Transcript
Speaker: Let's Play Pretend is an explicit podcast with subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners.
Speaker: Content warnings are found in the description of every episode.
Speaker: We here at Let's Play Pretend take mental health very seriously.
Speaker: If you or someone that you know is suffering from any mental health issues, please...
Speaker: reach out.
Speaker: It's as simple as picking up your telephone and dialing 988 to reach a suicide prevention hotline.
Speaker: Or if you're the kind of person like me that does not like to talk on the phone, text 988.
Speaker: There is somebody there 24-7.
Speaker: And if you don't want to reach out to a stranger, you have friends and family that are always there for you.
Speaker: Please, if you are suffering from any of these, reach out.
Speaker: You matter.
Speaker: Cody's laughing, so it's good.
Speaker: Let's play pretend Let's play pretend Let's play pretend Yeah!
Speaker: Hello everybody and welcome back to Let's Play Pretend.
Speaker: I am Jordan Derringer, your GM DM host, keeper and host.
Speaker: And I already said host.
Speaker: Hmm.
Speaker: Maybe one of these days I'll get the intro right, but that's okay because today with me as always, I have Nick Barnett.
Speaker: Ned Dalaran.
Speaker: And I have Breck Black.
Speaker: Ryan Winchester.
Speaker: And I got Matt Check.
Speaker: Arthur Gooseberg.
Speaker: And I have my lovely wife, Melanie Derringer.
Speaker: Hi, I'm playing Samantha.
Speaker: And real quick, I just have some news to share with everybody.
Speaker: I'm pregnant.
Speaker: Oh, congratulations.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Matt, mom and dad don't know yet.
Speaker: Yes, Samantha's not pregnant, Matt.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: So don't tell my dad.
Speaker: But yes, I'm going to run over right now.
Speaker: I will come after you so fast.
Speaker: So needless to say, that's why we have to record this one a couple days late.
Speaker: She was she was pregnant sick.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So.
Speaker: But yeah, now you're all in the know.
Speaker: Well, congratulations.
Speaker: Thanks.
Speaker: I hope Jordan gets the sympathy sick.
Speaker: I sure the fuck hope so, because this sucks.
Speaker: Dude, I get sympathy sick all the time.
Speaker: Like, all the time.
Speaker: Melanie gets so mad about it, because she's like, why can't I ever just be sick without you getting sick?
Speaker: And I'm like, I don't know.
Speaker: It just happens.
Speaker: It does get rather annoying, because he gets a man sick, and I know all four of you know what that means, because y'all take your sickness to another level and be babies about it.
Speaker: I'm sorry.
Speaker: Hang on.
Speaker: I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker: I'm just saying, you can ask Christine.
Speaker: She's still in the room for once while we're doing this.
Speaker: I don't do the man flu thing.
Speaker: I genuinely try to go to work even when I'm almost about to feel like I'm puking.
Speaker: So I'm not in that kid's tears.
Speaker: So if we're blasting each other here on a podcast format, Melanie.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Do you really want to pull the man flu thing when you're the one who gets the slightest sniffles and you're in bed literally all day?
Speaker: I need to know if Nick pulls the man flu thing, Christine.
Speaker: That's what I thought.
Speaker: She says I do, apparently.
Speaker: Ha ha!
Speaker: I don't think I do.
Speaker: I go to work when I'm sick.
Speaker: And that is not true, Jordan, because I go to work sick all the fucking time.
Speaker: Bullshit.
Speaker: Anywho.
Speaker: Uh-huh.
Speaker: You fucking asshole.
Speaker: Then again, you come home and take a COVID test, too.
Speaker: I did.
Speaker: Hey, better safe than sorry, right?
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: So are we going to do your 15 seconds again?
Speaker: No, that was... I want this intro.
Speaker: Fair enough.
Speaker: This is the intro.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: This is it.
Speaker: This is genuine.
Speaker: So, last week, you guys made it through about half a day.
Speaker: You were all off doing your own thing.
Speaker: It was about two days after you had heard the devastating news about Ashley's brother, Chris.
Speaker: And we opened the scene on Samantha riding her horse Anubis through the woods.
Speaker: Did not notice that a rainstorm was coming in.
Speaker: That wasn't fun.
Speaker: Good job.
Speaker: Everyone was just kind of doing their own thing.
Speaker: Arthur, you got a mystery package from your quote unquote biggest fan that had.
Speaker: Do you remember what it had in it?
Speaker: Oh, it had a hoodie with my logo on it.
Speaker: My podcast.
Speaker: It did indeed.
Speaker: They're out there.
Speaker: They're out there.
Speaker: I thought it was a YouTube channel.
Speaker: A YouTube channel, podcast.
Speaker: It's all on YouTube.
Speaker: Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, our podcast is going to be uploaded to YouTube as well.
Speaker: So YouTube's a platform for everything.
Speaker: My cat's trying to be part of the episode.
Speaker: So Arthur was working on his channel.
Speaker: Samantha was off riding her horse.
Speaker: Brian was out at the junkyard, his normal hangout place, when he noticed that the storm was coming in.
Speaker: And Ned, you were out driving with your dad.
Speaker: And before we even start, I want you to roll a human for me.
Speaker: What the hell is a human?
Speaker: Human intelligence.
Speaker: Oh, okay.
Speaker: It's one of your stats in the middle column, sixth one down.
Speaker: 14 on a 40.
Speaker: Something isn't quite right with your dad.
Speaker: You noticed that it was weird when you guys were driving.
Speaker: Something's just not quite right with him.
Speaker: He's not acting like himself.
Speaker: No, he's being nice.
Speaker: Yeah, it's weird.
Speaker: But anyway, you guys went back home and Ryan was the first to really remember or to really realize you guys hadn't heard from Ashley at all in the last couple of days.
Speaker: She told you about her brother.
Speaker: You guys went through all that and then complete radio silence.
Speaker: So you went and you searched around her house.
Speaker: There was no sign of her, no sign of her parents.
Speaker: Everyone was gone.
Speaker: And it wasn't like... The house, for all intents and purposes, seemed like it should be lived in, but nobody was there.
Speaker: The mail had been built up for a couple days.
Speaker: Other than that, nothing was amiss.
Speaker: It's because Ashley killed her parents.
Speaker: We all know it.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: We'll see.
Speaker: We'll see what happens.
Speaker: And Samantha found a piece of paper up on Ashley's bed.
Speaker: Samantha, do you remember what that piece of paper was?
Speaker: It was a list of ingredients or things, and I remember vividly that there was fresh blood on the list.
Speaker: Words fresh blood, not actual fresh blood.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Fresh blood.
Speaker: And Arthur, do you remember what conclusion you jumped to?
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: It was a sacrifice.
Speaker: It was some sort of ritual sacrifice.
Speaker: For what purpose?
Speaker: For a summoning ritual.
Speaker: You had jumped to the conclusion that she was trying to contact her.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Contact her dead brother.
Speaker: And I believe it was Ned who came to the conclusion of where she actually was.
Speaker: Yeah, that is correct.
Speaker: So you guys rushed off to the treehouse and nobody decided to roll a search check, which I thought was kind of weird, but you guys missed something big there, but it's okay.
Speaker: It'll come into play here in a second.
Speaker: You went up into the treehouse and you found Ashley and she had drawn what looked like a pentagram onto the table of the treehouse and
Speaker: And was telling you guys that she finally did it.
Speaker: She finally figured it out.
Speaker: She could contact her brother and find out what happened.
Speaker: And she was hysterical.
Speaker: You've never seen her act this crazy before.
Speaker: But losing a family member does different things to different people.
Speaker: And that's the way that she dealt with it.
Speaker: You guys were able to talk her down from doing the ritual.
Speaker: You were able to talk some sense into her.
Speaker: You decided, you know, why don't we get some food in you?
Speaker: And she agreed.
Speaker: She's like, yeah, you know what?
Speaker: I don't think I have eaten in the past couple days.
Speaker: And you were able to talk her down, get her out of the treehouse.
