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C2 Ep. 90 The Way of the Dreaming Chapter Four
260 Plays3 years ago
The party has the info they need, but now they need to figure out where to go next.
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.
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Transcript
Introduction and Patron Acknowledgments
00:00:00
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by the generous donations of Laura Pickron, Darryl Delaney, Darren Katska, Devious 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,
00:00:20
Speaker
David Scrams, Dustin Troop, Edvard Arnoff, Michael Clark, Rebecca Gowman, and Shelby Johnson, as well as all of our generous Patrons.
Host Introductions and High-Speed Chase Stories
00:01:14
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberron Renewed, 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. With a full mouth, Jeff. Welcome to another episode. Gentlemen, what happened last time? You want to repeat everything you just told us, Eric?
00:01:40
Speaker
uh high speed chase yep we we did successfully get gorn and his information um far more importantly we stole a speeder bike
Unraveling Mysteries and Injuries
00:01:54
Speaker
Like that's really the takeaway is that we successfully stole a speeder bike. I can't express how immediately Jeff and I exchanged a look over the table saying we're going to steal that bike. That is certainly true. Um, yeah. Information that we cannot read. Yeah, we can't read the information and we've taken care of Milo's knocked out atness with Maris pebble fist. Yeah. But he still has a hand boo boo.
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah. Probably a little more serious than a boo-boo, but you know. So I guess now we need to- That is the technical term that Maris used though, is you guys have a han-boo-boo. I'm just saying, you really want this guy to fix you, or do you want Eris to make you a cool glove? And Reinhard looked at him and said, no, it's hand cross-boo.
Strategizing Against Dangers and Seeking Help
00:02:51
Speaker
okay um which i used we gotta we gotta figure out the carrion's real name from these files which i assume gorn would be able to translate for us if he wants to and we really ought to address the oh he'll want to the therani and the jason and the all of it so so you all are in maris's office
00:03:15
Speaker
uh with with gourd yeah i mean i'm assuming you brought gourd with you you didn't say you dropped him off anywhere well and if you did he is on the uh nearest lightning train to anywhere so yeah um what are what are the facilities like
Maris's Office and Unorthodox Methods
00:03:35
Speaker
in Maris's office. Harris needs to. Harris broke her glove, destroying one of those one of the chase vehicles. And I want to know what. Well, this is what kind of workshop it is. This is his home slash office. So think think more abandoned storefront than warehouse.
00:03:54
Speaker
And so there is a small room in the back with a small bed. And he does have some tinkerer-esque tools because, as we mentioned when we introduced him, both of his arms and legs are mechanical. So he does have stuff to like, tools to fix that if that issue comes up. But in the main part of the store, it...
00:04:19
Speaker
Lots of medical implements. It looks like a butcher shop. It's just like not the cleanest place you could ever go to get ad hoc surgery done. But yeah, and there's some tables. Does my look conscious right now? Yeah, if my love is conscious with me. OK. He's not happy about it. Aeros kind of looks around. Well, are you sure you don't want me to fix it?
00:04:46
Speaker
Well, I was actually that thought had crossed my mind if you could perhaps, you know, do something like what, you know, like what you did for yourself. She holds up her awesome glove. Well, you know, I got to fix it again. It breaks sometimes.
00:05:12
Speaker
Maris turns around with a hacksaw in his hand and says, you don't want me to fix it? I can take care of it for you, Milo. I think that, you know, I kind of like the idea. Silence is a tacit agreement in this shop, so.
00:05:28
Speaker
What? But look how it became way more creepy just now. Well, if somebody is unconscious and can't respond and he needs to act medically, then he has to take silence as a tacit agreement for care. So yeah, shard hacksaw massacre. Listen to his words, not his tone. That's that's Maris's like, that's what it says on his business card. This is my words.
00:05:56
Speaker
probably take me I mean I can't this didn't this didn't I didn't build this in an afternoon yes I can I can make do in the meantime Oh Eris seems entirely taken aback that someone has said yes to one of her hairbrained suggestions and doesn't seem to know exactly what to do with that
00:06:21
Speaker
Look, Eris, I mean, you do probably the only time before that is Hob agreed to let her tattoo him magically. Yeah. And then Reynard wanted to wanted her to make a Fletcher. And Eris is really Eris is not sure what world his world is, what the world is coming to right now, because it seems like everyone's down for her insane ideas.
Deciphering Threats and Moving to Safety
00:06:41
Speaker
But I mean, your work is quite, quite amazing. And I have full, full confidence. Yeah, I know.
00:06:53
Speaker
Well, you just looked a little taken aback, so... All of you have been saying yes to things lately, and that's not how it's just... Well, you know, my head has taken quite a knock here and there, it seems. Okay, but also...
00:07:19
Speaker
Will we get encased by assassins or something? Well, I definitely noticed Jason following us. We did notice they were Therani, didn't we?
00:07:34
Speaker
It seemed like somebody, I saw one maybe. Raynard was able to identify the make of the arrow as being the type that Tharoni uses. Raynard had confirmed that they were Tharoni assassins. Because all the best assassins have custom ammunition. That's branded. The Suggins gang was here. Don't tell them. Well, no, you come up on a crime scene.
