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C2 Ep. 92 The Way of the Dreaming Chapter Six
271 Plays3 years ago
The party finds out what they can about their target, and make their first moves towards getting closer.
This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Darrin Katzska, Irene Viorritto, Ryan Royce, Darrell DeLaney, Jessica Smith, Charles Compton, Danielle Bramhall-Smith, Nastasia Raulerson, The Kamm Family, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Andy Dossett, Rebekah Gowman, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Eric Witman, and Shelby Johnson.
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Transcript
Introduction and Acknowledgements
00:00:24
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by the generous donations
00:00:25
Speaker
Rebecca Gowman, and Shelby Johnson, as well as all of our generous patrons.
Eberron Renewed Podcast Introduction
00:01:15
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberron Renewed, an actual play podcast set in the Eberron campaign setting. I am your game master, Eric. I'm Phillip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. Welcome
Episode Recap: Aberration Fight and Aftermath
00:01:27
Speaker
to another episode. Gentlemen, what happened? Oh, kinds of fun. So
00:01:35
Speaker
We went down to the cogs to talk with Lady Briar, and there were omens and portents of skittering horrors, and then one showed up. Eris stirred them with a stick.
00:01:52
Speaker
That's that is true. Yeah. We got in a fight with some aberrations and we won, but we lost one delver. Yeah. And hob hob is blah. Hob had an ocular had some ocular abrasion and it's temporarily blinded. Yeah. I just went and tired as a sleepy boy. Yes, there was there was there was much despair and much triumph.
00:02:21
Speaker
Yes, the dice were hot last episode. Okay, so as Quiet washes over, Grum kind of solemnly helps some of the other Delvers pick up the body of the Delver that was killed by the skittering horror.
00:02:41
Speaker
So, Hob, are you still conscious? Are you still up? With your permission, I would like to establish a difference between wound and strain. Hob got his bell rung.
00:02:55
Speaker
Like, he's not gonna be able to fight, he's not gonna be able to cast, he's not gonna be able to make decisions. He's going to follow the three people that he recognizes as people that he
Healing Hob's Injuries and Group Discussion
00:03:06
Speaker
trusts. And that's pretty much all he's got right now. Oh, wait, he doesn't recognize them, because he can't see. What does his face look like? I think I... Gosh, how do I... I think on that. Eris, I think, what happens here is Eris runs out,
00:03:24
Speaker
It's like, yes, that was awesome. That was awesome. And she's running over because as far as she saw, Hob just like killed every monster. And she's running over to Hob, very unaware of the situation. Yeah, so I think Hob does turn around and maybe just he doesn't like slump against the wall, but he kind of braces himself because his face looks
00:03:55
Speaker
I have a thought. What if it was like an acid splash thing and he's like from like bridge of his nose up is just like whatever sort of melody you want it to look like. It could be black, it could be red, it could be welted, something. Maybe even swollen? Well, yeah, yeah. Almost like there's something under the skin that's kind of like
00:04:22
Speaker
expanded like so even even to the point that maybe his eyes aren't damaged, they're swollen shut. And so the blind it is real, but it's a swelling issue. Not it. We don't have to explain away scars across his eyes or something later. Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, so that's what you see. When I turn. OK.
00:04:47
Speaker
This does not know what to do in this situation. It's horrifying lady Briar kind of calls bring bring him in bring him in Eris will grab Hobbs arm I think God doesn't freak out cuz he It's a small hand and you came out. He knows you came out and yelled something. So he's just gonna get up. Yeah. Yeah Okay, okay
00:05:14
Speaker
Milo, Raynard, what are y'all doing? Raynard is there. Can you do anything about that? I mean, he looks awful. Raynard just wants to be like, we really want to press that luck. Barely got you through something. I guess we could take it. I will always try. We could take it to Marist if we need to.
00:05:43
Speaker
So are you going to attempt to heal the blinded condition or just heal the strain? Well, let's go with the strain. OK, so that's just a regular verse check with a. It's an easy so one purple difficulty check. It's your verse. Feel free to flip story point if you want to do that, but. I have good feelings.
00:06:14
Speaker
Good feelings are there still. Two advantage. So Hobb heals two wounds and two strain, which is not enough to get him back, actually.
00:06:28
Speaker
Do you go over? It says specifically that wounds should be tracked to twice the threshold, but it does not say the same thing for strain. OK, so the wording in the core rulebook is when a character suffers an amount of strain greater than their strain threshold, they are incapacitated until the strain is reduced so that it no longer exceeds their strain threshold. So it sounds to me like you do track it and then you have to get that back down below. So.
00:06:55
Speaker
Um, he, uh, Raynard heals two strain and two wounds.
