of hit points you marked for each result of five plus deal a hit point.
So, yeah, let's just go see what happens.
Hey, you take two hit points as part of my subass.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Okay. Is it. Is it two or just one? Sorry, was it not like.
[00:08:10] Speaker D: So each result of five plus deal a hit point back to the enemy. So I assume as a six, that's five and six, right?
[00:08:18] Speaker A: No, it'll be a five on the five plus. You.
[00:08:21] Speaker D: You reflect.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: And is it just the one D6? Yeah. Yeah.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Cool. Okay, so you spent the armor. So, yeah, as this thing's. This thing's basically swiped at you. Describe to me what happens. Like, what. How did you bounce damage back?
[00:08:42] Speaker D: I feel like it. As it. As it swipes at me. I think Cal was already trying to get his sword out of his scabbard as the swipe happened. So as he swiped, Cal comes up and uses the. The pommel of his sword. So like, to like, get the zombie, as it were, in the face and push him back.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Okay.
In which case, yeah, it. It rocks back as you. As you kind of smash it in the. Smash it in the head.
The part of its skull, like, its skull cracks under the blow. And like, horrifyingly, it seems to sort like pull. The skull seems to split in two. And then you watch as what the muscles underneath seem to be like. There's. There's red siamy muscle that's stretching as the skull splits in two. But you notice that it's like every so often there. There's almost like green strands that's running along, like, in and amongst the muscle of this creature. And you watch as these kind of green tendrils seemingly almost like reach out to the part that's breaking away and pull it back into place as it staggers a few steps Back and then it kind of shakes its head. The like the small clumps of hair that are still on its head kind of flap around wetly and yeah, that's it for its turn. So now we move on to Cal for his turn. So.
[00:10:23] Speaker D: So Cal's actual turn is going to be.
But yeah to just hit it with my long sword.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:10:34] Speaker D: So yeah, so it's it. I basically rolled my usual hope right. And then add plus three. Is that correct? I always forget how this works.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: That's it. That's correct.
[00:10:44] Speaker D: So yeah. Cool. So yes we add plus three basically. So let's roll. And plus three. So that's so that's a 20 with hope.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: 20 with hope. So if nothing else you go up to 4 hope.
And that is extremely a hit.
[00:11:07] Speaker D: Amazing. That's good.
So my damage is 2d8 plus 3 and then I believe just to double check something on here.
Okay cool. So I didn't activate this earlier. I probably should have done. I want to activate unstoppable.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:11:33] Speaker D: Which is once per long rest you can choose to become unstoppable.
It says I gain resistance to physical damage. But that's fine. I've already just had the the fight. That's fine. Increase your armor score by your proficiency. That's fine. At the current value of your unstoppable die which will be one at this moment.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:50] Speaker D: To your damage die in total. So. Okay cool. So basically whatever I roll which is damage is 2d8 plus 3 is actually now plus 4.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:02] Speaker D: So from my unstoppable die and then yeah I think that's all I'm gonna do. I'm gonna save any of the rallying stuff for later. So you get. My damage will be rolled now which is 14. 14.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Okay.
Describe to me like as you as like years of experience kick in and you deliver this like body breaking blow with your sword. Like describe to me what. How what happens.
[00:12:42] Speaker D: Sure. Well I feel like as so he's obviously used the pommel originally push the zombie back, flicked his sword back round and almost like this. This man was a soldier for so long it is almost on autopilot as he just kind of swings back around with his sword and just like carves into this kind of zombie side quite heavily and like brings the sword back. So not only does he swing in, he then pulls it back towards himself. So there's like quite a gaping wound.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:13:18] Speaker D: In this zombie side, you know as.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Your sword bites deep into the flesh and like the zombie almost is almost bisected at the Waist like. And the top half of it lurches sideways like in response to your blow.
Van Year there's a part of you that's like no because this is. It was clearly a killing blow. And then Cal as you withdraw your sword, you open like you look up for a moment and notice that this zombie that's kind of split in half, these green tendrils then sprout out of its lower half and seemingly grab the top half of its torso and pull it back into place.
And what you would have suspected would have been major damage actually only seems to have been superficial at best.
And the creature looks to you as it pulls itself back. But the. The momentum of it kind of snapping to again like seemingly regenerating makes its head lull from looking at you Cal to looking at Alfric.
And for a stress it's going to reactivate and lunge at you alcate.
It's going to like it. Both of its arms come out like reach out at you. And these claws this quite kind of frightening looking claws arcing towards you. It's going to roll a D20 plus one and I roll a 20 to hit.
[00:15:13] Speaker E: Oh, sorry. I do I roll her?
[00:15:16] Speaker A: No. Is that I. I'm. I miss. I'm expecting that's higher than your evasion.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Your base is for.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Yes, okay.
[00:15:25] Speaker E: It's my base.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: In which case like its arms wrap around you as it comes in close and quite worryingly it appears to be attempting to or it bites you for 11 damage.
[00:15:50] Speaker B: So if you want to reduce that with any of your armor slots, you can. So you'll have a number of armor slots on your character sheet.
Probably about six. Six of them maybe.
[00:16:07] Speaker E: Yes, I believe so.
[00:16:09] Speaker B: What's your armor score number on your arm?
Zero.
[00:16:17] Speaker E: Unless I feel like am I wearing.
[00:16:20] Speaker A: I just. Well, sorry.
[00:16:23] Speaker E: Currently on my. My character sheet it says zero armor.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: Armor slots, any armor.
So in your cat, if you look at your equipment, you'll be able to see all your gear in. In within the equipment section and there'll be some tick boxes. Well some squares that you can select to equip that gear. So you want any like weapons or armor? If you want to.
[00:16:56] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:16:57] Speaker C: Bye.
[00:16:58] Speaker E: My apologies to stream. This is my first time fighting anything in Dagger House.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: I know we're all here to help each other.
[00:17:05] Speaker E: It's when I click it, it doesn't give me the option to put it on.
[00:17:10] Speaker B: No, no, it just you click the square and as long as it highlights it in a yellow, that's it. That your armor Armor score should change. To whatever that armor is. So it might be a. A one, a two, a three.
[00:17:24] Speaker E: Was it like giving me the option?
[00:17:28] Speaker A: What armor?
[00:17:29] Speaker B: What armor is it?
[00:17:30] Speaker E: It's gambison armor gambling.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: Like the, the lowest.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: Yes, I am above base score. Three I think basically gives you plus.
[00:17:42] Speaker C: Plus one to evasion.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: Okay.
So yeah, each armor slot that you expend, it will reduce this damage by 3. Then you compare it to your major and severe damage thresholds.
So your, what are your thresholds?
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Out of curiosity, what's the numbers?
