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C2 Ep. 9 Thinking Inside the Box Chapter Three
325 Plays4 years ago
This week the crew finds themselves in Dragoneyes attempting to figure out what comes next. Do they meet with Chance? Do they continue down to the Cogs? Find out as they continue to wonder, what’s in the box?
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, Richard Cree, Nastasia Raulerson, The Kamm Family, David Scrams, Elizabeth Clark, Rebekah Miller, deviouspoptart, Eðvarð Arnór Sigurðsson, Michael Clark, Eric Witman, and Dustin Troupe.
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Transcript
Sponsor Acknowledgments
00:00:00
Speaker
The following episode is brought to you by Darryl Delaney, Ryan Royce, Darren Katska, Jessica Smith, Irene Villarito, Laura Pickron, Eric Whitman, Deavius Poptart, Elizabeth Clark, Natasha Rallerson, Richard Cree, The Cam Family, Charles Compton, Edvard Tharnoff, Dustin Troop, Rebecca Miller, Michael Clark, and David Scrams, along with all of our generous patrons.
00:00:35
Speaker
D20 radio, your game is rolling.
Podcast Introduction
00:01:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberron Renewed, an actual play podcast set in the Eberron campaign setting. I am Eric. I'm Randy.
00:01:21
Speaker
And we have another introductory little mini role-playing story to share with you all, this time featuring Milo.
Milo's Daily Routine
00:01:32
Speaker
So yeah, Randy, do you wanna just give us kind of a refresher? I know we touched on a lot of this stuff in session zero. But yeah, I mean, what's Milo's day-to-day look like with the clan? Just as a quick refresher for the listeners.
00:01:49
Speaker
he basically he when the bar was still up and running before the fire he was running numbers out of the place for the clan and now that that's gone he doesn't really have a
00:02:05
Speaker
you know, a base of operations, but he still is going and collecting from business to business from the, you know, the businesses that the clan offers protection to. So he goes around and does that. And oftentimes he'll have hob with him as protection for himself.
00:02:27
Speaker
Yep.
Suspicion Arises
00:02:30
Speaker
So this little scene we're about to do is going to take place in between the two jobs during that kind of two week period, let's say after the fight, so that week before the job that you all are currently on.
00:02:44
Speaker
post Milo's big fight night. So it's a typical work day for Milo. Hob is not with you this time though. You're not too concerned with the list of clientele that you have to go
00:03:00
Speaker
uh collect from and remind of their uh their financial duty uh to the clan um so yeah the the list of places that you have to go today are um two apothecaries uh and then more of a
00:03:20
Speaker
I'm reluctant to say like a general goods store because it's not like you go to this place to buy flour. It's like adventuring gear. So like rope, tent, torches, healing potions, that kind of stuff. So those are the type of places that you're going to today.
00:03:38
Speaker
Places that you've been before shouldn't be anything too crazy. You hit up the first apothecary shop, and like I said, no real issues.
A Mysterious Transaction
00:03:50
Speaker
Female tiefling with bright red skin works there. You then head to the adventuring shop, which is like a block over.
00:04:06
Speaker
So you're just walking in its daytime on the Lower Memphis Plateau. So it's it's kind of the slow time because obviously the nights are when things pick up in your your part of town. So does Milo do anything on his day to day when he's by himself just kind of walking around doing this stuff? Like, does he hum? Does he fidget with something?
00:04:33
Speaker
Um, no, I think, I think Milo at this point in his life is just straight to business. You know, he's a little, little melancholy going on there with him right now, I believe.
00:04:51
Speaker
So he's just all about get there. He's you know, he's done it, you know, hundreds of times. It's almost monotonous now. It's like, let's go get it done. Get on with the day. OK, perfect. So yeah, your your eyes straight ahead, just walking to the next spot and you. You notice a.
00:05:20
Speaker
a human man with kind of light tanish skin, just looks like somebody that works out in the sun all day, but would normally be pretty fair skinned with close crop blonde hair cut short all over his head and kind of blonde stubble. And you swear. You would swear to all of the gods that this person just looked at you with like malicious intent.
00:05:51
Speaker
Um. Like they spotted you, they're kind of you're you're walking straight down the street and they kind of came out of an alley and crossed your path. And you think that they just kind of walked out and just like not not gave you the stink eye, but like deeper than that, if that makes sense. OK, did they did they stop? Did they continue to walk? No, they continue to walk. And you don't recognize this person from the neighborhood.
00:06:27
Speaker
Milo would probably follow them for a little bit. Try to, you know, be in discreet and follow them, see where they're going. Wondering why did this, why did this person just look at him like this? What's up with that?
00:06:45
Speaker
OK, so yeah, you start. You discreetly start kind of following in his footsteps, not following too close, of course. You you spot him stop and talk to a dwarf and they kind of exchange words. Doesn't seem pleasant, but also doesn't seem
00:07:12
Speaker
Heated seems very much business as usual And as you're watching you see this figure Kind of glance around which causes you like maybe you're up against the corner of a building and you just kind of like duck back a little bit But you see him hand a pouch of coins of some kind and you see the dwarf hand this guy a
00:07:42
Speaker
Looks like a look a little bit bigger than a typical music box, but it's a wooden box that he hands him and the guy kind of throws it into his satchel and starts walking again. Do you continue following him or are you going to talk to the dwarf? Do I recognize the dwarf at all? It's just somebody at that. I don't know.
00:08:03
Speaker
Um, you recognize the dwarf. He is a business owner on the plateau. He you recognize him. He typically deals in adventuring gear, similar to the shop that you were on your way to go deal with one of our clients.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, most businesses in this neighborhood are a quote unquote client to the clan just for operating here. He typically deals in more offensive wares like weapons or alchemical like bombs, stuff like that, like more intense adventuring gear.
00:08:56
Speaker
OK, Milo's since Milo knows this guy, he's definitely going to walk up to him. OK, yeah, you know this dwarf's name as Tranith.
Interrogating Tranith
00:09:13
Speaker
All right, so Milo walks up to Tranith and. Good day to you, Tranith.