Lady Briar's Information on Aksurian Al-Swa
00:07:00
Speaker
Um, am I allowed to roll for strain if I'm incapacitated or no? Not if you're incapacitated. Okay, that's kind of thought. Um, everyone else can roll for strain, though. Um, Milo, Eris, and Raynard all have strain. Didn't take any. Well, by all means, family, go for it. Um, Lady Briar comes over, seeing Hob in his, uh, horrible state.
00:07:25
Speaker
and she is going to cast Heal of her own. Now, gang, since it's an NPC doing it, I'll let you all decide, primarily Hob. Do you want her to shoot for the critical injury as well, or just try to get Hob walking again? Man, that's hard. Because it's very- One purple and three purple.
00:07:52
Speaker
It's gonna be very difficult to be hobbed down here and blind at the same time. But it's also pretty difficult to be hobbed and vegetable. Wait, did we do anything with my two advantage? Those healed strain. Yeah, I can. I think no. Right now your pool is looking three yellow, one green, one purple if she just tries to heal. If she tries to take care of the critical injury, it will be three purple. Three yellow, one green, three purple.
00:08:22
Speaker
Yep, would be the critical injury pool. So it's far less likely that Hobbs is going to get below his strain threshold, but. Yeah, no, let's let's see. Yeah, let's see if we can get Hobbs vision back. OK, so try to take care of the. Yeah, let's go. Let's just go for it. One success.
00:08:42
Speaker
So Hob heals one more wound and you, Hob is still dazed and out of it, but Lady Briar brings her hands up near Hob's temples and she closes her eyes and you see this greenish magical energy start pulsing into Hob's head and you see the swelling around his eyes reduce down. And Milo, you're familiar enough with magic to where you would note it seems like she's like extracting. Like it seems like, it doesn't seem like a,
00:09:12
Speaker
Uh, an arcane or divide. It seems very primal, as it were, like she's physically extracting stuff out of Hobbs head. Wow. Hey, is it OK if I regain four strain, which I can do at the end of an encounter? Well, yeah, it's OK if. Well, I mean, our encounter has been over. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I have to flip a story point so you get one back.
00:09:42
Speaker
Okay, okay. So Hab is still out of it. But Lady Briar just
00:09:49
Speaker
directs you all. If you want to return to my room, I will be back there just momentarily to I need to tend to this out here. And she is going to roll another heel check, suffering a bit more strain on Milo. Milo wants to follow to help. I mean, you know, he's he can do some first aid if necessary.
00:10:20
Speaker
So she puts her hands over the one that was stabbed and went limp out in the street. And it's clear that she's trying to heal that wound, but she's nothing, nothing happens. And she just places a hand on the forehead of the fall endeavor and just kind of shakes her head at Grum and Grum nods solemnly and starts talking quietly to the other Delvers as she turns to return to her study.
00:10:50
Speaker
so thank you for your assistance um just now that's worse than what we've had to deal with in the past but still something that comes with the territory down here um how how are you all this is watching hob with great concern yeah hob is standing there not answering yeah well we
00:11:18
Speaker
were coming to visit in hopes of gathering some information. Okay. On what? On a particular character known as... Have I forgotten his name? What's his name again? The Carrion. That's The Carrion. Oh, are we not going to use his real name that we found out with her?
00:11:55
Speaker
Well, and she turns and you all see bookshelf that is adorned with both books as well as pieces of decor and things like that.
00:12:08
Speaker
And she turns and bowl. And you see one of there's a elfish bust that the lights light up orange like, yes, my lady. Aksurian Aussois. Hmm. One moment and the eyes go dim again.
00:12:32
Speaker
It's my assistant, Bol. He will search his records and see if we have knowledge of who that is, what they do, things like that. Is this related to the absentia shipment that went missing? We think so. Yes, I believe that is correct.
00:13:01
Speaker
Ah. Figured that Satan would pass that on to Vigo to deal with. So, how's the investigation going? Not great. I'm incapacitated. I was blind for a little while.
00:13:22
Speaker
Um, she'll suffer two more points of strain, have and we'll see. We'll see what she can do for you. No, no, no, no, it's fine. I mean, three success. She rolled no advantage. So, yeah. I'm fine. I made my bed. Now you're going to sleep in a while and you threw a bunch of spiders in it. I don't know. So, um.
00:13:51
Speaker
Axrian Alsoir is our man, so to speak. Yes, that is definitely what we believe. Hmm. What does Vigo want you all to do with the perpetrator? I'm not sure how much to tell her. Same.
00:14:19
Speaker
Give me a perception check to try and glean her intentions. She's clearly, she wants you all to talk to her. Yes. How difficult. This is going to be a two purple. Two success, one advantage. She seems to be genuinely, she doesn't seem duplicitous. She doesn't seem like she's like scheming. She seems like she wants to know genuinely
00:14:50
Speaker
how you all are doing in the investigation. And she's more concerned about what Vigo has asked of you, rather than what you like. You all aren't her target, I guess is the best way to put what you glean. Okay. Well,
00:15:19
Speaker
guess we are supposed to dispose of him in some way ah how deliciously vague yes it's not really something we like to do and we really don't do as far as i can tell the black lambs aren't a hit crew exactly
00:15:51
Speaker
Exactly. I am remembering correctly, aren't I, that we are supposed to dispose of this guy?
