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C2 Ep. 97 Eyes of Stone Chapter One
292 Plays3 years ago
The party takes some time to sort out personal affairs.
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, Charles Compton, Deviouspoptart, Nastasia Raulerson, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Andy Dossett, Rebekah Gowman, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Eric Witman, Jerry Theuns, Philip Newman, Mark Stanley, and Shelby Johnson.
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Transcript
Introductions and Acknowledgments
00:00:00
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by Mark Stanley, Philip Newman, Shelby Johnson, Jerry Thunes, Andy Dossett, Eric Whitman, Edvard Arnoff, Natasha Rallerson, Deavius Poptart, Rebecca Gowman, Elizabeth Clark, David Scrams, Charles Compton, Darryl Delaney,
00:00:20
Speaker
Ryan Royce, Darren Katska, Irene Villarito, and Laura Pickman, as well as all of our generous patrons.
00:01:09
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to a program you need to actually play podcasts at the Everon campaign setting. I'm your game master, Eric. I'm Phillip. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. And welcome to another episode.
Recap of Previous Episode: Ego and New Job
00:01:20
Speaker
Gentlemen, what happened last time? Ego was a butt. We finished the job. New revelation on the show. We did finish the job, which was good. Uh,
00:01:36
Speaker
Kind of. Did he count it? Did he count it as finished? No, no. It seems like that meeting ended with him saying, no, no, no, no, no. Go kill him. I'm telling you. It's fine. Let's just go kill him. It'll be good. Sorry, I have an art impression. We finished the art, which was good. So that's what happened. You met with Axtree and Al soir.
00:02:05
Speaker
Uh, got to know him a bit better and
00:02:11
Speaker
essentially told him to lay low for a while and found out that he may be taking a job with Salomon Callaway. Because Salomon Callaway's other flying around enforcer has mysteriously gone missing. And the button was that Raynard found Norsen Millhatch's helmet in a box with a note that said payment delivered
00:02:38
Speaker
Yeah, our home tomorrow night. And it was delivered after midnight, so we got like 48 hours. Because, as you all can tell, Trevor was unable to join us for this recording session, so Raynard has sent word to you all that his family has contacted him with some urgent business and he needs to go tend to it. Which seems like that would be on brand for Raynard.
00:03:04
Speaker
All right. So, uh, I mean, frankly, he sent us word, so no, it's not fair enough. Um, good point. Uh, I think we should all probably be very alarmed that he informed us to be fair. The call to inform you all was a call I made and not Trevor. So that made me going against his vision for the character. Um, I will, I will text him real quick and see, um, he doesn't matter.
Morning After: Hangovers and Concerns
00:03:33
Speaker
Assuming you all just went to sleep when you got home, we can pick up the next morning.
00:03:43
Speaker
First, first and foremost, um, Eris, um, you are, yes, you're awoken to the sound of Olive's voice, uh, talking to somebody. Um, you, uh, you established the, uh, communication devices for yourself and hob and would it have been, uh, so far a field out of character for Eris to have talked about that breakthrough with Olive? Not at all. Okay.
00:04:13
Speaker
Uh, so all of it is also made a two way communication device for, um, communicating. Um, and she's having a, to your ear, Eris heated conversation, um, with someone, but you're still in the process of waking up hungover. So words are meaningless right now. I think Eris is probably like in Tasha, like on, on, on the, in the, in the back of Tasha or something like that, that she has come home and passed out. Um,
00:04:47
Speaker
Now remember kids, Tasha is an intelligent thing that flies herself. Eris did not drive home drunk. Yes, very true. Eris has her own perpetual designated driver. And no, what your Tesla can do is not the same thing. What your Tesla thinks it can do. Yeah. And the difference is your Tesla doesn't actually think. Tasha does.
00:05:17
Speaker
Um, so Eris, are you going to try and just lay there? Unassumingly, uh, or are you popping up like, well, I mean, the options are Eris, the, whatever conversation is going on, Eris suddenly sits up into the middle of it because I think it probably.
00:05:37
Speaker
probably doesn't immediately dawn on Eris that it's a phone conversation and not an actual conversation. So probably Eris' immediate thought is, oh, frack, somebody's in the garage. And if I sit up, then Tasha has to explain this weird person who just sat up out of the skiff parked in here. And so Eris will, for the moment,
00:06:02
Speaker
lie still and attempt to cover her eyes with something to block out the blinding light coming in through the windows.
00:06:12
Speaker
Okay, so you see Olive facing away from you, kind of leaning over her workbench. The harness is hanging up above her head. It's clear that she has also just gotten up. She has a cup of calf on her workstation next to her right hand where she's leaned over. And you can definitely read quite a bit of tension in her back as you hear her saying,
00:06:37
Speaker
Listen, it isn't my call to make alone. I have to talk with her about it. And even if I wanted to, I don't know if it would be safe or the smartest thing to do. I mean, there's a brief pause. Yes, I, I like Harbin too. I understand that Jerome. I understand the situation you're in, but I, I'm not involved in any of this. Remind me who Jerome is.
00:07:09
Speaker
the head lab assistant of Norsen Millhatch when you all broke and were transformed and was later revealed to be all of his brother. Okay, once it's clear that no one else is in... Based on her tone, the relationship is tense. Not bad, just tense. Yeah, I kind of got that.