Speaker: And everybody but Ned noticed that even though you guys didn't blow out the candles, when you looked back up at the treehouse, the lights were out.
Speaker: Buh-buh-buh!
Speaker: And that's where we're starting now.
Speaker: So you guys are just now getting down to the cars and you're all, you know, piling into Ryan's car, except for Samantha.
Speaker: She brought Anubis.
Speaker: And where is Ashley going to go?
Speaker: I thought you said Ashley was hopping on the back of my horse.
Speaker: I did, but that was because I also forgot a key detail.
Speaker: So we're going to retcon that.
Speaker: Got a key detail.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You guys were looking for the cars at her parents' house.
Speaker: And you noticed that both the cars were missing.
Speaker: Well, Ashley had to get to the treehouse somehow.
Speaker: So she has a car.
Speaker: I thought you were going to be like, how do you guys think she got there?
Speaker: I was like, I don't fucking know, man.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: She flew.
Speaker: One of the missing cars is there at the treehouse.
Speaker: Gotcha.
Speaker: So we could have two cars.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And a horse.
Speaker: So she looks over at Samantha and Ashley goes, hey, did you by chance get dropped off at the stable or did you take your own car?
Speaker: I mean, the stable's at my house, so I guess I walked.
Speaker: That would have been a good piece of information to know before I made my character look like an idiot.
Speaker: Okay, never mind.
Speaker: She's dazed and confused.
Speaker: It's fine.
Speaker: Yeah, you're right, you're right, sorry.
Speaker: Girl, I was just gonna follow you back to the stable and drive with you, but yeah, that's fine, that's fine.
Speaker: I'm guessing all you boys are riding with Ryan?
Speaker: Yeah, unless you want any of us to go with you.
Speaker: Samantha shoots that a look.
Speaker: It's fine, it's fine.
Speaker: I can follow you guys.
Speaker: Where, uh...
Speaker: Like I said, dinner's on me.
Speaker: My treat.
Speaker: Where do you guys want to go?
Speaker: I'll eat just about anything, so I'll leave it up to you guys.
Speaker: Indecisive as ever, Ryan.
Speaker: You know it.
Speaker: I mean, we could always go to the mall.
Speaker: They got the food cord.
Speaker: It's got some everything.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: The mall's got everything.
Speaker: You know, I haven't had greasy mall food in a long time.
Speaker: That sounds good.
Speaker: That sounds good.
Speaker: Yeah, let's meet at the mall.
Speaker: And she closes the door to her car and starts the car.
Speaker: Samantha again looks at Ned and then looks back at Ashley's car and then back at Ned like go with her.
Speaker: When Ned tries to get in the car he's going to find the doors locked.
Speaker: And Ryan's just going to point at the other car.
Speaker: Roll me a 50-50.
Speaker: 66.
Speaker: She's already pulling away.
Speaker: You better run.
Speaker: Ryan.
Speaker: Better luck next time.
Speaker: Ryan, you unlock this door.
Speaker: Only if you say please.
Speaker: Samantha walks over.
Speaker: Well, she trots Anubis over and stops her in front of Ashley's car.
Speaker: See, there you go.
Speaker: Problem solved.
Speaker: Ashley hits the brakes and rolls down the window.
Speaker: Girl, what are you doing?
Speaker: Are you trying to get your horse run over?
Speaker: He's a big boy.
Speaker: Can you let Ned ride with you?
Speaker: Ryan's being a little asshole.
Speaker: You're welcome.
Speaker: Yeah, sure.
Speaker: She unlocks the door and calls you in.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I hop in next to her.
Speaker: I appreciate it.
Speaker: Ryan's being a little bit of a prick lately.
Speaker: Oh, no problem.
Speaker: No problem.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Like I said, anyone's welcome.
Speaker: I appreciate it.
Speaker: Samantha just kind of smiles, gives that a wink, and then rides off to the stable to put Anubis away.
Speaker: Okay, so before we continue on with this story, I am going to say at the beginning of this campaign, I said this was going to be a closed session, meaning when people split up, I will have other people take their headsets off.
Speaker: Today will be the last session of openness.
Speaker: After today's session, we will begin doing that closed session thing.
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: Because after today's session will be things may take a turn that certain characters can't know about.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Secrets.
Speaker: That's good.
Speaker: So that means you're taking over the editing.
Speaker: No, we have a third party that's going to edit any scenes that Nick is not in.
Speaker: Oh, OK.
Speaker: Who's that?
Speaker: Cody.
Speaker: Oh, nice.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: He said that he would be very interested in doing it.
Speaker: So cool.
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I need a D4.
Speaker: That is a one.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So we are going to resolve Ryan and Arthur first.
Speaker: So you guys see Ashley and Ned drive off in front of you.
Speaker: And it's just you and Arthur in the car.
Speaker: What do you guys do?
Speaker: How far drive is it?
Speaker: Not far.
Speaker: Like I said, it's a smallish town.
Speaker: You can really get from one side of town to the other in like 20 minutes.
Speaker: Hey, Arthur.
Speaker: Arthur digs in his backpack and he busts out his lightning hawk comic and he starts drawing more panels.
Speaker: Arthur, I want you real quick to roll me a, we'll just say just a general intelligence.
Speaker: 89.
Speaker: And what's your intelligence score?
Speaker: Is that the hue in human?
Speaker: Yeah, it's 40.
Speaker: No, up in the up in the top, you have your base stats.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: 60.
Speaker: So you failed your intelligence.
Speaker: OK, yeah.
Speaker: Um, even though, even though Ned is not sitting in the front seat, you just are oblivious to the fact that he's not there.
Speaker: Like you, you saw him get into Ashley's car, but you didn't take into consideration the fact that, oh shit, that means I could sit in front and you're still just hanging out in the back of the car.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's Arthur.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Hey, Arthur, when we found that list at Ashley's house about the whole talking to the dead thing, you seem to pick up on that pretty quick.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: She said that there was fresh blood on the list.
Speaker: How much flesh blood do you think that would take to do the thing?
Speaker: You have any idea about that?
Speaker: Go ahead and roll another intelligence.
Speaker: Or no, I'm sorry.
Speaker: Roll me a cult.
Speaker: That is a 49 out of 50.
Speaker: 49 out of 50.
Speaker: Perfect.
Speaker: That is a pass.
Speaker: You would know for the kind of ritual that you think it is that you are kind of cluing in that it is.
Speaker: It really wouldn't take much.
Speaker: Well, from the Reddit forums that I've procured, it wouldn't take a whole lot, but
Speaker: But a prick of your hand, really.
Speaker: You wouldn't lose too much blood for she did.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: But it is troubling.
Speaker: Especially since, where the fuck are her parents, dude?
Speaker: Yeah, she seemed really sketchy about where her parents were.
Speaker: Also, her parents' cars weren't there?
Speaker: Yeah, well, she had one of them, so.
Speaker: That's true, that's true.
Speaker: It's almost like both the cars being gone was almost retconned from our minds almost.
Speaker: Yeah, both of the cars were still gone.
Speaker: You just found where one of them was.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: She has been acting weird, but I'm also hungry, so I'm a little more concerned about getting some noodles at this point.
Speaker: Yeah, we can do that when we get there, Arthur.
Speaker: You got it.
Speaker: All right, cool.
Speaker: And he goes back to drawing his fucking comic book.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: We will go to Samantha.
Speaker: I'm heading home to put Anubis away.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Is there anything that you are wanting to resolve while you're doing this?
Speaker: Is there anything that you're thinking of that you want answers to?
Speaker: Well, she's currently thinking of her friends losing her shit, but she also is thinking about getting into some dry clothes.
Speaker: Fair and fair.
Speaker: You saw the list.
Speaker: I haven't given you like an actual full list yet.
Speaker: I'm still writing that up to give to you guys.
Speaker: Uh-huh.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But yeah, fresh blood.
Speaker: As you're thinking about this list, you think about Arthur said that this was a list to contact the dead.