00:08:03
Speaker
And you see that a guy's been assassinated real good. And it's like advertising. Yeah. This assassination brought to you by House the Ronnie. So I'm kind of the mindset at this point that Jason's got to go. What?
00:08:32
Speaker
Maris isn't a friend of ours. Maris is like a a Sawbones for the gang. Not for the clans specifically. He's an underground. Yeah, Sawbones for hire kind of thing. He's a quiet guy with a knife. He's a discreet guy with a knife. Eris sort of looks over at at him and it occurs to her that
00:09:02
Speaker
He might talk to anyone who offers him money for it.
00:09:07
Speaker
And maybe we shouldn't converse about the need to murder Jason here. That slander. Dr. Patient confidentiality. Come on now. Should we talk about this somewhere else? Yes, of course. I'm sorry. I'm still just a bit out of it still. You're absolutely right. Anyone else want some healing?
00:09:37
Speaker
No, no, no, thanks. Are you sure? I got all my tools out already. God, I hate it. What about you, new guy? He looks like Gorn. How is Gorn, actually? I mean, he was next to a box that exploded full of shrapnel, so... Oh, yeah.
00:10:03
Speaker
But he's actively bleeding because he's a sport. The bleeding is stopped for the most part. He's in pain, but not actively bleeding out. I mean, like my stuff's back at the, you know, back at the shop. But I don't know where we want to go.
00:10:32
Speaker
Cause we need to talk about this. Right. Well, if we're at your shop, you could be working on your glove while we discuss. Right. I don't mind y'all talking here if you don't want to have more else to go. We're out. We're gone. He's gone. He left. Maris left. You didn't hear? You didn't see him leave? Maris left his own shop? Yeah, Maris left.
00:10:52
Speaker
Aris, could you give us the room? I'm calling lunch. It's weird you, the GM, didn't notice that Maris had left. Yeah, Hobb says, right, do you want to just go back to your place, Aris, so you can get to work while we talk? Do you think it's likely that armed men are going to chase us there?
00:11:23
Speaker
Um. Oh boy. The line between likely and possible is thin. Yeah. I guess. Did we see what happened to Jason or the assassins? I mean, I'll be fine. The place is booby trapped anyway. It'll be okay. Hub remembers that so he doesn't just drop by Aeris's place.
00:11:52
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's probably it's probably all right. I should, you know, when we get there, I should go in and check with all of for we bring right now. I appreciate what you are. Yes. What? Hey, what do you require of me? Oh, I look at the book sign on the asset. Yeah, who who who did see Milo was just Milo file. Okay.
00:12:26
Speaker
We would need to, if you're still after that information, it's in my shop, which we would need to return to. Well, I have a question for you. I have a question for you, go on. Oh, why not? Can you read this?
00:12:47
Speaker
that's my file yes that's mine okay yes we don't need to go back to your shop can you can you translate please we thought your shop might like catch fire when the looters took over and also someone fired a cannon inside it which is yes that stupid ghost here give it to me it seemed like it might be that none of it would be there when we got back so
00:13:15
Speaker
It's kind of what we do when we're looking for something and then there's danger all around, we just take all of it.
Decoding the Cipher and Unveiling Secrets
00:13:22
Speaker
And again, I mean I think like this turned out pretty well because we've got it.
00:13:31
Speaker
and we might not otherwise. So the wrinkle with the carrion file is all of my files are written in primordial since most people can't read them. But the carrion file, yes, but the carrion file was already ciphered and I translated the cipher into primordial. So I can read the cipher, but I don't know what the message is. We need somebody to decrypt the cipher as it were.
00:14:02
Speaker
If only we had someone who was a member of a family of spies with us. It's a real shame. That would be so very useful. Milo Elbow's Raynard. I feel like we're talking to somebody here. Oh. Oh, if only. Harb rends his garments and screams to the heavens.
00:14:31
Speaker
was a member of some sort of family of spies. I mean, I feel like the X before that member needs to be emphasized for a second. It's still biologically a member of the family. I think Raynard says something like. Like.
00:14:57
Speaker
Who exactly do you think I don't have a bridge burned with? No, like you. You. Me? You think I can read that? Does you never have to decipher anything? To my knowledge, I don't know primordial. No, you can translate decipher, but it's just in a code and we just need to decode it.
00:15:22
Speaker
Oh, well, that sounds like a thief's job, so sure. Roy? I need you to look at your character sheet and see how many yellows you have. And decipher? No. What skill would that be? Is it skullduggery? Exactly. My confusion. Thank you.
00:15:46
Speaker
Um, I'm looking real quick to see which makes the most sense from the list in the world. See, I thought I thought maybe underworld tube. Brawl. They don't use brawl.
00:16:09
Speaker
Yeah, if you need somebody to fight the cypher, I'm your boy. Okay, it's Eberron. It could be a living spell. Yeah, you know, you know. You must defeat the cypher. Okay, so...
