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C2 Ep. 48 Eberron Reduced Taking Stock
252 Plays4 years ago
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Time to run! The party decides to leave to fight another day. But can they get out before their foe catches up? And what will become of the shifter?<br />
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This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Darrin Katzska, Irene Viorritto, Ryan Royce, Darrell DeLaney, Jessica Smith, Charles Compton, Danielle Bramhall-Smith, Nastasia Raulerson, The Kamm Family, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Andy Dossett, Rebekah Gowman, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Eric Witman, and Shelby Johnson.<br />
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Transcript
Introduction and Supporters
00:00:00
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by the generous donations of Laura Pickron, Darryl Delaney, Darren Katska, Deavius Poptart, Irene Villarito, Ryan Royce, Andy Dossett, Danielle Bramhall-Smith, Elizabeth Clark, Eric Whitman, Jessica Smith, Charles Compton, Natasha Rallerson, Richard Cree, The Cam Family, David Scrams,
00:00:22
Speaker
Dustin Troop, Edvard Arnoff, Michael Clark, Rebecca Gowman, and Shelby Johnson, as well as all of our generous patrons.
Meet the Hosts
00:01:14
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberron Our News, an actual play podcast set in the Eberron campaign setting. I'm your game master, Eric. I'm Phillip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. And welcome to another episode. Gentlemen, what happened last time?
Recap of Previous Adventure
00:01:30
Speaker
I don't want to talk about it. Yeah, well, we're going for like an hour or so. We survived. We escaped.
00:01:39
Speaker
Uh, Reynard even finished, even got the hostages out, which I really kind of expected that to not happen. Milo got wrecked, which is no surprise. Yeah. We all got wrecked. I mean, Reynard felt pretty good. Um, we lost, um, Faroo.
00:02:07
Speaker
We had such a good plan to go save him though. There was talk of going back. Did not happen.
00:02:18
Speaker
So, yeah. It's also real obvious that we were there. I mean, I know we took out the cameras and everything, but Aeris physically altered the structure of the building in one place. It's real obvious that we were there. Also, whoever the lizard is saw us. Yeah. Very up close. Doc Connors or whoever. Yeah. So, yeah.
Mixed Feelings about Aransas
00:02:46
Speaker
And
00:02:48
Speaker
Yeah, things could have gone better, but also could have gone much, much worse. Cass is handling things as to be expected. But yeah, you all, Aransas paid for the shifters to be taken home, and then you all went home to pass out after- Yeah, Aransas was both very helpful and very not helpful. Like, on the one hand, she was very helpful getting in and very helpful getting out.
00:03:17
Speaker
and very like just accommodating in a lot of things, but also during the loser fight, she just sort of sat out in the hallway and watched. I don't know what to think about Aransas. Oh, I don't think I like her. Okay, well.
Downtime and Social Dynamics
00:03:36
Speaker
Uh, this is another downtime episode. It's been a while since we've done one of these. Uh, I think there were eight episodes in this arc and two reviews. So we've been 10 episodes since we've done a downtime. So, um, so yeah, uh, we are going to pick up a couple of days after the event. For those of you who are keeping track.
00:04:00
Speaker
Mark your calendars. Now that I've got it, it worked out. Yeah. Speak up out there. Keeping track. I mean, at least one person. Yeah. So, yeah, you all are obviously reeling from the job, but for sales, normal spot. What? What are each of you doing in the for sales at the start of this scene?
00:04:30
Speaker
Kath is not there, Sana is not there, Sigil is not there. Ophin is there, just working, doing his thing. What time of day would you all like it to be for this particular setup?
00:04:50
Speaker
Can I say, I think if a meal time, I don't think Hobbs is coming to hang out. Hobbs has to eat and this feels comfortable and so he's coming here to eat. So a meal time now, day or night, I don't care. By mere happenstance.
00:05:09
Speaker
It happens. I only know this because I had to do all this math to work out how, what the date was a while back at the request of someone on our Discord. What
Milo's Struggles with Magic
00:05:20
Speaker
am I saying? At the request of Laura on our Discord. And I worked out that the day that we have picked two days after our last adventure happens to be a commencement at the university where Olive works.
00:05:36
Speaker
Okay. Uh, so I would like to suggest that Eris has just come from commencement at Morgrave University. Okay. Uh, and is in, is in her slightly cleaner clothes. So probably and has her, has her hair done. So yeah, I would say probably it's dinner time because the commencements are usually in the middle of the day. Okay. Or at least I think of them that way. I could be wrong. Yeah. I'm on board.
00:06:05
Speaker
Okay, so it is dinnertime. So Eris is arriving from attending commencement at Morgan University. Raynard, what are you doing? Well, Raynard has picked up smoking. Is there in-source smoking in this facility? We could be out on the patio. Does Raynard smoke a pipe?
00:06:28
Speaker
uh... with something uh... that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that
00:06:50
Speaker
We're gonna put that disclaimer before all of our episodes now to like we got a contact truth to get get ad space first for our shows now that we're featuring smoking Anyway, so ran are sitting in the outdoor space smoking Milo, what are you doing?
00:07:08
Speaker
Milo's in a booth with a plate of fish and chips, and an ale, all of which he has barely touched. He has the journal out, going through it again. And if there's not really anything else he's going to glean from this,
00:07:32
Speaker
then Milo visibly gets frustrated and just slams the book closed and just puts it within his robes. Yeah, you're probably, I mean, you've been looking at it nonstop for a while. So it's probably you're just sitting that plateau point where you're not sure what else to be gleaned from it. And that's where some of the frustration is coming from. Right. Okay. And he's sipping on his ale. Okay. Hob, you're arriving for meal time.
00:08:03
Speaker
I think so.
