Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Previously on Alicia Rising.
I have a job for you. We have reason to believe that these pillars have been procuring illegal contraband, and we wish you to relieve them of it.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: Cavern, would you care to explain?
[00:00:19] Speaker C: That was my old mentor. It's probably not a wise idea that we get on her bad side.
[00:00:28] Speaker A: You recognize this sprite as Odal Merce Aran. He is the guildmaster of the largest guild in the pillars. We have a counter proposal. There was one of our own. Very, very successful. Made a lot of money. I propose that instead of raiding our supplies, you target the inventory of of one Caleb McNaughty.
[00:00:55] Speaker D: I, uh. I don't like to talk about my past very much. Personally, I would like nothing more than to see the worst come to that man.
[00:01:07] Speaker C: Even if we were successful. But Dorothea was to find out at a later date.
There would be repercussions from that. However, if it means she gets something that she wants, and you also get something that you want, then I'm fully in heart for it. So, yes. Let's do it.
[00:01:34] Speaker D: Welcome to Elysia, the jewel of the north. On our gilded streets, fortune and fame can be found by anyone.
[00:01:45] Speaker E: Hi, I I'm Julia, and I'm playing magpie, an ace of our lurk.
[00:01:50] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Nate, and I'm playing cavern, a dragon scent slide.
[00:01:56] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Meg. I'm playing Frieda, a wolfkin cutter.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Hi, I'm JC, and I'll be playing Alganon, an ace of our spider.
[00:02:06] Speaker F: Hello, I'm Erol. I am playing atta, a goblin whisper.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: And my name is Dm Dan. I will be the games master on this adventure.
[00:02:16] 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.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Welcome back to explorers of elsewhere's Elysia rising campaign. Welcome. Hello. I am DM Dan, and these are our beautiful and well established players.
[00:02:50] Speaker D: Sorry, I'm eating a cornetto.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: I'm eating fish, bitch. Well fed, well fed players.
[00:02:57] Speaker E: I've just had some Ferrero rocher.
[00:03:00] Speaker A: We are getting Bougie up in this, so, yeah, let's kind of pick up where we left off. So you have been blackmailed into a job by Dorothea, who is cavern's kind of rival and ex mentor.
And you've had a counter proposal from Odal Merce Oran, the de facto leader of the Pillars faction, to not do that job and to do a different one. Instead, could you not.
Yes. To redirect your attentions towards a, a stockpile for one Caleb McNulty, who just so happens to be an important figure in Frida's history, her ex kind of workhouse owner and religious nut.
And you've, you've decided that you're gonna go, you're gonna go with Odom Merce, you're gonna follow up with the pillars rather than follow through with the faith.
So with a new kind of destination, a new objective in mind, let's go with, let's go with Algernon. What's Algernon doing? To gather some information, if any.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: I think if the other people want to go and have a recce at the safe house, I'm just gonna go and have a chat with my boy Fairfax, bring him a portobello mushroom and see if he's got any blueprints for me.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Sure, sure.
Okay, so it's the same kinda almost rehearsed chitchat in Abbott's gate as you sit down on the park bench during his lunch break.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: Dolly, boating weather. Yes.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: He, like you, you make light chat as he unfolds his packed lunch. And it's the same kind of like you wonder who cooks at home, because he, whenever you see him, he's always seeming to be eating the same kind of mush for lunch. It's just like a gruel.
But as you hand him the address that's been given to you by odormas, are you consorting?
[00:05:16] Speaker B: I'm consorting.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Okay. Consort away.
Hey, hey. You do it. Okay, so two for two. Okay, we fast forward a little bit, and you meet Fairfax at the end of the working day, and he provides you a blueprint for the address that you've given him an address for as you unroll it. And it kind of clearly lays out. So this was once, the building was once a bakery with a, like, a relatively substantial underground kind of storage area.
And there's also a note that there was, like, for, like, planning permission. It is remarkable, actually. It was one of the only genuine requests that were sent into us for months.
But it is a request to effectively kind of put in a, like, knock out a supporting wall. Um, and they had to get permission in case, like, the street collapsed. Um, but, yeah, the permission was granted. Appropriate structural beams were put in place. So it seems that these, like, there's an addendum. Addendum to the, the original blueprints, which shows that, um, yeah, the basement has been extended.
Do you have any follow up questions?
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Pleasure as always, Fairfax. Good to see you. Hope everything's okay at home.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Well, he. He looks. He sort of like, happily pats the portobello mushroom he's got in his hand that you gifted him earlier. This will certainly iron over the any wrinkles that have have cropped up over the past few days.
[00:07:10] Speaker B: Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your wrinkles, Fairfax.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: He. He sort of like shortles to you. He gives you a pat on the back and then he, like, with the most pep in his step that you've seen in quite some time, he. He begins heading home, whistling as he goes, cradling this portobello mushroom cavern. How is there any information you're gathering?
[00:07:34] Speaker C: Cavern is gonna go to Frida and say, like, I guess you're gonna be the best one to know as much information as possible. So what can we get from him? Where does he. I don't know. When was the last time you saw Caleb? But when, where does he like to frequent? Where does he like to go? Who does he usually hang out with?
[00:08:02] Speaker A: You know what?
Sorry, just. I'm just gonna jump in. If you're asking the question and given freedom, given that Caleb is part of your kind of backstory, but you, I mean, you've not really kind of. You've not been keeping up with Caleb particularly.
[00:08:20] Speaker D: I think my. I would have known him until I was probably in my sort of late teens, early twenties, and that's when I would have finally left the factory floor and sort of escaped, as it were.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Nate, what's. What's Cavern like based off the information that you're gonna get from Frida? Because, I mean, I'm thinking in this moment, like, doing, like, a consort or not research a study. And, like, Frieda is your point of knowledge. Yeah, that might end up being, like, a handy. So what. What were you planning on doing with whatever. Whatever information Frieda's going to give you?
[00:09:05] Speaker C: Um, basically trying to find out where he may sort of hang out besides from obviously, where the safe house is or the kind of people he. Because obviously he's been. He's been ousted by the pillars and he's been ousted by the church as well.
So it's finding out who he's hanging out with, basically, and where we can.
[00:09:29] Speaker D: Get more information, where his vices lay.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. If you're happy to fundamentally use Frieda as your point of reference, unless you've got an alternative, I'm happy. I think it'd be good to do a consort or a study or something along those lines.
[00:09:49] Speaker C: I can do a consort.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Yep. You consort with Frieda to probe her mind.
Yeah.
Okay, well, I'm happy to start a clock called retaliation bait. Like whatever information that Frieda perhaps gives Cavern. Cavern. You try to follow up, you come up like you. You don't really get any new information from it, but your snooping has been noticed, so there are forces that are now actively moving against you.
[00:10:34] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: Okay. So, Atta, did you want to jump in, or did you want to see if magpies doing something first?
[00:10:48] Speaker F: Are you going to go to Rookridge or to Abbott's gate? Magpie.
[00:10:53] Speaker E: Sorry, what's in Abbott's gate?
[00:10:55] Speaker F: The church where we need to deliver the thing. So we need to kind of find out.
[00:11:00] Speaker E: Oh, right. Because my thoughts were two things. So, one, casing Rookridge, and two, having enough information on Odal Mercer's place that we were meant to be stealing from. So that if we are questioned by Dorothea later, we've got the answers. And it's not obvious we didn't go.
[00:11:31] Speaker F: Yes, well, I have been thinking maybe they would watch us.
[00:11:36] Speaker D: Odal Merce is quite. You know, he's happy for us to stay in contact, so sort of details we could get directly from him.
[00:11:45] Speaker E: I think that's probably a good idea. So that's. Yeah, we'll get those details direct from him. So, yeah, it would be casing the Caleb's place in Rookridge.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: So is that someone. Magpie, did you want to.
What are you doing? Like a stealth?
So you're gonna prowl the streets of Brookridge?
[00:12:09] Speaker E: I'm gonna prowl the streets. The street. The streets. The streets of Rookridge? Yes. I kind of want to know about this area and the building specifically.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:12:20] Speaker E: But I don't want to be particularly noticed.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:12:23] Speaker D: And I say before Magpie leaves the door, breeder just pulls her aside and hands her a bundle of clothes. I think you're gonna need these. You're a. You're gonna stick out like a sore thumb there, even in your civvies.