Speaker: Correct.
Speaker: No, that's that's weird, right?
Speaker: They can't.
Speaker: No, no, you can't contact.
Speaker: But what if that means if she was able to contact the dead, you would also be able to talk to Chris again?
Speaker: I don't know what you want me to do here.
Speaker: This is all in her head.
Speaker: So I don't know.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Just food for thought.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: And then we'll smash cut to Ned and Ashley in the car.
Speaker: You know, we've been friends for a while, Ned.
Speaker: You don't have to be awkward.
Speaker: You can just talk to me, which I very appreciate you riding with me.
Speaker: I really didn't want to be alone after all that.
Speaker: Oh.
Speaker: I understand a little bit.
Speaker: I just I've been trying to find the best way for me to be there for not just you, but for your parents, too.
Speaker: Y'all have really been another family to me and y'all have always meant a lot to me.
Speaker: Well, I appreciate that.
Speaker: But shouldn't you also be there for your parents?
Speaker: Like, hello, congratulations.
Speaker: Congratulations for what?
Speaker: I mean, my dad's acting all sorts of funny.
Speaker: He's being nice.
Speaker: He took me out driving.
Speaker: earlier today.
Speaker: That was weird.
Speaker: Oh, oh, you don't, you don't know.
Speaker: Oh, no.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: Oh, nothing.
Speaker: No, no, no, no.
Speaker: Hold on now.
Speaker: I might be awkward, but you can't tell me, you know, something about my parents that I don't know.
Speaker: You know how your parents and my parents are good friends.
Speaker: I heard some news, but it's, it's not my news to share.
Speaker: Come on, you know you can't bring that up and then not talk about it.
Speaker: Oh, I know I very much can.
Speaker: Oh, come on, what's the news?
Speaker: What's it going to take to get you to tell me?
Speaker: Spill the beans.
Speaker: Well, and you didn't hear it from me, but apparently, and Melanie, I swear to God, I came up with this before we found out.
Speaker: Apparently you are expecting another sibling.
Speaker: I'm sure you thought of that before.
Speaker: I did.
Speaker: He brought it up to me like two weeks, three weeks ago.
Speaker: Oh, okay.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What the hell?
Speaker: How come my parents be talking to yours and letting them know?
Speaker: But you, why wouldn't they tell me?
Speaker: I don't have the slightest idea.
Speaker: All I know is, uh, yep, they told my mom and dad, and, uh, I happened to be there when they did.
Speaker: Man, I already had one awkward talk with Dad, now it's gonna have to be another one with my mom?
Speaker: Alright, uh, hmm.
Speaker: She looks at you real seriously for a minute.
Speaker: Better an awkward talk with your mom than an awkward talk with your dad, am I right?
Speaker: And she kind of does the pull the collar like, yeesh.
Speaker: You just wait.
Speaker: If he's still acting as goofy as he was earlier today, you're going to be a little worried.
Speaker: Oh, man.
Speaker: I'm going to have a little brother, a little sis.
Speaker: That's weird.
Speaker: Especially the age difference.
Speaker: That's...
Speaker: Good luck.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'm a need it.
Speaker: Oh.
Speaker: Well, you know, we're always here for you in case you want to get out of the house.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I know.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Got a good group of friends here.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I know I do.
Speaker: I got to ask you, though.
Speaker: We found that list on your bed.
Speaker: You see her knuckles go white, like she grips the steering wheel harder.
Speaker: Uh, um, list?
Speaker: What list?
Speaker: What are you talking about?
Speaker: Well, with the elmwood leaves, with the, what was it?
Speaker: Dog nails, and, uh, Ashley, it said fresh blood on it.
Speaker: I told you guys when you came to the treehouse that I found out how to talk to my brother.
Speaker: We're all gonna have to have a sit down and, uh... Ashley, this... Do you believe in this?
Speaker: Ned, if it... lets me speak to my brother one more time... I'm willing to believe in anything.
Speaker: I can't say I understand that, but... I don't know, that just... That gave me the heebie-jeebies.
Speaker: I... You know I'm not a big fan of that... witchy nonsense, so... I... I...
Speaker: To be fair, you guys were never supposed to find that, so... You know we'd come looking, though.
Speaker: Samantha went to the house.
Speaker: You know she knows where the key is to your place.
Speaker: She went in there, and she gave us all a holler, and we came running.
Speaker: Yeah, I guess two days of not reaching out will do that.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it will.
Speaker: Well, regardless, I appreciate y'all.
Speaker: And we'll be here for you.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Now let's go get some grub.
Speaker: Let's go get some food.
Speaker: I was just going to say enough with the awkward talk.
Speaker: Let's go get some food.
Speaker: Hell yeah.
Speaker: Panda Express.
Speaker: Like I said, I'm buying.
Speaker: So whatever you want out there.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So you guys all pull up to this mall and it's a mall.
Speaker: It's two stories, but it's seen.
Speaker: It's the heyday of the mall is definitely gone.
Speaker: It's a lot of.
Speaker: overpriced clothing stores.
Speaker: There might be a bookstore there.
Speaker: You know, every mall has to have a Spencer's.
Speaker: So like your regular mall stables, but the stuff that would really bring you to the mall is not really there anymore.
Speaker: It's kind of just a place to go knock out some necessities and get some food, which is what you guys are there for now is to get some food.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Ryan makes a beeline for the Panda Express.
Speaker: He hasn't had Panda in a while.
Speaker: You too, Ryan.
Speaker: You guys have the choice of anything in this place and you and Ned are both going Panda.
Speaker: As she says that, Arthur also walks up to Panda Express.
Speaker: I like orange chicken.
Speaker: Come on, Ashley.
Speaker: She looks at you guys like we could have just hit the Panda drive through guys.
Speaker: Yeah, but then we don't get to sit down.
Speaker: Fair, fair.
Speaker: Has anyone seen Samantha yet?
Speaker: Go ahead.
Speaker: Give her a call.
Speaker: I mean,
Speaker: She'd just be happy to see your name pop up on her phone again.
Speaker: I bet she'll want Panda Express.
Speaker: Well, the problem is, I kind of left my phone on my nightside table.
Speaker: So I don't have it on me.
Speaker: She kind of gives you guys a sheepish grin, like somebody else is going to have to call her.
Speaker: Oh, hell.
Speaker: Didn't Samantha grab that?
Speaker: I know somebody grabbed your phone.
Speaker: Nobody grabbed it, but...
Speaker: Ryan did see that it was plugged in, but the plug was not in the wall, so it was dead.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I'll give Sam a call real quick.
Speaker: Ring, ring, ring, ring.
Speaker: You have to use that ring ring.
Speaker: I'm not even going to make your roll alertness.
Speaker: You were expecting to hear from these people, so go ahead.
Speaker: I need to set that as my personal ringtone now.
Speaker: Ring ring ring ring
Speaker: Where you at, skank?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll be there in about five minutes.
Speaker: I just hopped in the car.
Speaker: I just wanted to change my clothes quick, but I'll be there shortly.
Speaker: Tell that bitch that I want some spicy chicken and fried rice.
Speaker: From Panda?
Speaker: Yeah, from Panda.
Speaker: Arthur, get away from me, man.
Speaker: I even got this thing on speakerphone.
Speaker: You're way too close.
Speaker: I had to tell him.
Speaker: Matt, just go get me my teriyaki.
Speaker: Come on.
Speaker: You just called him Matt.
Speaker: God damn it.
Speaker: Do you want me to take that from the top?
Speaker: No, I want you to keep this in the episode.
Speaker: Because Ash is going to look at you and be like, Ned, who the fuck is Matt?
Speaker: He's losing it.
Speaker: The fourth wall is broken.
Speaker: Yeah, you know what?
Speaker: Roll sanity.
Speaker: Oh, God damn it.
Speaker: No, I don't want to do that.
Speaker: 35 on a... Dammit, I haven't looked at this one yet.
Speaker: I think you all rolled fairly high on sanity.
