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Through the Looking Glass, pt 2
140 Plays1 year ago
Join the young Time Lord, the Fixer, on the second half of the first adventure in his Semester Abroad!
Briefly stranded in the UK in 1890 to solve a mystery with bizarrely *flattened* bystanders, he's joined by Maeve Sullivan, an intrepid reporter that doesn't quite fit in! Lives are on the line, and danger lurks around every corner!
Enjoy thrills, chills, and laughs galore with Brand Osorio and Cate MacCoyne, along with GM Casey Jones. It's bound to be a delightful time!
Music by Tabletop Audio
Theme by RJ Pirchinello
Follow us on Twitter and come say hi!
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Transcript
Introduction to Anywhere But Now
00:00:05
Speaker
Time travel, sci-fi adventures, and risky rolls of the dice lie ahead. Hello and welcome to Anywhere But Now, a Doctor Who actual play podcast. I'm your host and GM, Casey Jones. The next hour or so holds a thrilling adventure in time and space, so let's dive in.
Meet the Time-Traveling Crew
00:00:22
Speaker
With me is the wonderful crew of our time-traveling machine. Playing the Fixer is the wonderful Bran DeSorio. Hello, Bran. Hello.
00:00:31
Speaker
and joining him for their very first adventure is Maeve Sullivan, played by the terrific Kate McCoyn. Welcome, Kate. Let's go. Later on, we'll be joined by guest NPC player, storyteller extraordinaire, Jack Scheer. Yay! Are you guys excited? You feel that energy? Absolutely. Get ready for a collaborative, immersive storytelling experience, because that's what I've been bringing to tables for over 10 years.
00:00:58
Speaker
A bigger on the inside thank you to our listeners. Time is truly a gift, or it wouldn't be the present. We thank you for spending yours with us. If you like what you hear, follow us on Twitter at anywherebutnow underscore at the end. Links to everything in the doobly-doo. Stick around after the game for interviews with the players. Brought to you wherever you're listening in time and space, this is Anywhere But Now.
00:01:24
Speaker
Previously on Anywhere But Now.
Time Lords' Semester on Gallifrey
00:01:47
Speaker
A server delivers a pair of plates and a to-go box to a pair of gentlemen. These gentlemen happen to be Time Lords. You have come up through the doctoral program on Gallifrey. This is quite literally your semester abroad. It's nice to know we've earned their trust.
00:02:02
Speaker
But on the surface of the mirror, there appears to be a person, frozen, flat. You could very well be dealing with a two-dimensional creature, or more than one. Well, that's on my part terrifying. Vanity Glass is one of the larger industrial corners of New Key.
00:02:21
Speaker
I'm Maeve Sullivan. I'm a journalist here with the Chronicle. Do you say hello? I'm from glass and safety. Don't worry. We're here to fix your problem. He is the auditor. And I'm just here to help out. You can just call me the fixer. Do you audit the safety and you fix the glass? Yes! Turn towards the secretary. Pull out the psychic paper again. Flip it open. You know why we're here.
00:02:44
Speaker
That is really good. Next time I'm just gonna tell someone, you know why I'm here. What are you so worried about? Why are you standing behind a mirror? With the lamp light, throwing more light in the corner... That's horrifying! And while you are focused on it, trying to communicate with it, the high hum line of glass being pressured against picks up another one.
00:03:11
Speaker
The chalkboard rains dust and the dust flattens against the chalk. The words, trapped here, help us, home.
Mystery of the Mirror Creatures
00:03:57
Speaker
So while the fixer is trying to figure out how to talk to this thing with its affecting dust on a two-dimensional plane, his left hand drops to his side and it's still clutching silver orders. Maeve pulls one that does not look anything like the others out of the sheath. An order of six ingots purchased from someone that is not their usual supplier at half the usual rate for what the ingots are worth.
00:04:25
Speaker
They got a good deal on silver. Do I recognize the name at all? The name is that of Mr. Shine, who is currently residing at the Fork and Whistle. Fork and Whistle. I may have a lead for us. I'm going to say with deep sincerity, I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are free and returned home. Please give us some time. We want to find the person who trapped you and sold you into this.
00:04:54
Speaker
Give me a presence and convince roll, please. You are at an advantage. So roll three dice and give us the best of two. Yay, we got a six, a two, and a one. So I'll definitely take the six and the two. And you said presence and convince? Yes, please. So that's gonna bring us up to a 13. The topmost Mirum looks very skeptical at you until the auditor takes a step forward and says, he knows what he's talking about. We'll find you a way home.
00:05:22
Speaker
Before the hand recedes, chalk just shimmers one more time and then back against the surface of the wall. Hurry hurts here. We will make sure that we do this as quick as possible. But to exterior of the glassworks, you guys exit the elevator with three surviving gentlemen. Nobody died up there, which is news. You step out into the cold air of winter in New Quay in 1890.
00:05:51
Speaker
with the slips, the information. Give me an intuition roll, Fixer, please. Absolutely. Awareness and intuition or just intuition by itself? This is going to be awareness and intuition.
00:06:23
Speaker
Flip up the psychic paper and say, sir, he was following the law. And as I know, you want to as well. So yeah, the intuition role, you can tell that his biggest priority is getting rid of these things as soon as possible. Ooh. The intuition role is what cinches it for you. There could be a deal to be made here rather than a conflict.