00:07:32
Speaker
Once it is now obvious that no one else is in the place, Eris sort of rolls over and sort of drapes one arm over the gunnel of Tasha and puts her head on the rail so that she is present in the room without actually having to maintain her own uprightness in energy. I'd like to say that probably what would alert
00:08:09
Speaker
Eris used the deplete function on her glove during the last mission. Okay. And hasn't had a chance to fix it again. And so I think there's an element of Eris swings her arm out and then remembers that the glove is depowered and it doesn't have quite a, and so it's actually just kind of weight on her arm. And so it just sort of clanks against the thunks against the side of Tasha as she, as she rolls half halfway out of the ship.
00:08:25
Speaker
all of to her presence is
00:08:39
Speaker
Um, I'll have kind of her head turns over her shoulder and looks back. Um, and you see her look at you kind of one eyed open look.
00:08:51
Speaker
Uh, she, she kind of gives you a half smile and nods and she says, okay, yes, Jerome, Jerome, I hear you. Yes. Okay. She just woke up. I will talk to her, but I'm not making any promises and no, you cannot come down here yourself because privacy, boundaries are important, Jerome. Okay. So true. Goodbye. And she turns around and picks up her cup of
00:09:20
Speaker
Good morning.
Kegbottoms Rebuilding Plans
00:09:22
Speaker
It's morning. Did we have fun last night? No. Did I have fun at all? It's not fun. I drank. It wasn't good. Unfortunate. Vigors. What did you drink? Tart. Well, I'll inform the shard inquisitive of the breaking news.
00:09:54
Speaker
Who's... What's the Jerome? What's the Jerome want?
00:10:01
Speaker
So, um, I don't know if you've heard, but, um, Norse and Millhatch has been missing, um, for about a week now. And, um, obviously Millhatch Industries, the ship must continue on. And so Jerome has been named interim head of the company, as it were. Uh, but, uh, the higher, like,
00:10:30
Speaker
People attached with Kenneth and other interested parties want Harbin to be the one to carry on the legacy of Millhatch Industries, but Harbin's not ready. Drum needs somebody to help train Harbin. Drum called me. Uh, the last time we saw Millhatch, Norse, was the street fight with him and the armor. Yeah, the incident. Yeah.
00:11:01
Speaker
And Eris told the cops. Yes. Does Olive know? Does Olive know? I mean, Eris told the cops. Surely she's told Olive. Um, if she didn't, Eris would go,
00:11:21
Speaker
It's not missing. Well, it's missing. But he's he was in the he was in the armor on the street when they when I blew up my hand. That was that was a while ago, though, right? Someone seen him since then. I mean, I
00:11:45
Speaker
Yeah. Based on what Jerome has told me, he has been operating the day-to-day of Mill Hatch Industries up until a week ago when he didn't show up for work. That's as far as I know. He just said nobody has seen or heard from him. No good riddance.
00:12:11
Speaker
So Jerome is doing his best, but they're not going to be satisfied until the mill hatch air is on the throne, as it were. And Jerome doesn't have the time to train him. So he wants me as since Harbin and I already have a relationship of teacher and student, he wants me to get Harbin up to speed. All of kind of is trying to read your reaction. Um, Eris.
00:12:42
Speaker
sits herself up a little more, actually. So, so you're gonna go work, you're gonna go work there? No, that's not the ask.
00:13:04
Speaker
Jerome's not dumb. He knows that I've found somewhere else to live and work on my personal projects. And he wants this to be an off the books on my own time arrangement.
00:13:22
Speaker
Eris, I, reason I wanted to talk to you is because this is our space. It's a safe space, but, um, you know, you, you have brought your people in that you trust and shown them the space. And I'm inclined to say yes, because Harbin's good.
00:13:47
Speaker
Like my interactions with him, Harbin's not like his father. And if we have the chance to put somebody like him at the head of a thing, like Milhatch Industries, instead of his father, that might do a lot of good for a lot of people.
00:14:16
Speaker
But, if you're not comfortable with Harbin knowing where we are and what this space is, then obviously I won't do it. I mean... I've met Harbin a couple times, um... He seemed alright, but... Who else?
00:14:48
Speaker
would have to just come around. Just him. What about all these interested people who want him wanting out the helm? That's why Jerome doesn't want a whole lot of hands on Harbin's training. So that's why he doesn't want me coming around Mill Hatch Industries to do it in front of all of these eyes that would be watching. Jerome also believes that
00:15:19
Speaker
He's not as critical of Norsen's ideology. Isn't he at Wreck and Mark? No, he came from, he was at Wreck and Mark and got transferred here. Um, he, because Norsen decided that he wanted Harbin to train, uh, to take over the company one day. Um, Harbin was happy at Wreck and Mark, but he got into some trouble there.
00:15:50
Speaker
But that's not my story to tell. Where's, um, where's Harbin live now? I mean, he lived with his father, so he lives in the Milhatch estate in the upper part of the city. Um,
00:16:16
Speaker
They have a household staff, so I assume that they're helping to tend to him, but... What's that even mean? Like, I saw a thing comes up because we've seen fancy people, but what's tending to a grown person even really mean? Well,
00:16:40
Speaker
Um, for a young man of Harbin's age, oftentimes it means things like, uh, washing his clothes, cooking his food, um, you know, helping with his studies, things like that. All right. Um, if you think it's, if you think Arbin is safe, then that's okay.
00:17:12
Speaker
Thank you, Eris. I, I appreciate this. And if you want to, if you ever free and want to help, I'm sure Harbin could learn a lot from you and Harbin does like you. So that's not the usual reaction.
00:17:38
Speaker
I liked you when I met you. I mean, maybe it's just a certain type of person. Maybe you interact with the wrong people. Oh, that's definitely true. Hang around more artificers and your people will like you. Milo.
00:18:05
Speaker
You're awoken to three harsh wraps on the door of your mother's house.