Speaker: Sanity is your power times 5, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker: Yeah, 35 on an 80.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So you don't lose any sanity.
Speaker: You were just like, who the hell is Matt?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Wrong name.
Speaker: What the hell?
Speaker: Arthur, either way, back up a little bit.
Speaker: Let's go get us some chicken.
Speaker: Sam, there's a lot.
Speaker: Sam, I'm going to let you go.
Speaker: He won't get off me.
Speaker: I will get your food.
Speaker: It'll be ready for you.
Speaker: Sounds good.
Speaker: See you in five.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Bye.
Speaker: Hello everybody and welcome to the Let's Play Pretend Mid-Roll.
Speaker: My producers have given me a short list today from the YouTube page of things to read that you, the fans, have said to us.
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Speaker: Give us a like, give us a follow, a subscribe.
Speaker: Everybody has a different name.
Speaker: It's all the same thing.
Speaker: Munchesito says, More, comma, I need more.
Speaker: Well, sir, more is on the way, I promise you.
Speaker: And Mr. Melvin Wright says, I really enjoyed this!
Speaker: No, sir, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but as you should be able to ascertain, I am not the excitable type.
Speaker: I'm sorry if I read your comment in not the way you intended it to be said.
Speaker: Look down below in the show notes and you will be able to find all of our social media links.
Speaker: Is that everything you needed, my producers?
Speaker: Yes?
Speaker: Wonderful.
Speaker: Well, with that being said, I have a large vat of cheese balls, an empty beanbag chair, and about 40 hours of Top Chef waiting for me.
Speaker: I will see you all in two weeks' time.
Speaker: And now back to the show.
Speaker: Click.
Speaker: I told you she'd want Panda.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: Hey, Ashley, where are you going?
Speaker: Where are you going?
Speaker: You see Ashley walking across the walking across the food court.
Speaker: She's heading over to Charlie's.
Speaker: She's getting sub.
Speaker: Gross.
Speaker: Why would you pick the most disgusting sub place ever?
Speaker: Hey, to be fair, they got a buffalo chicken and it's pretty bomb.
Speaker: And roaches in the in their fucking bread.
Speaker: That's protein.
Speaker: That's one sponsor we're never going to get.
Speaker: I don't want to be sponsored by Charlie's, so I'm sorry.
Speaker: But Panda's gonna love us.
Speaker: Are you sure you're thinking Charlie's and not Quizno's, Melanie?
Speaker: No, the one in the mall?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I've heard rumors that they have roaches.
Speaker: I mean, that wouldn't surprise me.
Speaker: Our mall is disgusting.
Speaker: Is anybody else just imagining this whole scene going on in Cherryvale?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Everyone except Breck.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So yeah, while you guys are waiting for Samantha to show up, she's going over and getting herself a sub.
Speaker: But she seemed to already be too far away to actually hear you.
Speaker: Well, we know that she likes that place better, I guess.
Speaker: But, hey, wait a minute.
Speaker: She said she was going by for us.
Speaker: Now she's all the way over there.
Speaker: Yeah, that's interesting.
Speaker: Maybe she only wanted to buy a sub.
Speaker: She'll be back.
Speaker: I trust her.
Speaker: I'm just getting in line.
Speaker: If she ain't here by then, I'll go ahead and pick mine up.
Speaker: Well, considering the line for Panda is quite long and the line for Charlie's is, you know, non-existent, she has her food before you guys even order.
Speaker: Yeah, that's about right.
Speaker: All right, Samantha, you are in line by the time Ashley gets back with her food.
Speaker: And she walks up and she goes...
Speaker: You see, if y'all would have just ordered a sub, like yours truly, we'd be sitting down eating already.
Speaker: But I want noodles that make me hungry 20 minutes after I'm done eating said noodles.
Speaker: She reaches up and just kind of rustles your hair.
Speaker: She's like, of course you do, Arthur.
Speaker: So you guys go through line.
Speaker: You all order your food.
Speaker: You sit.
Speaker: You enjoy.
Speaker: Is there anything that you want to resolve?
Speaker: today at the mall sitting and talking.
Speaker: Is there anything you want to resolve?
Speaker: Uh, I do.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So, so you guys are sitting down eating and having a good time.
Speaker: And Ryan speaks up.
Speaker: Hey, uh, Ashley, I know you're probably... She looks up and she has a piece of lettuce from her sub hanging out of her mouth, and she, like, quick does, like, the... Try to get it in with her tongue and, like, tilt her head, try and get the lettuce in her mouth before she just wipes it away, and she's like, yeah.
Speaker: Um, I was just wondering, and I know you probably don't want to talk about this, but, uh, where'd you find that whole ritual thing, anyways?
Speaker: Because that seems kind of specific.
Speaker: I, uh, did a lot of research after hearing about my brother.
Speaker: I've always been kind of interested in the dark web, which how can you not with Arthur in the group?
Speaker: And yeah, he was just kind of my inspiration to see what I could find on the possibility of, you know, talking to Chris again.
Speaker: And you chose necromancy instead of praying to him or not necromancy.
Speaker: It's not necromancy.
Speaker: I'm not trying to bring him back.
Speaker: I'm just trying to communicate.
Speaker: Samantha's just looking at her like she's insane.
Speaker: You should have come to me and we could have done the ritual properly.
Speaker: Properly?
Speaker: Arthur?
Speaker: I've seen an image or two on the Reddit.
Speaker: It didn't look much like that.
Speaker: She kind of leans in and she goes, you know how to do this properly.
Speaker: Well, I'm just saying from the sigil on the on the table, it was that's that was that was only it seemed like that wasn't everything.
Speaker: Oh, no, that wasn't everything at all.
Speaker: I you know what you guys thought you talked to me out of it.
Speaker: So no, no, it don't sound like it.
Speaker: I guess looking at me like that.
Speaker: Samantha looks over to her and goes, all right, let's cut the bullshit.
Speaker: Why is there fresh blood on that list?
Speaker: She kind of looks a little taken aback and goes.
Speaker: I don't make the list.
Speaker: You know that, Samantha.
Speaker: Do you already have it?
Speaker: No.
Speaker: I said I don't have everything yet.
Speaker: Where are you planning to get it?
Speaker: I mean, we'll see when the time comes.
Speaker: If the time comes, I don't know.
Speaker: Like I said, you guys talked me out of it.
Speaker: Why are you grilling me so hard on this?
Speaker: Can I roll an occult?
Speaker: Yeah, sure, go ahead.
Speaker: 41 out of 50 for a cult.
Speaker: Hang on.
Speaker: Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
Speaker: I just wanted to know if I actually was knowing what I was talking about or just actually just bullshitting.
Speaker: You have definitely found things that would be helpful that you think would actually be able to communicate with the dead.
Speaker: And from what you have found online, if she's barking up the wrong tree, it's not by much.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Sorry.
Speaker: Continue.
Speaker: Arthur, I thought you were into aliens and stuff.
Speaker: And check out the new hoodie you got.
Speaker: That's kind of cool.
Speaker: But like.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: What do you know about any of this stuff?
Speaker: I'm into all things strange in this world, and specifically our state.
Speaker: Look, man, like your Bigfoot, the jackalope, that's strange.
Speaker: That's weird.
Speaker: But talking-
Speaker: Oh man, Arthur.
Speaker: Ashley, how can we help you out with this?
Speaker: It says fresh blood.
Speaker: What does that mean?
Speaker: Can we go to the butcher shop and get a steak and you just kind of squeeze it?
Speaker: Does that work?
Speaker: Well, I mean, that's not 100% fresh.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: It's got to be from the source.
Speaker: From the source?
Speaker: What the fuck are you talking about, girl?
Speaker: Stop being so cryptic and just get down to it.
Speaker: Y'all, I think we should kick rocks.
Speaker: Look, this is kind of creeping me out a little.
Speaker: Let's get out of the mall.
Speaker: Let's get out of a public place.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Ashley, are your parents going to be home?
Speaker: Can we just head back to your house?