00:06:26
Speaker
Okay cool. A 16.
00:06:44
Speaker
Oh, well, I have the perfect answer for that. Continuing with what I just said, immediately go into. We will have to confiscate these items, but don't worry, we will be paying you market price. The auditor steps up right next to you. Of course, there will be compensation for your workmen for the mental anguish at work conditions that you've done nothing to fix. Bartholomew reddens and then blanches, snatches up the delivery reports, looks through them, hands them back and says, where do you want them sent?
00:07:11
Speaker
Real fast, as we're on our way out, I look at them and go, this is a normal occurrence in glass and safety. It happens more often than you might think. Cut to the exterior of New Key as a very confused bunch of workmen now have unloaded these resealed, crated mirrors against a very small red watch repair shop.
00:07:34
Speaker
nestled in between two buildings on this side of the street. Even the cases look like they won't fit if they're slid in one at a time through the doors of this watch repair shop with a simple sign over the door that reads quick fix time repair. So you're saying you want us to put this in there? It'll never fit.
00:07:57
Speaker
The auditor pulls out a five pound note and hand it to the guy. He says, we'll take it from here. And he shoves the first crate. He disappears into the door. Fast forward five minutes as the last crate is slipped inside the TARDIS. And wouldn't you know it, this booth is parked just opposite the fork and whistle. You know, if I had known better, I wouldn't have thought all those would have fit in there. It's a pretty small booth.
00:08:24
Speaker
Important thing, walk over to the inside, that first inner door, and pull two of the pocket watches off of the table, or however many pocket watches I need to, so that way we can give one to each one of the workmen. Ha! As a tip or something? As I hand it to them, I'd like to say, you've done some great work today. You should take a couple of days off. Are you trying to do the psychic-y thing that the Doctor very seldom does, but actually can any time they choose? Don't you think she looks tired? Is that what you're trying to do right now?
00:08:52
Speaker
Oh, no, not at all. I'm kind of hoping that they take the clocks with them. So later on, if we need to track them down due to any after effects from being exposed to this, we'll be able to find them pretty easily. Your field of turn of the universe has not tweaked at all. The only physical subtraction you've witnessed was the flattening of that guy's thumbprint. Excellent. So no other side effects to worry about? No, they would either be that was close or they'd be dead. There is no in between.
00:09:20
Speaker
So they get a wonderful week off, hopefully, when they end up hawking the watches. The entirely sketchy, temporary address of this very small proprietor of ingots, a Mr. Tripshine, staying in the fork and whistle while you find people are here. As we head over, I say, should be easy enough to find him. I live in a flat upstairs.
00:09:43
Speaker
Oh good, do you know your neighbors? So you re-enter the fork and whistle. Most of the day has transpired. It is closer to dusk. Rosie is haranguing Billy to get the sheets upstairs. She is distracted by a handsome gentleman sitting in a corner booth. I'm going to walk up to Rosie and say, good afternoon. How you? She says, it's been a strange day. God, why are they always Irish?
00:10:12
Speaker
Rosie says it's been a difficult day. They've had their hands full just trying to get a new mirror installed, throws a thumb over her shoulder. What do you think? A new mirror? Does it look the same as the other mirrors we've seen today? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Is there anything strange about it? Give me an awareness roll. Oh, it's not good. It's a seven. Can I spend a story point on that?
00:10:35
Speaker
You can spend a story point or two, yes. Your 30 minutes have elapsed, haven't they? Since you lost a
Oddities with Mirrors and Silver
00:10:40
Speaker
point in awareness for... Yes. Yeah, it's been over half an hour. Yeah, you're back up to full there. Yeah, so that's still... Your total is a seven? Yeah. Yeah, no. With a two and a one. Oh, God, yeah. No, that's a miserable failure. If you spend two story points, you can get up to a yes, but. Sure, I'll spend two story points on it.
00:11:03
Speaker
Okay, yes, you can see the mirror, but you can't be 100% certain that your reflection is just your reflection looking back at you suspiciously. It looks like my reflection looks different than what I think I look like? No, it looks like you. Because the light in here is low, you honestly can't tell if it's a second behind your reaction and you're being paranoid, or it is actually mirroring you a second too late.
00:11:32
Speaker
Rosie, can you do me a favor? What's that love? It's a lovely mirror. But maybe cover it for now. What on earth are you talking about? Presence and convince role, please. Convince her? I'm... Back. Give me an awareness role, please. Oh, and you are at advantage, Jack. You do have- you are at advantage, so roll three dice, please.
00:11:56
Speaker
I'd support a two for a 12. All right, so rolling three, that would make two sixes. Oh, lovely. Okay. Must my awareness before? Yes. Quick sidebar, Jack, you are perfectly up to date on everything happening in the room.
00:12:12
Speaker
Okay, so yeah, with a 12 on the dice, since Rosie is actually predisposed to you, you pay your rent every month on time, she's like, you know, it's been a weird enough day, this thing is giving me the creeps. And she snaps her fingers, Billy, laundry! And the boy who is neglected to take the fresh sheets upstairs all day takes the top sheet and drapes it over the mirror, covering it completely. Hey, Fixer, give me an awareness and intuition role, please.