00:18:16
Speaker
Okay. Not, not like boom, boom, boom, open the door, but just somebody is clearly trying to, it's, it's kind of early. They know that people might be asleep and need to be woken through knocking. So it's just a very loud. That was my question was like, what time of the morning are we talking about? Okay. Well, make an insight check on the knocks. That's right. All right. Well, Milo's gonna go to the door and look through the peephole.
00:18:44
Speaker
You see a half goliath standing in the street. They're wearing overalls and have a belt with various like implements and they have
00:19:06
Speaker
three tubes of large parchment rolled up underneath an arm. Is there just standing around, kind of looking? All right, Milo. Very casual. Milo opens the door. Okay. Yeah, yes. May I help you? Hi. Mr. Kegbottom? Yes. Hi. My name's, uh, my name's Joseph and, uh, we're, I'm sorry, were you not expecting me?
00:19:35
Speaker
Uh, no. Oh, um, the boss contacted me. Uh, I'm here to talk to you about, uh, kid bottoms. I got plans for you. Ah. Rebuild? Yes, I see. So I, I thought that I tried to contact you and set this up. I apologize if communications broke down.
00:20:04
Speaker
Uh, yes. Well, and who are you with? Uh, well, I'm, I run my own construction company, but I work with the clan frequently. And so, you know, mob discount. Uh, anyway, uh, Satan contacted me and basically said that you were interested in rebuilding keg bottoms.
00:20:28
Speaker
Yes, that's quite true. Yeah, he contacted me a couple weeks ago and basically asked me to drop some plans for you to assist.
00:20:45
Speaker
Right. Well, I guess... I can go if this is like intruding, if you have your own plans and stuff, that's fine. No, I actually don't. I was just, well, it's been kind of a rough few days, but yes. We can reschedule. No, that's all right. I don't. Okay. This is fine.
00:21:14
Speaker
Do you want to do this here? Do you want to go to the site? Where, what do you, what do you want to do? Let's go to the site. Okay. Great. Let me go, uh, you know, get properly dressed. Okay. Fixer upper, sharn edition. Come on in and have a seat.
00:21:36
Speaker
Thank you. And he kind of looks around at all of the halfling for Joe. I'll stand. There's a chair right over there by the wall. Oh, great. Thank you. Thank you. Didn't see it at first. I would offer you something to drink, but I just got up, so. Oh, I have my towel. It's fine. Thank you, though. And he pulls the thermos and starts unscrewing the lid and pouring some into the
00:22:05
Speaker
All right. Well, Milo goes and gets ready and where's that tea? It's towel tea. Yeah. And all right. I guess I'm ready. Let's, let's, let's, let's go. Okay. And as you all are walking over there, so Milo, tell me what's your, what's your vision for the relaunch of keg bottoms?
00:22:32
Speaker
Well, I just I mean, what we had was was very good. It was just something similar to that. Just a obviously a seller to store the you know, the the liquor and. And upstairs. With floors. Some walls. Yes, we get bold, maybe a window or two.
00:23:00
Speaker
You know what would be great? A bar. A bar would be nice. Open floor plan. No fire. Exposed beams. No fireplaces. Yeah, right. Too soon, Joseph. Too soon.
00:23:21
Speaker
Okay. Well, so what, what keg bottoms, at least based on my understanding, really had going for it, um, was kind of the family establishment, you know, established in like 700 something Y K like been around for a long time. That's correct. People can trust keg bottoms. So we could try to go for that. Like.
00:23:44
Speaker
You know, we're bringing back the past, really tried to drive into the nostalgia market a bit, or we could do something, um, you know, newer, you know, something that's a bit more that would attract a larger clientele potentially, um, and really, really benefit you and make you some money. But like I said, it's your vision. I have three different plans drawn up. We can go over them once we get to the site, but I just wanted to know where your headspace was at. And it seems like you liked what you had. You'd like to stick with what you had.
00:24:14
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. Yes, I believe so. To honor the family tradition. And honestly, I haven't really been giving it much thought lately. There's other things have been going on, but... Okay, that's Milo.
00:24:29
Speaker
And he, like, obviously he is like six foot, like seven. And so he's like looking down at Milo while they walk, like just like my, and he reaches down to, he's like, Milo, that's why I'm here. That's why I'm here, bud. To take this off your plate. You just, you tell me what you need and want, and I'm here to execute for you. So you don't have to think about it. Okay. That, that right now, that sounds wonderful.
00:24:52
Speaker
Great. And you all get to get to the space. And to your surprise, Milo, like it's been it's been totally cleared. Like it's clear that, you know, Joseph's team or somebody came out and just cleared away everything. So now you just have this recess in the stone where the cellar was in this empty plot in between two other buildings.
00:25:19
Speaker
in Sharn. It's like, okay, so home sweet home, right? Yes, definitely.
00:25:28
Speaker
And there is kind of a workbench set up near the site that Joseph walks you over to. And he reaches under as he's laying out the parchment rolling out, he reaches under it with his foot and with his foot while he's unrolling pulls out a step stool for you to step upon because you know it's a half goliath sized table.
00:25:49
Speaker
OK, so top one here is the new vision, which we're not going to go with. So it's one of them kind of maybe in between, you know, keep the family tradition and maybe add also a little bit of what you were suggesting.
00:26:06
Speaker
yeah like keg bottoms is it's still keg bottoms but it's fresh yeah so this one um so you see we have the exposed beams natural wood everywhere but uh we have with the with the bar set up
00:26:24
Speaker
The idea is automation, automation, automation, automation. Like you as a owner don't need to be tending bar all the time. You can be relaxing, chatting with the guests, uh, I mean, out making connections, whatever you need to be doing. So this is kind of that in-between idea of we're not going full like consistent bird with it, you know, but we're taking ideas that they have and implementing them to make your life easier.