Speaker: Yeah, you guys can totally head back to my place.
Speaker: They are out doing funeral prep right now.
Speaker: let's sit down somewhere a little more comfortable.
Speaker: We all got our bellies full.
Speaker: Let's go talk this out.
Speaker: Let's try and level with each other at least a little bit, because this is creeping me out.
Speaker: Yeah, sure.
Speaker: That sounds fine.
Speaker: I'm sorry.
Speaker: I'm not trying to creep you out with my interests.
Speaker: Hey, Arthur.
Speaker: Arthur, I got a question for you, man.
Speaker: Yeah?
Speaker: You ain't never had a size 10 Doc Martin up your ass, have you?
Speaker: Ha ha ha.
Speaker: Ha ha.
Speaker: I haven't.
Speaker: Is that a threat?
Speaker: It might be more of a promise depending on how this keeps going.
Speaker: Our threat is sheepishly look so red.
Speaker: I pat him on the shoulder.
Speaker: You're all right, bud.
Speaker: But let's do this when we get back to Ashley's house.
Speaker: Ashley looks at you, Ned, and she goes, pretty sure the last person that threatened him got kicked in the nuts, didn't he?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll see it coming.
Speaker: I watched it happen.
Speaker: You see Arthur glare up a little bit.
Speaker: Look, I may not win every fight I get in and every little scrap, but I promise everybody leaves a little hurt.
Speaker: You don't have to win.
Speaker: They just don't have to 100% win either.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I put my arm around Arthur and I start walking towards the escalators to get out of there.
Speaker: You're all right, bud.
Speaker: You know this witchy shit just kind of creeps me out.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker: It really bugs you out indeed.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Hey, don't worry.
Speaker: I've been working on some of them sound effects for that little video comic you're wanting to put on your channel.
Speaker: Really?
Speaker: Yeah, man.
Speaker: We're friends.
Speaker: Just because you creep me out sometimes don't mean we ain't friends.
Speaker: Well, cool be.
Speaker: Clop, clop, clop, clop.
Speaker: That's us walking.
Speaker: That's us walking.
Speaker: So you guys leave the mall, get back to Ashley's place.
Speaker: It's about eight o'clock at this point.
Speaker: Her parents still aren't there.
Speaker: The house is empty, but hey, Ashley is there.
Speaker: So that's what's important, right?
Speaker: Is there anything that you guys want to resolve here?
Speaker: Brian is going to ask Samantha if she has Ashley's phone.
Speaker: Hey, Samantha, you got Ashley's phone on you?
Speaker: Would you leave it upstairs?
Speaker: I think I left it upstairs.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I figured I'd go plug it in so that way we can get in contact with her tomorrow if need be.
Speaker: And then Brian is going to go upstairs and go to plug in the socket into the wall, but also kind of look at the socket because it kind of struck him as odd last time.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Go ahead and roll me a search.
Speaker: We'll do a search.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Nope.
Speaker: That is a 96 on a 40.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: She must have just accidentally unplugged it somehow.
Speaker: He just shrugs and plugs it into the wall.
Speaker: Does the phone light up at all?
Speaker: Well, I mean, it flashes like the charging like a dead phone does, and then after a minute it'll light up.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's getting juice.
Speaker: Yeah, he stands up to leave, just kind of takes one glance around the room, and then just goes back downstairs.
Speaker: While he's doing that, are you guys having any conversation downstairs other than just regular conversation?
Speaker: What do you mean by that?
Speaker: Ugh.
Speaker: I mean, like, is there anything in particular that you're wanting to... Any specific information that you want out of this scene?
Speaker: Arthur, you seem like you had an even better understanding of whatever exactly she's trying to do than she did.
Speaker: This spell got, like, a name or something?
Speaker: Like, Harry Potter, they got that Avada Kedavra, and, you know, like, this thing got a name?
Speaker: Can I roll an occult?
Speaker: Yeah, sure.
Speaker: 37 out of 50.
Speaker: Come up with a name.
Speaker: I didn't have a name for this.
Speaker: Go ahead.
Speaker: You're so welcome.
Speaker: Fuck, you put me on the spot.
Speaker: Hold on.
Speaker: The beauty of editing.
Speaker: Oh, absolutely.
Speaker: Hey, I came up with Miss Weathers in a heartbeat.
Speaker: And I regret that name so bad.
Speaker: Oh my god.
Speaker: And it shall live on forever.
Speaker: But Miss Weathers is the best.
Speaker: Well, you see, the name of the ritual isn't too complex.
Speaker: It's just a ghost communication ritual.
Speaker: Anything else would be crazy.
Speaker: Alright, so...
Speaker: then the root of my problem is where does this fresh blood come from?
Speaker: Usually you cut the palm of one's hand to make of the circle of blood, if you will.
Speaker: Did we ever check her palm?
Speaker: Ned looks at Ashley.
Speaker: She's standing there with her hands in her hoodie pocket.
Speaker: Samantha?
Speaker: Yeah?
Speaker: You, uh... You want to grab this one?
Speaker: She kind of, like...
Speaker: Rubs her, like the bridge of her nose, like the, we toot her eyes, you know what I mean?
Speaker: Ashley is staring at you hard right now.
Speaker: At me?
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And she looks at Ashley and goes, let me get this straight.
Speaker: You decided to go on the deep dark web to find some ritual to talk to your dead brother.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: As much as I would love to talk to Chris as well, he's dead, Ash.
Speaker: He's dead.
Speaker: There's nothing we can do about it.
Speaker: But I need to know, did you cut your palms?
Speaker: And if you don't show me your hands, I will come over there and I will tackle your ass and pull your damn hands out of your hoodie pockets.
Speaker: Show me your hands.
Speaker: Samantha, I love you to death.
Speaker: I really do.
Speaker: But you know if you come over here right now, you're not getting my hands out of my pocket.
Speaker: Bitch, do you want to bet?
Speaker: She takes a step forward.
Speaker: Ashley doesn't move.
Speaker: Take your hands out of your pockets.
Speaker: No, I'm good.
Speaker: Ashley, this isn't a game anymore.
Speaker: This isn't funny.
Speaker: You're freaking us out, actually.
Speaker: Take your hands out of your pockets now.
Speaker: This was never a game, Samantha.
Speaker: Samantha steps closer.
Speaker: Hands.
Speaker: Let me see them.
Speaker: Ashley pulls her hands out of her pocket, but kind of puts them on the counter behind her.
Speaker: So that way her palms are still facing down.
Speaker: What are you going to do, Sam?
Speaker: Are you going to hit me?
Speaker: Human.
Speaker: This.
Speaker: You can roll.
Speaker: You can roll a human.
Speaker: Aught four on a 40.
Speaker: You get the feeling that she is actually offended that you guys thought she cut herself.
Speaker: You do not get the feeling that she actually did.
Speaker: Hey, Sam, Sam, hold on.
Speaker: Let's try not to let this get hostile.
Speaker: I already threatened Arthur once today.
Speaker: Let's not try and make this worse than what it need be.
Speaker: Ashley, you know we're just looking out for you.
Speaker: We're worried about you.
Speaker: We're worried about your family.
Speaker: And sometimes that'll make us act a little funny.
Speaker: Right, Sam?
Speaker: Sam just folds her arms.
Speaker: Did you do the ritual?
Speaker: Ashley walks up to Samantha, looks her dead in the face and goes, come on, Sam.
Speaker: You know me better than that.
Speaker: And as she says that, she lifts her hands, palms up, and you see that there's not a mark on the middle.
Speaker: Oh, thank God.
Speaker: Sam just lets out a breath, like a deep breath, and sighs.
Speaker: And she goes, this is absolutely absurd.
Speaker: And she kind of throws her hands up and walks away rubbing her forehead.
Speaker: Ned is going to just walk out to the back porch near where that paddock was that she had tied Anubis up at.
Speaker: I'm going to go up there and have a cigarette.
Speaker: I'm going to walk out without saying anything.
Speaker: Roll me a luck check.