00:09:23
Speaker
Uh, Milo, I already paid my pound of flesh. What do you need? No, no, no. I'm not here to collect on you today. I'm just curious. The human, the human just gave you coin for a music box. It wasn't a music box. It was just a wooden box with some, some supplies in it, Milo.
00:09:52
Speaker
Do you mind giving me the man's name? Well, you should know better than anybody in this part of town, Milo. Information don't come for free. Right.
00:10:21
Speaker
Milo pulls out a gold coin. Now, you know, gold coin for somebody's name is not. It's a pretty hefty price. Tranith kind of get his face gets flush and he kind of swatch your wrist down and like, be subtle about it. Come on now. Listen, you don't need to give me the coin this way. Just put it on my tap.
00:10:51
Speaker
whatever that gold will get me in the long run, just don't come back until I've used up that. That's fair enough. Fair enough. So name. And if you know somebody maybe he works for. I only know his first name. First name is Jason.
00:11:18
Speaker
Don't know rightly who he works for. All I know is that he claimed he was headed down to the cogs for some business, needed some supplies, something to ensure his safety. So, give him the box. Interesting. All as I know, he's come to me before for supplies.
00:11:45
Speaker
He does odd jobs all over the city, some more dangerous than others. I don't ask questions. That's not my business. Does he ever get, man, I feel like Milo's accent is all over the place. How did Milo talk again? In his supplies.
00:12:12
Speaker
Did he ever, does he ever buy anything maybe perchance to set fires? You see Traneth once again, his eyes kind of dart around to see who might be listening. He's like, Milo now, don't know what you're asking me, but what that man does with the things I give him,
00:12:44
Speaker
Does not mean I bear any responsibility for the things that he does. Have I sold my things that could be set on
Milo's Suspicion
00:12:50
Speaker
fire? Sure. That box itself could be set on fire, but I, you, you got your gold's worth. I'm done talking and like he is clearly like to your eye, Milo, like you get the sense he's trying to hide something from you, but he's starting to kind of back away and turn and walk.
00:13:13
Speaker
All right. Milo's not going to press him at this point, but definitely has Milo's curiosity up and suspicion and he's got a name and he's got a description. So he's fine with that. He's going to continue to go on to his place of business. The other adventuring shop.
00:13:38
Speaker
Yep. So, yeah, you head on to your next bit of business and the rest of your day largely is uneventful. So. And that's it. So he started the fire that killed Milo's wife. I know he did. Um.
00:14:03
Speaker
So yeah, I hope you all have enjoyed this. Randy, I hope you enjoyed doing this. Sure. Getting a chance to kind of do Milo in a bit more controlled environment. But yeah, thank you all so much for listening. Thank you, Randy, for joining me to do this. I'm sure we'll do it again here in about a month or so once we cycle through all the other characters.
00:14:29
Speaker
So yeah, I hope you all enjoy the episode, the finale of the arc, titled What's, er, I hope you all enjoy the finale for the arc thinking inside the box. And we're both excited for you all to hear it. And then we will be coming at you with another review.
00:14:50
Speaker
I'm thinking it was mostly Eris that was thinking inside the box. Absolutely. All right. Thank you all, everybody, and enjoy the episode.
Episode Recap: A Chaotic Escape
00:15:02
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberron Renewed, an actual play podcast set in the Eberron campaign setting. I'm your game master, Eric. I'm Philip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. And welcome to another episode. Gentlemen, what happened last time? Car chase. Car chase.
00:15:19
Speaker
A lot of failure. Or did we roll bad on the last week? I mean, really, it was a car chase that at a certain point we got so desperate, we just tried to figure out different ways to kill the guys. How can we make them fall off of their boat, I guess. Yes. Yeah, it was.
00:15:39
Speaker
I mean, that was mostly it. We decided to try and get to the cogs and offload our illicit cargo before going and investigating the assassin who briefly commandeered our vessel. And in doing so, we were spotted by the fuzz and failed to cheese it. Yeah. Really, Strigil beefed the most important roles. I blame them.
00:16:09
Speaker
It was under poor direction from Reynard that things fell apart, to be fair. That tracks. So, yeah, you all crash landed the platform and found yourselves serendipitously in the Dragon Eyes district in the lower Tavix landing. Lost in the crowd.
00:16:32
Speaker
Lost in a crowd. So you all can either try to hoof it to a sky cab and try to pay for a fair down to the cogs. If you want to continue on that line of thinking or you can head to meet chance at chance. Since you're in the right district, just whichever direction you all want to go.
00:16:55
Speaker
We've established we don't know anything about Chance, either the person or the place, right? Correct. OK. Yeah. Hob has never been here and Hob is kind of your your best contact for things that exist outside of the Memphis Plateau. Yeah. Unless it's unless it's Upper City stuff, then Raynard is probably the best person to talk to since Raynard used to live there. Well, sounds like you guys picked a wrong person to be your guy around. Um.
00:17:28
Speaker
I mean, we're, we're being chased. Eris is really scared. Um, and so really wants to get, get gone. Uh, she would be fine with running. She would be fine with hiding, but Eris really wants to get gone from here. We don't really have a speed stat, do we? No. I mean, I assume that we would use other, I assume it would be like the car chase. We would use various skills to, right? My, my, my thought is still after us.
00:17:58
Speaker
I mean, are we actually lost in the crowd? They are certainly going to be landing their ship and pursuing on foot, but. Unlike the King's Shield that spotted you at the scene of the crime. The city watchmen just saw the back of your all's heads from a distance. Like I said, they were about seven car lengths away, so it's not like they got a great look at you all. Well, and additionally, the big guy.
00:18:28
Speaker
as we have crash landed where we have crash landed, we are on the turf of another gang. Yes. And so this is presumably like our own home district going to be a place where it's not entirely easy for the watch to move around as freely as they might otherwise in the more civilized parts of the city. So
00:18:52
Speaker
We might be able to just find a place to lie low for a few minutes as long as we aren't advertising our affiliation loudly. Okay. As I look around, is there any place that jumps out to me as this is clearly an establishment that is open right now.
00:19:11
Speaker
Like, but maybe it's not like the biggest, brightest place. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, um, Dragon Eyes is the red light district of this part of town.