Moral Dilemmas: Working for Satan
00:08:05
Speaker
I doubt you guys have seen Hob since he went home. No, I know you haven't. If one of you reached out to him, he probably responded, but not any more than that. And yeah, and he's hungry and just kind of habit led him here more than anything else. Okay.
00:08:31
Speaker
Aeris is dressed for what Aeris counts as up. She has on pants that don't have a thousand pockets, so something closer to slacks, and a different jacket that is closer to a blazer than a military jacket.
00:08:53
Speaker
and she is not currently wearing her goggles or carrying the Fletcher and her hair is combed. She is sitting at an adjacent table but probably not at Milo's. Okay.
00:09:15
Speaker
She probably has something to drink, but it's not ale or anything. She probably has, I don't know, water or a juice or something like that. I don't know what the non-alcoholic options are at the for sales. Virgin daiquiri. Just water and gravy.
00:09:34
Speaker
I'll have a virgin mudslide. That's just a chocolate milkshake. Thank you. OK, so it sounds like three out of the four are pretty well established in booths, so hob entering can be the the beginning point of the scene. So hob, you approach and you see in kind of the patio outdoor seating area, you see Raynard sitting at a table puffing away at a pipe, you know,
00:10:04
Speaker
You, you could easily see in through the windows that Eris and Milo are inside eating separately. Uh, it's not a terribly busy night. Uh, you know, it's, it's dinner rush for a small hole in the wall seafood joint. So decent, but not packed. We have the patio to ourselves, can we say? Yeah.
00:10:30
Speaker
So are all three of you out in the patio or? That was what I was thinking. Yes. Okay. Milo, you good with that? Are you inside? Yeah, that's fine. Okay. So all three of them are on the patio, but not sitting together. Um, I think what Hob walks past, he, he does say something to just the effect of, um, I'm going to,
00:10:53
Speaker
go in place in order. I'll be back out here with you fellows with you with all of you. I'll come back out with all of you. And just to let it be known that he's gonna
00:11:09
Speaker
Your avoidance of each other is cute, but it's time we address this, so I'm coming back out with all of you is what he said. Well, I would say that if it's established around the patio, Milo would probably be sitting at the same table as Raynard. Okay, that makes sense.
00:11:25
Speaker
Eris is not like away from them. Eris just usually sits at her own table because she usually spreads out. Although this time she does not have any of her tools. She's got the program from commencement and she's sketching things in any available space. Nice. Okay. Oh, noted speaker at the commencement, by the way, Norsen Millhatch was a honored guest at the commencement who provided an address to the graduating class.
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah, definitely don't give Eris a second of escape, Eric, whatever you do. The photo of Norsen in the thing has been much decorated and the eyes have been punched through with her pen. See, I'm providing catharsis, Jeff. Catharsis.
00:12:14
Speaker
Okay, so. Introduced by Viggo. Hob, you, yeah, you're able to go up to the counter and place an order with Ulfin. What do you order? I don't know, meat and veg. Okay. Garden. Whatever he's got back there, ready to get, ready to be brought out. Okay.
00:12:39
Speaker
Uh, so yeah, you're able to get your food, uh, your plate of, um, of meat and veggies. Um, it's a chicken and greens is what you got. So, um, yeah, you're able to come back out to the patio.
00:12:58
Speaker
are all the patio tables on like old, built over old barrels like on a ship and the railing is like a ship's railing. All of them are former masts that have been cut now. The awning over it is like rigging netting with flags like quilted over the top. Awesome. Very aesthetically on brand.
00:13:29
Speaker
Aris looks up as Hob comes in. Hey, Chib. And he kind of does the nod at the chair across from her. She takes her foot off of it. Yeah, he has a seat.
00:13:52
Speaker
Aris probably doesn't do that. Aris is not nearly as tall as I am. I constantly have my feet up on the chair opposite me if no one is sitting there so that Aris is not that tall. The table is clear. She doesn't have anything to move. And he looks over at Milo since Milo was also recently deceased. You feeling all right?
00:14:24
Speaker
Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. And you? Are you? I'm up. You know, I'm not hurting. I'm the least confident I've ever been.
00:14:56
Speaker
I'm concerned. Yeah. We think about that. I mean, we have somebody in the meantime, it said, hey, it's been taken care of to Vigo. Surely. You know, you may not even have been us. It may have been. Well, I don't know.
00:15:27
Speaker
I mean, the shifters would have arrived in North Market and told Lissa, like, hey, we back. So presumably word would have gotten around about your involvement in their their rescue. That was. Do you think do you think Vega, Vega knew what we were going to?
00:15:58
Speaker
No, I honestly think this time he didn't. I don't know that his no one would have changed whether or not he would have sent us in, but I genuinely believe that this, this is, it's too big to have kept to himself for a potential opportunity to hurt us.
00:16:26
Speaker
Yeah, I guess so. It just seemed, it seemed real happy to send us, I remember. So I thought it might be like when he set us down to fall in. Well, you know, yeah, sure. I think regardless, this was going to be perilous.
00:16:52
Speaker
Yeah. And I don't think the degree of peril is what makes Vigo happy. It's the presence. But also the guy sucks and I could be wrong. Pardon me. Go ahead. Look, I want for us to be able to
00:17:22
Speaker
Whatever we need to do, regarding talking through what happened and how we're feeling. But I think we need to put the ball in play of letting someone more important than us know what we saw. Right? Satan's got to hear what's going on. Is he going to care?