00:16:26
Speaker
Because you all don't have any kind of, because you're just trying to decrypt this cipher blind, as it were, it's gonna be a very difficult check, but Skullduggery would be the skill that I would go with. Reynard, due to your background, you would get some boost die, since you probably have history with such things. But without finding somebody that could potentially have a reference for the cipher,
00:16:56
Speaker
It's going to be a very difficult check. So if that makes sense. So do you want to try that? Sure. So are we, are we doing that here at Maris's? Or are we going somewhere? We should be heading back. Maris did not leave his own shop. Stop it.
00:17:24
Speaker
I think we should go. He's quietly working in a corner. He's not bothering you all, but he's here. We say it often enough, it'll become true. That's how manifesting works. That's right. Let's head back to Aerys' workshop, and maybe Reynard can work on it on the way. Maris, once again, your work amazes me. Thank you, my friend. Always happy to help. Come back if you need anything.
00:17:52
Speaker
He didn't do anything. Yeah, I did. I woke him up and healed him. What are you talking about, Eris? I brought him back from the brink, like I do.
00:18:05
Speaker
Oh, we got to find a new guy. No, we can't. You've all been coming to him for so long. We've established. Yeah, but then he started talking to us. And he went from here to here. And I think the listener can guess what I did with my hands. Which is the opposite of my hands. Yeah, Randy. Randy loves it. Everybody aboard. I'll head back to Arisa's shop.
00:18:36
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Before we straight dogs always on the streets. Y'all get out of here. Marist locks up the shop and falls in line with everyone.
00:18:57
Speaker
No, not you. Not you. No. So we're all going to your workshop. No. Oh, I misread the room. Yes. Sorry, Jeff, to bother you with my role playing. I'll knock it off. I'm smiling. As we're
00:19:20
Speaker
approaching. Hop following behind. Yes. For the record, it's coming with us. Eris stops Tasha and stares and grins.
Workshop Upgrades and Planning Next Moves
00:19:32
Speaker
They finish it. And you can see that on the garage door and across the front wall of the building,
00:19:43
Speaker
is a very street art style mural proclaiming the place to be the cauldron. Nice. And she brings, brings Tasha up but doesn't bring Tasha into the garage. She turns with her, I said, um, wait, wait here, because I didn't all who doesn't really know what coming and she climbs off of the
00:20:13
Speaker
the skiff and runs in. Is Olive present? Is Olive here? Yeah, Olive's got, she's in her rig and she's working on, still on the loft that you all were working on when... Rainer was so rudely interrupted. Eris goes over. So... Oh, hey, Eris. Hey. What's up?
00:20:43
Speaker
my day job followed me home okay uh we need to decrypt something and okay um so they're all out there and i just i hadn't brought what what i do home
00:21:07
Speaker
here uh before and i mean they've come by it's not it's not that big right but like we're doing a job this right and it's it's different and like someone's trying to kill milo and um
00:21:24
Speaker
we've got this triton guy who runs an antique shop and there's some kind of cipher in primordial and just it's it's it's a lot gorn uh metaphysically appreciates your use of the present tense when runs a antique shops rather than ran it's it's still his it's still full of antiques well
00:21:52
Speaker
Presumably some things were too hard to carry off. It's a big claw-footed tub that no one's ever going to buy.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yes, Jeff, were you saying you want to say something? I do want to say something. I'm tired of this. The floor is yours. No, I was trying to wait and make sure that it was the right timing. Essentially, Hob would, especially after heiress expressed the concern, during this conversation with him, Hob is circling, looking, checking for followers and stuff. I mean, we can deal with that at the appropriate time, but since I got asked, there you go.
00:22:31
Speaker
Um, also I broke this again and so, uh, I need to fix it. And yes. Okay. Well, yeah, it's just as much your place as my nearest. So yeah, I appreciate you giving me the heads up, but, um, I'll just, if you need me, let me know. Otherwise I'll continue working on the loft. Okay.
00:22:55
Speaker
and Eris walks back out.
Magical Changes and Personal Reflections
00:22:59
Speaker
Wait, did you say somebody's trying to kill Milo? Yes. Why?
00:23:09
Speaker
I mean I think it's because House Therani seems to have a contract out on him and also there's this talk that works with us called Jason who maybe is trying to kill him or maybe hired as Therani or maybe is House Therani.
00:23:33
Speaker
And also, the job we're on is pretty awful. And it's we might have to. We might have to turn on our employers and. It's a lot. I said it was a lot. It's been it's been a day. It sounds like it.
00:23:58
Speaker
Okay. Well, yeah, you should probably get them inside before somebody sees Milo. Yeah. Um, hub, you can give me a perception check, uh, to, to keep an eye out with a, uh, two purple difficulty.
00:24:15
Speaker
Okay. Uh, can I have a boost die because I want one? I couldn't even get a reason. I decided to ask. As it was coming out, I was like, nah, I got nothing. All right, here we go. Because I'm unencumbered by walls on my motorcycle. I got a full 360 baby. All right, I'm rolling. Okay. I have an advantage. Um,
00:24:43
Speaker
Someone notices, but not bad guys. You could pass a boost to the next checkmate. Yeah, that's what I figured I was probably gonna do.