00:12:42
Speaker
Yeah, we got a three and a five on the roll. Oh, the auditor just rolled Snake Eyes. He is now just blind in one eye for 30 minutes. That's great. Oh, no. Fixer, what was your total? Total was a 12. Do you want to spend a story point? Yes, please.
00:12:58
Speaker
As the mirror is being covered up by Billy and Rosie, you clock that the person over your shoulder in the corner booth is in fact watching you and is not surprised at all by anything going on right now.
00:13:13
Speaker
Okay, is this person recognizable or memorable in any way? He's got a jawline for days. He's a rather dashing person. Okay, walk right up to the booth, slide into the booth on the opposite side from him, and say, hey, handsome and dashing fellows such as yourself look like you know what's going on. A person who gets things done. Am I right about that? Sounds like maybe my reputation is clear.
00:13:40
Speaker
smile ear to ear and say, well, I'm sure with a storied reputation like yours, I should have an aim to go along with this white exquisite countenance. Oh, you're very kind. You can call me Trip Shine. A pleasure trip. What do you go by? Well, most of the people around here just call me the Fixer. I try to help out around here and there. Let me introduce you to someone absolutely wonderful. Motion for Maeve to come over? I walk over and like slide into the booth next to the Fixer.
00:14:08
Speaker
Allow me to introduce you to Trip Shine. Tell me he doesn't have a jaw that goes on for days. That is quite a jaw. And your teeth are very white. I do try to maintain my appearance. I extend my hand over to Maeve. I take it and give it a little, you know, ladylike shake. And I place my other hand on top and say, it is a real pleasure meeting you. The auditor clears his throat. Been in the silver business long, Mr. Shine.
00:14:38
Speaker
Now, what do you know what line of business I'm in at all? A reign of orders and deliveries fall to the tabletop along with the signed receipt from Mr. Bartholomew paying 50 pence on the pound for half a dozen silver ingots from Shine Limited. I have two questions. One, did the name come first or the business? And two, do you know what's going on here?
00:15:07
Speaker
The name is just the name. Or as the business goes, you know, I'm not sure I'm comfortable talking to strangers about my comings and goings. We have already introduced ourselves, so we're hardly strangers, Mr. Shine. Plus you've come with such a high recommendation.
00:15:24
Speaker
Yeah, but it seems to me that you're not very happy with me doing this. I don't think you're looking to bond. That's a very interesting posit. You see, we'd love to know where you got your wares from. I try to keep my clients safe. Since we've been talking about reputation, I can't just go blabbing other people's business.
00:15:48
Speaker
And that's sort of why we're talking to you quietly here. We don't want, in any way, to impinge upon your illustrious reputation. A reporter, you see. I work for the Chronicle. And currently I'm investigating quite a few missing people, and unfortunately, all roads lead back to you, and Mira's made with your silver. I'd hate to see anything happen to your reputation. Fixer, give me an intuition and awareness role with a plus two for field turn of the universe.
00:16:18
Speaker
Okay, so split down the middle we got a six and a one to start off 14 that is not White enough to suss out anything may I pop a story point on
00:16:31
Speaker
Can I give them a story point actually? I don't think this particular one is one where Maeve can help out. Okay. Just because this is something that she would have no background in. Fair enough. It's the equivalent of running into a stranger with a tag on their jacket from a ski lodge. You know those little stubs that people hang onto? It's like that, but it's the smell. There's a new car smell.
00:16:57
Speaker
clinging to trip shine that Fixer recognizes as short range time travel. Hmm.
00:17:06
Speaker
But only short-range. Yeah. So Tripp, you seem like a person who has really, really good intentions. It would mean so much to me if we could simply find out where your supplier is from. Because if we can't find your supplier, then unfortunately, I guess Maeve would be forced to run an article about your company being associated with the unfortunate loss of so many factory workers' lives. And you shouldn't underestimate the readership of the Cork Street Chronicle.
00:17:37
Speaker
It is growing. Right. This is what I'm waiting for. I don't know if you're gonna believe this, but I'm a time traveler. Lean in like really deeply and say, tell me more. Oh, what? Here, let me show you. Roll up my sleeve.
00:17:57
Speaker
That's what we call a vortex manipulator. The most powerful form of time travel in all the universe. The auditor snorts. You exaggerate, Mr. Shine. I'm going to tap him on the leg and, like, I'm going to do that. Don't demean Mr. Shine's way of travel. It is a very reasonable and honorable way of travel.
00:18:18
Speaker
I don't resent his conveyance, I resent his use of two-dimensional lifeforms in some sort of cat's paw. Whoa! I don't know anything about that! Where is an intuition? Versus your presence and convince? Roll presence and convince from me, Tripp. Four and a two on the dice? Name here! Four and a two on the dice! Plus five... to sixty. He does not believe you, but he does not have the gumption to call you out, either.
00:18:46
Speaker
If you're able to handle all that, I'll tell you what's happened. I'm a time agent. Ooh. One of the best, a lot of people say. And I was tapped to come here to Cornwall this year, sell a few ingots and... Tapped by who? If you don't know, I'm not telling you. Mr. Shine, there are people who have been hurt here. People who are missing and whose families want them back. Surely you can understand why we need the truth.