It will say minor damage, then a square with a number and then major damage square with a number and severe damage it'll be just one below evasion and armor and then you.
[00:18:21] Speaker E: Oh, Minor damage is 6. Major damage is 16.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Cool. Okay. So, well, so you're not going to be suffering like severe damage. So no need to worry about that fundamentally. So yeah, you can reduce this damage in chunks of three, like one per armor slot and like and that will come off this damage total. So obviously if you spend one armor slot it will reduce the damage to eight. If you spend two armor slots, it reduce it to five and so on. So you could spend two armor slots to reduce it low enough to then only take minor damage and then, then.
[00:19:01] Speaker E: That would reduce it to one minor slot. One hit point.
[00:19:05] Speaker A: One hit point. Correct. Okay, so we can expect that the, the, this zombie type creature has just got a mouthful of ruffles.
[00:19:14] Speaker E: I mean, I'll, I'll do that. I'll spend those two.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: Okay.
In which case, yeah, as you saw like, like pull away, it, yeah, grabs, it bites a. A mouthful. Like the claws have dug into you and you can, you can feel them sort of like piercing through your, like your, the fabric on your shoulders. But the, as the creature's teeth clamp down, it just kind of bites at your cravat and like it unfurls and tightens slightly as you pull away.
Yeah. So you've taken one hit point worth of damage as you've only reduced it down to minor.
I'm going to stop being mean now. Who wants to go next?
[00:19:58] Speaker B: Seeing Alfric just get chomped on, I think um, Vanya will just grab Alfric's shoulder and switch places, pulling Alfric back behind me. And in that momentum pulling Alfric back, he will then the button, like the clasp unclips the overall cloak just flings back behind his shoulders, revealing his manly abs.
[00:20:30] Speaker E: Manly abs.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: As this rocket punch comes towards, there's a creature with these stone gauntlets.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: There's a moment when he poses and kisses a bicep.
[00:20:41] Speaker C: A magical wind machine turns on.
[00:20:44] Speaker A: Yes, Alfric, you. You appear to have a bottle of baby oil in your hands.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:53] Speaker F: I've got you.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: As this stone primal gauntlet goes arcing towards this creature. Okay, there's a plus three to on the hit, so let's go.
It is a 22, 23. So 25 with hope. And I'm gonna not take the hope, and I'm gonna add it to my layer pool.
So I'm still on three hope, and I am going to roll some A Dimash.
I'm not going to spend that slayer token yet.
Right, so it's 2d10 plus 3.
18 points of magical damage.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: 18 points.
[00:22:01] Speaker B: As.
As that rocket punch comes towards this creature's face to try and push its face into the bars behind it to smush it.
You, Alfred, you will see from the gauntlets this flurry of wind and cold primal energy disperses from the gauntlet.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Very good.
As you sort of, like, knock. Well, as your fist connect, you were going for the head, right?
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: As this fist connects with its sort of like, cheekbone, you feel the bone underneath kind of give way. And there's this. There's an unpleasant squelchiness to it, and they're like. You feel like there's nowhere near as much resistance as you're expecting. And it takes you a moment to register that you've punched this thing hard enough that the top half of its skull has detached, and, like, your fist is kind of carrying it along. And as that happens and you're sort of like, arcing over it, you know, its body, you see these kind of viney, like, tendrils reaching out from sort of like, its jaw, as if it's reaching up to kind of grab the top of the skull and pull it back, but they don't do it quick enough to stop. Your fist then wedging the top half of the skull between your fist and the bars of the cage behind it. And with a splotch and a Zitz, pots like, splatter of brain and kind of goop, the top half of the skull is mulched against the side of the cage and as slightly frozen, too.
Like, as you finish the blow and you hear the donk as your hand hits the. The metal of the cage, the bottom half of the body then sort of like spasms for a moment and then collapses to the ground. And the. The green vine, like tentacles that are erupting out of his body, just sort of like immediately go limp and then begin to sort of like, shrivel and wither back into the creature's body, but not you. Halving that 18 down to 9 is still enough for one point of damage. And the creature is slain.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: I.
[00:24:44] Speaker F: With this.
[00:24:47] Speaker B: And the creature just slumps to the floor, just dying. I just kind of turn around like slow mo.
[00:24:55] Speaker F: And you just aim for the head. Usually it does. The trick.
[00:25:03] Speaker E: Is in awe.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: As Vanya, as Vanya says this to Alfric Callum Rayri.
You look at this creature and you. You watch as it, like the. The vine, like tentacles that were coming out of the bottom half of its head and say they've started to, like, wither and shrivel.
But the whole creature just seems to sort of like be desiccating in front of your eyes until it. Until it looks like nothing more than a withered husk.
But yeah, it. The creature is no longer moving.
You is abundantly clear in this moment that whatever those green kind of tendrils were, that wasn't normal.
Yeah, I mean, I guess you're in an Archmage's mansion, so perhaps normal isn't to be expected. All that much is normal as that happens. You hear a voice from above. You cow is it? Is everything okay down there? And you look up and see the paladin who was kind of following behind you, peering down the trap door to you all in the basement.
Who do you know? Who have you found? Who. Who it was was. Screen. Oh, you're muted.
[00:26:36] Speaker E: You're muted. For you.
[00:26:39] Speaker D: I'm. I'm here now.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: Sorry.
[00:26:42] Speaker D: I think Cal calls up like it's been dealt with. The chef is with us.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: As you say that, you look back to the corner where the chef was, and she's gone.
You, as you take a step round to see where she is, because, like, between you and the other side of the room is a wall with, like, a dividing wall with a number of kind of pantry, like, shelves attached to it.
But you notice that there is another trapdoor on the other at the other end of this basement room. And what appears to be a small, like, rope ladder has kind of is. Is draped down from the trapdoor and kind of dangling across the floor.
So it looks like in the.
In the Ferrari, of that sudden burst of excitement, the chef has managed to kind of escape out of the basement.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Do we know where that goes?
[00:27:44] Speaker A: Not yet.
[00:27:48] Speaker C: Can I open the trapdoor?
[00:27:49] Speaker A: You can. Let me just rearrange the cap for maximum views.
Daisy, you need. You need to. You're too flat. You're too pancake.
There we go. Yeah, that's a Money shot.
Yes, you can absolutely have a. Have a little gander. If anyone else is looking, then, yeah, by all means, let me know and I'll move in there.
[00:28:20] Speaker D: I think just before I go across, I'll call up to the paladin to explain that the.
We're trying to find the chef. We think she's gone a little bit further down.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: Sure, sure, sure.
I. I'll keep a lookout for her. The. The paladin responds and then her shadow kind of disappears and then she. Shall I. Shall I close the trap door?
No, she's already halfway to like closing. And then I'll leave it open, she says.