00:16:00
Speaker
Yeah, we're technically supposed to apprehend him and turn him over. Present him for disposal. For torture and disposal. Is there a chair? Hobb sits down. Yeah, there's chairs. There's seating. There's a couch if you want to. There's no furniture. Oh, yes. If it's a hob accommodating couch, Hobb will certainly lay down on it.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah. And there she goes, no, no, no, you're not supposed to fall asleep. There's a water bottle and starts spritzing hob in the face. You're supposed to wake you up every hour on the hour. Because her head trauma, not acid burns, but I know it's incapacitation writ large. Yes. I guess to be more clear, we're supposed to return him for apparent disposal. Oh, Vigo wants to get his hands on him.
00:16:53
Speaker
I see. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
00:17:24
Speaker
investigate an old 23 on the third from the bottom shelf. And she walks over and grabs a large book and flips it open. And the pages kind of flip on their own to a certain page.
Exploring Aksurian's Connections
00:17:40
Speaker
Ah, yes, Aksrean Al-Swa. So according to this, my information says that, so according to the information that I've gotten regarding
00:17:53
Speaker
Axrean's business dealings lately, apparently he has advertised that he came into a fair amount of absentia. Would you look at that? The pieces are falling into place and put it out on the market, but only part of it that was delivered to Dask. And then also, interesting.
00:18:22
Speaker
According to this, Axrean was given a list of city official names from Dask to work with. Hmm, seems like some of these people may be on the take from Dask, that's disconcerting. But my contacts have spotted him in a few different places, two different places, specifically, the Umbra Club,
00:18:52
Speaker
which is a seedy dragon's blood den run by a drow in the lower parts of the city. But there is a contact there named Spang, a human dragon blood dealer that apparently Aksarin has had dealings with. And then also the spider, but with a Y because they want to have a flourish to it, I suppose. That's a gambling hall.
00:19:22
Speaker
that is frequented by members of Dask, it would appear, but Axtrian has also been spotted around there from a time. And I'm gonna flip a story point. So Hob, heal more, two more strength. Rainard. Spider is a gambling hall run by one of your cousins in the house.
00:19:54
Speaker
Not the one I don't like. No, just another cousin. Oh, okay. Name's Fen. One of the ones that doesn't like you. Yes, yes. One of the multitudes. Narrow it down. But yes, Fen is F-E-N-N is the cousin's name. But apparently Axtrian has been spotted around the spider as well.
00:20:18
Speaker
So if you're trying to track him down, those would be the two spots that I would go to. Lastly, Axirene was spotted doing a pickup of some nondescript crates, things like that, with a Korim Sadia, who was an elf, known associations with weapon smuggling in the city.
00:20:43
Speaker
operates out of it. Corum, C-O-R-U-U-M. Sadiya, S-A-D-I-A. Corum, Sadiya. Is an elf? Yes. Known associations with weapon smuggling,
00:21:09
Speaker
and believes to be operating out of a tower in the upper parts of the city. Anything else, my lady? No, you're fine. Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I hope that helps. We appreciate the information. I appreciate you all keeping most of my men safe. So we will call it square, I suppose.
00:21:37
Speaker
But if you all need anything else relating to clan business or otherwise, or just want to chat, I know Viggo can be difficult to deal with from time to time. I'm always willing to lend a friendly ear. Yes. Viggo is, although I tell you, you know, Viggo has seemed to have mellowed out a little bit as of late. Doesn't seem to be as abrasive as he once was.
00:22:08
Speaker
having your face cracked like a crow egg will do that to people. Yes. It doesn't stop being taught. I'm with her. I don't know what that word means, though. How about the gush? I just taught. Just based on your tone, I assumed it was an insult. Yeah. Excellent.
00:22:36
Speaker
So, um, that's where I would go to try to track down this Aksurian outswap person. The umber club, the spider, or try to get in touch with Koram Sadia, um, through some means. But I'm sorry, I couldn't do more for your friend. Um, he seems like he may need medical attention of some kind. I know the name of an underground doctor off the books, if you would like.
00:23:08
Speaker
Pebble Fist, yes. Oh, you know him, yes. Don't wash his hands. Strange man, but excellent healer. Well, I guess we should be off. Excellent. Well, thank you all. As you all exit, Grum in the main area walks up and is
00:23:35
Speaker
So I'm gonna be okay. Seemed like it took a lot out of him. Hob, you good? No. That's what I thought.