00:19:13
Speaker
Hey, there's something happening with that mirror. Maeve will turn around and look. My eyes will not leave him. Maeve has no idea what's going on. I drop it.
00:19:24
Speaker
The time agent opens his hand and reveals a Deadman switch no bigger than a rule of quarters. A bright candy-like button on top which he releases, chucks in the air, and smacks his vortex manipulator. Tripshine vanishes in a puff of new car smell and electricity seconds before a hum starts at one key and then
00:19:52
Speaker
settles into a hum that does not sound quite right. As the air around you, a wall of thickened air passes through the whole pub and continues to spread out through the windows outside. What was that? That's a very good question. Fixer, give me an awareness and technology roll. Plus two for time board. And throw the Sonic on there as well. Okay, so we got a six and a one.
00:20:19
Speaker
a 16. Yeah, you have felt this sensation before, not often, and you didn't enjoy
TARDIS Trapped in Cornwall
00:20:28
Speaker
it. A time lock has activated. From the cheap special effect of the air thickening around you, odds are the generator is somewhere in the building. What was your role with the Sonic and the Time Lord and everything else?
00:20:42
Speaker
a 16. Yeah, you can't tell from here just how big it is, but a growing pit in your stomach lets you know that your TARDIS is not dematerializing anytime soon. Okay. The auditor's hand comes down on your shoulder and squeezes as a reaction. Oh no. Put my hand up on his hand and say, don't worry, it's going to be all right. What's going to be all right? What's happened?
00:21:10
Speaker
I think Mr. Shine might have been shining us on a little bit. I do wonder if he either didn't know his employer or didn't have an employer, if you take my meaning. What is Kate's reaction to watching a man vanish in front of her eyes? In shock, this has been the weirdest day of her life, and she's just like trying to get these people to tell her something that is going on, and none of them are saying anything that is useful. All right, Fixa, you are going to stay here, and you're going to answer a couple of questions for me.
00:21:38
Speaker
One, where did he go? Not here, which means whatever he left here for us is not going to be pleasant. We have larger problems than a disappeared agent. And he extends the last delivery notice. Mitchell delivered it today to Bishop Rock Lighthouse. Oh God, I think we need to go. I think we need to go right now. You hear murmurs from outside, confused murmurs.
00:22:05
Speaker
I think Maeve has exactly the right idea. You guys step out onto the streets of New Key. We will lie and say geographically the land is not flat. You are elevated enough that you can see the lighthouse off the rocks from here. It is about dark. Some strange emanation. It looks like it might be stretching out from the beam of light from the top of the lighthouse.
00:22:34
Speaker
Well, let's hope we can get there as fast as Mr. Shine can move, eh? Well, we won't be able to move with quite that alacrity, but I'm sure we can catch up to where we need to be. The quick fix time repair booth is right there. We can't dematerialize, but that doesn't mean we can't take off. Boom-Ave, you asked for some answers, yes? Yes, don't think you two are off the hook. Right this way. In the watch repair shop. We'll explain inside.
00:23:03
Speaker
The Fixer brings you through the booth of the watch repair shop. It is a watch repair shop inside with a little counter and little clocks and pocket watches dangling from chains in various states of repair and whatnot. And then there is a door to the back room. Fixer, would you please describe what is on the other side of that door?
00:23:24
Speaker
Absolutely. A room that is wide and spacious. Its walls have lots of glass piping of various sizes, extending. Some from floor to ceiling, others in these soosian loops and squiggles that seem to defy both physics and fluid dynamics. In the center of the room is a clear console with the light-up controls.
00:23:43
Speaker
A crystal-appointed wand built into the floor is a few feet away. The only thing that isn't clear in the room is a small table right next to a armchair with ottoman. On that small table is an espresso machine and a little bowl of walnuts. We are in the Fixer's TARDIS. The sounds coming from the main console are an alert. It is not a flat-out alarm, but it is an alert. Fixer, give me an awareness and technology role, please.
00:24:15
Speaker
Mayva's just standing in the doorway of the foyer, just like looking around, not quite sure what to do with this information.
00:24:27
Speaker
You are able to read from the scanner that a time lock has been badly laid over the entirety of Cornwall, extending past its shores to the outer islands. Ooh, that's bad. This watch shop, it was much smaller from the outside. Well, not the 3A. It's this trick. It's a realistic painting. I, like, put a hand out and try to find, like, where reality ends and the painting begins.
00:24:56
Speaker
There is no painting. I assure you I have only answers here. And maybe some more questions. You still aren't off the hook, but we have to go.
00:25:06
Speaker
Excellent point. The sensors are telling you it's going to be a bumpy ride. The time lock means you can't dematerialize, but this ship can still fly. Give me an ingenuity and transportation roll, Fixer, please, with Throw Time Lord on there as well. And the auditor is going to pick a hand at the wheel. Ordinarily, I'm not supposed to help drive, but if he's going to cheat, why don't we?
00:25:33
Speaker
Hey, got a 17? We're based in a 3. That is mostly great news. From the street, with absolutely no warning whatsoever, the quick fix time repair shop just swims off the ground and begins to spin and pinwheel on a vertical axis through the air. You hear a sharp...
00:25:57
Speaker
As the ship flies a little too high and bounces off the fabric of the time lock, a light on the console goes dead, spinning in the general direction of Bishop Rock. We are, however, going to need another role to land safely, if you would be so kind as to give me ingenuity and transport. Again, please.