Leaves it be.
[00:28:54] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: So as the four of you kind of follow behind, like, follow up through the other trap door.
Let me just move you all over.
You emerge into what appears to be a laboratory.
The laboratory lies somewhere in the mix of workshop, alchemical research facility and studio with flasks, scrolls and halls on all matter of shelves and tables.
There is a biting chemical smell in this room, but it's difficult to tell where it's coming from with how cluttered the room is.
Open tomes and ongoing experiments are scattered throughout the room, but only about half of them are labeled.
You notice as you enter in that the door.
You're in this small kind of laboratory. There is a door at the other side of the room which is open.
And like as you peer through the open door down the corridor, there's a green carpeted corridor into a room. Further down, you see the three figures of Agathar Bendel and Mayor Montgomery.
They appear to be stood in what looks like a library, but otherwise, yeah, you. You seem to be in a laboratory of some sorts.
What do you do?
[00:30:52] Speaker B: I.
I guess, but. Is that the dog?
I. Yeah, I guess, yeah. Vanier is not very good with paperwork.
[00:31:11] Speaker F: So someone might want to check the desk. I'll guess our scatterhead.
Talk to the people beyond.
[00:31:26] Speaker B: And yeah, I'll start walking my way out.
As I'm walking, is there any signs of the chef or like any doors that have been just closed or are partially open as I'm walking along?
[00:31:50] Speaker A: There isn't.
As you head into this sort of like green carpeted hallway, you find yourself at a t junction with a long corridor running to your right.
And this is a corridor of doors. You notice.
Stop with you stopped at the kind of the junction. You're right next to a. A wooden door. All the doors are frustratingly similar in appearance, but looking down the long corridor to your right, you see two sets of Sorry Three sets of two doors, kind of either side heading down, give you suspect.
You have a fleeting suspicion that perhaps given the number of doors in such close proximity, proximity to one another. This must be like the bedrooms of some sort.
Which means by your, you know, by your reckoning, there are seven bedrooms in this area.
Immediately in front of you through an open door, you see the three figures of Agatha, Bendel and Montgomery.
And the three of them are kind of clustered together and they're talking. They're sort of like talking to one another quite intently.
At the far end of the long corridor, you see another open door which you spot the telltale sign of the white marble of the entrance.
And as you try to figure out what's happening, you feel like you've emerged on the other side of the mansion.
And perhaps that basement was like a bridge, but space seems somewhat relative.
Yeah.
As you open to double check, as you open the door immediately to your left, over the door, mean it to your left, you see what looks to be a rather plain.
A very clean and extremely plain bedroom.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: Does anyone else want to do anything at this moment, as I've just entered, like walked off and entered this space?
[00:34:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, Al freaking Cal, you're still in the laboratory.
Is there anything you're looking like investigating while you're here?
[00:34:40] Speaker E: I think Alfred would be following.
Following along down this corridor.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:48] Speaker E: Let me. There we go.
He's there.
[00:34:53] Speaker A: Okay.
So. Yeah. You following behind Vanya and fundamentally everything I've just described, you see as well.
Cal, are you.
Are you stopping to smell the roses or.
[00:35:07] Speaker D: I think Cal is going to see if he can read anything. Like his knowledge isn't like he's not a knowledgeable man, but he may notice something in the papers that might be of use.
[00:35:18] Speaker A: Use.
[00:35:19] Speaker D: So I think he's going to just take a glance at some of these papers and see if they mean anything.
[00:35:24] Speaker A: Sure, sure, sure.
Which ability would you like to use.
[00:35:34] Speaker D: It be. Sorry, late day.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: Right.
[00:35:38] Speaker D: I think I'm just going to roll knowledge. It's a straight roll, just a plus zero.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Sure, sure.
[00:35:43] Speaker D: Okay, go double check if there's anything else I can do. I don't think there is.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: So I think if. Yeah, if you're going knowledge, then perhaps it's. You're trying to comprehend these kind of. That you're. You're almost trying to comprehend the science of what is on the bits that you have in front of you. Yeah. B means sure.
Right.
[00:36:04] Speaker D: Okay, let's see what happens if I.
A. So that is a. 17 with fear.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: 17 with fear. Okay.
It's difficult to pass, like, what's on all. Like, the laboratory is kind of all over the place.
So, like, as you pick up some of the books and some of the, like the scrolls and the research papers, like, you're trying to figure out, you know, the meaning behind them.
But, yeah, you find what appears to be, like, a number of lab notes on, like, various experiments.
Get the pushing shot there where she is.
But there's one off the back of a 17. Was it? Yeah. So if the back of a 17, there's one in particular that catches your eye. It's a set of lab notes that read, in the Grand Garden Temple of the Holleran Jungles, recovered a dark crystal. Crystal must have been valuable, as the Druids were willing to sell their lives to protect it.
Extensive research has been done on the crystal in an attempt to harvest its power.
Unfortunately, nothing was able to be extracted before cracks began to form and it was reduced to a trivial trophy.
Interesting.
And as you read that, you all, all of you. So the. The four of you here, a rather ominous boom.
And you look at a nearby clock on a wall. Cow. And realize that another hour has passed.
There are four hours left until midnight.
As a complication of your fe.
[00:38:46] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:38:49] Speaker D: I'm just gonna pick up that lab note and put it in a pocket just in case it's useful.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: Is Rayvi having a little snoop or she. Chasing after.
[00:38:59] Speaker C: Chasing after.
Can I look at the books? Is there books on the table?
[00:39:07] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:39:08] Speaker C: Can I have a little look at the bookies?
[00:39:10] Speaker A: Yeah. I might ask for a knowledge roll.
[00:39:16] Speaker C: Oh, I'm great at that.
[00:39:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Just to see if you, like, understand what it is you're reading.
[00:39:23] Speaker C: I know loads about magical books.
See?
[00:39:30] Speaker A: So 12 with hope. So that takes you up to three. Hope.
Cool. So the ones. The. The books, as you kind of look across. You peer up and look across this tabletop. There appears to be a triplet of tomes that seem to be kind of.
They're in a position where, like, they're either more important or they reached too more often.
And the. It's a three tone set.
The top, the first one is named Exploring.
Exploring a new power source. A3. It's a three tone set detailing the basic nature of primal artifacts and as well as some preliminary and kind of almost reactionary research.
The book itself looks, you know, quite new. Primal Energy, as you collectively know it, has only been around for the past kind of year and a half, ever since pretty much the end of the Eschaton. The end of the war.
But even so, as you peer through these books, you can see a lot of very kind of scribbly handwritten notes in the margins.
And like a lot of the notes are sort either refuting some of the things that are being said or like, you know, sections are circled. We have must explore further, like written next to it and so on and so forth. So you get the impression that the handwritten notes belongs to Ulic.