00:23:50
Speaker
Hey, I got a question. Did Hobb take in? Did Hobb take in any of that? Like, I don't have to have them explain everything to me later, do I? Or we can do it off camera. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just because I was like, I was listening and I realized, huh, does Hobb act like he knows this later? So. Is is there Eric and equivalent?
00:24:14
Speaker
to a healing potion, but that would apply itself to strain. Because Eris could alchemy something up here if it would. Stamina elixir, here we go. Stamina elixir, cost of 50 rarity of 3.
00:24:35
Speaker
Okay. I can make one of those. It will take me a few hours. Okay. Um, come Bruce, something out back at the shop, but it'll, um, it'll take me a few hours. Well, I mean, perhaps we should do that. Let's try to help hard before we tackle this next aspect, maybe.
00:24:59
Speaker
I'm sorry. That might derail everything. I mean, will it I get here is another just perfectly relevant question. How much stream will harbor cover if he just sleeps tonight? Yeah. If Hobbs sleeps, he'll recover all strain. All right. I think I think there's been enough for today. I think. I think we should just. Sleep.
Magical Discoveries by Arthur the Cat
00:25:31
Speaker
Right. Certainly not opposed to that. Are y'all just taking Hobb back to Savia's and dropping him off there? Oh, just, just take me to a motorcycle. It's fine. I'll just trade it. No, we're either taking you to Savia's or you're sleeping on the floor of the, of the cauldron. So probably Savia's.
00:25:58
Speaker
Oh, I guess you sleep on Tasha while he's in the garage, if that's better for some reason. You just need to be near the motorcycle. Oh, it's good. Yeah. Oh, man, this sucked. Not interacting during all that with a real bummer for Jeff. Yeah.
00:26:29
Speaker
Sometimes awesomeness comes with the cost to Sabia's first. OK, we'll first drive back to Sabia's to drop off Hobb. Yeah. So is everyone else just going back to their domiciles and crashing? Yeah, I mean, it's it's not late, so you will. This doesn't need to take a bunch of time, but Eris would ask
00:26:58
Speaker
olive if she's ever heard of Koram Sadia. No, that name doesn't ring any bells, honestly. Sorry, Eris. It's all right. I just came up and there's someone doing weapons smuggling and I thought maybe the house might come up in the house.
00:27:26
Speaker
back when. If they're aware of it, then they either haven't told me or they don't view it as a threat. Yeah, just taking. Rainard, are you doing anything? Just gonna feed the cat. Okay. Milo. Milo's resting in his easy chair with a cup of tea.
00:27:55
Speaker
Occasionally trying to communicate with Kylie. Okay. Paris spends the rest of the afternoon flying around high walls repairing ever-bright lanterns. So the streetlights work. Nice.
00:28:10
Speaker
Raynard, when you return back and go to feed the cat, you notice that you see that it while you've been gone, just in your living room, there is a robe just sitting there as well as a. I feel like I've learned nothing. There's a robe, a ring,
00:28:39
Speaker
and a dagger just sitting in your living room and the cats like laying on the robe and then ring in the dagger or like next to it. And it just is. Would you define robe for us? Like a bath, like like a nice bathrobe. OK. Does the cat look does it say anything? It just it just can't look proud. Is it monogrammed? Arthur, well, the cat just looks sleepy and content. Arthur looks up at you as you walk in.
00:29:10
Speaker
and then hops up and like does the figure eight through your legs and rubs up against you and then goes back and curls back up on the robe and lays down. Right now, just says now. In the morning, we're going to have to talk about this. In the meantime, I'll detect magic. But it does pick up it. Right now, it'll pick up the the ring and the dagger. Yeah, I mean, does the robe fit right?
00:29:40
Speaker
I mean, yeah, I mean, it's a it's a it's a loose enough rope to where it fits. Raynard, you do like feel kind of magic emanating from the items as you pick them up. OK, well, why do I need to do to figure that out? Well, you look around and you see that the robe, while it looks like a nice like lounging robe, it also has some patches on it in various places with different like objects depicted on the patches like a motorcycle gang.
00:30:10
Speaker
Yes, exactly. Exactly. The bathrobe of a motorcycle. Well, now I'm just thinking Arthur is some kind of transforming. Well, we establish Arthur finds things like Arthur. Arthur can find things. He's a detective cat.
00:30:33
Speaker
So were these all at the scene of a crime? This might be evidence, like Arthur might be on a case. But yeah, that's what you find. Anyway. It's a little murder board on the floor. It's a perder board, please.
00:30:55
Speaker
Right, yes. But he's never able to actually finish it because every time he tries to go and do the little yarn lines, he just plays with the yarn. Thank you. That's very good. I like that a lot. OK, everyone go to sleep. Yes. OK, no more strain. Yes, everybody has no strain and everybody heals one wound if you have any wounds.