00:26:19
Speaker
Okay, not as good a roll of 3 and a 2, starting me as a 5 on the roll. That would be a 11. Should I send a story point on that? How many story points do you have right now? I only have two left. We barely get there in one piece. Hang on to those two story points, because you might need them!
00:26:37
Speaker
We land outside the Bishop Rock lighthouse. It is not a pretty landing. It is not a gentle landing. One or two alarms are going off. The temporal check engine light, so to speak. Maeve is hanging on to the railing as they land and she looks at the fixer and goes, maybe you need some more practice with this thing, huh? I am just learning. All right. Well, we're in one piece.
00:27:02
Speaker
They say any landing you can walk away from is a success.
00:27:17
Speaker
a shadow in the shape of a person with arms and legs is distorted and bent and wrapped until it's the same five bits as a hand stretching out on a beam of light and just clawing around in what could be terror and frustration above.
Investigating Lighthouse Mysteries
00:27:34
Speaker
That is a most brilliant trap.
00:27:36
Speaker
A lonely scary off the western Cornish coast and the smallest island on earth with a building on it. Chill salt brine blows in on the Atlantic breeze. It is cold. A tower 161 feet tall stands on the rock sending a powerful for 1890 beam across the water. It may be a trick of the light but is that a claw stretching from the beam?
00:28:01
Speaker
Can we make our way to the lower level of the lighthouse without being caught in that sort of like arm beam grabbing thing? Yes. The arm reaching out has not decided to give itself an articulation point like an elbow. So it is basically just a straight arm. Picture a hole that someone has tried to reach a hand through but they can't see what's on the far side so they're just fumbling around.
00:28:25
Speaker
Only the hand is much too big. It's made out of flattened light with razor sharp edges before it slinks back behind the regular beam that is now spinning around the top of Bishop Rock. I hope Mitchell hasn't been caught in all this. Do you think that's him? The delivery man. I know him. He's a friend.
00:28:43
Speaker
Does it look like Mitchell's arm? No, it does not. Mitchell's hat has loaned free from the top floor and just falls at your feet. So it looks like he did the full job of getting it here. You don't know if he's upstairs. You know he's somewhere in there. Whether or not he's still three dimensional remains to be seen. I pick up the hat to take with me. Mitchell loves that hat. He does love that hat. He's terribly fond of it.
00:29:09
Speaker
into the lighthouse. You walk into the lighthouse. The door is not locked because the island is literally the smallest one on earth to feature a building. The feeling of flatness and terror pressed against the walls fills this column with dread.
00:29:29
Speaker
Inside, a keeper is dead, stretched flat on the stairs, trying to flee. From the right perspective, it just looks like the lighthouse keeper has fallen down the stairs and needs to write himself. From every other angle, it looks like he has been painted across the stairs and will never get up again.
00:29:48
Speaker
Mitchell is cowering behind a sheet that was in the packing crate and he's just gutted up like he's trying to hide from monsters under the bed. He is completely scared white, huddled on the stairs. What happened? Are you okay? President's unconvinced because right now he's in no fit state to speak. You will be at an advantage though because you do know him. Oh yeah, now it's a 17.
00:30:11
Speaker
He snaps out of his fugue state enough to recognize that you're someone he knows, let alone an old friend. And a very cold, white hand reaches out and grips yours. I've never seen anything like it. Yeah, me either. It's been a crazy day, but these two seem to have some idea what's going on.
00:30:30
Speaker
Lean in and say, the despair you're feeling right now is simply a mirror of the poor despair that the creature up there is feeling. When you say mirror, he just shudders and pulls the sheet over his head.
00:30:43
Speaker
They're there. It's okay. We know. We know. It's gonna be okay, Mitchell. It may not be okay. The air cracks. You hear a whine from above. A scraping sound. If you were inside a soda can being flattened,
00:31:00
Speaker
You might recognize the sound of the surface of the wall groaning in complaint against pressures it has absolutely no business resisting. The wall in front of you flattens.
00:31:16
Speaker
And instead of the gentle slope of a curved building, one side of it is a flat surface reaching down in the shape of a claw. It does not stay. It recedes again, but the whole building trembles. It cannot withstand this kind of stress if it does that much longer. Yell up to it. We're here to rescue you. We could put out the light. It could stop it for now or at least contain it.
00:31:44
Speaker
That is a brilliant idea. An awareness role, please, and intuition. A13 total. You are at an advantage because you are an investigative reporter, and an earlier Double Sixes did remind you that disappearances in the storage room stopped after they shuttered the windows. So yes, your idea of, right, the light, we need to take the light out.
00:32:06
Speaker
Behind the rush and roar of the waves crashing on the rocks and the squeal of air being flattened against its very nature above, you do actually make out the groan of a generator chuffing away upstairs. The Forland Lighthouse was the first tower to successfully use electric light in 1875. That is a full 15 years before this. There is a generator on hand.
00:32:30
Speaker
generating enough electricity to make this work. The 13 is enough to find it. You hear the the whir of a generator upstairs. They shuttered the room and the attack stopped. If we take out the light and turn off the generator, perhaps we can stop most of the damage. That would make a lot of sense. I assume the poor victim is still up there in whatever mirror they installed up in the lighthouse. Oh god, we should hurry.