[00:12:37] Speaker E: Very well. And what kind of clothes have you handed me?
[00:12:40] Speaker D: Oh, they're raggedy. They are raggedy, and they smell. And, you know, they. Yeah, they are proper.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: They are straight up starter gear.
[00:12:48] Speaker E: Level one.
[00:12:49] Speaker D: If level one, start starter gear. Like, I don't know, got dragged around on the back of a cart horse for a couple of hours.
[00:12:59] Speaker E: Magpie sort of looks at this pile you've shoved into her hands and goes, where did you get these?
[00:13:07] Speaker D: You don't want to know. But the original owner no longer has requirements for them. Just don't think about it. Too much?
[00:13:17] Speaker E: They've got anything cleaner?
[00:13:19] Speaker D: No, no, you don't want cleaner. Trust me. And also, take out those nice earrings. Otherwise they'll be half inched before you can even say, hey, fine.
[00:13:30] Speaker A: Fine.
[00:13:31] Speaker E: She takes them out and goes off with her stinky clothes.
So, what was it, Errol? You were gonna say?
[00:13:38] Speaker F: Oh, well, if you want a reason to be going there, you could go get your clothes, those washed at the washers, and see if the seamstresses are gossiping.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: Athwart is absolutely right. On Needle Lane, washers, tailors and seamstresses congregate on that street, filling the alleyway between the buildings with their billowing fabrics of their trade.
And, yeah, there's a lot of loose lips between those working women we've heard.
[00:14:09] Speaker E: What kind of gossip am I going for, though? Because I saw it more as a checking out the building and stuff like that.
Ingress, egress, like, things like that.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Well, the place we're going is this old bakery, so it would help to know if there was any. Like, if there's any people living there or working there.
[00:14:33] Speaker E: Yeah, good point. Okay.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: I mean, you could do. Between Astro and Magpie, if you both wanted to head to rook Ridge, I.
[00:14:41] Speaker E: Think it might be nice to go together.
[00:14:45] Speaker F: I can offer to maybe fix some of the sewing machines.
[00:14:52] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, I like that.
In which case, Atta. Yeah. As you head to needle Lane.
Yeah. It's just long, kind of winding alleyway, and, you know, there are drapes hanging between the second, like, the upper stories of all the buildings on either side. You can see lots of, like, lots of seamstresses kind of.
Kind of squatting on boxes, kind of furious. Like, just like a street of industry. Like, it's just fascinating just watching them all kind of work. And they're not. They're seemingly, like, not paying attention to what they're doing. They're just, like, talking to everyone, either side of them, and, like, shouting down the alleyway.
Yeah. Just plowing away.
Yeah. If you're offering your repair services.
Yeah, by all means, roll me a tinker, I assume.
[00:15:50] Speaker F: Yeah, that's what I was angling for.
Just get in real good with all those team critters and get them to give me pats. Right. What is these? That. What kind of.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: If you just do a risky standard, because that's just the result we're looking for.
Okay.
[00:16:13] Speaker D: Oh, boy.
[00:16:20] Speaker A: So you are assa. When you arrive on the street and, like, you stride in the middle of the biggest group, and you're like. And you announce your repair services, the street goes quiet.
And, like, all eyes look at you. All of the shouting and sort of, like, happy chattering to. Turns to, like, suspicious whispers.
And you are, like. You are fundamentally, like, crushingly blanked by all these. By all these seamstresses. They just sort of, like. They look at you for a while.
You know, if there was a honky tonk piano, it would have stopped playing. And then there's an awkward few minutes, and then you're just sort of like. As you slowly walk away, you can hear the hubbub begin to build back up.
You're not part of the inner circle. Unfortunately, the retaliation clock goes up.
[00:17:30] Speaker E: Oh, bum.
Julia, that's not what we like.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Dan. Magpie, stop it. Are you stalking the. Are you scouting the.
[00:17:40] Speaker E: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: Different.
[00:17:42] Speaker E: Okay, let's see. Prowl.
Don't let me down. Prowl.
It's just one of those nights.
[00:17:54] Speaker D: Oh, boy.
[00:17:55] Speaker E: One of the two.
Look at those last three. Last three rolls. A two, two, one.
[00:18:03] Speaker D: And I want to push themselves, maybe.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: I mean, you can always resist.
[00:18:06] Speaker E: Yeah, I think.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: Sorry, that's a. That's a good point. Yeah. Did, um. Atta. Did you want to resist? Uh, the. The blanking. Did you want to push. Push the issue?
[00:18:21] Speaker C: Just shouting in the streets. I'm really good at it, honestly.
[00:18:24] Speaker F: Just be, like everything.
Very socially unaware of the blanking. And be like. They must have gone really quiet because I'm so impressive.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: Um.
[00:18:35] Speaker F: Yeah, why not?
[00:18:36] Speaker E: I mean.
[00:18:37] Speaker F: Okay, nothing. Nothing. Nothing more worse can happen. Can it? I don't know. Whatever. It's a game.
[00:18:44] Speaker E: You can take so much stress, you become traumatized. But apart from that, I've got one. You're safe.
[00:18:49] Speaker D: You're safe.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: You're safe for this.
[00:18:51] Speaker D: Look at the sewing machine again.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Uh, amazing. In which case, atta, uh, if you could roll me a single. Die. Um, sorry. This is a no big pun. Not single dice, tinker. So it's an insight. So, two dice, resist, off your insight.
[00:19:09] Speaker F: And I just roll. Okay.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: Yeah, that's it. And then this is.
Okay. Okay. So, Jane, no stress as you stomp your foot down like.
[00:19:21] Speaker E: No.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: And you like.
[00:19:25] Speaker F: Whilst one of my character traits is that old ladies really like me. Do you remember?
[00:19:34] Speaker E: You make the old ladies remember they like you.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Okay, I will. Given that you reduced it completely, I'm going to remove those two pips from the retaliation clock. As you like. After a very rocky icebreaker, you managed to warm them up enough that they won't really talk about the streets, but at least they won't talk about you, either. Okay. And so, yes, Magpie. So you.
You scope out the location, and it's. It's difficult to be discreet because everything's so kind of, like, cramped. So to kind of, like, you can stand, like, a few, you know, streets, like a street away or something and see kind of passing traffic. But, like, to see what's really kind of going on, you effectively almost have to be, like, peering through the boarded up windows and the like.
And as you're.
As you're kind of looking, trying to see who's coming, who's going, like, see if there's any, like, faces that you can communicate it to memory.
You here.
Could I help you? And behind you.
[00:20:52] Speaker E: Oh, boy.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: Is a tall, portly, older lorifer.
Across the left hand side of his face, there is tattooed religious dots like scripture.
And covering his right eye is a prominent symbol of ire.
As you glance down, like, as you take a few steps back instinctively and, like, your eyes just kind of clock the entirety of him, you notice that hanging from his belt is a coiled whip and what looks like a bloodstained truncheon.
[00:21:42] Speaker E: What are my options for resisting what's about to happen to me?
This is very bad.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Yeah. You take a few steps back and, like, the man looks at you with sort of, like, his ice is there.
[00:21:57] Speaker E: Who's there? Absolutely, absolutely insane ice.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: He. Scott.
And, like, their blood shot. And, like, his pupils are tiny. They're far too small for what they should be. But, like, he stares at you without, like, he's just. His shoulders rise and fall with his heavy breathing.
[00:22:16] Speaker D: And he's a nice guy.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: Can I help you?
[00:22:22] Speaker E: Right. So what are my options here, Dan?
If I were to resist that consequence, what is the best you could give me?
[00:22:33] Speaker A: So it seems like he's really. Well, he's really up in his. Up in your grill. And perhaps if you were to resist, you might be able to slink away without him really paying you much attention.
[00:22:45] Speaker E: Sure.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Right now he's wondering, like, you realize you've been caught red handed. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:22:51] Speaker E: I'd like to resist.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Okay, you can resist. I don't like this.
[00:22:57] Speaker E: Okay, so six.
[00:22:59] Speaker A: Six. Okay. Um, in which case, under this withering stare from this hulking slab of a man, um, you just, like, duck your.