00:31:24
Speaker
Hob wakes up feeling good. Uh, by the way, Hob, very fuzzy memory of everything that happened. He's not sure that he was blind. He just remembers his face felt really weird for a while. Is everything back to normal on Hob? Does he have scarring left behind from being acid splashed? Is Hob's face now acid washed? I don't know. God. I don't know that that's up to me. I feel like I got magically healed, so probably not.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah, I... But again, I don't think it's me. Yeah, Hob, you can describe what your face looks like. That could be up to you. It's your character. I don't want for it to... I don't want for this... Let's see.
00:32:09
Speaker
It could just be healed. It doesn't have to. I was trying to think of something and I think it's just healed. If it hadn't been magical healing, if I'd used herbs or something to make the swelling go down, we could say something. But I think that, yeah, he's just healed. Okay, so you all wake up.
Planning Next Steps and Recovery
00:32:27
Speaker
Did you all determine a place and time to reconvene? Yes.
00:32:35
Speaker
We're reconvening at the for sales because that's our standard meeting place. OK, good, because Hob was going to go to the for sales regardless. Because that's where he assumed we were meeting because he doesn't remember. So the Emperor Club and the spider both being they're both nighttime clubs. Like if you try to go in the morning, nobody's going to be there. So.
00:33:04
Speaker
Like, no patrons or no body? Like, it's not open. No body. They're open super late, so staff is sleeping right now. Because the staff are all vampires. Raynard, do you bring any of your new toys with you? Yeah. I mean, Arthur comes because now he just works at the for sales as well. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah. Are you wearing the bathrobe?
00:33:31
Speaker
No, I'm not going to wear any of it, but I definitely bring it. Rain are just too fashion forward for that. Yeah. And I probably just ask Milo, like. To check it out. Milo, if you want to give me a knowledge lore check on this stuff, you could. OK. I will do such. It is going to be a hard check, and I'm going to flip a story point to make it one red to purple.
00:34:02
Speaker
Jesus Christ, success, two threats and a triumph. Wow. OK, so what to do, Milo? Hot dice. You recognize the robe first as being a item known in the magic community as the robe of useful items.
00:34:30
Speaker
Basically, the patches can be ripped off and they're like a one-time use only sort of thing to manifest whatever is on the patch. So there's two patches with daggers, so you can rip it off and have an instant weapon. There's two with a lantern, two with mirrors,
00:34:56
Speaker
Two with 10 foot poles, two with rope, two with sacks. How can we tell the patches of a 10 foot pole? There's a banana for scale. There is a two patches with rowboats, two patches with horses, fully kitted out with like a saddle. What would we do with a rowboat?
00:35:23
Speaker
It is now our job to find a reason that that rowboat really matters to us. And two patches with iron doors depicted on it. And you know, Milo, with your check, those iron door patches, you rip them off and put them in an opening and it will conform to the opening to create an iron door.
00:35:46
Speaker
That raises an important question about this. Is it when we rip it off, it manifests or we rip it off and set it down and it manifests. We rip it off and say something and it manifests with the three seconds to place it somewhere. Right. What's the take a grenade with the objects, you rip them off and like it like one of the daggers, you rip the patch off and when you rip it off, you have a dagger in your hand.
00:36:11
Speaker
With the rowboat, you throw it on the ground or on water or whatever and a rowboat appears. Likewise, the horse, presumably. Yes. The ring is. Did you say how long the objects endure?
00:36:30
Speaker
They're just real from now on. Yeah, they're real. I mean, I guess that horse would probably last long enough to do some real fall damage. I can't imagine us using a horse any other way than to drop it on someone.
Investigating Korim Sadia's Tower
00:36:41
Speaker
Bring it into existence just to... I'm just saying, the horse is exactly as redundant as the rowboat.
00:36:52
Speaker
Um, the ring is a ring of water walking. So anybody that's wearing it can walk on liquids as if they were solid objects. Um, and the dagger, um, is a dagger of venom. So it's a melee weapon that can poison people. Awesome. There you go. That's what, that's the bounty that Arthur have given and can take it away.
00:37:22
Speaker
Um, can you though? Uh, you don't know. I just want to know how he even carried the dagger. Or the robe. When the rubber you just drag, I could see him like dragging a robe along with his teeth. But the dagger, that's real weird. Arthur's just sitting on the bar, the for sales, watching you all talk about it. I think these could be very useful.
00:37:52
Speaker
A lot of occasion to walk on water and shine. No, I mean. Well, when we find one, we'll be happy to have it. That's true. Oh, is is is lava green? Yes, but the heat still persists, so you can walk on lava. Congrats. You can now die upright in lava. Mm hmm.
00:38:21
Speaker
Um, open walks out from the kitchen and sees Arthur's like, Arthur, we got a shipment coming in this morning. If you can go get it. And Arthur bounds out the door. I have no idea. I just, I hear, I go in the back room and he's sitting on a pallet of fish. What is that cat? Helpful is that cat.