00:32:56
Speaker
Give me a coordination roll, everybody. Coordination and athletics, because the building is not as stable as it ought to be. Okay. Well, the auditor didn't fall off his feet. That's good. I might have. I got a six and a one for a nine.
00:33:13
Speaker
A 9 is not great. The auditor rolled well enough that I think he can catch you and, like, prop you if you're, like, having trouble with one or two of the stairs. Fixer, what did you roll in coordination and athletics? 4 and a 3, so I'm starting at a 7, and that'll bring me up to a 12.
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah, nobody is super stable on their feet, but the fact that there's still a hand railing in here certainly helps. You make your way up to the second story of the lighthouse, where you find the generator running away. The building continues up another flight to the top story. Another shadow spills down the curve of the wall. Someone fleeing, but the shadow is all that remains of them.
00:33:58
Speaker
Turn to Maeve and say, if this is the generator, let it down. That would be an ingenuity and technology rule. And toss the Sonic on there. It's going to be a 14, 15, 16, 16 total. A 16 is more than enough to deactivate a 19th century generator. Well done. And yeah, you are able to deactivate the generator and it just slowly... And the light up above swells and then is no more.
00:34:25
Speaker
We should move quickly, Maeve. There is a chance that, because we've shut this down, that nearby boats might actually run aground. The foghorn is still blowing about once a minute. But yes, the sooner that the lighthouse can have the life back on. Yeah, that seems important. We should go. Head upstairs to see if we can find that mirror.
00:34:47
Speaker
On the top floor there is a glass cage roughly nine feet around and extends from the floor to the ceiling. It houses the light inside. The Fresnel lens cage is open. Inside you can see a reflector, a curved dish that has been cast and poured specifically for this place.
00:35:08
Speaker
slowly comes to a halt, but you can see inside the reflector the warped concave reflections of the two lighthouse workers. The reflections are out of their minds with fear.
00:35:23
Speaker
This is a contested scene, beginning with talkers, followed by movers, doers, and attackers. In terms of communication, right now, all you're getting is that wet squeak, that scrubbing, squeaking fricative of this thing pressing against the glass. The last of the bulb goes from yellow to orange to completely off. We're here to rescue you. Keep calm. We're gonna bring you back to your home. Presence and convince.
00:35:52
Speaker
At a disadvantage, because this thing is in a state of peak. That makes sense. Yeah, okay, so I got a 2, a 3, and a 5. So my lowest tour is gonna be the 2 and the 3. Okay, and that'll only bring me up to a 10. The Mirum rolled an 11, and one of those was a 6, even without checking the rest of the stats for the Mirum. So your first attempt at calming him did not work. You said there's like a hand reaching out on the floor?
00:36:18
Speaker
Yes, when the light was on, the beam of light carried a hand that did some damage on the peripheral. The hand is not currently present with the light off. The Mirum needs the actual beam of light in order to transfer mass from the thing it's reflecting and touching. I see.
00:36:35
Speaker
It currently taking the shape of the two workers and their images are sloshing together into this new confused state that eventually, while still horrifying, but it is actually still stuck to the mirror. So that's something. I know you're scared and I know it hurts, but we really are here to help. We're not going to hurt you anymore. We're going to try to get you out of there. Kate, what is your story point situation? I have three story points and I will spend one here or more if I'm allowed.
00:37:03
Speaker
Yeah, if you wanted to spend all three. Spend all three. When you speak, wearing an outfit from the same time zone that this thing has already absorbed, your patent sincerity has broken through the din of this thing's fear. The mirrors are listening to you.
00:37:23
Speaker
The floor littered with dust. A single finger of flat reflection spills down the bottom of the reflector. It is mounted. The reflector does not go all the way to the floor. It is about three feet by six feet and about three feet off the ground on a rotating mechanism it can be removed from. A finger of flattened distortion reaches the floor and the dust caking it. The word help flattens through the dust.
00:37:51
Speaker
look at the fixer and say, please tell me you figured something out. Before I answer that, I have to ask a question about knowledge I may have picked up in the doctoral program. Is there any way to save the people who have been taken by these types of beings? Living beings have never been pulled back from dimensional flatness.
00:38:10
Speaker
inanimate objects have been restored before, but only when the two-dimensional monsters were deliberately trying to inflate something. So yes, good question. No, you have never heard of any living people revived from flatness.
00:38:27
Speaker
We want to bring you home. We only need to know where we need to take you, and I will take you there now. Okay, here is what you see on the dust. From overhead, looking down at it, it just looks like nothing. It looks like gradient lines in dust. But as you lay your eye down to the floor,
00:38:50
Speaker
to see it from as flat a perspective as possible. It gives you information that you can feed into the TARDIS as coordinates. Excellent. Turn to Maeve and say, you single-handedly just saved every one of this species currently trapped on this planet. You deserve to give yourself some credit and some kudos. Thank you. And what about the people? The auditor dips his head. Yeah. Well, the good news is no one else was hurt.
00:39:19
Speaker
They're just gone. Forever. How many victims in total was it? The irony of trying to gear up to some kind of sensitive message about they're not really gone. We carry them with us the rest of our days, like how many specifically were murdered?