00:17:48
Speaker
I don't know if he'll care from a organizational standpoint. I hope it scares the life out of him to do something about it extracurricularly. Is it? Is it the sort of thing that you would be scared of and want to do something about? Or is it the sort of thing that you would hear about
00:18:19
Speaker
and see an opportunity. Whatever Norton is doing, it's got to do with enhancing yourself or changing people. We saw what Norton put himself in that
00:18:41
Speaker
big big container and then this was acting at his lab we don't know that guy was who turned into the big thing and he was willing to kidnap people to do it is this I mean a crime boss could really make use of that kind of thing
00:19:13
Speaker
If we tell Satan about it, is he... is he gonna want to get rid of it, or is he gonna want to get it? I... I don't know. That's certainly something we need to consider. Uh, Milo, you've known Satan longer than any of us. Is... You see the sort of person whose moral compass
00:19:41
Speaker
completely flies out the window when it comes to power, attaining it, or chasing opportunities for it. I truly don't believe so, but honestly, I'm not really sure. Maybe the GM can tell Milo what he knows. Milo, the biggest aspects of Satan's tenure as head of the Boromar clan that you've noted
00:20:11
Speaker
in your experience with him. Satan is often regarded as fairly soft in his approach, allowing House Tarkannon to be the one taking up assassination contracts.
00:20:28
Speaker
Uh, not really pushing it on their turf. Um, working with the dragon marked houses more so than, than his father before him, um, did, uh, but mostly Satan is concerned with the legitimate aspects of
00:20:46
Speaker
the clans dealings being the the tentpole. Like he doesn't want the family to be reliant on criminal action. He wants them to have some legitimacy to them. And so, yeah, I mean, that that's what you know about Satan is is in terms of crime bosses, a lot of people regard him as pretty soft and not super interested in and doing a lot of crimes. So.
00:21:15
Speaker
So essentially what I said was fairly well on target then. Yeah. Yeah. You nailed it. And when Milo, when he's done saying that he, he kind of just looks away and he looks down and he takes his wand out and drops it on the table and just starts staring at it.
Deeper Dive into Milo's Magic Frustrations
00:21:47
Speaker
I mean, you say that and you don't think that Satan's that kind of person, but I mean, do we not, do we not think what happened to Kylie was about this?
00:22:13
Speaker
And at that... at that, Milo takes the journal out. And I've... I honestly have been thinking about taking this journal, this copy, to Satan. I'm curious to see if he knows anything about this journal. Is that... is that safe to do?
00:22:42
Speaker
I don't know if I care at the moment. I think you should care. I just wonder if since Viggo sent his lackey, supposedly sent his lackey to give us that mission, it was the first time we'd ever seen him.
00:23:07
Speaker
I even wonder if Viggo knows about it. Or if Viggo and this lackey are playing some sort of a game behind Sadin's back.
00:23:20
Speaker
and I want answers. And I have this wand that gives me magic that I don't fully understand and I don't know what I can do, what I cannot do. I was practicing barrier on my dear mother of all things and I find that I can cast it from a distance. I don't need to be squished by a giant lizard thing.
00:23:46
Speaker
I'm just frustrated because it seems as if... I did not know I was going to set him on fire, for God's sake. You don't know how your magic works. I discover it as I go along, apparently. And Eris just blinks, and you can see her reevaluating
00:24:18
Speaker
Yeah, Hob is also thinking of all the times he trusted Milo's magic, but you can't see it. That is one that Hob has practiced at being very measured in that.
Mission Information Concerns
00:24:29
Speaker
Yeah, it's obvious that Milo is extremely frustrated with his magic ability. Is it? Is it a bad idea?
00:24:48
Speaker
for us to stay employed by Satan and the clan. I honestly don't know that I really have a choice. I think we do.
00:25:07
Speaker
Uh, there's a, well, that's not how he sounds. Well, there's a chance that, you know, beatle juice, some French fried taters. I do like those. Yeah. I mean, yeah, they're good. Bye. If I'm being honest.
00:25:33
Speaker
I am wondering if we can afford not to right now. I think we need, while we all know that Vigo is just the worst, we also know that we have allies in some of our colleagues. Maybe.
00:26:08
Speaker
No, I think that we do. I think we can call on, you know, names of the people we've met that I certainly recall. Names like Magic Dan. Yep, that was one of them. Bev. Classic. Bev the... We all remember Bev. Bev the Fighter. Keep going. Yeah, you got Scavenge Boy and
00:26:34
Speaker
Well, his name's just Grum. I mean, you just saw him a couple episodes ago. And he got the one guy with the arm. Tim. Anyway, this was fun. Would you like me to provide those names? Just give me the name of the woman and the warforged that run the goals. Yeah. Nessa and Hutch. Nessa and Hutch, yeah.
00:27:04
Speaker
Thank you. The arm guy that you were mentioning is Tarval. No, actually that was Hutch. I was talking about who I arm wrestled. Oh, okay. But yeah, Tarval also is around. See, listen to all the names of the potential allies. And just to refresh memories from things that happened many, many episodes ago for Raynard and Milo while this topic is brought up, you do recall that Lady Briar
00:27:35
Speaker
also mentioned not being a big fan of the way Boromar does things, so. Anyway, can't see. Yeah. Also not being a big fan of Reinhardt. Yeah. What's our name again, Lady Watt? Briar. Briar. Briar. I have that somewhere, but. Yeah, I think, um. Yeah, let me just start that fresh.
00:28:03
Speaker
I believe that we have allies among some of our colleagues, Nessa, Hutch, Darval, Grom. You know, I also, I believe that, again, Viggo notwithstanding, the clan has a vested interest and benefit in
00:28:28
Speaker
some level of protection for us. I think we need to tell someone above us what we saw down there. If for no other reason in the battle of information, that monster is leagues ahead of us. Cause he knows who I am.
00:28:58
Speaker
And I don't know who he is when he's not blizzarded. And I would like to find that out. That's fair enough.