[00:23:11] Speaker E: Head, melt into the crowd, into the.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Melted to the floor.
Yeah, you just sort of, like. Also. And, like, you kind of instinctively bring your hood up and, like, hide your face and just scurry off.
[00:23:23] Speaker E: Sorry, sir.
[00:23:24] Speaker D: And just scuttle off into the hedge.
[00:23:28] Speaker E: Kind of, like, whatever I can do to get away from this man.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's. That's fundamentally it. You kind of. You break away from this deranged looking man, and as you go.
As you go, you can hear him, like, muttering something, like, under his breath. It sounds like he's reciting doctrine.
[00:23:54] Speaker E: That's the great Caleb McNulty.
He's a cook.
[00:23:59] Speaker A: You like. As you make your way back through the streets to escape it, you kind of get the feeling you can't shake the feeling that you have just come face to face with this absolute lunatic. For Frieda has described to you, and, like, what the picture that Frieda has painted of you pales in comparison to what you've just witnessed. The ink on his face looks relatively fresh, and it looks like he's carved it into his own face himself.
[00:24:30] Speaker E: Whoa. I'm definitely gonna ask Frieda if he that bad when she last saw him or if he's gone downhill, because that's not good.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: Yeah. As you've reduced your stress by six, I'm gonna leave the retaliation clock where it is as well.
You've got the blueprints, so you know that the. Well, you got the blueprints and who else did stuff and things. So Algernon aced it. Yes. Ethan. Yes, sir.
[00:25:02] Speaker F: I was gonna see if I can go to Abbott's gate and find out whether there is any big, like, what are the schedules of the religious services for the cathedral of our mother savior? Are there going to be big crowds? At certain times, maybe.
Does art go to and from, like, the art area into the cathedral? I guess I'm trying to figure out how we can get it into the cathedral a little bit, like, once we've got it.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:25:32] Speaker C: Am I. Am I able to help in any sort of way? Because I feel like Katherine may know.
If he spent time with the church, he may know or have an idea.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Yeah, that's fair. So you can help for one stress, and you add a die so you don't push yourself for extra dice as well.
[00:25:52] Speaker C: Yeah, have an extra die.
[00:25:54] Speaker F: Thank you. I'm gonna try and still.
[00:25:57] Speaker E: Dave.
[00:25:58] Speaker F: Um.
Oh, just regular risky standard.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. I would actually. In this instance, I would say controlled standard, because, like, if you're studying, presumably you're going in, you're just, like, asking the questions. You're looking at, like, the. The itinerary of being the heir. You're being a tourist, which is kind of what, Abergate. Like, there are tourists in Abbott's gatecomers?
[00:26:27] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:26:28] Speaker F: The only thing that might be useful is trying to figure out, like, what goes in and out of the church? Like, what goods ever goes in and out of the church? And I don't think I'm the best person to talk to people about those kinds of things, but I'm happy to just figure out the schedule.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. In which case, yeah, if caverns. Caverns helping. So if we imagine that cavern perhaps is asking, like, asking the questions and you're looking at the, like, the timetables and the, like, that'd be the help. I'm so. Yeah, but go ahead, roll me a help. Are you pushing yourself?
[00:27:05] Speaker F: Yeah, why not?
So I get to two extra dice to stress.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: Yeah, and two extra.
[00:27:11] Speaker F: Oh, okay.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: Okay.
So, you know, what. What time are you looking for? Like, when it's not busy or when there's a crowd?
Like, are you looking for, like, when they're in sermon? When they're not in sermon?
[00:27:33] Speaker F: I'm mostly. So I guess it's both. So when it's quieter and also when it's busy. But I'm wondering if, when it's busy, like, if there's going to be a service and there are offerings and people are carrying big bags of potential offerings or, like, have extra stuff with them to bestow. Is that the nature of this kind of religion, or is it more austere?
[00:28:02] Speaker A: There's a lot of pomp.
You kind of do a. Yeah, like a garth, like, fist pump. Because tonight there is, as a community thing, there is like a food donation drive where the church, like, come listen to scripture, give food so we can distribute it to those in need. So you know that there's going to be groups of people handing stuff over. So if you were to arrive with, say, a crate chest or something, go, here you go.
[00:28:37] Speaker F: Filled with empty tuna. Well, like, just print outs of mushrooms on the top?
[00:28:43] Speaker A: Yes.
Cool. Okay.
Any other info? Are you ready to get going?
[00:28:52] Speaker B: Need to get going, I think do the engagements.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Right. So who is the spear of the tip of this spear? How are you approaching this job? So you know the layout, you know the location, Magpie. You know you have got a print. Like, you give the description of who you saw to freedom. Freedoms. Like, oh, yeah, that was Caleb. Yeah. So you know who to avoid.
Okay, but how. How are you going in? Like, you. You're not. You haven't been able to find out what's inside, but, like, do you want to go in loud and proud? Do you want to socialize your way in? Do you want to sneak in?
How you doing this?
[00:29:44] Speaker D: I think there's two ways depending on what way we do it is because I reckon Frieda's gonna be recognizable to whoever is working with.
With Caleb because, you know, he's an odious man and not a lot of people would willingly work with him. So the ones that do willingly work with him have been working with him for a long time.
So they would recognize Frida. So we could do this in two ways. We could either go sneaky, sneaky, but I'm gonna have to either hang back or be like, you know, super, super careful.
Or since I am recognizable, we could walk in the front door and I could. We could use the fact that I am well known to the advantage.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: It's a bold move.
[00:30:45] Speaker E: It's a bold move.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: It is bold.
[00:30:48] Speaker E: And the word would probably get back to Caleb that you'd been there, wouldn't it?
[00:30:52] Speaker D: Well, I'm kind of maybe even banking on that.
Caleb and I didn't exactly part on best terms, as you can imagine.
I found a little loophole in his organisation and I managed to get out a lot sooner than he would have liked.
I know that given Arthur chance, he would have kept me around for a lot longer and would have probably used my certain skills for his own means.
I could go back looking for a job. I could play to his ego, make him think that he has the opportunity to regain that control over me.
We could use that as a way in.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So that'd be a social entrance.
Yeah, persuade.
[00:31:48] Speaker D: But I am also, you know, I. I can't say I'm thrilled at the prospect of seeing that man face to face again. So if anyone's got better ideas than I am, I am open to anything.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: The only other information we have is about the basement and this potential extension that was constructed. There might be a way in. Or if it was a bakery, there might be like a lift or a chute for flour to come in and out or product to be moved down into the basement.
That would be a stealthy entry point.
But I do really like. I do really like having Frida sort of go back to McNulty as a. As a con woman.
That sounds cool.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, if we're all in favor, who's joining? Frida. And she makes first contact.
[00:32:43] Speaker C: Frida, dear, I'm. I'm happy to join in however you want me to join in. I mean, I've been getting training from Magpie to be a little bit more stealthy, so I'm happy to hang back and help her. But if you need me, I should join you.
[00:32:59] Speaker D: Katherine, I think I've got an idea oh, intriguing.
And it'll take some of your disposition, shall we say.
[00:33:11] Speaker C: I'm all is.
[00:33:16] Speaker D: So that I don't have to do the accent and I can talk a bit quicker.
My idea is if I go to Caleb directly and sort of make this humble plea to return to the fold, as it were, and essentially beg for work and say, you know, something along the lines of, like, the last 1015 years that I've had on the streets has not. Has not been kind that, you know, I never should have, you know, never should have left, and that. That, you know, all of his teachings were right. And then maybe because of his religious fervor, if I have found the light of the church and cavern can provide legitimacy to that. If I can sort of go to Caleb and be like, I've seen the light, I've seen the air of my ways.
I see the value in hard work to find one's purpose, and I want work. And I have found the light through my, you know, through this dragon scent who has shown me the way and con him that way and go in. That's. That's the plan.
[00:34:33] Speaker B: You could also be like your former, like, employees with the chain bearers. They're going to come for your arcane shit in this old bakery, so you need some extra security.
Oh, you want him to put you there?
[00:34:49] Speaker D: Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. All right.
[00:34:53] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:34:53] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Where are Magpie.
[00:34:58] Speaker D: But I like it.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: We're a magpie, Natalie.