00:26:50
Speaker
but still maintaining that down home feel from the aesthetics. Give me a perception check, Milo, as you're looking at these plans with a two purple difficulty. Eric, did you have a meeting with a designer before this to figure out how to talk this way? Because we just redid our kitchen and this is
00:27:11
Speaker
This is spot on. Thank you, thank you. He married into it. No success and two advantages. Okay, so what do you want to do with the two advantages? I have no idea. In this conversation about design.
00:27:31
Speaker
You're looking at the plans and like, it might as well be written in celestial to you. Like it's just, it's incredible. Well see, that's what I was going to say about my advantage was like, but if that's what the perception was about, then okay, nevermind. The perception was to note something about the plans and you did not notice the thing about the plans. You could say that you understand most of the plans. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Like I kind of get what he's going for and
00:28:00
Speaker
don't necessarily understand all of it. OK, I can tell I can tell if I kind of like it or I don't. How about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you can tell that with the two advantage, well, I will say for one advantage, Joseph, it is very clear that he did his homework and yeah, it is as close as somebody who has a recollection of what keg bottoms looked like.
00:28:26
Speaker
could make like it's clear that he is trying to recapture the place that you had before it burned down with some some some modern update touches here and there but still very respectful to what keg bottoms was okay um
00:28:43
Speaker
The other advantage, and this is just a fun thing that I thought of, he does say while he's talking about automation stuff, now one thing is because this is kind of a new avenue for me and my crew, we don't have somebody that can actually create the automated bits yet. So we're going to have to look for an artificer that we can contract with to come in and create the automations.
00:29:09
Speaker
Um, so that, that might set us back a little bit. Um, just, you know, vetting, finding the right person, somebody that you're going to trust to come into your space and make this kind of thing. So just, we'll put a pin in that for now, but just want to let you know.
00:29:21
Speaker
I wonder what Milo's thinking right now. Milo is thinking, which is the greater risk? Letting Eris do this or dealing with Eris after I hire someone else. Exactly. It's one of those classic Eric advantages where it might be a good thing or it could turn out terribly or both. So.
00:29:47
Speaker
Yeah, but it seems solid, Milo. So yeah, we can get started on construction as soon as tomorrow. My crew is out buying materials right now, getting stuff set up. So if you give the green light for this, then we can get rolling and get it taken care of.
00:30:07
Speaker
Out of curiosity, Eric, I'm trying to picture this. We haven't ever been here before. Is Kegbottom still a ruin or is it just blank at this point? Is there still wreckage everywhere?
00:30:21
Speaker
It's blank at this point. It's been, the site has been cleared. Um, it lack that, but to Milo's eyes, that's a recent development. Yeah. Um, yeah. Um, so, cause you know, it's a more rundown neighborhood, like the city's not going to take the time to deal with that. So yeah. Um, so Milo, are we, we good? Any other questions for me?
00:30:49
Speaker
No, I mean, it sounds like you have everything in hand and I like the plans. Great. Yes, let's go ahead. Excellent. Okay. So we'll get started probably in a couple of weeks. You can expect contact from my wife. She does the interior design for the spaces that I build. So she'll be in contact about like,
00:31:14
Speaker
actual furniture and stuff like that to get everything sorted in that regard.
00:31:21
Speaker
Very well. Okay. Great. Um, well, I will let you know that you gave the thumbs up and we'll get started tomorrow. Excellent. And feel free. Milo, Milo, I want to make this clear. I'm, I'm the foreman of this space. I'm running the ship when it comes to construction, but this is still your space. You can buy whenever you want. You check in whenever you want, even if I'm not here and you have questions for somebody working. Do not hesitate my man. Okay. All right. Sounds sounds very, very good. Thank you.
00:31:51
Speaker
Great. All right. Um, I'm going to go meet up with my team, but very good to meet you also, Milo. And he extends his very large half Goliath hand and you as well. And Joe gives you a pat on the shoulder after shaking your hand and he, uh, he rolls up his parchment and takes off. Milo heads back home thinking about how, how much deeper Satan has his hooks in him now.
00:32:20
Speaker
Um, okay. Uh, Jeff. Um, yeah. Uh, no, no, thank you. Okay. Um, well, the only thing that I was going to say is you had mentioned during the past arc of wanting to potentially talk to Sabia about the city council stuff, uh, going on. I mean, that is correct. I did say that. I could not tell you why I wanted to do that in the moment right now to save my life.
00:32:51
Speaker
So because, uh, Axrian told you all that Solomon is making moves to try and push members of what is known as the Boromar block out of the city council and bring his own people in. Um, and that one of Axrian's first jobs was to go to one of the prominent members of the Boromar block and intimidate them into vacating his seat so that that process could begin. Right.
00:33:19
Speaker
So I think it was more just get a lay of either Boromar's dealings on the city council or Solomon's dealings with the city council or both. Yeah. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I'm just trying to figure out what I was wanting to do with that or what I even pop could even at the time, like I'm happy to play it out and just see what happens. Okay.
00:33:42
Speaker
So, Jeff, you, or, Hob, you wake up in your bed at Savvias. Jeff, you wake up in Savvias, in a magical new land. Oh no. It smells terrible to you. It'll be okay, use all your D&D skills and your Genesis skills. I'm gonna go to jail.