00:29:22
Speaker
I, for one, I'm comfortable with reporting to Satan. I would rather, you know, inform him before I would vego. I understand the reservation, Eris, I really do. But I also trust Milo's judgment of how Satan would take it.
00:29:54
Speaker
not everyone I mean we keep saying the clown has some vested interest in our safety we keep going into these jobs what we don't actually know what's happening we keep going in these jobs that we don't really know all the all the facts and it's getting
00:30:25
Speaker
it's getting too much. It's getting too, it's getting too big. Look, I think it was that fight with the, with the saying, whatever that was that went really bad, but I don't think it would have gone really bad if we had known what we were going into.
00:30:48
Speaker
We went into that all wrong. You wouldn't have run Ed first down those stairs into that thing if you knew what we were dealing with. Absolutely not. Renard wouldn't have run down in there by himself and gotten stuck. We'd have had a plan. And I just feel like as long as we're letting someone else pick the jobs and decide how much information we have,
00:31:20
Speaker
We're not actually safe. I wonder if someone had more information that we could have used. Well, if that's the case, I mean, if they didn't, that's not any better. Maybe it's better, but it's not. No, that's worse. It's not safer. It's worse if they did not share it with us.
00:31:48
Speaker
I don't know. I think I'm just ready to go back to what I used to do. It's much safer. We went. I mean, we're fighting. We. We lost. It's not. It's not the first time we've. Not really one.
00:32:17
Speaker
I mean, no, on top of the train, we got away with it. But they put up on the, on the deck. They put Milo on the deck and we got lucky in getting away. But it messed up the job pretty hard. And now this and before with the,
00:32:52
Speaker
We made significant errors down in the cogs. I made significant errors, misjudgments, miscalculations, uh, tactical screw ups.
00:33:22
Speaker
And let my emotions, my anger, my fear for those shifters that once we knew they were down there and yeah, bad Intel or potentially bad Intel potentially misleading. That's a threat I'm willing to pull on by the way.
00:33:51
Speaker
I am... lucky. No, that's not fair to you all. Because you all did it for me. I am thankful that I was not also doomed to stay down there. I count Faroo's death as my own personal responsibility. You didn't lock the door.
00:34:25
Speaker
That was the right move, Eris. I do wonder if our new friend... I haven't drank in two days, so there's a lot of thinking going on. I'm not used to it. It's the pipe effect. You think that pipe and you become very thoughtful. Exactly. But one has to wonder if our new friend Aransas didn't participate as much because she did know something.
00:34:57
Speaker
She had the in there, she works there. Olive says she's... Olive says she's okay. Yes, I'm just agreeing with the sentiment that maybe someone did no more than they told us. That's what I'm saying. If we were picking the jobs, if we had control of what we did,
00:35:28
Speaker
And where we went, and what jobs we did, and how much we knew. We wouldn't have to go in half-cocked like this. That's not an expression that would exist in a world without guns. That's not it. Half drawn. Half drawn.
00:35:51
Speaker
I, um, ill prepared. Well, and, and, and, and Eric, you can, you, you can, is freelancing that sort of job a thing in Sean? I mean, I'm sure it is in a smaller city, but in a, in a town that's so gripped by its various structures and
00:36:16
Speaker
I mean, you, somebody could certainly attempt, but there's going to be probably a pretty low ceiling on how high you can get before people are going to start wanting more established. Right. Reputations, I guess. Or one of the organizations that does that and has 6,500 people involved is going to squash you. Yeah. But it's possible, like you can.
00:36:48
Speaker
Just either you're not going to get very far or you're going to start drawing attention. Yeah. Oh, Reynard, I appreciate your paranoia when it comes to our Francis. It's the smoking. But the greater issue is how we ended up at such a point that Francis may or may not have known there was a lizard man there.
00:37:20
Speaker
I don't know that we can have a conversation about the way our last fight went if we don't discuss all aspects of how we ended up in that fight and I will accept full responsibility for that fight going pear-shaped. I'm willing to take on that onus.
00:37:48
Speaker
But in so doing, Rainard, I can't help but bring up the... The way we left things was Sam Spade. Sam Spade. That's Basil's fake name as the detective, Rainard.
00:38:11
Speaker
That was a while ago. It was a long time ago, but it was definitely still an instigating thing that got a lot of crap going wrong. So Hob's bringing it up and Rainard better have something to say. Well, if there's something not in my throat, what is that?
Eris' Traumatic Past Revealed
00:38:33
Speaker
It's like a bubble. I don't know what happened.
00:38:36
Speaker
It's called a guilt bubble. That's what happens when somebody confronts you with dumb you did. I don't carry the guilt of my fictional character with me. That's healthy. Yeah, please don't because it's gonna get worse. Me, Philip and Randy have killed a lot of things. Well, honestly, Hob, I did stop drinking two days ago. Temporarily,
00:39:07
Speaker
But it has given me the clarity to at some point soon meet with Basil and figure out exactly what it is he wants from me. Right. I'm not really asking you to apologize for things you're going to do in the future. Rainer.
00:39:36
Speaker
You had an opportunity to play ball with someone that you didn't want to play ball with. And it could have saved time, pain, people. And I'm asking you right now, can we trust you going forward to put aside
00:40:02
Speaker
what needs to be put aside for the good of keeping us safe and getting us home during a job. In other words, we come first before the job. Well, I think actually we might be speaking to two different issues here, but sure, let's go with that as well. Yes. Add that to the list.
00:40:32
Speaker
And I hate, I hate, Raynard, that this feels like we're piling on you, but the rest of us kind of just out and out say what we messed up on. Well, I would hope you'd see that saving six innocent lives was a step in the right direction. Sure, you'll get no disagreement from me there.