But yeah, between that and what Cal has found, it would seem that Ulic has been doing a lot of research into primal energy.
[00:41:32] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: So flicking over to Vanier and Alfric.
Yeah, you're still, if you're still kind of in chase mode and say you can see the three stood in the entryway to the library. Bendel, Agathar and Montgomery.
I mean, you have a look through the, like looking through the door to your left into this bedroom that appears to be empty. All the doors along this corridor are closed. The only open door is to the foyer that you first entered. So you suspect that if, well, unless the chef has slipped between these three and is in the library, you suspect that she might have headed back to the foyer.
[00:42:21] Speaker B: Okay.
And even though there's a bedroom that's open, is there any telling of like anyone's belongings or anything inside that room?
[00:42:37] Speaker A: You note that.
Give me, give me an instinct.
Yeah, give me an instinctual.
[00:42:51] Speaker B: Okay, plus two.
I'm not gonna add anything on this one.
10. 11.
Plus two.
13 with hope.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: 13 with hope.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: And I'm gonna add that to my slayer die, so I don't take the extra hope.
[00:43:15] Speaker A: So you stay on three.
Yeah, you like. The room is so plain and tidy.
Like it's difficult to gauge whose it might be from the contents. And it's only when you look a little bit closer at the bed that you, it dawns on you that the bed is quite short and quite low to the ground. And there appears to be almost like a small.
You know when you have like old dogs or cats in the house. So you give them, get them the little steps to help them get on the sofa.
Fundamentally one of those at the side of the bed. So in this moment you kind of. It tweaks. This is probably Bendel's room.
[00:44:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. As these three are still sort of talking and I, I realize that Alfrex following, I'll just quickly turn and say.
[00:44:16] Speaker F: I think this is the Bendel's room. Do we look or do we go talking to these three over here or do we try and find the cook?
[00:44:29] Speaker E: I was going to listen at the door.
[00:44:38] Speaker F: Listen at these doors down the corridor. Or do you mean listen to their conversation?
[00:44:43] Speaker E: Their conversation.
[00:44:44] Speaker F: I'm going to move out the way because I'm not very sneaky, so I sidestep.
[00:44:52] Speaker E: Alfric is delighted that you think he is.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: He doesn't know your skill set.
[00:44:59] Speaker F: He's like, you've got to prove yourself. You've got this.
[00:45:07] Speaker A: As.
As Vanier steps aside and kind of says, like, you got this. And gives you, you know, giving you, like, a thumbs up.
Alfric, you take one step forward and the floor under foot creaks loud enough that the three in the library turn to look at you. Like, all three heads turn in unison.
And the wolf king mage, like, scrutinizes you for a moment. And then it will be unwise to sneak around.
People might get a bit jumpy.
[00:45:48] Speaker E: I wasn't sneaking. I was walking politely.
[00:45:56] Speaker A: The mage, like, studies you for a moment, and then you see, like, this old wrinkly goblin head peer around the corner. And then you hear the goblin.
And then he very slowly, very ominously walks towards you.
[00:46:21] Speaker E: Can I quickly close the door on him?
[00:46:27] Speaker B: Wait, what?
Wait, are you. You talking about his bedroom door? You're gonna close.
[00:46:35] Speaker E: I was he. I was gonna. If he was already not through the door into the corridor, I was going to close the library door.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: You can if you like. You can if you like.
Yeah. If you're just like, oh, yeah, if that's what you'd like. As the goblin, like, peers around and he sort of like, takes him a little while to sort of like, nudge Agatha out the way. But, yeah, if you want to very quickly scoot through forward and close the door on him.
[00:47:06] Speaker C: Terribly sorry.
[00:47:08] Speaker A: Okay, so you scoot forward and then bend all sort, like, looking up to you. Oh, someone's left my bedroom. Do.
And you hear a slight dunk as the door hits this goblin in the forehead.
And, like, there's just this awkward moment of perfect silence.
And then.
Did she just close the door on us?
Yes, I. I think he did.
Bloody. Bloody hell.
Yeah. Fanya, you've just seen an exemplary display of stealth and misdirection.
Africa. You. You back away slow. It's back to the intersection.
And like, the three of them just appear to be in the library. Now, closing in the library.
[00:48:14] Speaker B: You should.
[00:48:15] Speaker E: Simply check the room.
[00:48:19] Speaker F: You want. You want that? Jack Bendle's room.
[00:48:23] Speaker E: Everyone's a suspect.
[00:48:28] Speaker F: Sure.
After you.
[00:48:37] Speaker E: He'll go into.
[00:48:39] Speaker A: Sure, sure, sure.
Well, as you. You step into Bendel's room and.
Tell you what, roll me a let's call it a. I guess you're trying to perceive, right? So you roll me an instinct.
[00:48:59] Speaker E: I have plus zero to instinct.
[00:49:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:49:07] Speaker E: That was 10. Hope.
[00:49:12] Speaker B: 40. So you had before.
[00:49:14] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. So 14.
[00:49:15] Speaker B: 14 with hope.
[00:49:17] Speaker A: And. Sorry, but did you have a modifier to it?
[00:49:19] Speaker B: Sorry, no.
[00:49:21] Speaker A: No. Okay, 14 with Hope.
So the first thing that strikes you as you step into this room is that it smells like old goblin. Okay. And for anyone who's, like, watching or playing, I'll let you in your heads, imagine what the stank of old goblin is like. Okay. Because arguably, whatever you can think of, whatever you can imagine, that's what old goblin smells like.
But like, yeah, as you look around and I say it's very simple. There's no personal belongings that you can see. The bed is neatly made.
The. The little steps that's up to the bed that's been kind of neatly placed. It's not going to skewer for anything. Like, everything is in perfect order in this room.
And it is unbearably plain and, like, empty. There is nothing of note beyond the bed. The quilts, the pillows, the chest of drawers that you suspect has got old goblin underwear in it. Like really big, like, pants.
You. You can almost picture there's a drawer of like identical purple butler suits.
Like, this room is chef's kid.
Yeah. The walls are plain. There are no windows.
The. The room is lit by a couple of candles that seem magical in nature.
It's more eerie how plain this is.
[00:51:19] Speaker E: Alfric is faintly disappointed.
[00:51:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:22] Speaker E: This is his first time leading the investigation and he's encountered this room.
[00:51:29] Speaker A: Yes. This is the most uninteresting room you've ever witnessed in your life.
[00:51:39] Speaker B: I have an idea.
[00:51:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:51:44] Speaker B: Depending on what others are doing.
[00:51:46] Speaker A: We'll tell you what, let's quickly switch back. Cal, you are currently in the. Are you still in the laboratory. Are you chasing after.