00:34:09
Speaker
Um, so yeah, it's, it's morning at Savia's. So obviously it is close to the clientele. Um, but you know, this is administrative time. Um, Savia in her office working, um, a bunch of the other staff are here, uh, cleaning up from the night before and doing preps for the shift to come. Okay. Um,
00:34:38
Speaker
How do you even start to approach? We haven't really discussed what kind of relationship Hobb and Savia have. What do you envision? Is this the kind of person you can just walk up and be like, I have some concerns about the council. I don't think that topic has probably come up that often between you two, but I mean, Savia trusts you to look after her establishment and her members of staff. So there is a great deal of
00:35:04
Speaker
You feel like there's not much that you could ask of Savi that she's going to immediately balk or get mad about, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. All right. I think Hobb says, hey, you know, I got a question for you.
00:35:26
Speaker
regarding the City Council. I'm, uh... I mean, here's a question for you, Jeff, as well. How much does Sabia know about Hobb's other job, I guess? Like... Oh, I think Sabia probably knows that he works for the Boromars for sure. Okay. Because that's not classified information. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that she knows the details of jobs he's gone on, but I think... And she knows he works for the Boromars, and she's seen him. So she has a pretty good idea of what he does for them.
00:35:57
Speaker
a slightly harsher version of what he does for her. Yeah. So, um, I guess, you know, yeah, he might, he might just be like, uh, he might say, Hey, uh, Savia, you know, I'm, I'm concerned, but I'm not concerned. I ain't, okay. You know who I work for. Um, and. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Uh,
00:36:25
Speaker
Look, are you comfortable talking about some city council stuff with me? Well, I am your city council representative, so I suppose that is your right as a member of my district. Great, so what's going on there? Vis-a-vis the things you know I want to talk about.
00:36:51
Speaker
Well, I can be better. I've played with you for like six years, Jeff. I know what you're capable of. Well,
00:37:08
Speaker
The city council for quite a while has been very stable and that has been somewhat changing, I guess is the best word to describe it.
00:37:23
Speaker
There's been people making moves, but, you know, members of the city council that are under the oppressive thumb of your employer always wrote one way, and then there's a new... The opposition seems to be coalescing, as it were, under some mysterious new player on the scene to oppose the Boromars. Do you not know... Do you not know who that is?
00:37:53
Speaker
Oh, do you know who it is? Oh, yeah. Oh, I know who it is, but... Yeah. Okay. Interesting. Well, you said mysterious, and so I was like... Well, yes, because mysterious in that, like, people in the city don't know him.
00:38:07
Speaker
I bet most people in the city don't know that it's happening. That's true. It's just surprising. Anyway, do we say, is this a boogeyman thing? Can we just say Solomon Callaway? Yeah, Solomon Callaway. Yeah, but I mean, knowing his name does not...
00:38:25
Speaker
Sure didn't make it like him, I'll tell you that. It does not overwrite the fact that he seemingly came out of nowhere into the Sean political and crime scene and has exerted quite a bit of weight in a very short time. Frankly, I'm not sure that a power shift
00:38:49
Speaker
And I don't know that we've had a lot of conversations about this. I don't have a lot of love for my boss, but I don't know that this would be a, oh, come now. She smirks that she says that. Yeah, I don't know that this is the sort of power exchange that would be good for the city. Have you gotten a chance to get to know Solomon Galloway?
00:39:10
Speaker
I mean, he's a brute, he is a bully, and he feels like it is any given situation he is in, he has the right to control it. Is that your impression of him as well? Yeah, that's a Reader's Digest version of it.
00:39:31
Speaker
I haven't had, he has come to some city council meetings where we've had an open forum for concerned citizens to discuss their concerns to the city council. So he has come to those and yeah, just been a real jack wagon. I guess it's the only word that I can think of.
00:39:53
Speaker
I remember Jack Wagon. He is a real butt-head. Hey, right, but, um, you know, my thing, I fear... I don't know that we can trust his intentions.
00:40:08
Speaker
I understand and appreciate that, Hobb. At the same time, I can't support the Boromar block either. You know, I appreciate that you work for who you want to work for. And you will get no judgment from me, but as a politician and concerned citizen of the city, the Boromars are nothing but a festering pile of decay that is rotting our city from its very core. Right.
00:40:40
Speaker
And that includes their influence on the council. Right, of course. No, yeah. Listen, I'm not saying- And Harris is gonna volunteer on Salvia's re-election campaign. Yeah. I think Hob's trying to make clear without explicitly saying that he said something like a
00:41:01
Speaker
Look, I'm not saying the Boromars are good to be a part of running the city. I'm genuinely fearful of what I think Simon Calloway has been getting up to. Solomon Calloway has been getting up to lately. It's weird. This is way too much talk. This is way too much talk. Paul wouldn't say that.
00:41:25
Speaker
Like Hobb wouldn't say that, but I don't know how to make a satisfying scene without some of that stuff coming up. So I guess, Hobb, I appreciate that you've come to me and we're seeking information.
00:41:47
Speaker
I throw my support behind people that I feel like are going to do good for the people of Sharn. It is my responsibility to do good for the people of my district that includes you. So, I generally speaking, regardless of allegiance of Boromar or Dask or one of the houses, if they campaign on a platform that is helpful,
00:42:11
Speaker
then generally I'm going to back them and then I'll deal with my disappointment later when they turn out to be somebody that just takes money whenever they want. But what would you do for my help? I'm more than willing to help, Hopp, and assuage your concerns. No, I don't know that I need or want or know what to ask for help.