Speaker: 12 on an 87.
Speaker: Fuck, I forgot you guys' luck is so high.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay, yeah, you got some smokes on you.
Speaker: You don't have to go bum one this time.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: So you guys go do that.
Speaker: Ashley follows Samantha over into the other room, kind of puts an arm around her and goes, You know that if I was going to do something like that, I would talk to you first.
Speaker: Yes, I have been looking into things to talk to Chris.
Speaker: You know how close we are.
Speaker: We're... That's going to be weird to get used to saying.
Speaker: You know how close we were.
Speaker: I miss my brother so much.
Speaker: And you know that if there's any way that I can talk to him one more time, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker: But I'm not gonna do anything dumb that's going to get me into trouble or end with me being hurt or anything like that.
Speaker: I'm gonna be smart.
Speaker: I'm gonna talk to you guys before anything happens.
Speaker: Then how do you expect to get fresh blood if it's not going to put anybody in danger or harm anybody?
Speaker: How do you expect to get fresh blood?
Speaker: Do you really want to do this?
Speaker: All I need to do is prick my finger.
Speaker: It's not saying I got to lose an arm or something.
Speaker: It just needs a drop of fresh blood.
Speaker: Ashley, do you not understand how insane this sounds?
Speaker: I do.
Speaker: I do.
Speaker: But Samantha, I got to know.
Speaker: I gotta know what happened to him.
Speaker: He died in combat.
Speaker: The soldier told us, told you that.
Speaker: I just, I gotta know.
Speaker: Samantha sighs and kind of just shakes her head.
Speaker: If nothing else, I just, I need to, I just need to hear his voice one more time if I can.
Speaker: If nothing else, I at least need that closure.
Speaker: You know, if we do this, it's not going to be him that we're talking to.
Speaker: There are other things that you could let in.
Speaker: I guess I just got to have faith that it will be.
Speaker: Even if it's something that sounds like him, it's going to be better for my brain.
Speaker: Look at me, Sam.
Speaker: I'm a wreck.
Speaker: You guys haven't been able to get a hold of me for two days.
Speaker: Because this is all I've been thinking about.
Speaker: Let's do it.
Speaker: Let's just get on with it.
Speaker: Let's not pussyfoot around this anymore.
Speaker: Let's go.
Speaker: Samantha, listen.
Speaker: This is just the first thing I found.
Speaker: Okay?
Speaker: I'm not going to... We're not going to do anything tonight.
Speaker: I have more research I need to do.
Speaker: Now that I know Arthur's on board, you know it's going to be done correctly.
Speaker: If things go south, she just kind of like shakes her head and just walks away like, fine, let's just go.
Speaker: Before you have a chance to walk away, she hugs you.
Speaker: She hugs her back.
Speaker: And she's like, I love you, bitch.
Speaker: You know that, right?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, I love you, too.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Is there anything else you guys want to do while you are at Ashley's house?
Speaker: No.
Speaker: No, I'm good.
Speaker: I was outside.
Speaker: I didn't hear none of this conversation.
Speaker: That would weird me out.
Speaker: Yeah, that conversation would have definitely weirded you out.
Speaker: That's kind of why I walked away.
Speaker: At this point, Ned will walk back in.
Speaker: I feel a little bit better now, y'all.
Speaker: I'm sorry for that.
Speaker: So what's the game plan?
Speaker: What are we doing?
Speaker: What do you mean, what are we doing?
Speaker: School starts in a week.
Speaker: Shouldn't we be getting ready for school?
Speaker: That sounds right.
Speaker: I like that.
Speaker: That sounds like a good idea.
Speaker: I want Arthur to roll me alertness and I want everyone else to also roll me alertness.
Speaker: Oh god.
Speaker: 86 out of 23 alertness.
Speaker: 83 on a 20.
Speaker: I got a 6 out of 60.
Speaker: I got a 55 out of 60.
Speaker: Okay, so... Ned, you said you did not see this?
Speaker: Oh, hell no.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Ryan and Samantha, you both notice that when she says that, she looks over in Arthur's direction and winks, but Arthur didn't see the wink either.
Speaker: Man, I'm glad we got this out from behind us, y'all.
Speaker: But, Ashley, we're here for you.
Speaker: We're gonna...
Speaker: Whatever you need, we're here for you.
Speaker: Like we know you're always there for us.
Speaker: Well, I appreciate you.
Speaker: So as you guys are wrapping up, she's like, you know, it's been a rough couple days.
Speaker: I'm going to go get some sleep.
Speaker: Plus, I guess I should probably plug my phone in if I have any chance of getting a hold of you guys.
Speaker: Because dumb dummy here forgot to plug her phone in.
Speaker: Already done.
Speaker: You're so sweet.
Speaker: Yeah, I know how you live on that thing.
Speaker: Thank you, Ryan.
Speaker: You're welcome.
Speaker: Kind of weird that I didn't have it at all, right?
Speaker: Very.
Speaker: Why do you think we panicked?
Speaker: And you guys are all leaving and she gives you all a hug on your way out the door.
Speaker: And I need all of you except for Ned to roll me in alertness.
Speaker: Oh, boy.
Speaker: Ooh, 23 out of 20.
Speaker: Arthur's going to see this.
Speaker: 13 on a 60.
Speaker: So Ryan and Arthur both notice this and Samantha doesn't.
Speaker: As she gives Ned a hug, she kisses him on the cheek.
Speaker: Ooh.
Speaker: Arthur says ooh when that happens.
Speaker: Ryan is going to immediately slap a hand over Arthur's mouth and drag him away.
Speaker: Do I see that?
Speaker: I would sure the fuck hope so.
Speaker: You can roll alertness if you want.
Speaker: He could be enamored at the fact that his crush just kissed his cheek.
Speaker: That, yeah.
Speaker: I got a 16 out of 20.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: This is going to be the first time we're going to do an opposed roll.
Speaker: Oh.
Speaker: The way this works, because I heard Brex say that he wants to roll, I'm guessing you said stealth?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Okay, so you can go ahead and roll your stealth against his alertness.
Speaker: Basically, what's going to happen is Price is Right rules.
Speaker: Whoever goes closest to their number without going over will win.
Speaker: That is a 48 on a 53, so... Yeah, okay, so yeah, you totally see that then.
Speaker: I kind of like...
Speaker: I squeeze her with the one arm, but I kind of have like a shaky thumbs up off to the side.
Speaker: We're here for you.
Speaker: You know that, right?
Speaker: I appreciate you guys.
Speaker: I do.
Speaker: And we appreciate you, but don't be afraid to call.
Speaker: Oh, I won't.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: You get yourself some good sleep.
Speaker: Yeah, you guys too.
Speaker: Drive safe.
Speaker: Text me when you guys get home.
Speaker: Let me know you all made it home, all right?
Speaker: Oh, will do.
Speaker: You know how Ryan drives.
Speaker: I'll be there in a heartbeat.
Speaker: As he's talking to her about that, I want to talk to Arthur real quick.
Speaker: As I drag him away.
Speaker: And just say, Arthur, if she contacts you about that ritual at all, you will call me.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, of course.
Speaker: Great.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Is Arthur riding in the car with us?
Speaker: Well, you guys have a car and Samantha has a car, so I guess it's up to Arthur.
Speaker: I'm going to ride with Samantha.
Speaker: I thought you wanted to stop by my house.
Speaker: That way you could see some of the work I've done for you.
Speaker: Oh my gosh, I forgot.
Speaker: I was so full on noodles, I forgot.
Speaker: Sorry, Samantha.
Speaker: That's fine.
Speaker: I might just stay here anyways.
Speaker: Yeah, that's kind of what I was expecting, or at least he was going to be coming back, so...
Speaker: Alright, Ryan, Arthur, y'all ready to get out of here?
Speaker: Of course.
Speaker: A shotgun!
Speaker: Boy, you know you ain't getting shotgun.
Speaker: You sat in the backseat when I wasn't even there.