00:41:04
Speaker
So all I can promise you is that I'm trying to move in the right direction. I appreciate. I appreciate hearing that. And I'm going to choose to believe it. Once. So we don't keep these secrets.
00:41:35
Speaker
Does that go for everyone or just me? I'm not keeping any. And I'm not saying you can't have your secrets, but secrets that have operational efficacy. Can't be secrets any longer. Well, you won't. I already told you. I'm planning to meet with Basil as soon as I can.
00:42:05
Speaker
hopefully to fix the problems but we didn't know we didn't know your last name no and that's relevant well in many ways I am
00:42:33
Speaker
not the person that had that last name. So forgive me for trying to move on and create something new. Not in the sense that there isn't still a house that's apparently got a grudge against you that we didn't know about.
00:43:00
Speaker
as yet another thing we won't protect we were prepared for that's fine but i still see it as a personal issue and i don't feel the need to share all my personal issues very personal issues don't stay personal they don't stay personal until they don't stay personal how am i to know they're not going to remain personal
00:43:31
Speaker
But we're... We are costs, or we're not. We're us. We're not. Yes, but you're acting like we've had some kind of kumbaya about sharing our family's stories. And I just miss the party. Alright. Eris sits up. And she slides the blazer off. And she pulls off.
00:44:01
Speaker
her glove and sets them on the table and she pulls back her sleeves and she holds up her right hand and on the back of it there's across most of the back of her hand there's a roughly circular patch of scar tissue so that used to look like a wyvern I got that always about 12 and then
00:44:32
Speaker
I got lost in a card game and the next guy, the next dar didn't like the brand and so he burned it off and he gave me this one and she pulls up her sleeve and there's what a faded tattoo of a tiger wrapping around her forearm and he gave me this one and so
00:45:02
Speaker
I don't remember how old I was. At that point, I lost count. And then he was actually a bugbear. He was actually, you know, not the worst. And he actually sold me. It wasn't a card game, that one. And she pulls her,
00:45:29
Speaker
shirt aside and you can see there's a there's some kind of claw reaching over her shoulder since I had that was on the arm the next one just left it it didn't didn't catch just maybe wear sleeves so I got this one and always I
00:45:53
Speaker
I was a teenager by then, but I don't really know exactly what I was going to say. And then the last one, that was this one. And she pulls back the hair and the wolf face. As in my family secrets, let's see, I watched them kill my father in the yard. I didn't see him kill my mother.
00:46:20
Speaker
This is hers. She touches the scarf that she always wears. If you're wondering, I can explain all the patches on my jacket to you if you want. I didn't wear it today because it's not appropriate for commencement. Add a little brother and don't know what became of him. Tell myself he's dead because that's the best option.
00:46:51
Speaker
I don't know where any of the Dar who I was a fraud to are. I think Orphan killed the last one. His ship was on fire when we sailed away. So I don't think you'll be chasing me. I don't have any family who are going to come looking around.
00:47:23
Speaker
I owe Olive for the lessons and I've asked you to do one job for her and I was right up front about it and I owe I guess I owe Satan a little bit for the job and I owe Arb
00:47:53
Speaker
saving my life a few times by this point, and probably Milo. And frankly, probably you at some point. And that's all the people I owe. And that's also a complete list of people who will ever come asking about me.
Raynard's Financial Misdeeds
00:48:15
Speaker
Kath and Sana probably. Maybe Sigil, but I don't know exactly what's up with Sigil right now.
00:48:22
Speaker
And frankly, I don't know that I think we've been worth not really paying much attention to that. I think it's a problem. And I often for getting me off that ship and letting me stay above the for sales back when I was doing that and there. So I was that.
00:48:52
Speaker
Now, your turn. What would you like to know?
00:49:07
Speaker
What is there to know? What else is there to know? That might walk through the door, or we might walk through a door and find them sitting behind a desk, or we might... I don't know, we've been sent to fancy parties a couple of times, and apparently you're from the fancy part of town? And so, I mean... There might have been... There might have been feelings at the... The gala we went to.
00:49:38
Speaker
How many times might we have walked through the door? You had us breaking into the offices of our civis. What else is there? It might at some point walk through the door and turn a job upside down.
00:50:06
Speaker
Or I mean, he saw all of us with you. It's not just you now. He saw all of us with you. And if they're mad enough at you, if they feel like I have to get after you, then what says they don't come for us?
00:50:31
Speaker
Well I honestly don't know what to tell you other than I didn't think they'd even be looking for me. What did you do? Yes, why are they looking for you?
00:50:48
Speaker
the question why is great because I did not even know they wanted anything to do with me but if you must know I took advantage of a large sum of money from my family behaved poorly with it and was basically stripped of all of that
00:51:18
Speaker
Is it taking advantage when you stole it? More misused it. It was given to you and you just didn't spend it right. It was available to me and I didn't spend it right. So you stole it? You didn't split a take, did you? No.
00:51:46
Speaker
There were a lot of things I didn't do and did do with money and all of them were not good.
00:52:20
Speaker
Raynard, I'm going to take on faith that you didn't see fit to tell us because you genuinely didn't think that it would come around to endanger any of us. I believe that. But
00:52:54
Speaker
the fact that when it did enter, when your past became our present, that you remained KG. There comes a point, and I do think you realize this now, where you've got to treat us like the teammates that we are to you.
00:53:35
Speaker
Because by and large, all I got is fight and I'm happy to fight for you. But I need you. We need you to give us all you got as well. And I want to be clear that I do believe that you're going to make an effort. I'm trusting you.
00:54:03
Speaker
Yes, and like you said, I honestly thought I had killed that part of my life off and never expected to walk in there and see Basil. So I froze up.