[00:51:55] Speaker D: I think at this point, he. Once he's done the reading, I think he will follow after Ray.
[00:52:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:52:02] Speaker D: See what's happened.
[00:52:04] Speaker A: Sure.
In which case. Yeah, you. You find Alfric stood in a very. A very place room. It strikes you almost as like militaristically tidy be. Ravi. What? What are you doing?
[00:52:21] Speaker C: I see that Alfric has gone in Bendel's room and she's just like, oh.
[00:52:30] Speaker A: We'Re doing face brilliant.
[00:52:32] Speaker C: And she just runs down the corridor.
Any minute I'm gonna go in this body. And she just opens up this door here.
[00:52:44] Speaker A: Okay.
You run down the corridor and loudly announce you're opening the second door on the left.
And in here is a bedroom that has the same colour carpet as the. The room at the end that Alfric stood in. But this one is somewhat smaller by like. Unlike the Bendel's room at the far end, this room is full of dirty dishes and dirty cups, dirty plates and dirty cutlery. Just some of them in sort of like washing top basins. Some, A lot of them just stacked up like precariously balanced on top of pots, like cooking pots. And like the place is a state.
There's a sort of a clear path from the door to the bed. But even on the bed there are plates and cups and bowls just kind of scattered around. You can see that some seemingly are the, the, the, the. The dirty crockery is kind of almost pushed to one side of the bed. So it seems like this rather, you know, generous looking double bed, only one half of it is used.
The rest of it, the rest of it as well as the room is occupied by dirty kitchen utensils and cr.
[00:54:22] Speaker C: Someone hasn't done the washing up for a while. Then can, can I have a look maybe like under the bed, see if there's just like. Let's have a look around.
[00:54:46] Speaker A: Sure, yeah. Give me an instinct throw. Like an instinct. Perceive.
Instinct. Perceive. Or I suppose there's no like investigation really, is there? Space, knowledge.
Knowledge perhaps. But yeah, more likely instinct.
[00:55:10] Speaker C: I mean that was terrible.
Six, six, seven.
[00:55:17] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:55:18] Speaker C: With fear.
[00:55:20] Speaker A: The, the room is so cluttered.
Like you lift up a couple of plates, like you look under the bed and it's like you realize that there are pots, like big cooking pots that have just been like rammed under the bed. And like as you pull out one and then you immediately recoil because it looks almost floral with how moldy it is.
Like, and you. Oh, oh. And you can't look around and there's like, there's one and like the whatever liquid is in that bowl has kind of started to congeal into this kind of brown slurry and you just.
Yeah, unfortunately you don't find anything. And I'll take the fear.
[00:56:07] Speaker C: Yeah, it's like she's looking round. She's spending more time trying to stop Vinnie from licking any of the mouldy pots.
Opens a pot, she's like, no, just like grabs his head, trying to like remove him from trying to like eat a load of moldy meat.
[00:56:24] Speaker A: She's like, I tell you what I won't take for fear. I'm not gonna take the fear here.
What I am going to do is that Vanier from behind you and sort like to Your like if you're watch. I. I presume you're watching Ry. So like behind you and to the left you hear a door open and you realize the door to the library has been opened. And you hear the voices of Agatha Bendel and Mayor Montgomery as they reemerge.
And Rayri and Cal, you can hear from down the way the voice of Agatha say what are you doing in Bendel's room?
As Alfric, you are caught red handed by the trio.
[00:57:21] Speaker E: Red Claude.
[00:57:22] Speaker A: Red Claude. Yes, Vanier seems to have been caught up in this as well. Cal, what are you doing? You've probably got a few seconds before they might notice. What like might notice you?
[00:57:35] Speaker D: Can I literally just grab Ry really quickly and just pull her out of the, the chef's room so that she does and then close the door. So it's like we haven't mean anymore. So like we, we not like yeah.
[00:57:51] Speaker C: Sure, okay, you're grabbing me, I'm grabbing Vinnie and we're all just.
[00:57:55] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
[00:57:57] Speaker A: Okay, so yeah, you like there's a chain reaction of people grabbing people, people grabbing others. And like as you close the door you Cal, you see Agathar kind of arrive at the T junction. Um, and it's a bit rude to be barging around in people's bedrooms without permission, isn't it?
And as he says that, Bendel steps forward and it's okay.
Anything that will help find Master Alrix, you licks killer.
But I can tell you, Sardin, that there's nothing of interest in there.
[00:58:53] Speaker E: Just, you know, ticking people off the list as you do.
In that case, I suppose we wouldn't find anything if we were to just give a quick look around.
[00:59:11] Speaker A: Bendel shrugs, given that you're already in his room.
Standing in the doorway, Agatha looks a bit kind of put out. Like you see him kind of sneer a little bit.
And then he, by all means, he says and he points at the door to Vanier's left. So this one here.
[00:59:45] Speaker B: As I see him make that gesture, it's like well.
[00:59:50] Speaker F: Before we continue our search, is there anything that you found on your end that might be beneficial to this investigation?
[01:00:06] Speaker A: The three of them sort of like look to look to one another and Mayor Montgomery is the one that pipes up and says we have a couple of working theories, but we, we're going, we're keeping our cards somewhat close to our chest until we've found some more evidence. We wouldn't want to tip off the, the guilty party as to what it is we're looking into with that.
[01:00:40] Speaker B: That reaction. Do I get the sense that they are being guarded because they don't trust us and they're trying to do their own investigation properly? Or are they being. Or does it. Do I get a sense they're being like, guard because they're being. They have ulterior motives and they're being shifty?
[01:01:07] Speaker A: Roll me a.
[01:01:12] Speaker B: Because it's almost like if I get a scene says that there are genuinely trying to investigate like we are, it's less likely they are the ones who have committed the murder.
[01:01:25] Speaker A: Okay, roll me an instinct.
[01:01:31] Speaker B: Do you know what? I. I think I'm gonna use my heightened senses again.
Meant for this. I'm gonna spend that hope just because I'm not. I. I really want to get a sense of these guys and really be clear on my opinion of them.
So I'm taking away hope.
And so that gives me plus two. Plus two. So that's a plus four total for this role.
That was just my role just now, wasn't it? So.
11, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 with fear.
[01:02:23] Speaker A: 22 with fear.
The mayor strikes you as seen the. The speed and the.
The speed with which she answered your question and the sort of, like, the snippishness of it.
You. You get this immediate impression that he. He responded quite impatiently.
But it's a different sort of impatience to that of, say, the paladin, like the keeper paladin in the main room, who. It was abundantly clear that, you know, she was impatient to find the culprit.
That you can't quite put your finger on it, but, yeah, the mayor, like, the way the mayor's kind of snaps you almost, and then sort of, like, looks up to the other two and then looks back to you. Like, it seems like you're stopping them from doing something.