Seeking Refuge in Dragon Eyes
00:19:21
Speaker
So there are a ton of inns, taverns, restaurants, um, things like that, uh, of, of all varying degrees of, um, luxury. Um, so with so many options, yeah, you, you can find a spot that seems to be less, uh, packed than, than others.
00:19:41
Speaker
Okay. I think Hob gives a whistle and I think it's been established among this group that if Hob says he's doing something, he doesn't expect people to follow. It's just, he lets everyone know, Hey, this feels like this feels good to me. And if we're all standing here, I'm going to go do this now. And so he kind of gives a whistle and starts moving.
00:20:05
Speaker
the goal is to get out of their line of sight while they're still landing so we can duck into one of those types of places, if that's doable. Okay. Yeah, I mean, areas absolutely follow the top. Yep. Awesome. You all can find a small kind of poor looking restaurant establishment that's not going to draw a huge crowd to duck into really easily. So yeah, you find yourselves in a smallish building
00:20:34
Speaker
the interior probably has six tables one of which has people eating at it you see two dwarves enjoying a rather modest meal and then behind the bar you see a
00:20:51
Speaker
a remarkably beautiful individual. For a moment, you think it's very fair, pale skin, blonde hair. For a moment, you think this is just a supernaturally attractive human. And then, Raynard, you probably would have dealt with them most in the upper parts of the city. You realize this is an Asamar, so a person with celestial blood who just kind of radiates and glows.
00:21:16
Speaker
And they like see you all walk in. And the gentleman behind the bar goes, welcome. Can I get you a table? Sure, thanks. Right this way. And I believe I was at the bar. OK, then so you all will be at a table and you'll be at the bar by yourself to drink to
00:21:47
Speaker
They bring those to the tables. Who wants a table and who's sitting at the bar? I assumed you all were together, but clearly that was a mistake. I'm not sitting at the bar, not with his box in my hands, not with cops. That's the first thing they're going to see when they walk into a building. Milo's head, he's thinking split up a little bit. Okay, that's fair.
00:22:11
Speaker
And Reynard will set up the bar with Milo. So two and two. Excellent. Well, the bar is open seating. Where are they? They're with you all. So. They don't like Asian fusion. They went to the next place.
00:22:31
Speaker
Um, so, uh, Kath goes to the bar with Milo and, uh, and Raynard, uh, Sana and Sigil sit at the table with Hob and, uh, Eris. I think, uh, as we're being walked to the table, Hob says, you know, we, uh, we just kind of wandered in. We didn't even look, what's the name of this place?
00:22:52
Speaker
Oh, the name of this place is the Celestial Horn. Can't win them all. All right. He says to air as jokingly. Have meat by chance.
00:23:08
Speaker
We do have meat, yes. You have chance by chance. I'll be over there to take your order shortly, sir. No need to yell across the establishment. I'm so sorry. He looks at the dwarves sitting there as all of this commotion is happening.
00:23:24
Speaker
Have we stumbled into a nice restaurant? No, no, it's a very modest spot. Yeah. I was wondering what the shirt and shoes policy was and how it related to Hobb. It is very clear that the owner of this establishment that you're interacting with wants this place so desperately to be well regarded and have a good reputation. For some reason, it's just not happening. Well, they're welcome to try to put a shirt on Hobb.
00:23:52
Speaker
So what can I get all of you? He says to those sitting at the table. Oh, and he looks at Sigil. I don't know what you consume. Sigil just kind of...
00:24:13
Speaker
Not annoyed, but just very kind of resignation like nothing is fine. Okay, for the rest of you. Um, yeah, I'd like a pitcher of water and a whole chicken.
00:24:30
Speaker
Going off menu, fine. You don't have chicken on the menu? You don't have a whole chicken back there? We have a whole chicken. Nowhere on the menu does it say whole chicken. I'd like a dark meat meal. I'd like a light meat meal. And an order of wings. All connected. I mean, if I can put it back together myself or you can just not take it apart back there, either way.
00:24:57
Speaker
OK, so my voice is failing when I make stupid jokes. He takes everyone's order at the table and goes to put the orders in. What are you all going to do while you lay low in here? I'm going to hold the lid of that box down real time while you're while you're holding the box, you feel the the shifting persist and grow not stronger, but just continuing.
00:25:27
Speaker
Does it seem more frantic, maybe? Maybe like, you know, you don't know the motivations of this box. So I just like I'm thinking about just when you hear any other sound, like if I hear this knock versus one seems frantic.
00:25:47
Speaker
And there's no knocking. Like I said, there's no sound. It's just you can feel the box shifting. Right. But it's not like something's banging against the side of the box. No, no, I was just using a speed and erraticness has picked up. What if it's someone in trouble? Well, I suppose it's possible. What if it's not?
00:26:16
Speaker
See the way I see it right now, whatever's in the box, both is and is not in trouble. I believe the only way to know for sure would be to open the box, in which case it would certainly be in trouble.
00:26:35
Speaker
So it's a real humdinger of a situation. I think I'll call it humdinger's box. Sigil kind of pontificates at your words and goes, I feel like you're describing something that would be used to describe the absurdity of of planar relations and physics, but that for some reason, people started taking seriously like it was an actual theorem on that sort of thing when it was never intended to be taken seriously. Curious. Interesting point. I was told to keep the box closed.
00:27:06
Speaker
On the other hand, we did just fly a boat through the sky due to the absurdity of planar relations.
00:27:24
Speaker
So the owner is there behind the bar. He has served you your drink orders and is now doing what all bartenders in all fantasy fantasy settings do when they hit idle mode. They are cleaning a glass. So also Westerns. Yeah. Anything with horses, really, they can be cut and garnish. OK, so I'm assuming we are going to converse with this bartender.
00:27:52
Speaker
Hello. Or with each other. Whatever you want to do. So, how long have you owned this place? Oh, you know, it was actually my father's, but I've been owning and operating it for the past four years now. What brings you all to Dragon Eyes? Oh, yes. What were you saying?
Meeting Chance, the Doppelganger
00:28:22
Speaker
Wouldn't happen to anyone? No, I was thinking maybe places of chance in the area, a place where we might gamble. That's more.