00:54:30
Speaker
I am excited to see your actions match your stated intentions. Well, don't expect a lack of sarcasm, though. Eris has put herself back together and gets up and goes into the bar and orders something to drink. So when does the drinking start again?
00:55:01
Speaker
Oh, goodness. You know, the first questions you asked somebody. OK, OK, but when are you going to be fun again? Exactly. Oh, my goodness. Well, Milo, I'm sure I'll need at least one little sip of curds for I to go talk to Basil. I'll go with you at that time, if you would like.
00:55:32
Speaker
and carry the flask. Most certainly. We have a deal. That you get nothing out of? We just said you had a deal. But we didn't make a deal. I just told you to do what I wanted. Eris comes back out and walks over to the railing and leans on the railing and drinks.
00:56:05
Speaker
I think Hobb does get up. I think, and this is true of Jeff with these two characters. I think Hobb always assumed that Eris' backstory was a little more similar to his than it actually is. Which obviously I haven't said all of Hobb's.
00:56:29
Speaker
Yeah, I guess you'll just have to trust me that it's vaguely similar, but not nearly as bad as it is. I think he walks over and he can't really lean on the railing. I assume Eris is leaning on her elbows and Hob is leaning on his knuckles on the railing. Yeah. And he says. It's like a 300 foot drop off of this thing, so I assume the railing is substantial. Yeah, he says.
00:56:58
Speaker
Eris, I'm sorry that if you felt compelled to share that and you weren't fully willing, I didn't know the extent of what you've been through.
00:57:31
Speaker
I'm sorry. I grew up without my family, and in an unwilling situation, but nothing nearly like what you described. And I don't know
00:58:01
Speaker
If this is something you want to hear, I don't know if you care at all how I think of you. And I know it's not particularly relevant to our current situation or what we really need to be talking about, but I want to let you know that the person you've become out of all of that is truly amazing.
00:58:31
Speaker
and I think you might give like a quarter of a second to see if that gets a response but if she's not like willing to say something like like wanting to say something to him he's just gonna leave it at having said the thing that he said and knowing it might be weird but he felt compelled to say it and he's gonna go sit back down so unless she is quick to respond he's gonna
00:58:55
Speaker
Just leave it at that. Not making it clear he's not expecting or trying to get her to engage if she doesn't want to right now because he gets that. I... It's fine. I might expect him to be honest. I guess that's what this requires.
00:59:44
Speaker
Don't. I felt like I was in control. I had a job and occasionally we were out and we did some sort of petty crime and that is fine.
01:00:03
Speaker
And I knew who you were. I thought I knew who he was. I know who Milo is. I know who Captain Sana are. And I kind of think I know who Sigil is, but they don't really talk about their past a lot either. So I don't want to push that.
Moral Implications of Actions
01:00:25
Speaker
And then...
01:00:30
Speaker
Grom disappeared, and Viggo came in, and I guess he was dropped off my hand, and then we start going on these jobs, and it doesn't seem like we're in control anymore. I don't like that feeling.
01:00:59
Speaker
I don't know what we can do to get back. I'll be honest. I'm... I'm not as... attuned to the idea.
01:01:30
Speaker
of how much or little control I have as you are. And I certainly understand why. At least I think I do. But, um, the idea
01:01:59
Speaker
of being in control of what I do on the day to day. The idea of being my own boss has never felt freaking to me. And I think that's where you and I
01:02:25
Speaker
Disconnect when it comes to how much trouble we have with where we are right now I've lived my life since I was small On someone else's schedule And now I I base my activities on someone else's needs because they paid me to do that because When you are this
01:02:58
Speaker
Any kind of gestures just to the fact that he is a sore thumb, like, but has one good bit of efficacy to him. You don't get to make your own destiny.
01:03:29
Speaker
You're tough for someone else. It's the way I was raised. It's what I know. And until very recently, it's actually worked quite well for me. You could be strong for you. I'm always strong for me.
01:03:55
Speaker
I don't find that that helps put food in my belly or clothes on my, well, I don't wear them on my back, but you understand. But you could get to choose who you use it for and how you use it because it isn't just a job, is it? Because if you don't talk right, some talk threatens to maim you and if you get
01:04:25
Speaker
moral and you have concerns about what's going on, then maybe they kill you, like they did Kylie. And... You don't know what's... I mean, what are we gonna walk into in the next job? And that thing's still out there, that lizard thing that almost killed all of us, and it killed Faroo. Yeah. Yes, I know.
01:04:56
Speaker
I mean, you and Milo both got knocked out, and I mean, we got you back up, but if you'd been out in their room and that thing's standing over you, I couldn't have done anything about that. I don't think anyone is going to dispute that the way this job went was
01:05:27
Speaker
entirely over our heads there's no there's no there's no convincing of that you know i yeah i that's not the i hope that you understand i'm not downplaying anything when i say we cannot make
01:05:55
Speaker
a rash decision based on the last job. We need to make a lot of small decisions based on the last job. What sort of agency we have in jobs we take. What sort of information we want before we embark on a job. How much we trust each other. How much we trust. Mill Hatch Industries. How much we trust. A third thing.
01:06:26
Speaker
It would have sounded good if I'd had one, you gotta admit. And I know that it's not just the last job that's made you want to leave. If we can't have more control over what the jobs are, then I don't know.
01:06:53
Speaker
I need to be better or we need to be better so that when we walk into a thing like that, we can do something about it. We can, we can take it because the next time we got lucky this time, we just got, we just got lucky and we had, and, and for room, luck and for room. And that's it. You'll get no argument.
01:07:22
Speaker
from me, that we got lucky, that it is by providence alone, that the six of us that made it out made it out. And you're right. There are certainly things outside of hard balling when we're offered the job that we need to do.