[00:35:01] Speaker E: I quite like the idea of magpie natter working together, because Atta is very good at identifying, like, arcane stuff and ooky, kooky stuff. So you'll probably be a good set of eyes to have on the actual stealthy pinching the items bit of the mission, I suspect, if that fits with the overall plan.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: So are you on site going in?
[00:35:24] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: Sure, sure. Algernon, where are you gonna be situated?
In Cadwallader Manor. Pouring over the blueprint, maybe.
[00:35:37] Speaker B: I mean, there's only so much pouring you can do on a blueprint.
I would quite like to be closer to the action.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: On this one.
[00:35:50] Speaker A: In the keel hall, perhaps?
[00:35:53] Speaker B: Yeah, let's. Let's go get keel hauled.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: Okay, wonderful. In which case, the four of you, Magpie, Atta Cavern, and Frieda, you arrive in, like, two parties, if you will. Two groups. So, Frieda and Kevin, you're fundamentally going in through the front lawyer.
[00:36:14] Speaker D: Yep. Oh, boy.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: Roll me an engagement roll.
So you can do that from the dice on the left. And we're gonna say, so it's one base.
You know what?
Based off your successes, which was the blueprints and knowing the timings over at Abbotts Gate, I don't think there's anything here that's gonna help you out.
That said, your successes were nullified, so there's nothing working against you. But it is a straight one. Dice roll.
[00:36:54] Speaker D: Okay, remind me how to do an engagement roll. It's been a while.
[00:36:57] Speaker A: So two dice on the far left.
[00:37:00] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, I can't see them. Oh, wait, there they are. There we go.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: Engagement, one dice.
[00:37:07] Speaker E: Oh, okay, wait, five. That's very good.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: Okay.
In which case, when you. So you're stood outside this, this bakery. And when I say bakery, we're talking like street bakery. So it's rel. It's not like a bakery factory or anything.
It's a relatively small lot based off what algons told you. You know that there's kind of more space underneath, presumably in the basement.
And as you like, you walk up to the door. The window pane on the door is boarded over, as are most of the other windows, so the house building fundamentally looks abandoned.
And Frida, are you knocking or you just pushing?
[00:37:56] Speaker D: I am never one for subtlety. Let's just push.
[00:38:00] Speaker A: Okay, so the door swings open, letting the kind of the purple gloom fill the room that, like, fill the room in front of you. And it looks like, like a bakery store shop front. So there's kind of displays in front of you into your left, the doors kind of on the right hand corner of the room. And there's a door in the far corner leading presumably to some sort of, like, back area, maybe a kitchen or some sort.
And as you push open the door and kind of step in, the two of you, you notice, like from the doorway opposite, a rather disheveled Loraval woman turns to look to you and she's slightly hunched and, like, her hands immediately come up to her, like, come up in a defensive kind of manner. And, like, she looks at you with this kind of slightly quivering, wild look.
[00:39:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:39:02] Speaker A: Yes, she says.
[00:39:07] Speaker D: I'm looking for McNulty.
I've had a one good word that he'll be here.
[00:39:14] Speaker A: The woman, like, studies you two for a moment and then steps, like, out from behind the counters.
And you notice she's wearing like, a dirtied long white robe of sorts.
And like, she looks you up and down and, like, looks you up and down as well. Cavern and coming. Come in. Close the door. Close the door. She kind of nods a bit, kind of frenetically to herself that she uses her.
There must be them, must be them. And then she looks to you, and this. This way. McNaughty said that he was sending for help. We need to carry the supplies downstairs.
[00:39:55] Speaker D: Right.
Okay, then can we give an. And?
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Yeah, this way. This way, she says, and she kind of scar, literally scurries through the door at the back of the room into, like, the back area.
[00:40:11] Speaker D: Um, as we go, I'm just gonna sort of, like, under my breath, whisper to Kavron, like, watch yourself here. He may seem a bit kooky, but he's dangerous. He's more, like, unhinged.
[00:40:26] Speaker A: That ones always are. So as you follow her into the back area, you see her sort of, like, closing the lid of a chest, and there's. You hear a click of a lock, and she sort of, like. As you enter, she turns around with a jump, and as if she forgotten that you were there, and then she. Oh, this. We need to carry it down downstairs.
Don't shake it. Don't shake it. It's very delicate. Okay. You must be careful. Are you going to be careful?
[00:41:01] Speaker E: Of course.
[00:41:02] Speaker D: I'm always careful.
[00:41:04] Speaker A: Good, good, good. I'm going to finish. Finish packing up here, she says, and as she steps to the side to sort of, like, show you the chest that she wants carried her stepping out out the way also reveals what appears to be.
So it's effectively the large, kind of stone table that clearly, once upon a time, like dough, would have been rolled out on and on. It is a dismembered body.
You notice there is a hole in the poor person's chest, roughly where the heart should be.
Hurry up. Hurry up, she says.
You see her sort of, like, draw a cleaver and sort of, like. She, like, walk up to the side of this cadaver and sort of, like, sizing it up and just.
And she's, like, humming to herself a little joyous tune.
I think Katherine's gonna say under his breath.
[00:42:07] Speaker C: He's gonna go this mad.
[00:42:13] Speaker D: Oh, this is. This is new. It was never like this.
[00:42:18] Speaker A: As you say this, as you're, like, whispering to each other, she looks up to you and don't worry. Don't worry. We bottled up the ghost.
[00:42:26] Speaker D: Oh, that's. That's good to know. Just down here, you say? Is that where McDonald is?
[00:42:32] Speaker A: Yes. Down the stairs. Follow the chute. Yes, yes. Down the stairs. Yes. Careful, careful. It's very delicate.
[00:42:39] Speaker D: Right. Okay.
I'm gonna start making my way down. Um, and I see what's in the box.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: Like, can't now that she's closed it, but as you pick it up, you hear it's sort like the jingles and jinkles of something, like glass in that. You assume it's glass stuff in there of some sort, but there's also some sort of solid objects. As you lift up, you feel them kind of move slightly in the box.
Are the two of you taking stuff downstairs?
I guess, yes.
[00:43:11] Speaker E: Down into the murder basement.
[00:43:13] Speaker A: Off we go.
[00:43:15] Speaker D: Whose bloody idea was this?
[00:43:17] Speaker A: Yours.
Magpie and atta reggae. You've, like, you were in a separate group away from Frida and Katherine, and you've just watched them sort of, like, walk in, and then as you were approaching, the door has, like, closed. Like, the door to the bakery is closed, and you're like. Because you're supposed. Supposedly following in behind them, but you're stood now outside this bakery. What do you do?
[00:43:48] Speaker E: I don't like this.
Should we see if there's a window or something that we can jimmy open?
[00:43:57] Speaker A: Oh, I'm okay.
[00:44:02] Speaker E: It's fine. We'll just go around the back. Come on. Come on. I do this all the time. Come on.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: So are you kind of gonna try.
[00:44:13] Speaker E: And infiltrate another point?
[00:44:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, tell me how.
Like, what attribute are you using to get in?
[00:44:21] Speaker E: I mean, sounds like tinker. Could be a tinker. If Ato won't tempt a tinker with tinker windows.
[00:44:34] Speaker F: Bit more, I guess if things are locked, then I can try and unlock. Do bakeries usually have. No, they wouldn't have, like, a.
Maybe they'd have a cold storage. I don't really know, like, a cellar. Is there, like, a hatch?
[00:44:54] Speaker E: Good point.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: We've got the blueprint, so you'll know.
[00:44:57] Speaker A: What was that?
[00:44:57] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, the blueprints.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: So if. If you want that to be the case, then, yeah, you can see.
[00:45:02] Speaker E: I love that idea.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: There's an access hatch directly to the basement.
[00:45:06] Speaker E: Is it locked or can we just get in?
[00:45:08] Speaker A: If you're tinkering and then. Yes, it's locked.
[00:45:10] Speaker E: Yeah. Thanks.
[00:45:13] Speaker F: A lookout and I'll try and get it open.
[00:45:16] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:45:17] Speaker D: Do I need to.
[00:45:18] Speaker A: Wants to help?
[00:45:19] Speaker E: I can definitely. I think. I think I'll. Is that one stress to help or.
[00:45:23] Speaker A: Two, one stress to help? One extra dice or extra effect?