00:28:44
Speaker
I can't tell if you all are being intentionally cute or... It sounds like you're trying to speak in code about a place called Chance but don't know what speaking in code means. How much more did you recommend? Are you all looking to meet with Chance, the owner and operator of the casino in this district, also called Chance?
00:29:06
Speaker
Ah, so there is a place here called Chance. Very good, George. I think we've got it. Milo and Reynard forever. Yes, it's just down the main street here. Large building says Chance on the front. And if you're looking for him, um,
00:29:36
Speaker
Generally speaking, he wears an amulet because he is a doppelganger. He rarely appears on the same form, but he wears the same amulet every night. So people looking to speak with him can spot him in a crowd. Excellent. Thank you very much.
00:30:04
Speaker
Are you looking to place a bet? Possibly. That's what those places are for. Oh, well. I'm sorry, I assumed you knew. I assumed you had a reason to go to chances specifically. We just had heard it was a nice place. Best reviews, really. Well, it's finally a dump.
00:30:32
Speaker
Chance, be careful because the reason people go to speak with Chance is he will bet on anything. I mean anything. You walk in there and you give him a proposition, he will give you odds and take your money.
00:30:51
Speaker
Whether it is surviving 24 hours with Tarkan and assassins on your tail, or seducing a member of the Undying Court. He will give you odds, and if you succeed, he will pay. So, going back, when you say doppelganger, you mean like a changeling?
00:31:15
Speaker
There is a distinction. So changelings are much like I, as an ASMR in my lineage, was a result of a celestial and a human procreating together. changelings are the result of doppelgangers and humans procreating and so on and so forth. So changelings are half human, half doppelgangers. Chance happened to be a nickname.
00:31:46
Speaker
I don't know. Why? Just wondering, are we looking for someone who's like a changeling? That's some wild nominative determinism, if it's not a nickname. Can I give a nickname because he works in a casino. Are we looking for a changeling?
00:32:09
Speaker
Yes, your contact. Yes. But I'm trying to endorse my thin line. OK, so, Hobb, you've swallowed your chicken whole. Oh, no, I've eaten a chicken. He's big. He's not a monster. You just made your jaw and just.
00:32:32
Speaker
Yeah. No, I did the cartoon thing where I, I, I dropped it all in and I pulled out a chicken skeleton. Yeah. And he just set a pie on the windowsill. So you're going to float on over to it. Uh, Harris, it's free. It's the free bread. Okay. He offers Harris a drumstick before he sucks it to the bone, but she lets you take it. She eats a drumstick. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So what are we doing? Dine and dash hob's running out of there.
00:33:01
Speaker
Yeah, enough times passed. Take that, take that angel. No, I suppose we head towards Chance since we're here in Dragon Eyes. Mm-hmm. What did you say? We have to tell you about it. We found the information out. Welcome. We used our massive deduction skills and discovered where Chance is. Luck would have it, not very far away.
00:33:28
Speaker
I think this actually does happen often enough that they, that, that, that Milo and Rainard sit at a bar and stumble upon information that Hov doesn't question it. He's like, you heard, that's cool. Or also when they're not drinking, adeptly get information. They're not always bumbling. Well, they might be, it's Trevor's choice I guess. Milo wishes to get the proprietor's name before we leave. Oh, my name is little chit chat.
00:33:59
Speaker
My name is Reginald Castor. What would be a place we'd come back and visit sometime? Um, we're looking for a doppelganger, an amulet. Well, um, should, um, him easily botable. Well, and if you remember that slip of paper heiress that you found on, uh, Milo's boot had the sketch of an amulet. So. Oh yeah.
00:34:28
Speaker
Are we headed down the road to chance? I think that makes the most sense right now. Yeah. Okay.
00:34:36
Speaker
So you all walk with the flow of foot traffic. You you do spot a handful of city watch at a distance, but it seems like they're being harangued by a handful of changelings that are kind of cornering them. Not violently, it's just kind of a
00:35:01
Speaker
What you all would do if you spotted a bunch of city watchmen walking through the lower Memphis Plateau on a weekend night. So. So, yeah, you you walk up and the.
00:35:20
Speaker
The casino is nice. It seems more everything about this district seems more luxurious than you're all part of town. Not in a it's better or more opulent. It's just the money goes more towards luxury than function kind of thing.
00:35:42
Speaker
OK. And so you all are pretty easily able to enter through the main doors of Chance, the Chance Casino. And there are some some people guarding the door. There's a female minotaur and a male goliath that are bouncing at the door.
00:36:07
Speaker
If you all want to ask them where to find chance, or if you all just want to wonder about the casino, you can do that as well. Maybe one of the characters with high social skills like charm. I have that. And I will loom behind whomever. That's what I do in situations. I stand there and I look like a hob.
00:36:37
Speaker
Vikings, if if they know where Chance is. OK, so go ahead and roll for me and then we can role play. One success, which is all you need. So, yeah, what are you just literally walking up and saying, hey, where's Chance? Or are you going to give like a reason that you're you're looking? Think.
00:37:08
Speaker
Inarda is smart enough to probably not demand a speak to Chance. So just says something like, hello. We were wondering if Chance would be around. Chance. Just giggles.
00:37:31
Speaker
The the minotaur woman kind of snorts at your joke in a that. It's a joke that never gets old in a sincere way. And she says, yeah, he's he's inside. If you go straight back, ignore the double staircase and go through the doors behind the fountain. He's back there.
00:37:58
Speaker
So, yeah, you just head back there and somebody will receive you. Thank you.
Uncovering Duncan's Past
00:38:09
Speaker
So, yeah, you all walk into chance. And once again, the luxury theme continues where plush carpeting like think think early 80s luxury like like gaudy colors, thick carpeting, a fountain, gold railing on the staircases. Is there a second floor like like a conversation conversation pit?
00:38:37
Speaker
Um, so yeah, these vector
00:38:42
Speaker
So yeah, you all are able to reach the doors easily enough. The casino's busy, it's hopping. This is the kind of traffic that the lucky nines would typically see. It's probably just as busy there tonight. And you open the doors and you see two changelings, not in any form, standing just on the other side of the doors, seemingly waiting on somebody to walk through them.