00:38:46
Speaker
I really have to figure out who's living in my apartment. Arthur. I mean, Verla gave him to you, didn't she? Maybe she has answers. That's fair. I guess the next time I'm arrested, I'll have to ask her. Do you all need anything or is this a you all meeting up to chat visit?
00:39:16
Speaker
I'm gonna eat breakfast. Okay. Anybody else? Yeah, Hob's gonna eat. All right, yeah. Yes, I'll take breakfast and make sure Arthur gets a big fish. Yes. Does he just have an item on the menu called breakfast? Or has he memorized our orders? Yes, that is what he has. It's a sharn breakfast. It's a full sharn breakfast. It's very specific and iconic. I don't do the full sharn. I am not interested in the baked beans.
00:39:48
Speaker
I will have a food. Three food units, often. So now what are we going to do? OK, try as. Yes. Goodness gracious. We still have a triumph to spend. Yes. Two threats on a triumph. Milo's tougher to strain. As the triumph. Yes. Can a triumph be this cousin that owns the bar likes me?
00:40:20
Speaker
I mean, you can say the cousin is sympathetic to Reynard's plight. If you all want to do that to make the job easier. That works for me. I'm OK with that. Yeah, OK. All right. So cousin, that's exceptionally fond of Reynard. We just wait until tonight and then go to the bars as we want to go. Talk to this quorum, Sadia.
00:40:50
Speaker
Uh, I, I, I'm sorry. I Jeff, I was reading things about strain. I need a little bit of a refresher on Coram's audio. The bars I'm, I'm clear with. She's connected to the weapons smuggling thing. Right. That, uh, uh, Al Sua is, is tied to.
00:41:10
Speaker
Well, we're certainly going to go through this with feigned indifference. Right. We're, we're, we're certainly going to drum up less suspicion, asking around at a bar, then going directly to an accomplice. Raynard's cousin at the spider. Yeah. I just meant like the bars aren't, won't be open for another 13 hours. Right. I'm, I'm, my concern though is,
00:41:37
Speaker
Taking advantage of those 13 hours might drastically change how things go at the bar. That's possible. But also sitting around for 13 hours doesn't sound like very good. Not don't don't say role playing. Don't say role playing game. A good way to spend the day. We could just jump to the. Screen one. I'm fine. We could montage it.
00:42:08
Speaker
Here's I mean if if Eris has a has a compelling argument for going and doing the thing that she clearly just wants to do because for other reasons than the job I was gonna listen to it but in his head he's like no I don't want to I Don't put this guy in the wind before we even find out where he is from something else Yeah, I don't know who he's used who he's loyal to and so I don't know who's loyal to him He seems to work with different groups
00:42:39
Speaker
Um, we've got, he's hanging out at a, is he's involved with task in some way, but he's also involved with this unaffiliated weapons smuggler in, in the upper city. So and city officials and with the officials. So either, either he's working with someone
00:43:08
Speaker
big and that person is trying to put their hands into a lot of different things in the city or he's genuinely just going where the paycheck is in which case none of these people will have much loyalty to him but certainly which one it is that's a good point
00:43:28
Speaker
Right, if we wanna go see, I mean, we got time to kill. Wanna go see corn, then. Corn. That came out funny in that accent. I don't wanna see corn. You son of a- You're welcome.
00:43:53
Speaker
uh yeah let's do it let's do it hop hop hop hop never has a problem appeasing heiress with side projects while we're doing our thing so I mean I get it this this is less a side project this could actually further our knowledge as well
00:44:09
Speaker
And it presumably will just also go terribly wrong. So you want to go try to do it up or go into the highest towers, the highest towers. Now, is it like all residential neighborhoods in my area?
00:44:28
Speaker
and therefore is not actually the highest hours because we've got a lot of like forest glens and mountain ridges and things like that that don't exist. I mean, there are no mountain ridges in my state. I have I have never seen a deer cross this road that is called deer, deer crossing trail or something. No, there are tall towers here, but are they the highest?
00:44:58
Speaker
No, Skyway is above it, so yes. Oh, see, there you go. OK. You got it. OK, so yeah, you see this tower kind of as you approach looming over the other towers near it. It is it is the highest of the high towers of the not aptly named highest towers.
00:45:23
Speaker
Go ahead. So it has a four story terrace. And in theory, an under. I guess not actually underground, but like a tunnel. Side street, yes, a covered side street entrance now.
00:45:45
Speaker
As you all approach, you do see there are large double doors, like on a platform that seemed to be the front doors for the tower. And as well as the backside, you see a maintenance bay as well, that seems to be reinforced. But more notably, in a very busy kind of central district of the city, this tower seems deserted. There's nobody coming in and out. There's no other,
00:46:13
Speaker
of vehicles parked in front of it. It seems very quiet. Too quiet. Stop doing that. Well, we think we want to. Do we knock? Do we go around back? Somebody wants to sneak up and look.