[00:45:28] Speaker F: I'd have to choose my loadout to get the lock fix, right.
[00:45:31] Speaker A: So I believe. So you probably. Oh, yeah. So as a part, as everyone mentally figure out which load you're taking?
Yes. Lock picks. So tinkering tools, I guess.
[00:45:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:49] Speaker A: So that's here. One of your. One of your loadout. Unless Magpie wants to make.
[00:45:54] Speaker E: I can tinker because I've. My fine lock picks are zero on my loadout, so I'll definitely have those with me. I've only got one tinker, so if you could help me with my tinker, that would be really helpful.
[00:46:06] Speaker F: I can absolutely help you with your tinkering. Tinker stress, for sure.
[00:46:09] Speaker E: Adding one d to my tinker. Right.
[00:46:12] Speaker A: So just to pause. So, the lock in front of you, though it's rusty, it looks quite robust. Fundamentally, this is a tier two lock.
[00:46:20] Speaker E: Okay?
[00:46:21] Speaker A: So if you're. You're fine. Um, like, so you're two steps below standard. Yeah, you're fine. Takes it to one.
[00:46:30] Speaker E: So, currently, though, as an infiltrator, does that. Do I really care?
[00:46:34] Speaker A: Oh, very good. No, no, you don't. You don't at all.
[00:46:37] Speaker E: Okay.
[00:46:38] Speaker A: In which case, yeah, you get an extra level of effect.
[00:46:41] Speaker E: Okay, excellent.
[00:46:42] Speaker A: So this is. Are you lock picking and atta helping?
[00:46:46] Speaker E: Yeah, I am lock picking. I'm adding one. One die for atta helping.
[00:46:50] Speaker A: Yep. So atta takes the stress.
[00:46:52] Speaker E: Is it risky? Standard.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: So this because of your fine lock picks, it'll be a risky greater.
[00:46:58] Speaker E: Oh, fab. Okay.
[00:47:01] Speaker A: Six.
Yeah. So, Magpie, you pull out your lockpicks, and there's, like, you have to scrape away some of the corrosion, but eventually there's a. And the large padlock kind of pops open, and as it falls away, you kind of grab it before it bonks into anything and makes a loud noise.
And the access hatch to the boat basement swings open, and the two of you are in love it.
[00:47:29] Speaker E: Down we go.
[00:47:30] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:47:31] Speaker E: Very sneakily.
[00:47:34] Speaker A: So as you emerge, well, Frieda and Cavern, you're, like me to ewing down the stairs really carefully with this crate. And, like. Because it's making some worrying clunks as you. Every time you take a step. And, like, it's. It's all almost pitch black going down this stairwell, but these curved stairs down to, like, the basement area. And as you get to the bottom, there's this loud, kind of, like, clunk.
And a few moments later, like, the room is filled with light, as, like, the trapdoor. Like, a trapdoor to the outside is opened. And as you two presumably freeze, you notice Magpie and atta poke their heads in.
[00:48:20] Speaker E: There you are.
[00:48:22] Speaker A: And, yeah, Magpie natta. You see Cavern and Frida carrying a chest. Probably looking a bit pale. Yeah.
[00:48:31] Speaker E: What have you got there?
[00:48:35] Speaker D: Bad business, I think.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: Very bad business.
[00:48:40] Speaker E: Is that what we're looking for?
[00:48:43] Speaker C: Not the kind of bad business we've just seen.
[00:48:47] Speaker E: I meant in the chest.
[00:48:49] Speaker D: I'm not sure, but, uh, we've got to go meet, uh, Caleb. Is there any way we can.
We've had a look at the blueprints, haven't we?
[00:49:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:03] Speaker D: So we know. We know where this, like, the storehouse.
[00:49:07] Speaker A: So, yeah, you are now in, like, the basement. Um, so, like, this is storage and so on and so forth. And from the blue blueprints, like, you are both at one end. The room carries on maybe 30 or so feet into gloom, which is slightly now illuminating from the outdoor light, but you know that the extension stretches on beyond it.
But you'd have to kind of. Yeah, head. Head in further to see what's in the extension.
[00:49:38] Speaker D: Right.
[00:49:38] Speaker C: I mean, can we give them this chest and see if they can open it while we go on in? That's probably Caleb. Don't need to know. We've got it.
[00:49:47] Speaker D: No.
[00:49:48] Speaker F: No.
[00:49:49] Speaker A: Okay.
Okay. In which case, Atta and Magpie, if you. If one of you Romney a tinker fur for the locks, for this bit, for those for the chest.
[00:50:03] Speaker E: Do you want me to do that again or do.
[00:50:06] Speaker F: I'm happy to help you again if you want to.
[00:50:08] Speaker E: Sure. Have you got the stress for it?
[00:50:10] Speaker A: You're.
[00:50:10] Speaker E: You're getting.
[00:50:11] Speaker F: I've got. You're wrapping it up, but I can. I did manage to get rid of it a fair bit.
[00:50:17] Speaker E: Okay, fair.
So, yeah. Uh, tinker with my fine lock picks with Atta's help.
[00:50:23] Speaker A: Same as before with infiltrator you're ignoring, so it'd be a risky greater.
[00:50:28] Speaker E: It's a four.
[00:50:29] Speaker D: Oh, nice.
[00:50:31] Speaker E: Well, it's partial success.
[00:50:35] Speaker A: Yeah. So we'll go with the reduce effect, but that's still more than enough that you hear a satisfying click. And the. The chest opens as you peer inside Frieda Cavern, like, you're already kind of moving further on into the darkness, was it?
[00:50:51] Speaker D: Yes. Okay, I'm just gonna say to Magpie, and I think considering what we've just seen upstairs, and trust me, it's not pretty, it might be worth if you to sort of try and stay out of sight, but keep your ears peeled.
[00:51:09] Speaker F: We'll.
[00:51:10] Speaker D: We'll shout if we need you. Okay?
[00:51:13] Speaker E: Okay.
[00:51:14] Speaker D: But otherwise, we'll meet you back here, hopefully with some. Some more loot.
[00:51:21] Speaker E: Good luck.
[00:51:24] Speaker A: Cavern and Frieda. Then, as you head further in, you see, like, emerging out of the gloom, like, the darkness, these kind of wooden beams that look newer than everything else. It looks like they've been installed more recently. And you suspect that these are the supporting beams that the blueprint shows had to be put in to kind of knock the wall out.
But between each of the beams is what is effectively like a drape curtain of sorts, kind of obscuring what's beyond it. Uh, what are you two doing for light sources? Because it's pretty much pitched black now. Have any of you brought, uh, any lighting lanterns are one.
[00:52:12] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:52:13] Speaker A: Load.
[00:52:15] Speaker D: I did.
[00:52:17] Speaker A: Okay, so, Frieda, you pull the lantern from your. From your pouch, and as you.
And it's, uh. It illuminates. And you know what? We're gonna go for the real horror vibes. It's a bullseye lantern, so you've only got, like, a circular field of vision. It's not all encompassing.
[00:52:35] Speaker D: I'm not gonna lie, Katherine. I'll be honest. I'm shitting it right now. So if we get through this, then you and I, we're, uh. We're going for a proper night out. Yeah. We're going for a proper drink after this. None of that mushroom shit. We're going for the whiskey.
[00:52:54] Speaker C: That sounds like a promise. And I'll keep that.
[00:52:57] Speaker E: Meanwhile, in the keel hall, Algernon's willing his own whiskey about. Oh, yes. A very fine year.
[00:53:08] Speaker B: I would actually like to propose a flashback before you surprise us with anything in the basement.
[00:53:14] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:53:18] Speaker B: So I've been posted up at the keel hall because I would quite like to bump into Odelmare Oren.
[00:53:27] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:53:30] Speaker B: Because I know that Frieda ran into him there before.
[00:53:33] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
Well, you would have had to have kind of arranged a meeting for him to be there again, but, yes, you arrive, and there is a private booth up on the first kind of landing. And, yeah, as you kind of enter in, Odomas gives you a nod and gestures to the bench.
[00:53:57] Speaker B: I sit down, and I'm shuffling my little pack of playing cards. Odel.
[00:54:01] Speaker A: Merce.
[00:54:01] Speaker B: Oran. A pleasure.
The alderman of a thriving economy.