Resolution with Mirror Creatures
00:39:37
Speaker
Comedy.
00:39:38
Speaker
Fast forward to the morning. Mitchell holds his first ever espresso in confusion on the back of his wagon. The reflector has been removed from the lighthouse and brought back across the water on a boat along with your booth. The TARDIS was not in flying state following it, but it was small enough that it could get a ride back to shore.
00:40:01
Speaker
Mitchell is sitting on the back of his wagon here since last night as the auditor and the fixer do that really awkward moving an object through a skinnier doorway than it should fit in the background while Mitchell sits with Kate on the back of his wagon. I've never seen anything like that. Whatever. Not once. Me either, to be honest. It's pretty weird.
00:40:30
Speaker
I don't know that I like weird. I think I might. A look on Mitchell's face. You've seen it on his face any number of times on a long night trading pints at the fork and whistle after a long week's work. He has known you long enough to know that you have never really belonged in New Key. He shakes his head. Yup.
00:40:53
Speaker
I figured. He always did burn a bit too brightly for this place. He does nudge you with an elbow. He's like, oh, could have forked to take a few days of work. You mind if I crash at your room? I understand you're paid up.
00:41:08
Speaker
Take it as long as you need. I am sure I'll be back. Nothing will change, right? Still pals? Still pals. He gives you one of those palms together clasps that's not romantic. It's just you guys have been friends forever. And it's like, no, sure. Fixer and the auditor come out of the booth with the suspicious body language of, we weren't doing anything in there. You don't know. And we're not explaining anything to this Luddite from 1890 either. Mitchell leans over and says,
00:41:37
Speaker
Don't let those two take you nowhere you can't come back from, yeah? I'll always come back.
00:41:43
Speaker
Cut to inside the TARDIS and make shutting the door behind her. The auditor and the fixer are at the console. One of the lights is still off, but the scanners at least are working. The auditor is taking a look at the scanners and galling. That time lock we've bumped against, not quite one of ours. I think we might actually be able to deactivate it if we're careful enough. Not one of ours. Interesting.
00:42:11
Speaker
Imagine you're at a car show. Someone turns on the engine of a car from a line you're very familiar with and it purrs like a kitten. Now imagine a knockoff and they turn the engine and the hum is a skew from what your ears expect. That is the hum, that not quite right hum you heard when the time log first triggered. Does it sound more like something that someone jury-rigged themselves or is it seem more like a technology that we're just not aware of yet?
00:42:40
Speaker
From what you can tell on the scanners, it might be a bad copy. It might be a cheap copy of Time Lord Schematics. The auditor notices that the fixer has taken out a small booklet and the troubled expression on the fixer's face as he makes notes. How are you doing? Truth be told, I'm doing better than, uh, that one. Or that one. Or that one. Or that one. Or that one.
00:43:06
Speaker
Are you actually calculating the people you did not save? Somebody has to keep track of these things? Gently as he can. The auditor shuts the book in the Fixer's hand. It's not always about undoing what's been done. Sometimes it's just about helping whoever's left, and you've done that.
00:43:28
Speaker
Off to the side are mirrors lean against each other like books that are quiet. The reflector is empty and blank. Using the TARDIS force fields and the math transcribed from flattened images, you have been able to dismiss them back to the second dimension. You helped them. You saved lives. Yes, and they'll be able to return to their families, to their lives, to their communities. And every one of these
00:43:57
Speaker
Marx is one hole in a family or in a community that won't be fixed. Focusing on where we slip can be useful in moderation. I don't want you to lose focus of helping in light of those we've lost. Take that moment to walk over to the espresso machine, grab three cups of espresso, pass one to Maeve, pass one to the auditor, and say to being better next time. The fresh opportunities.
00:44:27
Speaker
You know, we never did find out who sold Mr. Shine that silver. And I can't really write my story without knowing that. It's pretty key. That would be an important part of the story. We wouldn't want to lay blame at the wrong feet. The auditor idly polishes some buttons on the console, trying not to be too pleased with the eagerness of this companion. It might take some time. You never know. I'm sure no one will miss me. I can take a holiday.
00:44:54
Speaker
Fixer, give me an ingenuity roll real quick and don't get a snake eyes. This is a advantage roll, so three dice. Ingenuity, technology. Yeah, we got a five, a five, and a four. So I will take the double fives. Beautiful. So that with your ingenuity, tech, and Time Lord training are enough. Yeah, it's at least an 18 at that point.
00:45:15
Speaker
Yeah, you push the right buttons and pull the lever, and the semi-quiet alarm that's been going on in the background fades out. The scanner shows you that the time lock has been deactivated. You can safely take off and dematerialize from here. Are you ready to get to the real bottom of this story? Always. Activate the thing.
00:46:01
Speaker
Beautiful! That is the conclusion of our first game through the Looking Glass. Thank you so much, Fixer and Kate, for playing anywhere but now. Kudos to the both of you. This preacher, the Mirum, is a cousin of the Boneless with some slightly tweaked stats.
00:46:20
Speaker
You did beautifully actually trying to talk to the creature instead of just attacking. In other hands, this could have gone very differently and I'm delighted to see that it did not. The, you know why we're here. Mwah, just beautiful. I loved that. Thank you, thank you. But no, Kate McCoy, fantastic job as a companion. Amazing job, amazing. Talking to people, investigating. This is the good stuff companion does, it's great.