00:46:47
Speaker
Well, we don't have a reason not to... I mean, aside from the fact that this is an illegal place that does illegal things, there's no reason to think anything super untoward other than that, right? I mean, is there a reason to sneak? Is there a reason to not just knock?
00:47:10
Speaker
We don't know. Yeah, there's that. You know what? Hob's going to go knock. OK. I guess we'll park out front. We're going to make it a little less quiet. You walk up to the large double doors and as you're walking, I mean, these are attached platforms. It's a central district city. So there are people like walking about. So there are people walking past the front of this building, just nobody going in and out of the front.
00:47:38
Speaker
Um, you walk her Springs, Tasha on her shoulder. The, uh, the double doors do not open as you approach, uh, and no knocking elicits a response or knocking elicits no response.
00:47:54
Speaker
Eris will have Tasha fly up to the terrace and look around and Eris will bring her goggles down and look through Tasha's eyes. Can Hob run back to Tasha real quick and hop in after the knock before you do that? So I'm not standing at the front door when things pop off.
00:48:11
Speaker
No, I think bird terrace is the one flying up. Bird Tasha. Oh, bird Tasha, sorry, of course. Bird terrace is flying up to the Tasha. So yes, Tasha flies up. The terrace, you can see windows up there, but they appear to be dark inside, like the lights are off, not like, ooh, spooky dark. So it just, there doesn't appear to be anybody up there. There is a door.
00:48:39
Speaker
up there that appears to be well made, like it's not falling up off the hinges or anything, but it's also not like suspiciously like steel door, hyper reinforced either. Tasha flies over and perches on one of the windows and just like. Presses the swivels her little metal head and presses it up against the window to look
00:49:09
Speaker
to look through, is there anything? Yeah, you can see the the terrace leads to a small walkway that overlooks like a large lobby style area. So the walkway leads to like a large stairway that goes down to other walkways that lead into side rooms and stuff like that. But it's a very open concept, at least the first like you would guess five or six floors.
00:49:36
Speaker
Um, and you see a, um, well, give me a perception check, Tasha, because the lights are off and all that business. So, um, let's do a, uh, average difficulty perception check. Okay. We have many, so I will spend a story point. Okay.
00:50:03
Speaker
Jesus, one success and one triumph. So Tasha can see near the front doors, like in the lobby on the bottom floor, you can see the other side of the double doors that Hob was knocking at. You see somebody who seems to be a large guard sitting at a desk, it would appear. And you can see that in front of them,
00:50:33
Speaker
Tasha can see some kind of setup with like multiple scrying spells displayed and this person is just sitting there kind of looking at them and you can see a little image of Hobb standing in front of the building just walking away. After having I got no response with that. With that, looking at the door, can I see where the viewpoint is?
00:51:03
Speaker
So I can see the screen through Tasha and I can see that there's a screen with the door. Can I use the angle of that view to figure out where the the point of view, where the, you know, the recording is. Yeah, it appears to be just right above the seam of the double doors, like just kind of looking straight down. OK, Eris will will lift her goggles for a minute and look directly up at that spot. And wave. OK.
00:51:36
Speaker
Then let our guard back down. What's the guard doing? You can see kind of lean forward and look at the. Look at the image of Eris and kind of looks around and looks up and he'll make a perception check to see if he can. So this have audio. Can you can you hear me?
00:52:01
Speaker
So, yeah, the guard spins around in his chair and sees Tasha on the window and pecking at it. And she's trying to fly through it. She's doing the birds. You see him lean over to on his desk to like a dome and as he presses a finger on it, it lights up like a sending stone and he begins talking into it. You all hear nothing outside, though.
00:52:31
Speaker
Who are you talking to? And then he goes, who are you talking to? The guard. Hop spins around. There's a guard. There's a guard in there and he's got a scrying. There's a scrying point right there. Also, he saw Tasha. He looks a little out. He will whistle and call Tasha back. Would you like to try to make a check to elicit him to come out and do it like
00:53:01
Speaker
annoy him to the point of. Oh, you have a triumph we never spent. Oh. He is annoyed enough to come to the door. There it is.
00:53:15
Speaker
Mm. Can I? It's a triumph, after all. Can I say just so that it doesn't immediately start out with us at a disadvantage that he is? I mean, he works for someone who deals in technology. He is intrigued enough by the presence of a weird mechanical bird to come and look. OK. Or someone is. Yeah. Presumably someone else has access. Someone inside is intrigued enough by the presence of a mechanical bird and the fact that Eris
00:53:46
Speaker
figured out where the scry spell was to come and investigate. Yeah, after I would go investigate. Personally. After a couple of minutes. A elf woman walks out of the front double doors.