[00:54:09] Speaker A: Thank you. It's. It's good to finally meet you, Algernon. I have heard many good things about the catwall of the family.
[00:54:21] Speaker B: Not my parents, though, I assume.
Would you care to pick a card?
[00:54:25] Speaker A: The spring. Right. Laughs and sort of, like, readjusts his, and, like, takes the monocle off and kind of cleans it on a hanky and then puts that back in his pocket.
Oh, go on then, he says, and he draws one.
[00:54:43] Speaker B: And stuck to the back of it is the note that we found in Tovarien's hand that says, the veil is failing.
[00:54:53] Speaker A: And Odal merce spies it and just kind of does a long, slow nod and then looks up to you and there's a suddenly a new look in his eyes, one of anticipation.
[00:55:10] Speaker B: I take that back from him.
[00:55:12] Speaker A: We can be candid, Mister Cadwalader.
[00:55:17] Speaker B: Yes, I'm interested in being candid with you, but my first priority is Mister McNulty. I believe you spoke to an associate of mine about him.
[00:55:28] Speaker A: I did.
[00:55:30] Speaker B: I understand he's lost his chain for various transgressions against your guilds, and I was wondering if you could enlighten me as to what we might be getting into.
[00:55:43] Speaker A: Well, of course.
It would seem that Mister McNulty, with his long and established history as a workout workhouse owner, in more recent times, he has fallen in with an unsavory crowd.
Tell me, Mister Kabulada, do you know much of the hollow?
[00:56:15] Speaker B: I've come across the name.
[00:56:17] Speaker A: Who would have thought that for all of the tragedy that Alicia has experienced, that it would create such madness?
These scientists, they could have achieved great things, but instead they.
They've descended into lunacy.
It's shocking to see what it is they're trying to achieve.
If in fact they even know themselves.
[00:56:51] Speaker B: Why can't you think Mister McNulty has come across them via the scripture he so proudly displays on his face?
[00:56:59] Speaker A: Well, I am not a religious man, Mister Kabwalada, but I have been told the scriptures that Mister McNulty has put great faith in are extreme. It is. There is talk of transformation, there is talk of adaptation, there is talk of evolving onto higher form of life.
So perhaps, bereft of his chain and bereft of his church, he might turn to those with similar goals.
[00:57:48] Speaker B: Let's be short, Oran. What have you sent my friends into? If any of them end up on a slab, you'll be following them.
[00:57:57] Speaker A: Well, the. The bakery that they are currently investigating is a storage unit for these deluded fools and no morals. It is. I have not sent them into the den of the beast. No, we're not sure where. Where that is yet.
I'm sure your friends have seen their fair share of death. I can't imagine it'll be any worse than that.
[00:58:32] Speaker B: And what items are you asking them to retrieve?
[00:58:36] Speaker A: The hollow have made a point of collecting a number of magical artifacts for their experiments.
From what I gather from my informants, some of those artifacts have fallen into your possession. I don't know where you've stashed them in the city, that's your secret to keep. But presumably you have a workshop of some sort, wherever you call home, that were filled with items that once belonged to the hollow.
I appreciate that. Perhaps the hollow may have some bad blood against you. And your friends. But I trust in your capabilities that you'll avoid the majority of the danger that presents itself.
[00:59:23] Speaker B: Do not test my patience for blackmail, Mister Oran. You seem to know a lot about my current occupations and I don't appreciate being on this side of it.
[00:59:37] Speaker A: I assure you, Mister Cadwallader, that it is my intention that we both benefit from this mutually beneficial arrangement.
[00:59:50] Speaker B: Quite. But bear in mind that descript destruction can also be mutual.
I have foreseen fire and I'm not afraid to fight fire with fire.
[01:00:03] Speaker A: The. The sprite nods and it's a nod of like there's suddenly like a. An almost predatory look in his eyes, one that says agreed.
Is there anything else you're looking for? The flashback? Because at least now you know that there's no like chained monsters down there.
Okay.
In which case, yeah, we won't call that any stress, but we flash back to the basement. And Frida, as you kind of pull aside one of the drapes, you see shelves and shelves of what you can only describe as you kind of swing your lantern backwards and forwards of arcane apparatus. Like it looks very similar to the sort of apparatus you've got back at Cadwalla, the manor that you see Asa kind of tinkering with when she's brewing potions or kind of making things. There's kind of this instruments and tools and there's beakers and there's pipes and there's kind of shapes there that you see a couple of the round orbs like you picked up from the hammering. A job like this place is full of them.
But hanging from the middle of the room, like this extended area, is what appears to be the upper half of a suit of armor. Freely you look at it and think that's a really weird helmet. Because normally helmets would have like a vision slit or like holes for you to see out of. But this thing just has a larger circular viewing port. But it's glass cavern.
I would argue that you've got enough outer worldly knowledge, like knowledge from outside Alicia to be like that looks like.
Like a deep sea diving suit of sorts. It's that sort of idea. It looks very, very cumbersome, very heavy.
It looks all encompassing, but it's only the top half.
But you can also see that there are a number of sort of like pipes and wires attached to this suit.
But it looks like it's been hanging there for quite some time. But yeah, as you kind of appear at this armor, you also see all of the other artifacts. Like this is a treasure hall of contraband.
[01:02:43] Speaker C: Well, we've definitely got enough to please Dorothea and then some.
[01:02:47] Speaker D: Is there anyone else? Is it just empty? Well, you know, there's no one about.
[01:02:53] Speaker A: There's. There's no one about atta and Magpie. What are you.
[01:02:58] Speaker E: We were having a look in that chest, weren't we?
[01:03:01] Speaker A: In the chest. Of course.
As you open it up, inside the chest is another, like, lockbox box and a smaller glass orb similar to that of the Amringer job.
But this one is glowing with a soft blue glow. And what appears to be.
It's like a cone with handles on the round edge, made of gold, studded with gems.
Almost looks like a bellows, right?
[01:03:40] Speaker E: Does any of it look like what we're looking for, or.
[01:03:45] Speaker A: I mean, it all, like, the fact that orb is glowing indicates it's probably magical.
You. I mean, a glance.
The bellows thing looks expensive.
Or maybe, like, you can't see. What. It's four.
[01:04:03] Speaker F: Can I figure it out, Dan?
[01:04:05] Speaker A: But ata might figure it out. I'm gonna try with an attune.
[01:04:10] Speaker F: I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna go. Regs, roll. I don't. I'm not gonna push myself. I've got three pips, so maybe it'll be okay.
[01:04:16] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:04:18] Speaker F: Just a risky standard.
[01:04:20] Speaker A: Risky standard.
Okay. You glance at the conical bellows type apparatus. I say it's got two kind of vertical handles connecting to this cone. So the point points forward, but you notice that on the. The tip of the cone, like, it folds back and it's actually like a nozzle.
And, like, as you investigate it, as you peer at it, you realize that. Oh, that, like, red gem on the flat side. Side of the cone. Like, on the base of the cone. Oh, yeah, that's a. So that's an arcane fire gem. And this thing is basically like a flamethrower. Whatever.
Because the orb, as you peer at it, you see that the glow in the glowing shimmer inside. Like a face, a ghostly face slides past and you.
That's a ghost in a jar.
[01:05:22] Speaker E: They bottled the ghost. They bottled the ghost.
I pressed my face, right?
[01:05:28] Speaker F: So close up to the bottle.
[01:05:35] Speaker A: It'S.
[01:05:35] Speaker F: The anime thing where it's.
[01:05:40] Speaker A: And the. The face, like, you, as you press your nose against this orbit, um, you, like, as you did as magpie, you kind of see this face materialize and you get a chill with it, like you haven't seen one. But you imagine this is what a ghost looks like. And you think back to the sounds you heard.
[01:06:04] Speaker E: Sure.
[01:06:05] Speaker A: But the face looks scared. And it like shrinks away and it almost into. It was almost childlike in the way that it kind of recoils and tries to shield itself.
[01:06:20] Speaker E: I don't think they like that. Atta.
[01:06:24] Speaker A: But you've never known a ghost to not be violent and murderous.
[01:06:31] Speaker E: Here is strange.
[01:06:33] Speaker F: This isn't real, real strange.
[01:06:35] Speaker E: Have you seen a ghost do that before?