00:42:41
Speaker
I'm just trying to get a sense of if what you have, if what I've been seeing is, is real from someone that's on the council. I can, I can confirm that. Yes. Solomon Callaway is exerting his considerable resources to try and influence the city council and push the Boromar clan out, specifically targeting the Boromar block. I should also point out.
00:43:10
Speaker
So he seems to have beef with your boss. Right. Oh no. Yeah. Big time. For sure. I don't know. Now that may be a personal thing or based on my interactions with Solomon, it may simply be going after the biggest perceived threat. Because if he takes down Boromar, Dask is not going to want to mess with him. The tyrants are not going to want to mess with him.
00:43:33
Speaker
If he took out the tyrants, Boromar would still want to throw their weight around. So he may just be punching the biggest person in the yard, as it were. I was going to say the same thing. I think it's the only real metaphor we got for that, and you nailed it.
00:43:53
Speaker
I think, Salty, you and I need to spend more time together so that I can grow to trust you enough to talk to you about things that need talking about, maybe. What do you say? I would enjoy that. These morning hours are dreadfully boring. Well, Hob, this has been great. Thank you for coming to me. And if you need anything else, don't hesitate to come talk to me, even if it's just conversation.
00:44:25
Speaker
Oh, great. Thank you for that. I'll come have just a conversation with you some days. I mean, you're the large, brooding Goliath that beats up the troublemakers, but I don't really know you that well. Right.
00:44:45
Speaker
I, I, I, she gets the last word on that one. Okay. Um, you all through the various, uh, communication channels that he would do so, um, you get a call from Satan, um, asking you to come by HQ for a meeting.
Call from Satan: Meeting at Boromar HQ
00:45:07
Speaker
Which of us specifically gets a call from Satan all three of you presumably four but one of you is busy So one of you is gonna go Satan. We'll see how no I'm not I'm not gonna hold it against you all that one of your fellow players couldn't be here Ray Raynard Raynard calls Satan back is like I've got some family issues going on I am so sorry and then I have lunch with Solomon, but we'll we'll have lunch soon Does the note come like pinned to a brisket?
00:45:37
Speaker
It's just written on the butcher paper wrapping up some chicken. Yep. You're just in your workshop, Eris, and you turn to grab something and you turn back to your workbench and just, yeah, a brisket has manifested, uh, with a note. Um, so mine was a whole cow, a live one, walked off, tied around his neck. What to do with this? Um,
00:46:05
Speaker
And Milo got a carrot tied to a stick with a note on it. No metaphor there. Okay, so I'm assuming that you all answer the call of your boss. Do you all meet up at the four sales and go together? Is that standard operating procedure? What's the time tape?
00:46:28
Speaker
Was there enough time between when we got the note and the meeting that we would have talked to each other? Sure. Yeah, let's say that the notes that the communication came Mid-morning like shortly after each of your scenes wrapped up and He wants he wants you all to come for lunch, so you have a couple hours Then yes hob would have likely reached out to
00:46:57
Speaker
I mean, he would reach out to Eris about a ride and the others simply because he would reach out to all of them at that point. So yeah, I think meeting at the four sales makes sense to me. Yeah. Yep. Okay.
00:47:11
Speaker
Um, so you all get to the for sales and, um, as you walk in, you opens not behind the bar. Uh, he's in one of the back booths and, uh, he's facing the door and he sees you all walking and just gives a little wave and he's talking to somebody sitting across and he's got like a clipboard, uh, in front of him. Uh, and you all can recognize the back of ACE who is clearly sitting there in the middle of the job interview. Um,
00:47:42
Speaker
Wow. None of Hobbs' business.
00:47:51
Speaker
It's very clear that Ace is wearing um a pair of slacks that are like three sizes too big and a short sleeve like yeah short sleeve button down just yeah so looks he tried his best to look appropriate for a job interview. How does Ulfin look like does he does he look like Ace's nail in it or um
00:48:15
Speaker
often seems engaged. He's like nodding and it opens out rolling his eyes or like looking at you like, Oh God, this idiot. But he also doesn't seem like glowing, but, um, her Eris has her goggles on, uh, in place of sunglasses and a thermos. Cheap waves. The back door of the, um,
00:48:40
Speaker
of orphans opens and, uh, um, Sana walks through carrying a couple bundles of things like, Hey, Iris. Hey, Sana. Are you okay? I'm all right. What's going on? Okay. Um, long, um, night. It was a long night. Hmm. Sorry.
00:49:13
Speaker
Kath also walks through the doors, having also been sent the communication. And just, it is way too early. That's what it is. Hi, everyone. Hello, good day to you. Is Sigil here? If this went to everyone.
00:49:44
Speaker
Yeah. Where's, um, where's Sizuel? I don't know. Uh, they, they've been, I've, I've, I've tried to reach out a couple of times and, um, I got in touch once, but they said that they, they were too busy. Um, so I think they're trying to get out or they have something else going on. I don't know. Hmm.
00:50:10
Speaker
I've, I've tried to track them down. They're not staying at the, uh, the warforged housing spot down the street anymore. So I don't know. Huh. I'm worried about him, but yeah. Yeah.
00:50:32
Speaker
I also wanna respect their privacy, like they don't want me around, so I'm not gonna press it. So, Sana walks up behind the bar. Any of you all want anything? It's like middle of the morning, right? Yeah. It's high brunch time.
00:50:59
Speaker
Hob is not putting anything in his stomach that might take up room for some of Satan's food. I got fish and waffles. Bruce, shut up. Eris absolutely takes a waffle. If there are waffles offered at the for sales, Eris absolutely takes a waffle. Okay.