00:39:12
Speaker
And then you see a strikingly handsome individual on a large sofa in front of a large circular table, just kind of lounging long red hair with a shirt that only has like two buttons engaged in a ornate age. We're late for church. Engage your buttons quicker.
00:39:45
Speaker
It's better than button your buttons. Just say the same word twice. Fasten. Do your buttons. Engage. That's my grandma. Do up your buttons. Engage. Anyway, just kind of lounging. And one of the changelings sees all of you enter and kind of starts.
00:40:10
Speaker
Well, there's certainly more of you than we were expecting, but. He is waiting for you. Right. I keep him waiting. You know what? I think Hobb would wait until they were inside to set the record straight that they're not who they're waiting for. OK, Hobb shuts up.
00:40:40
Speaker
Um. So you all enter and there's padded chairs and love seats and sofas in a circle to where you all can take a seat and this figure kind of gestures. Welcome. So thank you. Um. I'm assuming that something happened to Duncan. Um.
00:41:10
Speaker
Could you describe Duncan? Young. Male. Dumb. Is that I can I can verify one of those things, I think.
00:41:25
Speaker
Chance describes a young male figure, brunette hair, largely matching the description of the person you saw getting chased by by Corella. Who's got the note? Eris probably pulls it out of a pocket. Eris, show them the note. And hands it over. Hmm. Well, yes, this is.
00:41:49
Speaker
Right, chance at chance. Friend, we, we came as a courtesy to let you know if in case you were waiting on this man, that unfortunately, he was killed by someone who introduced herself as Kerala to us. It looked like an assassination. It certainly looked like a planned murder. Um, she used an aberrant mark.
00:42:18
Speaker
As far as I know, we don't have any real business we need to attend to with you. We found ourselves in Dragon Eyes anyway. And we came here to let you know that. So is that your only goal here? That's what Hob came to do. Okay. Anybody can jump in and say whatever they want and we'll get the blessing of two advantage from it. I'm just saying why Hob showed up. Hob didn't want to come to Dragon Eyes. Now they're in Dragon Eyes.
00:42:48
Speaker
And we're at chances. Your friend Duncan's not coming. Goodbye. Well, I'm a little curious as to why somebody would want to kill him like that. And Kath kind of burrows her brows like, and I we would like to.
00:43:07
Speaker
find who did it so that the authorities want to question us because she was in our car. And if we can get this person to the Citadel, then they won't be looking for us anymore. And so that's certainly why I wanted to come to this meeting. Chance kind of flips the note around and tosses it on the table in front of him.
00:43:34
Speaker
Duncan was part of a rich boy gang that runs around in the upper parts of the city that had fallen in with a group of aberrant, mocked individuals that had no longer affiliated themselves with House Tarkannon. So Duncan was worried that mommy and daddy were going to find out what he was up to and made a bet with me.
00:44:03
Speaker
that he could take down the whole gang before dawn. So he was bringing me some evidence of the gang's doings so I could turn it over to House Tarkannon and they could all sort themselves out. So that's what Duncan was up to and apparently he lost the bet so I don't need to worry about paying out that.
00:44:28
Speaker
But yeah, um, if you want to know, um, I certainly know where their hideout is. I could point you in the direction of them, or if you are merely here as a courtesy, then, uh, I thank you and it's good to know that I won't have to pay anybody any money and you may go. Well, what was the name of the gang?
00:44:54
Speaker
the name of the gang, that was part of the evidence that was going to be turned over to me. I know that they run around the lower districts of the city terrorizing people, using their mocks, things like that. But unfortunately, that's all the information I have on them right now. If Duncan would have been better at his job, then I would have more information for you. But then you wouldn't be here in the first place. So seems that fate has brought us together. And you have the location, you say? Yes.
00:45:26
Speaker
Might be worth having. Well are you going to do anything about it? Or is it just academic? Well if we...
00:45:40
Speaker
have the information, we might be able to do something about it if we need to. Chance flips over the bloodstained piece of parchment that's on the table that had the instructions for the meeting place and recycling.
The Gang's Hideout
00:45:56
Speaker
I appreciate it. Yeah. As far as I know, they operate out of the Stone God District up in the northern part of the city. There's an apartment block up there that
00:46:08
Speaker
We believe that they live in, that they operate out of. Excellent. Thank you for the information. You know anyone named Dorsoff? No. Is there a reason why I should? No. Okay then. Well, I believe we are done here. Very well.
00:46:40
Speaker
Thank you for stopping by. And if you ever care to make a wager, feel free to come back. Thanks. You want to arm wrestle? Let's just go. Okay. The egg in this box is going to hatch eventually. And then we're all going to be in trouble. So y'all just going down to the cogs. Yes. And if we get stopped, we have some info that we could maybe help ourselves with.
00:47:10
Speaker
OK, so I suppose we need a new boat. Are we calling a sky cab? I assume we have to hire one. And we're not in a friendly part of town. Oh, hey, we're organized crime now. We know what's up with the sky cabs. I actually.
Borrowing a Sky Coach
00:47:33
Speaker
I have an idea. I have a talent.
00:47:39
Speaker
called Street Habits, where once per session I can obtain a useful item. Eric proposed that the origin of this is that I had helped out a member of the tyrants who had been... I can't remember what he was caught doing in the nines.
00:48:04
Speaker
I think it was that if you change, it was basically just have to self report when they were in the nine and he failed to do so. Yeah. OK, so yeah, he he didn't inform the clan that he was a changeling when he came into the nines and Eris got security to stop hassling him and they become acquaintances, at least despite their different affiliations.
00:48:30
Speaker
Uh, so obviously acquiring a new sky cab would be far in excess of the value limit of this, but could I use this to obtain a loan of a sky cab? Yeah, I would, I would say so. Uh, so, um, I think I can get us some new, a new ride for the time being, but, um,
00:49:02
Speaker
Like, could y'all just, could y'all just wait here? I'll miss. Kath's on and Sigil are fine with that. You're sure? You want, you want to go off by yourself? Yeah. Bye. I, I can't make you let me go with you. You're, you're a grown woman, so.