01:07:55
Speaker
And I'm gonna try to put in the work I need to. To be ready if things go that direction again. Hey, Milo. Yes? Um... What do you say... to...
01:08:25
Speaker
Um, you've been here longer than the rest of us. Eric and I were talking and we think that we need to suggest feels not strong enough. We'd like more control over the parameters of the jobs we're given either ability to refuse or, um, longer timetables to prepare.
01:08:58
Speaker
It feels like... Viggo... And I know we've talked about this. Viggo is trying to improve his own station by signing us up for the dumbest things. And we've got to get out from under that thumb, right? Yes, Viggo is solely out for Viggo and anything that puts him in a better light and a better position.
01:09:27
Speaker
Can't be in a room with that top very many more times. Understood. That is the limit. I'm going to do something. That is the limit. Satan has made his feelings about Viggo known to all of us, yes? Didn't he in the meatbag encounter? Yes, yes. He expressed that Viggo
01:09:52
Speaker
was rough around the edges I think would be it yes and for us it was a gentle way of putting it yeah and for us to lighten up and give him a chance to prove himself
01:10:06
Speaker
Yeah, we needed to fix our attitudes about his awfulness. While Satan worked on the other end. Well, it might be. That's not what Eras heard. There's got to be. That's fine. There's got to be a nice way to tell Satan that the work he's been doing on the other end is less than fruitful and that his boy Vigo is going to get
01:10:32
Speaker
At minimum, the four of us, and depending on the whims of the gods, up to three others. Just absolutely tanked. Yes, well, I don't really see any harm in approaching Satan. He's always been very approachable to my family and I in the past, so... I...
01:11:03
Speaker
You know, I think at the very least he'll tell us to, you know, buck up and do our job. But I think he'll at least listen to our concerns. I just... At the very least. At the very least. If they know they're going to give us a job on a Tuesday,
01:11:34
Speaker
Then he's just working on a Friday to tell us on the Tuesday and not on the Friday at a minimum. I think that's more than fair. Or a Vorglark and a Flimblam. I don't know what they call him here. And we can just say that, look, it will help us do the task, whatever it is. It will make it easier on us.
01:12:00
Speaker
I'm not. Perhaps we will do it, you know, exceptionally well. The more information we have, the safer we'll be and the more able we will be to do the job. I agree.
Trust and Collaboration
01:12:15
Speaker
I will say in the room, easier and less lethal. There's a distinction there.
01:12:24
Speaker
That is true. But you get my meaning. Of course, of course, Milo. I'm just, you know, classic job joke around. And I think, I think Reynard should tell Verla about the lizard. I can do that. Yeah. I've seen Verla in a while. I don't. He seems a decent sort.
01:12:53
Speaker
Yeah, I really can't stand Raynard and I think that speaks well of her. I quite like her company. Frankly, of the cops we've met, she's top 20. We met 20 cops? Top 20 countdown. I think I like to think in my life, it's probably 20 cops. Milo has, yes.
01:13:20
Speaker
I'm sure that we have in our time in Charlotte. Hobbs ran from dozens, I'm sure. Definitely none of that. I think we all agree. And if you don't agree, you come around to my way of thinking on this.
01:13:50
Speaker
occupation of working as one of the loaded dice has fundamentally changed. Whether we looked at this as a wonderful journey and we'd like more jobs like that,
01:14:13
Speaker
or whether, as it seems that we are, decided that that was entirely too dangerous for five, six people and entirely too ill-prepared and ill-informed. And we don't want to go through that again. The fact that that job is the sort of thing they thought to give us means that our position has fundamentally changed. And we've got to
01:14:44
Speaker
fix it mold it even in its new state to some place that we can be comfortable and if we can't we have to abandon it Eris I understand that that is it must be on the table and it is I it is but outside of our jobs
01:15:16
Speaker
the portent of whatever Millhatch Industries is doing terrifies me to the point that I can't imagine not
01:15:36
Speaker
seeing its end. And I don't mean being the hammer that breaks the machine. I mean, I need to see a resolution. That means that more people from the lower cogs aren't getting kidnapped more. Whatever wealthy scientists aren't turning themselves into powerful lizards.
01:16:02
Speaker
I'm, you know, that old chestnut. Eric put up his finger that only one has done it, like more won't. Listen, one guy took steroids, okay? I'm sure the other football players will know that that's not what they should do. It's an isolated incident, Jeff. Now, back off.
01:16:26
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I told my mom the first time she caught me drinking a beer. Look, it's an isolated incident. I'm just kidding. She never caught me. Where was I? Crap. I can't in good conscience leave. There's no one that's there. There's too many people that I care about here that wouldn't leave. You think Kath and Sana are going anywhere their whole lives are. And they have actual lives outside of this.
01:16:55
Speaker
something I can't say about myself. I'm not talking about running anymore. Oh, I Jeff apologizes. Continue. I just I feel like we I feel like we might be working for people who are more who are more interested in
01:17:27
Speaker
We're not very interested in how many people get hurt. I think that's certainly true. At least one step up on the org chart for us, yes. I don't know... Satan well enough to know. I'm not printed and he's a good man, he can't be.
01:17:57
Speaker
runs a crime scene ticket. But I want to hope that wanton destruction is not a part of his business plan or allowing it in a custody. I have never seen that in anything from Satan.
01:18:31
Speaker
I figured it wasn't that small about Psychosidual's house. Do we think Sidon just doesn't know that? I'm sure he does.