[01:06:40] Speaker F: No.
[01:06:43] Speaker E: Very odd.
[01:06:47] Speaker A: Yeah. So you've got a ghost in the jar.
[01:06:50] Speaker E: Great.
[01:06:51] Speaker A: You've got a flamethrower.
[01:06:52] Speaker E: Are we. Are we taking all this stuff or.
[01:06:56] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:07:00] Speaker E: Come on. Right, okay, can we see how you other two are doing? Sure.
[01:07:07] Speaker A: Well, gathering up. Yeah. Catherine and Frida, are you just sort.
[01:07:12] Speaker E: Of like stomping back in the suit with loads of items?
[01:07:16] Speaker A: Yeah, like, are you? So I guess the question is, are you taking.
I will let you choose how much additional load you take. And this may take you beyond, like, to medium or heavy, but then obviously, the more you take, the more noticeable it's going to be if you get stopped.
So between the two of you, like, give me a load number.
So between you, you've already got like three load base, so how much extra you both take in?
[01:07:54] Speaker D: So before we start, like, pilfering this room, is it just a dead end or does it lead further on?
[01:08:02] Speaker A: It is a dead end. It does genuinely look like a storage area, but like.
[01:08:05] Speaker D: Well, so where's McNulty?
[01:08:09] Speaker A: You've seen. He's not here.
[01:08:11] Speaker D: Okay, right, well, could we have arranged transport for all this stuff in the form of maybe like a covered. An inconspicuous looking covered cart that we could have parked around the back?
[01:08:27] Speaker A: So I'm gonna argue that's what it's one stress and a consort.
Consort or sway? Like, you'll have to find a driver who's got a cart small enough to fit through the alleyways of Brookridge, who's reliably gonna be there on time, who's discreet, etc, etc. So you tell me how you're finding this person.
[01:08:51] Speaker D: Okay, well, when I was out looking for bodyguards amongst my sort of fighting ring colleagues for poor Eric in the spectre, I'm sure I can convince a couple of them on promise of good drink afterwards.
You know, if you paid drinks, that they could come and, you know, sort of act as getaway drivers.
[01:09:21] Speaker A: Okay. In which case, as you know. Yeah. Romeo, consult.
[01:09:25] Speaker C: Would you like some help?
I can spend some stress and give you another dice.
[01:09:32] Speaker D: You can flutter those pretty eyelashes of yours.
[01:09:35] Speaker A: So was Kevin with you during this flashback?
[01:09:38] Speaker D: Yeah. Go on then.
[01:09:41] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. Yeah. You were there, right? Yep.
[01:09:44] Speaker D: So what is it, risky? Standard or.
[01:09:48] Speaker A: So this would be a controlled standard.
[01:09:51] Speaker D: Controlled standard.
And it's plus one.
[01:09:55] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[01:09:59] Speaker D: Oh, that's all right.
[01:10:00] Speaker A: Okay. I will say you found the driver. You found. Who's got the car? Magpie and atta. You hear, like, the clip clop and snorting of a hog arriving near. But, like, near the. The access hatch that you were with a car. So, you know you've got your getaway vehicle.
The minor complication is that as you hear. That you hear.
Is everything going all right down there?
From down the stairs. From up the stairs?
[01:10:39] Speaker E: Yes. This has gone through my head that she's gonna be. If you were seen coming in, she's gonna expect to see you leave again. So I would suggest we do a quick job of loading up. Maybe Cavern can run some interference and keep her occupied while we load up. And then you can go up the stairs, and atta and I will take the cart away, because she'll. So if you just disappear, she's gonna know exactly who took stuff.
[01:11:07] Speaker D: Yeah, agree.
[01:11:08] Speaker E: But if she sees you go out with nothing, none of the stuff that's.
[01:11:11] Speaker D: Gonna tell you what exactly that plan. But let me go up to her while Catherine helps load up.
[01:11:18] Speaker A: Okay, so in which case, Cavern and Frieda, the question still sounds. How much load are you taking?
[01:11:25] Speaker D: I'm gonna take.
Is there anything in that room that would appeal to my violent sensibilities?
[01:11:33] Speaker C: There's lots of glass.
[01:11:38] Speaker A: You see, a sheathed sword that's got a very fancy scabbard.
[01:11:46] Speaker D: I could learn to sword fight.
[01:11:49] Speaker F: It's inconspicuous, though, is it? Unless you do the wonder woman down the back of the.
[01:11:55] Speaker D: It's not really something I could, uh. I could hide, is it?
[01:11:58] Speaker E: I mean, we could take it. If you want it. You could take it away on the cart.
[01:12:02] Speaker D: If there's room, then yes, but it's. It's a vanity thing, so. Yeah, but for now, I'll go back upstairs empty handed.
[01:12:12] Speaker A: Sure. Um, so, yeah, everyone else. What?
[01:12:16] Speaker E: Is there any reason not to? Just take as much as we can.
[01:12:20] Speaker A: Time.
[01:12:22] Speaker E: So.
[01:12:23] Speaker F: And it's very conspicuous if you're, like.
[01:12:28] Speaker A: It'S all going in the cart. So then it's a case of, like, how much. How full is the cart?
[01:12:32] Speaker E: Right.
[01:12:34] Speaker A: Okay, tell you what, we'll make it easy. 04:00. 06:00 or 08:00.
[01:12:40] Speaker D: Oh, okay.
[01:12:42] Speaker A: For loading the cart, should we.
[01:12:45] Speaker D: Shall we say six? Everything's gone smoothly so far, so let's go.
[01:12:48] Speaker E: 06:00.
[01:12:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, so 06:00 goes in for the cart.
Cool. Okay, so as Frieda heads upstairs, magpie, atta, and cavern. Tell me how you're using one of your abilities to choose what to take and transporting it to the cart.
[01:13:19] Speaker F: Can I be like a.
Like a magical divining rod?
I could push myself.
[01:13:33] Speaker A: Why not effect or dice?
[01:13:38] Speaker F: Maybe I want effect, because I do get three dice. But for some reason, I'm feeling nervous about this role.
[01:13:47] Speaker A: And also, while you're thinking about it, Algernon, if there's any additional flashbacks you would like to do in so much as perhaps probing odor merce, for what might be down there.
[01:13:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Maybe I might give him another little and sort role just to bit, see if he gives me any more guidance.
[01:14:10] Speaker A: Sure, sure.
Okay, well, we'll do the. We'll do the looting rolls first. And. Yeah, if you want to jump in with the foresight help actions, just.
[01:14:20] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I can use foresight.
[01:14:22] Speaker A: Yeah. So, atta, are you. You're pushing yourself. Are you going for a fourth dice? Are you going for extra effect?
[01:14:28] Speaker F: It's two stress, right? Do some kind of. Yeah. Okay. Oh, my God.
[01:14:33] Speaker A: Sorry.
[01:14:36] Speaker F: The camera does weird things.
I'm gonna go for more effect. I'm gonna see if I can get more effect.
[01:14:46] Speaker A: Yep.
[01:14:47] Speaker F: Do I change it to great, then?
[01:14:49] Speaker A: So, yes, risky, greater.
Oh.
[01:14:55] Speaker E: Oh.
Crit double six.
[01:14:59] Speaker A: Okay, so that is a crit is five segments on a clock. So as you. You kind of step in and you, like, your eyes open, like you're. You're a little gobbling kid in the sweet shop, and. Yeah, you start rifling through and just like. Yes, no, no, yes, no. Just, like, discarding things that aren't good enough. And you. Yeah, you managed to fish out the really, really juicy stuff.
Magpie or cavern.
[01:15:33] Speaker E: I would like to make an argument for using my nest, because I am rifling things very quickly, picking them up to have a quick look and sort of put them back down without breaking them and just sort of rifling through it all as quickly as possible possible to select the most appropriate things.
[01:15:49] Speaker A: That sounds good. Roll me.
[01:15:50] Speaker E: And can I push myself as well to get an extra die?
[01:15:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:15:56] Speaker E: And for one stress.
[01:15:57] Speaker A: Is that two stress?
[01:15:59] Speaker E: Two stress. Okay.
[01:16:02] Speaker D: Oh, thanks. All the good rolls are coming in.
[01:16:06] Speaker E: Thank goodness.