00:24:55
Speaker
Or I was going to say Hobbs morale is high because some people see him drive by on a sick new ride and are very impressed. Um, Hobbs not interested in such things. Um, you say that at first. Next thing you know, you're wearing a leather jacket and shades, but that is, that I can guarantee you won't happen. Rayna, did you have any luck on that on the way over motorcycle driving gloves though? I'm sorry. Say that again. Rayna, did you have any luck on that on the way over?
00:25:28
Speaker
Well, I haven't tried. What were you looking at?
00:25:34
Speaker
Well, I was looking at this, but I didn't try. Oh, Raynard, sometimes I wish you were drinking again. Oh, Jesus. Whoa. OK. So we all- For the extent of a raging alcoholic, you know, but occasionally. You know, I'm just gonna- I'm proud of you, Raynard. I don't know.
00:26:06
Speaker
Okay, so you all head into the cauldron as it has been dubbed. And don't touch anything. At all. I was hoping for a spot of tea on tables. Or in that pile over there. Or hanging on the walls.
00:26:32
Speaker
Hob stands stuck still in the middle of the room. It's just like some of it's fragile and some of it's dangerous and some of it might explode. And at least some of it might teleport you halfway across the city. Hi, everyone. Nice. Nice to see you again. Hi in her rig. Oh, she make it out. Yeah, she's working. On a loft living area.
00:27:00
Speaker
Eris looks around and finds a horizontal surface and like shoves a bunch of things untidly to one side. You can work on it here. Um, yeah, on the, on the right over, we'll say Gorn was translating it, uh, into common for Reynard.
Uncovering Axrian's Background and Technology
00:27:20
Speaker
So, um, so that way Reynard can do it once they get here. So, um, Trevor. Mm-hmm.
00:27:29
Speaker
skullduggery check with two boost because you're trying to decode this blind it is going to be three red one purple good lord i said it would be very difficult with two blue is that what you said yeah
00:27:53
Speaker
Well, we've got all these story points. So let's use a story point. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And make my green a yellow. Yep. And then that's about all I can do. OK. So here we go. To success. Yeah. To threat. OK. So. Turns out I'm threateningly good.
00:28:30
Speaker
So, as you're decoding this, you learn some information, which was the end goal. So, you learn the name of the carrion, first name Axrian, A-X-R-I-A-N, last name Al-Swa,
00:28:55
Speaker
A-L-S-O-I-S. A-X-R-E. A-X-R-E and a sua. What? A sua or al sua? Al sua. A-L-S-O-I-S. Al sua. Al sua. Interesting. Interesting.
00:29:24
Speaker
So that's the primary bit of information that you learn. Basically, this is a profile on the carrion with some notable bits of information. Basically, Axre and Al-Swa is an Assamar, a male Assamar.
00:29:49
Speaker
who is a veteran of the last war for Thrain. According to the profile, he's a former knight of the Silver Flame, was his previous life. But after the war,
00:30:10
Speaker
Um, after the fighting ceased, uh, he has made his reputation with a number of high risk unauthorized, uh, bounties like outside of the dragon mark jurisdiction. Um, so just kind of a soldier for hire kind of thing. And it makes the houses really agitated, uh, but it's considered highly dangerous. There's a reason nobody has apprehended him yet.
00:30:36
Speaker
known primarily for his use lately of cutting edge, like a head of Caneth, magical implementation technology. Yeah.
00:30:53
Speaker
that allows him for quick transportation and heavy firepower during jobs. So rather than being bound to a vehicle of some kind, he has a personal transportation apparatus that allows him to maneuver about the city of towers without need for a vehicle. Is it described?
00:31:16
Speaker
Um, there's not a hard description. Um, I mean, it is described as bird-like, so wings are involved. So, um, but yeah, um, that is the information that you have. You have a name, you have a reputation, as it were. Um, so you can, um,
00:31:43
Speaker
You can have any of us. Is there, is there like an underworld check to know if we've heard anything about. You can certainly make an underworld check if you want. Um, I don't want, I just wanted to know if that was a, I would give it a shot. Okay. It's going to be three purple. Um.
00:32:06
Speaker
and I'll flip a story point to upgrade one of those to a red, so one red, two poipole. And Raynard used the boost that I got, yes, yes. Raynard did not, because I gave him two boosts for his background, so you can actually have that boost that is still not there. Okay. This is not important enough to me to flip a story point. Do you guys think I should just see what else I might know about Akshree and Althwaul?
00:32:32
Speaker
I mean, I will say this is to see what you know, but you all have a ton of contacts in the underworld that you can go to to find out information. Let's just see what we know, Roland. Hobbs never heard of him. Two failures, one advantage. Yeah, this guy has apparently stayed under the radar pretty effectively. You've heard, like,
00:32:56
Speaker
Um, I mean, obviously the carrying you've heard of cause you're on a job going after him. Uh, the one advantage, um, I will say that, um, you have found out just through being a member of the clan and like those, those parties that you have been forced to go to in the past, um, where like the, the, the corporate get togethers, uh, cause you know, it injured department relations are so important in a, in a thriving, uh, corporation.