Speaker: Aw, man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: For you two.
Speaker: No blood on the upholstery.
Speaker: Nah, he can have shotgun.
Speaker: I'll be nice for once.
Speaker: You hear Ashley go, but if there is blood, collect it for me.
Speaker: Not funny, Ashley.
Speaker: Again, hard side-eye.
Speaker: Hard side-eye.
Speaker: Okay, okay, too soon, I get it.
Speaker: Anyway.
Speaker: So I let Arthur have the front seat.
Speaker: Oh, you're letting him have the front seat.
Speaker: I am.
Speaker: By shotgun law, that allows me to get shotgun?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, it sure does.
Speaker: You're allowing the shotgun, alright?
Speaker: It's everybody's favorite time of the podcast.
Speaker: Y'all ready for this?
Speaker: Is it the time where I threaten Arthur again?
Speaker: No, it's time for a time skip.
Speaker: Oh.
Speaker: So you guys had this conversation with Ashley and...
Speaker: Everything is going great.
Speaker: You guys are back in school.
Speaker: For some of you, it's your senior year.
Speaker: Time to fucking get this year done and get out of this hellhole.
Speaker: Onto the real world where you can really start living and being yourself.
Speaker: And it almost seems like Ashley, at this point, has completely forgotten about this ritual.
Speaker: You guys haven't heard anything about it.
Speaker: If she has been contacting Arthur, he hasn't been telling you.
Speaker: Nothing's been happening.
Speaker: And it seems like she has finally come to terms with it.
Speaker: You guys have had the funeral for Chris, which you were all more than invited to.
Speaker: You knew that she wanted you guys there to be her rock.
Speaker: And you guys were all there, no issues.
Speaker: And she hasn't said a damn thing about it.
Speaker: Like I said, it's almost like she's completely forgotten about it.
Speaker: The months go by, and you guys are well into fall.
Speaker: In fact, tonight's Halloween.
Speaker: And you get a text from her, from Ashley, that says, Hey y'all, I have a...
Speaker: I have something I need to talk to y'all about.
Speaker: Would you please meet me at the treehouse after school?
Speaker: I text back the thumbs up.
Speaker: Uh, Ryan texts back, sure.
Speaker: Arthur texts back a gif of a thumbs up with a thumb giving a thumbs up.
Speaker: Perfect, I love it.
Speaker: Samantha's most likely just gonna be like, yep, see you, see you, girl.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: School goes by boringly slow, as it does.
Speaker: It's Friday.
Speaker: Great night for trick-or-treating, actually.
Speaker: It's a relatively warm day for it being the end of October, which is nice for the trick-or-treaters because they don't have to wear their coats underneath or over their costumes.
Speaker: People can actually see what they dressed up as, which is always super nice.
Speaker: And...
Speaker: You guys are looking for Ashley after school and you don't see her.
Speaker: So she must have.
Speaker: Weird.
Speaker: She must have skipped out early or something.
Speaker: But hey, she said meet at the treehouse.
Speaker: So let's go to the treehouse.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I got my driver's license by now, right?
Speaker: Yeah, I'd say you got your driver's license by now.
Speaker: Yeah, this has been great driving my sophomore year.
Speaker: I mean, that's what happens when you're old for your year.
Speaker: You get it at the beginning of your sophomore year instead of the end of your sophomore year.
Speaker: I just wanted to make sure.
Speaker: So I drive my happy ass self to the tree house.
Speaker: Brian, you kind of miss your driving companion at this point.
Speaker: You've been driving Ned around for so long and now he's he's driving himself.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: Big hotshot can't come take up my shotgun seat anymore.
Speaker: See how it is.
Speaker: That's all right.
Speaker: Arthur's got that for you.
Speaker: Shotgun!
Speaker: Well, of course you get shotgun.
Speaker: I'm not going to let you drive.
Speaker: Crazy.
Speaker: Just let me try.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: I mean, he is a... Isn't it your senior year too, Arthur?
Speaker: I don't believe in driving.
Speaker: Or is it your junior year?
Speaker: I don't remember what you said at the beginning.
Speaker: It's my junior year now, but I don't believe in driving.
Speaker: Why does it scare you like somebody we used to know?
Speaker: Sorry, my cat just decided to throw both my dice on the ground.
Speaker: I heard that.
Speaker: Fucking asshole.
Speaker: If my cat, you're playing with your own dice.
Speaker: No, genuinely.
Speaker: She jumped up here and was like, what's this shit?
Speaker: Pop, pop.
Speaker: You have the cat of all cats.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, she just saw you doing it a bunch.
Speaker: She wanted to try it.
Speaker: I know, she wanted to roll.
Speaker: Sure as shit.
Speaker: I guess I should see what she rolled.
Speaker: I don't remember what she... What the fuck did the dice count?
Speaker: I'm sorry!
Speaker: Oh, there it is.
Speaker: She got a 91.
Speaker: Fucking loser.
Speaker: Fucking fail.
Speaker: Yeah, that's bad.
Speaker: This is why cats don't play TTRPGs.
Speaker: Teterpigas?
Speaker: Teterpiga.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: Sorry, you said that.
Speaker: It just reminded me of Tootoo Akanu.
Speaker: Yes, I did derail.
Speaker: To do Hakanu to do Hakanu to do Hakanu.
Speaker: So what is your marching order?
Speaker: Samantha's there first.
Speaker: OK.
Speaker: Third.
Speaker: Brian will be second.
Speaker: I'll be.
Speaker: I mean, are you saying who's showing up?
Speaker: No, you're all getting there at the same time.
Speaker: Just wondering who's going up to the treehouse first.
Speaker: I'll go last.
Speaker: I'll go forth.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: You guys get up to the treehouse and you climb up the ladder and something doesn't feel right.
Speaker: You don't go in right away.
Speaker: Something's not quite right.
Speaker: Can we roll?
Speaker: Yeah, you can roll.
Speaker: What are we rolling, Handler?
Speaker: Um... I...
Speaker: I wasn't expecting you guys to ask to roll here.
Speaker: I mean, Samantha's not going to roll.
Speaker: She just is going to barge right in.
Speaker: I'm going to just follow Samantha.
Speaker: I see her just going straight up the ladder.
Speaker: I'm going to.
Speaker: It feels weird.
Speaker: I'm rolling.
Speaker: Which is why Samantha is just barging in.
Speaker: Yeah, kind of.
Speaker: Uh...
Speaker: I guess it doesn't matter.
Speaker: I got 46 on a 20 for my search.
Speaker: Well, you don't need to roll.
Speaker: You kind of have an inkling of what's going on.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So Samantha walks in and everyone else is in tow.
Speaker: Ryan, I'm guessing you're walking into.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: You were the only one not to say anything.
Speaker: No, my bad.
Speaker: Ashley with her back to you again.
Speaker: What are you doing?
Speaker: As soon as Ryan walks through the door, or as soon as Arthur walks through the door, she slams her hands onto the table.
Speaker: And almost like a shockwave goes off of them and pins you all to the wall.
Speaker: You cannot move.
Speaker: I need you all to roll me a second.
Speaker: Ah!
Speaker: Hey, what the fuck?
Speaker: No!
Speaker: What the?
Speaker: God damn it.
Speaker: 50 on an 80.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So you'll lose one sanity.
Speaker: 13 on a 75.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: You will also lose one sanity.
Speaker: I got a... It's pretty close.
Speaker: An 86 out of 50.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: You have low sanity.
Speaker: 40 out of 70.
Speaker: Okay, Samantha lose one sanity.
Speaker: Arthur, I need you to roll me a d4.
Speaker: Ah, fuck.
Speaker: I forget there's more dice that they use and I don't bring them.
Speaker: I think it happened last time.
Speaker: It did.
Speaker: I'm not going to blindly search.
Speaker: There we go.
Speaker: One.
Speaker: Okay, you will lose two sanity.
Speaker: Because it was a d4 plus one.
Speaker: She actually turns around and you see a bowl in front of her.