00:51:28
Speaker
Well, I'll have about a cup of calf, I guess. Sure thing, Milo. Thank you. And I did have a bit of news this morning. That's a big fellow named Joseph. Building contractor. That's a weird name. Building contractor.
00:51:57
Speaker
It appears that keg bottoms will be rebuilt. We went to the site, he had some plans and I settled on a plan and it's going to be keg bottoms coming back.
00:52:16
Speaker
Oh, and he did mention that at some point in the process he would need an Artificer's skills, Eris, if that's something you might be interested in. It's going to kind of make it a little bit more modern. What's that mean? Kind of a little bit of automation involved.
00:52:45
Speaker
Like that bird place? Kind of, but not as much as, I guess. What's
Interpersonal Dynamics: Hob and Eris
00:52:57
Speaker
he want done? Well, he didn't really say. He just said that at some point he would need somebody with those type of skills and to hire on, I guess.
00:53:11
Speaker
He did. The only specific he gave you Milo was that the, like nobody would need to tend bar. Like people would be able to order drinks and it would be fully automated. The drinks and such would be fully automated. I, I wouldn't have to be there to tend bar necessarily or anybody.
00:53:35
Speaker
And he would need to hire somebody for that and I thought, well, you know, if you had time and were available whenever that time came, you might be interested. Who's paying for this? I would assume...
00:53:56
Speaker
Could it be saved? There's, there's a, there's a nineties reference for everyone. Well, it's certainly wouldn't be not everyone suddenly wouldn't be me. It would be coming from the clan. Hmm. I mean, I have some money to put towards it, but the bulk of the money will be coming from Satan. Of course.
00:54:37
Speaker
I think that has anything to do with the way the jobs have been going recently. I mean, he starts asking us to do things that he never asked us to do before. He starts asking us to do things that we don't want to do.
00:55:06
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, you get this thing you really want. I, you know, I can't deny that that could be a possibility, I guess. Are we entirely sure that all the jobs come directly from Satan?
00:55:32
Speaker
You're not, you're not certain, but you're also, there's no, there's no reason for you to not think that he would at least be aware of the jobs that Vigo is sending you on, but you don't have hard evidence to indicate that, you know? Right. Right. Like it's like in a company where it's like, well, why wouldn't the CEO know that that was going on? Um, so yeah. Yeah. I don't believe I.
00:55:59
Speaker
in the court of law, they could deny knowing that it was going on. Yeah. But I don't. Just with everything going on with Milo, I don't think Milo's entirely convinced that. OK, well, yes, that that's very well could be a possibility, but. I'm just not entirely convinced that
00:56:27
Speaker
And he kind of looks around, see if there's anybody else around. And I just, I'm not entirely convinced that... Saden possibly knows every job we're being sent on. Because I just, I don't trust... Jason at all.
00:56:52
Speaker
The Vigo, I don't know if he has a clue about much of anything. I just I don't know. So you think. You think someone's able to send us on jobs to murder people. And just and not tell the boss about it and just not tell the boss. I. I I think it could be possible.
00:57:26
Speaker
and you think that the night after we go and talk to that little tart about our discomfort with jobs that involve murder suddenly the next morning you get this thing you've been really wanting and we get called in to headquarters you think that's just coincidence?
00:57:58
Speaker
I'm not sure. Did Milo, I'm sorry. I just couldn't quite figure out. Did you say that explicitly who you think is sending us on these murder jobs? No. No. Okay. We are left to make implicit. Okay. Then I don't want to say. Okay. Milo doesn't know. He's just, he's just trying to find a way out. But you know, I mean all, it's all my life.
00:58:28
Speaker
Satan has been really good to my family. I mean, he's always been there for us. He's always treated us well. He's always been there when we've needed anything or we've ever had any trouble. Satan is
00:58:56
Speaker
It's just hard for me, even though obviously he's not a good man. It's just when it comes to my family, he has been. So it's very difficult for me. Except Kylie was your family. True, and I still don't think Satan had anything to do with that.
00:59:27
Speaker
I think it's Jason. And somehow Jason has reasoned his way into the clan. He works for the clan. He works for the clan. But I think he has his own agenda. Whatever that is. I think you've made his influence far too outsized in your head, Milo. You think he burned down your bar and murdered Kylie.
00:59:55
Speaker
and somehow did and and and has done that without without Satan knowing about it and has done that without saying without any repercussions if Satan does know about it so he was just saying well whatever it's just Jason really and why would he why would he have done all of that
01:00:21
Speaker
Who was Jason before any of this? To you? To Kylie? I don't know. He just appeared out of nowhere, as I recall. And we know that he can change his appearance. I just... I don't know. You may be right. I'm keeping an open mind, but...
01:00:44
Speaker
You know, what if I would have said no? I mean, would I have been pushed to do it anyway? I mean, I don't know. It's... I just know that keg bottoms needs to be rebuilt. Why?
01:01:06
Speaker
Because it's a business that's been in my family for generations. It's what I do. It's what my family has done. But it's actually... If I can... I would love to just quit all this and just tin bar. But it's actually theirs. It's not yours. It's theirs. You're not building it. They're building it. And they'll loan it to you as long as it's useful to them.
01:01:35
Speaker
I guess that is quite true. So it's not in your family, it's in their family. So then, what should I do then? Should I just go say, no, don't build the bar, I don't want it anymore. I can do what they want with it, it's theirs. But it doesn't have to be this, doesn't have to be this tether on you.