00:49:32
Speaker
Eris will disappear into the crowd over towards wherever she knows. And I feel that we did not name this person either wherever it is that they hang out as Eris disappears into the crowd. Hob finally exhales and releases his grip on the box. Kind of shakes like the pain out of the hands from gripping so tight for so long.
00:49:58
Speaker
The name is Gers, G-E-R-S-E. Essentially, Eris's thought process here is that she isn't entirely confident what. The consequences would be of it becoming known that she's got a pal she swaps favors with in a rival gang.
00:50:25
Speaker
And so while she's fairly confident of some of the people around her, I feel like she probably doesn't know some of the NPCs as well and she doesn't trust many people at all. And so she's mostly just trying to keep this as quiet as she can from anyone generally. Okay. Is this the first time she's done this?
00:50:50
Speaker
probably not in world, um, certain, I mean, obviously in, in story, I assume that, I assume that this is not someone she helped out just that one time. And now she's asked them to loan them, loan her their car somewhere where she likes to, that she slips off from time to time. If we're around and she does, this is probably the first time it's happened on a job. I would say.
00:51:16
Speaker
Most most often this is used to acquire parts for things that she's building, which she doesn't usually do during a job. OK, so, yeah, you the the Shifting Hall, which is where like the resources of the tyrants lie. Gerst works there just doing paperwork and stuff like that for the client for the the guild. Is this a place I can walk into?
00:51:44
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you're not wearing a Boromar t-shirt and this is where people come to. I wasn't sure what kind of what kind of place it was. Yeah, the shifting halls where people go to hire a guild. So so yeah, this is it's a business, essentially. Yeah. OK, so yeah, she goes in and I assume she and girls have a way of meeting up as she just goes into his office or what.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah. I've been saying his, I don't think you've established with changelings a little amorphous, but. Yeah. Gurs, at least the majority of the times that you've interacted with him has presented himself as male. OK. So.
00:52:25
Speaker
Gerst sees you walk in. He's behind the counter. Nobody's in there. He's like, Oh, hello. How how can I help you? And he kind of gestures to come up to the counter. All right. She she comes up. And what do you need? I'm in a bit of a spot. Yeah. Why are you here?
00:52:51
Speaker
probably best. I don't want to explain that entirely entirely. Um, but I need, I need a ride. Uh, and I would imagine Eris having fallen out of a sky cab shortly ago, looks a little bit disheveled. Um, I need to borrow a ride. I just, I'll have it back in, in a few hours.
00:53:16
Speaker
OK, yeah, yeah. Here I can we we allow vehicle usage when hiring the guild for a job. So and he pulls a form over and quickly scribbles a name that is barely legible. That is not yours. It just kind of haphazardly writes and it's like, OK, I'm requisitioning one sky coach.
00:53:44
Speaker
for the night. OK. And he puts a stamp on it and slides it into the pile. It's like, OK, if you just want to go behind the building, there are some back there. And if you take any hands, you this dongle kind of thing. Right. Like, as long as this is in your possession, then it works. It's a push start, right? Yeah. Here's here's the fob. Yeah. Yeah.
00:54:12
Speaker
All right. Uh, thanks. You're a lifesaver. No problem. I'll see you around. Tucks it into her pocket and goes around to the, wherever the parking lot is, finds the car. Yeah. You, you find a bank of sky coaches. Um, so, uh, I assume it goes, it keys to a specific one. So she goes to that one and climbs in and I don't know, 15, 20 minutes later, um, she pulls up in a sky cap.
00:54:41
Speaker
So you all are just hanging out in the front of this casino and then you see across the street where there's an air dock, you see Aeris roll up in, in a Skycoach. Head over to Aeris. Let's go. I cannot express how very important it is that this vehicle not be destroyed in the course of our job.
00:55:05
Speaker
You didn't steal it, did you? If I'd stolen it, it would be perfectly convenient for it to be destroyed in the course of our job. That's what I was hoping you would say. No, I borrowed it. Right. Well, in we go. So are you taking the wheel, Aeris, or are you allowing Sigil to drive?
00:55:32
Speaker
Sigil just kind of pauses. Yeah, I know. She will slide into the back and yield the driver's seat to Sigil.
00:55:41
Speaker
OK, they hop in and hop behind the quote unquote wheel and take off down. You all are obviously closer than your initial starting point to the cogs. So, yeah, you are because traffic is beginning to clear up a bit, it's getting later. So people are where they want to be. They're not traveling right now.
00:56:06
Speaker
You're able to get down there to the ash black district.
Warehouse Negotiations
00:56:12
Speaker
So give me a you all doc and disembark. Anybody want to give me a streetwise check to try and locate. Dorsof and the warehouse that you're looking for. When we dock, Eris was a this is
00:56:36
Speaker
I know it's not exactly normal, but, uh, can someone stay with this vehicle? Um, yeah, sure. Uh, Kath and Sana agreed to stay behind. Like we, we got this, don't worry. Uh, yeah. So we're using street wise. Uh, let me get difficulty set. Who's making the check?
00:57:02
Speaker
Eris has one rank and her cunning is three. I'm happy for someone else to make it if they're better added than them. Yeah, it's not for me. I've got two green and my cunning is two. Okay. Three green, that's it. Then I will go for it. We assist each other? Are we identical? Is your cunning better?
00:57:31
Speaker
The yellow and two green. OK, so we're the same. It's the same. Yep. What's the difficulty? Two purple. OK, and what's the pool sitting at? You all have four. I have one. I would really like to spend one because I would really like something disastrous to not happen while we try to find the guy. OK. Go for it. One success, two threat.
00:57:58
Speaker
Boy, with the way those two purple rolled, I am glad I spent that. Mm hmm. Because they both rolled a failure and a threat on both purple die. So, yeah, the go and take two strain. You're stressed out. Oh, yeah. Car this night about everything about what's such a bad part of town. You don't own that car. Rob still has a look in the box. Running out of time to look in the box.
00:58:27
Speaker
Okay, so yeah, you're able to walk through the industrial district and you see nondescript warehouse after nondescript warehouse and then you spot a dwarf standing out in front and kind of looks your way and spots, you think he spots hob and just kind of gives a subtle gesture and then walks inside the warehouse.