Speaker: And you can't see really what's in the bowl.
Speaker: But you're assuming, since you're all pinned to the wall, that this is the ingredients that she needed to gather.
Speaker: And she turns around and she has a knife in her hand.
Speaker: And she looks at you all and she goes, you know, today is Halloween.
Speaker: All Hallows Eve.
Speaker: And they say that on All Hallows Eve, the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest.
Speaker: So if there was ever a time to talk to Chris, today's the day.
Speaker: I thought we were past this.
Speaker: Are we in pain?
Speaker: I couldn't.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: You're not in pain, but you can't move.
Speaker: Excuse me.
Speaker: We are, uh, we're not past this, but I couldn't have you guys trying to talk me out of this again.
Speaker: She looks over at Arthur and she goes, thank you for helping me find one that will actually work.
Speaker: Hey, when you said you wanted my help, I didn't know you were going to pin us against the wall with X-Man powers.
Speaker: I can't have you guys trying to stop me when I'm this close to seeing my brother.
Speaker: Ashley, she turns she turns around, acting like she doesn't hear you.
Speaker: And she goes, I just need one more ingredient.
Speaker: I think we're a little pos pleading.
Speaker: As you say that she puts the knife into the palm of her hand and slides it.
Speaker: This this isn't real.
Speaker: This isn't real.
Speaker: This isn't real.
Speaker: And she squeezes her hand to drop blood into the bowl.
Speaker: and takes out a match, lights it, throws it in the bowl, and you see another shockwave as all the candles in the room go out.
Speaker: And in front of Ashley, you see what almost looks like a tear?
Speaker: Yeah, a tear would be a good way to say it, but it's weird because it's like it's a tear in midair.
Speaker: It's not like... like a reality shift or something?
Speaker: As you guys are looking at it, you see the middle of the tear starts to expand, and you see this blue, almost ethereal light come out of it.
Speaker: And on the other side of the tear, there's a figure.
Speaker: And you can't tell who it is right away because they're on the other side.
Speaker: The light's casting a huge shadow on the side that you can see.
Speaker: The figure puts hands on either side of the tear and pulls it open.
Speaker: You can tell it's using a bunch of force to just pull that tear open and steps through.
Speaker: And you guys see it's Chris.
Speaker: And Ashley looks at him and there are tears in her eyes and you can hear her voice when she says his name.
Speaker: She's looking at him.
Speaker: She says, Chris, is it really you?
Speaker: And he's smiling at her and he puts his hands on the side of her face in like like a very comforting way.
Speaker: Like, yeah, it's me.
Speaker: Like, very, like, you know how when you put your hands on someone's face and make them look at you, but like in a very loving, comforting way.
Speaker: That's that's what he's doing.
Speaker: And he's just smiling at her and she goes to throw her arms around him to hug him.
Speaker: And all of a sudden she's screaming.
Speaker: She is screaming bloody murder.
Speaker: And as she starts to scream, you guys get control of your bodies again, but you're almost too shocked to move.
Speaker: Did you really just see what you thought he saw?
Speaker: And in a moment, in a flash, it's confirmed you did see what you thought you saw.
Speaker: Chris's thumbs are in Ashley's eyes.
Speaker: And blood is just pouring down her face.
Speaker: And in the next moment, you hear a sickening snap as Ashley is now looking at you.
Speaker: But her body is still facing her brother.
Speaker: And that's where we're going to end this session.
Speaker: What the fuck did you just do to my best friend?
Speaker: Goddamn.
Speaker: I guess I should say everybody roll a sanity one more time.
Speaker: Yeah, there it is.
Speaker: That way I don't forget to do it at the beginning of the next session.
Speaker: Do I have to tell you what I rolled?
Speaker: You have to tell me if you passed or failed.
Speaker: I got an 88 on a 79.
Speaker: That is a crit failure, my dude.
Speaker: You got a 78.
Speaker: Melanie, roll a d4.
Speaker: I got a 48 out of 50.
Speaker: Oh, all right, Arthur, you're only going to take one.
Speaker: This isn't that crazy, guys.
Speaker: 98 on a 74.
Speaker: 98 on 74.
Speaker: Luckily, 99 and 100 is a crit fail, so you're just going to roll a D4.
Speaker: Ned, you're going to take five.
Speaker: Just five?
Speaker: Yeah, well, it was a D4 plus one was a failure.
Speaker: I rolled a four, so I'm taking five as well.
Speaker: Perfect.
Speaker: Oh, I have a feeling I know what you're doing.
Speaker: I rolled a one.
Speaker: You rolled a one on what you took?
Speaker: On my d4, yeah.
Speaker: Okay, so you'll take two.
Speaker: Yes, you do know what I'm doing here.
Speaker: Yeah, I thought so.
Speaker: Because you lost five in one go.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: This is a perfect time to introduce another fun mechanic that we have going on where we're going to do fight, flight, or faint.
Speaker: Um, okay.
Speaker: So basically what you're going to do in this situation, you are going to rank most likely to least likely as to what Ned would do.
Speaker: Fight, flight, or faint.
Speaker: I see that being a fainty boy.
Speaker: I don't think he's a fainty boy.
Speaker: I think something's about to come up that you didn't know about.
Speaker: Fight, flight, then faint.
Speaker: Fight, flight, then faint.
Speaker: Okay, so... 1, 2, or 3, you're going to try and fight this thing.
Speaker: 4 or 5, you are going to flee.
Speaker: 6, you are going to drop.
Speaker: That is a 3.
Speaker: That is a 3.
Speaker: So when we start this next session...
Speaker: You are going to try to step forward and fight this thing that you just watched kill your crush.
Speaker: So it's still there?
Speaker: For this moment, yeah.
Speaker: Uh-huh.
Speaker: And, Ryan, I need you to do me the same thing.
Speaker: Rank fight, flight, or faint?
Speaker: Normally, Ryan would be fight first, but he just watched it snap her neck without even really trying.
Speaker: So, flight, then fight, then faint.
Speaker: Okay, so flight would be one through three.
Speaker: Fight would be four or five.
Speaker: Feint would be six.
Speaker: So go ahead and roll that D6.
Speaker: I got to grab one.
Speaker: Give me a sec.
Speaker: I had my D4 out.
Speaker: I just didn't have a D6.
Speaker: I had both.
Speaker: I was scared.
Speaker: That is a four.
Speaker: That is a four.
Speaker: So you see...
Speaker: When we start the next session, you are going to see Ned step forward and try and fight this thing.
Speaker: And the first thing that's going to cross your mind is, well, shit, I just watched this thing kill Ashley.
Speaker: I can't let Ned take it on alone.
Speaker: So you're also going to step forward and try and fight it.
Speaker: Excellent.
Speaker: Thank you, Ned.
Speaker: Oh, my God.
Speaker: You're so welcome.
Speaker: If you kill me, I will haunt you.
Speaker: I ain't gonna kill you.
Speaker: It's gonna kill us, but that's fine.
Speaker: This is a dream.
Speaker: This ain't real.
Speaker: Uh-uh.
Speaker: Nope, this ain't real.
Speaker: This ain't real.
Speaker: I ain't doing this.
Speaker: Says the man charging the thing.
Speaker: Fuck you.
Speaker: Oh, good job, Jordan.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Good job, handler, keeper.
Speaker: Smell you later.
Speaker: Bye.
Speaker: Bye-bye.
Speaker: Melanie.
Speaker: Deuce, bitches.
Speaker: Nailed it.
Speaker: Got it in one.
Speaker: Let's Play Pretend is Nick Barnett as Ned Dalaran, Breck Black as Ryan Winchester, Matt Check as Arthur Gooseberg, Melanie Derringer as Samantha Williams, and me, Jordan Derringer, as your GM, DM, handler, keeper, and host.
Speaker: Keep up with us to hear firsthand on any fun new developments that may be coming in the future.
Speaker: There's gonna be fun new developments coming in the future.
Speaker: And we will see you all here in two weeks time.
Speaker: Ha ha ha!