01:02:11
Speaker
Well, I guess if it were to come to that, I would just say, well, Charles, do what you want with it. One important note, Randy, just based on our conversations of establishing what Ked Bottom was, your family owns that plot in Sharn. So like the land, ostensibly, is yours. Right. All right. But that doesn't mean I own the building. I mean, I don't know if Satan's going to put the building in my name.
01:02:38
Speaker
I would maybe own it, but not. Here's your waffle, Eris. Let's just go to lunch and see what's on his mind. I think at some point after that conversation,
01:03:04
Speaker
maybe while they're going to lunch. Hob wants to pull Eris aside for a minute, though. Eris has the waffle in her hand. While that conversation was happening, though, absolutely, Ulfin got up from the booth and Ace went to go walk out and saw you all and gave like a double thumbs up to see. He's got the job. And Ulfin sees it and just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Listen, the hiring market at Ulfin's not awesome, so I think
01:03:33
Speaker
after considering many, many classified candidates. Yes, you can come wash my dishes. Anyway, Hobb was pulling Aeris aside. Yeah, Hobb was pulling Aeris aside and he just said, Aeris, listen, and you, I don't know, just, okay. There's helping Milo figure things out. And there's giving Milo things to think about.
01:04:00
Speaker
And then there's what you're doing, which is constantly asserting the fact that Milo is some sort of fool who doesn't know how to think about these things on his own. And that's not okay.
01:04:15
Speaker
Eris, you're being kind of a jerk to Milo. A man in crisis who doesn't know anything else. I understand that the fact that you know more of the world than Milo is not necessarily a blessing to you.
01:04:33
Speaker
But the fact that he knows less of the world than you do, that he thinks about things in terms of, this is my family's home, this is where I will be, we own bars, they're building me a bar, and he's pleased with that. And I'm not saying we don't need to help him think about it more deeply. I'm saying lighten up a little bit on Milo.
01:04:58
Speaker
when it comes particularly to this thing. If you want to keep getting on Milo for the way that he keeps almost killing me with his magic gone wrong, oh my goodness, you say whatever you'd like, okay? And yes, if we need to keep making sure Milo understands that, I think this goes a bit beyond Jason. But when it comes to this bar, he needs to understand that
01:05:27
Speaker
that it's not as simple as it seems, sure. But... I've said it already, just frickin' chill, dude.
01:05:58
Speaker
to where it's going. We've got to get out of this. And if he's still got this messed up, twisted loyalty to these. These awful people we work for. Then we have to leave him behind.
01:06:27
Speaker
Yes, we are. And he's a grown man who can make that decision. Now we can do our... Yes, Randy, yes. He's a grown, albeit small man.
01:06:46
Speaker
who's a man who's grown as much as he's going to. Well, that works on a lot of levels with Milo, huh? Sorry, I'm interrupting your speech. No, wait, no, you're interrupting some sort of speech. I don't know. What was I, he said he's a grown man. I agree with you that we've got to
01:07:16
Speaker
It's time for a career change for us. And maybe it isn't for Milo and maybe it isn't for Reynard. And when that time comes, that'll be their decision to make. And yes, I will do my best and I will age you in doing your best to help them realize what the best decision for them is, which I agree with you is getting out of here.
01:07:47
Speaker
We've got to let them come to that decision on their own, and I fear that if we continue forcing certain aspects of it down their throat, like how owned Milo will be by the clan, we need to not run him off by saying that so forcefully and harshly that he shuts us off. Does that make sense?
01:08:19
Speaker
I just don't know why he won't see it. It's hard to see the things we don't want to. No matter how often someone grabs us by the shoulder and points directly at it. But it's not impossible.
01:08:50
Speaker
And Milo is not a fool. He's, um, dealing with a lot. And this feels easy and simple and comforting. And I understand why he doesn't want to shift it into another, uh, just another item in the lose column.
01:09:25
Speaker
Paris eats her waffle. Hob eats her fish. They wouldn't serve it separately, so. Ophin has a very strict no substitutions policy. Hob does put it in a hole and pull out just the skeleton. Like some sort of garbage cat.
01:09:56
Speaker
All right, so you all head up to Boromar HQ.
Arrival at Boromar HQ
01:10:00
Speaker
Kath and Sana are with you. And you all, as soon as you enter the front doors, the receptionist working that day, a halfling man just waves you through like, yeah, you're expected. As you enter Satan's office,
01:10:21
Speaker
Um, one of the, so this room is like on the exterior of the building. And, um, one of the walls has been like propped open to like expose the just air of the city. Um, and Satan is standing in front of a very large
01:10:42
Speaker
Very large metal contraption and smoke is just pouring from it as he is tending to some meat and he turns like, oh good. It's a grill. You can say grill. That's not, that's not unfantasy.
01:10:59
Speaker
End of episode.
Conclusion and Community Engagement
01:11:01
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be part of the conversation surrounding the show and this episode and all the other insane antics, head on over to our Discord, the link to which you can find on our Facebook group, our Twitter, our Instagram, at the Geek Pantheon. We also have a YouTube channel, youtube.com slash the Geek Pantheon, where in the description, all the videos, you can find the link to the Discord.
01:11:23
Speaker
And also, speaking of videos, there's videos on the YouTube channel. There's lots of, you know, Eberron, D&D, General DMing, playing all kinds of videos over there, as well as in their actual play, Kyber Shards, set in Eberron, GMed by Philip. And we have a Patreon. Patreon.com slash the e-pantheon. If you want to financially support the shows in any way that you are able, you can do so over there. We have a variety of tiers that you can join. So go check it out.
01:11:53
Speaker
uh okay thank you all so much for listening i've been your game master eric i'm philip i'm randy i'm jeff we'll see you next time oh my goodness that's so hard