00:58:55
Speaker
Now, right, before we hand it over to him, don't you think it... it booves us to just be sure there's not someone in trouble in that box of yours? I've given it some thought. Right, right. And, um... And you're coming around. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:59:25
Speaker
I think what we'll do, Eris, is have him verify the content before he takes it away. And if it's something, perhaps we'd feel really bad about selling like someone in trouble. Well, then maybe our course of action can change. Well, I mean, if. If it's someone we're selling, we're going to kill him, right?
00:59:55
Speaker
Yes. Oh yeah. Absolutely. That's Jeff. Oh, that was, that was absolutely Aerith. Right. All right. Well, you know, we were, we were hired to do a job and I would hate to taint our reputation amongst those that would hire us and somehow infuriate the Burmour clan.
01:00:25
Speaker
So whatever we do, we should proceed cautiously.
01:00:38
Speaker
OK, so you all enter the warehouse. You see the dwarf sanding. He's got six goons, it looks like, on the other side of the table and says, oh, welcome, please. You can place the box on the table and we can begin negotiations.
01:01:08
Speaker
Now, hold on. She turns the hub. He has exactly the same voice as the bloke what hired us. Eris walks towards the table. Milo takes a seat. There's no chair. Oh, Milo. It's crisscross applesauce on the ground. It falls down.
01:01:40
Speaker
Bob, what are you doing? Who? Who wants to? You've been so gung ho about this. I know, I know, I know, but I don't I don't talk. Oh, Aeris has got that. I mean, if we're negotiating, I'm just asking what you're doing. Like you said, please set the box on the table and we can begin negotiation. I'm setting the box on the table.
01:02:06
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Sorry to say that. So I, you're right. I, I, I, in my head, I was like, well, of course, but you're right. We might should have talked about how much we were going to ask for before we came in. It's all on you. Right now, we were told not to walk out of here with less than 10,000 callifiers.
01:02:34
Speaker
And I'm thinking considering the hazard that we've had to go through to get this box to you. That's some generous hazard pay is probably in order to. I see. Um, well, first things first. Um, you and I both know that what's in this box is not worth 10,000 gout for. Please.
01:03:05
Speaker
So I would be prepared to do 7,500. This is already working out better than I thought it would. Go ahead and give me a negotiation role. Yeah. I'm absolutely spending a story point.
01:03:29
Speaker
And hob is looming for me. I assume. Oh yes. And I can't believe you didn't try to convince him to open it was the first thing you did. I am also spending a story point spicy. And you got, you heard me say that I was doing so as well. Yes. I have your upgrade noted. What is the pool? Three red.
01:03:50
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Is Milo helping me with his snow? Wait, none of us. We all have the same. No one has better presence. Nevermind. That was intellect that Milo was. I have nothing I can do additionally to. Oh man, I really should have augmented myself.
01:04:17
Speaker
Or she said Raynard could have augmented you as well. Yep, yep. Or Milo could have. Any about so many people could have done this. Raynard, Raynard, if you want to spin a story point, I will let you augment. I will let you augment Eris. Let's do it. I've got your difficulty of two purple set, so you can go ahead and roll verse is the skill that you roll.
01:04:48
Speaker
OK, one advantage. So you can give Eris a boost die
A Gruesome Discovery
01:04:55
Speaker
to. Hey, every little bit. OK, I've got your upgrade about your boost, three red die. Go for it. OK, one failure, one threat, one failure, one advantage. No, no. Oh, yes, because two. Oh, two advantage from looming. Yep. So
01:05:20
Speaker
So you do not succeed in negotiating up to 10,000. He has countered with 7,500. I would like him to call it a day there. I would like him to say something revealing about the thing in the box. I realize it's not enough for him to just outright declare what's in the box, but
01:05:43
Speaker
I'd like something revealing about the about the thing in the box. So I'm with negotiations done. He slides the box over and flips it open, of course, at an angle to where he can see and you cannot. And he just kind of smirks and goes and you you hear the noises. Now the box is open of like the muffled kind of. And he's goes, Harris looks back at Hobb.
01:06:08
Speaker
The Carnathy sure do know how to do what they do well. And he snaps the box shut and kind of slides it under his box. Would that means all of you lived through the last war? So you would know that the thing that the Carnath are known for is necromancy. Did you just did you just slide money across the table? Yes. Eris takes the money and she backs away from that box.
01:06:34
Speaker
Anything else you all would like to do? They are satisfied with this negotiation. One of the goons takes the box and what. What do you want with something like that? I'll let you make a check. Boy, what kind of check is it? I mean, that you're you're trying to get information free, so that would be charm. OK, I'm in looming. I'll give you a help.
01:07:02
Speaker
OK, she has no ranks in this, so. So what's your presence, Eris? It's three. And how many ranks do you have, Raynard? Two, one, one. OK, so Raynard, describe how you inject yourself into this conversation to assist. You just have to inject yourself in some way to like back up her question like it doesn't have to be something grandiose.
01:07:33
Speaker
I'd be smart about it. But it's taking me so long. Play to your strengths, Trevor. I think what my friend means is... How might you have needed the Carnathy help for? From the Carnathy.
01:07:54
Speaker
Great job, Trevor. Okay. I'm going to spend a story point to just upgrade one of the dice. So it's one red, one purple is your difficulty. All right. You have all of my things set. I don't know what I just got out of that, but
01:08:13
Speaker
You got Reynard's ranks, basically. So one yellow, two green is your pool. Okay. You could spend a story point to upgrade if you like. No, I'm good. Actually, I'll tell you what needs to happen. Reynard, you need to spend two story points to activate your heroic ability. Oh, right. Charm checks so that you can remove one of the purple die after the roll happens. Sorry, good. I need to remember I have that.
01:08:38
Speaker
Oh, so that puts you all out of story points. So all of them are in my hands. OK, go ahead and roll. Wait, hold on. Don't. Eris, you're rolling, so I added an upgrade for Raynard's rank. You're good to go. OK.
01:09:02
Speaker
Oh, wait. No, it just gets you an advantage. It doesn't affect the failures. Well, it no, it doesn't affect the failures, but it takes the purple dice out and add to advantage. So you have three advantage. So. So you're not going to get that important for the list. No success, three advantage. Right. He's not going to he's not going to tell me what he wants to do with it. OK.