00:54:09
Speaker
Um, and the guard that Tasha saw at the desk stands just in the opening or shuts the door behind them and then stands in front of the doors, um, kind of at a resting stance and the elf woman approaches you all. Can I help you? Is your name, um, Corum Sadia?
00:54:39
Speaker
Anybody that would like to can give me a perception check. Average difficulty. What? Olive is the most patient person that has ever lived in shorn. Oh my god. Not we're looking for. We were hoping to talk to. Hey, are you? Perception, you say? Yes. That seems all right. Three success, two threat.
00:55:09
Speaker
Okay, so, okay, all the threats that are on the table, just everybody takes strain. Everybody succeeded, so you all can tell that she is taken aback and agitated that somehow this random person knows who she is. Yes, that is my name. How can I help you?
00:55:38
Speaker
We have some questions about, um, a possible associate of yours. And the thing is, um, I was just, I'll keep hearing about, I mean, I build stuff, you know, um, about this Tasha, um, and, um,
00:56:02
Speaker
I keep hearing cool things about the things that you bring into the city. I guess I don't know if you build them or not, but lots of people talk about it because it sounds awesome. So, you know, we had questions about an associate. You make cool things. Two birds, one stone, that kind of thing, you know.
00:56:30
Speaker
I don't know. Right now we're sitting on the precipice of a charm check, unless you want to add a negotiating twist to it. Well, I'm hoping that she is a gearhead. Yeah. And notice and so I can check with mechanics. OK, yes. Yeah, I'll let that I'll let that slide. So this is going to be one red, one purple is the difficulty. OK. Against her discipline. Against her better judgments.
00:57:05
Speaker
Okay. One success. What was it you rolled? I can't. Okay, nevermind. Mechanics. Well, mechanics counts as charm in this circumstance for me. You get to roll mechanics instead of charm for a charm check. But it was a charm check.
00:57:28
Speaker
Uh, what? I think I add four advantage if it was a charm check. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's why I needed to know. Because the language of the room, I don't understand why loom works with charm. I'm glad that it does. I don't either, but we're going to accept it. Count ranks in mechanics. Oh, I did that wrong. I'm sorry. Count ranks in mechanics as charm. So it's still based on your presence.
00:57:58
Speaker
which is actually maybe the same. Yes, it would be the same role. So I guess it is a charm check. I just get to use my ranks in mechanics. Okay. Yeah. So then you have four advantage on top of that role. So one success or advantage. Okay. So she kind of looks at the busy sidewalk that this conversation is happening on. It's like,
00:58:28
Speaker
Come with me. And she turns to walk inside. Harris looks at the others and shrugs and follows. I'm going for advantage. Tasha follows a man. For advantage, um. It's not a trap. OK, no, um.
00:58:59
Speaker
Gosh, I don't know. It's tricky because not knowing. The context of. Where this is going to go. Mm hmm. And what her what her current relationship is with. I'll swap. Makes it tricky. I mean, use the advantage to influence the nature of her relationship with Al's law. OK.
00:59:30
Speaker
I put it in his words. He's a tot. I mean, he might be high, but he might also be a good person that we've been hired to assassinate for no particularly decent reason at all. Also, when dealing with weapon smugglers, if they're a tot who pays well, then the first matters less. I would like to.
01:00:00
Speaker
I would like to put her in. I would like to say she is intrigued by what's going on and she is. That's going to put her in a mood to be. Not necessarily, you know, just. Spill everything, but more forthcoming than she might otherwise be to to not. Not be in a situation where she feels like she's trying to cover for. Our swap, also.
01:00:31
Speaker
Um, so you all, um, follow her and there is a lift in the back of this lobby area. Um, that she presses a button and you all, uh, she enters and you all zip up, um,
01:00:49
Speaker
at a very fast pace, and you see little symbols above the door that light up as you all continue to climb, and you stop on the number 19 out of many more, and it opens up directly into her office, it would appear, and she turns, well then, this seems like a safer place to talk. End of episode.
01:01:16
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be part of the conversation surrounding this episode, head on over to our Discord. The link to which you can find on all of our socials, the Geek Pantheon, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. And we have a YouTube channel, youtube.com slash the Geek Pantheon, where we have a bunch of other tabletop RPG related content, book reviews, tips. I built my own gaming table and did a video on it, stuff like that.
01:01:41
Speaker
Um, as well as another actual play called Kyber shards that Philip runs. It's D and D fifth edition set in storm reach. And we have a patreon patreon.com slash the pantheon. If you want to support the shows financially, that is the place to do it. Thank you all so much for listening. I've been your game master, Eric. I'm Philip. He's Trevor and I'm Randy Philip. I'm Trevor.
01:02:07
Speaker
I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. See you next time. I'm appalled.