[01:16:07] Speaker A: We need them.
[01:16:08] Speaker E: We got them out the way in the information gathering.
[01:16:11] Speaker A: Okay, well, so for better or worse, cavern, the clock has already finished. So, Magpie, you. You start sifting through, and, like, you're able to find stuff that looks shiny and looks magical. It's the sort of thing where you're like, what would I like to steal if I had the choice of picking up the expensive looking stuff and cavern, fundamentally, you're. You've been relegated to the mule as, like, you get.
[01:16:43] Speaker E: You get the sword and the armor to transport you to lug it all.
[01:16:48] Speaker B: I just.
It's not really helping with the role. But I'm just thinking about my foresight, visions from before about just fire and destruction and the city and flames, and I'm thinking about that flamethrower.
[01:17:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:17:10] Speaker B: It's not something I really want in the hands of the church.
[01:17:13] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[01:17:14] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:17:16] Speaker C: She doesn't have to get it.
[01:17:19] Speaker D: Don't want it in the hands of the hollow, either.
[01:17:25] Speaker A: Maybe it could just be in the.
[01:17:26] Speaker C: Hands of a little goblin.
[01:17:28] Speaker E: I think how much safer it would be at Cadwallader Manor.
[01:17:32] Speaker F: So trustworthy.
[01:17:36] Speaker B: Yes. I think I.
I've probably shared my. My vision. My fiery apocalypse vision. Yeah, the crew.
Just to put that in the back of everyone's minds when they're picking. If they have to pick between things.
[01:17:56] Speaker A: Well, let's. I mean, off the back of this, we. Yeah, we. We'll have a. I'll put together a list, and they'll be. I will be able to pick what. What we want to have taken, what you want to keep in the future, so. But if you wanted to not hand over the flamethrower to the faith, you could choose to keep it, you could choose to dispose of it, etc. Etc.
Free that you head upstairs and the, like, the slightly unhinged woman kind of looks to you and.
Where's your friend? Where's your friend?
[01:18:34] Speaker D: Don't worry. He's. He's got more delicate hands than me, and this is a very delicate job. So I've. I've left him downstairs. He's. He's just getting things prepared.
[01:18:46] Speaker A: We have to. We have to be very, very careful with it. There's. There's a. There's a lot of delicate stuff going on down there, and we have to make sure that everyone is ready for. Is ready for the rising.
[01:19:01] Speaker D: The rise? Yeah. Yes, the rising. Of course. Speaking of delicate work, you know, this is. This looks like some very delicate work you've been doing here. And I thought, she's spotted in blood.
Gesture over to the dismembered body, and it's like. Did you, uh. Did you get everything you need?
[01:19:22] Speaker A: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. We've. We've already extracted the. We've already extracted the soul, and and we can. We can start our sort of experiments on. On, uh. On this new. On this new subject. And so, so, yes, we're very, very, very, very happy. Um, but, yeah, the physical body, we have to, has to be rendered into small enough chunks for. To, to avoid detection. It's, yeah, I can't let anyone know what's happening before, before it happens.
The kindling would be very upset if we let slip what was happening.
[01:20:00] Speaker D: Right, yes. We wouldn't want the, want the kindling. Fine. Finding out. So how long have you been in this line of work?
[01:20:12] Speaker A: She looks at you and if you want to kind of delay her and kind of keep her talking, I think you're gonna have to roll something for that.
[01:20:23] Speaker D: And I try and distract her with, like, I'm just, you know, I'm, I'm always interested in, in artistry and it, this just looks like artistry to me. Again, gesturing towards the desecrated corpse.
And, yeah, I'm trying to sort of like, I guess, flatter her a little bit. Not very good.
All right. Sway, sway, sway, sway is good. We can do sway. What, uh, what position and effect?
[01:20:53] Speaker A: This is risky standard.
[01:20:59] Speaker D: Okay.
[01:20:59] Speaker E: Oh, gosh.
[01:21:00] Speaker A: You still.
[01:21:04] Speaker D: Can I resist? Please?
[01:21:07] Speaker A: Well, let me, let me tell you what it is.
She looks to you as you start to kind of idly chitchat and she just stares at you, she freezes like her eyes fixated on you. And then she starts. No, no. Starts shaking her head. No time for talk, no time for talking. Least wideness talking, least to leak secrets. The, and, and the kindling would not be pleased. No, no, no more, no more discussions. You, you must finish your job. You must. You, yeah. Are you done? Where's your friend? Where's your friend? I mean, I'm going to go and check on your friend.
You have lost this opportunity, okay?
[01:21:53] Speaker D: I don't want to take that risk and I'm going to block her path.
[01:21:56] Speaker A: Okay, so Romney a resist.
[01:22:01] Speaker D: Is that a resolve? Yeah.
[01:22:06] Speaker E: Yeah.
[01:22:12] Speaker A: Suffer three stress.
You kind of body block her and she sort of like stops, looks at your hand a bit confused, and then looks up to you and there's a flash of anger in her eyes and then she's got a cleaver. Oh, yes.
Busy, busy, must keep busy. And she kind of peels away and kind of carries on pottering around the room. She's still not talking to you, but at least she's not going downstairs. But she, yeah, you, you resist the, like, the situation getting worse.
And again, if you wanted to just kind of slowly back away because she's, it's now putting like, chunks of meat into a barrel.
[01:22:54] Speaker F: Yeah.
[01:22:56] Speaker D: Right. I, uh. I better get on with it. Like you said, idleness, uh, is, uh. It's bad form. And I'm just gonna back down the stairs, but keeping my eye on her.
[01:23:08] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. She's oblivious to you as you descend back down. And as you return, you see that, uh, cavern just kind of emerges from that access hatch, just having just loaded up the last crate of items. And unless any of you want to do any more rummaging, you have a healthy stash loaded on the car upstairs.
[01:23:31] Speaker F: Scar.
[01:23:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:23:34] Speaker C: You remember to close the hatch?
[01:23:36] Speaker D: Oh, God, yes.
[01:23:37] Speaker E: Can we relock the hatch? Is it possible to relock, padlock?
[01:23:42] Speaker A: That's absolutely fine. So in which case, as Magpie and atta kind of jump onto the back of the cart, that's patiently waiting. Now looks a bit lower to the ground with all the stuff that you've hauled onto it.
Cavern and Freida, you leave through the front.
The carp makes its way back out of Rookridge.
And I presume you're heading towards Abbott's gate.
[01:24:13] Speaker D: I reckon. Should we. Do we have time to, like, to rifle through? Yeah, to basically go to Caldwella and sort of, you know, make decisions.
[01:24:25] Speaker A: Sure. Okay. Well, in which case, in the interests of time, as you make your way away from this kind of holdout, replete with loads of magical loot, we will call it there. And the. The sifting and the delivery and the coin getting, we can do, in effect, in the downtime session.
[01:24:51] Speaker E: Nice.
[01:24:51] Speaker A: But, yeah. Your cart trundles off, leaving behind a wittering Loraval woman in this bakery, blissfully, who's blissfully unaware that she's just been robbed blind.
[01:25:08] Speaker E: Oh, gosh, that was a cheerful bakery come human abattoir, wasn't it?
Is that part of the famous hollow experimentation that we just witnessed?
[01:25:21] Speaker A: Well, who knows?
[01:25:25] Speaker D: You were very kind to us on that, DM Dan.
[01:25:31] Speaker A: Congratulations, everyone.
[01:25:34] Speaker E: Want us all to die yet?
Five.
[01:25:38] Speaker A: Congratulations on completing episode five.
Yes, you found some seedy secrets, some dark secrets in the underbelly of Alicia, and we'll see how that pans out. So, yeah, next time, we'll do. We'll do the exp, we'll do the downtime, we'll do the item sifting, we'll have an inventory management episode, and, yeah, kind of go from there. So if you enjoyed this rather spoopy mission, then make sure to hit the like button and comment down below on the magic item that you think the crew missed. That would have been really, really fun to have stolen.
And if you want to see what items they have they are going to keep. Make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon for notifications when we release new episodes because we release very regularly to miss them because we love you that much. So thank you everyone for playing. Thank you everyone for watching.
See you next time.
[01:26:45] Speaker E: Bye bye bye. It.