[01:03:39] Speaker B: So. Yeah, but stopping them from doing something that might not necessarily be this impression investigation.
[01:03:48] Speaker A: Yeah, actually, off the back of a 22, you then spot him.
Like, his eyes. Like, he hasn't got, like, you know, he's a. He's a sprite. So they don't have pupils, but you can still get a gauge for sort like, what direction they're looking. Sort like the light in their eyes.
And for the briefest of moments, you see him sort like glance sideways back into the library, and then his head snaps back to you as if he's, like, caught himself wandering and then brought his attention back.
[01:04:30] Speaker B: Okay. So, like, he's. He's looking back at the light. I caught his glance almost, like, nervously looking back at the light. Bree for whatever reason, judging well, so you.
[01:04:48] Speaker A: You got. You catch that. And off the back of the fear, you then hear from the foyer behind you this resonant booming voice, is everything okay down there?
And cal, you turn to see Stradivon stood at the end of the corridor to this kind of bedroom area.
Like, he's an imposing figure. He fills the whole door frame with his kind of stony features.
But as he kind of says that and is looking at all of these people gathered in this corridor, Agatha says, yes, we're absolutely fine. In fact, we were just hoping to have a quick word with you, Stradavon.
And before you get a chance, any of you get a chance to kind of protest the, like, Agatha and Mayor Montgomery kind of push past you down the hall and kind of heads towards the foyer. And Bendel, who's just kind of like stood in the middle of it all, just, excuse me, I'll just be following them. And then he slowly.
[01:06:04] Speaker F: That is fine.
[01:06:05] Speaker A: Potters his way between you. And he stops when he gets to you. Rayri and good dog, he says, kind of patting Riri very decrepitly on the head. They're just like forehead smacks.
And then he. Yeah, he kind of dawdles on after.
And yeah, you see the three of them sort of like, sorry, the three of them convene with the. With the statue.
And then as they kind of walk out of sight, you hear Stradivon's voice echo out, how can I help you?
And as they go, Montgomery is kind of waiting for Bendel to. To pass through. And when Mendel steps through, Mayor Montgomery kind of looks down the corridor, like, back down the corridor towards the four of you, and then closes the door.
[01:07:05] Speaker B: With that.
Now that the door is closed.
Van your immediate say.
[01:07:12] Speaker F: Yeah, that Mayor Montgomery seemed a bit nervous, shifty even.
Something about that library. I think we need to go check.
[01:07:32] Speaker A: What's Alfric thinking?
[01:07:35] Speaker E: Alfric knows Mayor Montgomery right now.
[01:07:40] Speaker C: He.
[01:07:40] Speaker E: He doesn't know him exceptionally well, but he knows him quite well through his father.
Is.
Is sort of anxiety and shiftiness inherent in this man or is this a new behavior for him?
[01:07:54] Speaker A: So, yeah, as a citizen of.
As a citizen of Seldivon, yes, Mayor Montgomery is relatively new to the role.
Like, he hasn't been mayor of Sodovon all that long.
He took over from the previous mayor, Archibald, after, like, yeah, there was a whole scandal because, like, Archibald got it found. Like, it was found out that there was, you know, a tax fraud and corruption. And yeah, it was a very scandalous Reveal.
And you know, Mayor Archibald, ex Mayor Archibald was.
Yeah, he was fundamentally like tarred and feathered and run out of town. Like it was a very public shoeing. And Mayor Montgomery has kind of stepped in in his place.
And you know, that like the one thing, one of the reasons why Montgomery got the job is because it is known. He is known for his sort of like by the book nature.
So especially in the aftermath of a, you know, a tax corruption style fiasco, someone who would dot the eyes and cross the T's was perfect. And yeah, Mayor Montgomery is a bit of a stickler for crossing TE's and dotting eyes.
He's so yeah, it's.
Is it. Was it unusual behavior to see from him? Perhaps, perhaps not.
But yeah, he's not usually one for sort like whisper whispers.
[01:09:53] Speaker E: I think Alfric will nod.
I think we should look.
See what they were doing.
[01:10:07] Speaker A: Callan, Riri, are you retiring to the library along with the others?
[01:10:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I think R. Rayri will love to look in another room.
It's all very exciting.
[01:10:21] Speaker A: Sure. Well, anyone who wants to go to the library, feel free to move your tokens over there.
[01:10:28] Speaker C: I seem to have a ghost token.
[01:10:31] Speaker A: Do you now?
That's because you're dead. You've been dead all along.
[01:10:43] Speaker C: That mold in that room, I just smelt it and just.
Just died.
[01:10:49] Speaker A: Okay.
You'll be happy to know every. Well, everyone beef in the chat has a new theory. But have you. Have the four of you got any new theories or hunches or suspicions?
[01:11:05] Speaker E: I. I feel it was. I still don't trust the butler. I also have my suspicions about the paladin.
[01:11:15] Speaker A: Oh, interesting.
[01:11:16] Speaker E: She's too helpful.
[01:11:20] Speaker A: So, as the four of you enter into the library, a musty smell pervades this room where every wall is lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves that are stuffed with all manner of research tomes, historical accounts, diaries, loose notes. There are additional rows of stacks containing newer books, including a particularly large collection of books all authored by Ulic, on the nature of planar travel, as well as personal notes, recounts, receipts of trade contracts and dissertations.
Where would you like to start?
[01:12:12] Speaker E: Is there a sign anywhere that any books have sort of been recently taken out? Like, are there any books anywhere that the group before us might have been looking at?
[01:12:25] Speaker A: Give me a.
[01:12:30] Speaker E: Can I use an experience of well read?
[01:12:34] Speaker A: You?
[01:12:35] Speaker E: I know my way around the library.
[01:12:37] Speaker A: You absolutely can. So that will cost you one of your five hope, but then that will give you an extra plus two in this role. Yeah, absolutely. Well read. You're in your element in this library.
[01:12:49] Speaker C: Yes.
[01:12:51] Speaker A: I'm going to say say dealer's choice of instinct or knowledge. Whether you're sort of like perceiving something or analyzing the room that you're seeing.
[01:13:03] Speaker E: I. I'll roll on knowledge cuz my instinct is terrible.
[01:13:06] Speaker A: Sure.
[01:13:08] Speaker E: See that is a 1:1.
[01:13:12] Speaker A: Okay. It's the worst kind of crit, but it's still a crit.
So. So when you roll a double on the. On the duality dice it is a crit. So you immediately go back up to 5 hope because you whilst having only rolled like a 5 or something like you've actually aced it.