00:33:24
Speaker
or operation as it were. Anyway, you've heard from Grum through interacting with him down in the cogs and things like that, but then also at these parties that Lady Briar, the head of the Delvers that is Grum's new boss, has been making
00:33:48
Speaker
like tons of connections in the underworld, in the underworld of Sharn. Like she's been making moves to like know people and stuff like that. So she might be a good asset to go to in terms of not only finding out who this person is, but who this person knows, if that makes sense. So. I have a pitch that I'd like to offer. I have a talent.
00:34:16
Speaker
called Talk Shop by which I can count mechanics as charm when I'm talking to another gearhead. Can I give you a story point and apply that to an underworld check and make a roll of underworld with my mechanics ranks, or I guess it would be count mechanics as that,
00:34:44
Speaker
to see if I've heard anything about, I mean, this dude's traveling around in a wingsuit. That's gotta be something that me and Olive and other gear heads that Eris knows have maybe heard something of. Okay, yeah. Just go ahead and leave the story points alone and just roll the same pool as Hob. The pool was one red, two purple. I am not inventing.
00:35:13
Speaker
You are not. Right. No, I was, I have to adjust my pool because it's. That's deception because you're inventing the truth. Ah. Listen, Jeff. Nobody's forcing me here. Okay. You know, that's right. Two success. Two advantage.
00:35:39
Speaker
this would be specifically about the the apparatus that he's if i've heard anything on that angle or know anything about that where it might have come from or something i don't know okay you have learned eris you you heard through the grapevine through the other gear heads and things like that um that the the wingsuit specifically was developed by some new weapon smuggling operation in town that's not
00:36:05
Speaker
Attached to a house and more importantly not attached to the plan to desk to the tyrants new player been in town for I mean, they're not brand new but They're brand new in the sense. They're unaffiliated. Yes, and Their their operations have picked up recently. Did you call them a weapons smuggler or weapons manufacturer? Uh, you know them as a weapon smuggling operation that is bringing stuff into the city whether or not they are
00:36:33
Speaker
creating stuff offsite and then smuggling them in of their own. But. Do I know anything or have I heard rumor of anything about because like.
00:36:49
Speaker
Eris's thought probably and definitely Philip's thought is some guys flying around with a wingsuit. Where are you getting that? Or is this like scavenged from old can of forges in the morn land or something like that? Is that the rumor or is it just no one has any idea where they're getting this stuff?
00:37:04
Speaker
Nobody has any idea where they're getting this stuff. It's unlike what anybody has seen. Do I have a name for that organization? You know where things have been spotted. And this is the advantage.
00:37:23
Speaker
You've heard that there's been a series of pickups and things like that from a tower in Sharn. You've heard reference to both the fourth floor terrace of this tower and the side street underground entrances, two places to go for pickups from this organization. The tower itself, the location, let me get that for you real quick. It's located in the upper central plateau.
00:37:54
Speaker
Um, in a district appropriately called highest towers. So it's one of the towers, uh, in a highest towers. Okay. Upper central plateau highest towers. That's not the floaty section, right? No, that's skyway. Okay. Uh, so highest hours is where like the seat of Sean's government is and stuff. So it's like interesting the center of the city.
00:38:21
Speaker
Uh, and it is a fourth floor terrace or an underground side street entrance underground size. Those are the two places that you've heard. Like if you're going for a pickup there, that's the drop off spot. Okay. But nobody knows.
00:38:40
Speaker
Who runs it? Nobody knows who's behind the operation, that kind of stuff, so. Well, Eris has lost all interest in our job. Yep. Just so that everyone knows. So, yeah. While this is going on, the decrypting and kind of talking about next steps, Olive approaches Milo, taking a break from her work and just kind of quietly
Support Against Threats and Healing Injuries
00:39:08
Speaker
like wiping her hands down, she's out of the harness. It's clear that she's been working all morning. Milo, is everything okay? Eris was telling me some things that seem concerning. Well, besides my hand being almost burnt to a crisp and someone trying to kill me, I guess I'm doing okay.
00:39:38
Speaker
It's a good, that's an admirable perspective, Milo. Eris has a little tape and she's measuring Milo's hand. And then walks by. Well, you know that, I mean, Eris was telling me that it's House Therani that's after you? Yeah, so it would appear.
00:40:04
Speaker
I mean, I, I'm not, I'm not in the best of standings right now, but if I have connections in one of the houses, if you need any help and I can do anything, let me, let me know. Cause I, I have friends in house Kenneth that could apply pressure, inter house politics, all that kind of stuff to try and figure out what's going on.
00:40:33
Speaker
Well, I, I believe I know what's going on. I believe that, that a certain person in our organization is hired someone to try to kill me because I believe he had something to do with killing my wife. Who am I? I'm also at this point highly concerned about. Very understandable. Um.