01:09:31
Speaker
I feel like I might be asking a lot, but I will ask and you say no. He's passed it to one of his goons, right? Yeah. Can it jerk in such a way that the goon is surprised and alarmed, causing him to drop it and allow the lid to pop open?
01:09:56
Speaker
That's triumph territory. Like that's that's a big because it's still getting the information that you want. And the goons say your dead cousins back there now. You know what? Can Hobb. Can Hobb decide?
01:10:14
Speaker
He needs to see what's in this, what this thing is now. Now you decided, now you agree. I mean, are you talking about openly attacking these guys? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. But the goon that's holding the box, I want for Hob to look at that goon and say, we went through a lot to get that to you.
01:10:38
Speaker
And now that I know that that box could have been open safely and we didn't, you're going to give me a look at what's inside of that. I would like to, I'd like to use coercion. Okay. Um, so you can have, I will pass him whatever I can pass him. Uh, it would be a boost die to pass a specific, um, and then the other, the leftover one, I'll heal a strain.
01:11:06
Speaker
I'll use a story point. And. OK. So corrosion is the check that you're making. You have tickets to the gun show, though, so you get to use your. Mm hmm. So you are good to go. All right. Roll. One success, a three threat. Haha. Listeners.
01:11:36
Speaker
I roll two yellow, two green, and a blue, and I end up with one success. That could have been two triumph, and who knows how many success? I mean, it could have been unbelievable. And it was nothing. So, three threat.
01:11:58
Speaker
Um, for basketball, remember this door for us. We'll remember this. Yeah. Dorsa like exasperated looks at you and rolls his eyes. Um, and says, fine, but your employer would know about your persistence in this matter.
01:12:15
Speaker
And he snaps. He already knows about my persistence in this matter and opens the box very quickly and then slams it back shut. And in the moment that it's open, you see the presumably decapitated yet reanimated head.
01:12:32
Speaker
of a dwarf that has the mark of warding across its face as it and its mouth is bound. And that was the error that you heard. And its eyes go wide for a second. And then the box slam shut. It's like, are we good? How about why? Hobbling over the air, she goes, well, we said if it was a person, is that a person that I don't know of anymore? What are the what are the the parameters on personhood?
01:13:02
Speaker
The goons in Dorsif start to leap, like they start to walk towards the back door that they came in. Eris is freaked out by this. I think he goes, wait, well, you saw it, right? Right. I think we're done here. Let's go.
01:13:25
Speaker
Right. Well, I mean, he's going to, he's going to rob a bank, right? I mean, that's, that's what you do with, with every, I made ahead of a, of a kendark air as we're walking out, I assume.
01:13:41
Speaker
Yeah. Is there an Eberonian FDIC? Because robbing banks is a victimless crime. That would. House Condirect. They have the decapitated head of one of the upper management individuals for the FDIC, basically. Sort of, I guess. Yeah, I suppose.
Dividing the Earnings
01:14:00
Speaker
But they also own all the banks. It's a very corrupt world. It's weird. They probably get it. I bet it depends on how much money you have in their bank, whether they guarantee your deposits.
01:14:09
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway, so at this point are back to Gers. I mean, I should take the car back. You're able to get the car back. Kath and Sana held held vigil well and you you get your cut. We agreed on 10 percent of the take. So that's 750. What?
01:14:39
Speaker
I thought we were just going to give him 5,000. That's what he wanted. We keep 2,500. He's going to, he's going to know. Yeah. He's going to have contact with that dwarf. Yeah, he is now for sure. Yeah. No, that there's no way we, there's no way we pull that off. Okay. So the take for everybody is 750 divided by seven. It's 107 and we tip the bartender. No. Cause
01:15:07
Speaker
this is the clan's take that you got so oh 375 then grum gets his share so this podcast just got super fun yeah but if i remember right reynard you're putting 10 percent of your 401k and
01:15:35
Speaker
Milo, didn't you borrow against future earnings to come to our podcast about accounting for beginners? Fantasy accounting. Hey, that guy who took his time to calculate what Smaug's hoard was worth. Got a lot of traction out of it. You each get 35 gold and seven silver.
01:16:01
Speaker
One day I want to look at those numbers because I don't trust you, but. Well, the claim gets half, then Grum gets his take. Grum gets a bigger take than you all since he's the boss. End of episode. Thank you. Sorry. Thank you all. Thank you all so much for listening. I can't wait to come back next time.
01:16:17
Speaker
Thank you all so much for listening. We hope you enjoyed that episode. If you want to be part of the conversation, head to the Facebook group, The Geek Pantheon. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at The Geek Pantheon. We also have a Discord that you can find the link to at our website, TheGeekPantheon.com. We also have a Patreon, Patreon.com
Episode Conclusion
01:16:34
Speaker
slash TheGeekPantheon. If you want to join that, all the wonderful people whose name you heard at the beginning of the show are a part of our show sponsor tier or above. And if you would like to join them, head on over and check out that tier.
01:16:46
Speaker
And that's all I've got. So anyway, thank you all once again so much for listening. I'm your game master, Eric. I'm Phillip. I'm Trevor. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. We'll see you next time.
01:17:01
Speaker
Hey everybody, it's Eric here with a quick programming note. We neglected at the end of this episode, because it's only our second session doing this, to give XP earnage as well as rolling for obligation on the air. We did do it after we stopped recording when we realized just before we left.
01:17:17
Speaker
So I wanted to give you all an update in that regard. Everybody earned 15 experience with Randy and Jeff I believe earning five extra experience for playing into their characters even at the detriment of perhaps the
01:17:36
Speaker
the wants and desires of even the players themselves. So they earned some bonus XP for that. And additionally, we did roll for obligation and we rolled to activate Eris's obligation for the next session. So what that means is that either the session will be just a normal adventure and Eris's obligation will somehow cause a wrinkle to occur or that
01:18:06
Speaker
Eris's obligation will be the inciting incident of the adventure. So you'll just have to tune in for the next arc to find that out. But yeah, I hope you all enjoyed the episode and we'll see you next time.