You immediately notice that there is a rather hefty looking book like you. You glance around this room and the first thing that kind of takes you takes your breath away is just like how well maintained this library is. Like we. We're not entirely sure if the elsewhere setting has a like a Dewey system system but if it does it originated here. Like everything is cataloged beautifully. Everything is pristinely kept in place.
[01:14:18] Speaker E: Man after my own heart.
[01:14:20] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly.
Which is why. Which is immediately then how you are able to notice that there is one rather large book upside down and not fully like in on the shelf. Like it's been hastily put back.
[01:14:40] Speaker E: I'll go now.
[01:14:41] Speaker A: And as you pull that out because you also notice it's completely out of place in terms of like the other books around it and sort of like you can see some scrolls that have been scrunched up behind it. As you pull this book out the. The tome interestingly is lock. It's got a lock on the front but it simply says in gold writing on the front ledger.
Are any of you good with lock picking?
I mean the lock itself looks rather delicate so I mean you could lock pick if anyone's able to lock pick feel free.
[01:15:25] Speaker C: I think I could probably my tinkering is pretty decent.
[01:15:32] Speaker A: Okay.
I mean in which case yeah, if you want to unlock it by all means give me finesse.
[01:15:42] Speaker C: So seeing that it's a locked book I think Ray re just to Alfric Gimmy.
[01:15:52] Speaker E: He hands it down.
[01:15:58] Speaker C: And she looks at it and a 14 kind of just like, like and then just gets like a little like hairpin out of a bun made of some kind of adamantium him so it just melt in her lava hair and just start just.
[01:16:25] Speaker A: Okay, so presumably the other three of you watch as Ray rehands this book to Vinnie who just like holds it.
[01:16:33] Speaker C: In his mouth just holds it open.
[01:16:34] Speaker A: Like a vice and then you like with a Satisfying Click. The clasp on the front of the book pops up and you're able to open it without kind of damaging the destroying the lot.
[01:16:47] Speaker B: Nice.
[01:16:47] Speaker C: That was with hope, by the way.
[01:16:49] Speaker A: With hope. Yes, it was.
So you go up to four.
[01:16:58] Speaker C: Just opens it, hoping to find another beautiful ring.
[01:17:06] Speaker A: Inside. You find no ring.
Instead you find a extremely comprehensive record of finances.
In and out, in and out, in and out.
And like, perhaps there's a part of you that rolls your eyes, but anyone else who's looking at it, you realize that this is a ledger of all of the Archmate. Like it's the. It's the financial Bible kind of thing. It's. It's the. The home of the Archmage's finances. But as you look through them, you notice that towards the end, like, where the pages stop being filled out, the Archmage is actually in a lot of debt, like significantly so.
And you notice that the most significant debts owed by the Archmage are to the town of Seldovon, mostly in unpaid taxes and for like IOUs for material components for a slew of recent experiments and research.
[01:18:35] Speaker C: Yeah, so like riri's just kind of flicking through these pages. She's going, oh, debts, more debts, more. Oh, lots of debts.
And just kind of like flaps the paperwork. Everyone else and says, oh my, that's quite a lot of money. Maybe that mayor is a bit pissed off with him.
[01:18:58] Speaker A: Yeah, we're talking he a pig taxes.
[01:19:01] Speaker C: For, well, a long time.
[01:19:04] Speaker A: Like Cal. You take one glance of it and it's more money than you could imagine earning in an extremely long time. Even with like a. A relatively successful military career of sorts. Like, it's a lot of money that this Archmage owes to the. The local town, Alfred. And you see like this there, like, you know that Montgomery's been chasing taxes. And it looks like, you know, the mayor was one of the main culprits for the black hole in the financial ledger.
So as you find this, who. Who's doing what else is there? Are there any other investigations? Actually, you rolled a crit, didn't you?
Alongside the. Like, we're on the shelf that now has a hole in it where this ledger was stuffed.
Alfric, you also noticed that there are a number of what appeared to be handwritten diaries that out of curiosity, given that, you know, you're in your. You're in your safe space right here.
Like, you. You find yourself just sort of like picking up and having a look through and like glancing through the handwritten tomes like they read like fantasy stories. Based on Ulik's adventures as he kind of details his various kind of exploits and expeditions both before and after the. Well, primarily before the war, to be fair. But yeah, one of like you flick to one part and it speaks of an underwater city. You flick to another, it speaks of a temple that he attacked and looted. You flicked to another to like a. A derelict haunted mansion, haunted castle that he explored.
But as you glance at the. The final kind of entries, he see like post War of Heavens, it would seem that in his kind of isolation since the war, he's become a lot more introspective.
He expresses a rare bit of remorse for his attack on that temple, especially as he couldn't end up harvesting the power like he wanted to.
Yeah, what's. Is there. Is there anything that any of you are doing in the library?
[01:22:00] Speaker F: So let me get this straight.
Let's say this mayor is a suspect because of this ledger, right? But no matter. Is it really. Is he really going to kill an Archmage over this place Book?
I mean, also, you think how tall is the arch mage compared to little. Little sprite? Like what.
[01:22:34] Speaker C: What you saying? You said I could beat someone up. Said a good bird or someone.
[01:22:39] Speaker F: You. Yes, him.
[01:22:41] Speaker E: No, I mean, did you see where he was stuck?
Was it around the torso area?
[01:22:53] Speaker F: I just.
[01:22:54] Speaker C: Short enough sprite.
[01:22:57] Speaker F: You would need a step ladder to get that high up. And shank.
[01:23:02] Speaker C: Oh, maybe he's got a twin.
Maybe there's two of them and they were on shoulders.
[01:23:09] Speaker F: I just think it seems a bit dubious of like from my perspective, a. This. This thing we have on Gwendolyn is a bit more tactile, you know, he's like, oh, Gwendolen, I missed you.
[01:23:27] Speaker B: And she's like, oh, yes, I missed you too.
[01:23:29] Speaker C: Oh, oops.
Nah, nah, that doesn't make any sense. That doesn't make any sense. It's all bad here.
[01:23:38] Speaker F: Makes lots of sense.
[01:23:39] Speaker E: I agree.
[01:23:41] Speaker C: You agree?
[01:23:42] Speaker A: What?
[01:23:42] Speaker C: It doesn't make sense or it does make sense?
[01:23:45] Speaker E: They were in love. I. I don't. I don't think she would have killed him.
[01:23:50] Speaker F: Yeah, but you see, you see the. The. The. The that he was apologizing. And on the back of that note, she was like, well, stuff.
[01:24:04] Speaker C: Yeah, she gave back the ring. She wasn't like, I'm gonna give back the ring and then I'm gonna do a murder.
[01:24:10] Speaker F: Maybe what he did to her isn't. She didn't want to give him forgiveness and instead she wanted revenge for whatever he did.