00:41:03
Speaker
Well, as you know, the houses contract with each other. And so if the right person within house Kenneth says to house Thrawny, we hear that there's a contract that we don't like. And if that contract stays on your books, then that will strain relations between us. I might be able to get somebody to lift the contract on you is what I'm trying to say. I can't guarantee anything, but if you want me to try,
00:41:31
Speaker
Well, I would. I don't wish to die. At least not yet. I have a few more years left, I hope. But, I mean, if that's something you wouldn't mind doing, I would, sure. I mean, why not? I would definitely owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
00:41:52
Speaker
I appreciate that. Just so you know exactly, I will have to give my contacts in house, Kenneth, your name and station. They'll need to know information to be able to reference the contract. I don't want to say put you on Kenneth's radar, but they would be excising power on your behalf, as it were.
00:42:17
Speaker
Yeah, I just, I you may think that I owe you a great favor, but I may get with my contacts and it the inverse may become where if
00:42:28
Speaker
Your friend Milo wants this, then we need something in return. So I will do what I can and come to you if any such request is a stipulation of my contact's assistance. But I just wanted to offer to help, because it sounds awful what's happening to you, what's happened to you. And so I just want to help any way I can. But I want you to know what
00:42:57
Speaker
that would entail. Not of my own desire, but... Right, yes. They would want, obviously at some point, possibly want something in return. That's understandable. Let me think on it a bit. Okay. If that's all right. Standing offer. Yes, absolutely. Thank you very much.
00:43:23
Speaker
Um, okay. So, um, you all have this smuggling operation. You have lady Briar. Um, you have a name that you could just go ask around about. Um, what's, what's the play? Um, just that I have a picture of exactly what the status is. What, what is the status of Milo's hand? Randy is the, is the critical injury.
00:43:54
Speaker
Like what, what is the critical injury doing to you? There's not any danger of you becoming more injured right now. Uh, not that I know of. I just know that. Eris is an alchemist as well. She could maybe make something to like stop you from bleeding or something more, but. Yeah. I know that as mechanically it's affecting my checks. Everything's a plus one difficulty, I believe. Okay. And two strain or maneuver.
00:44:19
Speaker
two strain per maneuver. Yes. That's a separate. That's a separate one. That's a separate one. I think so. Yeah. We should try to do something about that one. Only you were just at the doctor. Eris, I don't know what caused that injury, but Eris notices it while she's taking sketches of Milo's hand shape.
00:44:42
Speaker
which is ideally I would do a cast of this, but I think it would hurt just a whole lot, so I won't do that. Reynard, fix him. Yes, because they've all gone so well. I will try. Okay. The difficulty is going to be...
00:45:07
Speaker
Cause yeah, we need to, that maneuver thing is going to get, maneuver is punishing. Um, it's going to be a hard difficulty, um, to heal the critical injury, um, against your verse skill. So three purple, um, and you could flip a story point if you want to.
00:45:34
Speaker
I think I will. Yeah. OK. OK, here we go. One success, two threats. So with those threats, threat. So, yeah, Milo, pick one of the critical injuries that you're suffering from, and now it is healed.
00:46:02
Speaker
We're going to go with the two strain, I think is probably best at this point. The one where you lost your free maneuver every turn. Um, I approve of getting rid of the one that's going to knock you unconscious. Um, okay. And then the threat. One of his fingers is just shorter now.
00:46:34
Speaker
Reynard, it seems to... Thank you, Reynard. You've done it. Suffer three strain, Reynard. In addition to the two strain for casting a spell. So five strain total. The threat is yet another one of our mortal enemies has been possessed. The door is kicked in. It's whoever's in the ram.
00:47:06
Speaker
I do wish you would say something, dear. I'm worried about you. Well, don't call me that.
00:47:19
Speaker
That's weird. I've been trying to communicate with Kylie and she's not responded at all. I mean, she typically only responds on her own anyway, but when I hurt my hand with the fire, I heard a scream in my head and I'm just concerned about her.
00:47:53
Speaker
Um, anyone standing nearby has mere seconds to intervene. I mean, I don't know how to. Well, then it sounds like Eris is going to express her thoughts. Maybe, you know, maybe a better now, maybe it
00:48:24
Speaker
jarred you back to, you know, not. Oh, I see. You're concerned that I never really heard Kylie and that it's just kind of been
00:48:52
Speaker
uh my imagination or some things but i just no i know i know it was i'd be inside you know but how did i just a common barkeep who for some reason gets a knock on the head all of a sudden has magic that he has no idea how to control and is trying to get better at
00:49:19
Speaker
and it's always there and you were in danger and so it's it's like you know that's like they say happens with dragon marks is like it's there and then you get into horrible danger and it manifests or something like that so like it was innate yeah but it's always added and then but then how do you do catalyst but she gives me answers to things i have absolutely no earthly idea about except maybe you do and you just
00:49:50
Speaker
Remember the time when you were trying to crack a safe, I believe, and you were having difficulty? And I asked Kylie, and she said that it was like in giant and it was backwards and you had to go from the other side. There's no way in the world I would have ever done that. You're really smart. Maybe it just occurred to you. No, I was not really smart until after the fire.
00:50:19
Speaker
Well, I don't think that's true. They trusted you with accounts, and as much as Satan is, you know, obviously evil, he's not stupid, and he's not going to put a stupid person in charge of keeping books. Well, that was mostly Kylie taking care of that after I collected. Kylie took care of the books. Still don't think he's going to trust a stupid person with the money.