00:46:48
Speaker
I love that that undercurrent of being on the case the entire time, trying to get down to the scoop, it came across the entire time and it was wonderful. Thank you. I really loved the whole glass and safety thing was killing me the entire time. Every single transparent joke was, honestly, I was dying over here. I am so happy you liked that because there was moments where I'm like, oh, God, I hope I'm not going over the top on that.
00:47:15
Speaker
No, it was very funny. I kept wanting to, like, react more but I didn't want to, like, take too much away from what was going on so I felt it was better to, like, let it sit.
00:47:24
Speaker
But yeah, the Fixer cares. And that's gonna come in handy when I destroy him. I know. I'm excited. Yeah, that was really sweet. I love that. And I love how much the Fixer just really cares about everything that's going on and wants the best possible outcome every time. It is such a doomed pursuit, but it's gonna be so fun doing that pursuit.
00:47:50
Speaker
Those are the best ones, the ones where you can kind of like torture your character a little bit. It's drama and I love it. You guys have been delightful. Our next game will bring in our third player, our third regular player and second companion.
00:48:05
Speaker
Excellent. But yeah, the setting up of a mod about which you know, nothing went a lot more smoothly than some mods of like, well, this is the title.
Immersive Podcast Experience
00:48:14
Speaker
And, you know, they get to see the art in advance and whatnot. And they like they start with preconceived notions about what they're stepping into. And this feels so much more organic, more like an actual episode. Yeah, agreed. And that photo of the mirror and that was genuinely terrifying. Genuine nightmare fuel. Yeah.
00:48:35
Speaker
Yeah, no. One of my favorite things about this game, not just this mod, but this game, is the ability to create moments of palpable terror. Hide behind the sofa bits in an episode of Doctor Who. There's a needle to thread between scary and pantswetting horror, and like we go for, you know, not quite pantswetting horror.
00:48:57
Speaker
But yeah, the Miram are just the first out of the gate. Yay! This has been a delight for me. It feels a bit like the show because we're telling stories together and when your characters have an emotional response to the things in front of them, that will carry over to the listener. And that delights me. Yeah, it does feel like being on an episode. It's been really fun. Yay!
00:49:23
Speaker
Oh, heck no. Excellent time. And both of you were just amazing. All the kudos, all the credit, all the love. Yeah. I mean, this is amazing. This is a great group. I'm really happy to see great GM, like great players. It's got everything.
00:49:38
Speaker
I do apologize for the terrible Cornwall accents. Anyway, folks, that was Through the Looking Glass. I'd love to go around the table, really introduce our team, and deal out precious, tasty experience points. Kate, without spoiling anything, what drew you to this particular idea for a PC?
Character Development Discussion
00:49:57
Speaker
I really like the idea of telling a story about somebody who doesn't belong in the world they're in and who finds a place to belong somewhere else. Beautiful. Fantastic. Brand. Yeah. What is something you're looking forward to about playing your very own Time Lord?
00:50:12
Speaker
Oh my, I have to say so far, the thing I was looking most forward to coming in was the interactions with the companions, and that has been amazing. In addition to that, I think I'm really, really looking forward to walking this path and figuring out at the end, like, is the fixer going to come to terms with the fact that they can't really fix everything, that there are things out there that are beyond our control? And at what point do they reach balance on that topic? And all the crazy that can come in between.
00:50:39
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's a really good point. There won't always be everybody lives endings. They will be outnumbered by the, well, we were lucky to get out of there, moments. And that's wonderfully like real life. It's one of those like really penultimate human struggles is sort of coming to terms with the things that are outside of our control, even if we have, you know, the ability to travel through time at a whim.
00:51:01
Speaker
That's right. I will award you both two experience points for today's game, in addition to your story points filling back up to five for the start of the next mod. Experience points will be spent in the future, dear listeners, on the acquisition of new gadgets and traits and the improvement of skills and attributes over time. They will not be cheap, but the game will be challenging, so you'll keep earning points. Excellent. Excellent.
00:51:30
Speaker
Also, kudos to both of you for sticking to your short-term goals. That's one of my favorite updates of the second edition from Cubicle 7. Having that thing in mind, well, this is what I'm focusing on right now, and this is what I'm focusing on long-term, really helps streamline and simplify what a character could be thinking about, you know?
00:51:51
Speaker
Absolutely. I found it to be an incredibly useful tool. It really helps direct your decisions in these moments where there might be shiny all over the place to grab your attention, but you go, okay, well, this thing is so, it has that importance level to me and I want to make this happen.
00:52:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's easy to walk into a room and, like, there's so much to do, but, like, realizing that, like, your characters be focused on, like, how do I file my next story is definitely it focuses you on what you want to do next as a player. Don't worry, you will have more opportunities to report stories in the future.
Conclusion and Listener Invitation
00:52:25
Speaker
And finally, to our listeners, another great big thank you for sharing your precious time with us. If you feel it's been well spent, please share anywhere but now with your friends who are looking to enjoy themselves. Feel free to leave a like or comment, follow us on Twitter at anywhere but now underscore at the end, and wherever you get your podcasts. Links to everything in the doobly-doo. From all of us, I'm Casey Jones. Thank you so much, and have a great day.