[01:24:28] Speaker A: Everyone okay?
Roll me.
In fact, no, we won't wear us to rob. It's a bit pointless.
As the four of you are speculating in the library everything in the room suddenly jumps as there a loud bang somewhere in the mansion.
And like the floor shakes, the wall shakes like dust billows out of some of the bookshelves and then begins floating down on top of you.
Yeah, there's a. There is a bat. There's been a bang somewhere in the mansion.
[01:25:21] Speaker F: I guess we better go and see what that was.
[01:25:26] Speaker A: Yes.
[01:25:29] Speaker B: And I just start bolting it towards the center area.
[01:25:34] Speaker A: Sure. As you leave the library you notice that the laboratory in front of you seems okay.
The doors along the corridor to the bedrooms all appear to be closed.
[01:25:49] Speaker D: Ray. We keep an eye on that book by the way.
Might be useful.
[01:25:56] Speaker C: She's put it into Vinnie's side. Satchel.
[01:26:02] Speaker E: I love bigger than Vinnie like he's like.
[01:26:09] Speaker A: As the.
As you kind of arrive in the foyer you see that you hear the sounds of Stratovon Let Stradivon kind of standing in the doorway to the dining room stood alongside Valana. And Valana sort of like looks you and what in the heavens was that? She Sundays. And the three of you, the four of you. As you glance around you notice that the door to the Archmage's bedroom is open.
And there appears to be some greenish blackish smoke seeping out from the top of the door frame.
[01:27:01] Speaker F: Is it coming from the bedroom?
[01:27:05] Speaker B: I guess we start coming over to go have a look.
[01:27:09] Speaker D: Gonna go have a look.
[01:27:11] Speaker A: Cal.
[01:27:11] Speaker F: Be careful.
[01:27:12] Speaker A: As you step into the room an eerie quiet hangs as you maneuver over the bloody rug. You can see in the corner there are two bodies lying on the floor surrounded by dark green scorch marks.
You see the forms of Mayor Montgomery with his head against the marble against the corner of.
With his head like he's laid crumpled by the desk.
And the bust of the arch mage lying nearby with blood streaked across its side where it would seem that the bust has been knocked from the table on top of the Terran sprite's head.
And Bendel is lying in a mound of curtains against the far wall.
Agathar is nowhere to be seen.
But between the two bodies like on the. Sorry. On the far wall like on the wall opposite Bendel. There is a scorch mark along the floor and the walls.
And the portrait of the young lady Gwendolyn is in a broken frame on the ground.
And embedded in the wall behind it is a safe.
[01:28:48] Speaker B: We didn't look behind that picture, did we?
[01:28:53] Speaker A: What do you do?
[01:28:55] Speaker B: Is the safe open?
[01:28:57] Speaker A: It is not.
[01:29:02] Speaker D: So just to clarify, does it look like Bendel has been near the safe?
[01:29:08] Speaker A: Looking at it, given that he's got scorch marks on him, it would seem that something has exploded centered on this safe and has thrown the goblin across the room.
But he's sort of like he's. He had enough clear air that when he land, he hit carpet and then slid and he's crumpled in a pile against the opposite wall, so. But Mayor Montgomery, from his positioning, it's clear that the extra explosion has launched him back into the desk, which has caused the bus to tip down and land on his head. And there is a growing pool of blood emerging from Mayor Montgomery's skull.
[01:29:55] Speaker B: We quickly go check the bodies to make sure that. That whether they're able to be stabilized or not.
[01:30:03] Speaker A: Okay. Or if they're dead, who's checking who?
[01:30:07] Speaker B: I'll go to Goblin, I suppose, or.
[01:30:10] Speaker E: I'll check them there.
[01:30:11] Speaker A: Okay.
Alfric, as you rush over to Mayor Montgomery like it's a gruesome sight to see the. The small form of this Terran sprite lying next to like this large marble bust, which is almost as large as his torso and sort of like the nose and eyebrow ridge is stained with the sprite's blood where it's clearly impacted.
And it only takes you a few moments to verify that the sprite is dead.
Vanyear, as you rush over to Bendel, as you turn him over, he is still and limp.
Chuck me a.
Chuck me an instinct, I reckon.
[01:31:14] Speaker B: Okay, yeah, let's do this.
And what's my plus a 10.
So 7, 8, 9. 10. Yeah, 10 with hope.
[01:31:31] Speaker A: 10 with hope.
[01:31:33] Speaker B: And I will take that hope.
[01:31:35] Speaker A: Okay. As you turn the elderly goblin over and sort of like scoop him up slightly, you place your ear close to his mouth and you feel an ever so faint breath against your ear and cheek.
And whilst the. The goblin's face is scorched, it seems that whilst gravely injured, Bendel is still alive.
[01:32:08] Speaker B: Is he trying to say anything in that moment?
[01:32:11] Speaker A: He appears to be absolutely sparked out. He's currently unconscious by the divines. What's happened in here? Says the paladin as she steps into the doorway.
[01:32:32] Speaker F: He's still alive. Can you help him?
[01:32:37] Speaker A: Bring him to the parlor while we. We'll do what we can. She says.
And as she takes a step back and Vanier, you carry Bendel out of the room.
Alfric, you are left kneeling alongside the corpse of the mayor of your town.
And Cal and Rayri, your eyes are fixed on the blast marks emitting from this safe.
And with that, we'll call it there.
So that is that for another session.
The plot thickens. I can see from the chat that we have dashed Nate's theories.
And you're absolutely right, Nate. I never kill my favorites.
I seemingly only horribly maim them. But yes, the. The plot thickens.
There is a part of me that would be really interested to hear what your new theories are given that, yeah, there's been another. There's been another. Another death. Dum dum dum.
So, yeah, the questions on everyone's mind. Will Bendle be okay? What caused the explosion? Where is Agatha? Where is the chef? What's happening?
You'll have to tune in to the next episode to find out, won't you?
See, that's how it works. That's how it works.
Where's my. Here it is. So thank you everyone for playing. I hope you enjoyed. I hope your. Your brains are wonderfully tickling, ticking over.
And I'm heartily looking forward to any speculations that you have over the next Fortnite until we next play. And thank you all for watching.
Hit the like button if you liked it, which, I mean, come on, even if you didn't like it, hit the like button anyway and comment down below on your theories. After this little plot revelation, let's get my words out.
And to see the conclusion to this mystery, make sure to hit the subscribe button and the bell icon for notifications when we release new uploads because they happen super frequently. We're going to be back in a fortnight's time and yeah, I'm just, yeah, really excited for this. Can you tell I'm a bit sleepy. Thank you all for watching. Thank you all for playing. We'll see you next time.
[01:35:23] Speaker C: Bye.
[01:35:39] Speaker A: It.