00:50:46
Speaker
Think at this point Gordon's like can I go? I think I think I think hub hub who has been still he's been standing in the room just kind of not actually scared He's gonna touch anything, but like he's like, all right fine. Whatever. I'm comfortable standing here with my arms crossed Though you definitely do see a wreck of those cylinders that launched you across the yeah across the city. Yeah
00:51:10
Speaker
Oh, he believes you. It's just, it's, it's. I think he says, he says, you know, Milo, regardless of, of how this magic came to be in you, I got,
00:51:30
Speaker
no reason to believe you're wrong about hearing Kylie. I've got no reason to believe Eris is wrong about it being self-manifested, but what's important is the magic is a fact of your life now. And much the same way, that dragon-marked individual has to learn to reconcile their new life. That is something that needs to start happening, Milo. Yeah, so maybe get some control over it.
00:51:59
Speaker
Right, Erez, I got this one. I've been trying. I've been trying to get control over it. And, Hob, you knew me before. Before the fire, you knew me. And now, you know that I'm obviously much more intelligent than I was before. It has to be blatantly obvious to you. Well, yeah, same size.
00:52:27
Speaker
I would think so. I mean, based on Randy's backstory and the way he's talked about it, like, yes, that's demonstrably true. Like the magic thing, obviously, but like you're telling me that Hobb would notice that Milo used to be dumber. Yes, not like dumb, but not nearly as intelligent as he was after the fire.
00:52:54
Speaker
Okay, I guess Hobb says something to the effect of, Milo, there is no denying that you're a different man since the fire. I guess I've chalked it up to you being more cautious, contemplative. The magic thing, look, I can only vouch for the fact that I've never seen you do it before.
00:53:18
Speaker
whether it's stemmed from this or was activated by this, I believe, to be irrelevant to the fact that it is. And I don't know, Hobbs not gonna say anything about, and yes, you're a lot smarter than you used to be. He's not gonna play that. He's just gonna say, you're a different man than you were before the fire. There's no denying that. Now, I know
00:53:49
Speaker
Regardless of it's you, or it's Kylie, or it's something else, I know that hearing Kylie's voice brought you great comfort, knowing that there's a possibility that some part of her is still out there, and for that I am sorry if it is gone. However... I heard such a scream of agony and pain.
00:54:14
Speaker
And I just wonder if my magic has affected her. Sometimes she's a conter. I don't know. I'm confused. Maybe Eris is right. Maybe it's all in my head. I don't know. But regardless, I mean, I don't know. Let's just get on with our job. But really, are your hands the same size?
00:54:45
Speaker
As far as I know, yes, look, see? I can take a cast to the other end, if it's the same size, and just flip it, and then it'll... I can work on the gauntlet that way. She starts measuring the other hand. So am I needed anymore, or am I free to go?
00:55:13
Speaker
Is he needed anymore? I genuinely don't know. I guess not. We have the file and Axrien is the person we're after. Yeah. Right. Yeah. We're supposed to test the one they want us to apprehend because he's still drugs. Gorn was our lead. I can't think of why we need Gorn anymore.
00:55:38
Speaker
I mean, how far away did we fly him from his home? Should we offer him a ride back or some silver to take? I was not talking. That was definitely not Hob asking Eris. Yeah, Hob turns to Eris for sticky social grace situations. We would be on the run from every nation in Eberron. If that were okay.
00:56:07
Speaker
Legit, do I need to give Gorn, Gorn, Hob will give Gorn like, whatever it costs to take a cab back across the city. Well, it actually costs like a couple silver. Well, that's what Hob's gonna give him. We learned, we learned that we were getting scammed all of, all of. Because he's not with us, so he'll pay the standard fee. I think Hob says, oh, right, no. Listen, I don't know how to tell you this. There's not a lot of,
00:56:35
Speaker
shop for you to go back to, one of your spectral pals. I just blasted a hole right through the front of it. Were you still there for that? I don't remember. I was just outside the door when the front of the shop exploded, so yes. Right. Right, and then of course we saved your files. And then you. Yes. I appreciate that. I'm probably going to go by my shop, get some effects, and then get out of Shawn, so.
00:57:03
Speaker
It has been lovely knowing you all. I've heard Roed's great this time of year. I will probably at least go through that, so thank you. That's it. Gorn. Gives you all a nod. Gorn out. That's a wrap on Gorn, everyone.
00:57:32
Speaker
Aris does take a few minutes to fix her gauntlet, which is just a matter of expending a dragon shard, which I have deducted from my accounts. So that's taken care of. And yeah, I mean, Aris actually doing some sort of cybernetic thing for Milo is going to take time. So that is not feasible in this particular
Dealing with Potential Enemies
00:57:58
Speaker
moment. That's going to take downtime.
00:57:59
Speaker
Hob is recognizing that, based on everything they've heard or learned in the last bit of time, that his mission is to keep Aeris focused on not dying instead of trying to get the contraption. So... Oh, sure. For a motorcycle, it's fun. Yeah.