01:18:50
Speaker
Oh man, it's impossible to separate Jeff and Hobb at this point when it comes to that. But I don't feel like it's what Hobb would say. Yeah. I know. No, it's hard. I also, I watched five episodes of Rutherford Falls today, which is very much about racial identity and
01:19:10
Speaker
Oh boy, it's really really good. Oh, yeah. I mean specifically it's not it's about native racial identity and Boy, oh boy. Have I been feeling things today watching on Michael Shearer comedy? So what I'm saying is You know gets to be in charge and gets a bigger cut of the work and a cut of the loot and I
01:19:38
Speaker
And it gets all that while it's okay. It's okay that he was in that crowd. And it's okay that if you adapt the opportunity, it is set fire to the house. And as far as we know, that's where they got the explosives. No, it isn't okay. People like this. I know
01:20:08
Speaker
Milo, I know you've known him. You feel like you've known him. Well, he is far from a good man. But I believe he does have somewhat of a moral compass in some things. That thing where he cares about you and he's going to rebuild your bar and all that. It's just
01:20:40
Speaker
It's just leverage. It's easier to get you to do what you want that way. I cannot disagree. You want to work a bar again, orphans down in these lock. We've made a lot of money. Why a share here?
01:21:17
Speaker
It could be something worth discussing. And this is not another thing you owe him.
01:21:37
Speaker
I'm kind of thinking through the years that Milo's family is probably at a point where they probably do, where he probably already does have the leverage. Yeah. I'm not saying we actually should leave Sean and I know there's people here we wouldn't want to leave.
01:22:02
Speaker
We're just monsters running around the streets kidnapping people. I don't... I don't want anything to happen to Olive. Or Kaifusana. Or their parents. My mother. Or your mother. I don't really want anything bad to happen to Verla. She seems nice.
01:22:33
Speaker
Yeah, alright, so there's a list of people I don't want hurt, and... Yeah. But... I'm worried that... I'm worried that we don't have the freedom to do something about that. So, yeah, maybe, maybe Satan's reasonable, maybe we can negotiate something about this, and that's fine, if we can, I guess, but... I think it's just as likely that we tell Satan about this, and he says, oh, well, that's interesting, here's a slice of meat.
01:23:05
Speaker
Now go break into this warehouse for me. By the way, I haven't mentioned it's full of spiders the size of oxen.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:23:25
Speaker
It's a very funny place Trevor.
01:23:28
Speaker
That sounds terrible. I don't want to even pretend to do that. Anyway, that's what I'm worried about. I thought I should tell you. I thought I should say something because I don't usually say something until I'm really very angry. And I usually say something stupid. Or I've been thinking really hard about just, you know, going.
01:23:59
Speaker
but I don't wanna do that. I think that we, I think we really do need to stress the intel issue. I think that
01:24:35
Speaker
Being safe here among the three of you, I feel comfortable saying that Viggo does not have many more chances with me. And you can take that to mean what you would like, and some of you will be right, Eris. I hate to bring this up now. But I do have to mess with House Thrashek very soon, and I'll be doing it on my own.
01:25:06
Speaker
And I'd like to keep it that way. I don't plan on doing anything that would require them to get upset with me. I'm not double crossing anybody. I want to make, I want to put your mind that he's where that's concerned. But I am going to be out of pocket for anything other than a direct job from Vigo or Satan.
01:25:35
Speaker
If you need me, reach out to me and I'll do my best, but I can't promise you any availability. I've got to make posters and such. I don't know. You won't let me out.
01:26:09
Speaker
I know. How about, instead of, I don't want to let you help. How about, I'll be looking for a way that I feel comfortable you could help safely. This is not about some sort of big brother thing. This is, I got myself into this.
01:26:37
Speaker
And if I can get myself out of it without dragging you all into it in this one instance, I'd like to try. But if I need a gizmo, I know who I can call.
01:27:02
Speaker
And then I'll also need you there to install it because I don't really do well with those sorts of things. And if it malfunctions well, then I'm just useless at that point. So yeah, you'll probably be there is what I'm saying. Iris laughs a little bit and drinks. Just trying to get her hair back into place. Okay. I think we're going to call it there.
01:27:33
Speaker
Eric's face was increasingly going into... So when are we gonna record the next long time? I enjoyed that. Yeah, me too. It felt heavy. I think I messed a few things up. I definitely said things I didn't mean, or in the way I didn't mean to, and then had to backtrack.
01:27:59
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be part of the conversation surrounding these episodes, you can head over to our Discord, The Geek Pantheon. You can find links to that on all of our social medias at The Geek Pantheon or on our Facebook group, The Geek Pantheon. And we also have Patreon, Patreon.com slash The Geek Pantheon. If you enjoy this content and want to support our endeavors in making it and making different kinds of content, then head on over to Patreon.com slash The Geek Pantheon.
01:28:27
Speaker
to sign up for one of our tiers. We also have a YouTube channel, youtube.com slash the geek pantheon where
01:28:32
Speaker
I post a couple videos a week of D&D and other tabletop role-playing game content. And we also have another actual play over there, DMed by our illustrious Philip, who is taking us through an Eberron campaign set in Stormreach that I play in. So yeah, I also stream on Twitch a few times a week, twitch.tv slash thepantheon. If you wanna go check it out over there, I think that's everything.
01:28:58
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed this kind of more character-focused sit-down-do-all-the-talky-bits type of episode. Yeah, and we will see you next time. I have been your game master, Eric. I am Philip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. Watch Rutherford Falls on Peacock. I had nothing to do with it. Support Native Excellence.
01:29:24
Speaker
Hashtag not a sponsor. Hashtag not a sponsor, but it doesn't need to be. But call us. Historic, historic first Native American show runner on a television show ever. Watch Rutherford Falls. Cool. Man, that's supposed to be really good. Holy crap, I really enjoyed it. All right, we'll see you next time.