00:58:25
Speaker
I think Hobb suggests, I'll tell you guys this, Hobb is very interested in talking to Jason now, but probably needs to focus on the job we've been paid for first. But if Jason's tailing us, we could potentially ambush him. If Jason continues to tail us and is noticed again, Hobb will, if we're not in the middle of a fight, Hobb will stop forward progress to have a chat with Jason, yes.
00:58:54
Speaker
Just putting that out there for the world to know. Oh, man. I think I was the person to talk to Jason. Well, Milo has expressed the intent to kill Jason, so. Yeah. So you know about the weapons smuggling operation where Axtrin got his gear allegedly?
00:59:21
Speaker
You have a name that you could just go out on the street and ask around about or you can go to Lady Briar who has some connections and could probably get you on a path as well. Is Raynard the only person right now who doesn't actually want a specific person killed? Probably. I don't want a specific person killed. I'm willing to kill most people.
00:59:47
Speaker
Oh, well, Raynard, too. That's all that is. I just feel like I'm the only one without a vendetta. I have a need to speak with Jason. Raynard has an outstanding order to have a human delivered to him, so Raynard's got that going. Oh, that's true. We haven't touched on that in a while, so I forgot about him. I'd forgotten about that, too. But now at least you know that I have not forgotten about it. Perfect.
01:00:17
Speaker
Eris has a list that people get regularly added to, but most of them are minor offenses and she forgets about it. Like it's, it's really just Vigo who stays on the list. Okay. Okay. So what's the plan? Um, okay. Uh, well, the labor lady Briar seemed really cool. Um,
01:00:46
Speaker
she did but so i guess do we want to talk to her or do we want to well i mean if we don't want to talk to the house the house if we don't want to talk to the clan because of the Jason of it all um i did i have heard about this place in highest towers
01:01:12
Speaker
then it sounds like this guy's contraption might be coming from. We could maybe find out something about him there by investigating his source. I'm not concerned about working with the clan right now, the Jason of it all at least, because I mean, we're
01:01:41
Speaker
Why is this so funny to me? The Jason of it all. Hob says the something of it all a lot. This one, you've landed comedic gold with Reynard. Because I think Jason means something else in Elvish. No, I'm saying that because
01:02:11
Speaker
I fully lost my train of thought. Oh, Hob's not concerned about going to Lady Briar. And I think we're more likely, now that we've got a name, if the product was made for criminal enterprise, I think we're more likely to get somewhere with a name to Lady Briar than, hey, do you know who you made this contraption for? Well, no, because they didn't give us their name.
01:02:42
Speaker
Yeah, no, that makes sense. I just... I don't know... where in the clan all this stuff that's happening is coming from anymore, so... Right, right. But, yeah, I mean, that's probably our... I mean, that's certainly our easiest lead, is to talk to Lady Briar. Who has rapport with Lady Briar? I can't remember who all spoke with her.
01:03:11
Speaker
Um, she spoke with Milo and Raynard, I believe she did not like Raynard. Yes, Raynard. I remember her not liking Raynard.
Closing Thoughts and Engagement Call
01:03:21
Speaker
Well, and didn't she dislike Randy at first till she realized he wasn't actually a member of the family? Yeah, she was distrustful of Milo until she learned his last name. Yeah, she doesn't like Boromar's.
01:03:34
Speaker
Yeah, I'm pro. I'm pro. Let's go. All right. All right. So we go. We talked to lady Briar. You know, we keep playing up the, you know, we hear about you getting punched in the face by, or face slammed by Tommy Callaway and blah, blah, blah. And yeah, yeah. We see, we see, we can give her.
01:03:57
Speaker
Okay. Have you taken the speeder or you want to leave it here so we can fix it up? This would be certainly a safe place to leave it, right? There's a secure garage and everything. It's a very secure garage. That makes sense. Let's leave it here for now. Very secure. I wasn't able to leave the whole time you all were gone.
01:04:21
Speaker
That is not canon. Yeah, and Hob puts on his mental to-do list, speak with Savia about a parking spot. Or honestly, or Ulfin, either way. Yeah. Okay. Pile aboard Tasha and head, I don't remember where Lady Briar. Down. The Delvers are based in the Cogs, so. That's right. All right, and that's where we will leave this episode.
01:04:51
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be part of the conversation surrounding this episode, you can head on over to our Discord, the link to which you can find on all of our socials, at the Geek Pantheon, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook group, the Geek Pantheon, or the Eberron Renewed Facebook page as well. We have a YouTube channel, youtube.com, slash the Geek Pantheon, that has another actual play over there, Kyber Scharz GMed by Philip, and I am a player on that show.
01:05:16
Speaker
And I also do DMing tips and book reviews and stuff like that on the channel as well. And we have a Patreon, patreon.com slash the geek pantheon. If you want to financially support our shenanigans and various endeavors, then that is the place to do it. Um, and we are very thankful for all of our wonderful patrons over there. Uh, thank you all so much for listening. I have been your game master, Eric. I'm Phillip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy.
01:05:44
Speaker
I'm Jeff, and we'll see you later.